A LOCAL authority newsletter has been criticised for failing to adequately report activities in Winchcombe.

Winchcombe town councillor and former council chairman, Tim Petchey, said the Winter 2007 edition of Tewkesbury Borough Council's newsletter contained very little information about Winchcombe.

"It should be renamed the Tewkesbury Times," said Cllr Petchey, who felt strongly that the newsletter's content was heavily weighted in favour of Tewkesbury.

He told town councillors at their meeting last week that there were only three mentions of Winchcombe in the latest newsletter, which is sent three times a year to the borough's 33,000 households.

These included a mention of a pupil at Winchcombe School, a brief mention of an event at the railway in Toddington and an advertisement for Sudeley Castle.

Town clerk Terry Willett said she would be writing to the borough council about the town council's concerns.

"I will be writing to express the town council's concerns about lack of meaningful reference to Winchcombe.

She said councillors also agreed to inform the borough council about events and activities in the town so that they could be considered for inclusion in future editions of the newsletter.

Borough council director of resources, Pete Antill, who edits the newsletter, acknowledged that Cllr Petchey's criticism was fair.

"This one is dominated by the story of the floods and Tewkesbury was, without doubt, the worst hit.

"There has been a Tewkesbury emphasis this time, with good reason," said Mr Antill, though he pointed out that a number of the items in the current edition are relevant to the while borough.

However, he said the council welcomed constructive criticism.

"I accept we should make it more representative and will work with the town council to ensure that is the case in the next edition," he said.