BBC Midlands Today

Hundreds of knitters have helped to create what's thought to be the world's first full-sized knitted garden.

It will be on show at the Malvern Spring Festival over the next few days.

It's been designed and largely created by widow Clare Young, in memory of her husband, who died of cancer.

The 4m x 4m display features a knitted hospice bed overflowing with knitted flowers and plants.

Ms Young said she wanted to be able to bring the outside in to her husband Ken when he was ill.

She hopes the garden will help raise £50,000 for the Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice in Cheltenham, which cared for her husband.

Eight floors were affected by smoke forcing the evacuation of all wards in the early hours.

Fifty three patients were evacuated from the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre (BHOC) after a fire broke out in the plant room in the early hours of this morning.

The University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust says all patients and staff are safe, and patients are being cared for in other departments.

A "small electrical fire" caused extensive smoke damage in the buildng next to the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

In a statement, the Trust says the fire has caused severe disruption in many of their hospital services. They say:

• Patients are being diverted away from the adults Emergency Department.
• The children’s Emergency Department and the Emergency Department in the Bristol Eye Hospital are open as usual.
• We have cancelled planned procedures.
• We have cancelled radiotherapy planned for today.
• We are contacting all patients who are booked for urgent care to make arrangements with them.
• Outpatient appointments in the children’s hospital and for adult medicine and surgery are continuing as normal.

They apologise to patients and their families affected by the fire.

It's believed the cause of a fire at the Haemotology and Oncology Centre near the Bristol Royal Infirmary was caused by an electrical fault in a plant room.

Eight floors of the building in Kingsdown were affected and patients had to be evacuated to another building.

Staff warn there will be severe disruption to services today.

Image source, Getty Images

A burst water main has cut water supplies to about 30 properties in Bruton in Somerset.

A Wessex Water spokesman said engineers were carrying out repairs to the pipe in Quaperlake Street.

He said a "small number of customers" were affected but other people in the area could be "experiencing low water pressure".

The Slough estate is among 17 buildings to get protected status from Historic England.

The Anglo-Welsh Cup is to be replaced by a new Premiership Rugby Cup competition from next season.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance begins working from its new airbase at Semington, near Melksham, after an £800,000 fundraising appeal.

The base at Outmarsh will bring together the charity’s fundraising, administrative and operational teams under one roof.

David Philpott, chief executive of Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said: “Our new airbase is something that we are very proud of and everyone who has raised funds for it should be equally as proud.

"The purpose-built facility will secure our future and enable us to continue saving lives for years to come."

Image source, Wiltshire Air Ambulance

The University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust has issued a statement after the fire at the oncology centre.

They say: "A small fire broke out in the plant room of the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre in the early hours of this morning.

"We evacuated all wards and all patients and staff are safe and patients are being appropriately cared for.

“Our thanks go to our quick thinking staff, patients who had a very disturbed night and to our NHS partners and those in emergency services.

“Services in the BHOC will be severely disrupted today. We are working now to prioritise patients who need urgent care.”

Some of the stories making the news on your BBC local radio station this evening:

BBC Radio Bristol: Plans to alter the constitution of Bristol City Council "stink," according to opposition councillors.

BBC Somerset: Somerset County Council is proposing to get rid of a fund which provides support for some of its most vulnerable sheltered housing residents.

BBC Radio Gloucestershire: The city council's Cabinet has decided the indoor market will continue operating from the Eastgate Shopping Centre.

BBC Wiltshire: Travellers living on a caravan site in Salisbury say they are worried about their future after Wiltshire Council told them they are selling the site.

Image source, Google

Fire crews attended a fire at the oncology centre near the Bristol Royal Infirmary overnight.

Avon Fire and Rescue were alerted at about 01:05 BST to reports of smoke issuing from the oncology centre building.

Patients and staff were evacuated from the building while fire fighters dealt with the blaze in the plant room on the ground floor.

No one was injured and the cause of the fire is said to be accidental.

Patients had to be evacuated from the Haematology and Oncology Centre at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in the early hours of this morning, after fire broke out in a plant room.

More to follow.

Image source, Google

A leading campaigner fighting one of Bristol's most high-profile battles to save public libraries has criticised moves to change the system of public petitions, external.

Plans due to go before the city council's cabinet will see the number of signatures needed for an issue to be debated by councillors rise by 1,000 to 4,500.

The council says it wants to ensure the signature threshold equals one per cent of the city’s population.

But Merche Clarke, architect of the Save Redland Library petition, said: "It’s really tough to get 3,500 signatures on a Bristol-wide issue, let alone these many on a local issue.

"Increasing the threshold by almost a third is a massive step away from public engagement and access to government."