BURGLARS entered two Spalding homes on Friday night and Saturday morning while residents were there, but fled empty handed both times.

The raids in Halmergate and Knipe Avenue were among a spate of attacks on businesses and homes since Thursday when laptops, cameras and jewellery were stolen.

Burglars made a hole in the roof of the Spar Shop at Crowland on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

But the damage to the roof prevented the door of the washroom opening so offenders couldn’t enter the rest of the shop.

Electrical goods and items of jewellery were stolen from a home in Millgate, Whaplode, between 2pm and 9.30pm on Saturday when burglars smashed French windows to get in.

Between 3pm and 6pm on Thursday burglars stole a laptop and jewellery from a house in Cleveland Close, Spalding, and a laptop and three digital cameras were stolen from a day nursery in High Street, Spalding, between Thursday and Friday.

l Witnesses can contact DC Nicola Stafford at Spalding police Station by dialling 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A MAN who drove in Hospital Drove, Long Sutton, while disqualified was given a year-long community order and told to do 60 hours unpaid work when he appeared before Spalding magistrates on Thursday.

Mark Bossiere (39), a chef from Wisbech Road, Walpole St Andrew, must also pay £85 towards prosecution costs. His licence will be endorsed with six points.

He admitted driving while disqualified on December 18 and driving without insurance on the same day.

He received no separate penalty for the insurance offence.

MAGISTRATES say they have given a man from Deeping St James one final chance to turn his life around.

Lewis Tripp (20) was told the next bench may not be able to consider anything but custody as he was handed a suspended prison sentence on Thursday.

Tripp, of Hereward Way, appeared at Spalding Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced for taking a vehicle without consent, driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance, and being in breach of a community order.

He also entered a guilty plea to one further charge of criminal damage to a fence.

Jill Darby, prosecuting said the motoring offences were uncovered following an incident on August 14, when Tripp was pursued by car and on foot by two police officers.

The court heard Tripp kicked at a fence on November 17 following a “heated exchange” with a former girlfriend in relation to the criminal damage charge.

The community order breach related to two missed appointments and failing to notify the probation service of a changed address in November. The order had been imposed in March following a conviction for driving whilst disqualified and driving without due care and attention.

In defence, Mike Alexander said Tripp suffered from mental health problems and was suspected to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He told the court Tripp’s long-term relationship with his pregnant partner had broken down after he lost his job and he has been denied access to the child since its birth.

Mr Alexander said Tripp had since moved back home to his parents and was getting help for his problems.

“This is a young man who had been willing to complete the community order up to that point,” he said. “He has now got a stable home life with his parents and they are taking him to his appointments and unpaid work appointments.

“They will do whatever they can to make sure their son does not end up in prison.”

Presiding magistrate George Hoyles gave Tripp a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, for the motoring offences, and a further 16-week suspended sentence, to run concurrently, for breaching the community order.

Tripp was banned from driving for two years and given an 18-month supervision order. He must also pay £10 compensation to Julie Amphlett for damaging the fence.

Mr Hoyles told him: “Do not think you have got off lightly,. This is your last chance to stay out of custody. Think more and learn about life, do what they ask you to do and come out a better person.”

WARMING up with a double vodka and coke landed a retired naval officer with an 18-month driving ban and a £200 court bill.

John Adams (73) was arrested after police saw him turn from the A15 into Northope Lane, Thurlby, on December 9.

John Mitchell, prosecuting, told Spalding magistrates that Adams gave a sample showing 69 microgrammes of alcohol in breath – almost double the legal limit of 35mcgs.

Solicitor Debbie Hough said Adams took a vacuum cleaner to be repaired and decided to go to a hotel and warm up with a double vodka and coke, which he mistakenly thought was a two-unit drink.

Adams, of Northorpe Lane, Thurlby, pleaded guilty to drink-driving. He was offered a four-month reduction on his ban if he completes a rehabilitation course.

STEALING money from a Bourne mental health charity has left a former volunteer with a suspended jail sentence.

Brian Cannell (58) abused his position as the only signatory for the Bourne Wellbeing Mental Health Support Group’s bank account and used the cash to improve his own standard of living.

On Tuesday, magistrates in Spalding handed him a four-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, and told him he will be electronically tagged for six months with an 8pm-8am curfew.

He must also pay back the £3,750 he took from the group.

Cannell, of The Broadway, Morton, pleaded guilty to the theft at a hearing last month and the case was adjourned to allow a pre-sentence report to be drawn up.

Passing sentence, presiding magistrate Susan Painter said: “This is a very serious offence and a serious breach of trust committed here. You had control of the money and, rightly or wrongly, were the only signatory.

“This is a large amount of money taken from a charity, which happened over a prolonged period.”

Marie Stace, prosecuting, told how other volunteers at the newly-formed Bourne Wellbeing Mental Health Support Group had never been able to see to see the transactions on the account.

She said they became “increasingly concerned” when group secretary Cannell, who had no money, bought some new household items.

The police were finally called on November 14.

Miss Stace said Cannell told officers during an interview a week later that he intended to repay the money from his disability allowance.

Mitigating, Mike Alexander said Cannell, who has mental health problems, attended the police station voluntarily and made a full admission.

He said: “This is a man who accepted his dishonesty and came clean. He is a man who had been working as a volunteer and he said he never wanted to be involved in money. There was a problem when they set up the account and no one else was willing to do it.

“He said he was not prepared for it not to be done.”

Mr Alexander said Cannell has since had his medication increased and is seeking help.

He also read a statement from Cannell, which said: “I wish to apologise sincerely to the group and to the court and police for taking up their time.”

Magistrates have also ordered Cannell not to contact any members of the group for the next 12 months.

SPALDING Town Forum is asking Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce to consider managing the town’s Christmas lights.

Chamber president Jason Rooke said members recently discussed the issue and were reluctant to take on what they feel could be “potentially a poison chalice”.

But councillors at Spalding Town Forum argued the chamber could possibly get better value for the £18,940 in the kitty for this year’s lights than the council is able to.

Mr Rooke and chamber vice-president Phil Scarlett agreed to look at the issue and report back to the next town forum meeting.

Chamber members have suggested Spalding could switch from bulbs to LEDs and perhaps have celebration lights as a permanent fixture to be switched on for special occasions like the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Pumpkin Parade. These would also complement Christmas displays.

Coun Howard Johnson told the forum: “We as a council have been putting up Christmas decorations for ever and a day but when you look at them we are getting less and less for the money.”

He said towns like King’s Lynn have “immensely better” displays.

Coun Johnson said the Christmas tree gifted to the town looked fine by itself but couldn’t find a word to describe how poorly decorated it was with council-supplied lights.

l The £18,940 in this year’s Christmas lights budget is up by £5,750 on last year.

POLICE swooped to clear the shelves at a Sutton Bridge shop yesterday after it allegedly continued to sell alcohol without a licence.

Around 120 crates of alcohol was loaded into vans after the owners of Bargain Booze flouted a four-week suspension of its licence.

That was issued after it was caught selling to under-18s during an undercover sting.

The management had 21 days from the decision made by South Holland District Council’s licensing committee on December 9 to appeal before the suspension came into force, but spot checks by trading standards and police on Saturday and yesterday found booze was still on sale at the Bridge Road premises after the deadline.

Sgt Jock Watt, of Lincolnshire Police licensing team, said: “There has been no appeal lodged and as a result they are committing an offence.

“We will now look to prosecute through the courts and apply for a forfeiture and destruction order of the alcohol.”

AROUND 20 people were evacuated from seven homes last night (Monday) at Deeping St James following a gas explosion and fire in Manor Way.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue say gas leaking from an underground main was ignited by an electrical switch in a sewage pumping plant – blowing the doors off the “shed-like” installation into the road and setting the plant on fire.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue alerted police at 7.40pm and officers asked nearby families to leave their homes as a safety precaution.

Officers also guarded the scene while emergency services dealt with the incident.

A police spokesman said no one was hurt in the incident and the families were allowed to return home after the area was made safe at around 3am today.

Fire severely damaged the sewage pumping electrical switch station and four metres of fencing.

A fire crew from Market Deeping was sent to Manor Way shortly after 7pm and a further crew from Crowland was asked to assist.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue spokesman Steve Pembroke said British Gas attended to carry out repairs.

Mr Pembroke said: “The doors of the sewage switch station were blown into the road. It probably went off with quite a loud bang.”

AN OVERTURNED gritter lorry shut the A16 at Spalding for more than two-and-a-half hours last night (Monday).

The lorry overturned at about 6.20pm at the roundabout leading to the power station.

Police say no one was injured but the road closed until 9pm to allow leaking fuel and salt to be cleared.

Workmen were on site again this morning to clear a big pile of salt at the roadside.

TWO more wind turbines could be added to South Holland’s skyline if councillors approve a plan.

The plans submitted by Nicholas Watts for Deeping Fen Farm will be scrutinised by South Holland District Council’s planning committee tonight.

The two 50kw turbines will stand at 39.6 metres high to the tip and provide power to Mr Watts’ farm.

The authority’s planning officers have recommended the plans be approved, despite a number of objections.

Comments have been made in opposition from Deeping St Nicholas Parish Council, ten local residents and seven owners of nearby properties and businesses.

They say the turbines would have an adverse impact on the character and appearance of the fenland landscape, be harmful to nearby wildlife reserves, are too close to residential homes and be too noisy.

Other objections include the cumulative impact it will have with the Deeping St Nicholas wind farm.

MULTI-millionaire businessman Michael Chinn has won the first round of an Appeal Court bid to overturn his conviction for a reckless glass-throwing attack in a nightclub.

Jailed Chinn (37) was last month convicted of wounding Meghan Davies as he threw a beer glass across a crowded room at Loaded in Spalding.

Chinn, whose companies have an annual turnover of £30million, was handed a 15-month term.

However, Chinn, of Old Fendike Road, Weston Hills, now claims his trial was unfair and today won permission to take his complaints to a full hearing at London’s Appeal Court.

Chinn’s barrister, Anthony Montgomery, argued the trial jury should have been discharged after one witness made a prejudicial statement when giving evidence.

The witness had not been flagged up as “hostile” to Chinn’s defence and what she told the jury was “inadmissable”, the barrister added.

And Mr Justice Kenneth Parker told him: “There are matters to be explained here.

“I do think there is sufficient to be investigated, so I am minded to grant permission to appeal”.

The judge ordered an urgent hearing of Chinn’s conviction appeal, at which Crown lawyers will also put forward arguments, and directed that a full transcript of the crucial witness’ evidence be obtained for perusal by the three-judge court.

Chinn, a self-made man, was refused bail pending the appeal hearing.

Sentencing Chinn at Lincoln Crown Court last month, Judge Sean Morris, told him: “You threw a glass across a crowded room. You could easily have blinded somebody.”

Mr Montgomery said at the time: “This was foolhardy in the extreme but it wasn’t anything that was persisted with. It was one act of folly. He does bitterly regret this incident.”

TOM Clare’s interest in photography started with a pocket camera when he was a boy of 12 and now he is encouraging an interest in the hobby among other youngsters.

Tom runs a lunch-time Photography Club for Year 6 pupils at Deeping St James Community Primary School which is in such high demand it now runs across four days.

“The sessions are so popular it got to the stage the children were coming to the studio we created in the science room at break time as well,” said Tom, who was site manager at the school for several years.

He now works part-time as caretaker at a primary school in Market Deeping, and combines this with what he calls his “semi-professional” photography, doing odd jobs at his old school and running the photography club.

Tom (55) has been seriously involved in photography for about 30 years and admits: “I live my life around photography.” He has gathered all the equipment he needs over the years and so was able to lend Nikon digital SLR cameras to the ten and 11-year-old pupils who joined the club when it started last year.

Tom says: “I just gave them a camera and let them play with it and they are very quick learners. If it’s got buttons on it they love it. It took them some time to get used to shooting straight and to the composition of the picture, but now they are good. They have surprised themselves.”

The budding photographers take photographs of each other in the studio and, at Christmas time, after seeking parental permission, took images of pre-school children with appropriate props which were then printed on to Christmas cards and sold to parents. The cards, along with calendars the pupils produced, were sold to raise funds to buy equipment for the photography club.

The club is run entirely voluntarily and Tom says his biggest problem is having sufficient equipment for the young photographers to use. If anyone has received a new camera for Christmas and has an old digital camera they are happy to part with, the school would be pleased to hear from them.

Tom says there are a couple of children who are really showing potential, so it could be the start of a future career.

Contact the school on 01778 342314.

OBJECTIONS to plans for a fish and chip restaurant in the grounds of a Grade II listed building will be considered by councillors tonight.

South Holland District Council’s planning committee has been asked to pass judgement on the proposals from Terry Tott, of Jacks Fish Bar, for land between Springfields and Fulney Hall in Spalding.

Two petitions have been handed in against the plans, with 139 names collected by patients of a nearby dental surgery, and a further 57 from Springfields’ retailers and employees.

Planning officers are recommending the scheme be given the go-ahead.

BARKING dogs drove a neighbour to lash out at one of them with a metal object.

Terry Carter was caught on CCTV striking a German Shepherd on the side of its muzzle with the 18-inch T-shaped object while its owners were out.

Jill Darby, prosecuting at Spalding Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, said the owner, Vincent Kemp, realised something was wrong when he returned home on December 27 when the dog stayed in its kennel rather than going into the house with the other two dogs.

Miss Darby said Mr Kemp checked CCTV footage and saw Carter (45), of Dowsdale Bank, Shepeau Stow, approaching his property.

She said: “He saw the male defendant who lives next door go to the front gate. He had something in his hand, which Mr Kemp describes as an 18-inch T-shaped metal object.

“The dogs were barking and squealing. The defendant can be seen shouting and one hand swinging at the dogs, catching the German Shepherd on it’s muzzle.

“He reviewed the CCTV several times before challenging the defendant.”

Sacha Waxman, defending, said Carter and his wife had moved to Dowsdale Bank from Daventry three months ago “for a quiet life” following a neighbourly dispute over noise.

She said there were no concerns while Mr Kemp was at home but when he went out, the dogs would bark.

“Mr Carter from the outset expressed extreme remorse in relation to this incident and the suffering to the dog,” said Miss Waxman. “His remorse was so strong that when he was offered the chance to watch the CCTV he said he was ashamed at his actions and what happened.”

Miss Waxman said Carter had rescued a number of animals himself.

Presiding magistrate George Hoyles said: “The noise of the dogs got the better of you and you took the matter into your own hands and swung, which is a very sad thing to attack an animal.

“You have obviously reflected on this from the remorse you have shown and the shame you have brought on yourself because of this impulsive action.”

Carter was fined £265 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

THE future of Saturday morning waste collections in South Holland’s outlying towns and villages could hang in the balance after £40,000 funding was scrapped.

South Holland District Council has said it has not yet been informed that the money from Lincolnshire County Council will be stopped from the end of March following its decision to change its guidelines over household waste recycling centres, but it is feared the decision will mean the district council will no longer to be able to afford to provide skips in Donington, Holbeach, Crowland, Gedney Hill, Long Sutton and Sutton Bridge.

The district council had been receiving the money – £40,284 in the current financial year – to provide services to homes which fell outside of the county council’s own target of having 90 per cent of homes within seven miles of a recycling centre.

It had hoped to build a new facility in Long Sutton to achieve that target, but last week the cash-strapped council’s executive acknowledged that the cash is not available to build it in the current financial climate and took the decision to scale down its ambition and settle for having 95 per cent of homes within 12 miles of a centre.

The council claims Long Sutton now falls within its 12 mile target and as a result the supplementary payments will stop.

However, calculations by the Lincolnshire Free Press using Google maps show that although Long Sutton is only just over ten miles from Spalding’s West Marsh Road recycling centre as the crow flies, it is more than 13 miles by road.

Other villages are even further away.

South Holland ward councillor for Long Sutton, David Wilkinson, said he was very unhappy and disappointed by the decision, which he said would almost certainly result in the loss of the Saturday morning skips services, which are well used by residents in Long Sutton and Sutton Bridge.

He said: “It’s a very negative step as if these skips are lost I am sure it will mean about 200 more cars a week on the road as responsible people take their rubbish to Spalding and more fly-tipping by less responsible people – saving £40,000 will probably cost £50,000 in cleaning it up.

“We are always harping on about the importance of recycling but we need to encourage people and this is definitely not going down the route of encouraging people, as we need to provide the facilities for them to use.

“Times are tight for everyone and at the district council we have had to take some difficult decisions to ensure we can maintain services to the public, but then we get the county council appearing to do the opposite.

“It always seems to be able to find money for non-essential things, like putting £750,000 into the eco-offices in Long Sutton, but then can’t find the money for the essential services, such as this and the Chappell Centre for example.

“It seems to have its priorities wrong.”

PLEASURE craft may be allowed to use Spalding’s Coronation Channel as part of a grand plan to open up the district’s waterways for tourism.

Currently the Environment Agency only allows Spalding Water Taxi to use the Channel but that may change, according to Erin Witcomb-Vos, the Environment Agency’s partnership manager for Fens Waterways Link.

The long-term aim of the Link is to connect the cathedral cities of Lincoln, Peterborough and Ely.

New water-based developments are suggested for Spalding, Crowland, Boston and Ramsey to bring economic benefits to each place through a boost to tourism.

Spalding Waterspace Study – focusing chiefly on The Welland and The Glen – was published last year by a partnership including the Environment Agency, Lincolnshire County Council and South Holland District Council.

The study on Spalding and district outlines plans ranging from building marinas to creating new riverside paths – and from raising the heights of bridges to encouraging businesses to make more of their waterfront locations.

Ms Witcomb-Vos and Candy Reed, the Environment Agency’s Lincolnshire Waterways team leader, gave a briefing on the Fens Waterways Link and Spalding Waterspace Study to councillors on Spalding Town Forum on Wednesday.

The Environment Agency wants to set up a new ‘Waterspace Forum’ in Spalding to help drive forward some of the waterspace study ideas and to focus on so-called “quick wins” – projects that can be more easily achieved.

Coun Roger Perkins wanted to know why a dam couldn’t be built across The Wash as an alternative to developing the inland waterways network.

Ms Witcomb-Vos said that was “a legal impossibility” because of legislation to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats but it is also prohibited by the massive cost.

She said as part of the Fens Waterways Link, a barrier is being built across the tidal section of The Witham in Boston and that is costing £85million for just 25 metres.

Ms Witcom-Vos said boaters wanting to navigate from Lincoln to Ely have to follow river networks in and out of The Wash and they don’t like to do that.

Spalding Town Forum agreed to look in detail at the Spalding Waterspace Study before deciding what to do about forming or joining a waterspace forum.

John Honnor, who represents Spalding and District Civic Society on the town forum, said it would be nice to see something come of the study rather than it disappear into the bottom drawer.

SURFLEET Parish Council is lodging an official objection to a new crematorium planned for the village’s Gosberton Road.

The council will hold a special meeting at 7pm on Monday at the Fraiser Room so the public can listen to a presentation by South Lincolnshire Crematorium Ltd – and get comments to the planning authority, South Holland District Council, in time for Tuesday’s deadline.

Around a dozen objectors aired their views on Tuesday night in the public forum held prior to the parish council meeting.

Residents said the A16 bypass had taken traffic out of the village but the crematorium will throw that into reverse and there will be too many cars.

They also say there is no evidence the developers considered any other site, there has been a lack of proper public consultation and the nearest bus stop is too far from the planned development.

One protestor claimed estate agents regard a crematorium as a ‘factory’ and when it comes to selling homes, values will be hit.

Parish council chairman Glynn Waltham immediately offered to call a public meeting.

Later – at the council’s own meeting – members agreed to lodge the council’s objection straight away with the planning authority and add further points following Monday’s public meeting.

Coun Waltham said the proposed site is Grade 1 agricultural land, the plan will generate far too much traffic and the crematorium is certain to expand beyond what is currently planned.

Vice-chairman Coun Mary Hurst said the developers had made great play of there being no emissions from the crematorium.

She said: “We all heard that when the power station was going up and we have all seen the yellow emissions from it.”

nThe vicar of Spalding, the Rev John Bennett, says it would be a great kindness to bereaved families to have a crematorium in or around Spalding but has no preferred site in mind.

nCrowland Parish Council planning committee is looking at opening a green burial site as well as extending its traditional graveyard.

THE new clerk for Holbeach Parish Council will be paid up to £27,000.

At the moment the council is looking for someone to replace Jill Harrington when she retires.

There have been 45 applications for the full-time role and at a meeting on Monday the council agreed to budget a further £7,000 on top of the current salary.

Chairman Coun Rita Rudkin said the council would need to pay up to that amount to get someone who can do everything they require.

The candidates have been shortlisted to seven and will attend an informal evening to meet councillors this week.

The salary came up when the council set this year’s precept – its portion of the Council Tax bill – which will go up by seven per cent to £171,441.

NO show and dead slow Network Rail has had another kick up the backside with district councillor Gary Taylor telling them to “get on with it” as they set out to upgrade the level crossing in Spalding’s Woolram Wygate.

Traffic was flowing freely over the crossing on Monday morning – the first day of the advertised six-week closure.

Traffic barriers were up by Monday afternoon. But there was no sign of any real work being done and the picture was just as quiet on Tuesday and yesterday morning.

Coun Taylor lives next to the crossing and said yesterday the closure had been on for two-and-a-half days and no one had begun to install the new barriers.

He said: “Network Rail should just get on with it. I have seen some cones go up and some lights go on the cones but no actual work. It’s a major Spalding junction. Thousands of vehicles use that road.”

Coun Taylor said Wygate Park residents have complained to him that too few people on the estate were informed of the closure by Network Rail.

He had a letter himself but residents living just one street away hadn’t received a thing.

Coun Taylor says the diversion route is taking a hammering both from the volume of traffic and the weight of heavy lorries using it and the crossing work should be done as quickly as possible.

nOne resident said there are roadworks at the Park Road junction with Pinchbeck Road, which is badly timed as they are on the diversion route.

THE owners of an off-licence say they were “shocked” when police swooped on Monday to confiscate alcohol because they believed an appeal had been lodged against a four-week licence suspension.

Bargain Booze in Bridge Road, Sutton Bridge, was ordered to close by South Holland District Council’s licensing committee after it was caught by police and trading standards selling alcohol to under-18s. The owners were given 21 days from December 9 to appeal before the suspension came into effect.

But test purchases on Saturday and Monday proved that alcohol was still being sold, so officers stepped in to empty the shelves to prevent further sales from the unlicensed premises.

A statement by a Bargain Booze chain spokesman said: “While it has always been the owner’s intention to appeal, and he had already advised his representatives as such, an error has led to the appeal not being submitted when the court believed it should have been.

“The first thing the owner knew about the appeal not being submitted ‘on time’ was when police turned up at their shop to take all licensed products from the premises on Monday.

“They were understandably shocked. A four-week suspension will have a devastating impact on this local business and obviously it is still the owner’s intention to appeal, if they are allowed to do so.”