North East Lincolnshire Council Trading Standards team have seized illicit tobacco products worth about £100,000 during Stoptober. The team and partner organisations such as Humberside Police uncovered 28,120 cigarettes, 12.45 kilos of tobacco and 3133 illegal disposable vapes in a number of shops during the four-week operation. The products have an estimated value of over £100,000. Shops and businesses on Freeman Street, Cromwell Road, Yarborough Road, and Second Avenue on the Nunsthorpe estate were all visited. The raids were part of Operation CeCe, an ongoing intelligence-led operation, targeting counterfeit and illicit cigarettes, tobacco and illegal disposable vape dealers. Since January 2021, North East Lincolnshire Council Trading Standards team have seized 84,957 packs of cigarettes, 10,750 pouches of tobacco and over 17,000 illegal vapes, with a combined value of almost £1.8 million, all money which would have gone out of the local economy and into the hands of organised crime gangs. Humberside Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Grimsby West Claire Jacobs said: “We deployed our teams in support of North East Lincolnshire Council during this important operation to combat illicit cigarettes and tobacco within North East Lincolnshire. “We continue our commitment through the Clear Hold Build initiative to ensuring that Grimsby remains a fantastic place, and working closely with partners on operations such as this one helps us to do exactly that.” By law, Vapes should have an internal tank capacity of no more than 2ml, and the level of nicotine contained in the vaping fluid should not exceed 2 per cent. Councillor Ron Shepherd, portfolio holder for safer and stronger communities, said: “This joint operation shows just how important it is to work together. Multi-agency operations such as these are keeping these products, that do not meet safety standards and are putting lives at risk, off the streets. We know illicit and fake cigarettes do not comply with the Reduced Ignition Propensity requirements and won’t self-extinguish, so are likely to start a fire. “When you buy these products, you could be putting your own health at risk. Not only has no duty been paid on them but they’ve not been tested to ensure they’re safe.” He added: “It is important to remember that whilst legitimate disposable vaping bars can be a very useful aid to smokers who are wanting to quit, they still have potential health issues as a result of use,  and should never be purchased and used by non-smokers”.

Drivers in Boston have seen a 236% year-on-year increase in the number of parking fines issued to them by their local council, according to new data analysed by cinch, the UK’s biggest online retailer of used cars. According to the new figures obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, Boston Borough Council issued 1,142 more parking fines in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23:

• Between April 2022 and the end of March 2023, 483 parking fines were issued by Boston Borough Council.
• In comparison, between April 2023 and the end of March 2024, this number increased to 1,625 fines, marking a 236% increase year-on-year.
• On average, 4 fines were issued per day between April 2023 and the end of March 2024.

The surge in fines has also led to a significant increase in revenue for the council:

• From April 2022 to March 2023, parking fines generated £11,978 for Boston Borough Council.
• In the following year (April 2023 to March 2024), this figure increased to £32,897, representing a 174% increase.

West End Car Park emerged as the Boston location with the highest number of fines in 2023/24, with 351 reported. In the previous year, West End Car Park again held the top spot, with 109 fines issued. Sam Sheehan, motoring editor at cinch, commented on the findings: “These figures should be a reminder for all drivers to carefully check any nearby signs before parking – especially in busy areas or places they aren’t familiar with. Nobody wants to find a parking fine come through their letterbox. Also, if you think the fine is unfair or it’s incorrect, don’t forget you have 28 days to appeal to an independent tribunal. And, if it is correct, you might be able to reduce the fine by paying sooner rather than later. ”

Contracts have been exchanged in readiness for the planned transformation of the former Cummins site, a major brownfield location in Stamford.

South Kesteven District Council and landowner partner Burghley House Preservation Trust Ltd have reached purchase agreements with Morris Homes, Inspired Living and Burghley Land Ltd for the St Martin’s Park project, which covers almost 15 hectares.

The development will feature a designated commercial area; mixed-use area; retirement village; and a range of residential properties including affordable homes; and areas of green and open space.

The Council purchased the Cummins site in 2018 which, combined with adjacent land owned by Burghley House Preservation Trust, makes up the 14.7 hectare development site. The council bought the site in 2018 to ensure part of it would be used to provide jobs after the Cummins factory closed, and the designated commercial and mixed use areas will provide office space as well as a convenience store to serve the whole development.

Morris Homes will provide the residential development; Inspired Living the retirement village; and Burghley Land Ltd the commercial development.

SKDC’s Cabinet Member for Property and Public Engagement, Cllr Richard Cleaver, said: “This is a major development that will transform a derelict site into a thriving addition to the Stamford community. It will be a high-quality, well-designed and sustainable development with cycle routes and walkways into the town centre.

“It’s important to note that SKDC bought the former Cummins site in order to preserve employment use and we have remained true to that ambition.”

Outline planning permission for the site was granted in 2021 and the next stage in the planning process will see the three developers submit reserved matters applications early in 2025 for their parts of the development, along with an overall scheme to deliver joint infrastructure works on the site, including roads.

Cindy Cade, Group MD at Morris Homes, said: “We are pleased to be working with South Kesteven District Council to bring forward this exciting new development at St Martin’s Park in Stamford.

“This mixed-use scheme will offer a collection of premium and affordable homes ranging from two to five bedrooms. They will be designed to suit a range of demographics and lifestyles as well as some of the highest energy efficiency and sustainability standards.

 “Following the success of our Cecil Square development, we are thrilled to continue our commitment to quality housing in the area, creating homes that will support the needs and aspirations of the whole community.”

Christmas lights that once graced Lincoln are to be given a new home at Sutton on Sea on the Lincolnshire coast.

The city has invested £140,000 in new lights, but didn’t want to dump the old ones. Seeking to address the city’s commitment to its ‘Let’s Address the Challenge of Climate Change’, the plan had been to offer them to charitable and voluntary organisations in the city through Voluntary Centre Services.

But then City of Lincoln Council is pleased to announce the donation of its previous Christmas lights to Sutton on Sea, supporting the coastal community while reinforcing the council’s environmental goals.

Badger burrowing beneath Mablethorpe has caused even worse problems than was at first thought, with a second set of tunnels discovered, meaning a greater impact on road users. Specialists digging under the road after safe removal of the badgers to repair the problem discovered more tunnels, this time up to 1.5 metres deep, and running beneath service pipework. That’s going to make repairs more difficult, but the deadline set by Natural England can’t be extended. Lincolnshire County Councillor Richard Davies said: “The frustration with getting these badger works sorted is growing. We are working as hard as we can to restore this road so that the people of Mablethorpe can get on with their daily lives in the way they expect. “We can’t move the badgers without a road closure, Natural England also says that we must finish the work by the end of November otherwise we can’t get this collapse repaired until next year. “And now we find that there’s more tunnels, this time under the rest of the road. And this is going to complicate matters further, not in small part because of the restrictions placed upon us. Whilst the badgers are being very well accommodated, Mablethorpe road users are having to bear the brunt of some serious disruption in their area. It feels very unfair.” LCC will now NOT be able to lift the road closure on the road and return to temporary traffic lights as first planned. Because of the extra excavation, and the A1104 roadworks that are happening nearby, the authority has had to come up with a new plan, speedily. Seaholme Road will remain under full closure whilst the new set of badger tunnels are dealt with, and the road reinstatement works are carried out. LCC crews will be working flat out to get the works completed as quickly as possible. Cllr Davies added: “We have spoken to the bus companies as a matter of urgency, and we are putting extra people on shift to get this work done. “Because everything has to be completed by the end of the month, we can’t try a temporary traffic light fix to ease traffic flow because if it doesn’t work and the badgers’ damage can’t be fixed quickly enough, then there is the risk that the road won’t be useable until next July. “We can’t have that for Mablethorpe. It’s not the road user’s fault that this has happened and we need to get this issue sorted out, even with all the time restrictions that Natural England have placed on the works. “I want to express our thanks to everyone affected by this so far. Your patience and understanding of what we’re trying to do in order to have the road usable and open again for December is very much appreciated. We will get this work completed as quickly as we possibly can.”

West Lindsey District Councillors want Lincolnshire Police to have more money to strengthen community-focused policing efforts and enhance public safety. Councillors unanimously supported a motion calling on local and national officials to support funding that enables Lincolnshire Police to restore the principles of neighbourhood policing established in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel, the founder of modern policing. Cllr Stephen Bunney said police officers needed to build trust within communities, focusing on preventing crime and disorder through public engagement rather than punitive measures. Peel’s model has inspired Chief Constable Paul Gibson’s current Making Lincolnshire Safe Strategy 2024-25, which prioritises neighbourhood policing as a pathway to building public confidence and reducing crime. Cllr Bunney said the strategy had worthwhile aspirations, but was not being fully met across our district. “The limited number of officers and resources available are focusing on detecting and solving serious crime – leaving precious few resources and individuals to carry out ‘preventative work’. “In some areas, levels are so low that neighbourhood teams are providing minimal part-time cover for less than half the week, hardly working with the police to bring about community safety and welfare. In fact, it harbours the opposite, because residents do not have confidence in the force and so do not report issues etc, taking the attitude there’s no point as there’s no officers to deal with a concern anyway.” However, the council notes that inadequate funding threatens the fulfilment of these objectives in Lincolnshire, which has the least-funded force in the country with the third lowest number of officers per 1,000 head of population. Cllr Bunney added: “This is detrimental to our low-density rural area where the numbers of officers per head of population need to be higher than the national average to compensate for the time taken travelling between communities and to visit the myriad of hamlets and ‘isolated’ standalone properties. Cllr Paul Howitt-Cowan said: “We had the police come to Overview and Scrutiny Committee only a few weeks ago. One of the things we learned was that there was a suspicion of underreporting and it’s so important that we report incidents because that will help to give support to our police to reinforce the vigilance by the police on the ground. It’s so important that we report all incidents.”