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TEN pubs from the Grantham area have made it into CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, although one has since closed.
But only four in the town have qualified this time
They are among just over 100 in the county.
POLICE are appealing for witnesses following a serious of criminal damage and anti-social behaviour on Heathfield Road, Grantham, over the weekend.
The first was stones thrown at a window on the Saturday (incident 462 19/09/2015).
A second, which occurred yesterday, was criminal damage to a residential fence which has happen on numerous occasions before (incident 428 20/09/2015)
The final incident involved a smashed car window which happened overnight Sunday-Monday (incident 51 21/09/2015)
If anyone has any information on any of the above incidents please call 101 quoting the above incident numbers.
Train disruption in Doncaster due to emergency repair work
People travelling on train services through Grantham are experiencing extensive delays this morning, due to emergency repair work being carried out on a busy line in the region.
Hull Trains and Grand Central are currently unable to run between Doncaster and Grantham, as a result of emergency engineering works being carried out between Newark Northgate and Grantham.
A reduced Virgin Trains East Coast service is currently running between Doncaster and Grantham, and passengers are being advised to travel on the train closest to their booked train if it is cancelled.
The disruption is expected to continue until at least 1pm.
THE condition of the man taken to hospital following a collision on the A1 on Saturday, is today described as serious but stable.
He remains at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham.
The A1 was closed in both directions between the A52 (Grantham) and the A46 (Newark) due to the serious incident involving two vehicles.
It happened at around 0945hrs today, Saturday 19th September 2015 when a grey soft top Land Rover 90 was in collision with a white VW Crafter panel van on the southbound carriageway at Foston Tollbar, near Marston.
This resulted in the Land Rover crossing over onto the northbound carriageway.
The two occupants of the Land Rover, a man and woman, were flown to Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, by air ambulance.
The van driver escaped serious injury.
Grantham firefighters attended and administered first aid to the two casualties and assisted with scene safety
Several witnesses may have continued on their journeys prior to the police arriving at the scene.
Anyone who witnessed the collision who have not yet been spoken to by officers are asked to call Lincs Police on the non-emergency 101 number or the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855. It would be helpful if they could quote Incident 127 of 19th September.
EMERGENCY services were called to a processing plant, on Swingbridge Road this morning.
A fridge in the building stopped working overnight causing 25 litres of a chemical called Trigonox to heat up and explode.
There were no injuries.
It began at 7am today, with firefighters from Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service using a specialist unit to carryout a wet decontamination at the Parker Tecknit Europe site.
Four fire appliances and crews attended the scene which has since been scaled down to two. They liaised with a specialist from the company where the leak was reported.
This is Ryan. He is missing from Grantham area. He is very vulnerable in that he is Autistic. He went missing once before when he got lost and ended up in Ancaster so he could be anywhere. Please please please keep your eyes peeled and share his picture. Last seen at 1pm today (sunday) leaving Grantham Meres on Trent rd, heading towards Dysart Rd. He lives in Barrowby. He was wearing black joggers with black top with white flex with black ruck sack. Police are also looking for him.
AN eight-year-old Lincolnshire girl was at the centre of a suspected “sexting” investigation after she uploaded a video to the internet, police information has revealed.
The girl was too young for prosecution when the incident was recorded, in October 2014.
However the Freedom of Information request on “sexting”, sent to Lincolnshire Police, has also revealed two other incidents in the county.
A request by Lincolnshire Echo was made to the force for information on: “The number of children under the age of 18 who have been investigated in the last two years by your force for “sexting” activities.
Lincolnshire Police replied with the case of the young female suspect, along with two other cases.
The second case involved a 12-year-old male suspect. Police said the young boy was believed to have sent images via ‘social networks’ to a 13-year-old girl.
However the force concluded that formal action against the offender was not in the public interest.
That incident was recorded by police in February 2015.
In January this year, police also recorded a female suspect aged 15, who was said to have sent images via social media picture-based app Snapchat, to an 18-year-old man.
Again, the force concluded that ‘Outcome 10’ was best, which states that formal action against an offender is not in the public interest.
In July last year, Lincolnshire Police said criminalising ‘sexting’ teens in the county with cautions or court action should be avoided wherever possible.
It came after Nottinghamshire police sent a letter to schools and warned youngsters that ‘sexting’ or sending explicit pictures to each other could cross laws about distributing indecent images of children.
At the time, a Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said: “We would ultimately try to avoid criminalising children wherever possible and aim to educate them in order in order to protect them from harm.
“However every case would be dealt with according to circumstances, taking into consideration whether there was any criminal intent, and we would seek CPS advice if we felt that a prosecution In October, in a Lincolnshire Echo front page, police warned about a worrying trend of paedophiles from across the world hunting down intimate pictures of teenagers using social media sites.
Officers said they had started to notice paedophiles tracking down “imprints” of web pages to find pictures which have been removed.
Such explicit images of young people had mostly been exchanged on youngsters’ mobile phones and made public following arguments or relationship breakdowns.
Grantham-based Chantry Dance Company’s artistic directors, Paul Chantry and Rae Piper, are choreographing David Walliam’s new theatre tour of ‘Gangsta Granny’ produced by Birmingham Stage Company.
The show will tour the UK before going into London’s West End.
They are also choreographing ‘HOOD – the Legend Continues’ at Nottingham Theatre Royal with New Perspectives Theatre Company which opens on September 17th, and ‘Horrible Histories – Horrible Christmas’ for Birmingham Stage Company at the Cambridge Corn Exchange opening on December 14th.
Consulting engineering firm Morgan Tucker completed its work in February on the new £5m for a new cinema complex in Grantham, but work has yet to start.
Appointed by South Kesteven District Council, the firm provided all of the traffic and transportation services in support of the planning application for the Reel Multiplex which was approved late last year.
Venezia Ross-Gilmore, senior transport planner, said: “Morgan Tucker assessed the current car parking provision in the town centre and undertook a study at the St Catherine’s Road and Welham Street car parks to ensure there was enough space in existing facilities.
The St Catherine’s Road development will include a six-screen, multiplex cinema, a food court, office space and a replacement building for the Grantham Senior Citizens Club.
Construction work was expected to be under way by now with a 45-week construction programme, although it remains a council car park at this stage.
An SKDC spokesman said: “The latest is we are still formulating the paperwork with Reel and looking to find agreement on outstanding matters.”
Hospital patients, relatives stakeholders and members of the public are being invited to an event to find out about developments United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has made over the past year and plans for the year ahead.
The Trust annual general meeting will be held on Tuesday 29 September at the Guildhall in Grantham, and will provide the chance to meet with staff and view presentations about a range of topics.
Acting Chief Executive Kevin Turner will be joined by other members of the executive board to highlight progress and achievements of the Trust over the past year.
Members of the public will be invited to have their say on what the Trust does well and where things can be improved further.
The evening will also be a quality showcase – where staff will be showcasing projects and initiatives that have led to improvements in the quality of care delivered at Lincolnshire’s hospitals.
There will also be information available about working at the Trust and our annual staff awards, as well as information about staff engagement and charitable funds.
The annual general meeting will take place on Tuesday 29 September in The Ballroom at the Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.
The A1 is closed in both directions between the A52 (Grantham) and the A46 (Newark) due to a serious incident involving two vehicles.
This collision took place at around 0945hrs today, Saturday 19th September 2015. A grey soft top Land Rover 90 was in collision with a white VW Crafter panel van on the south bound carriageway at Foston Tollbar, near Marston.
This resulted in the Land Rover crossing over onto the northbound carriageway.
The two occupants of the Land Rover, a man and woman, were flown to Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, by air ambulance.
They remain there for treatment at present. The man involved is believed to have been seriously injured.
The van driver escaped serious injury.
The road was closed in both directions and local diversions set up. It reopened shortly after 5pm.
Grantham firefighters attended and administered first aid to the two casualties and assisted with scene safety
Several witnesses may have continued on their journeys prior to the police arriving at the scene.
Anyone who witnessed the collision who have not yet been spoken to by officers are asked to call Lincs Police on the non-emergency 101 number or the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855. It would be helpful if they could quote Incident 127 of 19th September.
NOTIONS Antiques, Market Place, had their third visit from BBC TV’s Antiques Road Trip last week. Charles Hanson and Margi Cooper were the stars of the day.
They both found things to buy.
Owner Sharon Checkley said: “Charles arrived in this bright yellow car (don’t know what it is – it looked very good but made an awful racket !!!)”
AT their meeting in Lincoln today, county councillors discussed an offer of sanctuary to refugees fleeing Syria, with Lincolnshire expecting to house around 200 over the next five years.
After overwhelming pressure, Prime Minister David Cameron agreed at the beginning of the month to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years.
A motion by Labour group leader Coun John Hough puiblished before the meeting, sought a public commitment from the county to welcome refugees and proved a ‘safe haven’ for them.
After talks between the council and Home Office representatives, it was indicated the county would resettle 200 refugees over five years.
The government came under some criticism over its funding support offer, primarily as the scheme will only cover the first year of costs for matters including schooling and benefits.
Coun Peter Robinson said: “Funding would be met in the first year by government, but then by local authorities.
“There would be a cost in supporting children of around £50,000 per child per year, and that would be maintained until they are at least 25.
“No doubt Lincolnshire will have a big part to play.”
Council leader Coun Martin Hill said: “The Local Government Association is working hard to get central government to extend commitment from the foreign aid budget for one year. It’s not been publicly stated what will happen beyond five years.
“The county would help vulnerable people who are in camps in Syria. Unaccompanied children under the scheme would be supported until the age of 25, which would be a cost to the county.
“I suggest that we would support the LGA in its case. We will all have to play a part.”
Councillor Marc Jones said: “We have a duty to protect people of Lincolnshire and a duty to protect people in the country. I hope we will all work together to protect residents.
“There is concern for all of us to make sure people that settle are genuinely of refugee status and vulnerable.
“We will do everything to make sure people of our county are protected from cost and risk of people not being of true refugee status.”
A highly drug-resistant strain of gonorrhoea has been detected in Lincolnshire and the north of England, triggering a national alert.
Fifteen cases have been detected by Public Health England (PHE) so far, including Scunthorpe, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV said.
Reports to PHE’s sexually transmitted bacteria reference unit (STBRU) of cases of the infection being highly resistant to the azithromycin drug have previously been rare, it added.
The outbreak, which was first detected in Leeds in March, has since spread.
All of the cases involve heterosexual patients, and some people have reported partners from other parts of England.
Around 10 per cent of men and almost half of women with gonorrhoea do not experience symptoms – meaning the condition can go untreated for some time.
A statement from PHE said: “An outbreak control team meeting has been convened and STBRU are currently performing next generation sequencing on these strains to better understand the molecular epidemiology.”
It added: “PHE is concerned that the effectiveness of current front-line dual therapy for gonorrhoea will be threatened if this resistant strain continues to spread unchecked.”
The number of infections detected may seem small, Peter Greenhouse, a consultant in sexual health based in Bristol said, but added there could be more undetected cases.
“This azithromycin highly-resistant outbreak is the first one that has triggered a national alert,” he told the BBC.
“It doesn’t sound like an awful lot of people, but the implication is there’s a lot more of this strain out there and we need to stamp it out as quickly as possible.
“If this becomes the predominant strain in the UK we’re in big trouble, so we have to be really meticulous in making sure each of these individuals has all their contacts traced and treated.”
There were almost 35,000 cases of gonorrhoea reported in England last year – it is the second most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the UK after chlamydia. The majority of cases affect people under the age of 25.
Police are appealing for information and witnesses after a man was assaulted in Grantham.
Between 5pm and 5.30pm on Sunday 6th September a 31-year-old local man was cycling along a footpath that runs along the back of Clyde Court and the leisure centre in Grantham when he was approached by four men and assaulted. He suffered bruising as a result.
It is thought that a number of members of public may have been in the area at the time and investigating officers would like to hear from them to see if they have any information that could assist the inquiry.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Lincolnshire Police on 101 quoting incident 97 of 07/09/2015. Alternatively contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Jan Sobieraj has been appointed new chief executive of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust following a rigorous recruitment process.
This appointment follows the retirement of Jane Lewington in August. Jan will take over from Kevin Turner who is acting chief executive.
Jan Sobieraj
Jan is currently managing director at NHS Leadership Academy. He has over 24 years’ experience in the NHS of which 13 years have been as chief executives forvarious organisations including an acute hospital trust and a commissioner.
One of his other roles was as chief executive for South Lincolnshire Healthcare NHS Trust from 1997 – 2001.
His varied career at a senior level enables Jan to have a good understanding of the importance of leadership across the health and social care system and the value of properly engaging staff, patients and the public, which he is fully committed to.
Ron Buchanan, Trust Chairman said: “Following a rigorous recruitment process, I am delighted to announce Jan will be joining ULHT as our new chief executive. Janbrings a wealth of leadership experience across a diverse range of organisations in the NHS including national roles”.
“ULHT has made significant progress in improving the quality and safety of care over the last 2 years. We need to continue to do this and transform services alongside our partners. Jan’s proven capabilities will be crucial in leading the organisation through the next stage of its development in an increasingly challenging environment for the NHS.
“Since Jane Lewington retired, Kevin Turner Acting CEO has been doing a great job and has been capably leading the Trust in an interim capacity and will continue until Jan formally joins us.”
Jan Sobieraj said, “I am delighted to be joining ULHT. I have previously worked in Lincolnshire and the great staff and people in the county were a big draw in taking the job.
“I am very aware of the challenges ULHT and the wider NHS faces. This creates a great opportunity for staff and patients, and it will be a privilege to lead ULHT during this time.
“I look forward to playing a vital role in improving services, and working with committed, hardworking staff, patients and partners in changing hospital services for the better”.
RAIL customers on East Midlands Trains, Britain’s most punctual long-distance train operator, will benefit from around £13m of investment under a new agreement between Stagecoach Group and the Department for Transport (DfT) which will see a new franchise starting in October, to run until at least March 2018.
Customers will benefit from a wide range of improvements with a fares freeze on Anytime fares to London, a ticket sale offering 250,000 discounted tickets, cleaner stations, roll-out of a new “Cafe en route” to provide an enhanced on board service, new technology to help provide faster and better customer information when and where customers need it and a new automated refunds system.
Local communities will gain from the new deal, which will see an extra £250,000 invested in community rail, the introduction of a new schools education programme and continued investment in apprenticeships and graduate schemes.
Taxpayers will benefit from the agreement, with £150m of forecast premium payments to the Government between October 2015 and March 2018.
The new franchise starts on 18 October and run until 4 March 2018. The DfT has the option to extend the contract by up to one year.
East Midlands Trains operates services among others, Norwich to Liverpool and Nottingham to Skegness, both of which run through Grantham.
The package includes…
Martin Griffiths, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, said: “This is a significant package of investment for customers travelling on East Midlands Trains, Britain’s most punctual long-distance train operator.
“It will build on what our team has achieved over the past eight years and deliver further valuable improvements for the millions of passengers and many communities who rely on the East Midlands Trains network.
“The new East Midlands Trains franchise will also deliver a multi-million-pound return to the taxpayer to help fund the Government’s ongoing investment programme for the UK rail network.”
Rail Minister Claire Perry said: “This is a great deal for East Midlands Trains customers, and will mean significantly better journeys for passengers travelling around the region.”
Jake Kelly, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains, added: “This is great news for customers and taxpayers. Over the past eight years, we have demonstrated our commitment to providing the best possible service for our customers. “
Since the start of the East Midlands Trains franchise in November 2007, East Midlands Trains, which was named Passenger Operator of the Year last year, has delivered a major programme of improvements for customers with the following highlights:
Stagecoach Group has submitted its bid for a new Transpennine Express franchise and its joint venture with Abellio is shortlisted to bid for a new East Anglia franchise.
The successful bidder for Transpennine Express is expected to be announced in December 2015, with the franchise commencing in April 2016.
The winner of the new East Anglia franchise is expected to be announced in June 2016, with the franchise commencing in October 2016.
THE Labour group on Lincolnshire County Council is calling for the authority to welcome refugees from the Middle East.
A resolution by Coun John Hough, seconded by Coun Rob Parker, is being put to the council at their meeting tomorrow (18th September).
It reads: “We, as people of Lincolnshire, cannot ignore the plight of refugees across Europe and the Middle East or leave the situation for others to deal with.
The generous offers of help from individuals, community organisations, churches and others in Lincolnshire show the strength of the desire in our communities to help provide accommodation, food and places of safety for refugees who have been displaced by war.
None of this ignores the fact that we still have our own challenges of homelessness, lack of affordable housing, poverty and many other issues here at home which we must continue to tackle.
However Lincolnshire with its population of 731,500 people has the capacity and strength to not only deal with its own problems but also to play its part in providing a safe haven for refugees in this emergency.
The County Council has a long experience of looking after unaccompanied children who are asylum seekers. Last week we had 60 such children and young people being looked after or otherwise supported by our Leaving Care Service.
We can build on this experience and, with the work done by the community, we are in a strong position to provide further help now that it is needed. While cost is an issue and clearly financial help will be needed, we cannot just sit and wait.
Help is needed now and the County Council must provide a welcome for refugees and leadership in coordinating such help across the county.
It is therefore proposed that:
The Council recommends that the executive on behalf of all councillors says publically and to Government that we as a Council welcome refugees to Lincolnshire alongside the wider Lincolnshire community and will play our part in providing a safe haven for them.
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