Tuesday, 1pm - MEAT from a pregnant sheep which was slaughtered in a field near Spalding is unfit for human consumption, police have warned.

Officers have today said the pedigree Hebridean sheep killed and stolen from the field had been given routine oral worming treatment.

As a result, the meat is not safe for humans to eat.

Sgt Stuart Brotherton, from Spalding Police Station, said: “If anyone is offered meat on the black market, please say no and contact the police.”

Tuesday, 11am - POLICE are hunting the “despicable” culprits behind an attack in which a pregnant sheep was butchered in a field just outside Spalding.

The distraught owners of the black Hebridean pedigree sheep discovered all four of its feet had been removed and some of its insides cut out before it was taken from the field.

It is believed the flock, which is kept next to the A16 adjacent to Kerry Foods, was targeted on Saturday night or the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police think all of the sheep may have been herded together before the one sheep was caught.

They believe a vehicle was waiting in the field entrance to take it away.

Sgt Stuart Brotherton, of Spalding police, said the throat of the sheep also appears to have been cut at the scene.

He said: “The four feet have been cut off cleanly.

“This is clearly someone who knows what they are doing. It’s a terrible act.

“Whoever has done this may discard of the pieces that they do not want.

“I am keen to hear from refuse collectors or neighbours who may be wondering what is in a particular bag.”

The sheep was due to give birth in about six weeks.

Sgt Brotherton described the crime as “despicable” and said the owners, who have asked not to be identified, are “very distraught”.

There is no description of the vehicle involved.

Anyone with information should call Sgt Brotherton at Spalding Police Station on 101.

SPALDING United have hastily arranged a friendly with Swineshead Institute tomorrow night (Wednesday, 7.45pm).

The Tulips, who haven’t played for over two weeks, are offering a reduced rate of entry for fans.

With the big freeze now relenting, Pat Rayment’s side should be be back in UCL Premier Division action this Saturday, when they welcome Newport Pagnell (3pm).

Follow @LFPSport on Twitter for updates on the fixtures.

A VINTAGE police car was severely damaged by fire after an electrical fault sparked a fire in a garage,

Fire crews from Bourne and Market Deeping were called to the blaze in Spalding Road, Bourne, just after 3am on Friday.

IT’S not often in today’s society that you get a chance to applaud youth, well, in order to do so you should look no further than Crowland and the CADS annual pantomime writes JANE HARRISS AND JOANNE STRICKLAND.

Robinson Crusoe was performed last weekend at the University Academy Holbeach Crowland Campus, and CADS once again pulled off a truly amazing panto, and what was so remarkable, was the wonderful community atmosphere they generated, allowing youngsters to flourish and expand their talents. Established members were proud to hand over to the younger members, an ethos which clearly paid off. Proof of this was this year’s producer, Matthew Smith, who began life with CADS as a youngster in the chorus and has now taken the reins to put others through their paces. Matthew was ably supported by production director John Munton.

The panto opened with an array of colour and sound which continued throughout, the costumes and scenery were bright and eye catching and the chorus of young children was talented, enthusiastic and professional.

Daniel Boon’s first outing as a saucy Dame (Mrs Crusoe) was one to be very proud of, throwing himself into his character with gusto. Andre Chambers gave super comedic support as Gilber, the loveable idiot sworn to look after Kathie, played by Shannon Wilkinson, who had made an admirable step up from the chorus. Aimee Waller, back this year as principal boy, was a heroic Robinson Crusoe.

The staging of the ship was great and a special mention must go to the young pirate captain, Long John Copper played by Matthew Rostron. A more assured performance from a young performer would be hard to beat, his interaction with the misguided money grabbing parents of Kathie, Lord Roger de Botherus (Vikki Allen) and Lady Mildred, his very bossy and demanding wife (Jayne Munton) was very funny. The good and evil characters were portrayed beautifully by Olivia Mattless as Fair Breeze (also her first principal role) and Lianne Johnson as Queen Neptune - very green and scary.

One of the scene stealing performances has to go to Alex Waller as Man Friday who was outstanding, with great comedy timing and a brilliant singing voice. Harry Parsons and Heather Baker gave a comedy turn as the Island Chief and his man mad daughter and King Neptune (Sue Day) gave the panto its usual enthusiastic cast.

The backstage crew provided wonderful support, after many hours of preparation, the lighting, make up, choreography, countless helpers and live music led by Liam Wilbor, added that touch of magic that brought the show alive - all the ingredients which provided a great night of family entertainment that Crowland should be proud of and long may it continue.

THE elegant sound of Tenors Un Limited is set to fill theatres across the UK, including the Lincoln Theatre Royal on Sunday.

In their current live shows the three singers strip back the scale of previous performances, and in certain segments play just alongside a piano – this less is more approach leads to concerts that are not only more personal but also more powerful, with the true majesty of their voices proving the unmistakeable focus.

For further information and tickets contact 01522 519999.

MUSICIANS of all levels are invited to go along to a laid back monthly jam session at the South Holland Centre Bar, Spalding on Monday.

Informally hosted by Johnathon Davis these sessions are free of charge and take place on the third Monday of the month, you just pay for your drinks.

The jam starts at 8pm and offers mutual help and support from like minded jazz musicians.

For more details contact 01775 764777.

AUDITIONS are taking place at The Shed, Monkshouse Lane, Spalding on Sunday from 2pm for BRM theatre groups performance of Pizza, Fries, Ghost and Lies which is due to take place at Nottingham Arts Theatre on June 20 and 21.

For further details about the auditions or the performance call 07734 081929 or email brmtheatre@aol.com.

KEY opponents to the closure of Spalding’s Chappell Centre will speak to county councillors at a meeting in Lincoln later this month.

Maurice Chappell and Michael Lee will address the Adult Scrutiny Committee on February 28 after winning massive backing for their campaign to save the Pinchbeck Road centre which caters for more than 50 vulnerable adults.

More than 5,800 people signed their petition, South Holland and The Deepings MP John Hayes declared the Chappell Centre will not close on his “watch” and Churches Together in Spalding and District aired “grave concerns” about the county’s proposal.

Mr Chappell said: “When we go to Lincoln, we will be highlighting the importance of The Chappell Centre and pointing out it is not just a lifeline to the users but to their families as well.

“Some parents have got severely handicapped sons and daughters and they need the correct facilities, including sensory rooms.”

Mr Chappell (83) has a daughter at The Chappell Centre and the building was named after his father who gave distinguished public service over many years as a councillor.

The Government is switching disabled people to personal budgets – so they buy their own care – but families of service users say the budgets will be useless if Lincolnshire shuts its adult social care day centres.

Council plans include closure of 29 similar centres around the county and withdrawing funding of respite care places at Cedar House, next door to the Chappell Centre, and Swallow Lodge, in North Hykham.

The council executive meets on March 6 to make a final decision on the closure plans.

SPALDING Grammar and High schools could be among the quarter of ‘outstanding’ English schools facing re-examination as Ofsted moves its goalposts on educational standards.

A new framework for Ofsted inspections came in last month which ended regular, full-scale inspections for ‘outstanding’ schools.

But the Ofsted boss, chief inspector for schools Sir Michael Wilshaw, threw eveything back into the melting pot last week when he said: “I don’t see how you achieve outstanding status unless the quality of teaching is outstanding.”

Spalding Grammar School gained ‘outstanding’ status in its Ofsted inspection in December, but the quality of teaching was marked ‘good’.

Spalding High School could also get caught up in fresh inspections although it too is currently rated ‘outstanding’.

In the High School’s last full Ofsted inspection in 2009, almost all teaching was rated ‘outstanding’ – but the sixth form was away doing exams and, bizarrely, teaching for those students was marked ‘good’ although no lessons were observed by inspectors.

An Ofsted subject survey at the school last February for English described achievement as ‘outstanding’ but the quality of teaching ‘good’.

Grammar school headteacher Nigel Ryan was not available for comment, but High School headmaster Tim Clark believes his school is still only likely to have “health checks” rather than full inspections.

Mr Clark remains baffled about the ‘good’ score for the sixth form when lessons were not observed.

He said: “In 20 odd categories we got ‘outstanding’ and in one we got a ‘good’ – why they didn’t just leave it blank we will never know. We find it a rather odd scenario.”

Other big changes on the cards are so-called “no notice” inspections and the scrapping of the ‘satisfactory’ label, a category describing many South Holland schools, and its replacement with ‘requires improvement’.

Mr Clark said schools now get two days’ notice before inspectors come calling and there is no way they can have all the paperwork to hand if they just walk in unannounced.

But Long Sutton’s Peele Community College headteacher Ian Charles said: “I have always been in favour of ‘no notice’. I think to turn up and see a school in action is the only way to do it. People can put on a show.”

His school has just been rated ‘satisfactory’ in an Ofsted inspection in January and says the new category ‘requires improvement’ will not adequately reflect the many improvements made over the last three years.

Spalding headteacher Heather Beeken, of St Paul’s Community Primary School, said her school is rated ‘satisfactory’ and the new ‘requires improvement’ label will be “a very poor morale boost for parents and staff”.

WORK could begin on the £500m expansion of Spalding power station next January.

But InterGen, which is behind the plans, has cautioned that the future of the plan is subject to market conditions as talks continue to find a buyer for the extra power the bigger station would produce.

The expansion, which was given the go-ahead in November 2010, will generate an extra 900 megawatts of energy – enough to power a million homes.

As an independent generator, Intergen has to sell its output on the wholesale market or make a deal with a large supplier to buy the energy it produces.

A spokesman for the company said: “Obviously we have to believe there will be a profit in going ahead with the expansion.

“We are still in talks to come up with a deal to sell the extra energy and the plan at the moment is still to commence work in January 2013.

“We still have the arrangement with National Grid and the planning permission in place, so we are still working to that date but discussions on the commercial side are still ongoing.”

As part of that determination to press ahead with the plans, Intergen has now given the British Sugar Sports and Social Club official notice to leave its premises adjacent to the power station in West Marsh Road.

The club has been given until next January to move out and club committee members met representatives of Intergen last week to discuss their departure.

Chairman Tony Harper told the Lincolnshire Free Press the club was “in the middle of negotiations” with Intergen, but refused to comment on what those negotiations centred on.

When completed, the new extension will effectively double the size of the existing natural gas-fired power station in West Marsh Road.

Government backing for the scheme will also mean a £7.14m payment to benefit the local community.

That will include £1.6m for sports and leisure, £100,000 for Pinchbeck Parish Council, £550,00 for air quality monitoring, £500,000 to promote employment, £1.5m to provide waste heat to the Johnson Community Hospital and £1.23m to over inflation.

SPALDING & DISTRICT TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE (Sponsored by Magellan Solutions Ltd): THREE teams booked their place in the semi-finals of the Marylands Cup on a hectic night of action.

Division One big hitters South Holland exacted some revenge on Bladerunners, who defeated them in the first round of the Guardian Cup two weeks ago.

With this a more individual event, they took an early lead in the first singles, hung on to capture the second and achieved a winning total with the third. Bladerunners scored a consolation point in the fourth, but lost the last to go down 4-1.

The victorious pair of Richard Hammond and Adam Sokol will meet Defenders, who had too much for Ha’st.

Although Alan Fear and Martyn Green took the tie 5-0, it followed the trend of most Marylands matches and was much closer on the table.

Ha’st’s Stewart Duffill and Hannah Gilbert forced three of the five games to a third end, two of which were won on the final point with there being no deuce in this event.

The third quarter-final between JAG and Hit n Hope was equally close, with three games going to the third.

JAG took the early lead, but H and H fought back to take the next two. JAG then levelled again, before Lorna Staff won the decider in the third.

Hit n Hope will now play the winners of the Lone Sharks versus Insidious tie, which had to be postponed.

Elsewhere, No Name had a busy night in Division Two – playing a match brought forward against Castle Sports.

Matt Childs set them on their way with another win against Joe Bombardini. His is the only person to beat Bombardini in the league this season and now he has managed that feat twice.

He then completed the double for the match and teamed up with Darwin Gray to take the doubles and their third win of the season.

Earlier in the evening, they had completed a match that actually started three weeks earlier.

Beginning level with Barry Whites Babes after the first two singles, Gray and Childs took the other singles and the doubles to score a 4–1 win and their second victory.

As a result, No Name move up three places – but with the teams below them having games in hand and only two points separating the bottom four, that will probably change.

Finally, Chunky and Chunkier moved their match with Babes forward when Paddy Palgrave won his second singles to give them an unassailable lead.

In addition to the action, the league were happy to see members taking advantage of the recently acquired Robotpong for some hard practice.

Today (Wednesday) sees a full League programme. Members are reminded that the following week sees the Roy Gibson Memorial Rose Bowl event.

TWO gymnastic teams from Sir John Gleed School girls’ campus became regional champions at the East Midlands Floor and Vault competition in Stamford.

Both the under-13 and under-19 squads took team titles, meaning they’ll now represent the East Midlands at the national finals, to be held at Fenton Manor, Stoke on Trent, in May.

The under-13 team consisted of Elle Wenham, Megan Robinson Green, Cora-Lee Johnson, Tyler-Mae Harker, Amy Loveridge and Laura Delve – with the latter winning an individual silver medal.

Ellie-Mae Stokes, Sammy-Jo Henshaw, Mandana Mir Javidi, Teghan-Kae Mills, Sophie Crowson and Emma Coddington made up the under-19 squad – who had a number of stunning individual performances.

None were better than Coddington, who scored an amazing 9.9 en route to gold in the vault, just 0.1 short of a perfect score. Crowson also walked off with a silver medal.

The most remarkable thing about the under-19s’ win is their age, though. Three of the team are only 13 years old, while one is 14 and two are 15.

Team coach Christine Ringrose said: “All of the team performed outstandingly well and were thrilled to have made it to the nationals.

“A big thank you goes to Miss Dooley for driving the mini bus and for helping on the day, and a huge thank you goes to parents for their continued support and for travelling to Stamford to cheer our teams on.”

TEMPERATURES plummeted to as low as -16C over the weekend... but that didn’t stop Pinchbeck United from training.

Ian Dunn’s side, who saw their Lincs Junior Cup semi-final clash at Market Rasen called off on Saturday, braved the snow to make the four-mile round-trip from their Knight Street base to the Castle Sports Complex on foot.

With the club unable to train last week, the run and five-a-side football session kept 13 members of the treble-chasing squad on their toes.

Player/boss Dunn said: “You might think we’re mad, but the lads seemed to really enjoy it. We jogged to the Castle, played some five-a-side, then jogged back.

“The club put a bit of food on for us afterwards and we all watched the football back there. With us not being able to train last week, it was important that we did something.

“The Lincs Cup takes priority over other fixtures on the list, so I presume that we’ll be travelling to Rasen this weekend with the weather getting better.”

Dunn was also tight-lipped on Pinchbeck’s plans to play in the United Counties League.

A long with Rushden and Diamonds and Harrowby United, the Knight Street outfit have officially applied to be a member of the UCL next season.

Ambitious chairman Bruce Patterson unveiled plans for the club to climb the non-league ladder at the start of the campaign. But, should they be in a position to be promoted from the Peterborough and District League at the end of this season, Dunn is unsure what will happen.

He added: “I’m just focusing on winning games, that’s my job.

Obviously there are rumours about what we’ll do next season – but I’ve not really got the answers.

“It all depends on what we’re allowed to do to our ground, but it’s not really got anything to do with me.”

YOUNGSTERS had a valuable lesson in how to stay safe on the internet.

Children involved with the school council at Weston Hills Primary School viewed information from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection to improve their understanding of what to do to protect themselves.

Pupils also put their brainpower to the test with a week of problem solving and challenges to mark maths week.

Each class was set logic or number-based challenges and worked in team collecting points for their correct answers. The winning team was announced at assembly.

CRIMINALS could soon find there’s nowhere to hide in South Holland’s town centres if plans go ahead to monitor CCTV cameras 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

At the moment cameras feed footage to a control room at Spalding Police Station which is manned by volunteers.

However, South Holland District Council is in the process of looking at ways to improve the service by having round-the-clock surveillance not dependent on volunteers.

Options include joining forces with neighbouring councils such as Boston Borough to provide a 24-hour monitoring centre or buying in the service from a private company.

In both cases it is possible the CCTV cameras in the district’s town centres including Spalding, Long Sutton and Holbeach could be upgraded to ones that rotate and are able to follow moving targets, which could mean fewer are needed to cover a wider area.

Coun Nick Worth, who is working on the project, said: “We have had a company from Derbyshire give us a quote for CCTV cameras that can be monitored 24/7 as opposed to now where they are monitored by volunteers.

“I went a couple of months ago and looked at one of their monitoring facilities in Thetford. Because it’s web-based they can monitor the cameras from anywhere in the country, or from a laptop computer, but they have told us that our current cameras are not good enough so now we are getting other quotes.

“This could involve with working with neighbouring authorities such as Boston, which has already said it is keen to work with others to help save costs.”

Coun Worth said he is now working on putting his findings in a report which will be presented to South Holland District Council’s cabinet within the next couple of months.

In the meantime Boston Borough Council is looking at changing its CCTV service to help slash £70,000 from its budget.

The council will discuss whether it can take on the monitoring of two other districts’ cameras for a fee, or pay to have its 72 cameras monitored elsewhere.

NETWORK Rail blamed a signalling fault for level crossing barriers remaining down for 11 or more minutes this morning (Wednesday) in Winsover Road, Spalding.

A spokesman said the system wrongly identified that a train was waiting and the gates were kept in the down position as a safety precaution while checks were made.

She apologised to motorists whose journeys were delayed.

One commuter told us she waited for more than ten minutes shortly before 9am and turned her car around to find another route to work.

PARAMEDICS have branded a Spalding teenager “disgusting” after he stole from an ambulance while they treated an elderly woman.

The two-man crew was forced to pin Levi Matthews to the ground – and wait for him to be sprayed with CS gas by police – when he turned violent after being caught inside the vehicle.

Matthews (18) was told he was “very lucky” not to be going to prison as he was sentenced at Spalding Magistrates’ Court.

He was given a 12-month community order with a supervision requirement and told he will be under curfew from 7pm-7am for four months.

Matthews pleaded guilty to the theft of a bottle of Entonox pain relief gas, criminal damage to an ambulance and resisting a police constable at a hearing in January.

On Thursday, the court heard how the ambulance crew had been called to help a woman who had suffered a shoulder injury in a fall on January 13.

Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said they were inside the woman’s house when they heard the ambulance door slam and saw someone moving around inside.

One of the crew went outside and reported seeing someone ride off on a bike, leaving someone else still inside the ambulance.

Miss Ritson told how Matthews, of Balmoral Avenue, came out of the side door of the ambulance and a bottle of Entonox fell out of his jacket and rolled down the road.

She said he became increasingly abusive after being taken to the ground to stop him fleeing the scene.

“The police arrived a few minutes later,” she said. “Upon seeing this the man became angrier and violent.”

Miss Ritson said CS spray was used to subdue Matthews, but one of the ambulance crew was also hit.

She read a statement from one of the crew members who said it was “disgusting”.

It continued: “He was putting other people’s lives at risk because the ambulance was out of action while the damage was repaired.”

A metal bar had been damaged on a door during the incident.

Rachel Stevens, defending, said the incident was a “bit of horseplay that had got out of control”.

“He has been left in no doubt he has to change his ways,” she said. “What’s particularly frightening is that he remembers very little about it, to have got so drunk to have jeopardised other people’s lives.

“It’s been a very sobering experience for him.”

Miss Stevens said Matthews had expressed concern for the elderly woman.

Sentencing, magistrate Madge Marshall-Brown said: “We are used to seeing you in the youth court but we did not want to see you in this court.

She added: “These are public servants doing their job. They do not need you harassing them.”

POLICE temporarily closed Foxes Low Road in Holbeach this morning while investigating the scene of an accident where a vehicle left the road.

A man and a teenager were hurt in the crash that happened in the early hours of today and went to hospital.

A police spokesman confirmed officers were following the car at the time but said it was not a ‘chase’.

TRADERS fear Spalding town centre is a “dinosaur about to become extinct” as more dire predictions abound about the future of Britain’s high streets.

One shopkeeper has said she is barely breaking even and could be forced to close unless shoppers change their habits and start to support the town centre, while another says rents have not fallen during the recession to support struggling shops.

However, Phil Scarlett, of Spalding and District Chamber of Trade, has disputed that, saying Spalding is doing much better than other towns of similar size as it has a high number of shops owned by private landlords who have been flexible on rents to help businesses through hard times.

But Mr Scarlett has warned that 2012 is still likely to be as challenging as 2011 for those fighting to survive.

Denise Wales, of Bargain Books in Sheep Market, is one of those fearing her business could be on its last legs.

She says some days Spalding is like a ghost town as empty shops mean people feel there is little reason to visit.

Currently about a dozen shops in the town centre stand empty, many having remained so for many months.

Mrs Wales said: “I don’t want to close. I love my shop and my customers but if it gets to the point where I am losing money then I will have no choice.

“People have got to understand that they need to support us, or they will lose us.”

Pete Williams, landlord of the Punchbowl pub in New Road, believes there needs to be more incentives for people to open shops in the town centre and for shoppers to come in – including providing free parking close to the shops.

He said: “Spalding town centre is a dinosaur which is about to become extinct. House prices have come down during the recession, but shop rents haven’t.

“Surely it would be better to have someone in there providing a service than it standing empty, which is certainly not helping the town.”

THREE generations of a Spalding family will appear in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in London.

Spalding Marching Ambassadors bandmaster Jim Bright (69), his daughter Catherine Bright (46) and grandson Tristan Bright (23) will be joined by fellow band members Annabel Newell and Carol Felts.

For the ‘famous five’ it will be the biggest gig of their lifetimes with 80,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium and an estimated worldwide TV audience of more than four billion.

The Ambassadors had two auditions in London film studios and from May they will begin a series of 30 rehearsals in the run-up to the July 27 opening ceremony.

Jim said the games organisers originally asked for 10,000 people to come forward, but he has no idea how many will actually be involved in the ceremonies because everything is shrouded in secrecy.

The Ambassadors assume they will play percussion instruments but even that is a secret for now.

Jim has been with the band for about 32 years and is delighted to have been chosen, but says his one disappointment is that some members are under 18 and too young to apply.

The semi-retired lorry driver said: “For three members of one family to be selected is quite an achievement and I am quite proud, not so much for myself as I am for my daughter and grandson.”

Tristan, a duty manager for Marks and Spencer at Springfields, has been playing instruments since he could walk, starting off with a plastic trumpet.

He failed to get a ticket to the games but has no regrets.

Tristan says: “You can’t get a better ‘seat’ than being in the middle of the stadium. I think I have got the best ticket.”

Catherine said: “It still hasn’t totally sunk in yet. It probably won’t until I walk out in that arena on the day.”

l Spalding Marching Ambassadors will drum the Olympic flame through Spalding on July 4.

They are now busy fundraising to help pay the cost of attending games rehearsals as well as appealing for new members.

Anyone interested in joining can contact Mr Bright on 01775 723087. Band rehearsals are held on Wednesday nights at the United Reformed Church Hall in Pincbeck Road, Spalding.