Thursday 2nd December 2010 It’s snow go for the Lincoln Christmas Market
The Lincoln Christmas Market has been scrapped by officials over
weather related safety concerns. Lincoln has already been crippled by
appalling traffic due to accidents and road closures during the cold
spell. Concerns over the bad weather forced the City of Lincoln
Council to announce the first closure of the market in its history.
Rob Bradley, in charge of safety at the event for the City of Lincoln
Council, said: "It is with extreme regret that we have taken the
decision to cancel the Lincoln Christmas Market this year. Safety is
our absolute priority at the Lincoln Christmas Market. Police advice
is for people not to travel at all unless it is absolutely necessary,
so we don't want to encourage visitors and stall holders to travel to
come along and risk getting stuck on the roads, or worse. We work with
many other organisations to stage this event, including the police,
fire and ambulance services and county highways. All of these
organisations are working flat out to deal with the severe weather
conditions already." Lincolnshire

Thursday 18th November 2010 Lincoln in prison execution yard error
A booklet produced for Lincoln prison aimed at Russian inmates
mistakenly labels an exercise yard as the ‘execution yard’. An
inspection noticed the faux pas at Lincoln Prison, however the faulty
translation was spotted and corrected by a member of staff at the
proof stage. Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: "This is
an example where actually making sure prisoners have properly
translated material is important. You could treat it as a bit of a
joke unless you were that prisoner and you didn't understand how the
British prison service worked and came from a country that still had
execution yards. It wouldn't be a funny thing for him." Inspectors had
also noted their concerns about the poor physical condition of the
prison, as well as litter and graffiti there. Lincolnshire

Tuesday 16th November 2010 Lincolnshire shop worker threatened with knife
A worker at a Lincolnshire Spar shop has been threatened with a knife
during a robbery. The shop at The Square, North Thoresby, was raided
at about 1950 GMT on Sunday by a man who threaten a female member of
staff with the weapon before taking a quantity of cash from the till.
The suspect was white, about 5ft 10in (1.77m) tall, of medium build
and spoke with a Liverpool accent. He wore camouflage clothing and a
balaclava. Anyone who witnessed any unusual activity has been asked to
contact Lincolnshire Police. Lincolnshire

Thursday 11th November 2010 Court’s refusal to move could cost Lincoln £60m
County politicians are claiming that Lincoln Crown Court’s refusal to
move out of the castle grounds could cost the local economy £60m. The
council wants to use the court building as a tourist attraction but HM
Courts Service has once again decided against a move from Lincoln
Castle. The council has plans to build a new Magna Carta visitor
centre on the current site of the court which is within the walls of
Lincoln’s Norman castle. County council leader Martin Hill claims the
court’s refusal to budge could also mean the loss of £18m in lottery
funding. An HMCS spokesman said: "We have a duty to ensure that we get
the best value for every pound of taxpayers' money spent and are not
in a position to build a new court in Lincoln." County councillor Rob
Parker, leader of the council's Labour group, said: "We care seriously
disappointed because the Court Service came to the county council to
suggest the relocation of the court. The county has looked at
different options for five years but each time we get close to some
sort of deal the Court Service has moved away." Lincolnshire

Monday 1st November 2010 Warning over Lincolnshire A1 repairs
Motorists face disruption to their travel due to work to resurface the
A1 in Lincolnshire. The Highways Agency has warned motorists that
repair work between Grantham and Stamford will begin today (1 November
2010). The A1 southbound carriageway will close between the A607 and
A606 junctions overnight until 7 November. The following week the
northbound section of the route will be closed. Diversions will be in
operation during the closures. Mark Braithwaite, Highways Agency
project manager, said: "We are carrying out this essential road
resurfacing work at night when traffic is lightest to minimise delay
to road users. Due to the road closures and associated diversion
routes, drivers should plan their journeys and allow extra time to
reach their destinations." Lincolnshire

Thursday 28th October 2010 £70,000 haul in Stamford China shop raid
Thieves took around £70,000 China and jewellery from a shop in St
Mary's Street, Stamford, Lincolnshire after forcing a window on the
roof. Police believe the raid on Sinclair’s was well planned with
high-value items specifically targeted. The police have appealed for
anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area to contact them.
Officers where compiling a list of all the items taken and were
attempting to assess the total value of the haul. Lincolnshire

Friday 22nd October 2010 Grants save threatened Lincolnshire town hall
A Lincolnshire town hall facing demolition got a last minute reprieve
when it was awarded refurbishment grants worth £77,000. The former
Horncastle Town Hall, now renamed Stanhope Hall, was reopened in
August after a campaign to save it. Stanhope Hall Group chairman Bill
Aron told the press that the money would mean a new ground floor
meeting room and would help improve the cloak rooms. Mr Aron also
said: "We are delighted with the grants but there is still a lot of
work to do. We are still waiting on results of other applications for
other grant funding." The grants include a £33,000 community hall
grant and a £44,000 grant from an environmental charity. Lincolnshire

Thursday 23rd September 2010 Skegness lifeboat busiest in the North
Figures from the Royal National Lifeboat Institute for June, July and
August show the Skegness lifeboat station was one of the busiest RNLI
stations in the country. The data shows that Skegness station carried
out 39 launches compared to 53 call-outs in the busy summer of 2009.
Skegness station, in the RNLI's northern region, ranked 11th out of
the charity’s 232 stations in the UK. Sunderland lifeboat was close
behind Skegness in the RNLI’s northern region after being launched 37
times. The crew at Hartlepool took to the water 36 times. The RNLI's
Andy Clift said: "The RNLI's lifeboat crews and lifeguards have been
kept busy at a time when most people are relaxing and taking
holidays.” Lincolnshire

Friday 27th August 2010 Lincoln mosque turned down by government
A plan to build a mosque that would have held up to 500 worshippers in
Lincoln has been rejected. The plans were blocked by Lincoln City
Council and an appeal to the government has failed to overturn the
council’s decision. Lincoln City Council originally rejected plans by
the Islamic Association of Lincoln for a new two-storey building in
Boultham Park Road in November 2009. The mosque was due to be built on
the site of the former St Matthew's Church, which was destroyed by
fire in 2008. But a government planning inspector said the mosque
would cause traffic problems and backed the council’s decision to
block the mosque. Lincolnshire

Monday 9th August 2010 Lincoln dig finds evidence of ruthless Norman land clearance
Archaeologists on a dig in the ancient cathedral city of Lincoln have found evidence of the severity of the Norman’s land-clearance activities. The dig, under way in the grounds of Lincoln’s castle, has discovered remains of Anglo-Saxon houses. The Domesday Book, a record of property throughout the land prepared at the behest of William the Conqueror in 1086, tells how the new king decided to build a castle inside the old Roman fort and destroyed 166 homes - more than 10% of the existing town at the time. Now archaeologists are finding hard evidence to support the documented activity. Cecily Spall, from Field Archaeology Specialists (FAS), said: "The Saxons would not have been able to do anything about this. The Norman Conquest remodelled Anglo Saxon England. New landlords were appointed and they laid waste to houses and they reassigned the ownership of property and land rights." Lincolnshire