Greater Lincolnshire bin collection dates this Christmas and New Year

Two men have been arrested after another male was seriously injured in a crash near Grantham on Wednesday evening that closed the road for several hours.

The collision between a silver Peugeot and an HGV on the A1, Great North Road, Colsterworth, Grantham was reported to Lincolnshire Police at 6.09pm on Wednesday, October 28.

The road was closed at around 7pm and re-opened shortly after midnight.

The driver of the Peugeot was taken to hospital, but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The driver and passenger of the HGV, both men aged 27, were uninjured but both have been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and remain in custody.

The road was closed for several hours. | Photo: R.S. Mortiss

Emergency services attended the scene of the A1 crash. | Photo: R.S. Mortiss

The crash also caused a debate about this stretch of the A1, after three different closures in seven days due to crashes, including one involving a tractor and an HGV.

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said “we’ve been campaigning for years to have it upgraded to motorway standard”.

A former Premier League striker with a controversial past has joined Spalding United in a week that has seen the non-league club sign four other new players and appoint a new management team.

Nile Ranger, whose former clubs include Premier League side Newcastle, joined the Northern Premier League Division One South East club on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old, who also played for Blackpool, Swindon and Southend, joins with a troubled past having been sentenced to 11 weeks in a Young Offenders Institute over a robbery when he was just 15-years-old.

In 2011 he was questioned by Newcastle for posing with a replica gun in a photograph and later that year he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a man in the city centre, leaving the victim unconscious on the street.

In October 2011 he was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Newcastle’s Cathedral Square and in March 2012 he was fined by the FA for making homophobic comments on Twitter.

He was also arrested on suspicion of rape in a Newcastle hotel room in January 2013. He was charged with rape in July 2013 before being cleared of the charge in March 2014.

The long list of incidents also includes being arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a taxi in Liverpool, which he later pleaded guilty to and was fined £1,000. He claimed that he was angry at being called a rapist by the driver.

Most recently, he was charged in December 2016 with conspiracy to defraud and to commit money laundering. In May 2017 he was sentenced to eight months in prison, but he was released after 10 weeks of his sentence due to “his consistently excellent custodial behaviour”.

Former DR Congo international Gabriel Zakuani was appointed as the new first team manager at Spalding earlier this week, with Neal Spafford taking the role of assistant manager.

On the signing of Ranger, Zakuani said: “I’ve known Nile for many years and we grew up in the same area. He has all the talent in the world and knows he has a point to prove! In the conversations we have had, he wants an opportunity to get himself back on the map.

“I believe he can easily play for any team in League One and most Championship clubs.

“He has promised me he will get his head down and prove to everyone that the penny has dropped. This opportunity will allow people to see he still has the hunger to succeed”

Meanwhile, former Newcastle and Portsmouth striker Lomana Tresor Lua Lua joined the Tulips as an attacking coach,,with Ronayne Marsh-Brown taking the role of first team coach. Shane Spafford remains at the club as physio.

A newly qualified driver accused of causing a triple fatal crash admitted to a jury on Wednesday that she should not have driven with a passenger sitting in the footwell behind the front seat.

Kasey Boulton, giving evidence on the second day of her trial at Lincoln Crown Court, told the jury that the fatal collision occurred as she was driving from her home in the village of Welton towards Lincoln.

The three victims of the fatal crash: Ricky (left) Joby (centre) and Aiden (right).

Her Vauxhall Astra was designed to hold four passengers but she had five inside, with Ricky Sharp sitting in the footwell behind the front passenger seat.

Boulton said: “Obviously it was wrong. I shouldn’t do it. I didn’t think about the consequences. I was conscious that he was there and he shouldn’t be.

“I didn’t say to him to get out. I wish I had. I don’t know why I didn’t.

“At the time I didn’t think Ricky was in danger.”

She told the jury that she was confident she was driving at about 50mph out of the village of Welton towards the A15 when the collision occurred.

“I was familiar with the road. I’d driven on it before. It was one of only two roads out of the village.”

She told the jury she has no memory of driving along a straight stretch of road immediately before her car lost control and hit a tree.

“I don’t remember the impact or anything else before the accident.

“I can’t remember the car going off centre but I had a feeling of not travelling straight.”

She was asked by her barrister Michael Cranmer-Brown “Did you think at the time that your driving had caused the collision?” She replied “No”.

Boulton, who only passed her driving test a few weeks before the collision, added: “I consider myself to be a safe driver. Overall I felt confident to drive but I wasn’t experienced.”

Boulton, 19, is alleged to have hit a tree after losing control of her car as she drove along Heath Lane in Welton, near Lincoln.

The jury has heard that three passengers Ricky Sharp,17, Aiden Sawyer, 17, and Joby John Scrimshaw, 14, were killed in the collision which involved no other vehicle.

Miss Boulton and her two other passengers were also seriously injured.

The prosecution allege Boulton’s car was only designed to hold four passengers but at the time of crash had five with Ricky Sharp sitting in the footwell behind the front passenger.

Ian Way, prosecuting, told a jury that the overloading of the car caused the vehicle to be unbalanced which contributed to Boulton losing control.

Boulton, 19, of Heath Close, Welton, denies three charges of causing death by dangerous driving as a result of the incident on March 25, 2019.

The trial continues.