By local MP John Hayes

According to an old saying ‘crime doesn’t pay’, but, looking back, for too long and for too many, a life of crime was a lucrative way to make a living.

Now crime rates are down and falling fast.

The seeds of this welcome change were sown in the mid 1990s, though the policies introduced were controversial at the time.

The first reform was more effective use of prison, resulting in the number of people being locked up nearly doubling – from 45,000 in 1990 to 85,000 today.

Of course, prison works by keeping those who want to rob and hurt people away from their potential victims, but the deterrent of incarceration matters too and, together with a greater emphasis on education and rehabilitation, has made a big difference.

Better deployment of technology – particularly CCTV, by improving detection rates, has also played a part in cutting crime.

Most of all, we should be grateful for the hard work of the policemen and women, who – in testing circumstances – maintain our safe, civilised places to live by protecting us from disorder.

As a result of such improvements, recorded crime in Lincolnshire fell by eight per cent last year and by an impressive 19 per cent since the middle of 2010.

The good news includes a decline in serious offences such as burglary and assault, with NHS hospitals confirming that far fewer victims of attacks are arriving at A&E.

The evidence is clear – there is less crime.

Incidents of farm theft, illegal hare coursing, shoplifting and similar menaces show there is more to do, but the heartening truth, revealed by cold statistics, is that our society has become less tolerant of violent and other forms of criminal activity.

We can all sleep easier in the knowledge that a life of crime is now a much more precarious way of making a living.

Spalding woman Lauren Sharman (28) has graduated from Leeds College of Art with a BA (Hons) degree in digital film, games and animation.

She’s now working at Distant Future Animation Studio.

As a member of the High School for nearly seven years it was a sad moment for my friends and I to say goodbye to former headmaster, Mr Tim Clark, who had definitely left a lasting impression on both myself and the school.

With the size of the shoes to fill being incredibly large, the High School has recently welcomed Michele Anderson, formly from Maidstone Grammar school in Kent, to take on the role as headmistress.

In an interview with the new head I was able to ask the questions the majority of the sixth form wanted to know.

My first impression of Mrs Anderson was that she is a very friendly and approachable individual with a lot of potential to maintain the postively well disciplined environment established by both Mr Clark and acting headteacher Mrs Bamford.

What in particular attracted you to Spalding High School?

“There were many things that attracted me to the school. I was very happy at my previous school. I loved the school, the job and the students and I worked with very professional staff so I knew it would take a very special school to take me away from that.

“As I was looking to relocate my whole family, it wasn’t a matter of headship at any cost.The feel of both schools is very similar, and I felt I could be really happy here.

“Spalding High School has the same ethos and educational view that I have and I think that is very important.”

Do you have any planned changes or improvements for the school?

“The school and I sit very comfortably together in terms of our ethos regarding education. I dont think schools should be examination factories, they should be about developing the fully-rounded individual and giving the opportunity for students to develop in ways other than in paper certificates.

“We are currently going through a period of reflection of what we stand for as a school, by looking at what defines and characterises us.

“From that, we will collectively develop an ethos of what is important to us as a school community. The beginning of the next academic year will be when we will start to reflect on what we want to improve and change.

“This will be a collective discusssion that I will of course lead and shape. But as I have already said to the staff, the governors and the PTA, we are all cogs in a very big wheel. I can’t take the school forward and improve it on my own, it has to be a collective and team effort. I just happen to be the team captain.

Have you always wanted to be a teacher?

“No I didnt. I come from a legal background with my mother being a legal executive, and I originally selected to study law.

“However, in Year 12 I had an outstanding English teacher whose methods of teaching were out of this world and I started to think that I could do this. The very last minute I changed to an education degree. I trained as a Home Economics teacher, but have taught Geography for most of my career.

Would you say you have a favourite aspect about teaching?

I love teaching. I’m not teaching in terms five and six and I miss being in the classroom already. I love the rewarding experience of helping students to develop their understanding, appreciation, and confidence in a subject.

“I also love the creativity of planning excellent lessons and that for me has never lost its appeal.

“I would definitely say the least favourite aspect of the job is the marking.”

What would you say your first impressions of the school were?

“The school is definitely friendly and welcoming. I have had so many students come up to me and talk to me, and asking me how my first week was going or if I was enjoying the school, without me having to make the approach. It has been a thouroughly pleasant couple of weeks.”

How would you say have dealt with any issues in the past, with regards to teaching?

“Teaching can be a very challenging profession and I went through the same demanding situations that all teachers go through, with regards to behavioural challenges. I would say I am open, transparant and fair so have developed the strategies to deal with these problems. I am a strong behavioural manager, students tend to know now that I’m not someone to be messed with.”

Now it’s up to you! That is the message to the people of Spalding after the Bank Holiday weekend saw festivals across South Holland working hard to keep the district’s floral heritage alive.

The focus on Saturday – traditionally the day Spalding Flower Parade attracted up to 100,000 people from all over the country, boosting hotel business and visitors to the area’s church flower festivals – was the Tulipmania festival and procession at Springfields in Spalding.

No-one ever expected it to have the same pulling power, but with 5,000 visitors over the two days it was a start.

MP John Hayes stood by a static display of one of the hand-pushed displays to feature in the new People’s Parade in June and said he was thrilled the Spalding Horticultural Society, who organised the event along with Jan Whitbourn of Tulip Radio, had been able to keep the legacy of the flower parade alive.

He said: “This event is a good way of kicking off the celebration of our heritage, community and the church flower festivals.

“And adding to that we have the People’s Parade, which will be a new slant on the flower parade and involve schools and the community. Now it’s up to local people to get behind it.

“Never let anyone tell me the flower parade is over. It may be changing, but it’s going to keep going forever.”

Windmills can act as an inspiration to paintings and photographs, but the flour they produce can also be used to make art.

Artist Fi Burke has recently been doing just that, helping community groups at Moulton Mill make salt dough sculptures and other art work as part of the Sliced Bread Project.

Fi was also inspired by the old mill and its industrial heritage and has been busy producing her own work based on some of her experiences.

That work is going on display at Moulton Mill this weekend to celebrate National Mills Weekend.

Both Moulton Mill and Sneath’s Mill at Lutton Gowt are opening locally, but there are other mills in the region that are also opening their doors to the public for free.

They include Maud Foster Windmill at Boston, Heckington Windmill and Sibsey Trader Windmill.

The weekend is an annual one, but an additional feature this year is Mills in Art, a national art competition for pictures of both wind and water mills.

Fi says: “Working with mills is a source of endless inspiration. Not only am I fascinated by how the mills have played such a central part in our lives, but also the sayings that we use today that are related to them.

“I love the relationships that exist in mills between wind, land and people. I’m a big fan of most of today’s technology and can’t help thinking that the ingenuity of the mill design was the internet of its day.”

It was the old grain sacks at Moulton Mill that struck Fi.

She says: “They are empty now but they have all the names of the merchants on them, so I researched the history of the merchants.”

Fi has gone on to create stencilled work containing some of this historical information and statistics like how much a mill worker would have been paid in the 1900s.

People can see the artwork at Moulton Mill on both Saturday and Sunday (10am to 4pm both days) and entrance is free.

There is a rare chance to see the progress being made by volunteers to restore the eight-sided Sneath’s Mill on Sunday when it opens between 10am and 4pm – admission is free.

To enter the Mills in Art competition, send entries to Mills Section, SPAB, 37 Spital Square, London E1 6DY or email (including a scan or photograph of the physical artwork) millsinfo@spab.org.uk

There are two categories: adult and under 16. Winning entries will receive two years’ free individual membership of the SPAB Mills Section (worth £70), or of the Young Millers for under-16s, and free copies of Martin Watts’ books on Windmills and Watermills published by Shire Books.

Download the entry form and return with your artwork by May 31.

If you like the idea of making salt dough shapes with guidance from artist Fi Burke there is another chance to have a go.

Since Sliced Bread is a visual arts project in which Fi and members of the community explore and celebrate the culture and history of windmills across Lincolnshire.

Fi has held workshops and events at Moulton Mill with community groups, including Brownies and Guides, to encourage them to discover what can be found when, as Fi puts it, “history, creative learning, words and making art with unusual materials are brought together.”

She says: “I have had to come up with different ways for people to engage with the mill’s history and one of the ways I found worked really well was salt dough. You can paint it and varnish it.”

Later in the year, Ayscoughfee Hall and Boston College in Spalding will be the sites for a unique solo exhibition of work created by Fi during 2014.

A “Summer Bake” is also planned for Spalding on July 19 – details to be confirmed later in the year.

For more information, contact Fi at info@fiburke.com or visit her website at fiburke.com

MP John Hayes is delighted with the latest figures which show that unemployment in the area continues to fall, and has dropped to just to 2.6 per cent.

The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) fell to 1,281 in South Holland and the Deepings for March 2014 – a fall of 416 from a year previously, and 69 fewer than the previous month.

The member for South Holland and the Deepings said: “More people in work is clearly a great thing; good news for people, good news for local firms, and good news for the local economy.”

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also show unemployment falling in Lincolnshire, with a fall of 2,834 JSA claimants from the same time last year – a total of 12,219, the lowest for the county since 2008.

Nationally the number of unemployed fell by 77,000 in the last quarter, and fewer people are unemployed now than at any time since November 2008.

Mr Hayes added: “With 1.3 million more people in work than in 2010, and with youth unemployment having fallen for 17 consecutive months, we are making excellent progress. Compared to today, in 2009 there were 275,000 more workless households in Britain, and most shockingly of all there were 40,000 households in which no one had ever worked.

Spalding’s bid for gold in East Midlands in Bloom is off to a blooming good start with more businesses than ever before agreeing to display hanging baskets.

Spalding and District Chamber of Commerce president Phil Scarlett, one of the In Bloom team steering the project, says Holland Market supermarket Sainsbury’s is on board this year and will take four hanging baskets.

The supermarket has also agreed to spruce up its green areas around the store the week before the judging takes place.

Mr Scarlett hopes Sainsbury’s participation will inspire other Holland Market businesses to follow their example.

Businesses in Pied Calf Yard, including Penman Clocks, Fancy Frox and Sewing Box, are also among newcomers as are Fitzgeralds Beds, Prior’s Oven, Gibbs Shoes and The Lincoln Arms.

Plantifor, based in Enterprise Way, has offered sponsorship for 12 hanging baskets to go up at charity shops in the town – and there’s sponsorship for another three baskets at so far unspecified spots from local fruit and vegetable importers Fesa.

The Crescent will look it’s usual bright, cheerful and colourful self as Sarah Patterson from Adams Property is coordinating the area’s hanging baskets this year.

As well as looking at the town’s main commercial area, the judges will visit Ayscoughfee Gardens and Springfields Retail Outlet.

Spalding residents will also play a key role in the town’s success if they enter the Front Garden Competition.

There’s potential this year for the town to win gold if everyone gets behind the Bloom effort.

Mr Scarlett said: “It’s all down to the judges on the day and this is a very difficult one to call.

“It’s all on one day’s inspection in July and it will be little things that we do. For example this year, Sainsbury’s have said ‘tell us the date when the judges will visit and we will make sure the shrubs we have in the car park area are tidied up the week before’.”

Public participation is key to demonstrate community support as is backing from business, which is why Mr Scarlett is delighted food and flower firms based outside the town centre have weighed in with sponsorship.

A businessman who killed a stranded motorist after driving into the back of his broken down car has been jailed for 12 months and banned for five years.

Robin Woodward failed to see the Ford Focus in the dark despite the fact that it’s hazard warning lights and head lights were on.

Lincoln Crown Court was told that other motorists swerved around the broken down vehicle on the A1 at South Witham but Woodward took no evasive action and only applied his brakes when it was too late to avoid a collision.

Woodward had cancelled the insurance for his vehicle six weeks earlier after being told that his motoring record was so bad he faced having his £1,300 annual fee being doubled after failing to report an earlier accident.

Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said that Woodward was travelling at 60 mph and the collision caused a huge impact. The other driver Stuart Young (24) suffered fatal injuries.

Private Young, who served with the elite 13th Air Assault Support Regiment, was returning to his barracks at Colchester after spending the Christmas and New Year period with his family and friends in his home town of Glenrothes, Fife.

The soldier posted on twitter “trying to find a hard shoulder when u lose all power in your car #scarystuff” to alert friends and family to his problem but seconds later suffered fatal injuries when his vehicle was struck from behind by businessman Robin Woodward.

Woodward later claimed he only saw Private Young’s car when it was too late to avoid a collision but the court was told he had enough time to brake if he had reacted correctly.

He admitted he had been continually checking his fuel level during his journey as he was running low on petrol and unable to refuel because he had set off without his wallet.

Mr Scott said “Stuart Young was serving in the army. He set off from home in his Ford Focus to drive back to his army base. Some time about 4.50 pm his car began to develop a fault. We know that because he sent a tweet.

“His vehicle came to a halt in the nearside lane of the southbound carriageway of the A1. There was no hard shoulder.

“It was dark and he deployed his hazard warning lights. His rear and front lights were illuminated. He did what he could to alert other road users that he was stationary. There was a fault in the fuel delivery system of his car.

“The defendant was travelling south to Stamford. He failed to see Mr Young’s car in time and drove into the back of it.”

Woodward (32), of West End Road, Frampton, admitted causing death by careless driving on 5 January 2013. He was jailed for 12 months and banned from driving for five years.

During a four hour hearing he claimed his broker had mistakenly cancelled his insurance but this was rejected by Judge Sean Morris.

The court was told that Woodward had been banned from drink driving in 2003 and at the time of the collision had four points on his licence with three further speeding convictions pending which he had failed to tell his insurers. He also did not tell his insurers about an earlier accident when he reversed into a Mercedes. He has also been banned since for drink driving.

Judge Morris told him “You should have seen him. Everybody else did but you didn’t. You could have stopped had you been driving properly. What makes your case worse is that you have a bad driving record. Not only that but you were driving uninsured.

“There is a streak in you that doesn’t care about anybody else but yourself. Even at the time of the accident you weren’t wearing your seat belt. You seem to think that the rules of the road apply to everybody except yourself. I am satisfied that you were driving deliberately without insurance because it was too expensive and probably because you didn’t want to tell your parents about it. An immediate prison sentence has to follow.”

Andrew Vout, defending, said Woodward was desperately sorry for what he did.

“He just didn’t react quick enough. His mistake has cost Stuart Young his life.”

At the time of Stuart’s death his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel David Marshall, paid tribute to him saying “Private Young was the epitome of everything that was good in a professional soldier; intelligent, committed, utterly professional and a thoroughly good bloke.”

Kenny Young (51), the father of Stuart Young, said “There was no remorse whatsoever from this guy. He is irresponsible. He was trying to wriggle out of everything. He knew he had no insurance. That is totally unacceptable. He deserves everything he gets. The man is a villain.

“He has no idea what we have been through so far and what we are going to go through for the rest of our lives. The family are absolutely devastated. It has wrecked our lives forever.”

With a bit of luck, by the time you read this our Single Payment Scheme claim will be safely filed online and if yours isn’t then you’d better hurry; if you are still persevering with a paper submission you’re already on borrowed time so stop reading the paper and get on with it, writes Ian Stancer, NFU Holland County chairman.

The SPS is now relatively straightforward and if the RPA website is cooperating most claims can be completed quickly and easily.

And now the bad news; once this year’s claim is tucked away it’s time to get our heads around a completely new set of rules and it’s best to start thinking now before harvest transports us rapidly into the autumn sowing period.

The NFU has been working hard to try and round the edges off some pretty ridiculous proposals coming out of Brussels with some considerable success, but sadly there are a few daft ideas that fought through. Now the negotiations are over and we wait to hear how our government will implement the new regime.

As ever, the NFU has unrivalled expertise and locally we’ll be kicking off with ‘roadshow’ meetings, so put 9am, June 4, at Springfields, on your calendar.

One thing bound to cause problems is the ‘online only’ submission process which won’t suit everybody. Combine that with new rules, new terminology, new maps and a new RPA computer system, and we could be heading for the perfect storm: best to buckle up now.

Sutton Bridge growers J Putterill and Son are at the forefront of an emerging market.

A couple of years ago Andrew Putterill, who runs the business at Guy’s Head Road with his wife Tracey and son Oliver, was trialling brown peas for Dalmark Grain Ltd.

The peas were to be sent to the Far East for the production of wasabi – a snack food previously made with the more normal green marrowfat pea.

However, this year for the first time Andrew is growing for Dalmark’s sister company, Dalton Seeds, based at Eye.

He is growing the Rose variety of maple peas, which are dressed and then sold on as seed to other farmers to grow on to produce a forage mix for animal feed.

Dalton Seed Sales spokesman Ben Easthope said there is a growing demand for the peas.

He said: “There is quite a demand from the West for whole crop forage mixtures. Andrew is growing high grade seed to produce more seed. We have to maintain the seed supplies and we have different grades of seed. One particular retailer has specified Rose as his preference.

“The mixture will be barley, peas and also oats and occasionally wheat. Before it is ripe the whole lot is cut and silaged. There has been a fair increase in demand.”

The company sold about 100 tonnes of seed last year and will do the same again this year.

Ben says the crop is looking good at the moment and Andrew agrees his 25 hectares are in good shape, though they were “looking for some rain” at the time Growers spoke to him.

He said: “They are easy if you get the right weather. Peas like to be dry and warm.”

As it is important not to mix green and brown peas, Andrew is concentrating on the maple, which is harvested in August.

Whaplode Drove farmer Ian Stancer has put news reports of farmers enjoying the biggest pay rises of all workers last year into perspective.

Government figures show that farmers enjoyed an increase of more than 10 per cent in their annual wage last year.

While most workers saw wages outstripped by rising living costs, the figures show that farmers earned 13 per cent more at the end of 2013 than in January.

However, Ian says: “Farm income is up and down like a yo-yo. It fluctuates with the price of commodities and the weather so if you have an increase one year you will have a decrease the next. You just never know because it is unpredictable.

“There may have been a ten per cent increase on paper, but it may be down next year. The previous year was the summer when we had all the rain and what have you, so if they have had a better year last year, they deserve it.”

The figures show 2013 reversed 2012’s losses to return to 2011 levels.

People worried about a spate of shed and garage break-ins across the Holbeach area in recent weeks are invited to a crime prevention event in Whaplode.

A mobile police station will be parked outside JR Cycles, High Road, on Monday May 19 from 2pm when officers will be giving out crime prevention advice and security marking packs.

The event is in response to a spate of break-ins in recent weeks where gardening equipment, tools and garden ornaments have been stolen.

Police received at least three reports of incidents on April 27 alone, including two stone garden ornaments stolen in Saracen’s Head and iron gates stolen from two houses in Whaplode.

Sgt Gareth Boxall of Holbeach and the Sutton Community Policing Team said: “We have increased patrols in the area, including officers in unmarked vehicles, and members of the public are reporting thefts and suspicious activity to us promptly.

“Such swift action assists us in tackling the issue and helped us recover some stolen ornaments and garden gates last week.

“But I continue to ask members of the public to be vigilant and report any unusual or suspicious vehicles to us, especially at night.

“Most importantly, I would ask everyone to look closely at their own sheds, garages and gardens as thieves target all sorts of items at this time of year and will choose the most vulnerable targets.”

A parish council, once dubbed “more entertaining than the one on TV’s Vicar of Dibley”, is being given a last chance to sort out its affairs after five councillors walked out in March.

Circumstances around the walkout at Lutton Parish Council have not been made public, but councillors who have spoken to the Spalding Guardian have expressed frustration that “nothing ever got decided”.

The councillors who resigned were Mrs Jane Barwell, Mark Ludlam, Eric Saxton. John Tolliday and David Mountain, who sadly died suddenly last month, aged 68.

With chairman Joan Atkinson and her husband, Ted, the only councillors left, five district councillors have been co-opted until the vacancies can be filled.

They are Couns Bryan Alcock, Peter Coupland, Graham Dark, Michael Seymour and David Wilkinson.

A notice about the vacancies has gone up on the village noticeboard, informing villagers of their right to call an election, and a first meeting with the district councillors has been held.

Coun Mrs Atkin said: “We got through a lot of the admin. A member of public once said the meetings were better entertainment than TV’s Vicar of Dibley, but the past few months have been very frustrating.”

Gary Porter, leader of SHDC, said: “We have made the council legal - now it’s up to the villagers to decide if they want it or not.”

A year after changing her lifestyle to rear turkeys in Moulton Eaugate, farming is going great guns for Julie Watkins.

Julie, who runs Cranberry Farm, sold all but about 20 to 30 of her 250 turkeys and is awaiting her new turkey poults at the end of June with plans to raise even more birds for Christmas.

She has also brought in 50 cade lambs that are being fattened up.

She says: “We were so lucky in our first year to only lose five. I have 43 because someone bought two and we are going to keep four girls and I am swapping a boy and then I can breed from my girls.

“I have really taken to it, very much. I love it. I have got six pigs as well and I am going to get some weaners.”

Thirty-one thousand people saw the shocking image of Star – a dog left to starve in Spalding – but one resident has felt compelled to do more than share her disgust that something like this could 
happen in the town.

Julie Pearson contacted the Spalding Guardian for help in launching an appeal to 
support the 18-month-old mastiff cross – now been cared for at Jerry Green Dog Rescue in Algarkirk – on her road to recovery.

She said: “When I saw the picture of Star, I had to do something. It was on my birthday, but all celebrations went out of the window – I immediately started contacting people to see what I can do.

“I don’t know how anyone could go to bed knowing their dog was starving. You expect to see things like this in a city, but not in Spalding.”

A ‘Star Appeal’ bin has been placed in the reception of the Spalding Guardian and already local businesses and residents have shown their generosity.

Rooke’s pet shop has donated a bed and toys, SAPS pet supplies food and toys, JB Shoe Repairs Ltd a Star engraved pink ID tag, Baytree Garden Centre a voucher for £20 for a harness and collar, with other donations of a blanket, food and toys.

Jo Hickson, manager at Jerry Green Dog Rescue, said she was delighted so many people wanted to help Star.

She said: “Star is such a lovely dog and in just a week since being here has put on four kilogrammes – about a quarter of her body weight – and is gaining strength.

“We’ve been keeping her in isolation kennels away from the public and other dogs for intensive care and she’s having lots of small meals.

“She had been eating her own faeces, so we are having to educate her that there is plenty of food.

“Because she is young, we are now looking at weeks rather than months before she has made a full recovery.”

Readers wanting to contribute to the appeal are being asked for blankets, toys, dog treats, tinned hot dogs, cheese spread and sardines.

Jo explained: “Treats and toys are very important in Star’s recovery because she has yet to learn to play.”

South Holland District Council dog warden Rachel Thompson is supporting the Star Appeal.

Since claims Star has been found tied up under a bridge along Coronation Channel, Rachel has since discovered the dog had been rescued from the owner by a couple who quickly found it needed more specialised care than they could offer.

Rachel said: “If they hadn’t rescued her and contacted me, Star would probably have been dead by now.

“There were 31,000 visitors to our Facebook page post – she really is a Star now.

“It’s marvellous what people are doing to help.”

Defra has published a consultation on changes to regulation of small sewage treatment plants.

The original permit registration scheme was suspended in 2011 due to concerns over the regulatory burden.

A new de-regulatory route is now being proposed which replaces the need for a permit with ‘General Binding Rules’ that owners of septic tanks and small sewage treatment plants must comply with.

The rules apply to all septic tank owners, not only farmers.

The rules place limits on the location, volume and type of discharge covered by General Binding Rules. If owners can’t comply with the General Binding Rules a permit from the Environment Agency will be required.

The British Pig and Poultry Fair 2014 takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 13 and 14, at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.

The free-to-enter event will showcase the latest technology and business information.

The show spotlight will be on key aspects of business, from raw material procurement and securing planning permission, to energy on farm and using the media to positively promote the industry.

A new weekly column written by members of South Holland District Council’s cabinet This week with Leader Gary Porter

This year is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of South Holland District Council and I have had the honour and privilege to be its Leader now for 11 of those years.

In that time the council has gone through many changes and for the most part has been in the vanguard of those councils prepared to strive for better and/or cheaper service delivery to our residents.

With the support of councillors from both groups, South Holland was the first in the country to set up our own ‘affordable housing company’ and bring in central government funding to help tackle the lack of affordable housing.

We were also one of the first handful of councils to begin building council houses again.

South Holland was also part of the first pair of councils (along with East Lindsey District Council) to set up Compass Point, a ‘Teckal’ company charged with delivering back office services and saving our tax payers several million pounds.

Similarly and relying on that spirit of cross party support we were one half of the first pair of councils in the country to set up a shared management team, crossing local and regional borders.

With Breckland Council (our partners) we now save over £1.2 million every year on the cost of managers.

This work on shared management has been recognised by central government as an example of best practice which brought an award of £380,000 from last year’s innovation challenge fund.

I want to close this column by paying tribute to one person in particular, namely Councillor Angela Newton.

Angela has been on the council for all of its 40 years, serving the people of South Holland in ways that they will probably never really know or understand, but ways that we should all be proud of.

For all of my 11 years as Leader Angela has been Leader of the opposition and I can honestly say that, when we have had to disagree, it’s been because of a belief in what was best for our residents and never about scoring petty political points.

I truly believe that our positive working relationship has been fundamental to all of the above successes we have achieved.

BREAKING NEWS THURSDAY 4.30PM: Three people have been arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally after they were discovered in a lorry travelling on the A151 just outside Spalding today.

A child thought to be aged just three was also in the group found in a lorry at a roundabout in Holbeach Road, near McDonalds restaurant, at about 1pm.

The alert was raised after the lorry driver heard banging in the refrigerated part of the vehicle and three adults, thought to be from Iran, were arrested by police.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said: “There was some concern that at least one of the people in the lorry may have suffered from hypothermia and another who had a leg injury.

“The group were taken to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, to be checked over, but our greatest concern was with the child having been in a refrigerated lorry.

“Priority has been given to their welfare and making sure they are being checked out medically.”

The spokesman was unable to give details about where the lorry had come from or was going to, nor how the group had come to be in it.

UK Border Agency officials are expected to assess the three adults arrested to determine what should happen to them.

THURSDAY 11.45AM: Four men are in custody after being arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally when they were found in a lorry in Sutterton.

The men, three from Syria and one from Iran, were discovered when a lorry driver from Spain heard banging in his vehicle at Sutterton Roundabout last Thursday.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesman confirmed the men were in the hands of UKBA officials while their cases are being considered.