Parishioners should receive invites through their doors over the next couple of weeks for the Parish Council Annual Parish Meeting on Wednesday 17th May starting 7.30pm

West Berkshire Highways have advised us that various unnamed roads in Welford will be closed on Sunday 7th May for the annual running race. Closures will be between 7am and 2pm. Full details can be found at www.roadworks.org - search Welford Parish. 

Due to budget cuts and low user numbers the Welford Mobile Library stop has been discontinued from April. The Mant Close stop in Wickham will continue and is scheduled for every three weeks. Please see the latest April to September schedule below. 

Please be aware of the planned mains replacement works in Wickham between the 8th May and 6th October - Thames Water has issued the following letter:

5 April 2017
Improving our water pipes.
Hello,
We’ll soon be starting work in your area to replace our water pipes. The new plastic pipes are much stronger and will ensure that we continue to provide top quality service.
Work will begin on Monday 8 May 2017 and be finished by Friday 6 October 2017. We will update you if anything changes.
How will this affect you?
Our working hours will be Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm and Saturday 8am to 3pm
Our work will be along the entire stretch of Wickham Road However, we will be working in sections at a time; Wickham Road will therefore not be closed.
Over the course of our works, traffic on Wickham Road will be controlled using two way traffic lights. This may cause some delays to your journey, so please bear this in mind when travelling.
 
We’re sorry for the inconvenience this will cause.
 
Drop in
 
Our team will be at Wickham Village Hall on Monday 24 April from 4pm-7pm to discuss our work.
Address: North Wessex Downs AONB, Welford Road, Wickham, Newbury RG20 8HL
Please come along, they will be happy to answer any queries you have and share our plans with you.
 
Queries or concerns?
You can get in touch with us on 0800 316 9800, selecting option one and quoting the above reference number. If you are a business customer you may wish to contact your Retailer for any additional information relating to our work.
If you are a business customer you may wish to contact your retailer for any additional information relating to our work.
Thank you for your understanding.
Annie Chinbuah
Customer Experience Coordinator - Thames Water

 Message sent by
Action Fraud (Action Fraud, Administrator, National)
Fraudsters are sending out a high volume of phishing emails to personal and business email addresses, pretending to come from various email addresses, which have been compromised.
 
The subject line contains the recipient’s name, and the main body of text is as below:
 
“Hi, [name]!
 
I am disturbing you for a very serious reason. Although we are not familiar, but I have significant amount of individual info concerning you. The thing is that, most likely mistakenly, the data of your account has been emailed to me. 
 
For instance, your address is:
 
[real home address]
 
I am a law-abiding citizen, so I decided to personal data may have been hacked. I attached the file – [surname].dot that I received, that you could explore what info has become obtainable for scammers. File password is – 2811
 
Best Wishes,”
 
The emails include an attachment – a ‘.dot’ file usually titled with the recipient’s name.
 
 
This attachment is thought to contain the Banking Trojan Ursniff/Gozi, hidden within an image in the document. The Ursniff Banking Trojan attempts to obtain sensitive data from victims, such as banking credentials and passwords. The data is subsequently used by criminals for monetary gain.

Protect Yourself:
 
Having up-to-date virus protection is essential; however it will not always prevent your device(s) from becoming infected.
 
Please consider the following actions:

• Don’t click on links or open any attachments you receive in unsolicited emails or SMS messages: Remember that fraudsters can ‘spoof’ an email address to make it look like one used by someone you trust. If you are unsure, check the email header to identify the true source of communication (you can find out how by searching the internet for relevant advice for your email provider).
• Do not enable macros in downloads; enabling macros will allow Trojan/malware to be installed onto your device.
• Always install software updates as soon as they become available. Whether you are updating the operating system or an application, the update will often include fixes for critical security vulnerabilities.
• Create regular backups of your important files to an external hard drive, memory stick or online storage provider. It is important that the device you back up to is not connected to your computer as any malware infection could spread to that as well.
• If you think your bank details have been compromised, you should contact your bank immediately.

 
If you have been affected by this or any other fraud, report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or visitwww.actionfraud.police.uk.

David - Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator 

Come and meet your Hungerford Policing Team
 
 Officers from the Hungerford Neighbourhood Policing Team will be at Wyevale Garden Centre in Hungerford from Midday until 4pm on Wednesday 12 April 2017 to meet with members of the community and answer any of your questions on things such as.
  

• Rogue Traders, Scams, Doorstep Crime.
• Rural Crime.
• Crime Reduction at Home.
• Brexit.
• Any other local problems or concerns.

Please note that West Berkshire Highways have informed us that work is scheduled for B4000 Baydon Road, 350m East of Wickham Crossroads to Hoe Benham Lane.

Pre-Patching will be carried out 18/04 for 5 days and Surface Dressing will be carried out 13/07 just the one day.

​Temporary traffic signals will be in place between 09:30 - 15:30. Access will be maintained for residents & businesses.  

The 73rd Anniversary Memorial Service was held on the 30th March at RAF Welford to remember the 8 crew members that died when their aircraft crashed on the Airfield. Councillor Hunt and Councillor Chamberlain attended the service on behalf of the Parish Council and had the opportunity to tour the RAF Welford museum.