All go to improve flow, say Lincs County Council, as road turmoil begins on the A16 thanks to a £20m ‘levelling up’ fund.

The council have earmarked the funding for five different road improvement projects to ease traffic flow on the A16 between Boston and Spalding and say works will begin imminently.

A new video from the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance features doctors, paramedics and pilots responding to missions across Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire together with patient eight-year-old Bradley. Last year, LNAA attended 1,620 incidents, over 130 more than in 2021. The charity receives no direct funding from the Government and yet delivers emergency service to increasingly more people each year. In 2022 it cost £8million to keep the helicopter flying and the critical care cars operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week and with increased costs and increased demand this figure will increase in 2023. CEO, Karen Jobling said: “We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the support of people across the communities of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. Everyone who donates to us owns a little part of us and without that help we would not be able to be by the side of patients like Bradley who was airlifted to hospital following a limb-threatening incident a year ago.” Watch the video here.

Bransby Horses are celebrating 10 years since they took the brave step to open a place for people to find out more about the work of the charity. Since the purpose-built Visitor’s Centre was opened at the heart of their 300 acre site just north of Lincoln, it has provided free entry and the chance to find out more about equine welfare for over 50,000 visitors a year from all over the UK. Executive Director of Engagement and Income Generation Sally Crawford said: “Our vision was to improve people’s understanding of the issues we tackle. To this day we continue to improve and raise awareness of our work and people’s general understanding of horses, ponies, mules and donkeys. “We’ve also become a popular tourist destination as we have a wonderful café, play area and miles of pushchair and wheelchair accessible walkways around our paddocks.” This year Bransby Horses was one of just 97 attractions out of potentially thousands across the UK, to gain a Gold Visitor Attraction award from VisitEngland. Mrs Crawford added: “Each year since the Visitor Centre opened we have received the Rose award (Recognition Of Service Excellence), but the Gold had always alluded us. “This award celebrates the hard work and high levels of attention to detail our team here have shown – it is the highest accolade that can be awarded to visitor attraction by VisitEngland Assessment Services so we are extremely honoured to be receiving it.” Individual Paralympic Gold Medallist Dressage Rider Sophie Wells OBE officially opened the centre over a decade ago. To find out more about visiting Bransby Horses go to BransbyHorses.co.uk

The historic trawler Ross Tiger is reopening to the public again on Tuesday 28 March after months of vital deck works. The scheme, which started last September, included removing the rotten timber deck to reveal the steel deck below which was then inspected, grit blasted and painted. Some of the timber was able to be removed for conservation and will return to the museum’s collection. Once these works had taken place, to allow the ship to safely reopen to the public, a walkway had to be installed to allow visitor tours to resume. This has now been completed, and, following the green light from health and safety officers, Ross Tiger will soon officially be back open. Louise Bowen, collections officer at Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre, said: “We are delighted to have completed these vital works. Removal of the decaying timber has provided the assurance that the steel decking below is in a sound condition. “This is a testament to the shipbuilding engineers at Cochrane and Sons of Selby, whose skill and craftmanship has stood the test of time for over 65 years. Painting the steelwork underneath and laying a new temporary walkway means we can welcome visitors back onboard and begin planning for the next phase of conservation work on our historic trawler.” David Ornsby, operations manager at the centre, added: “The Ross Tiger is a cherished part of Grimsby’s fishing heritage and has been much missed by visitors to the museum during these works. We know that our visiting schools and general public will be delighted to have the ship available again. The team, which recently won a Welcome Accolade from VisitEngland, will be back aboard and bringing the ship to life for visitors again. Although the temporary walkway will look different until a new timber deck can be funded, we can feel happier that the weather deck of the ship is much better protected and preserved.” Various contractors have been involved in the major renovation project and North East Lincolnshire Council, along with Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre and Equans, would like to thank them: Beckett Rankine Marine Consulting Engineers, Coopers Painting Contractors Grimsby, R & N Services, York Archaeology, Bacon Engineering Ltd and Hurst Conservation.

The new video features doctors, paramedics and pilots responding to missions across Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire together with patient Bradley, 8. Last year, LNAA was tasked to 1,620 incidents, over 130 more than in 2021. The charity receives no direct funding from the Government and yet they are tasked with delivering this emergency service to increasingly more people each year. In 2022 it cost £8million to keep the helicopter flying and the critical care cars operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week and with increased costs and increased demand this figure will increase in 2023. Chief Executive Officer, Karen Jobling said: “We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the support of people across the communities of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. Everyone who donates to us owns a little part of us and without that help we would not be able to be by the side of patients like Bradley who was airlifted to hospital following a limb-threatening incident a year ago.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4u7r8izKC8

Oversized, with too much nicotine, or sold to children; vapes become the new battleground for Lincolnshire Trading Standards. In a report due to go before the council’s Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee on 21 March, the service reveals that of the 5,417 unsafe products removed from the market between April and December last year, 5,062 were non-compliant vapes. Non-compliant vapes include those exceeding the legal nicotine content, and the delivery dose (referred to as a ‘puff’). As a rule, disposable vapes should have around 600 puffs, so they comply with the legal limits on size. Amongst those seized by Trading Standards are vapes advertised as containing up to 10,000 puffs – more than 16 times the limit. Using intelligence gathered from officers, partner organisations and members of the public, Lincolnshire Trading Standards inspects premises thought to be selling illegal vapes and seizes them, pending investigation. To help advise businesses of the legislation around vapes, Lincolnshire Trading Standards has sent letters to over 100 premises across the county. They provided guidance on how to check that products comply in terms of nicotine capacity, tank size and number of puffs. They also reminded traders that such products cannot be sold to under-18s. The underage sales of vapes is an area of growing concern for Trading Standards services across the country. In Lincolnshire, 35 per cent of the intelligence received around underage sales is now about the sale of vapes specifically. The service carries out underage test purchases at premises across the county, and roughly one in five results in the underage volunteers being sold vapes. The county council also has a dedicated officer who delivers workshops to schools around smoking and alcohol. A new workshop has been developed, specifically around the use of vapes, and this has already been delivered to over 4,000 pupils. Mark Keal, Head of Lincolnshire Trading Standards, said: “The popularity of disposable vapes has exploded over the last 18 months, and we have seen a lot of shops cashing in on the new craze. “Many of the businesses now selling vapes haven’t sold nicotine products before, and we’ve gone to great lengths to advise businesses on the regulations around them, to help them comply with the law. What we’re seeing now is more unscrupulous businesses knowingly selling oversized, non-compliant vapes. “Many of the shops where we find illegal cigarettes, we’re now also finding illegal vapes. However, whereas the dodgy cigarettes are hidden away behind the counter, in a back room, or in some elaborate hide, illegal vapes are often brazenly displayed at the counter, making them seem legitimate to the average customer. “The growing trend of young people vaping for the first time is also concerning. Whilst shops are clearly consistent in asking for ID when selling cigarettes and alcohol, there seems to be a more slack attitude when it comes to vapes and that’s something we’re working hard to address through education and enforcement. “Research may show that vaping is much less harmful than smoking cigarettes, but the health message remains that if you have never smoked, you should not take up vaping.”

Paul Durrant from Grimsby heads to Poland for his first sprint race of the season as a member of Team GB at the end of the month. He’ll be competing in the first of three planned athletics events this year, culminating in the European Master Athletics Championships in Italy in September. He took up sprinting in 2021. “I’d concentrated mainly on half marathons and 10ks but decided to join the local sprint team and get some proper coaching,” he said. “I’d always harboured a desire to represent Great Britain, and through the Master Athletics I have found my opportunity. I’m thoroughly looking forward to these events and hopefully my efforts will inspire others.” Associated British Ports, where he works as a Property Manager, has sponsored his Great Britain running kit, Simon Bird, Regional Director for the Humber ports said: “We’re delighted to be supporting our colleague Paul in his quest for Team GB and we’ll be cheering him on.” The World Masters Athletics Championships will be held from 27 to 29 March in Torun, Poland, and Paul is entered in the 60m indoor sprint for his age group. He will also be competing at the European Master Athletics Games (100m) in Finland, and the European Master Athletics Championship (100m) in Italy.

North East Lincolnshire Council plans to spend £800,000 on improving almost 30 of its play parks so more children can stay safe, active and enjoy playing outdoors. The most pressing works are repairs to existing equipment, followed by a fresh supply of spare parts and finally new and replacement equipment and surfaces all of which will be undertaken in the next 18 months. Plans to refurbish and upgrade some of the borough’s existing play parks were first announced in June 2021 with the works estimated to take three years to complete. Since then, the Council has carried out public consultation to ask people where they’d like to see play parks improved and a procurement exercise to identify suppliers and contractors to carry out the work. Cllr Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for environment and transport at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “Most people love their local parks and play areas and we are working hard to improve them so more children can enjoy playing outdoors. “We want more children to have the facilities where they can be safe, active and enjoy playing outdoors. “It’s more than 10 years since we’ve seen this level of investment in our play parks and I’m looking forward to seeing the works get underway soon.” The play parks earmarked for repair and refurbishment include:

1. Ainslie Street
2. Albion Street
3. Alden Close
4. Bradley Woods
5. Butt Lane
6. Capes Recreation Ground
7. Carver Road
8. Duke of York Gardens
9. Grant Thorold Park
10. Haverstoe Park
11. Kingston Gardens
12. Mount Pleasant
13. Musical Garden, King’s Road
14. Neville Turner Way
15. Nunsthorpe Recreation Ground
16. People’s Park
17. Pilgrims Mount
18. Quantock Park
19. Rose & Crown
20. School Walk
21. Sidney Park
22. Sixhills Street
23. Sussex Rec
24. St Christopher’s Playing Field
25. Sussex Recreation Ground
26. Sutherland Park
27. Weelsby Woods
28. Wingate Parade