ON MONDAY (May 17), the country took another step towards ‘normality’ with another round of lockdown easing.

THE highly-anticipated reopening of a popular high street store in Basingstoke will take place later this month, the Gazette can reveal.

Jade Cox left her family home on Abbey Road at 6.15am on Thursday (May 13), but has not returned yet.

STAFF and customers at Buzz Bingo at Basingstoke’s Leisure Park were very excited to see doors reopen to the public this morning (Monday, May 17).

MANY businesses in Basingstoke have been celebrating reopening today (Monday, May 17), or welcoming customers indoors for the first time since December.

Susan Mary Docwra Douglas, a resident of Maywood House on The Street in Bramley, passed away on November 14, 2020.

There has been huge optimism in the air, thanks to the rapid vaccination programme and the public’s eagerness to get back to normal life.

A Freefolk plant nursery has been given a grand send-off by the leading lights of the horticultural world as it retires from the Chelsea Flower Show.

AS THE rain pours down on a miserable Monday afternoon, what better way to celebrate the easing of restrictions than with a free tea or coffee?

A 12-YEAR-OLD schoolgirl is taking on an epic walking challenge to raise awareness and funds for the mental health charity Mind.

The chain has been a flagship store in the town’s shopping centre since 2002, but the huge three-story unit now lays empty inside Festival Place.

All the latest updates as lockdown eases across England

ANDOVER police have issued a tongue-in-cheek message to a passenger who left his stash of cannabis in the back of a taxi.

Rail depot worker Gavin Briggs was found dead in Little Somborne, near Stockbridge, on July 3 last year.

Fed up of the walking the same route over the last couple of months? Fed up with watching television every evening after work, and spending your weekends at home?

POLICE are appealing for information following a 'hit and run' incident near Overton in the early hours of Saturday morning (May 15).

A HAMPSHIRE artist left a surprise piece of work at Basingstoke hospital last week, to mark International Nurse's Day.

If you are planning to visit a restaurant in Basingstoke for a romantic dinner, the Gazette has suggested some charming spots.

THE four Basingstoke branches of the Royal British Legion gathered in War Memorial mark alongside the town's mayor on Saturday (May 15), to mark the organisation's 100th anniversary.

On MONDAY, May 17, Hampshire Constabulary will be recognising International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

Open letter to Cllr Ken Rhatigan

AFTER spending a year in lockdown in our homes, it is easy to see why so many people are itching to move.

Date ideas for every kind of couple whether you want to splash out the cash or keep it cheap.

Alasdair described how Southampton and the south coast was something of a high-tech hub, a ‘Silicon Valley of the 1930s’

IT WAS an emotional scene as staff and customers gathered to bid farewell to Debenhams in Basingstoke’s Festival Place this afternoon (Saturday, May 15).

AMONG the otherwise quiet atmosphere of early Saturday morning in Festival Place, dozens of keen shoppers queued outside Debenhams in Basingstoke this morning (May 15) for the last time ever.

A NEW Covid vaccination centre has opened in Basingstoke - with the first set of patients receiving their jabs on Thursday (May 13) and many more booked in for the coming days and weeks.

KEEN shoppers were queuing outside Basingstoke’s Debenhams store in Festival Place this morning (Saturday, May 15) for its final day of trading.

IT'S a sad day for Basingstoke, as its flagship Festival Place Debenhams store marks its very last day opening.

Just one area across Basingstoke and Andover recorded more than two Covid cases last week as virus rates continue to decline.

BASINGSTOKE’s mayor has said she’s ‘looking forward’ to her return to party politics, after two years of ‘stepping back’ to fulfill her mayoral duties.

CAMPAIGNERS stood outside Whitchurch Town Hall today to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Palestine amid the ongoing conflict with Israel.

The Watertower in Limes Park, which consists of five apartments and the freehold of the block, is up for sale for £1.2 million.

For a relatively small town, Basingstoke has had a lot of charitable townspeople.

On Monday, a host of activities that have been banned under Covid rules will be allowed once again as the government’s lockdown easing continues.

ANYONE walking through the Top of Town this afternoon may have spotted an interesting sight.

Wet and showery weather is set to continue this weekend as rain continues to batter Basingstoke.

A MAN has been jailed after a string of assaults on emergency workers whilst serving a suspended prison sentence.

From magical woodlands, vineyards and museums here are some unique Hampshire wedding venues to tie the knot in

TODAY marked the end of an era, as Debenhams in Basingstoke closed its shutters for the very last time - alongside the company's few remaining stores across the country.

Reported crime has fallen over the last year in North Hampshire but drug offences have risen, police records reveal.

PEOPLE aged over 50 and those that are vulnerable will get the second dose of a Covid vaccine a month earlier than planned.

The hotel in Chineham, which remained shut since the start of the lockdown, has been home to North Hampshire NHS team’s vaccination drive

67 per cent of adults in Basingstoke and Deane have had their first dose, as of May 9.

BASINGSTOKE too often is misdescribed as a modern town. But residents - and your local paper - knows different.

National Trust houses and other properties in England will start to reopen their doors to visitors from Monday as restrictions are lifted.

A member of acting royalty is Basingstoke-bound for his first performance in 14 months, the longest he has ever gone without acting.

HOTELS, cinemas and bowling alleys are just some of the businesses set to reopen from Monday as coronavirus restrictions continue to ease.

People in England will be able to hug loved ones, dine in restaurants and go on holiday abroad from Monday.

Ministers are believed to be considering altering the vaccine rollout to provide 'surge vaccinations' in areas with rising cases of coronavirus.