A pensioner who admitted sexually assaulting a young girl has been jailed at Lincoln Crown Court. Terence MacKenzie abused the seven-year-old earlier this year while he was living in the Spalding area. Henry James, prosecuting, said the offences came to light when the young girl told her mother who called in police. Terence MacKenzie MacKenzie was arrested and when officers ...

A councillor has said she’s “disgusted” and told others “they should be ashamed” after a bid by Spalding Market Traders to lower fees further than is being proposed. South Holland District Council looks set to reduce the fees after angering traders recently by no longer providing stalls. But Spalding traders through Coun Angela Newton asked the council to consider lowering ...

The cost of the coronavirus pandemic to South Holland District Council is likely to be ‘considerable’. Members of the council’s cabinet were told that the financial implications were being closely monitored. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the council, our businesses and our residents. It is difficult to quantify the financial effects of the pandemic with any ...

There’s frustration over a lack of COVID-19 tests in Lincolnshire as South Holland sees a slight rise in confirmed cases. According to government statistics there were 14 confirmed cases of the virus in the district last week which includes 11 confirmed on September 8. Previous to that there had only been 11 cases since July 16 and it was the ...

I wish to draw your attention to the terrible state of the toilets when I recently shopped at Spalding. The bus station toilets were absolutely disgusting – the other toilets were closed for repair. R J BarbenNewborough

Notice to all Spalding Services and Social Club members: We are calling a general meeting for all the members of our club. This meeting is being held at the club on Wednesday 23rd September at 7pm. We are holding this meeting as we have received a signed petition with reference to the letters that were sent to this paper, regarding ...

Just a few reasons why refugees risk everything to cross the channel by dingy. In France they do not automatically receive access to free housing, healthcare and schooling. Asylum claims in Britain can take ten, 12 years plus. Unbelievably the claimants are then given back dated benefit cheques for sums up to £60,000 having not paid a penny in to ...

Payments from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for workers who are on furlough will end on October 31. To encourage employers to retain furloughed workers after this point the government has announced a Job Retention Bonus of £1,000 to employers for every eligible furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. Employees must earn ...

Once again Spalding seems to be on the hit list for bad decisions.Recently we had the market stalls removed on the recommendation of the Portfolio Holder for Place Coun Gambba-Jones on a ‘temporary’ basis at that time. However, one of the market traders who offered to buy his stall was told stalls will be scrapped so I’m unsure how that ...

Councillors gave the thumbs up to branding Holbeach’s Food Enterprise Zone ‘in the UK’s food valley’ as it was revealed the development will include a hub for start up businesses. After securing £8.5m of the government’s Getting Building Fund, work on phase two of the project is soon to begin Lincolnshire County Council’s principal officer for regeneration Simon Wright told ...

A Saracen’s Head salon has presented a large cheque to Marie Curie UK after their best fundraising effort yet. Charlea’s held its third annual fundraising day for the charity in March and raised a brilliant £823. It’s the third year the event was held which involved them donating all the money for shampoo and blow drys on the day to ...

A group of independent councillors are set to hold socially distanced litter pick events in Spalding. Councillors Anthony Cronin, Angela Newton, Rob Gibson and Manzur Hasan will be taking on what’s being called the Great British Spring Clean events as they say South Holland District Council is not holding them this year. Coun Newton said: “Despite South Holland District Council ...

A Spalding couple are spending this week living on the rations given to Syrian refugees as they look to held feed a similar sized family for a year. Sam and Craig Luff are taking part in Concern Worldwide’s Ration challenge with all of their meals this week set to come from rice, flour, 170g of red lentils, 85g of chickpeas, ...

Police are yet to find a body in the hunt for a missing 17-year-old as her parents appeared in court charged with murder this morning (Wednesday). Cambridgeshire Police have been searching around Cowbit for the last few days as part of their investigations into the disappearance of Bernadette Walker who was reported missing on July 21. Her parents Sarah Walker, ...

A retired Crowland man is reaching new horizons himself by landing a publishing deal. Steve Borrett is releasing New Horizons – A Mayson Edmunson Adventure under the pseudonym SteVie May on September 30. The 62-year-old says he always harboured thoughts of writing a book but didn’t have the time until retiring from working in government services. The book takes on ...

Children at a Gosberton School have been able to socially distance more outside thanks to the creation of a new outdoor area. Gosberton Academy’s outdoor area was constructed over the summer by Lincolnshire-based company Newby Leisure. It includes a mud kitchen, a water feature, planting and growing areas as well as a clamber tree. And among the first to use ...

Police are searching the Cowbit area in relation to a missing 17-year-old whose parents were charged with her murder yesterday. Cambridgeshire Police has been covering the area around the River Welland and New Cover Drove to the north and west of the village for the last two days. A spokesman for the police force confirmed the search is in relation ...

A husband and wife are ‘heartbroken’ after their truck and much of their equipment were stolen in the third theft targeting their ‘dream job’ in four years. Tony and Mandy Caley of T&M Gardening Service say they spent the inheritance from the passing of Tony’s mum to replace equipment following thefts in 2017 and 2019. But they woke up yesterday ...

Boston Road North in Holbeach is to be closed for nearly a month as new sewer mains are installed. Anglian Water engineers will next week, September 21, begin crucial work to install brand new sewer pipes and a pumping station in Holbeach to support the growth of the new Peppermint Junction development. Boston Road North itself is scheduled to be ...

A number of children are being taught at home after a confirmed case of COVID-19 was identified at a Spalding primary school. St John the Baptist School in Hawthorn Bank say a ‘member of the school community’ tested positive for the virus. It’s now said how many children are working from home this week following Friday’s positive test. Headteacher Paul ...