Deferred Crowland 108-home development back up for approval

One of the Lincolnshire’s neighbours will be going into the toughest tier of coronavirus lockdown from Saturday.

South Yorkshire will see new restrictions apply to all four local authority areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield starting October 24.

Nottinghamshire is reportedly in discussions about tier 3 restrictions too, along with West Yorkshire, the North East and Teesside.

Local authority leaders said “extensive discussions” had taken place.

According to reports, South Yorkshire will get £41 million government relief, including £30 million to support businesses and £11 million for public health measures like test and trace.

It follows Greater Manchester into the highest tier a change forced through by the government on Tuesday after talks between leaders broke down.

Manchester was told it would receive £22 million, though it was originally offered £60 million during negotiations. The region’s leaders however wanted £65 million, down from the £75 million originally suggested.

The area, along with Lincolnshire’s other neighbours in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, was already in tier two.

Authorities bordering the south of the county including Cambridgeshire and Norfolk are currently still on the lowest tier.

Lincolnshire, along with the rest of the country, has seen a spike in cases over recent months.

Slides shown by Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam on Tuesday night indicated many areas of the country were now at lower weekly case rate changes.

A huge chunk to the east of Lincolnshire had changed by 21-40 cases since October 12.

North Lincolnshire decreased and had a weekly case rate between 150-199.9 per 100,000 population.

North East Lincolnshire remained in the higher bracket for both weekly rise and a weekly case rate of 200+ per 100,000 population

Cases for Lincolnshire through to October 20. | Image: Public Health England and NHSX

On Tuesday, 240 new cases were confirmed across Greater Lincolnshire against a national record of 21,331.

So far there have been 3,349 cases for the month of October.

Lincolnshire is tier 1 – medium – lockdown.

A JCB stolen overnight from Horbling was used in a ram raid on a Co-op store in Billingborough, near Sleaford, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Lincolnshire Police said an ATM machine was removed from the store on High Street at around 4am on Wednesday, October 21.

The robbers placed the machine into a car, but it fell from the vehicle as they fled the scene, so it was left behind.

The store is expected to reopen on Thursday, October 22 after some repair work.

A stolen JCB was used in the ram raid. | Photo: Martin H

A spokesperson for Co-op said: “There was an incident in the early hours of this morning at our High Street, Billingborough, store where there was an unsuccessful attack on the community’s ATM.

“We appeal for anyone who may have seen or heard anything to come forward to Police, who are investigating.

“The store remains closed while we await repairs and the outcome of structural assessments and we expect to re-open tomorrow (Thursday, October 22) to serve the community.”

Police are appealing for witnesses and people with dashcam footage, or who noticed anyone acting suspiciously prior to the theft, to contact them on 101 or via email at [email protected] quoting incident number 39 of October 21.

Alternatively, it can also be reported through the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Bourne Grammar School has confirmed that it was a bomb threat phone call that caused staff and pupils to be evacuated on Tuesday morning.

A suspicious phone call was received on the morning of October 20 during which an electronic voice stated that a bomb had been planted at the school.

Emergency services, including police and a dog unit, attended the school on South Road and people were evacuated at around 10.45am and all were safe, while the public were advised to avoid the area.

The site was searching again by police in the evening and the school was told by the force that the credibility of the threat is “exceptionally low”.

A dog unit also attended the scene at Bourne Grammar School. | Photo: Terry Harris

Police attended after a suspicious call claimed a bomb had been planted at Bourne Grammar School. | Photo: Terry Harris

Headteacher Jonathan Maddox wrote a letter to parents as soon as he was allowed back into the building and the school was closed for the remainder of the day. It reopened as normal on Wednesday, October 21.

In a further letter he confirmed more details about the “day’s dramatic events”.

He said: “On Tuesday morning a telephone call was received at the school’s reception in which an electronic voice – not the voice of a real person – stated that a bomb had been planted at our school.

“The entire school was immediately evacuated and the police called. Very soon we had a number of police and other emergency services on site.

“I regret the fact that it was necessary to require all students to remain outside but, of course, I was bound to follow the advice that I received continuously throughout the day.

“This evening I expect that many will be hungry, perhaps cold and some could be anxious. I have been assured that the credibility of the threat – the source of which has apparently been traced by the police – is exceptionally low.

“Nevertheless police dogs will search the site thoroughly this evening.”

A Tactical Support Team attended the scene at Bourne Grammar School. | Photo: Terry Harris

Mr Maddox praised the students and staff, adding: “I very much wish to commend all students for their outstanding behaviour throughout their extraordinary experience.

“They conducted themselves sensibly, following the instructions given and were a credit to themselves.”

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said on Wednesday: “Investigations are still ongoing after the school received a suspicious call. No arrests have been made.”

A ferry that caught fire on a trip from Hull to the Netherlands is still stranded with 260 people on board in the River Humber, over 18 hours after it first lost power.

Associated British Press were called to the River Humber after a fire broke out on the Pride of Hull ferry shortly after setting sail towards Rotterdam at 8.30pm on October 20.

The engine lost power with 260 people on board after flames engulfed the engine room, but all on board have been reported as safe, despite staying on the boat overnight.

Coastguards sent a lifeboat out to the River Humber after a fire in the ship’s engine room. | Photo: Duncan Young / GNP

The ship is still stranded near Immingham as of Wednesday morning, with coastguards deploying lifeboats to the area.

A spokesperson from ABP said: “We responded last night to an incident of a fire in the engine room on the P & O vessel the Pride of Hull.

“We continue to liaise with and support the ship and will be assisting in her safe return to the Port of Hull as soon as possible.”