West Malvern's traditional Guy Fawkes bonfire and fireworks display, provisionally planned for Saturday week, November 6, is threatened by the soaring cost of insurance cover, up 150 per cent on last year. At the time of writing, the organisers were still seeking an insurance quotation that could be expected to be covered by the revenue from gate receipts, which have not increased for several years. No final decision had been taken and there were still hopes that this popular annual event would be going ahead.

Look out for notices around the village in the next few days which will (hopefully) carry details of the event, which would be preceded by the usual torchlight procession from the school to the bonfire field at Croft Farm - or the news that it will not, after all, take place.

Work began this week on widening the pavement around Westminster House at the junction of Westminster Bank and West Malvern Road. The aim is to improve pedestrian safety at this busy crossing, especially for families with young children on the way to and from the village school.

The footway between West Malvern Road and the stone wall in front of Westminster House is being widened slightly, but extended significantly round the corner at the bottom of Westminster Bank to shorten the distance between its two sides, making walking across less hazardous.

This work is the only surviving element of the much more ambitious scheme for major alterations to the Croft Bank/De Walden Road/West Malvern Road/ Westminster Bank junction proposed by the county council some years ago under the Safer Routes to School scheme, which was unanimously rejected by the village community, including both schools and the parish council.