Lincoln City FC ‘far too close to relegation’

A retired fire engine that used to operate in Grimsby was used in Ukraine to help combat a missile attack on a shopping centre, which the G7 has described as a ‘war crime’ by Russia.

On Monday, footage emerged of a missile striking a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky claiming is is evidence of a deliberate attack by Russia.

At least 20 people were killed and around 56 were injured following the incident, with G7 leaders saying the attack is considered a war crime. More than 1,000 people were inside the building when it was hit by the missile.

A familiar looking fire engine can be seen in video footage of the blaze shared across news outlets and social media platforms, in the form of an old Humberside Fire & Rescue vehicle.

The fire engine used to operate here in North East Lincolnshire, covering Grimsby and Immingham, and it is one of many vehicles sent out by Humberside Fire & Rescue to various countries across Europe in recent years.

Fire Aid recently sent a convoy of around 75 vehicles, equipment and clothing to Ukraine to help provide resources for recovery.

At least 20 people were killed in the incident. | Photo: BBC Look North

Area manager Matthew Sutcliffe told BBC Look North: “We’ve sent a number of fire engines since 2015 over there. These are end of life fire engines for us in Humberside, so we share them across Eastern Europe where we can.

“It’s an absolute tragedy what we saw yesterday. Firefighters there were using one of our old fire engines to protect the property but also save lives.”

During a regular nightly address to the nation on Monday, president Zelensky said: “The Russian missile hit this very object, purposefully. Obviously, that was the order. It is obvious that Russian assassins received such coordinates for this missile.

“They wanted to kill as many people as possible in a peaceful city, in a regular shopping mall.”

Coronavirus numbers have risen sharply in Lincolnshire’s hospitals resulting in the reinstatement of COVID wards this week.

Director of operations Claire Reybould told the board of Lincolnshire NHS CCG said there had been 16 patients at the beginning of June to 73 this week – though the number had decreased on Wednesday to 64.

She told members: “[It’s] still significantly higher than we would have expected so it’s clear that we are in another wave at the moment.”

She said the pattern of infections, mostly where COVID was not the primary reason for being in hospital, was more like the second wave of COVID than the first.

However, she said it was starting to impact on staffing.

Other blue light services such as fire and rescue were also being impacted and further rises were also taking place in care homes, Claire told the board.

However, she said vaccines were still weakening the link between serious illness and infection.

She repeated a message to residents to come forward to make sure they were up-to-date with their jabs.

COVID wards have been reinstated this week in order to help hospital bosses safely manage infection prevention control.

“In summary, we have been dealing with a lower number of COVID patients, but that is really increasing. However, it’s more the  associated challenges.

“It is going to remain challenging, particularly over the coming months and as we head into winter, so we need to keep focused on that.

A chart showing infection rates and new cases of coronavirus up to June 28, including the most recent increase in cases.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Consultant in Public Health said there were 1,500 people officially testing positive in Lincolnshire last week, but that ONS modelling expected significantly higher numbers.

He said the figures equated to around 200 per hundred thousand population. In May it was as low as 40-50.

“We don’t have a huge statistical confidence in that rate given the low numbers of people taking the tests but it does follow the ONS picture of a significant steady increase.”

He said the majority were still the Omicron variant.

However, he told members Lincolnshire was “not leading the way nationally by any stretch of the imagination”.

Bosses are planning for an Autumn vaccination campaign with expectations the Spring booster will start waning around that time.