News in brief

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Campaign for skate ramp

A campaign to raise funds has been launched by skateboarders and BMX riders in an East Sussex town.

After five years of campaigning in Rye, planning permission has been granted for a new ramp on The Salts.

The Rother Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership has donated £5,000 to the project.

However, the campaign still needs to raise more money as the total cost of the new facility is likely to be around £70,000.

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Gambler wants no snow

A Surrey man has bet £2,500 that there will not be a White Christmas in Cardiff this year.

Computer engineer Charles Worth has only been given odds of 1/4 by William Hills and stands to collect £3,125 if no snow falls in the Welsh capital on Christmas Day.

Mr Worth will lose his bet if weather experts find that one snowflake has fallen in the city.

The bookmakers is offering a more generous 9/2 that it does snow in Cardiff.

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Woman badly hurt in lorry crash

An elderly woman from Chichester is in a critical condition in hospital following a collision with a lorry.

The crash happened in Broyle Road in Chichester at about 1345 GMT on Friday.

Police said it was thought the woman, who is in her 70s, was struck by the lorry as she crossed the road.

She was taken to the town's St Richards Hospital with serious head injuries, which police said on Saturday morning could be life threatening.

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Man steals chocolate presents

A man has stolen about 80 bars of chocolate which were meant for homeless people from a church.

The chocolate bars were being stored at Bishop Hannington Church, in Hove, and were due to be given out to homeless people on Christmas Day.

The bars were taken on Wednesday but church members hope the thief will have a change of heart and bring them back.

Student Ali Payne, the chocolate collection organiser, has appealed for people to donate more bars to replace the treats.