Three Bath schoolboys were shortlisted for a national award after creating and designing a new educational computer game.

Sam Whitfield, Jack Gower and Sam Cairns, all pupils at St Mark's School made it through to the final ten in the Bafta nominations for the Young Game Designers Award.

The team, which are called the Major League Coders, worked together to create a new computer game called Hot Spots during an afterschool club run by computing teacher Owen Gilson.

Jack, who is in Year 11, said: "We wanted to design a quick brainteaser game that people could play during their lunch hour or break time. We did all of the programming and coding from scratch, using artwork and music created by our friends at St Mark's."

Their game, along with hundreds of other entries, was judged by a panel of industry professionals and selected for the shortlist.

However the boys, who are all studying GCSE computing, narrowly missed out on getting the opportunity to go along to the Baftas ceremony in London, because they did not make it in to the final three.

You can play the game at www.PlayHotSpots.com.

A nine-year-old boy from Bath will be appearing alongside stars such as James Corden and Julie Walters in a new film about a TV talent show winner.

Oldfield Park Junior School pupil Ieuan Chakrabarti- Adams will play the part of a boy who bullied Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts as a child.

He got the part in One Chance after his parents Penny and Heinz arranged for him to have an audition with a London agency.

Ieuan has now completed his part of the filming, which took him to South Wales, for the movie that is due for release next year.

Ieuan auditioned for the role of the young Paul, but ended with the part of Matthew, who torments the lead character at school.

He had to dye his hair black for the role, which saw him rubbing shoulders with Corden, who plays the part of the adult singer.

Ieuan has been encouraged by Jamie Allen, who runs the Jamie Allen School of Performing Arts at Longwell Green.

His mum Penny said: "He was the one who encouraged Ieuan and built his confidence up to such a level. He is a true inspiration for any youngster who loves to perform and I believe that getting to the stage of being cast for a film would never have happened if Jamie hadn't been in Ieuan's life."

Ieuan, from Lorne Road, has played the title role in Oliver! in a drama school show but this is his first film part.

His mum added: "There's no acting in his blood. I'm Welsh and like a bit of singing, but he has always liked dressing up.

"He was on first-name terms with James Corden."

Ieuan said: "It was great having my own limousine and driver to pick me up and drive me around and I enjoyed meeting the other boys in the film and playing with them but the best part was meeting James Corden."

Directed by The Devil Wears Prada maker David Frankel, One Chance follows the story of Bristolian Potts, who was manager of a Carphone Warehouse store in Bridgend when he wowed BGT judges with his version of Nessun Dorma.

Paralympic medallist Ben Rushgrove is once again helping to inspire children and young people to try new sports.

Bath-based Rushgrove, who won silver in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and bronze at London this summer, will visit youngsters taking part in Bath and North East Somerset Council's Inclusive After School Sports Club at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre on Monday.

The club runs from 4pm to 5pm on Mondays and provides sport for seven to 18-year-olds. It is open to all and welcomes anyone regardless of their ability. Previous activities have included tag rugby, hockey, basketball, football, badminton, adapted cycling and open swimming.

For information or to book a place, ring 01225 396429 or email getactive@bathnes.gov.uk.

Britain's Olympic heroes will be put to the test with a cycling challenge on a hill on the edge of Bath this weekend.

Sixteen Team GB athletes, including Mo Farah, will be battling it out in a one-off Christmas revival of the TV show Superstars on Saturday and Sunday.

Most of the action will take place at the University of Bath but there will be a cycle hill climb up Claverton Hill and The Avenue to the campus on Sunday morning, which will mean the roads are closed.

There will also be a grand finale with gym test and prizegiving at the Assembly Rooms that afternoon.

The show, which will also see presenter Gabby Logan visiting the city's Christmas Market, will be broadcast on Boxing Day.

Free tickets for all the events, including the finale, can be booked through www.applause store.com.

Police arrested 38 people across Bath and north east Somerset in a day of action involving hundreds of officers from around the force area.

Operation Relentless saw teams act on tip-offs and police intelligence to target properties in the city, starting with a series of co-ordinated early morning raids.

Officers met at 6am on Tuesday at the Guildhall for a briefing with B&NES district commander Chief Superintendent Geoff Spicer, before dividing up and executing warrants at the homes of suspected criminals.

Many of the warrants were for drugs offences, particularly people police believed had been dealing drugs.

Chief Supt Spicer said that although this type of policing was part of their routine work, the extra resources through Relentless meant they could do everything on a larger scale.

He said: "We have shown that we will do what we can to keep the communities of Avon and Somerset and B&NES safe. Any criminal who thinks we are too busy or there are too few of us to pursue them, then they got a rude awakening this morning.

"We are relentless against those who commit crime, who damage our communities day-in, day-out, and today was just another opportunity to bring offenders to justice and keep people safe."

A raid was carried out on a flat in Linley Close, in Twerton, where a small amount of drugs and cash was recovered and a 31-year-old man arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

He was released on police bail pending further inquiries.

More class A drugs were found at Bridewell Lane, in the city centre and a 40-year-old woman was arrested for possession with intent to supply.

There was also a warrant executed at a flat in Snow Hill, where officers discovered two cannabis plants, worth around £1,000 each, as well as hydroponics equipment for cultivating the crop.

A raid at a flat in Warwick Road, Keynsham, also resulted in officers finding cannabis and money and a 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class B drugs.

Chief Inspector Alex Cohen, who was leading the team, admitted they had hoped to find larger amounts of drugs, but said the exercise had still been a success.

He said: "We did expect to find a little bit more than that, but when you are working with intelligence there is always that element of luck.

"We are here because we thought we were going to find more than that, but this still sends out a strong message to drug dealers and also a message to the public."

During the morning, there was also a mock-up of a car accident in Kingsmead Square, Bath so police could demonstrate how they deal with such emergencies.

Across the Avon and Somerset force area police arrested more than 250 people, in what was one of the biggest operations of its kind in this part of the country.

Avon and Somerset's first police and crime commissioner says her first priority will be to target anti-social behaviour, burglary and violence against women and girls.

Independent candidate and magistrate Sue Mountstevens recorded a landslide election victory, defeating her closest rival and favourite Ken Maddock by almost 60,000 votes last week.

In her acceptance speech, the married mother-of-three from North Somerset promised to fight government cuts and "listen to the quiet voices" before formulating the police force's priorities.

Mrs Mountstevens, 57, who was a director of her family's bakery business for more than 20 years, believed she prospered as an independent candidate because people felt politics had no place in policing.

Mrs Mountstevens denied that the low turn-out in the election – just 16 per cent in the Bath area – reduced the legitimacy of her role and also pledged to fight Government cuts to police force budgets.

She said: "This is a very serious job and I have to get on with it. I've had an enormous amount of support.

"As long as we have no further government budget cuts, I think we can manage. I will fight strenuously against any further cuts."

Mrs Mountstevens, who also saw off competition from Lib Dem Pete Levy and Labour candidate John Savage as well as Tory Mr Maddock, said she had the experience required for the role, which will replace the now-defunct police authority. She now has the power to set the force's budget and hold the chief constable to account.

She promised to listen carefully to those "who don't normally shout" before forming her strategy for the force.

Mrs Mountstevens, who lives near Pill, said: "You have to listen carefully – to residents, in community centres and in parish halls."

New action is likely to be taken to slow down traffic on a busy road where there has been a string of accidents.

A meeting between Bath and North East Somerset Council and the Highways Agency has led to a pledge from the Government body to seek funding for new warning signs and road markings at Hartley Bends on the A46.

The agency has mentioned signs at the spot before, but has in the past suggested they might simply warn of queuing traffic.

Now it looks likely that the flashing, vehicle-activated signs would probably carry a message such as slow or slow down.

B&NES cabinet member for transport Councillor Roger Symonds (Lib Dem, Combe Down) and local councillor Martin Veal (Con, Bathavon North) met agency officials to highlight the accidents over the past five years, two of which had been fatal.

The agency confirmed it was bidding for funds to invest in measures to improve safety in the 2013/14 financial year.

The two vehicle-activated signs would warn drivers of the bends from both directions and there are also likely to be new road markings.

The detail of what exactly the signs and markings would say has yet to be determined.

B&NES said the agency suggested the work would be high on its list of priorities.

Mr Symonds said: "There is clearly a pattern of accidents at Hartley Bends, and Bath and North East Somerset Council hopes that the proposed action is successful."

Mr Veal said he wanted to see action in the meantime as well, with temporary vehicle-activated warning signs.

"Whilst I welcome the Highways Agency's intention to improve safety in the long term, action is also needed immediately."

Basil Breach, whose family run Hartley Farm, said the signs would be welcome but more should be done.

He said: "With regards to the signs, yes that's good but they are not the answer. We say the only answer is to reduce the speed to 40."

Annabelle Dexter, the agency's South West asset development team leader, said: "Safety is a priority and we welcomed this opportunity to listen to the council's concerns and discuss proposals to introduce new safety measures on this section of the A46.

"We expect to be able to make an announcement about funding for this by February and in the meantime we are investigating if there are any short-term safety measures we can introduce before the work is undertaken."

The long-running saga over the future of Bath's Recreation Ground is entering its final chapter.

Councillors will next week give their backing to proposals to be published by the Charity Commission which would give Bath Rugby a bigger slice of The Rec.

In return, the club's Lambridge sports ground would be transferred into the hands of the Recreation Ground Trust, which oversees The Rec.

The rugby club has been striving for years to find a way to construct a bigger stadium at The Rec, and the land deal which is at the heart of the commission's new "scheme" should end the stalemate once and for all.

The trust, which would in future expand its membership beyond councillors to include independent trustees, will produce a leaflet outlining the implications of the scheme.

There will then be a month in which representations about the proposals can be made to the commission, which has been trying to find a solution to The Rec since a High Court case a decade ago.

That case ruled that there was a clash between the land's charitable status and its use by a commercial organisation in the shape of the rugby club, and the commission says a way to square this circle and allow the club to expand is for more land to made available for public use.

The commission scheme establishes a framework which would allow the club to be granted a new lease.

Bath Rugby, which is looking to create an arena with a capacity of between 17,000 and 18,000, would then submit a planning application.

Any new stadium would have stands on three sides, as at present, with a temporary east stand put up for the playing season only.

The trust meets at 6.30pm next Thursday at the Guildhall to discuss the latest situation.

An off-duty nurse from Bath has saved the life of a rugby player who suffered a heart attack at a game on the edge of the city.

The intervention of cardiac nurse Yaneke Davey was one of a string of lucky breaks to which Barry Collins owes his life.

The father-of-two from Weston-super-Mare was playing as a prop for the Hornets rugby team in a match against Avon Rugby Club at Batheaston when he had a heart attack and collapsed.

The 47-year-old feels he is only here to tell his tale thanks to the actions of Mrs Davey, from Newbridge, who performed CPR on him.

Mr Collins said: "I feel like the luckiest man in the world."

He said there was no doubt in his mind that Mrs Davey, who was helped by her friend Louise Skelton-Thompson, saved his life.

"Without them I wouldn't have stood a chance. When I saw them again I cried, I was just so emotional."

Mr Collins was playing at Hicks Field, in London Road, when he started to struggle to catch his breath, and came off the pitch to sit down.

A friend offered to drive him to hospital but before they had even left the car park, Mr Collins had a heart attack and stopped breathing.

By chance Mrs Davey, who works at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, had arrived to pick up her husband. She dragged Mr Collins out and started CPR on him, while onlookers called for an ambulance.

Another lucky break saw a paramedic, who had stopped at the Batheaston roundabout for a break, summoned, and between them they worked on Mr Collins until the ambulance arrived with a defibrillator. In that ambulance was a doctor who regularly worked with Mrs Davey.

After being rushed straight to the operating theatre to have a blood clot removed and a stent fitted he was put on a ward before being allowed home three days later.

He is now recovering at home but will not return to his job at a floor heating company until after Christmas.

Mr Collins said: "My doctor said it was a case of when not if, and I am so lucky that when it did I was next to a cardiac nurse with an emergency response paramedic just 200 yards away."

Mrs Davey wants to raise awareness of such first-aid techniques.

She said: "Barry is an incredibly lucky man. He only had a ten per cent change of surviving – but he did.

"It is important that people know how to do CPR, as they never know when they may have to use it.

"Having a defibrillator and people trained to use them significantly increases a person's chance, and we are hoping to raise enough money to install one at the club."

The Vans shoes chain is opening a store in Bath.

The designer label is moving into a unit in Little SouthGate.

Simon Pullen, manager at the SouthGate shopping centre, confirmed the arrival.

He said: "They are in fitting out the unit at the moment. We don't have an opening date at the moment but it will be within the next few weeks as they are recruiting staff."

Molton Brown is also on the move this Christmas.

The cosmetics and toiletries chain is moving from its current location in New Bond Street to a new store in Union Street.

The store is expected to open within the next two weeks.

The Bath area has shot up a recycling league table.

Bath and North East Somerset Council made one of the biggest jumps of any local authority area in the country in the recycling and compost league table, from 100th to 50th out of 351 areas.

The Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs figures for 2011/12 revealed that in the Bath and north east Somerset area, the average amount of waste per household in a year was 467kg. The amount of waste recycled, composted or reused was 52 per cent.

Councillor David Dixon (Lib Dem, Oldfield), cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: "This is excellent news for the local taxpayer because the local taxpayer is less exposed to Landfill Tax charges and the area becomes more environmentally friendly as our carbon footprint is reduced.

"There is more that can be done. We estimate that around half of households still do not use their food recycling containers."

The council said the reason it did not move higher up the league table is because it has kept its weekly bin collections.

Christmas has well and truly begun in Bath this week.

Today the city's Christmas Market will open with 140 wooden chalets lining the streets around the abbey, while tomorrow sees the launch of an ice rink in Royal Victoria Park.

For the first time the market, where traders sell an array of handmade gifts, decorations and food items, will continue along Bath Street and have a presence inside Milsom Place. The market will be open daily until Sunday, December 9.

To mark the opening of the market, a lantern procession will take place at 5pm today, starting at the Holburne Museum which organises it and continuing through the city centre before finishing at Parade Gardens.

Supported by the Cobalt Trust and Bath Tourism Plus, workshops have been held in which local children and students at City of Bath College were invited to the Holburne to make their own lanterns based on the museum's ceramic collection.

Tonight visitors to the market will also get to enjoy Transient Graffiti, a project which will involve illustrations being projected on to the front of Bath Abbey and the Holburne. The projections have been produced by three local community groups in conjunction with award-winning digital media company, Suited and Booted.

Animators Elle Farnham and Bafta-award winner Emma Lazenby have been hosting workshops with the Holburne Association of Homeless Artists, Action On Hearing Loss educational day services and Bath and North East Somerset Council's youth services to design and produce the final animations.

Meanwhile, two tennis courts at the park have been transformed into an ice rink, with a café styled as a Bavarian log cabin, which will serve hot mulled cider and baked panettone.

Simon Smith, director of Excel Tennis, which is running the new attraction, said online bookings were already filling up many of the sessions.

He said: "We have been planning this for over two years now and it has been a monster project to try and get off the ground. We have had a huge number of setbacks and problems to overcome and to see it finally come to fruition is really gratifying. What's more, the support and enthusiasm we have received from people in Bath has been fantastic and we really appreciate it. We hope it can be an event for all of Bath to enjoy and welcome back again next year."

Bath on Ice will be open daily from 10am, until January 6. For further details and to book online visit www.bathonice.com or phone 07583 258688

For more information on the city's Christmas events, www.bathatchristmas.co.uk.

For Hattie Knight, the Bell is in her blood.

The 22-year-old still remembers drinking hot chocolate at the pub on her seventh birthday, while a band playing there struck up Happy Birthday.

Her cousin is the bar manager and her dad has DJ-ed at the pub, which she describes as "a safe haven".

Now the former Ralph Allen School pupil is making a film about the pub to capture its unique spirit, which will be given to any new owner.

Hattie, who is a freelance film-maker, is working with former schoolmate Alex Vissaridis on the project, called Saved by the Bell.

Hattie said: "I have been going there since I was born. To me, it's not just a pub. It's a bubble of creativity and a safe haven – like a second home."

She is currently working in Leeds and added: "When I'm in the Bell, it just makes me feel like I'm properly home."

She said their worst fear was that the pub would lose its soul.

"My fear is that it will be bought by someone who doesn't care about or realise how special it is. So many pubs have just become gastropubs."

The duo, who met at St Mary's RC Primary School in Weston, will also be organising T-shirts with their campaign logo on, and plan a screening when the film is completed early next year.

Hattie, who said it was crucial that Mr Wood was not "painted as the bad guy", added: "I don't think there's a single person who wants the Bell to change."

The pair's desire to preserve the Bell in its current form is echoed by Walcot Street businessman Martin Tracy, who launched his Framing Workshop store around the time that Mr Wood bought the pub.

He said: "I have spent many a happy hour in there. I hope whoever takes it on keeps it the same. The great thing about the Bell is that everyone is accepted there – no one ever bats an eyelid. Life is never too serious there."

Hattie and Alex are keen to get old footage and pictures of the pub, and material can be left with Gary at the bar, or emailed to savedbythe bellfilm@hotmail.co.uk.

One of Bath's most distinctive pubs is being put up for sale by its owner of 23 years.

Now regulars at the Bell Inn in Walcot Street are being urged to consider buying the pub, which is on the market for £925,000, themselves.

Owner Ian Wood says his heart is no longer in running the Bell, but he says he will not sell "the best pub in the world" to someone who will run it in a "soulless corporate way".

The Bell developed out of an 18th-century coaching inn and has a regional reputation for its real ales, live music and independent spirit.

Staff were told by Mr Wood last week that he was selling up, and in a message on Facebook, he said: "I am very proud of the eclectic team of people who make this pub so special. There is such a great feeling of community and such humour, I will really miss the place, it is by far the best pub in the world. It is an institution, thank you all for making it so special.

"Owning a pub like this has been the fulfilment of a dream, but this dream I was having many years ago. I now have new dreams and a new direction, and my heart is not in it any more."

This week, he posted a second message in a bid to reassure customers worried that the pub's unique character could be threatened.

He said there had been a lot of interest from "sympathetic people" and pledged: "I'm not going to sell up to someone I believe is going to run the pub in that soulless corporate way we know sucks, but having said that when I have sold up it is out of my hands."

He added one option was for the customers to buy it, with a limited company owning the freehold, shares sold and a salaried director to run the pub.

"That all sounds easy but it would really need someone with some energy and balls to stand up and to organise it. Someone with the skills needed for herding cats would be good, it would be quite an achievement."

The three-storey pub is being marketed by city firm James A Baker, which says it expects "significant interest".

A spokesman said: "The Bell Inn offers a rare and exciting opportunity to purchase a popular freehold pub in the centre of Bath."

Meanwhile, another city pub is under new management.

The New Westhall in Upper Bristol Road has been taken over by Banwell House, which also owns pubs in Trowbridge, Chapsmanlade and Holcombe, and manages two others.

It has been rebranded as the Victoria Pub and Kitchen and will reopen next Friday.

Banwell House boss Toby Brett said: "The New Westhall is a great-sized site in a great location. It just needed to direct itself towards the target demographic of the area."

The bar has been moved and a "theatre kitchen" installed, allowing customers to see their food being prepared.

Mr Brett said he was aware that other pubs in the city had the name Victoria in their titles but still felt it was the right choice.

Local businesses are being given the chance by Bath & North East Somerset Council and Keynsham regeneration construction partners Willmott Dixon to find out about future tender opportunities for a range of services that are required to complete the project.

The £34 million scheme will need a range of trades people to help deliver the new retail space, library, community space, and low carbon Council offices. A Meet the Buyer Event will be held at Somerdale Lodge, Fry Club, Keynsham, BS31 2AU, 4th December 2012, 8.30am – 10.30am, although local businesses who wish to attend need to let the Council know by Friday 30th November.

Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib-Dem), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said, "We want as much local involvement in the regeneration of Keynsham as possible which is why Bath & North East Somerset Council and Willmott Dixon want local businesses to come forward and attend this event. There are many opportunities available for all sorts of local businesses to play a part in this landmark project."

Neal Stephens, Managing Director for Willmott Dixon in the South West, said, "We need many different subcontractors with a wide range of skills. By sourcing our materials and using local contractors wherever possible there is considerable benefit for the local community during the construction phase which runs all the way until Autumn 2014."

Willmott Dixon is especially interested in speaking to local businesses involved in:

• Steel fixers;
• Earthworks;
• Plant supply;
• Concrete supply;
• Decoration;
• Fire protection;
• Internal/ External Signage;
• Ceramic tiling;
• Floor finishes;
• Masonry;
• Carpentry & joinery;
• Secondary steel;
• Landscaping;
• Commercial cleaning;
• Office furniture;
• External street furniture;
• Local nurseries for plant supply.

To reserve a place email regen_keynsham@bathnes.gov.uk or call 01225 477504.

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A project for the construction of a new 30 pupil Reception year classroom designed and overseen by Bath & North East Somerset Council has won an award for the quality of its building design.

The project recently won a Green Apple Environment Award in the national campaign to find Britain's greenest companies, councils and communities competing against more than 500 other nominations. The award was presented to the Council at a reception ceremony in the House of Commons.

Councillor Dine Romero (Lib-Dem, Southdown), Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Youth, said, "Bathampton is one of our most recent improvements to school buildings in the district. Bath & North East Somerset Council has worked hard with to develop a project that will benefit pupils, teachers, and the community for many, many years.

"Everyone is delighted that the quality of the project has been recognised both nationally and regionally by these prestigious awards judged by industry experts."

The Green Apple Awards began in 1994 and have become established as the country's major recognition for environmental endeavour among companies, councils, communities and countries. 

The awards are organised by The Green Organisation, an independent, non-political, non-activist, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising and promoting environmental best practice. Judges for the Green Apple Awards are drawn from the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institution for Wastes Management and other independent bodies.

Linda Fursland, Chair of Governors at Bathampton Primary School, added, "We are all thrilled to have a wonderful new building with more space for children to experience different types of learning. When you walk in the room you can instantly see so many interesting things our children can do. Our new classroom is a really child-friendly environment."

The Council's work will be included in The Green Book, the leading international work of reference on environmental best practice, so that others around the world can follow their example and learn from their experience.

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