The manager of Spalding Oxfam shop has completed day one of his challenge to live on just £1 a day this week.

Gary Peatling is taking part in the ‘Live Below The Line’ challenge to raise awareness of 1.2 billion people who live below the poverty line.

At the weekend he launched the challenge with a cake sale at the charity shop in Station Street.

On day one of his five-day challenge, Gary talks about his last feast and reveals the latest fund-raising total.

You can follow Gary’s journey every day on this website.

A mum-of-two refused to name others involved in a credit card swindle after she was paid £15 to receive a £1,440 rifle scope.

The rifle scope was ordered in Seven Sisters, London, from hunting and shooting firm William Powell Ltd using a credit card belonging to an innocent party.

The item was delivered to Lucy Burnett’s home in Long Sutton, who signed a false name for the package, but it has not been recovered.

Paul Wood, prosecuting, said: “She refused to name anyone else involved and the trail for the police ran cold.”

On Wednesday magistrates at Boston sentenced Burnett to a 12-week curfew. She will be electronically tagged and must remain at home in Minster Court between 8pm and 7am each day.

Burnett, who admitted handling stolen goods, was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

Paul Wood, prosecuting, said suspicions were raised at William Powell Ltd when there was a second order for an expensive rifle scope and, later, there was a phone call from the actual holder of the credit card who said the original order had nothing to do with her.

He said inquiries were made with the credit card company and it was realised fraudulent activity was taking place with the card.

Solicitor Beris Brickles, mitigating, said Burnett was in desperate financial straits at the time and the idea was put to her by a friend that she could make some money by receiving the package.

He said: “She got paid the princely sum of £15.”

Mr Brickles said Burnett didn’t know what was inside the package, but realised it “probably hadn’t been lawfully obtained”.

She didn’t name the person who asked her to sign for the package because she didn’t want to face reprisals.

Mr Brickles said: “Surprise, surprise, that person and partner have now vanished off the face of the earth leaving her to face the music.”

Presiding magistrate Malcolm Johnson said he hoped the court’s sentence would make Burnett think more carefully about “getting involved when these types of things are going on”.

A vehicle dubbed ‘the world’s most advanced potholing machine’ has been leading the way on some of Spalding’s worst roads.

Lincolnshire County Council is one of the first in the UK to trial the ‘The Roadmaster Velocity Patcher’.

It was tested on roads in Sutton St Edmund last year filling 300 potholes a day, 220 more than the two man crews they usually send out manage.

Now they’ve got the pothole saviour for a further six weeks repairing roads in Spalding and Boston.

It’s come at the same time the council has been invited to bid for a share of a £168 million repair fund from the government.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We’ll obviously be applying for as much as we can get, but just a few million would go a long way to improve the condition of our network here in Lincolnshire.”

Meanwhile, it seems the Roadmaster and its one man crew offer a permanent repair compared to the temporary fill we are used to.

The council recently returned to the patches they tested the machine on last year to find them still in place and performing well.

Now they are considering purchasing a machine of their own to work on roads across the county.

A vehicle parked in Towngate East, Market Deeping, had its back window smashed by vandals between 2pm on Sunday and 7am yesterday.

Anyone with information should call 101, stating incident 51 of April 28.

It’s day two of Gary Peatling’s challenge to live on just £1 a day.

Today Gary explains how he is monitoring the cost of his food and drink each day and reveals his weight at the start of the week.

You can follow his journey and see just how little he eats and spends every day on this website.

A man assaulted his partner in the bedroom – pushing her to the floor three times and then against a kitchen table – after he was asked to leave a “social gathering” where she chatted to her ex.

Wesley Bates (31), of Goodfellows Road, Spalding, pleaded guilty to assaulting Charlotte Parkin by beating on March 28 when he appeared before magistrates in Boston on Wednesday.

Sentence was adjourned to June 4 for a probation report.

Paul Wood, prosecuting, said Bates became angry as Ms Parkin chatted to her ex and she told him to go home.

When Ms Parkin returned home, Bates was in the bedroom and asked her why he had been asked to leave the other house.

Mr Wood said Bates pushed Ms Parkin in the chest with both hands and she fell to the floor.

“She believes she fell to the floor three times as part of this activity,” he said.

Ms Parkin went downstairs and a witness saw Bates shove her into a kitchen table.

Solicitor Mark Hudson, for Bates, said: “He tells me today he knows what he has done is out of order.”

Presiding magistrate Malcolm Johnson said: “The most serious issue about this is it was a domestic scene and the partner had to leave the premises for her own safety.”

A ‘Good Samaritan’ was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit when he drove from Bourne to Spalding to pick up his girlfriend.

Magistrates heard Nicholas Osborn drank five or six cans of beer at home but didn’t intend to go out until he got a call from his girlfriend.

Paul Wood, prosecuting, said police saw Osborn’s Rover being driven “slowly and hesitantly” at 3.10am in New Road, Spalding.

Police followed the car to Westlode Street, stopped it and noticed a “strong smell of liquor”.

A test showed Osborn (25) had 71 microgrammess of alcohol in breath – the legal limit is 35mcgs.

Solicitor Mark Hudson said Osborn’s girlfriend had gone out accompanied by his step-brother.

He said: “She was extremely distressed. She couldn’t get a taxi because his step-brother was so drunk no taxi would take him.”

Mr Hudson said Osborn could hear voices in the background and believed his girlfriend was being harassed and was worried for her safety.

Osborn, of Northfields, Bourne, was fined £326 and must pay £85 costs and a £32 victim surcharge when he admitted driving with excess alcohol. He can cut four months off a 19-month ban if he takes a rehabilitation course.

Presiding magistrate Malcolm Johnson said: “It’s a substantial amount of money for your Good Samaritan task for your girlfriend and your brother.”

New opening hours will come into force at local libraries from next week, as well as a new schedule for mobile library services.

The changes come as Lincolnshire County Council works towards creating a new-look library service that “offers better value for money and is more tailored to local needs”.

Negotiations are continuing with a number of groups interested in setting up their own community hub, including a library service, as well as seven areas wishing to create brand new facilities.

Counr Nick Worth, executive member for libraries, said: “We wanted to give volunteers enough time to lay firm foundations for the future.

“So, we agreed to run the libraries at these locations at reduced hours, until they are ready to develop their own community hub.

“Our existing community-run libraries, such as Saxilby and Waddington, have seen a great increase in opening hours, thanks to the efforts of volunteers.

“We hope to have all the new hubs, with their library offer, up and running by the end of March next year.”

As well as retaining 15 core libraries in key locations, the council will continue to provide free access to online services, including e-books, e-audio and e-magazines, the home library service, Listening Lincs and Bookstart.

The larger mobile libraries will also continue to stop at more than 220 communities across Lincolnshire.

Coun Worth added: “One thing that was clear from the consultation last year was that rural communities valued their mobile services, and more than 100 additional stops were retained in our revised proposals.”

Details can now be found online at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/libraries , by calling 01522 782010 or by visiting your local library.

A Donington secondary school is building an extra classroom underneath an existing one because more parents would prefer their children to travel away from their home town to be educated.

Headteacher of Thomas Cowley High School Martyn Taylor says he is delighted parents have made his school their preferred school, but hopes it is not at the expense of other schools.

Mr Taylor fears schools across the county that have been struggling have become victims of what he describes as a “scandalous school selection system”.

Although the selection process is still ongoing, one of the victims seems to be Sir John Gleed School in Spalding. According CfBT Education Trust’s Going to Secondary School guide 2014-15, the school quotes a facility for 270 admissions for Year 7. Last year, 149 parents made the school their first preference, compared with 122 this year. These parents have accepted places at the school.

Mr Taylor said the waiting list to attend Thomas Cowley contains Spalding addresses. He said: “We were all encouraged to become academies but when Spalding Grammar School takes the top 25 to 30 per cent of achievers, we are left to fight it out for the others.

“We have been fortunate to have an excellent reputation and more pupils coming here will secure our financial future for the next five years. But in an age where parents can look at the Ofsted website and base their choices on what they read they are bound to look elsewhere if there is a bad report.

“I know I am getting pupils who should be taught in Spalding because of the addresses but we, too, have our challenging students. In an ideal world schools like mine, Sir John Gleed and Kirton Middlecott could pool resources in some way. But we have to keep going and try somehow to keep our heads above water. What is happening with our schools is scandalous.”

Debbie Barnes, director of children’s services at Lincolnshire County council;, said: “Parents have a right to express a preference for any school they wish. In Lincolnshire we support a selection of different schools, including grammar schools, to suit all children and young people. Some schools will always be more popular than others.”

Intruders have stolen a large amount of cigarettes after breaking into a shop at a precinct in Market Deeping.

It happened at The Deeping Centre at about 4.10am yesterday and anyone with information should call 101, stating incident 33 of April 29.

Also in Market Deeping, vandals threw stones at a vehicle parked in Godsey Lane, smashing one of its windows.

It happened some time between Saturday and Monday and the incident number is 336 of April 28.

Who would have guessed that interior designers could have an impact on a farmer or grower’s work?

In addition to the usual variables – the weather and soil conditions – one young farmer in south Lincolnshire has explained how trends and fashions dictated by designers can influence some of their crops.

William Tyrrell (27) works with his dad Trevor in the family business, J W Tyrrell & Son. They farm about 130 acres in the Cowbit area, growing wheat, sugar beet, barley, potatoes, daffodils as well as other flower crops.

Like many family businesses in the area, it’s one that William’s grandad and great grandfather worked in, although William says: “What we are doing is very small compared to a lot of growers, and what we try to do where possible is to rely on using family labour.”

That has to change at times, such as daffodil cropping when labour is brought in so that they can get on with the main farming business.

The staple flowers that are grown on the farm are delphiniums, scabias and Sweet Williams, and William says that other flower crops vary from year to year, depending on weather conditions – and market demand.

He says: “Flower trends are very much dictated by what the interior designers are doing, daft as it sounds.

“It’s a job to know what to grow, but we are prepared to try different things and we try to stay one step ahead of the game.

“We have tried cornflowers and agapanthus, but were told they are not so popular as they were, and we have grown sunflowers and they are coming back in.”

As a result of the mild weather some of the flowers are slightly early, with Sweet Williams starting to flower slightly earlier than usual, and delphiniums getting close to flowering.

A vision for the future has been outlined by Food and Farming Minister George Eustice and the new chairman of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Peter Kendall.

George Eustice has said the board was considering whether AHDB should be more of a single entity rather than operating as six separate sectors.

Peter Kendall wants AHDB employees to see the importance of the board. He has told them: “One of the biggest global challenges we face is food security. Knowing this, UK farmers need to be growing more. Instead, we are growing less and importing more. I want AHDB to help to reverse this.

“My vision for AHDB is for us to be right at the heart of ‘growing British agriculture’ by developing world beating technology, increasing the uptake of technology and innovation on farms, providing the best and most up-to-date market intelligence, growing our exports and attracting and up-skilling producers and their staff.”

South Holland’s growers have a chance next Wednesday to quiz European election candidates on policies that affect their farm businesses.

Ahead of the European Elections on May 22, the NFU has invited the candidates for major parties in the East Midlands to speak at a hustings at Greetham Valley Golf Club, near Oakham, at 6.30pm.

NFU’s regional director for the East Midlands Richard Hezlet said: “The NFU and its sister UK farming organisations launched their manifesto for the European elections, Backing the Business of British Farming, in April.

“There are some important questions for our MEP candidates to answer, not least those concerning sustainable and profitable food production.”

South Lincolnshire’s farmers may not be aware of the disruption to their businesses that is going to start this summer.

According to new NFU county adviser Simon Fisher, Network Rail’s plan to put all East Coast mainline freight traffic on the Peterborough-Spalding-Sleaford-Lincoln line is going to badly affect about 20 farmers in particular.

These are the growers with ‘farmer crossings’ – or private farm roads across railway lines.

Simon said: “It will mean a big increase in freight traffic, probably doubling it in the day time and it will be a lot longer.

“We have a number of farmers’ crossings and it is making sure farmers are aware of what is happening.”

Simon said farmers would be made aware of the change by Network Rail, along with a message about not crossing the line at “inopportune” times – or when a train is approaching.

Simon says he is already well known to many people locally from his time as horticultural adviser, and in his new position he will be helping the NFU to establish better connections with its membership.

Simon is involved in the agri-politics of the industry, such as the big changes coming in with the CAP reform, as well as local issues, which might involve him talking to the Police and Crime Commissioner about rural crime, for instance.

He will be working with the Holland (Lincs) branches of South Holland, Bourne and Boston and Wainfleet.

A parish council is still demanding answers after South Holland District Council’s air monitor recorded low levels of pollution when Sutton Bridge was shrouded for three days in ‘Saraha smog’.

DEFRA listed pollution in the village as a 9 or higher in early April – triggering health warnings to “at risk” groups to avoid strenuous outdoor activity – while the council gave it a 3, meaning the same groups could enjoy their usual activity.

Coun Jenny Rowe has questioned the accuracy of the council’s air monitor at Westmere Primary School when the smog hung over the village and left people with breathing problems and dust over cars.

Coun Rowe told Tuesday’s parish council meeting: “A doctor at King’s Lynn hospital told my daughter they’d had so many people with bronchitis and it was pollution related.”

The parish council is writing to DEFRA to check the locations of its air monitors and to the council to see if its monitoring equipment is properly checked for accuracy.

A letter will also go to the Environment Agency.

• Last month a council spokesman said the DEFRA information related to “wider regional areas” while the air monitoring units “in South Holland are accurate, reliable and give a better indication of air quality within the district”.

Blogger Trish Burgess writes for the Free Press

“Is that Quincy Jones on the next table?”

“No it looks nothing like him.”

“But it must be!”

“It isn’t!”

“I’m going to ask him.”

This exchange took place in a hotel in Sweden a couple of years ago. We knew the famous record producer was staying at our hotel in Ystad and was guest of honour at the jazz festival which happened to be on while we were visiting.

The cool American guy talking passionately about music to a friend must surely be Quincy. I did ask him, much to Dougie and Rory’s embarrassment. The answer was no but he was eager to chat to us so we were invited to draw up a chair and join him.

Who was he? Jazz drummer Ronnie Gardiner, who had played with all the greats – Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter and Dexter Gordon. Ronnie, now in his 80s, was a bright, engaging character and was delighted to discover our son, Rory, was also a drummer. It was when he realised my husband was a doctor, however, that the conversation shifted to more medical matters.

Ronnie told us about the pioneering work he had been doing since 1980, using the skills needed to play the drums to develop a technique for rehabilitating patients with brain injuries. He had realised that when drumming each arm and leg has to work independently, requiring interaction between the brain’s various centres in terms of coordination, motor skills and memory. Following much research into this, he created a multisensory technique called the Ronnie Gardiner Method.

To show us what he meant, Ronnie began to tap his feet and slap his hands on the table, whilst shouting out a specific sound for each limb. We joined in. Rory, being a drummer, had far more success than his father and me who were slow to pick up the pattern: it was rather like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time.

Research on the Ronnie Gardiner Method began in Sweden but is now being picked up worldwide. There has been success with stroke patients and those suffering from Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Ronnie recounted the story of a woman who, following a stroke, had one wish: to be able to dance again.

After some sessions to stimulate the brain to send the right signals to her limbs, she surprised everyone at a family gathering when her husband held her close and they danced together.

May is the National Stroke Awareness Month, so this chance encounter we had with Ronnie Gardiner is fresh in my mind. If anyone is interested in being trained to deliver the Ronnie Gardiner Method, I know the UK branch are always keen to spread the word.

There are courses being run in London during May and the method will be shown at the UK’s Stroke Assembly in Nottingham in June. For details see www.rgminternational.com

Follow Trish’s blog at www.mumsgoneto.blogspot.com

Lack of energy and cake cravings are being endured by Spalding’s Oxfam shop manager this week as part of a global ‘live below the line’ campaign.

Gary Peatling (43) is living on a £1 a day food budget to raise awareness of 1.2 billion people worldwide who have no choice but to live by a similar budget every day.

He said: “Five days isn’t too long compared to people in the world who live like this week after week.

“It’s the small luxuries you have to cut down on.”

Gary is limited to just one tea bag, reusing it until the tea leaves give up.

He’s also missing out on coffee completely and said meat is another expensive part of our diets which has to be cut on a tight budget.

The initiative, by The Global Poverty Project, is in its fourth year and also takes place in the USA and Canada. The extreme poverty threshold, set by The World Bank, has sat at £1 since 2005.

Last year was the first time Gary took the challenge and he said colleagues commented on his irritable mood in the final few days.

Ahead of this week he said: “I will be on a diet of potatoes and bread.

“It is very difficult to do some kind of jobs on limited nutrition. My work involves a lot of lifting and carrying.”

Since spending six months as a volunteer in Angola, Gary said he really appreciates the toll of living on a minimal rice and bean diet and undertaking hard, physical work, especially compared to his life at home.

He said: “I realised just how important a healthy, balanced diet is. It is hard to function physically and mentally on so little money.”

To kick off the challenge Gary invited people into the shop to share his last piece of cake on Saturday.

Customers could make any donation for a slice of cake, which Gary said tastes even better when you know it’s about to be taken away.

Gary would like to raise £100.

He said: “People live on less than £1 a day for all their most basic needs, not just food and drink. Live Below the Line is a not just a fundraising initiative but a way of raising awareness about extreme poverty.

“Surviving on £1 a day is a harsh and unnecessary reality and one that I want to help change.”

Gary will be keeping a video blog throughout his challenge, you can see and hear how he’s doing at www.spald ingtoday.co.uk

A meeting at Riseholme Conference Centre on Thursday will consider the situation for sugar beet farmers once quotas are abolished.

With quotas being abolished from October 1, 2017, the open meeting for sugar beet growers will look at the future of the industry.

Guest speaker will be British Sugar’s managing director Richard Pike.

NFU Sugar chairman William Martin will also be speaking.

The meeting is at 7.30pm at Riseholme Conference Centre, Lincoln.

Do you know who is responsible for abandoning a starving dog under a Spalding bridge?

Now named Star by those looking after her, she was discovered by a member of the public along Coronation Channel on Tuesday. Thought to be about 18 months old, she is so malnourished her ribs are clearly visible.

South Holland District Council dog warden Rachel Thompson has launched an appeal for information to help find the person responsible.

She wrote on Facebook: “She has spent the night at the vet’s so she can get the best care. If anyone knows where this lovely lady has come from please let me know. The person who did this needs to be found.”

Call the dog warden on 01775 761161.

Planners are being recommended to refuse permission for a 50m high wind turbine in Sutton St James.

Permission for the turbine on land associated with Fendyke Farm is being sought by Ogden Renewable Energy.

The plan is going back before South Holland District Council planners on Wednesday, May 7, because it is “contentious and raises issues”. One of them is the height to the tip of the blade is 78m.

Sutton St James, recently dubbed ‘Solar St James’ has become a hot spot target for renewable energy companies.

There have been concerns the plan would interfere with the Air Traffic Control radar at Waddington and the route for construction materials is unsuitable.