Surrey weekly round-up: 27 April - 3 May 2024

Jean-Jacques Burnel from The StranglersImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

The Stranglers are among the headliners lined up for GuilFest on 29-30 June

  • Published

The story about a family-friendly music festival returning after a decade-long break proved a popular read this week.

A variety of local issues featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Surrey and BBC South East Today.

We have picked five stories from the past week in case you missed them.

Pizza delivery murder unsolved after 30 years

Image source, Surrey Police
Image caption,

Surrey Police said Karen Reed, a geophysicist, had no involvement in any criminal activity

Police are still looking for information in the case of a woman shot dead on her doorstep by a man disguised as a pizza delivery driver 30 years ago.

Karen Reed, 33, had been “curling up with her cats” and drinking wine with a friend moments before the attack.

Ms Reed, who lived on Woking's Barnsbury Estate, opened the door to a "tall, dark-haired man" at about 21:15 BST on 30 April 1994.

Renewing its appeal, Surrey Police said it believed the death was a contract killing and a case of mistaken identity.

Read more here

Man dies in single-vehicle crash

Image source, Google
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A man in his 60s died in a single vehicle crash on the A309

A man in his 60s has died in a single-vehicle crash on the A309 in Surrey.

Police were called to the Kingston bypass in Hinchley Wood at 01:55 BST on Thursday.

The driver, who was the only person in the car, was pronounced dead at the scene near Claygate Lane and Hengest Avenue, Surrey Police said.

The road was closed but has since reopened.

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Teenage car deaths prompts warning from coroner

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Charlie Hopkins, 18, and Billy Robinson, 17, died following a collision in Tongham in 2021

The deaths of two boys in a car carrying eight teenagers which crashed in Surrey has prompted a coroner to ask the government to consider doing more to protect young people on the roads.

Speed and "drunkenness" contributed to the deaths of driver Charlie Hopkins, 18, and Billy Robinson, 17, following the collision in Oxenden Road, Tongham, in the early hours of 26 September 2021, an inquest concluded.

Mr Hopkins, from Frimley, who had passed his driving test just two weeks earlier, died at the scene. Mr Robinson, from Farnborough, Hampshire, was a front-seat passenger who died in hospital 10 weeks later. Six other teenage boys in the Volkswagen Polo survived.

Sam Robinson - Billy's mother - said the crash was “avoidable” and whenever she sees a VW Polo, “I just think, what were they thinking?”

Read more here

Image source, Getty Images
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The council wants the public's views on people walking multiple dogs in the park

Control measures could be introduced in a "hugely popular" park amid concerns about an increase in commercial dog walking.

A council consultation is running until 3 June to get the public's views on people walking multiple dogs in Epsom's Nonsuch Park.

An Epsom & Ewell Borough Council spokesperson said public input would balance the needs of both dog walkers and the broader park community.

Councillor Julian Freeman, chair of the Nonsuch Park joint management committee, said most dog walkers were responsible but concerns had been raised.

Read more here

Woking peregrine falcon chicks begin to hatch

Image source, Woking Peregrine Project
Image caption,

The nest box is in place in Woking town centre

Peregrine falcon chicks on top of a Woking town centre building have begun to hatch.

The Woking Peregrine Project has a nest box on top of Export House in the town, and a camera which tracks the birds' progress.

Four eggs were laid between 19 and 25 March, and a post on X, external, formerly Twitter, confirmed a second chick hatched on Monday.

The nest box was installed in January 2016, with success stories and tragedy striking in the time since.

Read more here

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