News

A Spalding man has admitted inciting under-age girls to engage in sexual activity.   Roy Hayes (44) pleaded guilty to three sexual offences when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday.(March 20)   The offences related to a 13-year-old girl on April 7, 2014, a 14-year-old girl on October 11, 2012, and a 15-year-old girl on July 30, 2014.   Michael Cranmer-Brown, prosecuting, said the ...

A Spalding man accused of making more than 400 indecent images of children has had his case sent for trial. Gareth Raymond Oddy, of Wygate Road, is said, on or before January 20, 2016, to have made: 256 category A photographs 108 category B photographs 84 category C photographs Category A photographs are the most serious. Oddy is also accused of possessing ...

Police are investigating a robbery after Cowbit Village Store was hit for the third time in a month last night (Wednesday).   Three men entered the store at around 7.15pm and stole cash, alcohol and cigarettes before leaving the scene in a blue 4×4 with a silver skirt.   Police confirmed that the member of staff at the Barrier Bank shop ...

A grant scheme that secured and created a vast amount of jobs in South Holland is being relaunched with £1.3million of new funding available to businesses in the district. Small and medium-sized businesses in South Holland can apply for a slice of the funding under the Grants4Growth scheme, which saw grants of between £1,000 and £40,000 awarded in two years ...

Young men in Lincolnshire are being urged to sign up to a blood stem cell or bone marrow register. It’s a potentially lifesaving move but statistics revealed by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan reveal that 46 per cent of young men from the East Midlands could not be encouraged to sign for any reason. There are 3,226 from Lincolnshire on ...

A challenge has been set for people to get behind nine-year-old Peter Bailey who will be running a bake sale to help others with autism at this weekend’s Spalding United match. Dedicated supporter Peter, a pupil at Gosberton House Academy, which caters particularly for those on the autistic spectrum, has earned himself the moniker Mascot Pete after last year selling ...

A kids’ club, with 125 children on roll, has raised standards to “good,” according to a recent Ofsted inspection. Pinchbeck Kids Club, at Pinchbeck East Primary School, had been judged “requires improvement” in 2015. A report published this month (March 2017) said: “Following the previous inspection, the manager has made good use of training available to extend the professional development of ...

A dog walker who fell into the River Welland wants to thank the mystery passer-by who jumped in to save her life. Jane Jackson doesn’t know the man’s name but says she would have drowned without his intervention. The retired 64-year-old said: “My life flashed before my eyes and I thought that was it, I was going to die. “Whoever ...

South Holland District Council is bracing itself to pay out up to £70,000 to settle a dispute over a planning decision. The cash has been set aside in budgeting processes, but the council says details cannot be made public at this stage. A spokesman said: “This relates to an historical planning matter, subsequent complaint and investigation into the background by ...

Pupils at St John’s Primary School in Spalding were thrilled to take a field trip via virtual reality with a visit by Google Expeditions. Students from Years 1 to 6 enjoyed 360 degree and 3D images of places aligned to their learning. A mobile phone slips into the rear of a cardboard viewing device and the teacher is able to ...

South Holland’s first high ropes course is due to open this month following a £200,000 investment and five-month project. It’s the latest attraction at Weston’s Fun Farm – originally a farm diversification project into soft play, which later expanded to include Laser Storm laser tag game. Owner Albert Slator said: “We wanted to do something different. From Easter through to ...

A community campaign to raise £3,000 for shutters for the village store after a break-in has reached the target – in three weeks. Fundraising events have been held in support of Cowbit Village Store and donations made online and in person. Shop worker Dawn Hook said: “We are delighted. I think it just shows what a great community it is. ...

The Holbeach food enterprise zone is one of the beneficiaries of £29.45m of government funding. Greater Lincolnshire has secured the cash for a range of major projects designed to drive growth. The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership has been awarded the funding through the Single Local Growth Fund. It will be used to kick-start a host of schemes (subject to ...

Demolition work going on until 4am in preparation for an extension of Spalding’s Aldi store has caused complaints. The work started late on Friday (March 10) and went through until the early hours on Saturday. The same happened on Saturday night. There was further work after the store closed on Sunday until 10pm. St Thomas’s Road resident Alan Long lives ...

A flag-raising ceremony was held at South Holland District Council’s offices in Spalding on Monday (March 13) to mark Commonwealth Day. Members and officers came together with local dignitaries and war veterans as council chairman Michael Seymour raised the Commonwealth flag at 10am – the precise time that thousands of others all over the globe were doing the same. Those ...

A ceremony for the onset of construction of the Peppermint Junction/food enterprise zone project at Holbeach took place on Wednesday.(March 15) Lincolnshire county councillor for Holbeach, Nick Worth, was there with Coun Richard Davies, executive member for highways and transport. Coun Worth – also South Holland District Council’s portfolio holder for growth and commercialisation – said: “I am delighted that ...

Pupils at The Spalding Special Schools are getting around in a new minibus thanks to support from Lord’s Taverners and Lady Taverners and 13 South Holland district councillors. The Garth School and The Priory School, which cater for children with complex needs between the ages of 3 to 19, match-funded the wheelchair accessible minibus with £28,000. The Lord’s Taverner’s minibus ...

A project to help educate lots more of the 500,000 profoundly deaf children in Nepal is coming to fruition thanks to plentiful support by Rotary Club of Holbeach. Renovation and extension work at Shree Lower Secondary School in the rural Chitwan district is nearing the latter stages. The headteacher has a penchant and talent for teaching deaf children and the hope is, ...

A man was flown to hospital with serious injuries after a crash on the A151 at Guthram Gowt on Tuesday (March 14). A silver Vauxhall, which was travelling towards Spalding, and a blue MG, going towards Bourne, collided at about 1.40pm. Police said: “Injuries are described as not life threatening or life changing, family have been informed. One man has been taken to the ...

A campaigner whose mum died in a house fire caused by illegal cigarettes has called for a change in the law which she hopes will save lives. June Buffham died at her home in Stonegate, Spalding in April 2012 after she fell asleep and dropped a lit Jin Ling cigarette in her chair. The illegal cigarette continued to burn, quickly ...