A tame jackdaw with a penchant for stealing, hanging around burger vans and befriending children gave his owners a fright when he disappeared last month.

The mischievous bird has been living with his family in Abbey Road, Swineshead, for seven years – coming and going as he pleases but returning at night to enjoy the home comforts.

The Free Press pubklished the family’s appeal on our Facebook page and they offered a £50 reward.

Fortunately, on Monday night the bird nonchalantly showed up after his four-week long adventure.

“Izzy has been with us for seven years now. He is naughty and demanding but is very much a part of our family,” said owner Monica Lawrence, who has rescued injured crows and other birds of the corvid family.

The bird first made headlines back in November 2011, when he went missing for 17 days

On that occasion hew was tracked down to a burger van in Spalding and back home in time for Christmas.

Along with burgers, Izzy is said to have an affinity with children and elderly ladies.

A elderly man was slightly hurt after the car he was driving reportedly collided with a tractor in Lutton.

It happened in Lime Walk at about 5.30pm where the man was treated by paramedics before being allowed to leave the scene.

Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling is “extremely sympathetic” to Spalding branch of The Royal British Legion (RBL) moving in to the town’s closed magistrates’ courthouse.

South Holland and The Deepings MP John Hayes and Spalding branch RBL president Terry Moore had talks with Mr Grayling in London on Wednesday.

Mr Hayes said: “Mr Grayling said ‘I can’t make any promises, but I am extremely sympathetic and supportive of this idea’ and he instructed the court service accordingly.”

Once the branch has inspected the building – and if it’s found suitable – it’s likely there will be talks between the court service and the RBL nationally and locally to seal a deal.

Mr Moore said: “As a branch, we are going to have a walk around the court some time after Christmas to make sure the building is fit for purpose for us. It’s the branch now that needs to make the decision. In principle the building looks as though it will meet our needs.

“It’s actually a very good idea, I think, to use a building of that stature – I think it would be wrong to leave it empty.

“I think John Hayes has done a fantastic job on putting this together very quickly. We only spoke about it a couple of weeks ago.”

If the RBL branch takes over the building, it could be the lead organisation sharing the court alongside other charities. The RBL is likely to sell its Spring Gardens base if it moves.

• Boston’s almost identical court building has stood empty for eight years costing taxpayers thousands of pounds in maintenance.

Police have made a handful of arrests for shoplifting and disorder as part of a campaign to make Spalding crime-free before Christmas.

Street drinkers, careless cyclists, opportunist thieves and rowdy youths are all being targeted in a crackdown on people trying to spoil the season of goodwill in Spalding.

Between December 1 and 11, five shoplifters and someone breaching a dispersal notice have been arrested.

Police have also dealt with ten street drinkers, three motorists caught using the pedestrianised zone of Market Place and ten cyclists using bikes without lights and riding in the pedestrianised zone.

Insp Jim Tyner, community policing inspector for South Holland, said: “During the period in question, my officers have conducted about 130 hours of foot patrols and almost 17 hours of cycle patrols in the town centre.

“Operation Washer will continue until December 24 and I am encouraging people to call 101 to report any concerns they have so that we can deal with them speedily.

“I am determined that Spalding town centre should be a safe place to live, work, shop and meet, both during the day and at night.”

Operation Washer was launched to coincide with a time when the number of people visiting Spalding town centre goes up.

As a result, reports of street drinking, shoplifting, illegal cycling and disorder involving gangs of youths also rise.

At the operation’s launch, Insp Tyner said: “The main aim of Operation Washer is to deter offenders from committing these types of offences and to provide reassurance to our community both living in and visiting Spalding town centre.

“I am increasing the number of patrols on our town centre beat when there will be high visibility foot and cycle patrols daily in the town centre.”

You may have seen on the local and national news details of our chief constable’s letter to the Home Secretary about the future funding of Lincolnshire Police. I thought it might be helpful to provide a local perspective.

First I ought to address some myths. I have seen many comments such as our need to pull in our belts the same as private industry and that we don’t need as many officers because crime is down.

A few weeks ago Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) released its annual report about Lincolnshire Police. The report looks at our effectiveness and efficiency and compares us against the national average.

We currently have 1,100 police officers, 149 PCSOs and 256 police staff in Lincolnshire, covering the third largest geographic area in the country. The HMIC report shows that we have 2.1 officers per 1,000 population, whereas the national average is 3.7 per 1000.

Fair enough, you may think, there isn’t as much crime here as in a city. However, the report goes on to say that officers in Lincolnshire have the third highest workload per officer in the country.

It has sometimes been said that in order to make efficiency savings all we need to do is get officers out from behind their desks. Actually 87 per cent of cops in Lincolnshire are in frontline roles (not all frontline officers are ‘visible’ – for example it includes CID).

The national average is 78 per cent in frontline roles, so yet again, we compare very favourably with other forces. (The 13 per cent non-frontline includes the chief constable and his team. It also includes officers in the licensing department at headquarters. Although they are not regarded as front-line, they regularly join us and Trading Standards in visits and raids on licensed premises).

In local policing, we currently have eight sergeants and 40 constables based in South Holland, stationed at Spalding and Holbeach. This number includes five community beat managers covering The Suttons, Holbeach, Spalding Rural, Spalding Estates and Spalding Town Centre. Only one officer at Spalding (our anti-social behaviour co-ordinator) is in a non-frontline role.

The remaining constables are divided into shifts, providing 24 hour response to emergency and priority incidents across the 284 square miles of South Holland. Additionally, I am able to call on resources from other parts of the force and from specialist teams such as Roads Policing and the Dog Unit.

Chief Constable Neil Rhodes wrote to the home secretary to explain that in future years there could be a £10million funding gap. Putting it bluntly, that’s the equivalent of losing 236 of our 1,100 officers. You can imagine that this would have a significant knock-on effect in South Holland.

There is always going to be a cost to policing. However, when it comes to efficiency, HMIC graded us as ‘outstanding’. We are the lowest-funded force in the country. Fact. Policing in Lincolnshire costs you, me and all council-tax payers, 42p per person per day, compared to the national average of 55p. I think we’re good value!

I have said before that although crime has fallen in South Holland, it doesn’t mean the demand for our services has reduced. When I joined Lincolnshire Police, we had about 30 incidents a day in South Holland. We now have between 60 and 90 most midweek days and more at weekends.

Regular readers will have learned over the past year about much of our work that is not linked to crime, but other incidents such as concerns for welfare, missing children, mental health issues and traffic collisions.

To add some context to these figures, when an officer books on duty on a late shift, for every incident that they are dealing with, there are likely to be two or three other incidents awaiting their attention. Of course, if an emergency incident is then reported, those other incidents will have to wait.

Additionally we have 17 fantastic Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) across South Holland. These officers are on patrol on foot, on bikes and in cars every day. They are the eyes and ears of their communities and in many ways have already replaced the old-style village bobbies.

Mr Rhodes makes it clear that if the cuts to our funding continue:

n Meaningful Neighbourhood Policing as we currently practise it will cease, with no constable community beat managers and just a few PCSOs.

n The spectrum of response times experienced by those calling for our attendance will increase substantially.

n Pro-active patrols (such as Operation Bonus in Spalding) as opposed to response will almost cease.

We don’t know what the future holds. I know that the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner are doing everything they can to secure extra funding to reflect the unique nature of policing a large rural area.

There may be tough decisions ahead and we may have to make changes to some of our working practices regarding which incidents we attend.

In South Holland we will continue to make efficiency savings while striving to provide a gold-standard service, particularly for victims of crime.

My job is to make sure I place the officers we have in the right place at the right time. This isn’t something that I can always achieve because of the demand of emergency incidents, but I remain committed to providing South Holland with the best policing service with the numbers that we have.

In response to Mrs Lambert’s letter to the Lincolnshire Free Press (‘Holbeach seems to be dying slowly), she has clearly united the local Holbeach community, who are furious at her comments about a dying town.

The Christmas street market that she refers to has been brilliantly run by a very small team of volunteers for many years. It is very stressful and time consuming running a major event like this and with no new helpers coming forward they decided to call it a day.

Holbeach church, aided by many volunteers, have made a huge effort to step into the breach and take on a new style Christmas fayre.

Although very different from the previous Christmas market, the Victorian Christmas fayre has been financially supported by all three district councillors and as county councillor I have part-funded with Transported Arts the giant interactive Codex book that took pride of place in the church, telling the history of Holbeach along with some interesting local stories, mostly put together by the children from William Stukeley Church of England Primary School. The Victorian fayre has been supported by all the community, from the parish council, Holbeach in Bloom, William Stukeley Primary School and many individuals and businesses in the town. A real community effort, which will gradually grow over the coming years.

There was an excellent turnout over the weekend and, as they say: “Great things come from small beginnings.”

Holbeach in Bloom has put a huge amount of physical effort into making the town a delight to see, with some stunning hanging baskets around the town and the churchyard and entrances to the town looking wonderful.

This is only done with the help of numerous volunteers who have Holbeach in their heart. They achieved a magnificent Silver in the East Midlands in Bloom competition and were winners of the Best Kept Town, putting Holbeach on the map. Well done to them!

The district council has threatened legal action against the shop on the High Street next to The Chequers, under dangerous structures legislation, which has forced the owner to put up scaffolding and repair the building which will greatly improve the visual impact on the High Street.

Government with lobbying from our MP and local government (district and county councils), have helped local business to reduce their overheads with business rate relief. Government announced just last week that the small business rate relief scheme will be doubled for a further year to provide 100 per cent relief from business rates for 2015/16.

Unfortunately a few money grabbing landlords who do not live in Holbeach continue to ask our shops to pay unreasonable rents, forcing some of them out business.

All towns of our size are struggling with huge competition from the Internet and on-line shopping, but there are some great independent shops in Holbeach and through the work of Holbeach in Bloom, the District’s Pride in the Community clean-up campaign, the parish council and the many volunteers and community groups, they are all contributing to making Holbeach a town to be proud of.

There is much work to do but Holbeach is certainly not a dying town. Next year will see the popular Town and Country Fayre and the second year of the Holbeach Food Festival, the prospect of a new medical centre ( in itself a huge investment into the town) and other exciting projects in the pipeline.

All of our councillors across the political divide, whether at parish, district or county council, in conjunction with the excellent work of our local MP, are working hard, day in, day out, promoting Holbeach, to make it a town we can all be proud of.

Coun Nick Worth

County Councillor for the

Holbeach Division

May I express my sincere apologies for offending the PCSO who had pulled up alongside me on my bike and informed me sharply that I needed to pull my trousers up.

It seems the top half of my derrière was showing. It was merely a case of my trousers slipping down and needless to say I rectified things promptly. I shudder to think what her reaction would’ve been if I’d actually been committing a crime.

And people wonder why I lose respect for authority...

Cameron Johnston

via email

Students and staff at the Thomas Cowley High School in Donington took part in Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day on Friday.

The day was a great success and raised £386.20p.

I would like to give a “reading between the lines” assessment on what I interpreted on the article in Spalding Guardianlast week, “UKIP moves in”.

As I don’t show allegiance to any one particular party I presume that I am the sort of person that UKIP are trying to win over and score a yes vote.

I don’t know Mr Parsons and what has happened in the past should stay in the past but reading between the lines of statements he’s made in our

paper, he’s had to resign from a very senior post within local authority, has struggled before when holding more than one office, is not very swift when

moving cash flows to local authority accounts, and doesn’t want to live in south Holland unless he’s elected.

What exactly does he think holding the role of an elected MP is because at the moment he is certainly not giving me confidence.

By the way, doesn’t the present MP Mr John Hayes, to quote, “have a lot on” and yet finds the time to mingle with the local events year in year out and be a saviour for troubled inhabitants of his constituency, of which he ALREADY LIVES IN in their hour of need.

Roly Hare

via email

An open letter to South Holland District Council leader Coun Gary Porter: I applaud the proactive approach that the council has taken to clean up “grot spots” within the area.

However, I am a little perplexed and exasperated at the inadequate way the derelict, abandoned toilet block owned by the council, which sits on land owned by Sutton Bridge Parish Council in the Memorial car park in Sutton Bridge, has been dealt with by officers.

It appears to me, that while he council has pointed fingers at other irresponsible owners it has three fingers pointing right back at itself.

It has taken our parish clerk over two and a half years of correspondence backwards and forwards whilst being pushed from pillar to post and a site visit for the council to reach a conclusion that is quite frankly ludicrous.

I am sure you would agree that our clerk’s valuable time could be better spent.

I would like to take this opportunity and appeal to your common sense approach to expedite the transfer of this building from the council to Sutton Bridge Parish Council for the price of one penny.

The building can then be put to good use for the benefit of the community.

It would be a huge shame for this building to be demolished because it has fallen into further disrepair at council taxpayers’ expense when a viable solution is in your lap.

Vicky Hills

via email

CABINET CALL: By South Holland District Council Independent Group Leader Angela Newton

In addition to councillors attending meetings at the council chamber in Priory Road, Spalding, we are also appointed to represent the council on outside bodies.

I am the council’s representative on the South Holland Parish Voluntary Car Service and present chairman.

This was set up in 1981 and back then it was the first of its kind in the country.

We provide low cost subsidised, door to door transport to people in a number of parishes across South Holland.

The areas include Crowland, Weston/Moulton/Whaplode, Long Sutton, Gedney, Lutton, Spalding/Cowbit, Holbeach and Sutton Bridge.

Donington operates its own scheme from the Ruby Hunt Centre.

Volunteer drivers use their own private cars and journeys covered include hospitals, medical centres, dentists, chiropodists, visiting ill relatives, prescription collection and, in some circumstances, shopping.

The service achieved charity status in 2010.

Passengers pay the volunteer driver, who are all DBS (formerly CRB) checked, 35p per mile and the charity pays the driver an additional 10p per mile from the precept paid by the parishes.

The passenger has to pay a minimum charge of £4 for journeys less than 10 miles (there and back).

Passengers can also take partners or carers along with them.

In the last quarter from July 1 to September 30, a total of 2,113 passengers used the service and mileage covered was 48,259 miles.

The service is particularly helpful for people in rural areas and offers peace of mind where public transport is not readily available or user-friendly.

If your journey is to Boston Hospital, for example, the charge will be for approximately 16 miles (depends where the driver comes from) there and 16 miles back, a total of 32 miles.

The scheme co-ordinator is Greg Greene and he can be contacted on 01775 630144 for additional information.

Alternatively, please do not hesitate to contact me on 07939559764 or anewton@sholland.gov.uk

I read with increasingly incredulity in last week’s Spalding Guardian the article about the UKIP candidate for the South Holland and the Deepings seat in the general election. Is David Parsons really the best they could do?

A very quick internet search reveals a number of scandals and complaints about Mr Parsons, and I encourage readers to do their own research on this man’s past.

One notable finding is that the Taxpayers’ Alliance gave Mr Parsons their award for being ‘Pinhead of the Month’ for June 2012 – and he came runner up in their annual ‘Pinhead of the Year’ listing that year. All due to his dubious record on expenses – which include taking a chauffeur driven car to London rather than the train.

I’ve never voted Conservative before, but might break the habit of a lifetime in 2015 if it means being sure that I’m not represented in Westminster by someone who is already a figure of ridicule in the nation’s press.

I may not agree with all of John Hayes’ views, but he is an honest, hard-working MP with local interests at heart – not to mention influence in our nation’s government.

Dave Briggs

Moulton

DOCTOR CALLING: By Dr Miles Langdon

Anger is a destructive emotion that can cause mental hurt and a string of physical health problems.

That’s why the NHS urged us all to think about managing anger effectively during Anger Awareness Week at the start of December.

Embarrassment, unhappiness and feelings of defensiveness are among the causes of anger while depression is also a factor.

But it’s possible to control anger by following these top 10 tips:

* Take a timeout – count to ten before reacting.

* Get some space – take a break from the person you’re angry with.

* Express your anger once you’re calm – stewing can make the situation worse.

* Get some exercise – go for a run or brisk walk.

* Think carefully before you speak – or you may say something you’ll regret.

* Identify solutions – instead of focusing on what made you mad, work with the person who angered you.

* Avoid criticising or placing blame – this could make the other person angry or resentful.

* Don’t hold a grudge – if you forgive the other person it will help you both.

* Use your sense of humour – lightening up can diffuse tension.

* Practise relaxation skills – try deep breathing, yoga or listening to music.

Of course, anger can be a positive thing. If the Suffragettes had not got angry about women not being allowed to vote, it’s likely they would have remained disenfranchised for many more years.

But there are serious health issues linked to unresolved anger. These include high blood pressure, heart attacks, depression, anxiety, colds, flu and problems with digestion.

That’s why it’s important that we all learn to recognise our anger signs and how to deal with them.

For lots of great advice, visit www.nhs.uk and search for “anger management”.

I feel strongly that it should be brought to your attention that the continuing lowering of level crossings around Spalding for no obvious reason is becoming a life threating issue.

On Monday I received a phone call from my mother’s neighbour stating that an ambulance had to be called as she was showing symptoms of another heart attack (she had one last year).

Thankfully I work locally and so was able to leave work immediately. On arrival at the junction of West Elleo and the Pinchbeck Road, I could see the ambulance making its way towards the Woolram Wygate Level crossing.

Whilst not quite right behind, I wasn’t a million miles behind the ambulance but I ground to a halt outside The Royal Mail Cart having become struck in traffic waiting for the level crossing to rise.

Up ahead I could see the flashing blue lights of the ambulance trying to get through with no success and so have to turn around.

As I am sitting in the car I am watching the desperate measures the ambulance crew were having to try and find an alternative route in to, what is essentially, the entire west side of Spalding (bearing in mind Woolram Wygate was closed, as was Park Road, Winsover Road and Hawthorne Bank). All the while I am thinking this vehicle and its crew are the difference between my mother surviving and getting the care she needs or not.

Thankfully, both of us made it to her and she was airlifted out to Lincoln Hospital where she is making a full recovery following her heart attack. But this is no thanks to the powers that be for allowing such work to continue without the facility for emergency vehicles to access the entire west side of Spalding.

If I am not mistaken there is a huge drive for more building of houses on Woolram Wygate as well as the bottom of Broadway to meet up with The Raceground.

As an aside, and to compound this entire issue, I was later told that somebody commented on the fact that they saw an ambulance trying to get through – the crossing was down for approximately 15 minutes and no train went through.

Is it going to take somebody to actually die from a lack of emergency services being able to access one entire side of Spalding before something is done? If so, I certainly hope it is nobody in my family.

Anonymous

Name and address supplied

To the mindless people that throw rubbish out of vehicle windows and drop litter in the streets.

This carrier bag full of 48 items was collected

between Glenside North and the Baptist Chapel, Pinchbeck in just 30 minutes.

Ann Tasker

Regarding your article in the Spalding Guardian dated February 15 2012 (‘Everyone treated the same’ over shop fronts’).

That was nearly two years ago and I am concerned that no progress appears to have been made.

South Holland District Council planning committe chairman Roger Gambba-Jones stated in your article that the rules were being broken out of ignorance rather than deceit and that often all it took to rectify the situation was a quiet word with the management.

Since then several more of these (eastern European) shops have opened and we have the same problem of windows covered in posters.

I recently ventured into two of these establishments on Winsover Road and I was not surprised to discover that everything in both shops was from eastern Europe.

I was however horrified to find that the packaging was written entirely in what I think was Polish so there was no way to check the ingredients. Correct me if I am wrong but I thought that food packaging had to be clearly marked to comply with EU regulations.

These shops are obviously aimed at one section of the community. There is no attempt to encourage integration. Which leads me to wonder how on earth they manage to make a living considering that they exclude the majority of the town’s population.

These shop fronts detract from the town’s appearance and discourage people from going into town. I want to see evidence that something is being done to rectify this situation. It looks to me like someone is not doing their job.

Kathy George

via email

Artistic pupils at three Spalding area schools have earned themselves a trip to see Santa for designing the Christmas cards to be sent out by MP John Hayes.

Mr Hayes invited children from Gosberton House, The Garth School and The Priory School to enter the competition.

The winners are Eleanor Day (age five) from Gosberton House School, Reece Sammons (age 11) from The Priory School and Joshua Holmes (age five) from The Garth School.

Mr Hayes was extremely delighted with all of the entries and said it had been a very hard task to choose winners. He said: “I enjoyed looking at all of the entries, which were of a very high standard. The children, their families and the schools deserve to be very proud.” On Friday, Mr Hayes presented the winners with their cards at the Springfields Grotto and the sponsors and the sponsors also went along to congratulate them. Springfields offered winners complimentary tickets to visit the grotto.

The sponsors are Springfields Shopping Outlet, Duncan & Toplis (Mr D Gratton), Turners Fish Restaurant (Mr Philip Hall, Broadgate Builders (Mr I Canham), Moulton Bulb Company (Mr R Oldershaw), Pork Farms Group Spalding Bakery (Mrs S Fytche), Moore Thompson (Mr A Heskin), GBSG Ltd (Miss A Chesson), PSP IT Design & Development (Mr J Verde and Mr B Caruso) and Seagate Homes Ltd (Mr H King).

Bourne Academy has won the regional heat of the First LEGO League (FLL) competition, beating 21 other schools to the top.

As part of the 2014 World Class Challenge in the global science and technology competition, the BA Builders had to redesign how they gather knowledge and skills in the 21st century, and offered the judges a solution on ‘how to learn about binary’. They also built a robot to be assessed on innovative design, programming and robustness at the regional heat at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.

Head of computer science, Antoaneta Moorfoot, who coordinated the event said, “What makes this award special is that we entered the competition for the first time and were the winners. I am extremely proud of their hard work and excellent team spirit!” Bourne Academy now goes forward to the national final to be held at Loughborough University next February, with the winner taking part in the World Festival in USA in April.

A marketing professional with Bakkavor in Spalding, Matthew Mahabadi, is the Labour Party parliamentary candidate for South Holland and The Deepings.

Matthew (26) graduated from Manchester University with a 2:1 in philosophy and politics and had an election outing last year when he stood for Labour in Spalding South in the county council elections.

He describes himself as a firm believer in the Labour Party’s values of social justice and economic fairness and is a strong advocate for long overdue investment in essential services and infrastructure for South Holland and The Deepings.

Matthew thinks it is going to be a very interesting election and issues likely to come to the fore are Tory cuts, including attacks on local libraries, and the “cost of living crisis”.

He explained Labour isn’t against public spending cuts but it must be the right cut for the right reason.

Matthew said: “I want to be a strong voice for low and middle income workers in this constituency, who I feel have been let down.”

He now lives in Peterborough with his fiancee, having recently moved there from Spalding. He joined Bakkavour in February 2012 and worked up to become an assistant marketing manager. He starts a new job in London in January with a marketing agency.

Matthew is determined to be accessible and can be contacted on matthew.labour@gmail.com or 07971 918606.

A CCTV image has been released by police in Spalding who are investigating the theft of a customer’s phone from a shop in the Market Place.

The incident happened on Thursday, December 4, in the Peacocks store. The owner of the phone put it on a clothes rail while shopping at around 10am that morning. She walked away forgetting to pick it up and when she returned a short time later, it was gone.

Review of the shop’s CCTV show a female picking up the phone and putting it in her bag. The phone is a black iPhone 4 in a white case with a pink and turquoise Aztec design on it.

PC Paul Cooper has released a CCTV image of a woman he would like to speak to, who may have information to assist the enquiry, and he is reminding the public that ‘theft by finding’ is still a theft offence with serious consequences.

Anyone with information should call PC Cooper on 101, quoting 320 of December 4, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.