• Town Square at Bradley Stoke's Willow Brook Centre

More shops have opened their doors in the past week at The Willow Brook Centre in Bradley Stoke.

Betting shop Ladbrokes opened on Wednesday just in time for the Champions League final.

The store, opposite Subway in the town square, is also alongside the new bus stop and lane.

Also, Taylors Estate agent, between KFC and Greggs, has also opened to the public.

More than 80 residents of Bradley Stoke have signed up for our campaign to convince Virgin Media to complete cabling the town.

But, the firm says it needs many more people to register their interest in high-speed broadband.

More than 2,000 of Bradley Stoke’s 9,000 homes are not hooked up to the fibre-optic network so suffer slow speeds via BT.

Some homes receive speeds of less than half-a-meg; a straw poll on this website suggest the average is around 2Mb.

Virgin’s network offers speeds of up to 50Mb along with cable TV and phone options.

Should more than 1,500 e-mail then the cable network will be rolled out here – so if you are interested, now is the time!

All you need to do to help us ensure Virgin Media completes its broadband roll-out in Bradley Stoke is e-mail cablemystreet@virginmedia.co.uk

Bradley Stoke’s new dental surgery has seen some 50 patients-per-day during its first week open.

The NHS surgery, run by Phoenix Dental, is the first to open in the town’s 20 year history.

At the moment waiting times for check-ups are around a week at the surgery which features two dentists and a hygienist.

Waiting times could slow down as check-ups lead to treatments over the coming months.

The surgery can be found on the first floor of The Willow Brook Centre and appointments can be requested via their website.

Pupils at Bradley Stoke Community School have been warned they cannot use mobile phones during class time.

The move has followed “an increase in the number of students being seen around school and in lessons with their mobile phones”.

In one case, a child’s phone was taken from their trousers which were left in the PE changing room.

Head teacher Dave Baker, in his weekly newsletter [pdf, 540k], told parents: “If they [the students] need to call you urgently, they may come to the front office and a member of staff will discuss this with them. ”

Mr Baker also added that an increase in iPod use has also been noticed around the school.

If pupils are caught with either they face them being confiscated until the end of the day on the first occasion.

For the second offence the parent will have to collect it, for the third time it will be confiscated for a week.

Mr Baker says mobile phones and iPods should be kept in lockers during the day.

Bradley Stoke’s new mayor Mark Forsyth has backed the Examiner’s campaign for faster broadband in the town.

Residents have suffered from slow internet connections via the phone line because our BT exchanges – Almondsbury and Filton – are too far away.

Now, Virgin Media have told us if enough residents e-mail them they will complete rolling out its high-speed cable network here.

With Virgin Media’s network you can expect speeds of up to 50Mb with no slowdown depending on where you live – unlike broadband via your phone line.

Councillor Forsyth e-mailed the firm on Thursday, his first full day as mayor, to plead for faster broadband.

In his message to the company he said completing the network, which is around half finished in Bradley Stoke, would “certainly give you a march on your competitors”.

All you need to do to help us ensure Virgin Media completes its broadband roll-out in Bradley Stoke is e-mail cablemystreet@virginmedia.co.uk

Note: When you e-mail Virgin Media can you please remember to include your full postal address.

The more people that e-mail Virgin Media now will mean the more likely the company is to finish cabling Bradley Stoke.

• Full details on how you can help convince Virgin to give Bradley Stoke faster broadband.

Police in Bradley Stoke were called out to a sighting of a lion reported to be roaming around the town.

The BBC reports that the lion was seen by staff at the NHS Direct centre in the north of Bradley Stoke on Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses say they saw an animal with “large paws, a long tail and a loping walk”.

The incredible tale even saw the police helicopter called out to investigate at around 8pm.

Did you see the ‘lion’? Were you a witness? Did you take any pictures? Let us know by e-mailing news@sadlybroke.com

Pictured: Former mayor Robert Jones alongside new mayor Mark Forsyth

Bradley Stoke’s new mayor has been named as Councillor Mark Forsyth, following the town council Annual General Meeting.

Cllr Forsyth replaces Robert Jones who stepped down from his post after 12 months.

Speaking at the AGM, Cllr Forsyth said it is a “great honour” to take up the role adding that although he does not live in the town but will do his best to serve it.

Meanwhile, the mayor’s charity – the National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s – were given a cheque worth almost £7,000.

The money came from various fundraising activities during Cllr Jones’ tenure including the annual festival and fireworks display.

Click more below for our blow-by-blow coverage of the meeting.

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