Police are looking into more than 20 cases of badges being stolen from vehicles parked in the Bourne Road, Hannam Boulevard and Pennygate areas of Spalding.
The thefts happened overnight between Saturday November 30 and Sunday December 1 when also damage was caused to the bodywork of the vehicles as the badged were taken.
Anyone with information should call 101, stating incident 130 of December 1.
Two women were taken to hospital after an Audi A3 and Chevrolet Aveo collided in Donington on Sunday.
The accident happened on Bicker Road just after 12.20pm when the Audi, driven by a woman from Folkingham, and the Chevrolet collided.
Two women from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, who were passengers in the Chevrolet were treated for minor injuries at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston.
Fears vigilante gangs could take the law into their own hands are growing after a fifth attempt in the Deepings to lure young people into cars.
Police have stepped up patrols in the area, but senior youth worker Paul Hanson says there was another incident the same day as one in Deeping St James and parents are not happy.
The latest reported incident took place at around 7pm last Tuesday night.
Two men in a white van asked a 17-year-old girl to get into the vehicle in Thackers Way. The girl refused and left the area.
However, it is believed there was another incident earlier that day involving two girls who ran to Deepings Youth Centre after a man in a white van waited for them in Linchfield Road and followed them into Crowson Way.
Mr Hanson said: “They did the right thing coming to us and we called the police straight away.
“We are now warning children who attend our youth club or after school clubs to stay safe in big gangs or get their parents to give them a lift.
“Our biggest concern is for the 11 to 13-year-olds because they are more likely to panic.
“These attempts to lure children into cars are a parent’s worse nightmare.
“At this stage we don’t know whether the men responsible just like scaring girls or have something more sinister in mind.
“We just hope the police catch them.
“The word on the street is if they don’t residents will form vigilante gangs and go looking for them themselves. That is the concern.”
Reports of approaches made to young people have not been isolated to the Deepings.
Last month an 11-year-old girl was walking along Mill Drove in Bourne when a man in a black car began following her in North Street.
He sped off when a passer-by noticed what was happening and went over to see if the girl was OK.
Officers are urging parents not to panic, but to be vigilant and to give their children the usual common sense stranger danger advice.
Investigations are ongoing and anyone with any information can call Insp Mike Burnett on 101.
Big Brother could soon be watching residents in Spalding – from Boston.
Councillors are being asked to dig deep to ensure as many new cameras as possible can be activated from a state-of-the-art facility at Boston Borough Council that has been compared to the Foreign Office crisis room.
The system uses high definition cameras over a secure wireless network. Cameras can tilt and turn, giving the ability for an operator to zoom in on an incident taking place inside a shop or business.
Until now CCTV cameras in Spalding have been operated by a group of dedicated volunteers from a control room at the police station, although this has not been a 24/7 service.
Coun Nick Worth, deputy leader of South Holland District Council, addressed members of the Town Forum on Wednesday about the benefits of forming a partnership with Boston and switching to a professional system with the potential of being manned 24 hours.
Running the new cameras costs £1,135 each – £19,000 for a 24/7 service or £14,000 for 18 hours. There is £7,000 set aside in the Spalding Special Expenses account, leaving a £12,000 shortfall.
Coun Worth said: “We are asking for a contribution from designated member’s budgets to make up the shortfall. The system at Boston has already proved beneficial and there is no doubt about the value of CCTV as a deterrent to crime.”
A man has been jailed for 15 months following an explosion at Stamford and Bourne MP Nick Boles’ office.
Paul Leversidge (24), of Marquess Court, Bourne, appeared in court in Lincoln on Friday charged with having explosive substances under suspicious circumstances and having an article with intent to damage or destroy property.
The judge jailed Leversidge for 15 months, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £100 and ordered to forfeit fireworks and tape.
The incident happened at Mr Boles’ constituency office in North Street, Bourne, on June 10.
An inquest into the death of Spalding Grammar School teacher John Pratt has been opened.
The full inquest is scheduled for April 3.
Mr Pratt (28), of Regent Street, Spalding, died from multiple injuries after being hit by a train at Great Stukeley Lodge, near Huntingdon on November 28.
Residents in South Holland may think they are keeping their gifts under wraps but police are warning Christmas can mean easy pickings for opportunist thieves.
Lincolnshire Police has launched a Christmas Crime Menu to make sure property keeps safe for “starters” in the car and later when it is stored in the house.
Insp Jim Tyner said: “Christmas is a busy time of year for everyone, including criminals.
“We know, however, that a high proportion of crime is opportunistic, and can be prevented by taking some simple precautions.”
Tips for keeping property safe include:
Starter: Your car – keep gifts, sat navs and laptops out of sight. Park in well-lit locations in an attended car park and never leave a vehicle unlocked.
Main course: Your house – keep gifts out of view, ensure doors and windows are locked, never leave handbags and car keys downstairs and if you are going away consider operating lights and radios on a timer.
Dessert: Your property – Mark your property with an ultraviolet pen with your postcode, lock all bicycles and make a record of the serial number and never leave your cheque book and card unattended.
l SureStore Self Storage is offering the first ten readers who contact them free storage at their depot on King Street Industrial Street in Langtoft.
The company is offering up to 20 square feet of free present storage to lucky readers, complete with 24-hour access seven-days-a-week throughout the Christmas period for late night collections.
SureStore director Dan Hiblin said: “There’s nothing better than seeing the look of surprise and delight on the faces of the people you love on Christmas morning when they open their presents, so we want to help local residents keep their gifts safe and, more importantly, secret right up until the big day.”
If you want to make sure your presents stay under wraps, call SureStore on 01778 560693 or visit www.surestore-self-storage.co.uk
Homes in Sutton Bridge were within inches of flooding as the Nene threatened to overtop its banks on Thursday night.
River water poured through a drainage valve on West Bank, cascading down Lime Street, but Environment Agency workers put a huge sandbag on top of the valve and a line of sandbags across Lime Street.
A 10ft tidal surge – the worst in 60 years – threw a river pontoon onto its back, landing on a jetty, and Cross Keys Bridge was closed at about 8pm for half an hour as police moved in to protect around 100 sightseers who were standing on the bridge.
Riverside residents Tom and Jenny Rowe had already had their boat lifted out of the river, but the boat and its trailer were washed into the lower level of their garden.
It was their pontoon that was thrown on its back.
Tom said: “We had a catastrophic tide, a surge of approximately 10ft came up the river and engulfed everything in its path.”
Friday morning’s high tide passed off without incident, but engineers were called in to pump out the lower levels of the Victorian swing bridge.
Jenny said: “It’s the highest tide we have ever seen.”
She said the Environment Agency saved the day by sandbagging the valve and putting a line of sandbags across Lime Street, but criticised the local flood defence operations as sandbags were made available too late and should have been ready at lunchtime.
Parish council chairman John Grimwood said fellow councillor Simon Booth was given the key to a locked district council unit at teatime and sandbags were filled for residents’ doorsteps in Lime Street.
He said: “We have been asking for many years ‘where’s the key?’, ‘can we have a key?’.”
Coun Grimwood is now calling for the West Bank defences to be raised because he says the water was six inches from coming over.
He said: “There wasn’t any actual overtopping, but it was very, very close.”
l The district council is expected to comment later on the late access to its unit.
Police have issued this CCTV image of a man they are looking for in connection with the theft of cash from a shop in Bourne.
It happened at a shop in North Street on Friday when it is thought staff were distracted before the cash was taken.
Anyone with information should call 101.
A drink-driver had his licence back for only two months before he was caught over the legal limit when behind the wheel.
Antanas Januskevicius had been to a friend’s house to drown his sorrows – downing a bottle of vodka and two other drinks – because his job was coming to an end.
Shelly Wilson, prosecuting, said a member of the public called police after following Januskevicius, who was travelling at 15-20mph, from Spalding’s Monks House Lane to Akita Close.
Mrs Wilson said police found Januskevicius asleep in the car – he was unsteady on his feet when he got out and gave a reading of 86 microgrammes of alcohol in breath, almost two-and-half times the legal limit of 35mcgs.
She said he later told police he had drunk a bottle of vodka and two other alcoholic drinks.
He was last before the court in February 2012 when he was disqualified from driving for 20 months for driving with excess alcohol.
Magistrates on Thursday banned Januskevicius from driving for 40 months and gave him a year-long community order with 150 hours’ unpaid work.
He must pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
Januskevicius (37), of Harveys Close, Spalding, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.
He can cut ten months off the ban if he completes a rehabilitation course.
Solicitor Rachel Stevens, mitigating, said Januskevicius hadn’t intended driving that day and “he can’t remember making the decision to do so”.
He understood he faced a minimum three-year ban because of the previous drink-drive offence.
Probation officer Kiran Patel said Januskevicius had heard his work contract was coming to an end and decided to drown his sorrows at his friend’s house.
Mr Patel told the court: “He has only been driving for the last two months after his last disqualification.”
There were tears, laughter and cheers, but never any doubts from a Whaplode teenager and her mum that having their heads shaved for charity was worth feeling a bit chilly for.
Sammie (15) and Diane Flood have raised more than £1,000 for When You Wish Upon A Star – the charity that helps make children’s dreams come true.
The headshave took place at Abi’z hairdressers in Long Sutton on Saturday.
When You Wish Upon A Star was chosen because it is supported by Sammie’s school, the Peele Community College in Long Sutton and the Lincolnshire Co-operative, where Diane works.
The cropped locks from the pair will all be donated to the Little Princess Trust to be made into a wig for a child with cancer.
Diane, whose hair was shoulder-length, said: “We love our new look – it’s bit chilly but now we’ve a good excuse to go hat shopping.
“Before the head shave we were both a little bit nervous, but had loads of support. Friends reactions were mixed as the head shave was being done.
“There were tears, laughter and cheering, but most people said they were so proud of what we have done.
“I’m so proud of my daughter, Sammie.”
Readers can still support them by donating cash at the deli counter in the Lincolnshire Co-op in Long Sutton.
Police have arrested a 29-year-old local man in connection with suspicious incidents involving young people being approached in the Deepings.
Officers made the arrest this morning and the suspect is currently helping police with their enquiries.
Police are urging parents and young people to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity in the area. They are also urging parents to continue giving their children common sense stranger danger advice.
The tides have washed up their fair share of both good and bad fortune for the people of Sutton Bridge.
The community experienced the horrors of the 1953 floods when water swept through 80 low lying homes, but thankfully no life was lost.
There are more tales of woe connected to the sea, such as the man caught out by the tides when crossing the marshes – whose ghost is reputed to haunt the area – and, of course, the story of King John’s treasure, lost in the Wash.
Sutton Bridge born Beryl Jackson, a keen local historian, says this last is a myth, but interestingly doesn’t say the same about the first.
The tides have washed up a treasure more recently, in the form of the Rev David Oxtoby, vicar these past three months of St Matthew’s church, and previously in Stamford.
He describes Sutton Bridge as “a lovely, warm, welcoming and close community, with strong family values”. David adds: “In the ebb and flow of rural life, the church plays its part. The primary things the church celebrates, the community celebrates with us.”
Every community group imaginable meets in the church, from a club for the blind to a toddlers’ group called Matts Mums. In between, the church is used for lunches, breakfasts and services that bring the whole family together.
The church was in fact built by the governors of Guy’s Hospital, according to Beryl who, although she has now moved to Long Sutton, probably knows more about Sutton Bridge than most people.
She was involved in the new river trail project that has put up an information panel to help locals and visitors enjoy the community’s history while walking along a footpath on the East Bank of the river.
It’s a fascinating history, covering the reclamation of land to create the community known as Sutton Bridge to the investment in land by Guy’s Hospital. Beryl says Guy’s established about 20 large farms which, following the First World War, were turned into something like 200 smallholdings for returning soldiers.
The community has strong connections with Sir Peter Scott, who lived in the East Bank Lighthouse, and, according to Beryl, was once a fashionable place to “take the cure” in those very same waters that have had such an enormous influence on the lives of the people of Sutton Bridge.
It was once nothing more than five miles of marshland between Walpole Cross Keys and Long Sutton, but since Sutton Bridge came into existence it has had an interesting history.
It has had an isolation hospital – nothing to do with Guy’s Hospital, despite popular opinion, but established by Wisbech’s sanitary authority – which gave its name to Hospital Road.
It also had a prisoner of war camp, an RAF base – now the site of the power station – and, in 1881, a dock basin.
The docks failed and that site in time became the golf club, which celebrates its centenary next year.
As part of the celebrations, long-standing member Norman Davis has written a history of the club.
Norman (75) spent about 18 months going through the club records, dating back to 1914, in order put together the limited edition book – just 300 have been published.
The book covers information about players and caddying in the 1930s as well as having cartoons and humour.
However, Norman, who has been a member of the club for 42 years, says it also contains information about Sutton Bridge itself, with details about the Victorian docks.
Club chairman Barry Irwin said: “There aren’t that many golf clubs that reach 100 years, so it’s very much a milestone, and there are all sorts of things going on.”
Events start on the centenary day, February 18, with the raising of the flag at noon, followed by a centenary gala dinner on May 3 and the Centenary Cup competition in June.
When Albert Cooper refers to himself as “a 1923 model” he means he was born in Sutton Bridge in 1923, but it’s also a reference to his lifelong occupation in the motor industry.
Albert worked for George Leeson, eventually taking over what was at one time a transport company.
When Albert returned from the war, he went back to Sutton Bridge , married Georgina and had two children.
He ran Leeson’s Garage for many years, and although it is now run by his son John, Albert admits he still likes to take an interest.
Albert was born in an old cottage at Rope Walk Farm, with no water laid on and no electricity, to parents who ran a smallholding. He says he was “one of the poorest children in Sutton Bridge” – at a time when most of the children would have had very little – but prides himself that he was never out of work and, if he could only walk, feels sure he would be able to find a job today.
An operation for a back injury has left him in a wheelchair, but Albert has been a lifetime member of Fenland Motor Cycle Club and still has some of his motorbikes. He is one of ten people to have formed the King’s Lynn Section of the club, and was treasurer for about ten years.
At the recent South Holland branch AGM, Eddie Gent was re-elected chairman with Stafford Proctor the new vice-chairman.
I often preach about the importance of the work of the NFU, but when one considers the diverse issues the NFU deals with, you begin to realise individual growers could never hope to influence government other than through the collective strength of the NFU. Thus a recent East Midlands weekly email headlined “Current Issues” including TB Badger Controls, SPS and TB testing, Farm Saved Seed advice, Brussells Update, and so on. Perhaps most telling was the NFU’s response to the CAP consultation, formulated after discussions in every NFU county branch in the country, culminating in a 42-page submission – and a short five page summary for members!
I question if any individual farmer would have the time or inclination to put such a submission together – and yet it is absolutely critical given DEFRA’s proposal for the maximum 15 per cent transfer from Direct Payments away from farmers in favour of new projects under another Rural Development Programme. What is wrong with DEFRA conforming with the EU minimum requirements for member states and trusting farmers to remain as the true guardians of the countryside?
I thank all NFU members and insurance clients for their support and wish you all a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.
Talented young people from Spalding Grammar School were receiving their Duke of Edinburgh Awards just hours after the teacher who inspired them took his own life.
John Pratt died when he was hit by a train, near Huntingdon, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 28.
A tribute was paid to him during the presentations at the school that evening, when 28 of his students received bronze awards, four silver and two gold.
Peter Kite, secretary of the South Holland Duke of Edinburgh’s award committee, said: “John had done a marvellous job running the award at the Grammar School over the past four years, building up a very successful D of E unit.
“He was praised in his absence on the evening of the awards for the tremendous work he had done, only for us to discover the awful news of his passing the next day.
“We are all shocked and dismayed at the tragic event. John had just been made vice-chair of the committee and we were all looking forward to his contribution in that role. He will be sorely missed.”
Awards were presented by John Asquith, who received his own gold badge during the evening.
Mr Kite said: “John first received his own gold badge, then presented all the other awards. He has been helping as a young leader with expeditions from Spalding High School every year since he completed his own gold expedition in 2005. His input has been of great value to the organisers.”
Bronze awards were also presented to a large number of students from Spalding Open Award Group, Spalding High School and the University Academy Holbeach, who also received silver and gold awards.
Presentations were made in the presence of family and friends and representatives of local clubs – the Lions, Rotary, Inner Wheel, South Lincs Ladies and Townswomen’s Guild – who donated towards the equipment.
A landlord accused of a double murder – including a woman from Spalding – made threats to kill his tenant just hours earlier, a jury was told.
Mehmet Ali Ozen is alleged to have told a friend of his tenant Keyleigh Wright that she was “doing his head in”.
Ozen went on to stab Ms Wright after confronting her following a row over rent money, the jury at Lincoln Crown Court heard.
Ozen, who sublet the second floor flat of his home in Red Lion Street, Boston, lunged at her throat with a large kitchen knife but she managed to parry the blow and was stabbed in the arm
John Pini QC, prosecuting, told the jury at Lincoln Crown Court that Ms Wright’s partner Darren Harwood and her flatmate Charlotte Piccaver went to her assistance but both were then stabbed to death by Ozen.
Witness Ashley Gradbury (20), a friend of Ms Wright, giving evidence said that Ozen, who lived in the first floor flat of the building, had earlier made threats against Keyleigh.
“I came down for a cup of tea. He said if Keyleigh came in he was going to kill her.”
“I said ‘don’t do something stupid. You’ll get yourself in a lot of trouble.’ He said ‘I really want to kill her because she’s doing my head in.”
Keyleigh Wright (24) told the jury she was confronted by Ozen as she entered their shared kitchen to get a drink.
She said: “He came out of his bedroom shouting at me about the rent. I couldn’t really understand him. He was aggressive.
“The next I remember is him waving a knife in my face. I screamed at him to leave me alone.
“He came at me with the knife. He stepped forward and lunged up towards my throat. I put my right arm up. If I hadn’t done that the knife would have got my throat.
“It cut my arm.”
Keyleigh said she then remembered Miss Piccaver coming to her aid and then Ozen stabbed her (Wright) again in the side.
“I didn’t see Darren. I started going to the floor in the kitchen. My next memory is seeing Charlotte lying on the bedroom floor. I don’t know how she came to be there.
“Ozen was stood over Charlotte but I didn’t see the knife. Then I saw Darren on the kitchen floor.”
The jury has heard that emergency services arrived at the property just after 5am to find Miss Piccaver, who was originally from Spalding, dead on the floor of Ozen’s bedroom. Mr Harwood, a DJ at the Magnet Tavern in Boston, was seriously injured and passed away later the same day in hospital.
Ozen claimed he was attacked by Keyleigh Wright and acted in self defence.
But Mr Pini told the jury “His actions went far beyond what would be considered a reasonable and proportionate use of self defence.
“The injuries were caused by deliberately targeted thrusts to the neck. The intention can only have been to kill. This wasn’t reasonable self defence. This was total loss of temper in a fatal revenge attack.”
Mr Pini said Ozen was angry after discovering that Ms Wright had complained to the property owner about the fact that he asked her for more money despite the fact she had paid rent in advance.
Ozen, who had financial problems after losing his job, apparently had not passed the rent money on to the main landlord and was in arrears.
Ozen (41), of Red Lion Street, Boston, denies the murders of Darren Harwood and Charlotte Piccaver and the attempt murder of Keyleigh Wright on 21 April this year. The trial continues.
A private funeral service and two memorial services are being held for Spalding Grammar School maths teacher John Pratt.
Mr Pratt died when he was hit by a train on the afternoon of Thursday, November 28.
There will be a private, family funeral service at Alford Crematorium at midday on Friday, December 20, followed at 1pm that day by a public memorial service at St Wilfrid’s Church, Alford.
The Vicar of Spalding, the Rev John Bennett, will lead a second public memorial service for Mr Pratt at 11am on Monday, December 23 in St Mary and St Nicolas Church, Spalding.
Mr Pratt was a bell ringer at the Spalding church as well as being an inspirational teacher and leader of the school’s Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
Multi-million pound horticultural business Neame Lea Nursery plans to make its new 15.59 acre site in Spalding one of the best in the country.
The specialist bulb and bedding plants grower says the new site will complement the storage facilities it already uses at 11 different sites around Spalding.
Neame Lea Nursery managing director David Ball said: “Our purchase of the Horseshoe Road site comes on top of the £4million we have already invested over the past five years.
“Our new premises will need a phased revamp, but they are going to be really important at peak periods. We are going to begin work on the cold stores area immediately in order to have them ready for the Christmas rush.
“We plan to put in state-of-the-art packing and production areas to ensure that this facility will be one of the best in the country.”
The company, which has a six-acre site at Gosberton and further capacity at sites in Spalding and Cowbit, specialises in pack bedding plants in the spring and autumn, with potted bulbs following on during the winter and spring, and hanging baskets and patio planters all year.
The bulb business has expanded significantly over the past year, pushing the need for the additional facilities.
Chartered surveyor Banks Long & Co dealt with the sale of the site to Neame Lea Nursery, which already has an operation a short distance from the new complex.