shropshirestar.com

Oliver Townend says he is “more hungry than ever” for success ahead of his biggest equestrian challenge – the Rolex Grand Slam.

A Shropshire schoolgirl was so badly bullied when she started secondary school she dyed her ginger hair to try and fit in, her father claimed today.

Blog: At this stage of the campaign last week, I looked forward to the first of the leaders’ television debates – and miserably failed to forecast the impact of Nick Clegg’s performance, writes John Hipwood.

PROTESTERS HAVE stepped up their bid to block the mining of 900,000 tonnes of coal in Telford by setting up their own shuttle service to bus recruits to their makeshift camp.

Travel chaos in the wake of the UK flights ban has had a knock-on effect across Shropshire with not just stranded holidaymakers being let down and forced to cancel their events.

A record number of candidates are standing in Shropshire, with huge seven-way battles in some county seats.

Shrewsbury’s annual international cartoon festival got under way today, offering people the chance to see how cartoonists work and have a go themselves.

The extent of Britain’s financial woes was laid bare today as official figures confirmed annual public borrowing hit £152.8 billion – the highest since records began.

More than 100 people attended an election hustings with four of the candidates for the Ludlow parliamentary constituency.

Shrewsbury Town fans were today urged to “keep the faith” as club officials eyed a big away following for their play-off crunch at Northampton.

A mother and her four children had a lucky escape when 15ft flames shot up the front of their Shropshire home in an arson attack this morning.

Oswestry’s farmers have pleaded with parliamentary candidates to back a cull of TB infected badgers which they said were having a catastrophic effect on their livelihoods.

Blists Hill Victorian Town in the Ironbridge Gorge “blew the socks off” celebrity judge Kirsty Young when she stopped off to run the rule over it for the prestigious Art Fund Prize 2010.

Mick McCarthy is hoping to have more funds made available to strengthen his Wolves squad should they guarantee Barclays Premier League survival.

AFC Telford United are set to issue their players with a timetable for contract talks following the conclusion of the Blue Square North campaign on Saturday.

Christopher Gill goes out and about in Bridgnorth as part of his campaign to take the Ludlow constituency for UKIP.

LIVES WOULD have been lost during the massive gas explosion in Shrewsbury if it had not been for the public’s swift response to the disaster, a senior fire chief has said.

The three main party leaders are preparing for the second live debate of the election campaign where they will discuss foreign policy.

Normal service resumed and almost to 100 per cent – that was the battle cry from the headlines last night and this morning, writes  Tracey O’Sullivan, who is stranded in Spain.

Crime is plummeting in Shropshire and West Mercia, according to latest figures, which claim that serious violent and sexual crimes are also on the wane.

Former Shropshire cricket ace James Taylor has been nominated for another top award.

A man out walking his two dogs in Telford managed to fight off an attacker who tried to snatch them from him, police today said.

As thousands of Britons today began landing at airports up and down the country, one Shropshire woman was arriving home after a gruelling two-day journey by car and ferry.

Oliver Townend is confident fatigue will not be a factor when he launches his quest for eventing’s Rolex Grand Slam tomorrow.

David Cameron has long since dropped his “hug a hoodie” approach to yob behaviour, but it now seems he has turned his get-up-close approach to animal (or at least bird) welfare.

The race to bring stranded Britons back home gathered pace today after the UK’s skies reopened amid a continuing row over flying restrictions caused by the volcanic ash cloud.

Chairman Lee Carter today broke the wall of silence from AFC Telford United’s Board, declaring: “We will bring new purpose to this club.”

It’s my birthday today – and my present seems to be that planes are once again in the skies, writes Tracey O’Sullivan.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has voiced his concern for the first time about a lack of goals – but insisted the key to survival remains safety-first before scoring.

Former Shrewsbury Town striker Grant Holt is due to appear in court charged with a road traffic act offence.