内容摘要：meant the state pension had risen by around £900 compared with a year ago.

meant the state pension had risen by around £900 compared with a year ago.

Sing and Smile: These pensioners from Elizabeth House in Swindon were really in the spirit of Christmas enjoying some festive cheer with others at Coleview Community Centre.On Sunday, Salisbury Cathedral celebrated a long-standing tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages, where one of the choristers was chosen to be Chorister Bishop.

Senior chorister Emmie Piper delivered a sermon during Evensong, wearing replica robes and borrowing the Right Rev Stephen Lake, Bishop of Salisbury's staff and mitre for the ceremony.Red breast: This robin was spotted in Nightingale Wood, South Marston. Despite common belief, a robin's chest colour is actually orange; a word that was only imported during Tudor times, along with the fruit, by which time he was already called the robin red breast.Stained glass: A new window with the theme of "seeing", and fired by glaziers at Salisbury Cathedral, has been unveiled in St John's Church in Tisbury.

Temperatures have plunged across the county this week as people have been enjoying the last few days of their festive breaks.With the mercury dropping, gritters have been out in force keeping our roads safe.

The colder, brighter temperatures have also given budding photographers the opportunity to capture stunning sunsets and sunrises.

Brrrrr: Temperatures plunged to -5C overnight on Thursday as an amber health alert for cold weather was issued for the area.that the total number of unprocessed Pension Credit applications in the end of week commencing 18th November was 91,075.

Not all applications, once processed, are successful and get awarded Pension Credit - around 45% of applications processed since 29 July have been approved.BBC Verify heard from Simon Livingston in Brighton, who told us he had applied for Pension Credit for his mother in March and was still waiting for a decision.

And Jackie Newberry in Hook in Hampshire applied for Pension Credit for her 95-year-old mother Ena in February and was told she would get a decision by mid-March.After chasing several times she was finally told her claim had been approved in early December.