POLICE and trading standards officers in Lincolnshire are stepping up warnings about potentially deadly counterfeit alcohol that may find its way into pubs and off-licences.

The BBC East Midlands programme Inside Out revealed the back-street industry producing fake vodka is getting so ‘clever’ at the game that even landlords can’t tell the good from the bad.

In one case, fakers used the same glass bottles as the legitimate maker – and the booze had copycat labels produced by professional printers in Eastern Europe.

County police have seized fake booze from outlets around the county – but not so far in Spalding.

Dr Ravindranath Sant, a consultant in accident and emergency medicine at Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital, said doctors there are on the lookout for patients with symptoms from drinking counterfeit alcohol.

He said typically the counterfeiters boost the alcohol content by using anti-freeze, methanol or both.

Dr Sant said: “Just 10ml of pure methanol can cause blindness and 30ml has resulted in death.”

Police say fake alcohol is being offered to pubs in branded bottles at around 20p less than the genuine article and landlords may have little reason to suspect it is counterfeit.

Senior trading standards officer Emma Milligan said: “Bottles we have seized in the past have contained toxic chemicals used in cleaning products that can cause serious harm, including permanent liver damage, blindness and even death.

“Look out for tell-tale signs like poor quality labelling, sediment in spirits, a loose cap, lack of UK duty stamps and a price that seems to good to be true.”

l If you spot any suspect alcohol, contact police on 0300 111 0300 or trading standards on 01522 782341.

FREE engraving events to protect motorists against theft have been hailed as a success by South Holland’s police officers.

Almost 80 drivers took advantage of the scheme organised by Lincolnshire Police to mark catalytic convertors, which have become a target for thieves.

Four events were held throughout South Holland, with officers teaming up with Leeson’s and Tear’s garages in Sutton Bridge, Bush Tyres in Spalding and Rylatt Ford in Pinchbeck.

Eighteen motorists visited Leeson’s, while 17 made the trip to Tears. Officers at Bush Tyres marked 21 catalytic convertors, while a further 22 were done at Rylatt Ford.

The service was free and was offered via a coupon published in the Lincolnshire Free Press and Spalding Guardian.

Sgt Stuart Brotherton said: “I am encouraged by the number of members of the public who have responded to this initiative and took the opportunity for free marking. This will hopefully serve as a deterrent to would-be thieves.

“I took a number of calls asking if the initiative would be repeated as many were not able to accommodate the dates given. With the support of local garages I hope to repeat this in the next couple of months.”

Starting a new career in your 50s is never easy, but Spalding man Alan Jesson came up with an idea that has already earned him recognition in business awards

RECYCLING is something that Alan Jesson knows plenty about, having changed direction after a 30-year police career to a business involved in putting garden waste to good use.

Alan (52), of Balmoral Avenue in Spalding, retired as a detective constable with Lincolnshire Police because of ill health just before he completed his 30 years. He suffers from depression, and as he puts it: “I needed a job that took me away from that kind of environment.”

When people over a certain age leave work, for whatever reason, Alan believes there is a danger they will feel they are “on the scrap heap” but he has demonstrated that doesn’t have to be the case.

“If you think outside the box you don’t have to be on the scrap heap,” he said. “If you are able to, the work is out there. There is a lot of work out there, you just have to find it.

“I suffer with depression but if you keep going with it and you have something to occupy your mind, you don’t have to think you are finished. You can make a success of your life. You can recycle yourself.”

Alan’s eureka momement arrived, appropriately enough, when he was sitting in the queue at the West Marsh Road recycling facility, watching people struggle to lift their bags of garden waste from their car boots to the recycling points.

After carrying out research that demonstrated many people were either unwilling or unable to take their own garden waste to the recycling point, Alan launched his own business – Green2Go, a weekly garden waste collection service.

The collections have only been going for six months but already the business has earned recognition. Green2Go was one of three local firms to reach the final round of the Businesses Accelerator campaign promoted by local newspapers all over the country and backed by Prime Minister David Cameron and Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meaden. Local winners will receive free advertising with the Spalding Guardian as well as expert mentoring over the same period.

Green2Go is already helping between 300 and 350 households deal with garden waste and has taken about 300 tonnes of waste to recycling rather than landfill in the last six months. It’s for this reason the scheme has the support of the district council, always looking to reduce its landfill tax bill.

Alan explains that his clients pay £3 for a sturdy, green polypropylene bag that lasts two years and is itself recyclable, although people may choose to buy plastic bags, a less environmentally friendly option. The bag is put out on a pre-arranged day and collected by Alan or one of his team, for £1.40. His clients may also need help with gardening jobs, and Alan offers a range of garden services, including tree surgery, garden maintenance and clearance.

Trucks are filled with collected garden waste and taken to Organic Recycling Ltd at Crowland, where it is turned into compost and sold to nurseries and other growers.

The Green2Go scheme saves waste going to landfill – where it will end up if people choose to buy South Holland District Council’s garden waste bags at £1.50 a time. It saves lots of individual cars making the trip to the recycling centre, rather than one large truck. And it helps people who would otherwise struggle to deal with their waste – or who are unwilling to fill a clean car with garden rubbish.

It is also a personal service, and Alan says: “We are happy to make sure that everyone can use the service by assisting with retrieving bags. I end up hearing about all their medical complaints.”

Visit www.Green2goUK.co.uk or contact Alan on 07584 177072.

• Share stories of personal brushes with Royalty with Jean Hodge at jean.hodge@jpress.co.uk or telephone 01775 765443.

ROBERT Bulbrook hadn’t even got back to his front door when someone pulled up in a car to say they wanted to buy the refurbished vacuum cleaner he had just put out at the front of his house.

“After that we could see there was a clear market for it and we have grown and grown and grown,” says Robert, who is partner with his wife Karen and sons Craig (23) and Ashley (21) in BB Dyson Specialist.

The family was living in Whaplode and the two boys were struggling to find permanent work when Robert began “tinkering” with secondhand Dysons to bring in a little extra cash. Over the course of the next two years, the number of refurbished Dysons sold outside their home grew to about 20 a week, which kept Craig and Ashley usefully occupied while Robert continued with his full-time job, helping them at weekends.

Their secondhand vacuum cleaners were becoming so popular that by late 2009 Robert took the decision to give up work and the business was moved to their current site, at Unit 1, Station Street, Holbeach, which offers plenty of space for a showroom, workshops and storage space for secondhand cleaners waiting to be repaired.

However, Robert was keen to have official manufacturer backing and so successfully sought to become registered as an independent Dyson dealer so he could sell new machines alongside the refurbished models.

Robert admits: “Business had tripled since we moved here, on service, sales, repairs and parts. I would think we are selling 30 machines a week new and secondhand from the showroom and probably 30 to 40 off the internet.”

That kind of business acumen is what helped BB Dyson Specialist reach the finals of the Businesses Accelerator campaign promoted by local newspapers all over the country and backed by Prime Minister David Cameron and Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meaden. Local winners will receive free advertising with the Spalding Guardian as well as expert mentoring over the same period.

The business helps to tackle an important environmental issue – the amount of waste products going to landfill. BB Dyson Specialist takes old machines in part exchange for new models as well as buying them on the secondary market especially to refurbish and sell in the showroom.

“It may not look like new, but it operates the same as it did when it was new,” says Robert. “Last year we sold something like 2,500 secondhand machines so that is 2,500 Dysons we stopped going to landfill.”

The business has been built on being able to give the right advice to customers and having everything in stock, and Robert says proudly: “We do what nobody else can do, keep everything in stock and advise customers before we start talking about prices, even down to talking about their back or wrist problems.

“The other important thing is when we were in Whaplode I was the only one in the family in full-time employment and the business now employs myself, Karen as office manager, and my two sons, and we are so busy we have taken on Ben Lee who is employed full time in the workshop.

“We have secured the business here and we are now going to secure it further by looking for our next project.”

A FAMILY is calling for urgent action to tackle the problem of bins opposite their homes which have become a magnet for fly-tipping and fire-starters.

Red food waste bins left in Chapel Lane by a restaurant which backs on to the passage have been left overflowing, which Peter Bird says is making life miserable for him and his family.

The bins, which are situated opposite Mr Bird’s front door, have been set alight on a number of occasions, frightening his 14-year-old daughter whose bedroom looks out over the passage.

They have also attracted fly-tippers – Mr Bird opened his curtains on Tuesday morning to find a large red sofa propped against the bins.

It was quickly removed by South Holland District Council, but Coun Roger Gambba-Jones, whose portfolio includes waste management, has said the fly-tipping was symptomatic of a wider problem of “rubbish attrracting more rubbish”.

He said: “The family have my sympathy because it can’t be very nice to have this problem outside your front door.

“It comes back to what I have said before that we all have a responsibility for keeping our public areas free of litter because anything left out just gives the impression that no-one cares and that invites other people to dump their rubbish.”

A spokesman for South Holland District Council said a fire officer has visited the site and asked the food business to remove the waste to ensure escape routes are kept clear.

He said: “All businesses are responsible for making sure their own waste is collected and is not allowed to accumulate.

“We are in receipt of information which suggests there may have been a complication with the normal waste collection in this instance and the food business is working to make sure this is resolved as quickly as possible.”

Mr Bird says the waste food bins have been in the passage for the past three weeks, but it is a reoccurring problem.

He said: “In the past there have been four or five fires, including two in one night, in the bins, but they still persist in putting their rubbish there.

“We have lived here for a long time but the problem has never been as bad as it is now. It is getting to the stage where my daughter is frightened to go to sleep.”

Holocaust survivor Harry Bibring visited Long Sutton on Monday to deliver a presentation of his experiences as an Austrian Jew during World War Two.

Peele Community College students from Years 9 to 11 attended thought-provoking workshops run by Garry Clarkson, of the Holocaust Educational Trust.

A selected 15 students then listened to Mr Bibring’s vivid and moving recollections of the impact the Holocaust had on his close-knit family life and community.

Year 10 student Jade Mace said: “Harry’s story was heart-warming and it made me feel lucky that I have the freedom in life that I have.

“His message to us was clear – it is up to our generation to not allow this kind of discrimination to ever happen again.”

Headteacher Ian Charles, said students would undoubtedly reflect on their own values and communities as a result.

A SECOND Norfolk council – Great Yarmouth Borough – looks set to join the shared senior management team for South Holland and Breckland district councils.

Talks began in September, a year after South Holland chief executive Terry Huggins was appointed to head the newly merged management team for his own authority and Breckland.

Council leader Gary Porter says the three-way merger could save South Holland £100,000 a year.

All three councils will vote on the plans at meetings on March 7, 8 and 9 and all three must agree before a merger can go ahead.

It’s not certain that Mr Huggins will keep the top job, but Coun Porter says the Yarmouth chief executive is already due to step down in a couple of months’ time.

A South Holland District Council spokesman said a confidential report will be debated by councillors here on March 7 with the press and public excluded “because it will involve staff”, but details will be released afterwards.

KEY opponents to the closure of Spalding’s Chappell Centre will speak to county councillors at a meeting in Lincoln later this month.

Maurice Chappell and Michael Lee will address the Adult Scrutiny Committee on February 28 after winning massive backing for their campaign to save the Pinchbeck Road centre which caters for more than 50 vulnerable adults.

More than 5,800 people signed their petition, South Holland and The Deepings MP John Hayes declared the Chappell Centre will not close on his “watch” and Churches Together in Spalding and District aired “grave concerns” about the county’s proposal.

Mr Chappell said: “When we go to Lincoln, we will be highlighting the importance of The Chappell Centre and pointing out it is not just a lifeline to the users but to their families as well.

“Some parents have got severely handicapped sons and daughters and they need the correct facilities, including sensory rooms.”

Mr Chappell (83) has a daughter at The Chappell Centre and the building was named after his father who gave distinguished public service over many years as a councillor.

The Government is switching disabled people to personal budgets – so they buy their own care – but families of service users say the budgets will be useless if Lincolnshire shuts its adult social care day centres.

Council plans include closure of 29 similar centres around the county and withdrawing funding of respite care places at Cedar House, next door to the Chappell Centre, and Swallow Lodge, in North Hykham.

The council executive meets on March 6 to make a final decision on the closure plans.

SPALDING Grammar and High schools could be among the quarter of ‘outstanding’ English schools facing re-examination as Ofsted moves its goalposts on educational standards.

A new framework for Ofsted inspections came in last month which ended regular, full-scale inspections for ‘outstanding’ schools.

But the Ofsted boss, chief inspector for schools Sir Michael Wilshaw, threw eveything back into the melting pot last week when he said: “I don’t see how you achieve outstanding status unless the quality of teaching is outstanding.”

Spalding Grammar School gained ‘outstanding’ status in its Ofsted inspection in December, but the quality of teaching was marked ‘good’.

Spalding High School could also get caught up in fresh inspections although it too is currently rated ‘outstanding’.

In the High School’s last full Ofsted inspection in 2009, almost all teaching was rated ‘outstanding’ – but the sixth form was away doing exams and, bizarrely, teaching for those students was marked ‘good’ although no lessons were observed by inspectors.

An Ofsted subject survey at the school last February for English described achievement as ‘outstanding’ but the quality of teaching ‘good’.

Grammar school headteacher Nigel Ryan was not available for comment, but High School headmaster Tim Clark believes his school is still only likely to have “health checks” rather than full inspections.

Mr Clark remains baffled about the ‘good’ score for the sixth form when lessons were not observed.

He said: “In 20 odd categories we got ‘outstanding’ and in one we got a ‘good’ – why they didn’t just leave it blank we will never know. We find it a rather odd scenario.”

Other big changes on the cards are so-called “no notice” inspections and the scrapping of the ‘satisfactory’ label, a category describing many South Holland schools, and its replacement with ‘requires improvement’.

Mr Clark said schools now get two days’ notice before inspectors come calling and there is no way they can have all the paperwork to hand if they just walk in unannounced.

But Long Sutton’s Peele Community College headteacher Ian Charles said: “I have always been in favour of ‘no notice’. I think to turn up and see a school in action is the only way to do it. People can put on a show.”

His school has just been rated ‘satisfactory’ in an Ofsted inspection in January and says the new category ‘requires improvement’ will not adequately reflect the many improvements made over the last three years.

Spalding headteacher Heather Beeken, of St Paul’s Community Primary School, said her school is rated ‘satisfactory’ and the new ‘requires improvement’ label will be “a very poor morale boost for parents and staff”.

WORK could begin on the £500m expansion of Spalding power station next January.

But InterGen, which is behind the plans, has cautioned that the future of the plan is subject to market conditions as talks continue to find a buyer for the extra power the bigger station would produce.

The expansion, which was given the go-ahead in November 2010, will generate an extra 900 megawatts of energy – enough to power a million homes.

As an independent generator, Intergen has to sell its output on the wholesale market or make a deal with a large supplier to buy the energy it produces.

A spokesman for the company said: “Obviously we have to believe there will be a profit in going ahead with the expansion.

“We are still in talks to come up with a deal to sell the extra energy and the plan at the moment is still to commence work in January 2013.

“We still have the arrangement with National Grid and the planning permission in place, so we are still working to that date but discussions on the commercial side are still ongoing.”

As part of that determination to press ahead with the plans, Intergen has now given the British Sugar Sports and Social Club official notice to leave its premises adjacent to the power station in West Marsh Road.

The club has been given until next January to move out and club committee members met representatives of Intergen last week to discuss their departure.

Chairman Tony Harper told the Lincolnshire Free Press the club was “in the middle of negotiations” with Intergen, but refused to comment on what those negotiations centred on.

When completed, the new extension will effectively double the size of the existing natural gas-fired power station in West Marsh Road.

Government backing for the scheme will also mean a £7.14m payment to benefit the local community.

That will include £1.6m for sports and leisure, £100,000 for Pinchbeck Parish Council, £550,00 for air quality monitoring, £500,000 to promote employment, £1.5m to provide waste heat to the Johnson Community Hospital and £1.23m to over inflation.

YOUNGSTERS had a valuable lesson in how to stay safe on the internet.

Children involved with the school council at Weston Hills Primary School viewed information from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection to improve their understanding of what to do to protect themselves.

Pupils also put their brainpower to the test with a week of problem solving and challenges to mark maths week.

Each class was set logic or number-based challenges and worked in team collecting points for their correct answers. The winning team was announced at assembly.

CRIMINALS could soon find there’s nowhere to hide in South Holland’s town centres if plans go ahead to monitor CCTV cameras 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

At the moment cameras feed footage to a control room at Spalding Police Station which is manned by volunteers.

However, South Holland District Council is in the process of looking at ways to improve the service by having round-the-clock surveillance not dependent on volunteers.

Options include joining forces with neighbouring councils such as Boston Borough to provide a 24-hour monitoring centre or buying in the service from a private company.

In both cases it is possible the CCTV cameras in the district’s town centres including Spalding, Long Sutton and Holbeach could be upgraded to ones that rotate and are able to follow moving targets, which could mean fewer are needed to cover a wider area.

Coun Nick Worth, who is working on the project, said: “We have had a company from Derbyshire give us a quote for CCTV cameras that can be monitored 24/7 as opposed to now where they are monitored by volunteers.

“I went a couple of months ago and looked at one of their monitoring facilities in Thetford. Because it’s web-based they can monitor the cameras from anywhere in the country, or from a laptop computer, but they have told us that our current cameras are not good enough so now we are getting other quotes.

“This could involve with working with neighbouring authorities such as Boston, which has already said it is keen to work with others to help save costs.”

Coun Worth said he is now working on putting his findings in a report which will be presented to South Holland District Council’s cabinet within the next couple of months.

In the meantime Boston Borough Council is looking at changing its CCTV service to help slash £70,000 from its budget.

The council will discuss whether it can take on the monitoring of two other districts’ cameras for a fee, or pay to have its 72 cameras monitored elsewhere.

NETWORK Rail blamed a signalling fault for level crossing barriers remaining down for 11 or more minutes this morning (Wednesday) in Winsover Road, Spalding.

A spokesman said the system wrongly identified that a train was waiting and the gates were kept in the down position as a safety precaution while checks were made.

She apologised to motorists whose journeys were delayed.

One commuter told us she waited for more than ten minutes shortly before 9am and turned her car around to find another route to work.

PARAMEDICS have branded a Spalding teenager “disgusting” after he stole from an ambulance while they treated an elderly woman.

The two-man crew was forced to pin Levi Matthews to the ground – and wait for him to be sprayed with CS gas by police – when he turned violent after being caught inside the vehicle.

Matthews (18) was told he was “very lucky” not to be going to prison as he was sentenced at Spalding Magistrates’ Court.

He was given a 12-month community order with a supervision requirement and told he will be under curfew from 7pm-7am for four months.

Matthews pleaded guilty to the theft of a bottle of Entonox pain relief gas, criminal damage to an ambulance and resisting a police constable at a hearing in January.

On Thursday, the court heard how the ambulance crew had been called to help a woman who had suffered a shoulder injury in a fall on January 13.

Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said they were inside the woman’s house when they heard the ambulance door slam and saw someone moving around inside.

One of the crew went outside and reported seeing someone ride off on a bike, leaving someone else still inside the ambulance.

Miss Ritson told how Matthews, of Balmoral Avenue, came out of the side door of the ambulance and a bottle of Entonox fell out of his jacket and rolled down the road.

She said he became increasingly abusive after being taken to the ground to stop him fleeing the scene.

“The police arrived a few minutes later,” she said. “Upon seeing this the man became angrier and violent.”

Miss Ritson said CS spray was used to subdue Matthews, but one of the ambulance crew was also hit.

She read a statement from one of the crew members who said it was “disgusting”.

It continued: “He was putting other people’s lives at risk because the ambulance was out of action while the damage was repaired.”

A metal bar had been damaged on a door during the incident.

Rachel Stevens, defending, said the incident was a “bit of horseplay that had got out of control”.

“He has been left in no doubt he has to change his ways,” she said. “What’s particularly frightening is that he remembers very little about it, to have got so drunk to have jeopardised other people’s lives.

“It’s been a very sobering experience for him.”

Miss Stevens said Matthews had expressed concern for the elderly woman.

Sentencing, magistrate Madge Marshall-Brown said: “We are used to seeing you in the youth court but we did not want to see you in this court.

She added: “These are public servants doing their job. They do not need you harassing them.”

POLICE temporarily closed Foxes Low Road in Holbeach this morning while investigating the scene of an accident where a vehicle left the road.

A man and a teenager were hurt in the crash that happened in the early hours of today and went to hospital.

A police spokesman confirmed officers were following the car at the time but said it was not a ‘chase’.

TRADERS fear Spalding town centre is a “dinosaur about to become extinct” as more dire predictions abound about the future of Britain’s high streets.

One shopkeeper has said she is barely breaking even and could be forced to close unless shoppers change their habits and start to support the town centre, while another says rents have not fallen during the recession to support struggling shops.

However, Phil Scarlett, of Spalding and District Chamber of Trade, has disputed that, saying Spalding is doing much better than other towns of similar size as it has a high number of shops owned by private landlords who have been flexible on rents to help businesses through hard times.

But Mr Scarlett has warned that 2012 is still likely to be as challenging as 2011 for those fighting to survive.

Denise Wales, of Bargain Books in Sheep Market, is one of those fearing her business could be on its last legs.

She says some days Spalding is like a ghost town as empty shops mean people feel there is little reason to visit.

Currently about a dozen shops in the town centre stand empty, many having remained so for many months.

Mrs Wales said: “I don’t want to close. I love my shop and my customers but if it gets to the point where I am losing money then I will have no choice.

“People have got to understand that they need to support us, or they will lose us.”

Pete Williams, landlord of the Punchbowl pub in New Road, believes there needs to be more incentives for people to open shops in the town centre and for shoppers to come in – including providing free parking close to the shops.

He said: “Spalding town centre is a dinosaur which is about to become extinct. House prices have come down during the recession, but shop rents haven’t.

“Surely it would be better to have someone in there providing a service than it standing empty, which is certainly not helping the town.”

THREE generations of a Spalding family will appear in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in London.

Spalding Marching Ambassadors bandmaster Jim Bright (69), his daughter Catherine Bright (46) and grandson Tristan Bright (23) will be joined by fellow band members Annabel Newell and Carol Felts.

For the ‘famous five’ it will be the biggest gig of their lifetimes with 80,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium and an estimated worldwide TV audience of more than four billion.

The Ambassadors had two auditions in London film studios and from May they will begin a series of 30 rehearsals in the run-up to the July 27 opening ceremony.

Jim said the games organisers originally asked for 10,000 people to come forward, but he has no idea how many will actually be involved in the ceremonies because everything is shrouded in secrecy.

The Ambassadors assume they will play percussion instruments but even that is a secret for now.

Jim has been with the band for about 32 years and is delighted to have been chosen, but says his one disappointment is that some members are under 18 and too young to apply.

The semi-retired lorry driver said: “For three members of one family to be selected is quite an achievement and I am quite proud, not so much for myself as I am for my daughter and grandson.”

Tristan, a duty manager for Marks and Spencer at Springfields, has been playing instruments since he could walk, starting off with a plastic trumpet.

He failed to get a ticket to the games but has no regrets.

Tristan says: “You can’t get a better ‘seat’ than being in the middle of the stadium. I think I have got the best ticket.”

Catherine said: “It still hasn’t totally sunk in yet. It probably won’t until I walk out in that arena on the day.”

l Spalding Marching Ambassadors will drum the Olympic flame through Spalding on July 4.

They are now busy fundraising to help pay the cost of attending games rehearsals as well as appealing for new members.

Anyone interested in joining can contact Mr Bright on 01775 723087. Band rehearsals are held on Wednesday nights at the United Reformed Church Hall in Pincbeck Road, Spalding.

FOREIGN shopkeepers will be made to stick to the letter of the law over their shop windows after accusations there is “one rule for them and another for us”.

South Holland District Council had come under fire from some town traders who claim they are made to abide by stringent rules relating to how they premises look, while many of the new Eastern European mini-markets flagrantly flout the regulations by plastering stickers across their windows.

But portfolio holder for operational planning Coun Roger Gambba-Jones vehemently denies the criticism levelled at the council, saying: “Everyone is treated the same.”

He claims many of the foreign-run shops break the rules “out of ignorance rather than deceit” and says often all it takes is a quiet word with the management to rectify the problem.

He said: “It was raised with the council that nothing appeared to being done about these shops that put up these signs which aren’t in keeping with the local street scene while being heavy handed with other British-run businesses.

“That may have been the perception but I don’t agree with it. We are talking to the individuals and trying to educate them about the process and what they should and shouldn’t be doing.

“We would just urge people to give us a chance as these things take time. If these shops fail to act appropriately we will follow the proper process to bring them into line in a fair and professional way.”

One of those who raised the issue was Spalding pub landlord Pete Williams, of the Punchbowl in New Road, who said many of the shop windows were “garish and tacky” and dragged down the overall appearance of the town centre.

And he said many of the worst offenders were “shooting themselves in the foot” as it made them unattractive to many shoppers who would probably otherwise spend money inside.

Mr Williams said: “I think it would be of huge benefit to them if people could see inside rather than have blacked out windows because it puts people off going in when actually the produce they sell is fantastic.”

THE Little Chef at Long Sutton is one of those earmarked for closure in the restructuring of the group.

In January, Little Chef announced plans to close a number of its sites that were trading unprofitably as part of a broader review of lease agreements as rents on many sites were said to be well above market levels.

However, the Little Chef at Sutterton is not on the list of scheduled closures.

A PENSIONER has died almost two weeks after being involved in a car crash at Crowland.

Jill Cooke (78), of Martin’s Court, Werrington, died in Peterborough Hospital on February 8.

She was involved in a crash on the A16 Crowland bypass near the junction with the B1166 at 5.45pm on January 26.

Mrs Cooke was travelling in the front passenger seat of a blue Rover which was involved in a crash with a green Toyota Yaris.

She was taken to hospital where she died 13 days later.

Both drivers were also treated at the hospital after the crash but were discharged on the same day.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the collision or who has information which could help with the investigation to contact the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855.