The death of a woman whose body was discovered in a field by a dog walker remains a mystery.

Coroner Prof Robert Forrest recorded an open verdict at an inquest into the death of Sharon Hurlstone, 54, in Boston today (Thursday) after extensive examinations revealed no foul play or any obvious cause of death.

Mrs Hurlstone’s badly decomposed body was found in a field on land off Northfield Road, Market Deeping on September 24.

The inquest heard she was reported missing by her husband, David, on August 26. Ten days earlier she had left the couple’s caravan at Deepings Caravan Park, in Towngate East, Market Deeping, after they had had an argument.

The inquest heard that police investigations revealed Mrs Hurlstone had spent thousands of pounds on lottery cash prize scams. She had told her husband she was saving money for the winter months when he received no paid work from the security business they ran together.

In giving his verdict, Prof Forrest said: “This is the first open verdict I have given and I’m very sad I cannot give David the closure I would have liked to haave done because we can’t explain exactly what happened to his wife.

“Extensive examinations by the forensic pathologist and toxicologist do not reveal a cause of death in either a natural or unnatural manner.”

The inquest was told Mr Hurlstone had told police his wife had gone missing before after she was victim of a fraud scam in 2009. This resulted in financial difficulties for the couple and they had to leave their home in the Wirral and move to Market Deeping.

A police report showed that over a four-year period Mrs Hurlstone had spent more than £41,000 on lottery scams. Data on her phone records revealed she had replied to messages sent from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, eastern Europe, Barcelona, Manchester and London.

Mrs Hurlstone had told her husband while he was working away from home that she had £4,000 in cash saved for winter.

When he returned in August last year the money could not be found, and after an argument on August 16 she left the caravan.

A phone which was found by her police on her body contained a memo message which she had written at 10.26pm on August 16, just over an hour after she left her husband. It read, “David I’m sorry they’ve got me again”. The message was never sent to Mr Hurlstone.

An autopsy was carried out by forensic pathologist Prof Guy Rutty.

He said in his report to the inquest that he could not make any comment as to whether it was a natural or unnatural death.

Police are carrying out fraud investigations in a bid to catch those responsible for the scams.

Speaking after the inquest, Det Sgt Jon Shield said: “The message we need to get across to people is that if an offer seems to good to be true it usually is.

“People are told to send £1,000 to release a £1m lottery win but it is always a load of rubbish. In Sharon’s case she was sending the money and then waiting for her prize to be released. From the investigations we don’t know how she died but it is very tragic.

“There are criminal gangs worldwide that carry out these scams and we are working to both crackdown on these criminals and educate and warn people not to get caught by the scams.”

An ancestry buff has brought joy to a Dunkirk veteran who believed he would never solve the mystery of his father’s WW1 service.

Sally Slade, a district councillor for Pinchbeck, read Les Wilson’s story in our sister paper, The Spalding Guardian, when all he knew about his father – John Joseph Wilson – was that he had “served in France”.

Sally found the WW1 serviceman’s records, discovering he was a Pioneer in The Royal Engineers, found out his Army number, and that he joined up aged 35 and was sent to the Front in 1917.

Sally said: “He was awarded the British Empire Medal and the Victory Medal. There is a receipt for the ‘riband’ for his medal.

“He is described as of ‘very good character’.”

John Joseph – known as Joe – had a medical in 1916 that certified him fit “for road laying in France”.

There’s much more detail that’s being passed on to Les via Ken Willows, who chairs Spalding branch of The Royal Anglian and The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment.

Les (92), who lives in Spalding, told us: “He got the MBE in 1946 but I didn’t know about the BEM. He was a good chap.”

Youngsters in Fleet are being offered help to join youth clubs in their nearest towns - if there is enough demand.

An idea for youngsters to travel to youth clubs in Holbeach or Long Sutton with the help of the area’s community bus scheme has been put forward by Fleet parish councillor Val Gemmill.

She said: “We’ve come up with an idea to take young people in Fleet to the youth club in Holbeach or Long Sutton with the use of the community bus which is available.

“But we’re trying to find out if there’s a demand, so it’s in the youngsters’ own interests that they contact me.”

Anyone interested in joining Holbeach or Long Sutton Youth Club who lives in Fleet should call Coun Gemmill on 01406 490209.

A patient user group set up to improve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender care in Lincolnshire hold its next meeting on Wednesday, February 19.

The group, run by Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust, will meet at 6.30pm, at The Scene, 35 Newland, Lincoln, LN1 1XP.

For more information email rachel.higgins@lincs-chs.nhs.uk or call her on 01529 220300.

When you’re drunk, the police never think it’s as funny as you do.

Every police officer will know the feeling – a bitterly cold night in February. It’s 4am on a Sunday morning and you’ve been on duty since 9pm the evening before.

Most sensible people are tucked up in bed. But you are standing outside the nightclub wearing thermals, fleece, body armour and quilted bright yellow coat. Yet, despite the layers, the Arctic wind is blowing right through your bones.

But all around you revellers mill around wearing short sleeve shirts or skimpy dresses. Of course, it’s not that their clothes are made out of some special material.

The difference is they are tanked up on alcohol while you are stone cold (very cold) sober.

You are standing there, trying to reassure the public, keeping a watchful eye on potential fights and stepping in when voices get raised or tempers start to rise.

Out they tumble from the night-club: the wall-wobblers who slowly weave their way home; the hunger-merchants, desperate for the taste of kebab with extra chilli sauce; the mellow drunks who happily meander along; the loud excitable gaggle; the tearful inconsolable girl whose friends are telling her that he isn’t worth it.

There will nearly always be a couple of girls staggering arm in arm, loudly chanting Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”. It’s the anthem of the unloved.

And then it starts...the yellow police jacket is like a magnet for every would-be comic. You’ve heard it all a thousand times before, but you’re going to hear it again...and again... and again.....drunk people do have a habit of repeating themselves!

There is always one bright spark who, in his drunken haze, thinks it’s clever to show off by slurring “Oh, I love the smell of bacon!” as he staggers past, arm in arm with his potential conquest for the evening.

This is said with a clever smirk across his face. We’re police officers: we’re human, not pigs. Comments like this are designed to insult and provoke, so it’s inevitably followed by a public order warning being issued to the Jim Davidson wannabe.

As the first comedian staggers off, up comes the next. “Do you know my Uncle Mike? He’s a copper”. It’s quickly established that the uncle is in the Metropolitan Police. They seem disappointed that you don’t know all 31,000 officers of the metropolis.

As the disappointed policeman’s nephew staggers off, along come a group of jolly revellers. One of them shouts “I didn’t do it, ossiffer!” as the others giggle among themselves. Oh, I’ve never heard that one before!

Zero for originality. You’re grateful for the body armour as at least your sides won’t split from laughing.

Just as you are getting to the point that you can’t take any more hilarity a sensible looking young woman walks across.

This could be interesting. Is she going to report a crime? Will it be an opportunity to help a damsel in distress? Sadly, no..... ‘Is it true that if I’m pregnant I can wee in your helmet?’ she asks. Sigh. This is an urban myth you’ve heard a thousand times. You put the record straight on this one. Pregnant women most definitely do not have the right to use a police officer’s helmet as a toilet.

However, before you can explain this you see two angry men squaring up to each other. You split them up. Punches may have been thrown, but you didn’t see this and neither of them wants to talk to you. You check that neither are hurt and send them separate ways. One of them walks off sheepishly but the other doesn’t want to lose face in front of their friends. As their mates steer them away, they shout back at you: “It took ten of you to arrest me last time!”

No it didn’t; with budget cutbacks, there wouldn’t be ten of us, anyway.

Hard men take great pride in boasting about how many officers it took to arrest them last time and the number of officers needed multiplies with every telling.

At least, on this occasion, the flashpoint has passed. You remain there as the last of the night’s party-goers spill in to waiting taxis. But no, there’s always one that has to spoil it, thoughtlessly discarding their kebab papers on the pavement. As you tell them to pick their litter up and put it in the bin, they mutter “Why don’t you go and catch real criminals?”

You’d love to say “Because we’re too busy dealing with inane inebriates right now” but you don’t.

Using every ounce of your professionalism you ignore the comment and as the would-be litterbug, clutching their kebab papers, pours themselves in to the last taxi of the night, you see that the streets are finally clear.

You and your colleagues have just policed what politicians blithely call “the night-time economy”.

Your jaw aches from the fixed smile you have been wearing, but at least you know that the streets are safe. You can resume now and grant the wish of the loudmouth litterbug and go and catch real criminals.

John Keats, the great romantic poet, wrote ‘beauty is truth, truth beauty’ and the joy of the English countryside has inspired artists and writers from John Constable to Thomas Hardy.

Here in the Lincolnshire Fens we are fortunate to enjoy big skies and brilliant vistas and though some, on first encounter, don’t grasp the appeal of the Fens’ glorious openness, over time the scale and drama of the place we live in becomes deeply seductive.

Sadly, nowadays there are some who would like to transform our inheritance into a distant memory of a green and pleasant land.

I went into politics to make a difference, so when the Prime Minister appointed me as Energy Minister in 2012, it gave me the chance to do something about wind turbines.

It wasn’t just the costs of onshore wind that concerned me, I was also alarmed that such industrial structures could be forced on communities which, as a recent London School of Economics study confirmed, face falling house prices as developments intruding on the skyline destroy views enjoyed for generations.

Surely, it is time to admit that wind turbines are simply ugly?

As Energy Minister, and subsequently working in 10 Downing Street, I have striven to reduce the threat of this blight on Britain.

Last year the Government issued important new planning guidance to make it easier for communities to resist unwanted wind developments and for councillors to reject them.

This guidance obliges due consideration be given to landscape, topography and cumulative impact and we’ve boosted compensation for those affected.

We have also reduced the excessive subsidies previously given to wind power, responsible for a torrent of opportunistic applications to build turbines in locations where the wind is weak and development makes no economic sense.

This week I was honoured to be voted Environmental Campaigner of the Year, for my efforts to protect our countryside from the blight of onshore wind.

In doing so I gave voice to the millions of people who simply want to protect our landscape from brutal utilitarian structures, so that its beauty can be enjoyed by future generations.

Drivers in Lincolnshire are being warned about rogue traders selling jewellery that is in fact worthless.

It comes after an incident on Thursday when a driver was stopped on the A46 near Market Rasen and offered a gold ring for sale that was a fake.

A large amount of red diesel was stolen from a farm in Low Fulney, near Spalding, overnight on Tuesday.

Police believe a white lorry and dark-coloured Vauxhall Astra are connected with the theft and anyone with information should call 101.

An elderly woman from Holbeach was taken to hospital after a Toyota Aygo she was driving crashed into a lamp-post in the town.

She was taken to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, after driving the car over a traffic island and into the lamp-post.

UPDATE FRIDAY 2.45PM: More details have emerged about seven people, including four children, arrested after an immigration swoop on a lorry near Spalding.

The group, originally from Albania, were detained by police on suspicion of unlawfully entering the UK after being seen getting out of a lorry in Low Fulney this morning.

A 33-year-old woman, who was treated by paramedics after vomiting, and four boys aged between 10 and 18, along with two men aged 21 and 37 were in the group.

They are due to be handed over to UK Border Agency officials who will carry out further enquiries into the circumstances of their arrival in the UK.

FRIDAY 11.45AM: Seven people, including women and children, are being held by police after they were seen getting out of a lorry just outside Spalding today.

The group were arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally after they were seen by staff who were working at a business in Low Fulney.

It happened just after 6.30am and paramedics were also called to treat a woman in the group who was vomiting.

All seven people are in police custody and will be handed over to UK Border Agency officials as soon as possible.

No details have been given at this stage about where the group originally came from and the ages of the children.

Waste and recycling bags were left alongside Spalding’s former sorting office in The Crescent for several days this week, but the council pledged to collect them as soon as possible.

A council spokesman said: “This is an instance of refuse and recycling bags being presented for collection in a wrong place.

“A household’s black and green bags should only be left for collection at the curtilage of that property.

“We will arrange to have these bags picked up as soon as possible.”

Our weekly High Life feature with students from Spalding High School

Last week saw the descent of the drama students of Spalding High School upon the Pleasance Theatre in London for an evening of heady entertainment which served to satisfy our rumbling cultural appetites.

For many, this production was to form an important part of their studies and so pens were quivering with anticipation as we began our immersion in the murky, greyscale world of “The Boy Who Kicked Pigs”.

Having been adapted from the novella of former Doctor Who star Tom Baker, it is the twisted tale of a lonely young boy who follows a shady downward spiral towards a macabre end.

Robert Caligari progresses with shocking rapidity from vexatious, petulant brother to nefarious mass-murder who ultimately receives his comeuppance with equal shades of horror and mirth.

One moment startlingly hilarious and the next deeply unnerving, the fast-paced vigour of “The Boy Who Kicked Pigs” is testament to the remarkable talent of the ‘Kill the Beast’ team, with the four actors gliding seamlessly in and out of a staggering 32 roles without once slowing down the soaring pace.

The slick production, incisive wit and even an occasional musical turn made for an evening of quality performance.

Still a little dazed from the tumultuous whirlwind of talent, we were then granted an exclusive Q&A session with the team themselves who invigorated the fledgling aspirations of our budding thespians.

So what advice would they give for those hoping to delve into the world of theatre? “You have to really love it” was their resolute answer and – as their performances demonstrated – they are the embodiment of the true devotion it takes to stage a play of excellence with such sharp aptitude and fervour.

Consider yourself... waiting

Students ‘will do anything’ to bag a part in this year’s annual production ‘Oliver!’

Auditions took place last week, leaving the fate of hopefuls in the hands of the drama department.

Oliver! follows the story of an orphaned boy from destitution in the workhouses to his riveting life in Fagan’s gang.

Tanwen Fisk’s directorial expertise will, undoubtedly, produce yet another breathtaking dramatic spectacle.

Accompanied by a host of well-known classics including ‘Who will buy?’ and ‘Food Glorious Food’ compiled by Lynne Loose’s unparalled professionalism, this is sure to be a knockout performance.

The production will take place between July 2 and 4.

Kindergarten children from Ayscoughfee Hall School had the opportunity to taste some delicious Chinese food using chopsticks at the Crystal Inn, as part of their Chinese New Year Celebration topic.

Mr and Mrs Law let the children play special toy drums to the dancing Chinese dragon and explained about the festival.

Mrs Law also came into school with a range of Chinese items including dresses which the girls enjoyed trying on!

Mrs Ogden said it had been a great success and thanked Mr and Mrs Law for their generosity and the gift drums the children each received.

Spalding town centre will not have an event to replace its famous May Day flower parade.

Ten months after talks about a new People’s Parade began, and initial outcries from the public not to let the legacy of an event that attracted millions of people over the years die, plans have finally fallen apart.

The committee of passionate but mainly inexperienced volunteers has been struggling to get the go-ahead for the event since they were wished success by previous organisers of the flower parade last year.

After battling against changing the date to avoid comparisons and concerns about anti-social behaviour from town centre drinkers and normal market day trading being affected, failure in the early stages to agree on what the event would be has left them with too many official hoops to jump through.

Paul Winn, who has been acting chairman, said: “We’ve been holding off making an announcement because we still hope we will be able to organise something for later on.

“But we have no money and so there will be no parade on May Day weekend.”

MP John Hayes attempted to “jivvy up” support in October last year by pledging to raise £50,000 to keep the parade afloat, but so far there has been no confirmation of funds.

There was another blow last month when Spalding Flower Parade and Carnival Trust’s remaining funds were not transferred to the new committee, in spite of trustees being “very positive about transfer of responsibility to the new group”.

But the group has only just been able to form an official committee, draw up a constitution and open a bank account, which has held up funding negotiations – and it still needs health and safety clearance for the route.

Phil Scarlett, president of Spalding Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said: “I am disappointed to learn that a parade will not take place, but it was a big ask to get everything pulled together in such a short timescale.

“Hopefully, work that has been done will not be wasted and the new group can consider the benefit of having a clean break from the flower parade, which would have drawn comparisons no matter what they had arranged. If the Chamber has a Spalding town centre manager in place by then, he/she will be able to help.”

Tulipmania is hoped to put a smile on the faces of people clinging on to the hope something will be going on in the town during the traditional weekend of the Spalding Flower Parade.

Hundreds of bulbs have been planted in Springfields gardens to attract some of the 3,000 visitors expected to come to the area for the annual South Holland Churches Flower Festival run over the same weekend.

A two-day event on May 3 to 4 is being organised by Springfields Horticultural Society as part of its annual festival and will include a procession through the arena and gardens featuring groups in tulip costumes and small decorated floats, prams or buggies.

Tulip Radio is also organising a Prince and Princess competition and the winners will lead the procession.

Two or three of last year’s floats will be covered in freshly picked tulip heads to ensure the flower parade’s float heading tradition is maintained and these will be on show in the arena throughout the weekend.

In addition there will be a craft fair, trade stands and, on the Sunday, more than 200 vehicles will take part in a classic car show.

David Norton, Springfields chief executive and past parade organiser, said there has already been interest from coach companies.

He said: “The trustees of the horticultural society believe the tradition of the parade should, if possible, always be remembered in some way.

“Although tulips are no longer seen in the area, there are daffodils and other agricultural and horticultural products grown across South Holland and, hopefully, we can find a way to celebrate them in the future in a similar way that the parade helped to celebrate our colourful tulip growing past.

“Whilst the new Tulipmania event is not expected to generate the same amount of visitor interest and coach company bookings as the parade used to, it is hoped that the event could eventually be part of a wider celebration which could replace the parade – maybe a South Holland Food and Flower Festival.”

A spokesman for the churches’ flower festivals said: “It’s business as usual for the organisers. In the 10-day period, from Saturday, April 26 to Monday, May 5, we expect round 3,000 visitors.

“Coach companies from all over the East Midlands and South Yorkshire are loyal to this stunning Lincolnshire event and we have already received bookings from them.

“This is a real community event, with local businesses, schools, communities and churches all working together to celebrate the joy at this time of year.

“We are also fortunate to receive donations from visitors and businesses, and this makes a significant contribution to church funds.”

A former council litter picker will be forced to pay out £1,000 in court fines and costs for dumping rubbish onto a roadside verge.

Darren Paul Surridge (27), of Salem Street, Gosberton was found guilty of fly-tipping at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court after North Kesteven District Council brought the prosecution.

He was fined £500, with £450 added on for prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £50 at the hearing, on January 16.

On July 25, a local farm worker saw Surridge clear the rubbish from his car on the B1178 near Bracebridge Heath and passed his registration number onto the council.

The waste comprised of drinks containers, food wrappers and plastic bags and included a till receipt from a local garage dated the same day. Using CCTV images from the garage of him and his car the council was able to prove further that he was out and about that night.

A council spokesman said: “Although he pleaded guilty at the earliest stage by phone and letter – and also returned to clear up the waste a couple of days later – he did not engage further with the council, failed to attend interviews and presented no defence.”

The court heard that one of his previous jobs had been as council litter picker.

He had also worked as a tyre fitter on North Kesteven District Council bin lorries.

Councillor Richard Wright, NKDC’s Executive Board Member with responsibility for enforcement, said this was a successful prosecution which showed how seriously the district council regards fly-tipping and its “zealous approach” to tackling it.

Coun Wright added: “This prosecution serves as a costly reminder of the need to dispose of all waste items carefully, properly and within the law. There is no reason why this waste could not have been taken home and placed in his recycling bin or even left in a waste bin at the garage when he bought fuel not long before going out of his way to dump it on a country lane.”

LIVES are seeking volunteers to become first responders in Sutton Bridge now the seven-strong group has dwindled to just two.

The group started tackling its first medical emergencies in June last year and was set up following a string of late-arriving ambulances in one of the most remote spots in the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) area.

Parish councillor Gary Croxford – the village’s LIVES co-ordinator – made a plea for more volunteers to step forward, telling the parish council: “We are struggling to provide cover. We need some people to come forward to start picking up and covering off some of the shifts.”

LIVES first responders often make the difference between life and death because they live on the spot and get there quickly.

Nige Adams, LIVES first responder development officer, said the national average survival rate for people who go into cardiac arrest is between five and ten per cent – but that shoots up to 63 per cent in Lincolnshire when LIVES intervene.

Mr Adams said: “We had a new responder in Deeping St Nicholas who recently went out to a cardiac arrest – in other words the patient was clinically dead.

“He knew exactly where he was going, got to the patient quickly and started working on him.

“Three weeks later the patient knocked on the responder’s door to say ‘thanks for all you’ve done’.”

LIVES first responders must be over 18 and have a driving licence – all the medical training is given by LIVES over three days with some ongoing training throughout a responder’s service to keep their skills up to date.

“No previous medical knowledge or clinical background is required,” he said.

Responders are trained to use kit like defibrillators and give oxygen therapy and are sent out to a range of urgent medical problems, such as chest pains, difficulty breathing, angina and heart attacks.

EMAS crews take over as soon as they arrive.

Mr Adams said late ambulance arrivals are not the crews’ fault – and they do a fantastic job.

“We are always pleased to see them and they are pleased to see us,” he said.

n To volunteer call Mr Adams on 07876 502999 or Mr Croxford on 07938 810277.

Hundreds of lives will be saved across Lincolnshire if every secondary school signs up to a pioneering project.

The Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Service (LIVES) wants to train every Year 10 and 11 pupil to perform CPR (heart massage).

The volunteer organisation provides a vital role in support of the East Midlands Ambulance Service.

Around 16 secondary schools across Lincolnshire have already joined the scheme. However, LIVES spokesman Steve Hyde wants to roll the programme out across the entire county.

He points out CPR training was established in schools in Sweden, Norway and Denmark 28 years ago.

As a result, a person in Scandinavia has a more than 40 per cent chance of surviving a cardiac arrest. In Britain, it is five per cent.

Mr Hyde believes there is no reason why Lincolnshire schools cannot set an inspired lead in driving that figure up.

He explains: “Our first responders aim to get to a patient who dials 999 within six minutes. Every responder on duty carries a defibrillator and is highly trained in delivering CPR and rescue breath to a cardiac arrest victim.

“That is the core of LIVES. That is what we want to do.

“One of our problems, being a large county, is that if someone collapses and stops breathing, they start to die at a rate of ten per cent a minute.

“Their brain is being starved of oxygen. You’ve got about 10 to 12 minutes.

“The only piece of equipment that will save a cardiac arrest victim is a defibrillator.

“CPR, rescue breath, drugs – they will not save your life but they will help. If that person is left at the side of the road, or wherever, if someone delivers CPR immediately they have stopped breathing, what they are doing is pumping the patients’ blood around the body.

“The blood retains oxygen for about five minutes so by delivering CPR, you extend the time a patient has before a defibrillator has to be applied.”

Mr Hyde cites the example of footballer Patrice Muamba who collapsed on the pitch while playing for Bolton Wanderers against Spurs at White Hart Lane in March 2012.

His heart “stopped” for 78 minutes but he was kept alive by a combination of CPR, rescue breath (mouth-to-mouth) and a defibrillator.

Mr Hyde adds: “If we can get more schools on board, just think of how many people would be able to perform CPR. How many more people would survive.

“Those 15 and 16-year-olds would have those skills for the rest of their lives. They could even go on to other training. They could become responders.”

The training involves a one hour course, once a year. It can even be incorporated into part of the curriculum.

Mr Hyde says: “We teach children not only how to do CPR but why they should do it and what happens to the patient.

“When I go into a class of 30 students and ask who would approach a cardiac arrest victim, four or five say they would volunteer to help. They have probably been trained by the Scouts or Guides. At the end of the hour, I ask the same question and it is 99 per cent who say they would help.

“Young people can help. They can make a difference. We have instances where young people we have trained have saved lives. We know it works. That’s why we want every single school involved in this.”

I am appalled at the level of subsidy granted to the Spalding Football Club by South Holland District Council.

I have walked past the Halley Stewart Field many times during a home game and wondered how they managed to pay for the upkeep of the ground with the meagre attendance the club enjoys.

Now I know that all they pay is the rent of £2,500 – everything else is paid for by the people of South Holland, even if they don’t support the club!

We will be bearing the burden of savings that the council will have to make in support of the government’s deficit reduction programme for many years.

There should be no allowance for unnecessary subsidisation of Spalding United FC or any other commercial venture with limited appeal to residents of South Holland.

But all this raises a far more serious issue regarding the honesty of both the council and Spalding FC.

Whilst it is true to say they have never lied, they have both been economical with the truth.

Why did the council not come clean about the finances of the Halley Stewart Feld? Why did Spalding United FC not come clean regarding the amount of rent they pay?

It’s this cloak of secrecy that I find disturbing. All the money that the council spends comes from us and the football club has tenure of a town centre venue owned by the people of South Holland.

Now is the time to address this issue and place all the utility bills with the tenant and if that makes it unaffordable then they will have to seek a grant from the FA or find another venue.

Well done Gerry Hutchinson. I take my hat off to you for your perseverance and determination.

And to the council I say this: “You are the servants of the people and you should be working for us not against us.” And to all those councillors who where aware of the financial state of the Halley Stewart field: “You should hang your heads in shame.”

Steve Freeman

Spalding

There’s been a big response to the recycling rewards scheme being launched by South Holland District Council on Monday.

The Green Bag Lottery will see ten different households randomly selected every four weeks.

Every household which presents recycling correctly for at least three out of the four weeks will win £100.

All the winners over a three-month period then go forward to a further draw to win £1,000.

A council spokesman said: “This scheme has really got people talking, which is great because the aim is to increase the awareness and levels of recycling in our district.

“In order for households to win, recycling must be presented correctly.

“Our collection crews will be carrying out their usual kerbside checks on bag contents – nothing has changed for the Green Bag Lottery.”

Anyone who runs out of their green bags allocation is able to collect more from either the council’s reception in Priory Road in Spalding, the Market House in Long Sutton or any library in South Holland.

District council officers will be available to talk to the public about the Green Bag Lottery at various venues throughout February (all 10am-2pm).

They are: Spalding Market – 11th and 25th; Holbeach market – 13th; Tesco in Holbeach – 15th and 20th; Long Sutton market – 21st.

Further details of the scheme are online at www.greenbaglottery.co.uk