News

Pupils from several local schools for children with disabilities were once again among those to get the first to get a taste of Tuby’s Fun Fair as it rolled into Spalding again today (Thursday). For the last 40 years that the fun fair has arrived in town its teamed up with the Spalding Branch of Lions International for a sneak ...

A rural post office service has closed Fleet Post Office has for the last two-years been based at The Chestnut Tea Rooms in Topgate between Fleet Hargate and Gedney. But on Monday customers were unable to access the service. The Post Office has told The Voice that the closure is “temporary” and is due to the resignation of the postmaster. ...

A Crowland man who admitted sexually abusing three young girls was today (Wednesday) jailed for 17 years.   Edward Church (68) raped one of his victims in a car when she was just 12 years old.   A jury at Lincoln Crown Court found Church guilty of the rape which occurred ten years ago.   Church, of Alderlands Close, Crowland, ...

South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes has taken on another job, with a charity founded and chaired by a Tory donor and that will pay the South Holland and The Deepings MP £24,000 a year for 16 days work. He’s listed on the Register of Interests for MPs as taking up a role as non-executive director to ...

A Spalding schoolboy has completed an impressive 25km walk and raised more than £600 for a charity close to his heart. On Easter Saturday, nine-year-old Finlay Carratt took part in the 25km (15.5 miles) walk to raise money for the Anthony Nolan Trust, a blood cancer and disorder charity. When Finlay was three- years-old, his father, Michael, was diagnosed with ...

Marathon runners from South Holland joined the crowds in London at the weekend and raised thousands of pounds for charity. Spalding runner Trevor Darnes clocked an impressive 3hrs 48mins for his first marathon in the capital. The environmental health officer for Fenland District Council also raised around £6,000 for Neuroblastoma UK. His daughter Ashleigh, 21, had the childhood cancer as ...

He’s used to cutting other people’s hair, but the owner of a Spalding barbers has raised over £100 by having his own dramatic hair cut. Alan Mackey, of The Barber Shoppe in New Road, took on the shave to raise money for men’s mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). Thanks to donations through the shop, he was able ...

A row over a vehicle sale boiled over into violence on a Cowbit drive, a court heard. Graham Stephen York, who was under a suspended sentence order imposed for an ABH offence, punched piano tuner Warren Goodwin “hard” in the face, magistrates in Boston heard today (Wednesday). York (44) had returned to his Backgate home to find Mr Goodwin sitting ...

A Long Sutton care company has been awarded the top grade of Outstanding after a recent inspection. Action Homecare looks after people in their own home and covers the Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge and Holbeach area. The inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said that people were at the heart of the service offered by the company. “Staff had a ...

A new development of lodges has been officially launched in South Holland. Tydd St Giles Golf and Country Club opened St Andrews, the new on site lodge development over the Easter weekend. The owner of Pure Leisure group, which operates the facility, John Morphet cut the official ribbon, with guests including lodge owners and staff in attendance. The club’s newly ...

Lincolnshire has the second highest amount of crack cocaine and opiate addicts in the East Midlands, according to government estimates. Lincolnshire has an estimated 3,669 addicts, second only to Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands, which has an estimated 4,292 addicts. A spokesman for addiction treatment experts UKAT said: “Worryingly, these figures don’t even include anyone using cocaine in powder form, ...

A sculpture commemorating the historic May Hiring Fair in Spalding will be unveiled to the public for the first time on Monday, May 6. The cast bronze artwork, which will be revealed in Hall Place at 11am, depicts a farmer taking on a young shepherd for the next year, as would happen in that location each May until about 100 ...

A South Holland mental health charity that uses football to reduce mental health stigma has been shortlisted for Tesco cash help. Tesco and Groundworks’ community funding scheme provides grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 to local community projects. Three groups in each Tesco region have been shortlisted and shoppers vote for which they think should take away the top grant. ...

A Spalding care home raised £142.20 for the residents comfort fund when it held a special Easter event last Monday. The Rt Rev Robert Gillion, Assistant Bishop of Lincoln, attended the event at St John’s Care Home and members of the residents’ choir and poetry club sang hymns, read Easter poems and shared Easter memories. Stephanie Lamont helped organise and ...

A burglar who targeted empty homes faces deportation after being locked up by a judge.   Rafal Lipiak  was found inside a repossessed property in Marlborough Avenue, Spalding, by police officers investigating a report that squatters were living in the house.   Mark Watson, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court today (Tues) said that Lipiak was found in possession of a bank ...

The place to register births, deaths and marriages in Spalding could move to the Priory Road council offices. The Registration Office is currently located at Bath Lane opposite the River Welland. Since October its future location has been uncertain with couples looking to arrange a civil partnership or marriage being unable to book ceremonies. But Lincolnshire County Council has now ...

A prolific thief with 48 previous convictions has been jailed for two years after a masked robbery in Spalding town centre.   Matthew Dye covered his face in a bid to disguise his appearance before he walked into the Nottingham Building Society in Sheep Market in the town and demanded cash, Lincoln Crown Court heard today.   Phil Howes, prosecuting, said “He ...

A dispute between two families led to a 26-year-old Holbeach woman sending a threatening and abusive message, a court has been told. Claire Marie Houghton of Allison Avenue, Holbeach admitted to sending a grossly offensive and menacing electronic communication when she appeared at Boston Magistrates Court. Prosecuting, Marie Stace said that on October 5 last year, a voice mail message ...

Celebrating his daughter’s 21st birthday prompted a Spalding man to sign-up for the London Marathon and raise cash for a cause close to their hearts. Ashleigh Darnes had only a 20 per cent chance of surviving a life-threatening childhood cancer when she was two years old. Her case of neuroblastoma was very severe and it spread from her kidney to ...