A1 closed after two lorries collide

COVID rates are now spiking in the young population in Lincolnshire, as health bosses plea with people to take advantage of a big vaccine push this month.

Lincolnshire’s director of public health Professor Derek Ward said infection rates among the 20-24-year-olds had risen from around 25-26 per 100,000 population at the beginning of June to a current figure of 260.

It comes as cases continue to double week-on-week with Thursday’s government data confirming 177 cases across Greater Lincolnshire compared to 78 (127% rise) the previous Thursday.

Professor Ward said the increase was expected after lockdown had eased, but that there was no spike in hospitalisations or deaths.

He confirmed several schools had seen cases and outbreaks recently.

He said: “What we’re seeing with the people catching the disease at the moment, it’s really clear they are younger adults or secondary age school children groups — where we haven’t yet got the vaccine completely rolled out.”

“What I really advise, anybody 18 or over who hasn’t had their vaccine, you are now eligible so please, please, please get along and get a dose.”

The NHS in Lincolnshire is taking part in a national push this weekend, including a number of walk-in opportunities which will offer people the chance to get their coronavirus vaccinations this weekend, without the need to book an appointment.

They include:

• Saturday, June 26 – The Arboretum, Lincoln (Monks Road entrance) – a mobile unit will offer Pfizer walk-in vaccinations, both first and second doses, on a ‘first come, first served’ basis between 12pm-3pm for anyone aged 18 or over who is eligible
• Sunday, June 27 – Newland Pharmacy, Lincoln will be offering Pfizer walk-in vaccinations on the same basis between 10am-2pm to anyone 18 or over who is eligible. This includes both first and second doses
• Friday, June 25-Sunday, June 27 – The Storehouse in Skegness will be providing walk-in Pfizer vaccinations between 8.30am-5pm for both first and second doses on a ‘first come, first served’ basis
• The county’s mass vaccination centres – Lincolnshire Showground and Princess Royal Sports Arena (PRSA) in Boston – will offer vaccinations on a walk-in basis between 8am-7pm on Friday, June 25 and Monday, June 28.

Professor Ward said the government was keeping a close eye on vaccination and immunisations for those under 18s in other countries before deciding whether to roll it out to those age groups.

Meanwhile, the Delta variant has now become the dominant strain in Lincolnshire, with 97% of those sequenced following a positive test up to June 22 being the variant.

“That’s been the case for the past few days, so clearly Delta is now our dominant strain,” he said.

Again, Professor Ward said bosses were keeping a close eye on a worrying increase in another variant known as the Delta-plus, but said at the moment it was not competing with the original variant in the county.

City of Lincoln Council leaders have approved controversial plans to close some public toilets in a bid to save £82,000 a year — despite concerns from local residents and businesses.

Members of the City of Lincoln’s executive committee said during a meeting on Thursday night that it was “not a decision we want to make,” but blamed the authority’s “dire” finances instead.

Members earlier in the night were told that, among other issues, and despite COVID support from government, the council would still face a £1.32 million funding gap in dealing with the pandemic effects.

Council leader Ric Metcalfe said: “I hope people don’t think that somehow the council doesn’t realise how important the toilets are, we are keeping most of our toilets open.”

He said the council had consulted “pretty extensively” on the plans, yet most resident feedback said that without facilities, people would be caught short, leading to unpleasant incidents.

Council officers claim the authority had “reviewed toilets on a number of occasions previously, and it has defended them”.

It’s only now, under severe financial pressure, that this report has to go forward,” said Steve Bird, Assistant Director for Communities and Street Scene.

Members were also reminded that local councils have no legal requirement to provide public toilets.

Councillors also lamented the loss of a number of toilet attendants as part of the plans and thanked them for their service over the years.

The authority will close the Victorian urinals at The Lawn, on Union Road and at Newport Arch, while facilities at Lucy Tower will open for special events only.

South Park will also remain closed except for events.

Westgate car park’s toilets will also be “mothballed” with access only to disabled people or via radar key, and during special events such as the Christmas Market, or Steampunk Festival.

The council said there will be suitable alternatives, including the bus station facilities, and those on Tentercroft Street, Castle Square, Hartsholme Country Park and Boultham.

Sincil Street’s ladies toilet will be replaced with a new “modern, unisex” facility within the plans to refurbish the Cornhill Market.

Plans also include adopting contactless payments at public toilets and further consultation on the radar key access system, which could be replaced with a locally-based scheme.

However, the plans have come under criticism from residents and local businesses who believe the move will put visitors off coming to the city, particularly in uphill Lincoln, and compound local issues.

In response to a city-wide consultation carried out by the city council, nearly 500 people said there were few suitable alternatives to those earmarked for closure.

A petition to save Westgate toilets, led by Bailgate business owner Fiona Purkiss, has been signed by more than 900 people since it launched nearly a week ago and was handed to the council ahead of the meeting.

Fiona has since held a one-woman protest outside the toilets in a bid to raise awareness.

She said previously: “We local residents need loos open every day. It’s a big visitor area here, they all need to go to the loo.

“It’s a moral obligation, the council is the only body that can provide public services such as loos and they need to reopen them immediately.”

Businesses elsewhere in the city have also launched their own petitions to stop people urinating and defecating in side alleyways, along with other antisocial behaviour — believed to be due to a lack of facilities — by gating up entrances.

Meanwhile Conservative opposition members have said they are also concerned by the plans, adding they were “not visitor friendly, tourist friendly or friendly for the people of Lincoln.”

Following the meeting on Thursday, Councillor Bob Bushell, Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place, said: “It’s not a decision that we’ve made lightly, it’s not something that we want to do.

“It’s a position that we’ve been forced into by the financial position of the council.

“I understand it’s a genuine concern. And we’re concerned too, but we’re making the best of difficult circumstances.”

He promised the council would be improving signage for visitors to the city to direct people to the nearest alternatives.

In regards to people using local alleys for doing their business, he said: “People have to take personal responsibility.

“If I’m in town and I want to go to the loo, I find out where the loo is and I go to that; I don’t just go down an alleyway.

“There are toilets at the bus station, at the Central Market, at Tentercroft Street — they’re not that far away.

“A lot of these people seem to me are people who have come out of public houses, etc, why didn’t they use the facility in there rather than just doing it in the street?”

A Lincoln family will open the next business under its Greek2Me brand next week with a traditional Mediterranean bakery and The Lincolnite went to check it out.

Greek2Me Bakery will open in the unit formerly occupied by now-liquidated sandwich bar Fodders Fine Foods on Newland on Tuesday, June 29. It will be run by Joanne Macphee-Papadopoulou and her family.

The menu includes feta cheese batons, sausage and mustard pastry, ham and cheese pie, feta and spinach pie, as well as a mix of English style and Mediterranean sandwiches. Dessert options such as Bougatsa, Baklava, Kadaiifi and Galaktoboureko are available for anyone with a sweet tooth.

There will also be hot drinks including Elliniko, which is a Greek coffee, as well as iced coffees.

There is a breakfast bar inside and seating outside for people to use while they enjoy their traditional Greek food.

Joanne Macphee-Papadopoulou will run the bakery, which will create around seven new jobs, and she is looking forward to opening and serving the first customers next week.

It will be open between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday, and 9am-6pm on Saturdays.

The bakery will be the fourth business in the Greek2Me brand. Joanne and her partner Christos Papadopoulos purchased The Plough in Nettleham in 2015, from which they continue to serve food including Greek cuisine. It is run by Christos and their son George, who is the General Manager.

Joanne and Christos’ son Spyros manages the Greek2Me takeaway next door to the pub, as well as the latest one which opened in Birchwood in April this year.