A former Spalding High School student can now work in the country’s highest courts after taking a huge step up the legal ladder.

Sarah Acres has gained the status of solicitor-advocate after successfully studying for the Higher Rates of Audience in the Criminal Courts qualification.

The mother-of-three, based at Hegarty Solicitors in Peterborough and Stamford, can now represent her clients in Crown Courts and take cases on appeal.

Sarah said: “I am delighted to have achieved this qualification and I look forward to working alongside the able barristers presently instructed by Hegarty’s to provide continuity of representation for my clients after their cases leave the magistrates’ court.”

After leaving Spalding High School, Sarah studied law at the University of Leicester and the College of Law, Chester, qualifying as a solicitor in 1997.

Since then, Sarah has gained experience in defending clients charged with offences ranging from road traffic violations to murder.

Matthew Sidebottom, head of Hegarty’s criminal department, said: “This is a real feather in the cap for Sarah and is thoroughly deserved recognition for an exceptionally dedicated solicitor.”

Vandals have smashed a window at a house in Thames Road, Spalding, which police suspect was left unoccupied for a number of days last week.

The incident has led to a call for people who are away from home for a period of time to take steps to protect their property, including a suggestion to request a neighbour to keep an eye on your property.

Anyone with information about the window break should call 101.

Clay Lake, Spalding – £625PCM

This three-bedroom etached house is available in April.

It comprises entrance hall, lounge, dining room, kitchen, sun room, ground floor bathroom, en suite cloakroom to master bedroom, and rear garden.

It has gas central heating and off-road parking. No pets, smokers or sharers.

Deposit £935.

Agent: Munton and Russell – 01775 722475

Police say the A16 at Spalding has reopened following this morning’s four vehicle crash.

The road was closed for the removal of the vehicles.

As reported earlier, one casualty received a minor seat belt injury.

Police say the accident involved an Iveco truck, a Ford Ranger, a Ford Fiesta and a VW Polo.

Police say vehicles are still in the process of being removed from the A16 at Spalding following a four vehicle crash at 9am today.

Occupants of the vehicles escaped serious injury, but police say a female passenger sustained a minor seat belt injury.

A police spokesman said: “Vehicles are in the process of being removed and then the road will re-open.”

• Huge tailbacks are reported on the A16 with a section of the road closed by police following a crash.The road is closed between the McDonald’s roundabout and the roundabout leading to the power station.

It’s understood a lorry is involved in the crash but no further details are available at this time.

Common Road, Moulton Seas End – £235,000

This charming rendered brick detached cottage has a slate roof.

It boasts spacious accommodation including dining room, conservatory, large fitted breakfast kitchen with Rayburn, lounge, rear entrance and cloakroom to the ground floor.

There are three double bedrooms and large luxury bathroom to the first floor. Ample parking including space for caravan/camper van etc, detached double garage and workshop, established gardens.

Open views to the front and rear.

AGENT: R Longstaff and Co: 01775 766766

Chaldean Way, Spalding – £204,950

Morriss and Mennie are pleased to offer for sale this modern four double-bedroom detached family home.

It benefits from two reception rooms, kitchen and utility room with four double bedrooms and en suite to master.

The property is situated within the popular residential location of Woolram Wygate with only a short walk to the local primary school and amenities and a short drive to Spalding town centre.

It comprises: entrance hall, lounge, dining room, kitchen, utility room, cloakroom, four double bedrooms, en suite to master bedroom with built-in wardrobes, family bathroom, gas central heating, single garage, off-road parking and 
enclosed rear garden.

This property is offered for sale with no upward chain.

AGENT: Morriss and Mennie: 01775 767575

Oxford Gardens,Holbeach – £169,950

Sedge Estate Agents are delighted to offer for sale this three bedroom semi-detached, new-build property within walking distance of Holbeach town centre.

The property comprises an entrance hallway, lounge, kitchen diner, downstairs cloakroom, landing, two bedrooms and a family bathroom to the first floor and a master bedroom with an en-suite to the second floor.

This property benefits from off-road parking for two vehicles and an enclosed rear garden finished with turf and is being offered with no chain.

Call Sedge today for more details on 01775 713888.

A pilot has blamed herself in an official report for a crash landing at Fenland Airfield last September in which the aircraft was damaged but from which she walked away unscathed.

The incident happened after the 53-year-old pilot, who had 160 hours’ flying experience, took to the air but then abandoned the flight and returned to the Holbeach St John airfield because of deteriorating weather conditions.

The newly published Air Accident Investigation Branch report says that she had planned a flight of around an hour in the 1976-built Cessna Skyhawk – reg GBIHI.

But it says that, after take-off, she encountered “worsening weather” and decided to curtail her flight. However, when she got back to Holbeach St John the visibility had deteriorated and she flew a closer than normal approach.

This, says the report, placed the aircraft higher on its landing approach than was usual. Initially the pilot decided to abandon the landing attempt and to go round for another one, but then she decided a safe landing could be achieved and continued the approach.

The report says: “The aircraft bounced on touchdown and the nose landing gear subsequently struck the ground prematurely and collapsed.”

In addition to the landing gear the propeller was also damaged.

Describing the last moments before the crash, the report says : “Although the pilot was reluctant to execute a go-around in the deteriorating visibility, she prepared to do so.

“The pilot then re-assessed the situation, believing that a safe landing could be achieved within the runway length, so continued the approach. She flared the aircraft for landing about one third of the way along the runway.

“The aircraft bounced and the nose landing gear subsequently struck the ground and collapsed. The pilot attributed the bounced landing to an error of judgement at the point of flare.”

Year 3 pupil Ellie Mae Godfrey inspired her school friends to raise £92 for the British Heart Foundation.

Ellie, who was born with a hole in her heart, approached the Tydd St Mary Primary School Council asking for them to help organise a Wear it. Beat it. 2015 charity event .

Children were invited to wear red and were given a red bow tie for their donation.

Photo submitted

Children in Year 5 and 6 at Weston Hills Primary School enjoyed a full day of drama with Collingwood Learning. They all took part in a drama workshop called ‘A 
Curious Journey’, based on the story of Alice in Wonderland which helped them think about issues around growing up and changing relationships. At the end of the day Year 6 performed to parents and the rest of Key Stage 2.

CABINET CALL: By South Holland District Council Leader Gary Porter

As I write we are just finalising the proposed budget for next year, so I wanted to use this month’s column to talk to you about the council tax... more specifically about what we are doing to reduce the burden, and what you can do to spread the cost.

Once again we are aiming to cut our portion of next year’s bill, which will be the fourth year running we have done so.

I am proud that South Holland is one of only half a dozen councils in the country to deliver year on year reductions in council tax for its residents, which, when added to the freeze we introduced in 2010, means a real terms cut of around 16 per cent over five years.

But what you pay us for the wide range of district council services is just one small part of your bill. We have no control over what other bodies, such as the county council and police, are going to charge.

What we can control though, thanks to the government’s response to South Holland’s calls for change, is the number of instalments available to pay over.

We lobbied the Government to allow us to collect the council tax over 12 instalments, the same as your gas or electricity bill, your TV licence or a whole host of other bills, instead of 10.

To avoid delays from a long, drawn out process of changing the law, they agreed that anyone who got in touch to ask for the choice of paying over 12 monthly payments instead of 10 could do so.

To date nearly 1,000 of you have taken the opportunity to ease the burden by spreading payment over the full year.

This year I would love you all to ask to pay over 12 months by emailing 12not10@sholland.gov.uk if possible by February 24 (though you can do it any time).

So what could paying over 12 months instead of 10 mean for you?

Well for the majority of residents, who are band A or B, next year it could reduce your monthly payment by between £16 and £19, while for those in band C or above the reduction could be £21 or more every month.

We are constantly working to help South Holland residents, both by providing high-quality local services and through keeping the council tax as low as possible.

I hope that, just like I have done, you will accept our offer to spread the cost of paying over the full year.

Three suspected hare coursers were arrested outside a travellers’ site in Market Harborough after a 50-mile chase which went across three counties.

The trio have all been arrested on suspicion of hare coursing at Quadring Fen and failing to stop for police.

A police helicopter and officers from Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire were involved in the pursuit, which ended about 11.30am on Thursday.

A spokesman for Lincolnshire Police said: “Police were alerted to a Subaru Legacy in the area of Quadring Fen.

“After failing to stop for police, it is believed the vehicle entered Leicestershire before being stopped by police in Northamptonshire.

Twenty-four teams from 16 primary schools across the region attended an annual netball competition at Spalding High School.

The event was run by Rupert Gibson, the School Games organiser for the region. with the help of Y10 Sports Leader pupils from the High School.

These leaders umpired all the games and did a fantastic job. Results were:

Smaller School’s Plate Competition

1 Ayschoughfee Hall ‘A’, St Barts ‘B’, 3= Langtoft and St Barts ‘A,

Smaller School’s Cup Competition

1 Baston ‘A’, 2 Baston ‘B’, 3 Weston Hills, 4= Ayschoughfee Hall ‘B’ and St Norberts

Larger School’s Plate Competition

1 Bourne Westfield ‘A’, 2 Thurlby, 3= John Harrox ‘B’ and Pinchbeck East ‘B’, 5= Spalding Parish, Linchfield ‘B’ and St Johns

Larger Schools Cup Competition

1st Bourne Abbey ‘A’, 2nd Linchfield ‘A’, 3= Pinchbeck East ‘A’ and Bourne Abbey ‘B’, 5= John Harrox ‘A’, Long Sutton and Bourne Westfield ‘B’

A Spalding driver who caused the death of a popular Lincolnshire motorcyclist when he overtook in foggy conditions was on Friday jailed for two years.

Edvinas Maciulevicius (25) was late for his job as a light goods driver when he tried to overtake a lorry on the A16 Cowbit bypass.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Maciulevicius was at the wheel of a left hand drive car which made the overtaking move more difficult and collided head-on with a Honda motorbike ridden by Cowbit man Marcel Banom.

Mr Banom (37), who was travelling to his job as a butchery supervisor at Dalehead Foods, died at the scene.

The lorry driver who was travelling in front of Maciulevicius told police he had clearly seen the light of Mr Banom’s motorbike and did not think it was safe for anybody to overtake him.

Caroline Bradley, prosecuting, told the court although speed was not a factor the crash happened just before 6am when Maciulevicius was due to start work – but he was still 16 miles from his destination.

Paramedics who attended the scene chose not to overtake because of the foggy conditions.

“It was dark and foggy,” Miss Bradley said. “Some witnesses described visibility as between ten and 100 metres. Visibility was clearly significantly impaired.”

Mr Banom, who lived at Peak Hill, Cowbit, was described in court as a very popular man, with hundreds of mourners attending his funeral. He had been in the UK for 12 years after moving from Slovakia and was in charge of 66 workers at Dalehead Foods.

In a moving statement which was read out in court his partner described him as her “knight in shining armour.” Mr Banom’s sister said he was a “person with a big heart.”

The car driven by Maciulevicius was unlikely to have passed a UK MOT and he was not insured, the court heard.

Maciulevicius of Piccard Drive, Spalding, admitted causing the death of Mr Banom by dangerous driving on March 12, 2014.

He was jailed for two years, banned from driving for five years and will have to take an extended driving test.

Staff and management at Sir John Gleed School in Spalding have reached an “amicable agreement” following a meeting with unions to discuss workload issues.

Talks between members of the NUT and NASUWT and management have been taking place for the past three weeks, sparked by the pressures the staff have been under since the academy was put in special measures.

However, following the meeting on Friday, union members and management were looking forward to the half-term holiday having “resolved the issues”.

Ken Rustidge, divisional secretary and national executive member for the NUT in Lincolnshire, said: “There is now a good working relationship between management and staff.

“Gleed is a good school and is making good progress to provide the best education for all of the young people.”

The academy has been in special measures since April 2013, following the merger of the boys’ and the girls’ schools in September 2012.

However, an Ofsted report published last month recognised the significant progress was being made throughout the school, which is now striving to drive up its exam results.

Chris Mallaband, executive headteacher, said: “Workload is also a national issue and some members of staff felt very strongly about the pressures they were under.

“The school employs 80 teachers – 35 are members of unions. We are pleased to have been able to reach an agreement because we value our staff. They have worked incredibly hard to get the school to where it is now.”

South Holland and The Deepings MP John Hayes is the driving force as a Government transport minister to persuade Britain to radically re-think the way it designs and builds roads.

He wants to put beauty at the heart of the process – and to give local people a bigger voice in design.

In December, the Government unveiled a £15billion programme to triple investment in the country’s major road network over the next decade, including upgrades of the A47 and A1 in Peterborough – improvements the MP hopes will link up to any future work to ease traffic flow on the A16.

But the massive investment also gives the country the chance to change direction.

In a major speech, Mr Hayes said: “Two paths lie before us. There is the well-trodden path we have travelled down as a nation many times, when driving public projects over the past century and that is the path of mere utility, of banality – even ugliness.

“But then there is the road less travelled. The road of beauty of form enhancing function. The road, I will argue today, that we must take.”

Mr Hayes has devised a five-point action plan and says the new investment “provides us with a golden opportunity to banish ugly, intrusive and ubiquitous design, and create a road system in harmony with its surroundings”.

The five points are:

1 Ensure local people are involved in all design processes

2 Include industry partners and contractors when planning delivery and construction

3 Create a design panel, involving organisations like the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Campaign for Better Transport, the National Trust and the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community

4 Establish a solid set of design principles, underpinned by a review of the environment and biodiversity elements of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges

5 Appreciate industry best practice, looking at the best of what can be achieved.

Following V Lewis’s comments about Winsover Road rail crossing, over which frequently I drive.

I have noted traffic tailbacks from the traffic lights in town as far as Hereward Road when it took 14 minutes to reach the station approach, there having not been a train for 50 minutes in this time.

There were still long tailbacks of traffic in the first week of November last year when the railway was closed for the commissioning of new signals and level crossing equipment so surely this indicates that it must be caused by the traffic lights.

Often when the barriers have been down one still catches up with the traffic before the traffic lights.

If V Lewis cannot see this then I suggest his or her driving licence be hung up until a visit has been made to an optician or if on foot you communicate better with your guide dog.

Probably it was you I heard complaining that cars were back to the Co-op on Woolram Wygate at 8.30am because of the crossing when there were no trains between 5.30am and 8.50am.

Winsover Road barriers are lowered a few seconds before departure time and by then all passengers should be on the train.

As for trains being three miles away, considering that they could be 800 yard freight liner trains of about 1,500 tonnes arrowing toward the crossing travelling at motorway speed, the safest place for you and me is sat waiting. Travelling time for that distance is a little under three minutes.

When you waited at the crossing after the train had passed and was loading passengers this was no doubt due to a fault in the computerised, German-supplied signalling control system as the barriers should have lifted automatically as soon as the train was passed the crossing.

As Hawthorn Bank crossing was affected at the same time I contacted Lincoln signalling control centre and the very nice, polite signaller told me that the control equipment had suffered a miscount at a rail-mounted axle counter and he could not raise both sets of barriers until the train had passed an axle counter beyond signal number WS749 or signal number WS751, which are on the north end of the platforms, before he could reset the errant one to allow the barriers to lift.

On the Tuesday that you mention you were probably so far back in standing traffic that you were unaware of a road traffic accident and you 
assumed the crossing was the cause.

Network Rail do consider the motorist by taking care of their safety at rail crossings – the last fatal collision that was the railway’s fault was over 65 years ago in this area.

What can be done about hold-ups on Winsover Road? The easiest solution would be tear down the traffic lights and install mini roundabouts. What say you or any other reader?

Finally what would V Lewis, or anyone else say, if Network Rail have planned to run more than 100 trains in a day over Winsover Road and Hawthorn Bank crossings.

D Mead

Spalding


I thought I must write this email now the A16 bypass is getting so much publicity.

It’s all well and good councillors and MPs talking about upgrading the current road, but I think they should look at the state of it at the moment.

I have to do two trips a day along this road, as I work in Peterborough and I have lost count how many pot holes there are along the full stretch of the road – one has been there for over two years, with little or no maintenance involved.

Where is the so-called government grant to repair all the roads in Lincolnshire?

If all the haulage companies in the area want this road upgrading, they should be made to pay something for maintaining it, as it’s their vehicles that are damaging it and putting peoples lives at risk.

I think I will use the old A1073 road in future as it’s in better condition.

Richard Woods

via email

Hayes in the House - written by John Hayes MP for South Holland and the Deepings

The week after Britain marked the 50th anniversary of the funeral of our nation’s great statesman, I am reminded of how Winston Churchill grasped the 
challenges of his times; warning of the rise of Nazi Germany, when many preferred to appease the growing fascist threat, and, later, alerting the world to the Soviet menace which – from behind an ‘iron curtain’ – would dominate world events for decades.

We now live in peace, thank goodness, but important challenges remain. In these pages, on January 27, Mr Derek Hammond of Spalding identified five big issues which dominate our times. So, I have decided to reply here to his perceptive letter – he and other readers deserve nothing less.

First, he asked about the NHS. My family and I use the same doctors and hospitals as the people I serve, indeed my sons are yellowbellies, being born at Pilgrim hospital, so I know our local health services well. Having relied on the NHS for the whole of my life I understand just how important it is that we continue to fund properly the services on which we all depend.

I’m proud that the NHS budget has gone up by £12.7 billion under this Government, with thousands more doctors and nurses hired, lower waiting times and more patients treated in cleaner hospitals than before. An extraordinary 850,000 more operations are taking place each year compared with 2010.

The long-term future of the NHS can be only be secured by a strong economy – the second issue Mr Hammond raised. Last year Britain saw the fastest growth of any major economy, and with low inflation, unemployment falling fast and record numbers of people in work we are spending less on benefits. And, because we are cutting the deficit and getting the public finances under control, Britain can continue to spend record amounts on health, schools and support for pensioners.

Mr Hammond rightly seeks reassurance that we are getting to grips with the broken banking system.

Revealed during the financial crisis of 2007/8 to be chaotic, unaccountable and consumed by greed, banks should have been regulated years ago. Now we’ve brought in a tax on banks which will raise around £2.5 billion every year, and introduced a criminal offence for reckless misconduct by senior bankers. And we’ve capped bonuses too – ensuring poor performance isn’t rewarded.

As for Europe, I share the view of the Prime Minister that it is up to the British people to decide whether or not we should remain in the European Union. Which is why under the Conservatives there will be a referendum in two years. David Cameron will renegotiate our place in the EU – the key priority being changes to free movement of people which will stem the tide of immigrants.

But the Prime Minister has been clear that “if we cannot put our relationship with the EU on a better footing, then of course I rule nothing out.”

I believe we can get a better deal from the EU, but leaving would be perfectly tolerable, certainly not something of which to be frightened. It would definitely be preferable to being absorbed in the future into a United States of Europe.

In spite of his efforts to foster post-War European co-operation, the modern bureaucratic and unaccountable EU is certainly not what Winston Churchill would have wanted nor tolerated for the nation he loved so dearly.

Traders concerned about losing business while the Hole in the Wall passage in Spalding is closed may be able to claim compensation.

National Grid will be visiting them on Monday to discuss the work and give details of its compensation scheme.

A spokesman said: “National Grid is carrying out essential work to renew the gas mains in the Hole in the Wall Passage.

“This work will ensure we can keep the gas flowing to local homes and businesses for decades to come.

“We will need to close the passage for two weeks, starting on February 23, while the work is being carried out.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and will be visiting businesses on Monday to discuss the work and provide details of our business compensation scheme.

“The scheme will involve replacing the existing iron mains with hardwearing plastic pipes which have a lifespan of at least 80 years.”