News

UKIP’s parliamentary candidate for South Holland and The Deepings is urging Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to quickly investigate the A&E situation in Lincolnshire hospitals. Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital is on black alert due to an extremely high number of patients and beds being at a premium. David Parsons says he has heard of patients presenting at A&E departments at Pilgrim Hospital and Lincoln County ...

Police are appealing for witnesses after a car’s tyres were slashed in Spalding. The damage was caused to a Mercedes in Banks Avenue, possibly on New Year’s Eve. It is the latest in a series of similar incidents that have been reported in the Chestnut Avenue, Willow Walk and Albert Street areas, with at least five vehicles having tyres damaged over the ...

UPDATE: Police have released the name of a pensioner who died in hospital after a collision near Sutterton on New Year’s Eve. He was Maurice Abrams (83), of Wygate Road, Spalding. Collision investigation officer Matt Carpenter said:” Mr Abrams was driving a silver Peugeot 206 that emerged from the B1397 onto the A17 from east to west and collided with ...

A dedicated operation to tackle anti-social behaviour and crime in Spalding town centre in the run-up to Christmas has been hailed a success. Officers conducted hours of foot and bicycle patrols between December 1 and 24 as part of Operation Washer, aimed at making the town a safe and enjoyable place to live, shop, work and socialise. Community inspector Jim ...

Road repairs will be carried out on Church Street in Pinchbeck, near Spalding, on Tuesday (January 6), weather permitting. The road will be closed with a diversion route via B1356, A152 link road, A16, B1180 Wardentree Lane. Residents’ access to their properties will be maintained. The local bus companies have been informed and minor changes to their service routes will ...

Two South Holland district councillors have been recognised in the New Year Honours. Graham Dark and Michael Booth have been awarded the BEM (Medallist of the Order of the British Empire) for services to their respective communities. Both had to keep news of their awards secret until the official announcement on Tuesday, after being informed a few months ago. Mr ...

Tony Worth has been recognised for his role as Lord-Lieutenant of Lincolnshire just a few weeks before he retires. The Holbeach Hurn businessman is 75 on February 23, the age when holders of the prestigious role of Her Majesty’s representative in the county must stand down. He has been made Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, an honour given by ...

A 16-year-old boy was on Tuesday remanded into the care of the local authority after being charged with the murder of Spalding man Warren Free. The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is the sixth teenager to be charged with the murder of Mr Free (42). The boy is also accused of perverting the course of justice by ...

Half of the proceeds of Spalding’s Johnson Community Hospital’s summer ball has been presented to Lincolnshire Community Health Services Trust’s Charitable Funds. The ball, held in July, raised £3,000 in total, with the other half going to the League of Friends.

Community health services across Lincolnshire have been rated as “good” following a comprehensive inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The inspection last September looked at services provided by Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS), including those for inpatients, urgent care, community health, children and families, and end of life care. The inspections assessed services on five key areas: ...

There were over 400 fewer people unemployed in South Holland last month that a year ago. The jobless figure for the district in November showed another 1.4 per cent drop on the previous month – a fall of 2.2 per cent on November 2013. It means 58 people found a job, or stopped claiming unemployment benefits, in November. Latest figures ...

More than 85 per cent of primary aged children in Lincolnshire and over 75 per cent of secondary children attend a good or outstanding school. The figures have been revealed in the annual report by Ofsted, which has carried out almost 6,500 inspections at more than 21,000 schools across England and Wales in 2013/14. Nationally, 82 per cent of primary ...

The latest weapon in the fight to clean up the district has been hitting the streets of South Holland. A new street sweeping machine has joined the district council’s ranks as part of the Pride in South Holland campaign. The sweeper has been hired for 17 weeks and along with the council’s two permanent vehicles will make sure that as ...

Lincolnshire is to receive an extra £9million from central government to improve roads and tackle potholes. The funding is part of a £6billion national package announced last week which is to be given out over the next six years to maintain the country’s road network. Of this funding, £4.7billion will be allocated according to a needs-based formula, with £580million to ...

Renovation works at a Spalding church, which were made possible by a large bequest, are taking a little longer than anticipated. The £600,000 project started at St John the Baptist Church in Hawthorn Bank back in April and was expected to be completed by October. However, unforeseen circumstances mean the work is still going on and Christmas services will have ...

Detectives have charged a sixth juvenile with the murder of Spalding man Warren Free. The boy, whose age has so far not been released by police, is due to appear at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court this morning and then Lincoln Crown Court later. Police said: “Of the seven juveniles arrested in connection with Warren Free’s death, six have now been charged ...

A historic shop in Spalding has been given a new lease of life by a church raising money for charities. Christian United People’s Ministries has taken on the former Butters shop in New Road, which closed in August. There are three elements to it – Quids Inn, selling charity shop items; Del Boy’s Emporium, dealing in trinkets, gold and silver; ...

The primary school in West Pinchbeck has just four issues to address before it might be rated outstanding by education inspectors. OFSTED says St Bartholomew’s has moved on even more since its previous “good” rating, which it was given again. Headteacher Michelle Parker was praised in the report for her “relentless drive” towards raising expectations of pupils’ learning and achievement. ...

An elderly woman suffered what proved to be a fatal fall after being helped out of her hospital bed by another patient. Poppy Ellarby (81) and the other inpatient were both confused and had talked about leaving Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital together. Mrs Ellarby was helped down her bed and around the bed rail by the fellow ward 6A patient – ...

The English and geography departments at University Academy Holbeach have received a stamp of approval. They have been issued with the Prince’s Teaching Institute (PTI) Mark. To become members of the PTI’s Schools Programme, departments must demonstrate their commitment to increasing teachers’ subject knowledge, and to furthering their students’ understanding of and enthusiasm for the subject, regardless of their background ...