News

Springfields Events and Conference Centre’s car park and entrance road were jam-packed with motorbikes last Sunday (January 24). A record number of bikers visited the annual Springfields Bike Show in Spalding, part of more than 3,000 visitors across the weekend. Claire Lunn, of Weston firm Independent Event Management, said: “Because Sunday was dry we saw more people come on bikes ...

Lincolnshire has bucked the national trend by recording a further drop in crime. Overall crime dropped by one per cent in the year to September 2015 – a figure which has been welcomed by police bosses in the county. However, the latest figures reveal that violent crime has increased in the same period by nine per cent. Det Ch Supt ...

A human rights campaigner facing trial in Thailand has said he is confident he will “win” when the case comes to court in May. Andy Hall, formerly of Spalding and whose family still live in the town, could face up to seven years in a Thai prison if found guilty of criminal defamation and computer crimes. The charges relate to ...

South Holland district councillors have provided funding to secure the future of a long-running Spalding choir. Voices Unplugged, a popular community choir based at Broad Street Methodist Church, has received a donation of £800. Six councillors – Gary Taylor, Jack McLean and George Aley (all Spalding), Jane King and Robert Clark (both Donington, Quadring and Gosberton), and Elizabeth Sneath (Pinchbeck and Surfleet) ...

A presentation ceremony took place last Saturday for two D-Day veterans awarded France’s top military honour. Spalding’s Tom Fowler, who will be 97 next month, and Donald March, of Matlaske in Norfolk, received the Légion d’honneur from Jean-Claude Lafontaine, Honorary French Consul for the East Midlands, in recognition of their efforts in liberating France. The emotional ceremony at The Lighthouse ...

People will this week get a first chance to see the designs for a series of new sculptures for Spalding. The £18,000 town trail will be artwork depicting local people who modelled for artist Joseph Hillier. He was commissioned by arts programme Transported, in partnership with Spalding and District Civic Society, to create the small bronze sculptures inspired by the ...

With more than 150 years’ history of criminals passing through and features such as cells and a reinforced dock, it’s the kind of home which would never be short of a talking point. The former Spalding Magistrates’ Court has been put on the open market, being promoted as possible residential accommodation. The price tag for the Grade II listed building ...

Plans have emerged for the former Gosberton Medical Centre to be demolished to make way for homes. The plot, which is close to the current practice in Low Gate, is earmarked for three terraced homes and two bungalows. Plans have been submitted to South Holland District Council under the name of Dr Mark Bemment, one of the partners in the ...

A Spalding charity shop was so busy with furniture donations that it has taken a leap by opening a dedicated store. The Lighthouse Project, which has a shop and café in Sheep Market, now has a unit at Broadgate House in Westlode Street. The shop has soft furnishings and electrical goods and is open on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays 10am-2pm. ...

South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group is reminding patients of the importance of eating healthily and keeping fit, particularly during the winter months. An estimated one in four adults and one in five children aged 10 to 11 in the UK are considered obese, putting themselves at risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression and stroke. Dr Kevin Hill, chairman ...

A planning application to allow the former Welec shop in Spalding to become a takeaway is opposed by Spalding and District Civic Society. Welec, in New Road, closed last Saturday (January 16) following the retirement of business owners John and Jean Wellband. Premises landlord, The Trustees of the Frances Blane Settlement, has applied to South Holland District Council for permission ...

Business is booming at a workplace staffed entirely with ex-employees of troubled Lloyd Loom of Spalding. The majority owner and managing director of Lloyd Loom Manufacturing Ltd is former Lloyd Loom of Spalding sales manager Steve Duncan. He and four other colleagues are now making a living producing the high-end handmade furniture for the trade market from a unit at ...

This is the proposed design for a new pavilion for Spalding’s Ayscoughfee Gardens. The construction materials of oak and stainless steel have been selected to tie in with the surroundings of the Grade I listed hall, and detachable acoustic panels used at the back of the structure would enhance sound during dramatic and musical performances. The current pavilion with its ...

Road maintenance and bus services could suffer as part of £6.2million of proposed cuts to Lincolnshire County Council’s highways and transport budget. Measures being considered to make savings include gritting fewer roads, turning off some street lights, and reducing budgets for pothole repairs, grass verge cutting and rights of way upkeep. And a council meeting on Monday (January 18) was ...

Police are raising public awareness about the use of drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). Temporary Ch Insp Deb Clark, of Boston/South Holland Local Policing, said: “Drones are cheap, and easy to get in the air. No doubt many will have been given as presents over Christmas. “The ownership and use of drones is not in itself unlawful but in certain circumstances ...

The site of a former primary school could be transformed into a £5million care home if plans are given the go ahead. Country Court Care wants permission to change the former Goodfellows Primary School building at Spalding Common into a modern specialist dementia care and residential home. The company has applied to South Holland District Council for permission for the ...

Long Sutton is being “short-changed” when it comes to policing according to an angry resident. The man, who has asked not to be named, says despite a recent spate of burglaries in the town, he rarely sees a police officer and police are not warning residents in general about the problem. In a letter to The Voice, the resident said: ...

Plans to double the size of Spalding’s power station have been delayed again – with summer 2017 being the earliest work is now likely to start. Last spring, InterGen, which owns the town’s existing power station, had said it hoped work to construct the new station – bringing hundreds of construction jobs to the town – could begin early this ...

A day of action targeting hare coursers was interrupted when officers switched to dealing with a suspected house burglary. The arrests of an 18-year-old and two 15-year-olds perfectly demonstrated Lincolnshire Police’s recent move towards many more officers tackling rural crime while also being available to respond to other incidents. I was invited to join last Wednesday’s orchestrated effort, involving officers ...

Human rights campaigner Andy Hall has had his passport confiscated as he awaits trial in Thailand. Mr Hall, who is from Spalding and still has family in the town, also faces a travel ban restricting his movements after a ruling by Bangkok South Criminal Court. The ruling was made ahead of a hearing on Monday where Mr Hall was indicted ...