'Hosepipe ban' and 'Britain's favourite path'

News imagePA A hand holding a hosepipe gunPA
Bristol Water has issued its first hosepipe ban in decades

Here's our weekly roundup of stories from across local websites in the West of England.

What have been the big stories in the West this week?

More than a million people in Bristol and the surrounding area who are supplied with drinking water by Bristol Water are now under a hose pipe ban for the first time in 50 years following the months-long drought.

A mum and her two children lost all of their belongings after their home in Tredworth caught fire. Gloucestershire Live said a fire started in their garden and quickly spread during the fifth heatwave of the summer.

South West Ambulance Service paid tribute to one of their longest-serving members of staff, who joined as an "ambulance man" before paramedics existed. Roland "Roly" Revell has served in ambulances in Salisbury for 50 years and has just retired.

Traders at Broadmead's Christmas market in Bristol will have to pay out £10,000 to rent a chalet this festive season. Bristol Live says they are also banned from displaying tinsel or playing music.

And the Somerset Leveller says a section of the Strawberry Line path near Winscombe, Somerset, has won the title of Britain's Favourite Path 2026.

Top five local stories for the BBC in the West

Something longer to read

From Sunday 30 August, some major changes will be made to the bus routes in Bristol City Centre.

This will be the biggest change to the city centre's bus routes in years, affecting 25 different services.

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