News in Richmond

German supermarket chain Lidl has announced it is looking to double its total number of UK stores, including eight new sites in Richmond Borough.

The chain, whose Head Office is down the road in Wimbledon, is interested in opening 99 more stores in South London alone and is on the hunt for suitable spaces.

Supermodel David Gandy has joined dog lovers in trying to overturn a ban on allowing their pets to run free in Richmond and Bushy parks.

New rules require dogs to be kept on their leads at all times in the two Royal Parks for 13 weeks from May 4 until August 2.

The Royal Parks today issued a new appeal to visitors to Bushy Park and Richmond Park to safely dispose of their litter after shocking photos emerged of a young deer with a plastic bag tangled in its antlers which later had to be put down.

A Nub News reader, who witnessed the incident, said: "A friend and I were walking and at the Teddington end of Chestnut Avenue. This poor deer ran past us with the blue bag on its tiny horns. It was desperate to get rid of them and the others were running away because they were terrified of it.

A post by The Royal Parks...

Over the next few months around 300 deer will be born across Richmond and Bushy Parks. Giving birth is a vulnerable time for any animal, but with both parks attracting millions of visitors every year, it's magnified for these herds of wild, free-roaming deer.

Everyone has found the last fifteen months tough and we're all desperate to get life and business back to normal.

To help support the full return of the high street, Nub News has been running a regular UP CLOSE WITH feature where we profile local businesses.

A Richmond cocktail bar has announced it its plans for the grand post-lockdown reopening on Monday.

The team at So Bar Richmond have been waiting a long time to get back behind the bar and have made several changes to follow lockdown regulations.

Children's author Sir Michael Morpurgo has written a touching poem about the plight of the minke whale which became stuck in Richmond and Teddington Locks and sadly lost its battle for life earlier this week.

You can read the RNLI's poignant tribute to the whale here.

This week in aid of Mental Health Awareness week we will be publishing a series of seasonal recipes with foraged ingredients by local nutritional therapist Belinda Blake.

Read more about Belinda and the benefits of foraging for mental health here: Forage your way to improved wellbeing this Mental Health Awareness Week.

We are sad to report that the decision has been made to put down the young minke whale that swam up to Teddington lock from Richmond in the early hours of this morning.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue said: The juvenile minke whale in the River Thames at Teddington Weir has deteriorated rapidly over the last couple of hours of monitoring by BDMLR Medics and representatives from Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, based at the Zoological Society of London.

Hundreds of hopeful whale-watchers lined the River Thames at Teddington today as they tried to catch a glimpse of the whale, which had moved up river from Isleworth instead of making its way back out to sea.

TV film crews and a news helicopter were on the scene as the four metre baby minke whale moved between the Teddington Weir and the river next to the Wharf restaurant.