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A Tight Squeeze There was a happy ending for a little dog that got trapped in a five-metre pipe in the La Cárcel area of Orihuela City on Tuesday morning. Orihuela firefighters got a call just after 11.00 am from residents saying that they could hear a barking noise coming from some piping. The fire team was pressed into action and dismantled part of the pipe so that the dog could get out, after being apparently trapped in a curved area of the tubing.

The little animal was reunited with its owners,

Annette's Award

safe and sound, within an hour.

War On Rubbish Residents of the San Luis and El Chaparral areas of Torrevieja are to be encouraged to report dumping of garden waste and rubbish to the local police, as part of an initiative launched by the San Luis Neighbourhood Watch Association. The announcement was made at Monday’s Watch Association meeting, which saw the induction of Doug Allen as the group’s new president, and Torrevieja’s International Residents councillor Carmen Morate answering questions from the audience in San Luis. The meeting reached the

view that people dumping all kinds of rubbish in the area was a serious issue, and that a note would be made of offender’s car reg-

istration details, which would then be passed onto the police. They also called for more recycling containers and better road signs.

Almoradi Robbers

Three young Moroccan men and a 19-year-old Spanish woman have been charged with 15 counts of stealing from homes and cars in the Almoradi area. Two of the four were refused bail, after a court appearance. The Guardia Civil in Almoradi launched an operation after getting an

increase in reports of burglaries in the municipality, with two of the group being caught red-handed in the middle of a robbery. Investigations showed the quartet would strike at any time, and would steal anything that they could get their hands on, even if it was not worth a lot. More expensive items were then

sold for as much money as they could get. Two house searches saw the recovery of numerous stolen items, including the latest generation mobile phones; a laptop computer; watches; bicycles; and even an El Gordo lottery ticket. All the items have been returned to their owners.

It's A London Date!

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will meet with his UK equivalent, Theresa May, in London this coming Tuesday. As well as discussing bilateral relations between the UK and Spain, they will also review the progress made in Brexit talks with the EU. The day before, Spain's deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría will meet with the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, and discuss

topics such as why Brexit talks have stalled over Britain's divorce bill and what to do over the border between Ireland and

Northern Ireland. Sáenz de Santamaría heads up the inter-ministerial commission for monitoring Brexit.

Fundraiser for the Elche Children’s Care Home, Annette English, has been presented with the the British Empire Medal, which she was awarded in this year's Queen’s Birthday Honours. The BEM was handed over by the British Ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley, for her services to child welfare. Annette, with her husband Dave, have been charity fundraisers for the last 13 years, and have spent a lot of their time raising aware-

ness about the home in a bid to improve the lives that the youngsters have there. Annette said:- “I feel very honoured to have received this award. Fundraising for the children keeps me active and I receive so much back from them! I want to give a special mention to my husband, Dave, without whose support none of this would have been possible. Never would I have imagined I would be receiving an award from the Queen.” Ambassador Simon Manley said, “I was delight-

ed to present the honour to Annette for her work. Her outstanding dedication and commitment to making others’ lives better is an inspiration.” “There are some 300,000 British residents in Spain, and there are many examples of how British people, like Annette, are working hand in hand with Spanish people in their local communities to improve the lives of others, a testimony to the strong people to people links between our two countries.”

Safe And Secure

Making the Pilar de la Horadada municipality a safer place to live in is the purpose of a new initiative launched by the local council called Un Pilar Seguro, with the emphasis on cutting crime and increase local security. Measures include the possible installation of road safety cameras, in addition to increasing the number of warning signs and making pedestrian crossings luminous, like in the recent case of the crossing by the municipal sports centre. In terms of fighting crime, the authority says that they are increasing night police patrols in Pilar, Pinar de Campoverde, and on the

coast, and they are encouraging residents to call the police if they see or hear anything that might be suspicious. Information campaigns are set to be launched, and

more police checkpoints are to be introduced to trap motorists over the drink and drug limit, as well as those that don't have the appropriate documentation or are not using seat belts.

Get It Sorted An Elche judge has told Torrevieja council to make substantial improvements to the Torretas III - Punta La Víbora urbanisation, some 33 years after it was built. The judge, though, has actually rejected a demand from the local residents association asking for a refund of nine million euro of taxes paid over the years to the authority. The one-thousand home urbanisation has been blighted by all kinds of problems down the decades with residents claiming poor

lighting, garbage collection, poor pavements and water

supplies in a laundry list of complaints.