Smoke filled the air as crews attended a fire in Bourne on Wednesday night.
Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue sent six appliances to a fire at a commercial yard at BW Riddle on South Fen Road after being called out at around 8.30pm on. March 9. They hope the fire will be fully extinguished by the afternoon of Thursday, March 10.
The incident remains ongoing on Thursday and involves around 150 tonnes of recyclable materials. Nobody was injured, but the cause of the fire is not yet known.
The crews worked hard through the night to prevent the fire spreading to other areas of the site. | Photo: Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue
Eyewitness Buffy Nichols was passing by the scene at around 9.20pm and told The Lincolnite: “My partner and I had been walking our dogs and noticed a large plume of smoke and then suddenly saw flames rising through it.
“There was one fire engine on scene already and we saw another three arrive shortly after.”
Six crews attended a fire on South Fen Road in Bourne. | Photo: Buffy Nichols
Smoke could be seen from miles away. | Photo: Karl Ingram
The public were advised by Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue on Wednesday evening to avoid the area. Those living nearby were advised to keep their windows and doors closed.
*Update* for South Fen Road, Bourne: Fire damage to approximately 150 tonnes of scrap metals extinguished using 2 on-site cranes, 1 aerial ladder platform, 10 breathing apparatus, 2 hose reel jets, 3 main jets, 1 high volume pump and hose layer.
A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue said: “Six fire appliances attended along with our High Volume Pump and the Aerial Ladder Platform that was used as a water tower to help firefighting tactics.
“The incident is ongoing and involves around 150 tonnes of recyclable materials.
“The crews have worked hard through the night, supported by on-site staff, and have prevented the fire spreading to other areas of the site.
“Three relief crews are now in attendance, and the HVP and ALP remain on site. We are hopeful that the fire will be extinguished this afternoon. The cause is currently unknown until fire investigations are complete.”
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Lincoln Central car park has enjoyed its busiest year ever as the town centre recovers from the pandemic.
More people used the 1,001-space multi-storey car park in the 12 months leading up to March 2022 than ever before.
The numbers even surpassed pre-COVID levels, showing people are keen to be out and about shopping and dining.
There were 505,463 parking sessions at Lincoln Central in that year, generating £1.6million, according to figures released through a Freedom of Information request.
That is nearly three times the revenue of the previous year, when repeated lockdowns often kept people at home.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, there were 271,081 visits, which generated £648,949.
Lincoln’s new multi-storey opened in 2017. | Photo: Steve Smailes
Since it opened in November 2017 as part of the Lincoln Transport Hub scheme, it has generated a total of around £5.4million in revenue.
However, enforcement officers have still had to issue fines to people parking in the multi-storey’s disabled spaces without a blue badge.
A total of 156 PCNs (penalty charge notices) were issued in the year up to March 2022, with a value of £5,460.
The £30million Transport Hub project also created a state-of-the-art bus station, improvements to the city’s railway station forecourt, a new access for vehicles into the railway station car park and pedestrian plaza linking Sincil Street and High Street to the railway station.
More than eight million of the lowest income households in the UK will receive a one-off £650 payment to tackle the cost of living crisis, the government has announced.
A previously announced £200 off energy bills to be given to all households in October has also been doubled to £400 and will no longer have to be repaid.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak was giving a speech in the House of Commons today when he also announced a further eight million pensioner households would receive an extra £300 in winter fuel payments, while six million disabled people will receive a further £150.
In his statement, he said that from next year a review of benefits would see them upgraded by this September’s CPI (Consumer Price Inflation). The Household Support Fund will also be extended by half a billion pounds.
He also announced a windfall tax on oil and gas firms – which had previously been resisted by the government – would raise about £7bn.
However, the government called it a “targeted energy profits levy”. It will be charged on profits of oil and gas companies at a rate of 25%.
The measures announced today would cost in total £15billion, said Mr Sunak, bringing the total support to £37 billion.
Additional help was also announced including increases in the winter fuel allowance, a further cut in council tax and a VAT cut.
Making the announcement, Mr Sunak said the government would “never stop trying to help people”.
“This government will not sit idly by while there is a risk in this country that some could be set so far back they will never recover,” he said.
“I want to reassure everyone – we will get through this.
“We will make sure the most vulnerable and least well off get the support they need.”
However, he said fiscal support needed to be “timely, temporary and targeted” and that the government would “not allow short term inflationary pressures to lead people to expect high inflation will continue over the long term”.
He said the oil and gas sector was “making extraordinary profits” and that he was “sympathetic to the argument to tax those profits fairly”.
“But as ever, there is a sensible middle ground. We should not be ideological about this we should be pragmatic,” he said.
“It is possible to both tax extraordinary profits fairly and incentivise investment.”
Mr Sunak said the measures would help a third of all UK households with a cost of living support worth £9 billion.
A windfall tax is a one-off levy on a company which benefits from something it is not responsible for. In this instance, oil and gas firms are getting more money than last year with companies such as BP and Shell reporting big profit increases due to the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The UK’s energy regulator Ofgem said earlier this week that the typical household energy bill was set to rise by £800 in October.
It would mean the typical household bill would be £2,800 a year and Ofgem warned 12 million households could be placed into fuel poverty.
A £150 rebate on tax bills has already started to go out to residents in council tax bands A-D.
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