A MAN alleged to have assaulted his wife by shoving her backwards and grabbing her throat was fined £35 by Spalding magistrates.

Andrew Preece (45) admitted assaulting his wife, Wendy, at their Spalding home – but denied taking hold of her throat.

The court heard a row erupted on May 10 when Mrs Preece was ironing and shouted upstairs to her son.

Preece was in the living room with his parents and asked why she didn’t go upstairs and speak to their son instead of shouting.

Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said Mrs Preece then told him: “If you have got something to say come out and say it to me.”

Preece emerged looking angry and wound up, put his open hands on her arms and shoved her backwards.

He grabbed her left upper arm, causing it to bruise, and put his left hand around her throat.

Miss Ritson said Preece’s mother intervened and stopped the assault.

Earlier, she read from Mrs Preece’s statement who said she had suffered abuse from her husband for 20 of the 22 years they had been married and it had taken “a lot of courage” for her to go to the police.

Solicitor Andrew Goldsborough, mitigating, said Preece denied grabbing his wife by the throat but accepted the rest of the incident described by the prosecution.

He said there had been issues with Preece’s health since the assault and he now suffers from depression, hypertension and anxiety.

Mr Goldsborough said Preece is living with his parents in Wales and gets £71 a week in employment support allowance.

He said: “Mr Preece would deny that there has been any domestic violence between them in the past. She has never reported it to the police. There have been no previous convictions.”

Preece, of Fothergill Road, Cwmgwrach, must also pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Magistrates decided it was not a suitable case for a restraining order or compensation.

AN Eastern European who can’t read English claimed that he didn’t know his driving ban was still in force when he pulled out into the path of a police car.

Miroslaw Lukaszewicz (50), of Willesby Road, Spalding, was disqualified in January 2011 for drink-driving but believed it ended on April 19.

Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said police were on patrol in Swan Street, Spalding, on May 16 when Lukaszewicz pulled out of a car park right in front of them, causing the patrol car to brake.

Officers followed him to a car park in Westlode Street and a police national computer check revealed he was banned until June 19.

Miss Ritson said Lukaszewicz had been given a chance to do the drink-driver’s rehabilitation course and was given a certificate showing he had to complete it by April 19.

But he mistook that date for the end of the ban.

Solicitor Mike Alexander, mitigating, said it was a genuine mistake.

Lukaszewicz had paid £150 for insurance, his car was taxed and he had an MOT.

Magistrates imposed a three-month conditional discharge and banned Lukaszewicz for 14 days from the date of Thursday’s hearing.

He was given no separate penalty for driving without insurance – an automatic offence because insurance cannot cover banned drivers.

Lukaszewicz must also pay £85 costs. He pleaded guilty to both offences.

Presiding magistrate Richard Spinks told Lukaszewicz: “By the time June 20 comes round, which is the end of the ban, you should get your licence back again.”

A NEW vicarage could be built in Holbeach to help overcome problems of recruiting a new parish priest.

All Saints’ Church has been without a vicar since Canon John Wickstead retired last May and Lincoln Diocese says part of the problems with filling the vacancy have been due to a lack of unsuitable accommodation.

They say the current vicarage is too large, energy inefficient, costly to maintain and the layout is unfit for its dual purpose as family home and a workplace visited by the public.

The comments were included in an application for a new four-bedroom vicarage considered by South Holland District Council planning committee last night.

Members were told the old vicarage does not comply with the Church of England’s design guide for vicarages borne out of a growing number of physical attacks on members of the clergy in their own homes.

The guidelines specify the “office” part of the building should be separate from the vicar’s living accommodation.

A report to the planning committee said: “This type of layout is not practically achievable within the existing vicarage.”

And Holbeach Parochial Church Council summarised its support for the plans, saying: “We are now facing a lengthy vacancy which poses many difficulties and may have an adverse effect on many aspects of church life and the life of the parish.

“We have been through an interviewing process, when we met two candidates, but both expressed serious concerns about the lack of a suitable place to live.”

Members were recommended to approve the planning application, which features a number of alterations, including one less bedroom, than a previous plan.

If approved the four-bedroom home with detached double garage would be built within the grounds of the existing vicarage and a new access would be created off Church Walk, including new entrance gates.

But members will also consider a number of objections, including one from Holbeach and District Civic Society describing the proposed gates as “more appropriate to a high security prison”.

Other concerns relate to new building within the conservation area and the impact on the views of the church from Church Street and Church Walk, as well as future use of the old vicarage as flats or a home of multiple occupation.

WHEN Nigel Barker’s daughter got married he played an important part in the proceedings, as you would expect of the father of the bride.

However, what is less customary is that 68-year-old Nigel made the wedding dress, the chief bridesmaid’s and flower girl’s dresses, as well as the men’s waistcoats and cravats.

Nigel’s design and sewing skills had come to the fore long before that, as he also made his daughter Adele’s christening robe, which has subsequently been worn by his grandaughters Maria (8) and Georgia (6).

Surprisingly, Nigel, of Gosberton Clough, has never worked professionally as a dress designer or maker, but over a period of 30 to 40 years has produced dozens of wedding and ballroom dresses, theatrical costumes, waistcoats, christening gowns and other outfits as a hobby alongside the day job.

What he loves most is a bit of bling, spending hours stitching sequins and sparkly beads to fabric, despite the strain this puts on his eyes.

He has also built up a fabulous collection of beaded dresses and bags, reflecting his passion for the 1920s, as well as the colourful waistcoats he likes to make.

It all began when Nigel was in the Army and undertook the rather unlovely task of darning his fellow soldiers’ socks – for 3d a hole. “That bought my cigarettes,” says Nigel, who says his skills were much in demand because it was impossible to march in boots with a hole in your socks.

They were skills he’d learned at his mother’s – and father’s – knee, as both of them were good with their hands – Nigel’s father taught him to knit when he was little. Nigel lost his father when he was seven, but remembers him saying: “One day you’ll need this.”

How right he was, because when Nigel left the Army he managed the Co-op in Felixstowe where he worked alongside a woman who was involved in local musical theatre and Nigel began performing as well as making costumes. That continued until the day he went to a wedding and dared to criticise the bride’s dress to a friend, who challenged him with: “I suppose you can do better?”

When the friend’s daughter planned to marry, Nigel proved he could indeed do better, producing a gorgeous dress for her, and he has lost count of the number he has made since, under his label, Bodele.

Nigel says: “I never wanted to do it as a profession because I like to do it when I feel like it. When I was making gowns people would come to me with an idea and I would listen and throw a lot of ideas around, but they always went back to the original idea.

“One of my specifications was that the mothers and mothers-in-law didn’t attend after the initial meeting because the brides are getting so stressed, without their mothers wanting this and that.

“Once I see the dress in my mind’s eye I can go ahead and make it. The ones I haven’t seen, the couples ended up not getting married, so I never had to make them.”

Nigel is also an animal lover and moved to this area in 2000 looking for space for his menagerie of horses, dogs, geese, chickens and cats – he is hoping to add lambs and cattle later on.

The dress-making eased up by the time he moved here but Nigel, who undertook a City & Guilds Part 1 in Creative Studies while still in Felixstowe, has found courses locally where he can continue to gain new skills with his needle.

One was a bead class in Gosberton with Alma Weeks, but he also discovered Unique Cottage Studios in Low Fulney some years ago. There he belongs to the knitters’ group (first Thursday of the month) and the textiles group (third Thursday of the month), and he oversaw the joint project Woolly Spires, in which members of both groups re-created the parish church using knitting, crochet, felting and other techniques.

He now has dozens of projects on the go at the same time, many of them brightly coloured, while still working part-time as a work coach with SENSE, the deaf-blind charity.

n SENSE has an open day on Saturday, June 23 when students’ work will be on display at the Glenside Resource Centre, Glenside North, Pinchbeck (1pm to 4pm).

AMBULANCE staff have been praised for the way they dealt with emergencies over jubilee weekend.

Phil Milligan, chief executive of the East Midlands Ambulance Service, praised staff and volunteers for the way they responded to a significant increase in 999 calls over the jubilee weekend.

Figures show that over the four-day celebration, EMAS experienced a six per cent increase in calls but still hit its performance target for responding to life-threatening emergencies – 75 per cent were reached in eight minutes or less.

Mr Milligan said: “While most people were celebrating the jubilee, it was business as usual on the front-line. We had extra resources to cope with the expected rise in demand and the fact we hit our targets shows we got it right.”

Monday was the busiest day when 2,387 calls were received – 25 per cent up on normal levels. A large proportion of the calls were for people with respiratory problems and chest pains as well as the expected increase in people suffering illness or injury by celebrating with too much alcohol.

Mr Milligan added: “As usual, our staff and volunteers did a fantastic job providing the best care possible.”

A LORRY driver, believed to be from Sutton Bridge, has died after his vehicle collided with a car in Norfolk.

Colin Wright, from Swineshead-based haulage firm Mason Brothers, was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene of the accident at 10am on Saturday.

Police said the Scania HGV he was driving crossed the central reservation at the Harford Bridges junction of the A47 near Norwich following a collision with a blue Seat Leon. Both cars were travelling in the same direction.

A force spokesman said there were no other serious injuries, but the driver of the Seat had been treated for minor injuries.

Mr Wright, who was in his 60s, according to company director Richard Mason, had worked for the company for about ten years.

Mr Mason said: “He was a very liked member of the team and a very reliable and efficient driver, He will be sorely missed by his employers and his colleagues. It’s a great loss and our thoughts are with his family at this time.”

ON Saturday Spalding’s B&Q store will take part in a great sunflower grow giving away sunflower plants to children and parents in a bid to get kids in the garden and growing.

The campaign which is supported by Alan Titchmarch will see all 360 stores across the UK giving away free sunflower plants to children between 10am and noon.

Community groups, including scouts are invited to pick up their free plant.

There will be experts on hand to ensure children and parents know exactly how to plant and take care of their sunflower.

Children will be encouraged to take a picture of their sunflower in a bid to break a Guinness World Record later this summer.

THE owners of a South Holland care home told of their “great sorrow” in a letter announcing its closure written just hours before they were found dead in an apparent double suicide.

The bodies of Jaswant and Isabel Beeharry, who owned Maria-Helena Care in Dawsmere and another home in Terrington St Clement in Norfolk, were discovered in the back seat of their black BMW in a lane near March in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.

There had been a small fire in the car. The deaths are not being treated as suspicious.

Relatives first heard of the closure of the home in Dawsmere Road in a letter received on Monday. Guy Erwood, whose mother Janet (84) has dementia, said he believes it was posted on Friday or Saturday.

The letter was signed on behalf of Mr and Mrs Beeharry and informed him the home would close on Sunday, July 8, and new accommodation would have to be found for his mother and the other 17 county council-funded residents and six self-funders who live there.

Having room for 33 residents, the home blamed closure on “low occupancy”.

The letter said: “Continued low occupancy levels, reduced council placements and cost of utilities and staff wages have forced us to close the home.

“It is causing us great sorrow because we are aware of the impact it will have on our residents, relatives and staff.”

Mr Erwood (65), of Old Main Road, Fleet Hargate, said he was devasted to hear of the death of the owners of the home.

He said: “It’s a tragedy – it was a well-run home and since Mr and Mrs Beeharry took it over about three or four years ago they have spent a lot of money on it.”

When he received the letter on Monday, his immediate concern was for the effect the upheaval would have on his mother and the other residents.

He said: “It is a well-known fact that such upheaval for the elderly can result in death.

“I am not angry at the home – I blame Lincolnshire County Council for a change in policy to keep the elderly in their own homes rather than put them in residential care.

“If the actions of Lincolnshire County Council have in any way triggered this tragedy and anything happens to my mother, I will spend the rest of my life devoted to making them pay.”

Glen Garrod, assistant director for adult social care at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of Mr and Mrs Beeharry at this tragic time. We will, of course, assist police and the coroner’s office with their investigations in any way we possibly can.

“Our priority now is, and remains, the home’s residents. We’re working closely with the Maria-Helena Care Home staff to ensure all residents and their families receive as much support and reassurance as we’re able to give in this very difficult situation.”

A SUTTON Bridge motorist remains in critical condition in hospital after a crash on June 2.

The 31-year-old was driving a silver Ford Focus which crossed the main carriageway on the A52 Wainfleet Road at Freiston and came to rest at the side of the Castle Inn Pub.

The man sustained serious injuries and is in a critical but stable condition in the intensive care unit at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham.

There were no passengers in the car and no other known vehicles involved.

Police have appealed for anyone who saw the collision occur, or who saw the silver Ford Focus being driven in the area prior to the accident, to contact PC 466 Ranyard of the Roads Policing Unit on the 101 number.

Police would particularly like to speak to the driver or passengers of a black car that may have been in the area at the time to establish if they witnessed the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Lincolnshire Police on 101 quoting ‘incident number 497 of June 2’.

SPALDING magistrates imposed an interim driving ban and adjourned sentence to June 21 when Moulton man Graham Pearce admitted driving with 103 microgrammes of alcohol in breath – nearly three times the legal limit.

Pearce (45), of Reynolds Gardens, appeared in custody on Thursday having been stopped the day before on High Road, Weston.

John Clare, prosecuting, said Pearce was kept in custody because there were concerns about him continuing to drink and drive.

Solicitor Mark Hudson, mitigating, said Pearce had entered a timely guilty plea and suggested a high level community penalty might be the best sentence.

SHOCKED staff at a transport firm are in mourning after one of their lorry drivers died at the wheel on Saturday.

Colin Wright (62), of Pebble Close, Sutton Bridge, was confirmed dead after emergency services were called to a crash at about 10am on the A47 near Norwich.

Norfolk Coroner’s Service say Mr Wright died of natural causes, rather than as a result of injuries received, and there will be no inquest.

Norfolk Police say his HGV crossed the central reservation at the Harford Bridges junction following a collision with a blue Seat Leon.

Both vehicles were travelling towards Yarmouth at the time.

Two other vehicles travelling towards Dereham received minor damage.

Emergency services including the East Anglian Air Ambulance were called.

Paramedics confirmed Mr Wright’s death at the scene and treated the woman driving the Seat.

The road was closed for several hours for police accident investigators to probe the cause of the crash and for the road to be cleared of potatoes that spilled from Mr Wright’s lorry.

Mr Wright, a family man, had worked at Swineshead transport firm Mason Brothers for more than ten years.

Director Richard Mason said: “He was a very valued member of a close-knit team.

“As you can imagine, the whole place is subdued. We are all in mourning.

“He was one of the ‘old school’ drivers, always very reliable and well liked.

“He was a great guy, really, a family man, a very hard worker, very reliable.

“I can’t praise him enough. We are all still very raw at the moment.

“It’s a great loss.”

Mr Wright’s job took him all over the country.

Mr Mason said the company’s thoughts are with Mr Wright’s family at this time.

It is believed Mr Wright leaves family including his wife, son and grandchildren.

It is Bike Week from Saturday until next Sunday, an annual opportunity to promote cycling nationally and to show how cycling can easily be part of everyday life.

Pedals – Spalding’s cycle action group – is encouraging cyclists with a couple of rides, one under ten miles on Sunday and a more challenging 15 miles the following Sunday, June 24.

They are open to everyone, although children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult, and both start at 2.30pm from The Vista, in Church Gate, Spalding, and finish by 4.30pm.

Pedals may be promoting cycling during Bike Week, but it is working to make things better for cyclists year round in its role as “free-of-charge think tank” for district and county councils, according to its chairman David Jones.

For instance, it has produced a document that council planners can refer to to make sure planning applications they are considering also work for cyclists.

The pressure group has had its successes, outlined in a new leaflet being produced to coincide with Bike Week, such as persuading Network Rail to provide a ‘staircase channel’ so that cyclists can wheel their bikes over Steppingstone Bridge in Spalding rather than having to carry them.

It has successfully applied to South Holland District Council for £8,320 of Springfields ‘planning money’ to be used to improve signs for the cycle route to the town centre as well as providing more cycle parking in the town centre.

The group worked with Lincolnshire County Council on its new cycle map for Spalding and is on the district council’s working group considering how to use the £230,000 power station expansion ‘planning money’ earmarked for cycling and walking routes.

Finally, cyclists who use the bike route to Baytree Nurseries at Weston can now park and lock their bikes as a result of a suggestion by Pedals.

David said: “We are working very hard on the mindset of the county council and the district council to the extent that they helped us financially towards the production of the brochure, which is quite remarkable.

“There are no new (bicycle) routes on the cards, it is mainly improving things that we have already. So for example the new traffic lights at the junction of Woolram Wygate with Pinchbeck Road we are going to change that into a toucan crossing so it a safe route for bikes to cross, and the path from Woolram Wygate to West Elloe Avenue will be made dual purpose, for pedestrians and cyclists.

“There are lots of things we would love to have done, like a properly lit footpath from the cemetery on Pinchbeck Road to the Johnson Community Hospital.”

n There is no need to book for the two bike rides, just turn up. For more information contact Stewart Elderkin on 07831 737715 or call David on 01775 766145. To find out more about Bike Week, visit www.bikeweek.org.uk

POLICE will be operating a zero-tolerance policy on troublemakers during Euro 2012.

Extra officers were drafted in to patrol the town centre on Monday night during England’s first game of the tournament against France.

Some had given up rest days to ensure a high visibility presence as fans congregated in town centre pubs to watch the clash, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

And Spalding police’s tactics paid off as the evening passed without trouble.

Sgt Stuart Hurst said: “We are stepping up patrols to prevent any clashes between fans during the tournament.

“I think people were surprised to see so many officers in town.

“We want everyone to enjoy Euro 2012 in the knowledge we will be there to keep the streets safe.”

Sgt Hurst has also warned that football fever is not an excuse for domestic violence.

National research has suggested that there was a significant surge in domestic violence during the 2010 World Cup.

This included a rise of 27 per cent when England beat Slovenia, and a rise of 29 per cent when England lost to Germany.

Paula Hall, a counsellor for Relate, said: “Football doesn’t cause domestic abuse but it’s an issue which in some relationships can compound it.”

She said arguments about the amount of television watched, alcohol intake, jealousy due to people spending more time with friends and an increase in money spent could lead to an increase in tensions.

But, for victims of abuse, Monday’s result against France was good news, as the research suggests there is no surge in domestic violence when England draw.

Sgt Hurst said: “I only have anecdotal evidence of this surge in domestic abuse but it suggests that people who follow the football, who demographically tend to be men, can get upset when their teams lose and take it out on whoever is around at the time, be that wives, partners, family or children.

“We don’t tolerate – and during my time in the police we have never tolerated – abusive behaviour towards others and will deal robustly with offenders.”

THE WIFE of a Spalding man who died on a plane on his way to Thailand has paid tribute to her “lovely” husband.

Paul Gregson died last month, aged just 56. He had fallen asleep a few hours into the flight and suffered a heart attack in his sleep.

He had recently started a new job for CP Foods, based in Newmarket, and was on his way to meet staff working in the company’s factory in the south east Asian country when he died last month.

Julie, Paul’s wife of 30 years, said: “It was a terrible shock. Paul had said he was going to text me when he got there and he didn’t but I just assumed there was a problem with his phone.

“Then a policewoman came to my door and told me what had happened.

“He had gone to sleep on the plane and not woken up. He hadn’t been ill before he went away, there was nothing to suggest there was anything wrong, so it was a total shock. It has taken a while to sink in, in fact it still hasn’t really registered.

“Paul was very kind and generous and just a lovely man.

“He had a lot of friends and was a brilliant dad to our two children.”

As well as Julie, Paul leaves behind daughter Laura (25), son Jamie (23) and his sister Jackie, who lives in Stevenage.

Paul and Julie were well known to many people in south Lincolnshire as they owned Spalding’s The Loft cafe between 2008 and 2011 and before that had the Black Horse at Gosberton Risegate and the Three Kings at Threekingham, near Sleaford.

Julie added: “Paul’s background was in food. He was very good at his job as a chef and he was a perfectionist – anyone who knew him will vouch for that.

“He was also a lifelong Chelsea supporter and we reflected that by asking people to wear blue to his funeral. There was a huge turnout at the funeral and the blue theme also ran through the flowers.”

Julie was full of praise for the police for the support offered in informing family of Paul’s death, and for CP Foods, who organised repatriation of his body.

Friday, 5pm: Police say the section of the A17 where a tanker overturned on Friday will remain closed until Sunday.

The incident - involving a lorry carrying liquid nitrogen – on the Sutton Bridge side of the Pullover roundabout near King’s Lynn has caused so much damage to the road that it will require resurfacing.

Friday, noon: Part of the A17 will remain closed for several hours while an overturned tanker carrying liquid nitrogen is dealt with.

Police are at the scene on the Sutton Bridge side of the Pullover roundabout near King’s Lynn.

Officers are waiting for a new lorry to arrive to decant the contents of the stricken lorry.

King’s Lynn police tweeted: “The overturned tanker’s got liquid nitrogen in it, no immediate danger to the public, but needs to be decanted before it can be recovered.

“That’s why it could take several hours to open the road again. Please also be aware of heavy traffic on the diversion routes.”

A SPALDING businessman has lost another round in his seven year battle to develop land in Moulton Chapel.

Sam Kandola’s latest application – the fifth to be rejected since 2005 – involved creating a lorry park and providing a shop, cafe, toilets and an area for cars and caravans with a picnic area.

But planning committee councillors threw it out by 9-3 votes on Wednesday after deciding it was unsuitable for the site in Moulton Chapel Road.

Mr Kandola’s agents, East Midlands Design Associates, asked for a decision to be deferred so they could reply to council environmental health officers, who raised “serious concerns over the potential for disturbance to neighbours from noise, light and dust”.

Coun Angela Newton wanted the decision deferred, saying the plan had been with environmental health for several months before they responded.

She said: “This is supported by our economic development team. There’s no objections from county highways. I think we are going to have problems if we turn this down without a proper hearing.”

Committee chairman Coun Roger Gambba-Jones fully accepted that “there are concerns about the administrative handling” but that didn’t mean whole thing had to be deferred as some elements were repeated from previous plans.

He said the shop wasn’t acceptable before and “it isn’t now”.

Coun Gambba-Jones said an offer to limit overnight hours of opening for the lorry park still wouldn’t make it acceptable and it would be impractical for drivers finishing late or starting early.

Coun Francis Biggadike said: “From my point of view, any lorry park that can’t deliver 24-hour services isn’t worth its salt. If the applicant can prove that he can open 24 hours without causing nuisance then that’s a different story.”

The committee said the site was unsuitable for a lorry park as it would harm residential amenity through noise of vehicles entering, leaving and manoeuvring – and there would be noise from vehicle refrigeration units.

They also said the proposed lorry park surface would also have potential to create dust.

Mr Kandola declined to comment on the committee decision.

l Applications previously rejected were a golf driving range, retail and hot food use and two plans for a village store and allotments.

REPAIRS to drought-damaged roads in the Spalding area are behind schedule through lack of funding.

Roads in Spalding, Holbeach and Bourne are among 150 that were indentified in the county in February as being most in need of attention.

Cracks appeared in the roads through lack of moisture in the soil as the whole of the UK faced the worst drought in 30 years following low rainfall during the winter,

Last month, lorry driver Martin Maddison called on Lincolnshire County Council to repair a potholed and crumbling road before it claimed someone’s life.

Mr Maddison (46), of Everard Road, Tongue End, said South Fen Road – which links his village with Bourne – was crumbling under the weight of heavy lorries.

He said: “They are going to look into it, so they say, but it doesn’t need looking into – it needs doing straight away.”

Jonathan Pearson, the county council’s area highways manager, said: “We joined forces with neighbouring authorities to submit a bid to the Government for extra cash to tackle drought-damaged roads in the county. We weren’t successful unfortunately and are naturally disappointed about this.

“What we’re now doing is reprioritising our annual highways maintenance programme to help make sure the roads that are in most need of attention can be dealt with. Our regular highways inspections are continuing to ensure that the roads are kept as safe as possible for motorists to use. We’re also exploring whether any additional money can be identified.”

RESIDENTS who contribute to society could be bumped up the waiting list for a council house under new plans.

A new tenancy strategy is being drawn up by South Holland District Council which aims to make the system of housing allocation fairer for everyone.

As well as altering the points system to give more weight to people already living in the district, former armed services personnel and those who contribute to their communities, for example by volunteering, the proposals could also see new tenants given just a five-year lease instead of the “lifetime” tenancies currently offered.

It is hoped the shorter leases would make it easier for the council to allocate homes more fairly, by moving a family to a smaller property for example when they no longer require as many bedrooms.

The review process would also help the council deal with bad tenants who have breached the terms of their tenancy or have been convicted of a criminal offence that makes them unsuitable to continue being a tenant.

Coun Christine Lawton, who holds the portfolio for housing landlord, said: “We are not wishing to be draconian but if you have tenants who cause difficulties a short term tenancy would be an advantage.

“Generally, there would be an automatic renewal of these tenancies unless there have been problems and it just seems a sensible way to approach it.

“It is becoming national policy to have shorter term tenancies and we just want what is best for all our tenants. Ninety nine out of 100 tenants are good, but there is always the odd one and when you have long waiting lists of people desperate for a council home, there is a fine line to draw to do what’s fair.”

Current council house tenants would not be affected by the new arrangements, and lifetime tenancies would still be offered to those who have reached retirement age, those suffering terminal illness, former armed forces personnel who saw active service and households where the applicant, their partner or dependent child has a disability.

Single people under 25 could only be given a two-year term to encourage them to take greater responsibility for their own lives by seeking employment or training.

The strategy is expected to be considered by South Holland District Council’s cabinet this summer and full council in the autumn.

A RECORD-breaking number of schools in the East Midlands, including two in Bourne and one in Gosberton, are among 1,580 across England that have achieved an Artsmark award.

Bourne Abbey Primary Academy received Artsmark Gold, while Bourne Academy and Gosberton House School both achieved the Artsmark.

Of the 99 East Midlands winners, 42 achieved the highest accolade, Artsmark Gold, reflecting a significant increase on previous years.

Artsmark is the national programme that enables schools to celebrate, strengthen and evaluate the arts activities they provide.

By achieving Artsmark, a school shows its commitment to providing a high quality arts and cultural offer for young people.

Arts Council England’s Director for the East Midlands region, Peter Knott, said: “This is the biggest year for entries from the region since the scheme began and also the highest number of Gold awards ever achieved.

“Overall it has been a tremendous year of learning, activity and enjoyment through the arts for all the young people who have taken part, many of whom will have been inspired to take their interests to a higher level.”

TORRENTIAL rain is battering the hopes of villages in the Spalding area entering the East Midlands In Bloom competition.

Judging takes place next month but volunteers in Holbeach and Sutton Bridge are struggling to get ready in time.

Holbeach In Bloom volunteer Carol Johnson said: “We chose plants that would stand up to the drought conditions we were experiencing at the time, but it seems to have rained continuously ever since we had the plug plants delivered in early April.

“The cold weather has also meant the plants did not grow as we expected, which is why we are a little late with the baskets.

“We hope people will understand we are doing our best under the conditions we have.”

The new team of 12 volunteers is hoping for some extra help.

Carol said: “We are asking if all residents and businesses can make sure their bit of path or street is clean and weed free for when the judges visit.”

Sutton’s Bridge’s volunteers have been doing their best in spite of having just four members able to do any of the digging.

Hanging baskets will be going up on Friday evening and all of the east end of the village is now planted.

Janet Blundell, of Sutton Bridge In Bloom, said: “A lot of the containers are planted with begonias and they don’t do well in heavy rain.

“We thought we would be struggle to water them with the hosepipe ban in place, but now it’s gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.”

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee has saved the day in Spalding, with planters ready and hanging baskets in place for the celebrations.

Spalding In Bloom chairman Coun Angela Newton said: “We wanted the town to look nice for the jubilee so our tubs and troughs are out, as well as most of the hanging baskets.”

There are still six baskets waiting for sponsors. Coun Newton said: “It’s a bit disappointing more businesses haven’t come on board. Some of the multi-nationals don’t even reply to our letters. But we do have some news businesses, including the Maple Leaf cafe and Beales Department Store.”

Any businesses interested in having a hanging basket should email anewton@sholland.gov.uk