The Liberal Democrats are urging council bosses to secure the long-term future of the Debenhams department store in Gloucester.

The nationwide chain is planning on closing 50 stores across the country over the next five years, which will also mean the loss of 4,000 jobs.

It is not known whether the store in King's Square, which has been open since 1973, is part of those plans.

The Liberal Democrats are demanding more police officers on the beat in Gloucester.

The call has been made in a motion to the city council which is set to be debated on March 21.

Councillors will be asked to lobby the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Chief Constable, the city MP and the Home Secretary to increase funding for Gloucestershire Police to allow for expansion of neighbourhood policing and to put more bobbies on the beat.

The Liberal Democrats have announced a package of proposals aimed at reversing the decline of Gloucester City Council under the Conservatives.

The Lib Dems will put forward amendments worth £560,000 to the council's 2019/20 budget, which will be discussed by councillors on February 28.

The budget will be proposed by the Conservative administration, but Lib Dem councillors will attempt to amend it with a plan to rebuild the capacity of the council to deliver better services.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has been urged to stop a no deal Brexit and back a People's Vote during a visit to Gloucester.

Mr Hammond officially opened the new University of Gloucestershire's Business School and Growth Hub building at the Oxstalls Campus in Longlevens.

Dr Rebecca Trimnell, Lib Dem Parliamentary spokeswoman for Gloucester, said: "I am very pleased Mr Hammond visited Gloucester.

Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats have set out their proposed amendments to improve the Conservative County Council budget for 2019/20.

The Liberal Democrats have already described the Conservative Budget, with its 5% council tax rise, as "disappointing".

In response the group has revealed it's "Six to Fix" budget proposals, to be presented to a meeting of the county council on February 13.

EU citizens in Gloucester face a 100-mile mile round trip to register for settled status in post-Brexit Britain, according to the Liberal Democrats.

The Home Office has confirmed that for the duration of the trial period, until March 30, EU citizens applying to stay in the UK must either use an Android phone or travel to one of 13 'document scanning' centres instead.

Gloucester is one of the cities hardest hit by cuts to local government funding, a report says.

Think tank Centre for Cities said Gloucester saw a 23% cut in its day-to-day spending in 2017-18 compared to 2009-10.

The city is in eighth spot in the top 10 of hardest hit areas according to the report.

Liverpool and Barnsley worst hit by cuts to local government budgets, and were followed by Doncaster, Wakefield, Blackburn, Newcastle, Stoke on Trent, Gloucester, Glasgow and Slough.

Violent crime has risen by 16% in Gloucestershire in the past year, latest Home Office figures show.

And the number of homicides - including murder and manslaughter - rose from five incidents to seven in the 12 months to the end of September 2018.

Robbery went up by 17%, as did recorded sexual offences, according to the data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Gloucester's Liberal Democrat councillors are calling on the Government to set up a nationwide single-use bottle return scheme.

The UK currently recycles just 57% of the millions of plastic, glass and metal bottles sold each day with the rest ending up in landfill or as litter, polluting beaches and green areas.