Email the team at this newspaper with a screen grab of the item or all the details you have and our trained professionals will investigate.

The story needs to be local and it must be passing itself off as news - perhaps it is an alleged crime or a claim about a council decision.

We'll let you know the outcome of our investigation - and we will share the truth with our readers too.

Fake news – together we can fight it. And that’s a fact.

As we approach the most significant national election in a generation, the need for independent local newspapers and their websites to report and explain the issues in an entirely neutral, honest and balanced way is essential.

This approach is in keeping with their ethos of always seeking to provide trusted news, campaigning on behalf of their communities, giving advertisers respected platforms to promote their services, exposing wrongdoing through painstaking investigations, and ensuring that the voice of residents and the business community is heard with clarity and authority.

This election will be different from any other. It is not simply that the outcome will define our future relationship with the EU and the manner in which it is negotiated; but it will be held in the context of the phenomenon of fake news.

In the past 12 months there has barely been a single global event - from the election of the President of the United States to an incident involving a gunman at a Washington pizzeria - that has not been infected by the suggestion that entirely fabricated information designed to deceive had been circulated indiscriminately via social media.

Fake news takes many forms and operates at several levels. At its most extreme and democratically destructive, it comprises deliberately and maliciously contrived statements which are cynically distributed in the guise of real news with the aim of deceiving for political or financial gain.

More frequently, it is an unsubstantiated rumour indiscriminately posted on social media sites which rapidly gains credence, to the distress of those featured in it and the alarm of all who read it. Repetition through 'shares' and 'likes' adds an undeserved authority. Comment, unlabelled as such, masquerades as truth; satire is confused with reality.

'Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth', is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels.

It is little surprise that major businesses - whose role is critical to jobs and the economic success on which we all depend - are increasingly shunning digital sites that have placed their advertisements alongside extremist and offensive material.

That would never happen within our print and digital pages. When you advertise your business with us, you are sharing in the family values that underpin everything we do. We are uniquely placed to ensure that our newspapers and websites enhance and magnify your values. Your advertisements will appear alongside content that meets the very high standards to which our profession is committed.

Fake news can be hard to identify. In November, a BuzzFeed News analysis found that top fake presidential election news stories generated more total engagement on Facebook than top election stories from 19 major news outlets combined.

The great global social media conglomerates have been slow to respond and grudging to intervene. When they do, they give the impression that their intercession is more favour than obligation. They sit outside all normal regulation that robustly holds traditional media to account and they are often immune from actions for defamation or contempt.

You would have thought politicians would have made the eradication of these hoax story sites a top priority, demanding that the global internet and social media giants must be made responsible for what they transmit.

Instead, it is established newspapers and their websites which continue to be the political whipping boys, expected to submit to the most rigorous regulation and the threat of the most pernicious and damaging regime of court costs on the planet while they seek to pursue honest, investigative journalism in the public interest.

Unlike social media and the major digital platforms, this newspaper and its website are accountable for every single word we publish.

We have signed up to a comprehensive Editors' Code of Practice - which even our detractors have imitated - and we and all our staff have contractually bound themselves to its requirements. This code encompasses everything from accuracy to privacy, harassment, intrusion into grief or shock, protecting children, reporting crime, and the use of clandestine devices and subterfuge.

It is explicit in the sensitivity we show in reporting suicides and protecting the most vulnerable in society, not least the victims of sexual assault.

As a result, virtually all the content that we generate ourselves is produced by journalists trained by the National Council for the Training of Journalists to the highest industry benchmarks. These reporters are qualified in a range of skills - from newspaper law and ethics to shorthand, to ensure we get every quote right.

Every word they write is checked in local newspaper offices by qualified, senior experts and if we do make a genuine mistake, you can contact us immediately - we are real people, locally based, living in our shared communities. We're not some digital algorithm.

We are passionate and exquisitely professional about the way in which we hold decision makers to account, represent our home towns, and provide news and information that is suitable for whole families.

We are honest brokers of local information, upholding the values that you share with us, seeking always to do the right thing no matter how difficult that can sometimes be in fast changing times.

That all costs money. When you buy our paper or advertise with us you are supporting the very journalism and quality that keeps integrity at the heart of all we do.

We make a real difference.

In the past year alone, the campaigns run by local newspapers have highlighted threats to hospitals and in one specific case a serious failing in a local authority's children's services.

Another investigation led to the revelation of allegations of child abuse among drivers working for a council.

Many local newspapers have been in existence for a century or more. They have often been the single catalyst for social change. At heart, they are the conscience of a community and the defender of its truth.

Our title piece is a hall mark for our core value.

With pride, we provide trusted news and honest advertisement platforms and thanks to the tireless diligence of our editorial staff you can be confident that our stories are always exactly what they purport to be: the genuine article. Fact - not fake.

Daventry is ready to ‘go green’ this Saturday as the Macmillan Cancer Support group takes over the town for the day.

There is a full day of events for all the family planned, from face painting to dance and yoga classes to live music and sport.

Shops in Daventry town centre will be decorating their stores and collecting for the charity while volunteer collectors will be out and about on the streets.

There will also be a Macmillan awareness stand outside the DACT shop near the bus station where people will be able to get more information about cancer support if they need it.

Macmillan regional fundraising manager Ellen Finn said she is delighted and amazed by the response from the town which, she hopes, will create a real community spirit.

The day kicks off with a YogaSenses class at the Band Hall from 9am, one of a series of themed classes being run all week.

For families with ‘green fingers’ Daventry Town Council is joining in the fun with a Family Planting Day at Daneholme Allotments, from 10.30am to 1.30pm.

Also suitable for younger members of the family is the face painting which will be taking place at the top of Sheaf Street (by the Post Office) from 10.30am. Macmillan mascot Muggy is expected to drop in for a visit.

While in Sheaf Street, why not visit one of the many local businesses supporting the event, such as Classic Cutz which will be offering a glitter tattoo stall and green-themed hair styles in aid of the charity – or enjoy a green-themed beer at Early Doors on Prince William Walk.

Shops across the town will be running special offers and The Salon in Denny Crescent, Headlands is donating takings from all hair and nail sessions booked on the day.

In the afternoon, UCL Division One champions Daventry Town will be playing a special Macmillan Cup match with a barbecue and a sponsored back wax – kick off is at 2pm.

Then there’s live music at local bar Chasers in New Street. The music will start with an outside bar from 3pm, then vocalist Aday is live from 7pm to 9pm.

Local dance centre of excellence Academy No1 is staging an afternoon dance performance and taster session at the Daventry Community Centre in Ashby Road from 2pm to 4pm. Tickets will be available on the door.

Finally the highlight of the day will be the evening’s fun-filled big band concert by Eric Darlington and the John Cleveland Band at the iCon, sponsored by local specialist driver recruitment firm, Driver Require.

Expect swing sounds from some of the musical greats including James Last, ABBA, Glenn Miller and other stage and screen classics.

Refreshments will be available from the iCon Café from 6pm with the concert starting at 7.30pm.

Tickets will be available on the door.

You can text donate during the day by texting ‘MACD52 £(amount)’ to 70070 and a round-up of the main events on the Macmillan takeover day can be found on the dedicated Facebook events page.

But the artist, who has also spray-painted the famous chicken in other locations such as London and Dubai, has confirmed that she is happy to repaint the much-loved artwork situated on the A45 if Harpole Parish Council gives her the green light.

One resident is even supporting the reinstatement of the Binty chicken on the bus stop at the Harpole Turn and is asking for people to email in their objections so they can be voiced at the next parish council meeting.

The artist known as Binty said: "I feel sad but I was more shocked that so many people commented [on Facebook]. I would love to paint over it again.

"I have children and I want to paint stuff to make people smile and spread happiness."

The artist, who wishes to remain anonymous, drew a chicken one night - with wellies on - and, after gaining her daughters' approval, decided that she would paint the chicken to showcase her talents.

Since the paint job, over 500 residents have taken to social media to voice their disapproval.

On Facebook Adele Harding said: "Harpole people all want it, so if we are happy to see it, then leave it alone, please. It's something happy and quirky to talk about for once."

A spokesman for Harpole Parish Council said: "The bus shelter is the responsibility of Harpole Parish Council and a situation developed whereby the cleaners were having to deal with the after-effects of people urinating and defecating in the shelter.

"The parish council felt that best way to combat this was to open out the shelters and resolved that the front curtain walls be removed. At the same time, windows were installed - which effectively removed the chicken. This work took place in December 2016, so the chicken hasn't been visible since then.

"The parish council subsequently resolved that the shelters should be painted, and also given an anti-graffiti glaze. The issue will be further discussed at Harpole Parish Council's next meeting on May 8."

All objections can be sent to Sarah Billings at bintybusstop@gmail.com.

Today we join a nationwide campaign supported by the newspaper industry to fight fake news and are urging readers to get involved.

Our Fighting Fake News campaign is aimed at reminding readers and website users about the importance of our brands in bringing you trusted news.

In a world where misinformation and unsubstantiated facts and stories can be published to huge audiences via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, with no regulation, our brands have a long and proud history of bringing you well researched and accurate journalism.

Throughout the campaign, we will be asking readers and advertisers to support us in delivering this message and to get involved in learning about how we carry out our trade.

Next week, we will be staging an Interactive Day, where we will open many of our newsrooms to our readers through our digital platforms.

We will showcase what our journalists do every day, we will invite readers to ask us questions about how we go about our jobs and ask you to take part in a Q&A session with some of our senior journalists.

Our campaign will also open out our journalists to check stories you may have heard about. Fact not Fiction will run throughout the campaign offering our readers the opportunity to ask our journalists to check out stories for them.

We will be talking to the business community and senior people in our communities to ask them to say why they value the trusted news service we deliver every day.

Our plea to you today is to support this campaign, support local journalism which is under constant threat from unregulated, free and inferior content providers and to get involved with your local newspaper and website publisher.

Now that the warm (er) weather is threatening to show its face, plenty of Britons are rolling up their sleeves to do what they do best - DIY.

The industry is worth hundreds of millions of pounds each year, thanks to the hordes who traipse up the concrete aisles of vast warehouse units on industrial estates in search of the perfect replacement door handle or, if you are particularly daring, ornate coving for the living room.

While our lives have changed dramatically over the past two decades thanks to busy young nerds in the Silicon Valley, many homeowners are still more than happy to plane an inch off a door to accommodate a freshly laid shag pile when we could be Facetiming grandma.

But it appears that our love affair with the extendable paint roller could be on the wane after a new study revealed that younger men are just as likely to don a pinny and knock out a score of hot fairy cakes than they are to clean out the guttering.

Apparently only a quarter of men under 34 feel confident enough to tackle standard DIY, compared to half of those over 65. And while there will be some who will point to the findings as further evidence that Millennials are hopeless cases who couldn’t find their backsides with both hands, I actually take heart from it.

I get a perverse sense of pride in the fact that I am officially useless when it comes to anything which involves hammers, saws and those pointy things used tighten household appliances (I believe they are called screwdrivers). Fixing stuff in our house either involves Mrs Tapp digging out the toolbox which some clown bought me a decade ago or a mercy mission from my long suffering father-in-law. I really have no shame.

It is not that I haven’t made any attempts to discover my inner Nick Knowles as I once managed to erect a single fence post at a former home. That it took me eight hours and an entire bag of cement is further evidence for the prosecution.

I have long since stop caring that I always score very badly on those ‘how many of these simple DIY tasks can you do?’ quizzes which pop up in magazines and newspapers every couple of years.

I refuse to blush at the fact that I haven’t got a clue how to change a plug and it isn’t uncommon for flatpacked furniture to stay, unpacked, in its box for so long in our house that it becomes a conversation piece.

I used to bleed the radiators at home until I managed to cause a flood of near biblical proportions and left us without central heating during the middle of a December cold snap.

I am not ashamed to admit my eyes glaze over when my handier peers discuss the challenges of wallpapering or the vagaries of fitting a stud wall. The way I see it, I am helping to keep the tradesmen of the land in business with my inability to tell one end of a claw hammer from the other.

If I am being honest, I am quite glad that younger generations would rather be slaving over the hob than fixing the flat roof because it might just mean that chaps like me be seen as the Alpha Male one day. Possibly.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage

2) Like our Facebook page

3) Follow us on Twitter

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

Always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.

The Conservatives will bring back one of their most successful election poster campaigns as they claim Jeremy Corbyn would inflict a tax “bombshell” on families today. It will launch a new poster with the slogan “Corbyn: No Bombs for our Army, One big bombshell for your family”.

The poster harks back to the Conservatives’ “Labour’s Tax Bombshell” poster that was a mainstay of its 1992 General Election campaign.

Along with its “Double Whammy” poster, it was credited with helping the Conservatives to a surprise win that year.

Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davies said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s nonsensical and irresponsible ideas pose a grave risk to the future of Britain’s economy and the finances of every family in the country. His many, ill-thought through promises simply don’t stack up and could not be paid for.

“The damage this bombshell would do to the country’s finances if Corbyn’s coalition of chaos were given the keys to Downing Street would be disastrous.”

A Labour Party spokesman said: “This is yet more nonsense from a Tory campaign that’s all slogan and no substance. It’s the latest desperate attempt to distance themselves from their failures and to distract from the fact that they’ve not ruled out hitting those on lower and middle incomes with further tax increases.

“Their false claims about Labour’s plans in this campaign haven’t been worth the paper they’ve been printed on; they’ve fallen apart before the ink has dried on their latest press release. This will no doubt be no different with more claims that can’t be backed up and misrepresentations of the truth.

“Labour’s policies are fully-costed and properly paid for. Our plans will be set out in our manifesto.”

Seven fire stations and 40 firefighters were called to Martins Yard, off Spencer Bridge Road, Northampton, to fight a blaze that broke out in a diesel train's engine bay.

The train was reportedly carrying around 300 passengers who were on a day trip to Windsor from Holyhead and are now stranded 'with no prospect of moving anytime soon'.

John Stower, from Chester, is onboard the West Coast Rail Tours train. He said: "We were near Nuneaton when we had to stop. The conductors said there was a fault, but then we got moving again and they said it was fixed.

"Then someone noticed quite a lot of smoke pouring from the train."

All train lines between Northampton and Rugby have been blocked as the fire brigade deal with the incident, London Midland has confirmed in a tweet.

London Midland tweeted: "Road transport has been arranged from Rugby, Northampton and Milton Keynes.

"We apologise for any inconvenience."

Mr Stower said: "We've been stuck on board for over two hours now. We've been given free tea and everyone is having a laugh about it. It's just one of those things.

"I think we'll just go home after this."

Passengers can use their London Midland train tickets on Virgin services from London Euston to Birmingham with the company providing road transport between Rugby, Northampton and Milton Keynes. ALso, East midlands trains are accepting London Midland tickets on services between Wellingborough and London.

Daventry Town Football Club will hold an annual general meeting tomorrow night.

The club has had a successful season, the first under the new committee currently overseeing the running of Town, after winning the UCL Division 1 with a new management and playing staff.

Steve Tubb, DTFC’s chairman, has felt it was an appropriate time to call the AGM and he has personally invited everyone along to the meeting which will take place at the clubhouse from 7.30pm onwards.

“It goes without saying that volunteers play a vital part in the clubs success,” said Mr Tubb.

“Unlike the previous chairman I haven’t got bottomless pockets. Having lived in Daventry for nearly 50 years I think it would be a tragedy if what we have at Browns Road is lost for the children of tomorrow.

“Since taking over, strides have been made in making the club sustainable and able to stand on its own two feet.”

Next season will see around 20 teams, including a veterans side, the newly formed girls team and the ever-increasing juniors, compete in Town’s colours.

A Long Buckby choir has raised hundreds of pounds for their chosen charities.

This year members of Elation Community Voices singled out Cynthia Spencer Hospice and Danetre Palliative Care Unit for support.

At a coffee morning on April 22 the contemporary choir’s chairman Tim Burditt and vice-chairman Helen Bab presented Arthur Pritchett from Friends of Danetre and Louise Danielczuk from Cynthia Spencer Hospice with a cheque for £700.

This year Elation are aiming to raise £2,500 to name their own guide dog puppy.

The choir members decided on this charity as two of the members are guide dog owners and they have seen for themselves what a difference the animals make to a visually impaired person’s life.

The Mayor of Northampton and his guide dog Verity attended a coffee morning at the Baptist Church which raised £777 towards the group’s goal.

For more information about the concerts for this year and other coffee mornings or to join the choir, see http://www.elationcommunityvoices.com/ their Facebook page or to donate online http://www.justgiving.com/elationcommunityvoices.

Daventry District Council is reminding voters in the district what they need to know to have their say in the upcoming local elections.

Residents will go to the polls on May 4to vote in the Northamptonshire County Council elections.

A by-election to elect a Daventry District Councillor for Long Buckby Ward (also covering Long Buckby Wharf, Guilsborough, Watford and West Haddon) is also taking place.

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm and residents should have received a card with details of their local polling station.

You can check your polling station online by inputting your postcode at http://mapping.daventrydc.gov.uk.

When voting at a polling station, it is helpful to have your polling card with you, but if you don’t have it you can still vote.

The only exception to this rule is anonymous electors, who must present their poll cards in order to vote.

Polling station staff will give people ballot papers for the county council elections and voters in Long Buckby Ward will also receive a ballot paper for the by-election.

Staff will not be able to give people ballot papers if they arrive at after 10pm.

Counting of the votes in the Long Buckby by-election will take place overnight and the result will be published via the district council’s webiste, Twitter and Facebook accounts once declared.

The county council count will take place at Kettering Conference Centre from 2pm tomorrow (Friday) and the results will be announced on www.daventryexpress.co.uk as they are declared.

A Daventry pensioner will be a guest at a special ceremony in honour of those who lost their lives in one of history’s most significant battles.

July 31 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Third Battle of Ypres which saw more than half a million First World War soldiers perish.

Martin Fryatt, 65, of The Grange, will attend the ceremony – organised by the Government – along with 4,000 other guests as a result of his grandfather, Arthur Dennis, being wounded in the conflict a century ago in Broodenseinde near Ypres, in Belgium.

But since being invited to attend Mr Fryatt has discovered that his family ties to the war extend to his wounded grandfather’s brother, and three Australian great uncles all buried within miles of each other in the French department of the Somme, 150km from Ypres.

“I’m really looking forward to attending the ceremony,” said Mr Fryatt.

“I’m absolutely staggered that I’ve come across all these other family members I had no idea about.

“To think that I found grandad’s brother who died in the war, and I’m going to be there 100 years to the day when he was buried is quite emotional really.”

Mr Fryatt, a former chauffeur and taxi driver, was prompted to apply to attend the service after hearing about the event late at night on the radio.

After his place was confirmed following a ballot and buoyed by the news, Mr Fryatt began researching his ancestry, discovering that other family members had died in combat on the Western Front.

“Since originally setting out on this quest I have come across a distant cousin, Brian, in Australia and as a result of our collaboration found my great-uncle Charles’ grave in Somme,” said Mr Fryatt.

“When I realised through Brian that I have three great-uncles buried within no more than eight miles of each other I thought I had to take a separate trip to visit their graves.”

Mr Wyatt intends to pay his respects to all great-uncles Horace, Audley and Darcy Dennis, and his grandfather’s brother Arthur by visiting each of their graves to lay wreaths.

First he will spend five days in France visiting the cemeteries before heading to Ypres two weeks later for the commemorative ceremony.

While in mourning attire, Mr Fryatt will wear the three medals awarded to his grandfather Arthur for his service, as well as the silver badge given to him for the injuries he sustained in combat.

He will also display the joint medals received by his parents.

At about 9am on Thursday, April 27, a delivery driver drove a red van along Warwick Street and across the cross roads to Staverton Road by the fire and ambulance station, across the path of a dark-coloured 4x4 vehicle.

The driver of the 4x4 followed the van, pulled up next to it and shouted racist insults while driving down Staverton Road.

The delivery driver then drove into Western Avenue where the 4x4 pulled in front, braked and reversed into the front of the van causing damage, before driving off towards the Shell Garage.

"The driver of the 4x4 is described as a white man in his mid 20s," Northamptonshire Police today revealed.

Witnesses can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The incident happened at around 1.30pm on Sunday, April 30 in The Inlands, Northamptonshire Police today revealed.

The offender then left the scene with another female.

A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Police said: "The suspect is described as white, around 16 years of age, ‘tom-boyish’ cropped hair and wearing a baseball cap."

Anyone with information can contact Northamptonshire Police on 101. Alternatively, they can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Jonquil Lowe is Senior lecturer in economics and personal finance at The Open University.

In the last Prime Minister’s Questions before the 2017 general election, Theresa May refused to guarantee the “triple lock” policy that guarantees pensions will rise in line with inflation, earnings or 2.5% – whichever is highest. It’s a contentious issue, as pensions make up a the biggest portion of the nation’s welfare budget.

It’s also a highly important issue for older voters, the section of the electorate that is most likely to turn out and vote. The fact that the Labour Party has committed to keeping the triple lock puts the Conservatives in a tricky position.

Yet the triple lock has faced criticism from a number of pensions experts. Critics say that the way these increases have been calculated is beginning to look overly generous and needs to change. To understand this fully, it’s necessary to consider why it was brought in and how much it costs.

Most people in the UK qualify for a state pension in later life. If you reached your state pension age before April 6 2016, your pension may have two parts: a basic pension (maximum £122.30 a week in 2017-18) and an additional pension linked to your previous earnings. If you reach state pension age on or after that date, you get the new “flat-rate” state pension (maximum £159.55 a week). This is higher than the old basic pension but the additional pension is abolished for these newer pensioners. However, under transitional rules, you might get extra – called a “protected payment” – reflecting some additional pension you had built up before April 6 2016 under the old system.

The additional pension and any protected payment are increased each year in line with price inflation to protect their buying power. But, since 2011, the basic state pension and the new state pension have been increased each year by whatever is highest out of price inflation, earnings inflation or 2.5% (the triple lock).

A see-saw of policies

The three strands of the triple lock have been around for a long time, but it was the 2010 coalition government that united them, following a commitment in the Liberal Democrat manifesto.

The chart shows the basic state pension and, from 2016, the new state pension as a proportion of the average earnings of the working population. The different colours indicate the basis used to increase pensions each year. The chart shows how policy see-saws between protecting pensioner incomes and containing cost.

Back in the 1970s, when the basic pension was worth around a third of average earnings, it was increased each year by the greater of the change in prices or earnings. The earnings link ensured that pensioners’ living standards would not fall behind those of the working population, given that historically earnings have tended to rise faster than prices.

The earnings-link was deemed unaffordable and scrapped in 1979 by Margaret Thatcher’s government. Even though the basic pension increased with prices over the next couple of decades, as the chart shows, its value fell consistently relative to workers’ incomes and, by the early 2000s, was worth only around a fifth of average earnings. Although the principle of maintaining the buying power of the state pension was met, by this time the UK was in a low inflation era, so the pounds-and-pence increases seemed meagre. This caused outrage in 2000 when the basic pension rose by just 75p a week.

In response, the then Labour government introduced a new guarantee that, from 2003, the basic pension would increase each year by at least 2.5%, even if inflation were lower. Subsequently, Labour committed to reintroducing the link to earnings at a future date, expected to be 2012. Events overtook Labour, but the coalition government not only restored the link to earnings – it also retained the 2.5% minimum annual increase, creating the triple lock.

The triple lock applies to both the basic pension that pre-April-2016 pensioners are getting (the yellow line) and the higher flat-rate pension that more recent pensioners receive (the blue line).

All change again?

As the chart shows, the 2.5% minimum guarantee and the triple lock have together started to reverse the decline in the basic state pension relative to earnings, though it remains historically low. However, the new flat-rate pension is worth more than 30% of average earnings, restoring the level of the 1970s. If the triple lock were to continue indefinitely, the State Pension would over time tend to increase further relative to earnings.

This makes the triple lock policy controversial. Pensioners are being guaranteed increases that at least match and may exceed inflation, while state benefits for people of working age are frozen and earnings have, until recently, been stagnant. Meanwhile, OBR forecasts show the cost of the triple lock rising over time and experts, such as former pensions minister, Baroness Altmann, claim it will become unaffordable.

The triple lock has never been written into legislation. The current statutory commitment is to increase both the basic state pension and the new flat-rate pension at least in line with earnings, but even that could be up for change. There is a range of proposals on the table – for example, removing the 2.5% guarantee to leave a double-lock, linking only to earnings (possibly averaged over several years to smooth out ups and downs) or reverting just to price indexation. For pensioners, the see-saw may be on a down-stroke once again.

This article was originally published on theconversation.com

Based on TripAdvisor's top-rated eateries in Northamptonshire, we'd love to see which one comes out on top.

Voting using our fun Playbuzz poll couldn't be easier and requires only a click to register your vote. There's no prize, only the satisfaction of helping your local cafe take the unofficial title of best in Northants!

It comes as the annual search for Britain's Best Cafe, organised by SIG Roofing in St James, is launched.

Votes for the national title will be counted at the end of September this year – when 14 regional winners will be announced - with winner being announced in November.

Manager, Ashley Fulthorpe said: “We think our customers and the contractors who use the local cafes every day are ideal to judge which cafe is Britain’s best.

"They work hard, start early and are always on the lookout for a cafe with great food, cheerful and friendly staff, however, we want everyone to join in the fun and that’s why we open up the voting to the local community.”

Cafe premises will be provided with posters, voting forms and other merchandise to help them on their way to winning, and the campaign aims to show how local communities appreciate the cafes and their tasty food.

Britain’s Best Cafe will be decided by public acclaim and later this year all the winners will be invited to share in an awards ceremony, at a prestigious London venue.

Then the overall winner and their partner will be on their way to the Caribbean island of Cuba for an amazing 7-day holiday, where they can enjoy some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and sample local delicacies.

Anyone who wishes to vote can pledge their support from July, 17 anyone wishing to support their local favourite cafe can visit the nearest SIG Roofing branch or vote online at www.britainsbestcafe.co.uk.

You may well have skipped straight past some of the centrefolds in the Chron over the past month or so.

And you wouldn’t be alone, surveys suggest.

Said centrefolds have concentrated on the Northamptonshire County Council elections, which unless you have been on another planet for the past fortnight, have been somewhat superseded by the announcement of a snap General Election 30-odd days later.

Even without Theresa May’s shock announcement, a double-page spread on potholes, care homes or unitary authorities has long been a challenge for the parochial journalist.

Coupled with that, a YouGov survey from 2011 found 79 per cent of people in the East Midlands could not even name a single councillor on their local authority.

And yet the stuff that really makes a difference to day-to-day life here in Northamptonshire is dictated by the county council.

Annoyed at the street light out on your road? That’s the county council.

Annoyed at the children’s centre closing, the library opening hours, parking fines, the huge bypass being built by your back garden, bus services, dementia cafes? The county council.

People often say to me - and regularly take to our Facebook page to say - “what does it matter? The politicians won’t listen anyway”.

Well today they have your attention.

Today, May 4, you can vote in the county council elections.

If you care about the place you live in, if you care about the people that live in it, don’t squander it.

Download our app by clicking here to download from Google Play or clicking here to download from Apple’s App Store.

Firefighters in Northamptonshire will be asked to consider taking industrial action at an emergency meeting this morning, after it emerged up to 25 frontline staff could be cut by January 2018.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is set to host a summit of members at Moulton Fire Station this morning after the plans came to light last week.

Senior union reps were called into a “duty review” to discuss ways the fire service could save £500,000 in this financial year.

The first proposal fire and rescue chiefs have floated is to cut between 20 and 25 full-time posts and reduce the number of firefighters on a crewed fire engine from five to four.

But Ben Muddle, secretary of the Northamptonshire FBU branch, believes this flies in the face of the way staff are trained - and national safety guidance.

The union members will be asked to consider holding a ballot for industrial action at this morning’s summit, the Chronicle & Echo can reveal.

Mr Muddle said: “All of our training is geared towards having a crew of five.

“Now we are moving to a situation where that crew of five is almost impossible to achieve.

“What we are going to see is breathing apparatus teams being deployed into hazardous areas - but without the correct level of control measures on too many occasions.”

Mr Muddle says that, by riding a fire engine with just four firefighters, the crew will have to attend dangerous incidents without a dedicated Breathing Apparatus Entry Control Officer (BAECO).

These officers effectively monitor the firefighters sent into buildings to check whether they are breathing correctly, how much oxygen they have left - even whether they have become trapped.

Government guidance issued in 2009 stated that the role was “essential to the safe control and support of breathing apparatus operations”.

The fire service saw 12 full-time firefighters cut at the start of April as part of the county council’s Community Protection Plan, which details ways of cutting a further £1.5 million from the service between now and 2020.

The blue light services’ total budget is just over £20 million.

Those staff cuts were made by axing the full-time crew of the Technical Rescue Vehicle sent out to major traffic collisions.

The county council also aims to save £300,000 by setting up a single joint fire control room serving Northamptonshire and Warwickshire.

Though one control room worker told the Chron there could be as many as nine job losses from each.

Mr Muddle said that losing between 20 and 25 more firefighters would bring the service in Northamptonshire to the “brink of collapse”.

He said: “We believe that the imposed crewing levels of four as a blanket planning assumption will put firefighters and the communities in some areas of Northamptonshire and surrounding counties at unnecessary additional risk.”

Mr Muddle has sent a lengthy letter to the chief executive of Northamptonshire County Council, Paul Blantern detailing members’ concerns.

However, the county council said yesterday it could not comment on the FBU’s concerns as it was still in the local election campaign period.

Andre Gonzalez De Savage, the Conservative cabinet member with responsibility for the fire and rescue service in Northamptonshire when the Community Protection Plan was drawn up, also declined to comment due to the ongoing nature of the review.

The results for the election will not be known until later today (Friday, May 5).

A cabinet report from February this year shows the county council needs to save a further £1.5 million from the fire service by 2020 and much of the Community Protection Plan shows plans to achieve this by working closer with Northamptonshire Police.

Download our app by clicking here to download from Google Play or clicking here to download from Apple’s App Store.

A Daventry man competing in his 11th London Marathon dressed as Batman earned himself some time in the spotlight when he was interviewed live on television for the BBC.

Glen Frank, of Wilson Close, has raised nearly £20,000 for the charity Sense over the years and, coupled with his race costume, has led to him being dubbed a local superhero.

He now prepares for the Sydney Marathon in September this year having previously completed the Paris Marathon, Great North Run and South African Comrades Marathon in years gone by.

Glen has dedicated his running efforts to his late father who passed away in September last year and anyone wishing to donate can do so here.

A small village primary school explored some big questions last month when it installed a ‘prayer space’ for its pupils.

Children from Greatworth Primary School, near Brackley, were given the opportunity to meditate in the stillness of the space and reflect on some important life questions and world issues.

The young pupils were invited to empathise with the plight of refugees from war-torn countries and those affected by famine, and were asked to share their hopes and worries for the future.

They were also encouraged to think about ways in which to say sorry and deal with day-to-day anger and worries.

One Year 5 pupil from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School said: “Today, I found this space helped me. I let all my anger out. I was calm and I am not calm very often.

“Every day now I will let all my anger and stress out. Thank you for a lovely day.”

The prayer room was decorated with canopies, twinkling lights and glittering bubbles to create a peaceful environment and it was opened up to pupils from five other local primary schools.

A variety of items were placed in the room – beads, paints and pebbles – to help the children focus on the issues they were asked to reflect on.

Kian, a Year 2 pupil at Greatworth Primary, described his experience. He said: “We went to the music room and it was different because there were two little tents inside.

“There were two types of paints to put your fingers in: you put your finger in one then the other and do it again and again.

“These made me think I was special and unique. Next I had to think about the people that don’t have food at all, so I wrote on a plate: anger, starving and sad.”

Other children spoke of feeling both excited and nervous before entering the prayer space, but said they later felt calm after spending time there.

Greatworth Primary has since declared the ‘prayer space’ project a resounding success and it has launched the school’s topic on British Values. Later this term, the pupils will find out about the diverse ways British people worship on a ‘Faith Tour’.