Lincolnshire Talks: Can people who use dating apps or websites always be trusted?

The owners of a tea room in Lincoln were left horrified by a break-in and nearly decided to close, but the support and kindness from their customers is helping them to carry on.

Lady Rose’s Edwardian Tea Room on Free School Lane was broken into at around 8.30pm on Tuesday, October 27.

The door pane was smashed in with glass everywhere, and vintage china cups and glassware damaged. The till containing £90 was taken and the overall cost of the damage done was around £500.

Alan Rhodes, 37, from Allness Close in Lincoln has been charged with an offence of burglary. He has been bailed to appear at Lincoln Magistrates Court on January 21, 2021.

Husband and wife Chris and Nicki Fairey, opened the tea room at the Assembly Rooms five years ago before moving to their current premises on Free School Lane 12 months later.

They were forced to cancel their bookings for Wednesday before reopening on Thursday.

Chris told The Lincolnite: “I got a text from a customer who saw it on their way to work the following morning (Wednesday).

“We were absolutely horrified. We live 12 miles out of Lincoln so were preparing to come to work with a sense of panic as to what state it was in, how much they’d damaged and what was taken.

“What really upset us most of all is we were fully booked for the first time and people were travelling from a fair distance for celebrations and we had to cancel the bookings due to awaiting repairs and with cleaning up to do, there was glass everywhere.”

Coronavirus has had a big impact on the business and the threat of closure remains. Measures are in place, including amended opening times and a bookings only system.

The couple also saw their application for funding from the Arts Council declined due to being a partnership and not a limited company, despite putting on entertainment such as musical events and poetry readings.

The kindness of customers and supporters has helped them through the pandemic. Their friends Jade and Dan Hadfield, set up a GoFundMe page after the incident and have so far raised over £800.

A 16-year-old girl who works doing the dishes for the tea room on Saturdays was keen to help clear up the damage and came in especially on Wednesday to support the owners.

Chris added: “Yesterday (Wednesday) we felt like throwing the towel in, but the kindness, love, support and encouragement we have received helps us to keep going.

“COVID-19 is ruining us. We’ve just about managed to break even since March, meeting the costs but we have not been able to reinvest or pay ourselves in that time.

“The support will help us going a bit longer and has persuaded us to carry on, but the threat of closure is still there. We love our customers to bits, they are not just customers, but friends and family.

“We don’t want to let them down, but my health is deteriorating and we can’t sustain things under these conditions forever, so this is continually under review.”

Meanwhile, the Christmas Carol event that runs every Sunday afternoon from the end of November until Christmas will still go ahead as planned.

North and North East Lincolnshire will go into tier 2 (high) lockdown from midnight on Saturday, October 31.

This comes as Grimsby has the highest infection rates in Greater Lincolnshire. The measures will be reviewed in 14 days.

Lincolnshire will remain on tier 1 restrictions for now.

This means that for the tier 2 areas, the following measures will be in place:

• people must not meet with anybody outside their household or support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place
• people must not meet in a group of more than 6 outside, including in a garden or other space
• people should aim to reduce the number of journeys they make where possible.
• if people need to travel, they should walk or cycle where possible, or plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport

In North East Lincolnshire, weekly case rates stand at 320 people per 100,000. This increases to 402 per 100,000 in those aged 17-21 and is 225 per 100,000 in the over 60s.

In North Lincolnshire, weekly case rates stand at 196 people per 100,000. This increases to 272 per 100,000 in those aged 17-21 and is 131 per 100,000 in the over 60s.

The restrictions for tier 2 – high – lockdown.

Lincolnshire is tier 1 – medium – lockdown.

Nottinghamshire, including Newark, is moving into tier 3 restrictions from Saturday too, alongside South Yorkshire.

A developers’ latest attempt to impress councillors with an 89-home proposal in Horncastle could succeed next Thursday.

Officers at East Lindsey District Council are recommending approval of Gleeson Homes’ plans for land off Winceby Gardens to the authority’s planning committee.

A previous attempt by the developer for 97 homes on the site was refused in December 2019 after councillors said residents “deserved better” in terms of quality and design.

Residents feared the increased use of nearby roads as a “rat run”. An appeal against the decision was dismissed in July.

East Lindsey District Council’s planning committe refused a previous application in December 2019.

Gleeson Homes hopes the new plans will address a number of the concerns, with open spaces to the north providing a “bugger zone” with Banovallum Gardens and the new road layout being “pedestrian friendly”.

The new homes will include 24 two-bedroom, 58 three-bedroom and seven four-bedroom houses.

In a report before councillors, officers said the plans are considered acceptable and “would overcome” the concerns raised by the appeal inspector.

“With the reduction in housing numbers, the increased amount of open space and the changed layout, it is considered that the proposed housing estate would respond in a positive way to those estates around it and if approved would provide a sense of place that would harmonise with its surroundings,” they said.

Residents fear an increase in the road being used as a “rat run”.

Objections have been received from 15 nearby addresses. Those against the plans say it “doesn’t overcome the reasons for appeal dismissal”.

They say that despite reduction in the number of houses, the density of areas of the development has increased, that it doesn’t reflect the character of the area and doesn’t include  a “good sized play area” in the middle of the site.

Horncastle Town Council has also called for the plans to be refused again, though say they realise the town must grow.

They are backed by the Winceby Gardens Action group which says the development is “out of scale”.