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A coronavirus outbreak has been declared at Lincat Limited in Lincoln and it is understood that around 40 employees are infected or self-isolating.

Several people close to the situation contacted The Lincolnite claiming not enough measures were put in place and that staff have been advised to “continue as normal”.

However, when we contacted the company for a statement of response we were told that nobody was available to comment.

The council’s health bosses say that the business has been taking all necessary precautions to avoid further transmission.

Natalie Liddle, Acting Head of Service – Health Protection at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We can confirm that our health protection team has been supporting this workplace with their outbreak.

“The setting has been very proactive in managing this outbreak and are currently taking all necessary precautions to avoid further transmission”.

Industrial catering and foodservice equipment company Lincat Limited was formed on Station Road in Lincoln in 1971. It moved to a new factory on Whisby Road in 1997, which was expanded to 100,000 square feet in 2001, and the company is still based there today.

A scandal-hit council has confirmed the candidates who will stand in an election to replace the seat left by its jailed former leader.

West Lindsey District Council will hold its vote to decide who will take the Nettleham seat, previously held by disgraced former Conservative Giles McNeill, on Thursday, December 16.

Mr McNeill was last week jailed for 14 months after admitting eight theft, fraud and forgery charges totalling £31,201.04 from his own party over a six year period.

Mr McNeill resigned as leader of the council in September 2020, prior to the allegations coming to light, and was later removed from his chosen party, but sat as an independent in the ward until a month prior to his sentencing.

According to documents on WLDC’s website the candidates for his seat are:

• Ben Loryman, Green Party
• Jess McGuire, Labour Party
• Jaime Oliver, Liberal Democrat
• Maureen Palmer, Conservative

Announcing his candidacy on Twitter, Ben Loryman said he wanted WLDC to declare a climate emergency, introduce a policy for planting (and caring for) more trees, and provide the best possible support for people to save hundreds on their energy bills by insulating their homes.

Jess’ candidate leaflet calls for new homes in the village to be “affordable for all” and calls for better social care support for elderly residents. She wants increased investment in community events and is campaigning for streetlights to be switched back on.

Jaime’s main focuses are on offering better bus services, controlling speeding traffic, ensuring vulnerable people are not isolated, improving access to healthcare and encouraging respectful parking. Her leaflet focuses on opposing changes to the planning process and action on climate and the environment.

The Conservatives, who last week said they were “looking forward positively and working to overcome” the damage Mr McNeill caused, said Maureen had a passion for children’s education, their welfare and development along with the environment, maintaining and improving the area. They said she wanted to protect communities from unsuitable development.

Residents have until midnight tonight (Tuesday, November 30) to register to vote online.

After the first two purple-lidded bin collections in North Kesteven, 99.5% of dry paper and cardboard has been collected this month too.

Collections for the new dry paper and cardboard bins, on the week of November 22, saw 99.5% of purple bins presented correctly and emptied by waste workers. This equates to 340 tonnes of perfect quality paper and cardboard being recycled.

It is the third collection since the bins were rolled out across the North Kesteven district in September, and these latest figures continue the good start for the purple bins in the area.

In the first collection on the week of September 27, 98.5% of bins were correctly filled and emptied, and in the second collection a month later, that figure went above 99%.

North Kesteven District Council has said that there is not only a marked improvement in recycling quality of paper and cardboard, but also in green-lidded recycling items as a result of the fourth bin.

North Kesteven District Council Leader, Councillor Richard Wright. | Photo: Chris Vaughan Photography for NKDC

Council Leader Councillor Richard Wright said: “We are seeing fantastic figures like these only because residents in North Kesteven are absolutely doing their
best to help the environment by putting the right thing in the right bin. I can’t thank everyone enough for all their efforts.

“It takes far less energy and water to recycle paper and cardboard than to cut down trees and make it brand new from wood, so only putting the right things in your purple or purple-lidded bin really does help.”

However, the council has urged people to continue being mindful of what can and cannot go in the green bins, claiming that soft plastics such as carrier bags, food wrappers and crisp packets cannot be recycled on your kerbside at home.

Green bins were left with ‘tags of shame’. | Photos: Darren Cook and James Stout

It comes a month after the infamous ‘tags of shame‘ started being placed on green bins in North Kesteven, pointing out which items in the bin have “contaminated” the other recyclable goods, meaning waste workers cannot accept and empty it.

Cllr Wright added: “We’ve also seen an amazing change in the quality of green-lidded recycling thanks to our residents, who are ensuring more can be recycled than before by putting only the right things in these bins. We each really can make a difference by doing this.

“The biggest challenge when talking about green-lidded bins understandably continues to be soft plastics – that’s carrier bags, food wrappers, crisp packets, bin bags, bread bags and so on.

“These can’t be recycled from your kerbside at home but should instead go to soft plastic collection points in shops and supermarkets or if not, in the black bin only to be made into electricity. Cardboard takeaway packaging also cannot be recycled and must go in the black bin only.”