The travellers have been in the town for more than a week and have spent time in Daventry Country Park, Danesholme Park, The Hollows and in Fishponds Park.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: “An encampment of travellers in Fish Ponds Park, Daventry, were served with a Section 61 Notice to leave by police yesterday.

“Yesterday evening they moved to The Hollows area of public open space in the town.

“Assessments are now being carried out to determine what action should be taken.”

A couple in Long Buckby have celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary and marked the occasion with a family celebration and a card from the Queen.

Peter and Joyce Bristow met at a dance in Long Buckby's co-op hall and later married in the village's church on June 19, 1948.

The happy couple has four sons - Scott, Martyn, Geoffrey and Chris - all of whom joined their parents and other family and friends at the 70th wedding anniversary party on Sunday.

"About 100 people from the area were there," said 91-year-old Joyce, recalling her wedding day.

"It was a small, tight-knit community - we knew everyone.

"There were quite a few relatives that came too from London and Colchester.

"Afterwards we had a reception at what used to be called the Muddy Men's Cafe."

Peter, 93, was recently awarded a Legion d'Honneur by the French government for his work in the Navy in the lead up to D-Day.

After rising up to the able seaman rank, the Pitsford man left the Navy (he joined aged 17) and became a sheet metal worker for Jaguar.

Joyce fulfilled her ambitions by becoming a social worker after studying social services at college.

She spent 18 years in the profession and before that volunteered as a nurse for Red Cross and worked in a shoe factory in Northampton during the war.

"When we got married the idea was you get married and you have children," said Joyce, who was born in Northampton.

"We had four sons and I thought 'well if I can't do anything else I'll make the best of that'.

"We have had a full life."

The Bristows were both in agreement as to what the secret to a long marriage is.

"It's patience, on both sides," they concurred.

The public consultation into the future unitary councils for Northamptonshire is costing county residents at least £155,000.

The Future Northants consultation was launched last week and the eight Northamptonshire councils are seeking people’s views on the proposals for two unitary authorities to come into place in Northamptonshire for May 2020.

One will serve about 402,000 residents in the west of the county and the other will provides services for about 340,000 residents in the north of the county.

The governance restructure is being imposed on the county following a damning Government inspection of Northamptonshire County Council.

After its findings the then Secretary of State for Local Government Savid Javid said the current two tier system in Northamptonshire had to change.

A joint statement released on behalf of the eight councils states: “To ensure the rigour of this process, we have commissioned an independent research company, ORS, to carry out this work on our behalf.

“This work includes online and paper questionnaires, focus groups, representative telephone surveys and stakeholder workshops, so that a thorough range of views can be collected, analysed and fed into the decision-making process.

“A total of £155,000 has been budgeted for this consultation work by ORS.

“There may be other ancillary costs and so the full cost of the consultation will not be known until after the end of the process. Total costs will be divided equally between all eight councils.”

The authorities are also paying PricewaterhouseCoopers to help put together the bid.

The chief executives and elected leaders of all of the eight councils are meeting regularly to thrash out the details of the proposal.

They have until August 31 to put in the bid to central government. Residents have until July 22 to have their say.

The cost of the transition to unitaries has been estimated by the authorities as £22m. They hope that the figure will be reclaimed in savings in the first three years of the running.

Visit www.futurenorthants.gov.uk to take part in the consultation.

Four of the 21 Northamptonshire libraries under threat of closure have not had a community group or organisation come forward to save them.

Yesterday (June 25) was the deadline for independent groups to put forward bids to run the libraries which Northamptonshire County Council has said it can no longer afford to run.

Finedon library in Berry Green Road, Wollaston library in Newton Street, Far Cotton in Towcester Road, Northampton, and St James library in St James Road, Northampton, have not had any takers.

The closure of the libraries is subject to a judicial review which is expected to be heard at the high court next month (July).

The county council decided last week (June 21) that it will not permanently close any of the threatened libraries until after the high court judge has ruled.

Seven of the 21 threatened libraries have two takeover bids from different groups.

A Northamptonshire County Council spokesman said: “There were four libraries for which we received no expressions of interest by the deadline. These are Far Cotton, Finedon, St James and Wollaston.

“In respect of the libraries that did receive one or more expression of interest, we will working closely with the interested parties to progress their proposals.”

The review process in which organisations have been asked to put forward their business case has been criticised by campaigners and councillors.

Local politicians from the ruling Conservative administration have also been critical of the cabinet and the officers who  led the review have been condemned for the high hurdles they have put in the way of volunteers offering to take over the libraries.

The county council owns 12 of the under-threat libraries and could make £3.25m if the buildings are bought by community groups or sold off to other companies. 

NCC was asking for £35,000 annual rent from an independent group to run the Far Cotton library.

The authority pays just £1 a year to rent the library from Northampton borough council.

NCC is also asking for £195,000 from Irchester Parish Council to buy the library.

The council acquired the library free of charge in the 1960s. It was built by Andrew Carnegie in the early 1900s as a gift to the parish.

A new headteacher has been appointed at Daventry's Parker E-ACT Academy.

Bhavin Tailor was appointed last month and he replaces Andrew Mackereth who was headteacher on an interim basis while serving as regional education director for Daventry.

Mr Tailor joins from West Walsall E-ACT Academy where he was the deputy headteacher in charge of standards and achievement.

An E-ACT spokesperson said: "We are delighted that Mr Bhavin Tailor has been appointed the interim headteacher of The Parker E-ACT Academy.

"Mr Tailor takes over from the previous headteacher who was seconded to the role on an interim basis.

"Under Mr Tailor’s leadership, we have every confidence that our students’ achievements will continue to be built upon."

He will take up the role on a full-time basis from July 2 after splitting his time between Parker and West Walsall.

In a letter to parents on May 25 announcing the appointment, Joanna Hall, E-ACT's regional education director for the Midlands, said: "Under Mr Tailor's leadership, we have every confidence that our strudents' achievements will continue to be built upon.

"He brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise of raising standards and improving outcomes, and an in-depth knowledge of the community that the Parker E-ACT Academy serves."

Parker Academy's latest Ofsted report found the school had failed to improve on its 'requires improvement' rating.

Plans to build 60 houses next to a fire-ravaged former stately home on the outskirts of Northampton have been criticised as a ‘Trojan horse’ to enable an unwanted flats scheme.

Barry Howard Homes has applied to build the estate on the Church Farm Fields site, which forms part of Overstone Hall’s historic parkland.

The homes will act as an 'enabling development' to effectively fund a restoration of the derelict hall and convert it into flats.

But the Overstone RUINED action group says villagers do not want the homes and do not want the stately home to sit for years with scaffolding around it during a lengthy renovation.

Developer Mr Howard, on the other hand, says the restoration project of a grade II listed building is of 'national importance' that he says will not become a white elephant.

“The current application is about a third of the area they originally wanted to develop,” said chairman of Overstone RUINED Steve Betts, who has gathered 600 names on a petition now.

“If this 60 home scheme is approved it will open the door for Barry Howard to build more homes in Overstone.

“This application is a Trojan horse - it’s the thin end of the wedge.”

The Victorian-era stately home was gutted by fire in 2001 and has stood as an empty shell since.

The developers - who bought the hall in 2016 - are offering to put forward £4 million of profits from the development towards renovating the hall itself.

However, another £16 million must be found to complete the job, according to planning papers submitted to Daventry District Council - which would only be achieved by building a further 250 homes, Mr Howard says.

Mr Howard says the extra homes will not be built in the land surrounding Overstone Hall.

But several residents in Ovestone have recently been sent letters by the developers asking whether they would be willing to sell any land that could built upon.

Mr Betts says there is a real fear the hall will remain part-renovated for years to come as the developers try to drum up enough capital to finish the job.

“Essentially Overstone could be left with a hall covered in tarpaulin and scaffolding, with absolutely no guarantees the renovation would ever be completed,” he said.

“A white elephant in all but name.”

Mr Betts also says that residents do not want the old hall to be renovated.

The building was despised by its commissioner Lord Overstone, who labelled the building an “unmitigated disappointment” back in 1864.

Mr Betts added: “I have yet to meet any Overstone resident who places any scenic, historic, or functional value in Overstone Hall.”

Homes developer Mr Howard said his company were working closely with officers at Daventry District Council to "achieve full restoration of Overstone Hall, which is now extensively dilapidated following the major fire in 2001."

He added: "Overstone Hall is a Grade II listed building and is a heritage asset for the nation for which there is a statutory duty to have special regard to preservation.

"National planning policy urges local planning authorities to assess whether the benefits of new development to provide financial resources towards the future conservation of the asset outweigh the disbenefits - including conflicts with the development plan.

"This proposal is the first phase of enabling development which will enable the long-awaited restoration of the Hall to commence.

"The 60 dwellings will, in essence, be associated with Phase 1 of the restoration. Preserving, protecting and stabilising the hall. Thus preventing any more opportunity for Overstone Hall to deteriorate unnecessarily and complying with National Policy.

"We are working proactively with DDC (daventry District Council) to identify further land to complete the full restoration of the hall as laid out in the planning applications.

"No further housing development to contribute to the restoration of the Hall will take place around Overstone Hall. That will be protected by a legal agreement."

Councillors are set to agree next week to approve the demolition of flats at the police headquarters in Wootton Hall Park to build a £200 million new school.

The flats, in Mereway, will be replaced by a three-storey building to accommodate a primary and secondary school, as well as Sixth Form students, if it is given the green light.

The new building will provide a permanent home for the 120 children already attending Wootton Hall Park School - based in a temporary building next to the police headquarters.

The planning application, by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, would also see the refurbishment of the existing sports pavilion and surrounding land used as school playing fields.

The ‘All-Through School’ would be home to 1,260 pupils aged four to 19 under one roof, with the 8,932 sqm building having primary school accommodation on the eastern side of the building and the secondary school accommodation located in the centre.

A substantial demand for places at the school means it is currently oversubscribed with a waiting list of more than 100 children for 2018-2019.

The new school would have 270 parking spaces, 50 of which would be on the northern part of the site while 220 would be in Wootton Hall Park in a redevelopment of the existing car park for the pavilion building.

Plans are also included for three football pitches and two multi-use game areas for students near the pavilion.

Three objections have been submitted by residents, although a previous application superseded by the current one attracted 12 objections. The main concerns were the current levels of traffic on Mereway, and that the park land would no longer be available to the community.

Planning officers have recommended the scheme is approved next Tuesday (July 3) at the planning committee of Northampton Borough Council, as long as a string of conditions are met.

These include widening the existing road and junction at Wootton Hall Park, building three new pedestrian crossings and extending the shared footway and cycleway.

It will also require a payment from the developers towards highway improvements at the Queen Eleanor roundabout.

Police are appealing for the public’s help to find a missing 14-year-old girl who went missing wearing a black Adidas top and ripped jeans.

Chloe Colton was last seen in Weedon, near Daventry, on Saturday, June 23, wearing a black Adidas top with turquoise stripes, black jeans with rips in them, white Nike trainers and a green Superdry coat.

She was also wearing her hair down and carrying a beige or brown bag.

Police are concerned for her welfare and are urging Chloe to get in touch to let them know she is safe and well.

Chloe, or anyone with any information about where she is, is asked to call Northamptonshire Police on 101.

A local government expert has described the proposal to replace Northamptonshire’s eight councils with two unitary authorities as ‘lunacy’.

Colin Copus, who is a local government lecturer at De Montfort University in Leicester, said the restructuring of local governance in Northants being ordered by central government will not be a solution to the county’s problems.

It is possible that Northamptonshire’s eight councils will be replaced by two large unitaries after former Secretary of State Savid Javid declared in April that the two-tier system had to change following the financial failings of Northamptonshire County Council.

A countywide public consultation is currently being carried out about the two unitary proposal.

Mr Copus said: “It is lunacy to replace the councils with two unitaries.

“This gives the government the ability to say we are dealing with this.

“But the unitaries will be too big.

“If being bigger is better than why did the situation occur at Northamptonshire County Council?”

He added: “The reasoning often put forward for unitaries is that if there are fewer councils it will be cheaper.

“But research over the past 50 years has shown that this is never the outcome.

“The responsibilities to provide the services don’t go away.

“We need financial changes to stop more Northamptonshires happening.

“If you restructure you still have the same problems.

“The solution is to give local government a raft of new financial freedoms.”

The academic said the 40 per cent funding cuts from central government to local governments since 2010 had been part of NCC’s problems along with a number of other issues including mismanagement of budgets.

He said the current funding system for local government which is made up of central government grants, business rates and local council tax levies was also part of the problem.

He said: “We have the narrowest range of funding in Europe and once you turn down the levels as has happened with central government grants then you start to get big problems.

“Northamptonshire may be the first council to reach tipping point but I don’t think it will be the last.”

The eight Northamptonshire councils have until August 31 to submit a joint bid to Secretary of State for Local Government James Brokenshire.

Currently all are saying they will act together and submit a bid for two unitary authorities.

Northamptonshire residents have until July 22 to voice their opinion on the proposed unitary restructure.

Visit www.futurenorthants.co.uk or fill in a paper copy available from libraries and council offices.

Northamptonshire County Council has debts totalling more than £1bn.

The authority, which is being run by commissioners and may not have even balanced its books last year, has revealed the figure in its draft financial reports for 2017/18.

At the end of this financial year on March 31, NCC owed £1,012,258,000 to various different organisations and had a number of higher interest ‘toxic’ LOBO loans in its debt portfolio.

It owes £415,233m to the treasury’s Public Works Loan Board, has £294,700m of non PWLB borrowing, owes £108,132m to short term creditors, £186,965m of long term finance and PFI liability and £7,497m of short term finance and PFI liability.

The authority’s short term borrowing increased by £77m last year as it headed towards its financial D-day in February which resulted in the issue of a 114 notice, warning that it may not be able to balance its books.

A Northamptonshire County Council spokesman said: “Of these liabilities, by far the largest figure relates to the Public Works Loan Board.

“This is the Government body which lends money to local authorities to invest in infrastructure such as schools and roads.

“This has been the principal way to fund such activity since the creation of the PWLB in the 1793.

“The PWLB is part of the UK Debt Management Office which is one of the Her Majesty’s Treasury’s executive agencies.”

According to the accounts the authority has £130m of LOBO loans that have a call-in date within the next 12 months.

LOBO loans are unregulated and have received much criticism in the finance world.

The loans were taken out to meet expenditure on things such as roads, infrastructure and schools.

The PFI liabilities are largely historic and were taken for a number of initiatives such as the Woodale centre in Northampton, residential care homes, and the street lighting scheme partnership with Balfour Beatty.

The authority is currently selling off a number of its assets to put much needed cash into its bank account and has plans to put historic Grade II listed County Hall in Northampton on the market.

According to the draft reports ‘the bottom line is effectively the negative £386m net worth of the organisation’.

This means that the council’s financial liabilities are less than its assets.

Assets are primarily owned buildings and infrastructure.

Last month (May) the council’s chief finance officer Mark McLaughlin, who has only been in post since the start of the year, warned that the council was already behind its schedule for savings and that officers could no longer be expected to perform ‘financial legerdemain’.

Legerdemain means slight of hand or trickery.

The financial woes of the authority mean that more service cuts are on the way and are expected to be announced next week when cabinet reports are made public.

Recent service cuts include a reduction in the winter service.

The authority will be retiring some of its gritting fleet, reducing the amount of the road network it treats and also removing  a large number of grit bins.

The authority also wants to stop looking after 21 of its libraries and is suggesting that independent voluntary groups take them over.

A judical review is to be held next month into the legality of the proposal.

Nearly half the number of social workers that Northamptonshire County Council recruited last year have already left their jobs.

The figures, which highlight the real struggles the authority has in retaining staff, have also revealed the council is having difficulties filling vacancies as well.

Lesley Hagger, director for children, families and education at the council, confirmed the staff retention rates to councillors on the children, learning and communities scrutiny committee yesterday morning (June 27).

It came during a verbal update on Ofsted’s latest findings on children’s services across the county, where the watchdog picked up on the high caseload workers had to deal with.

Councillors were told that the authority had hired 172 social workers last year, but that 82 had already left.

Cabinet member for children, families and education, Councillor Victoria Perry, said: “Our workers are not badly paid compared to other places, but it’s the working environment. We are looking at ways in which to work on that. You don’t go into social working for the money, you do it for the love it.”

In a letter to Mrs Hagger, Ofsted inspector Dawn Godfrey said: “Caseloads remain too high. This is impacting negatively on the quality of practice in some teams, and there is a risk that child in need work is overlooked in those teams.”

Councillors were told that there are around 400 social worker posts, and that there is a current vacancy rate of 23 per cent - although a 3.5 per cent vacancy rate was already worked into the budget.

Mrs Hagger said: “We are right to prioritise reducing caseloads, and the only way to reduce caseloads is to employ more staff to make it manageable.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Stanbra said: “So if we work in the 3.5 vacancy rate, then 19 per cent of the current vacancy rate you would be able to fill if you wanted to? So we’re effectively short of 80 workers because we’re unable to fill those roles?”

Tory councillor Richard Auger added: “If this committee is going to prioritise anything then this is it, it’s fundamental and we need to find a solution.”

The committee also examined the performance of schools and heard that there was also a real shortage of teachers in the county, particularly in science and maths.

Northamptonshire County Council has debts totalling more than £1bn.

The authority, which is being run by commissioners and may not have even balanced its books last year, has revealed the figure in its draft financial reports for 2017/18.

At the end of this financial year on March 31, NCC owed £1,012,258,000 to various different organisations and had a number of higher interest ‘toxic’ LOBO loans in its debt portfolio.

It owes £415,233m to the treasury’s Public Works Loan Board, has £294,700m of non PWLB borrowing, owes £108,132m to short term creditors, £186,965m of long term finance and PFI liability and £7,497m of short term finance and PFI liability.

The authority’s short term borrowing increased by £77m last year as it headed towards its financial D-day in February which resulted in the issue of a 114 notice, warning that it may not be able to balance its books.

A Northamptonshire County Council spokesman said: “Of these liabilities, by far the largest figure relates to the Public Works Loan Board.

“This is the Government body which lends money to local authorities to invest in infrastructure such as schools and roads.

“This has been the principal way to fund such activity since the creation of the PWLB in the 1793.

“The PWLB is part of the UK Debt Management Office which is one of the Her Majesty’s Treasury’s executive agencies.”

According to the accounts the authority has £130m of LOBO loans that have a call-in date within the next 12 months.

LOBO loans are unregulated and have received much criticism in the finance world.

The loans were taken out to meet expenditure on things such as roads, infrastructure and schools.

The PFI liabilities are largely historic and were taken for a number of initiatives such as the Woodale centre in Northampton, residential care homes, and the street lighting scheme partnership with Balfour Beatty.

The authority is currently selling off a number of its assets to put much needed cash into its bank account and has plans to put historic Grade II listed County Hall in Northampton on the market.

According to the draft reports ‘the bottom line is effectively the negative £386m net worth of the organisation’.

This means that the council’s financial liabilities are more than its assets.

Assets are primarily owned buildings and infrastructure.

Last month (May) the council’s chief finance officer Mark McLaughlin, who has only been in post since the start of the year, warned that the council was already behind its schedule for savings and that officers could no longer be expected to perform ‘financial legerdemain’.

Legerdemain means slight of hand or trickery.

The financial woes of the authority mean that more service cuts are on the way and are expected to be announced next week when cabinet reports are made public.

Recent service cuts include a reduction in the winter service.

The authority will be retiring some of its gritting fleet, reducing the amount of the road network it treats and also removing  a large number of grit bins.

The authority also wants to stop looking after 21 of its libraries and is suggesting that independent voluntary groups take them over.

A judical review is to be held next month into the legality of the proposal.

Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this story we said the council’s financial liabilities are less than its assets. We meant more and have corrected the article.

Rural residents and workers are being encouraged to use an online reporting form to alert police to any suspicious or criminal activity in their area.

Northamptonshire Police’s rural crime team, whose remit includes wildlife and heritage crime, wants to hear from people about anything which strikes them as out of the ordinary.

PC Abbey Anstead said: “We always want to hear about incidents, and our online reporting form is a really quick and easy way to tell us about non-emergency crime and suspicious activity.

“If you’re a victim of crime or see something that doesn’t seem right, follow your gut instinct and report it to us, because we need the information you have – you are the eyes and ears of your community.

“Don’t worry that you’re wasting our time. No matter how small an incident, we need to know about it so we have an accurate picture of rural criminal activity to help us take targeted action against it.”

The rural crime team is especially keen to encourage people to be aware of and report wildlife-related crime.

PC Anstead said: “Even a small piece of information helps build a bigger picture. Completing the online reporting form only takes a few minutes, and the information provided really does help us better serve our rural communities and protect people and wildlife from harm.”

Report crime and suspicious activity by filling out the online reporting form here, or call 101. In an emergency, dial 999. Information can also be shared anonymously with Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555111.

Northamptonshire’s education heroes have been honoured at our annual awards.

The awards, run by the Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Northants Telegraph and Daventry Express, took place last night (June 27) at Wicksteed Park in Kettering and celebrated our outstanding schools, and the people who make them great.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

Primary School of the Year – sponsored by the Northamptonshire Telegraph

Finalists:

Rushden Primary Academy

Hardingstone Academy

Mawsley Community Primary

Windmill Primary, Raunds

Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic Primary, Corby

St Andrews CE, Northampton

Grendon CE

The Bliss Charity School, Nether Heyford

Winner – Mawsley Community Primary School

One of the parents who nominated the school said: “I’m so glad my children went to this school and feel confident they have had the best educational grounding to their life. Would recommend Mawsley School to any parent.”

Secondary School of the Year – sponsored by Teach Northamptonshire

Winner – Wrenn Academy, Wellingborough

This year Wrenn Academy became the most improved school in Northamptonshire, based on the Government’s headline Progress 8 measure. This result has also been reflected in the school’s recent Ofsted inspection, where through the exceptional commitment from the staff and students, and the brilliant support of its parent body, has meant that a judgement of ‘serious weakness’ in late 2016, has now been upgraded to ‘good’ in all categories.

Principal Steve Elliott said: “We are committed to enabling every student here to fulfil themselves now and in the future and we will not stop striving to support our young people in being ambitious and adventurous.”

Inspirational Teaching Award – sponsored by Wellingborough School.

Finalists:

Lesley Browning, Kingswood Academy, Corby

Sue Jennings, Little Harrowden Primary

Louise Blair, St Patrick’s Catholic Primary, Corby

Daniel Ives, Duston Eldean Primary

Tracey Brock, Daventry DSLV

Miss McGinty, Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic Primary, Corby

Mrs Geraghty, Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic Primary, Corby

Mrs Millers, Delapre Primary, Northampton

Lauren Jones, Moulton Primary

Felicity Pirie, Brixworth Primary

Lyndsey Roe

Winner – Lauren Jones

Lauren has a passion and a flair for dancing and three times throughout the year, she dedicates much of her own time to training a group of children in preparation for the county strictly come dancing awards. On top of this she is an inspirational and dedicated class teacher who is loved by all of her students and inspires them to strive to do their best. She is always bubbly, happy and smiling and has such a positive outlook on life!

Sporting Achievement – sponsored by The Qube Modular Buildings

Finalists:

Mr Dent, Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic Primary, Corby

Year 7 Football Team, Wootton Park School, Northampton

Winner – Year 7 Football Team, Wootton Park School

The Year 7 Girls were crowned county champions after successes against Sponne School and Caroline Chisholm School saw them travel to Northampton School for Boys for the final against Moulton School, which they won 2-1. This is the first year that the team have played together as Wootton Park School.

Unsung Hero Award

Finalists:

Amanda Cowley, Windmill Primary, Raunds

Steve Watson, Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic Primary, Corby

Angela Gibbins, Grendon CE

Gill Whyte, DSLV, Daventry

Mrs Hayes, Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic Primary, Corby

Julie Luddington

Mrs Geraghty, Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic Primary, Corby

Miss McGinty, Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic Primary, Corby

Winner – Amanda Cowley

Amanda Cowley is a Learning Mentor at Windmill Primary School, but Mrs Cowley is much more than that. She looks after families that need a little extra help, often working into the evening. She will write letters of support or help with filling in forms. She will always step up and attend meetings to take notes and minutes to help others and support them in anyway she can. On top of everything else she also coaches the gymnastic team, helping them to achieve a place at the county finals this year.

Special School or SEN Provision of the Year

Winner – Rowan Gate Primary, Wellingborough

The team go over and beyond for the pupils and they are truly inspirational. It is clear each child is really valued and the school celebrate each achievement together with such pride.

Community Award – sponsored by Wicksteed Park

Finalists:

Edward Harvey

Theatre in Education at Rushden Academy

Standens Barn Primary, Northampton

Dawn Sadler, Moulton Primary

Wootton Park School, Northampton

Jenny Lawrence, Ashurst Mews care home, Moulton

Winner – Theatre in Education at Rushden Academy

With the ever-increasing publicity around using social media, the academy’s sixth form performing arts students have written a play called Add Me about the dangers of using social media and making sure you know the person you are speaking to. Add Me has been a runaway success with a cast of nine students touring 28 primary schools, as well as performing at the Northamptonshire Safeguarding conference and to a packed Deco Theatre.

These dedicated students have now been invited by Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold to professionally film the play, which will be distributed nationally for other schools and groups to see.

The Year 13 students involved in ‘Add Me’ have all been offered university places to study drama, theatre, comedy writing or performance.

Inspirational Pupil Award

Finalists:

Kacper Laskowski, Standens Barn Primary, Northampton

Daisy May Blissett, Latimer Arts College, Barton Seagrave

Kaiden Wakefield

Immogen Roberts, Hospital & Outreach Education

Zoe Johnson, Hospital & Outreach Education

Winner – Kacper Laskowski

In 2017, Kacper became ill and was diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a very rare blood disorder. He received urgent medical treatment in Nottingham, including nine weeks of chemotherapy.

Kacper eventually returned home and to school, while still making the journey to Nottingham, and later more locally, to receive further medical interventions, treatments and blood tests.

Despite being absent for most of Term 1 and 2 and the incredibly traumatic time both he and his family experienced, Kacper soon settled right back into school life and class routines, rekindled friendships and returned with such confidence and enthusiasm.

His school ethos is BEST (Brave, Enthusiastic, Safe and Thoughtful) and they continually strive for the children to demonstrate this when they are faced with adversity and new challenges in all areas of their lives.

Kacper is the epitome of BEST- he has demonstrated bravery in ways that many of us cannot comprehend.

He is an absolute credit to us as a school, his parents and family but, above all, to himself.

The University of Northampton Changemaker Award

Finalists:

Abbey Tortoishell

Joanne Vann

Theatre In Education at Rushden Academy

Jenny Lawrence, Ashurst Mews care home, Moulton

Winner – Theatre in Education

Lifetime Achievement Award – sponsored by The Bathroom Studio, Kettering

Finalists:

Angela Gibbins, Grendon CE Primary

Brenda Hunt, Delapre Learning Centre, Northampton

Evelyn Gibson, Our Lady’s of Walsingham Catholic School, Corby

Winner – Angela Gibbins

In July, Angela Gibbins retires from her teaching assistant role at Grendon CE Primary School after 25 years of unbroken service, leaving a legacy of pupils, past and present, who are better people for knowing her.

Pupils rarely think of Mrs Gibbins as a teaching assistant. Instead, they think of her in terms of her capacity to be their friend, counsellor, role model, champion and adopted grandmother, which is why her contribution to the lives of hundreds and hundreds of children over a quarter of a century cannot be neatly pigeonholed; nor can it be overstated.

Mrs Gibbins is part of the fabric of the school (she is the only member of staff who knows where the water stopcock is). She regales stories of the former heads, quirky ex teachers and lovable rogues who have graced the corridors of the school. Her long journey with the school has seen Ange contribute hugely to its sustained improvement: she will leave in the summer safe in the knowledge that the school is now recognised by Ofsted as an ‘outstanding’ place of learning and by Peterborough Diocese as an establishment that is ‘outstanding at meeting the needs of all learners.’

Wilson Browne award for excellence (chosen from all the winners of each category)

Winner – Kacper Laskowski

Detectives investigating the murder of a man in Old Town, Brackley, on Monday (June 25) have arrested four people - including a Daventry man - in connection with his death.

A 22-year-old man from Brackley, a 42-year-old man from Daventry, a 52-year-old man from Brackley and a 39-year-old woman from Brackley are currently in police custody.

A large team of investigators, led by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) major crime team, continue to work around the clock on the inquiry.

Officers are continuing to appeal for information and have been focusing inquiries in two areas of the town, one at a flat in Old Town and the other in an area around St James Lake, off Banbury Road.

Anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in these areas or may have footage from CCTV cameras is asked to contact police.

Anyone with information should call Northamptonshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 259 of 25/6/18. Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

An emergency services fun day is being planned in Daventry to share fire and community safety messages.

Taking place at DSLV E-ACT Academy on August 22, the free event will feature live emergency service demonstrations and displays by fire investigation dogs, fire engines and rescue vehicles, plus police local neighbourhood teams, information stands promoting activities and clubs for young people, stalls and refreshments.

It is being organised as part of Operation Unite, a partnership project to tackle arson and anti-social behaviour in and around the town centre led by the Arson Task Force and Daventry District Council’s community safety partnership.

Andy Evans of the Arson Task Force, a joint initiative between Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS), said: “The idea behind Operation Unite is to help educate young people about the dangers of arson and make Daventry a safer place for everyone.

“We hope this event will help bring the whole community together for some summer fun, and as well as exciting emergency service demonstrations from the fire service we’re aiming to showcase just how many great organisations there are in Daventry for young people to get involved with.

The emergency services community day will take place at DSLV E-ACT Academy, off Hawke Road, Daventry, from 10am to 4pm on Wednesday, August 22.

A day of community action will take place the following day to share fire and community safety advice with residents of the Southbrook estate.

Local community groups and businesses interested in supporting the event can email communitysafety@daventrydc.gov.uk to find out more.

The Community Safety Partnership brings together partners including Daventry District Council, South Northamptonshire Council, Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, Northamptonshire County Council, Nene Clinical Commissioning Group, Futures Housing Group and others to reduce crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour within the community.

The programme is backed by the Ministry of Justice, Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Public Health England with the aim of increasing the use of community sentences for mental health, drug and alcohol treatment requirements.

Northamptonshire is one of five test areas to create a health programme supporting people whose offending can be tackled by treatment - rather than a short prison sentence.

National figures also show that around 70 per cent of prisoners and 40 per cent of people on probation have a mental health issue

Dr Sunil Lad, principal counselling psychologist at Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and clinical lead for the project, said: “This has been an exciting project to be part of. We have been helping women who are in contact with the criminal justice system having experienced adverse life events resulting in developing unhelpful ways of coping.

"We are able to better understand how they come into these difficulties and have introduced them to different ways of coping.

The Mental Health Treatment Requirement option has been available to magistrates and judges as one of 13 community sentencing options for some time but has rarely been used.

The Northamptonshire testbed has seen agencies work together to establish a programme that supports magistrates and judges to identifying appropriate offenders for treatment.

So far, 79 women in Northamptonshire have been assessed to see if they are suitable for the programme and 50 have been sentenced to it. The first 11 have completed the sentence.

Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold and his office helped pull the pilot scheme together.

He said: “This programme aims to break the cycle of reoffending by providing effective treatment to tackle the problems that are leading a woman into crime.

"Short-term prison sentences do nothing to deal with the root causes of crime and I believe that where people have particular problems such as mental illness, we should not only seek justice but support them to turn their lives around too.”

The sentence also means that the women will, alongside support for her mental health needs, will receive dedicated social, practical and emotional support from the local women’s centre.

If successful, the pilot could be extended to all suitable adults.

A former semi-professional rugby player from Long Buckby has shed nine stone since recovering from a food addiction he picked up after suffering a serious injury.

Twenty years ago Ian Stuart, 54, was playing for his village side when he went into a rough scrum.

The hit left him with a broken neck.

"It was horrendous," said Ian.

"The pain was incredible and I knew I had done some damage. I spent months in a restrictive collar while my vertebrae mended."

Before the injury to his neck, Ian was heavy but considered fit and healthy. But after the neck break, he found it difficult to get about as he once did and rugby was a thing of the past.

"I loved my bread and as a fit rugby player, I didn’t give much thought to how much food I was eating," said Ian.

But when his rugby career ended, his love of bread didn’t. In fact, as time went on, Ian found himself eating more and more.

"I hate to admit it, but I became a food addict," he said.

"Losing the rugby affected me and I lost all motivation. I lived for takeouts and beer.

"I was comfort eating and couldn’t stop and by 2011 I weighed 25 stone."

This resulted in trouble with his kidneys and heart issues. On top of that Ian was also a type 2 diabetic.

"When you are that heavy you can think about doing things, but you can't do them," said Ian, who is married with two children.

"Cutting the lawn becomes a chore when you get tired and out of breath so easily."

In 2016, Ian's GP offered him a gastric sleeve to curb his appetite as long as he could prove that he really wanted to lose the weight.

"He gave me a referral to Weight Watchers and told me to see how much weight I could lose on my own.

"It was really difficult to go against my food addiction and my journey was very up and down. But on July 19, 2017 I had lost 10 per cent of my weight.

"I was now 20 stone and ready for surgery."

After the surgery, Ian continued his journey with Weight Watchers and now weighs 16 stone, having lost nine stone on his journey back to health.

"Surgery is not an easy way out, its hard. Going to Weight Watchers taught me the control I needed to overcome my food addiction. It inspires me. It sets boundaries. I don’t want to go back.

"I don’t binge eat anymore, I am not addicted to food - I enjoy it.

"Ten years ago, I gave up drinking alcohol and together with tackling the food addiction, I have found a new love for life.

"I have things I now look forward to and cutting the lawn is no longer a chore."

A Daventry village Post Office is all set to move into its new home in a little over four weeks.

From August, 1 Woodford Halse's new branch will be based in Popsons Pharmacy in Station Road.

Post Office products and services will be offered throughout shop opening from an open-plan till at the shop counter instead of from a separate screened counter.

Suzanne Richardson, regional manager, said: "We are making it easier for customers to get their cash, send and collect their mail and do their banking because we know how important these services are to local residents.

"We are confident that this vibrant new-style Post Office at the heart of the local community will meet customer needs.

"This modernisation is part of a major investment programme, the largest in the history of the Post Office.”

The current branch at 12 Church Street will close with the current postmaster’s agreement on Tuesday, July 31 at 5.30pm.

The Station Road Post Office will open Monday; Tuesday and Friday: 9am to 1pm; 2pm to 6pm; Wednesday and Thursday: 9am to 1pm; 2pm to 5:30pm; Saturday: 9am to 1pm.

The Kennel Club, the oldest recognised group of its type in the world, is urging dog owners in Daventry to respond to the council's consultation on its proposals to extend its Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs), details of which were earlier this month.

Included in the suggestions are restricting the number of dogs that can be walked at any one time, introducing a DNA scheme that would require anyone who wants to let their dog off a lead in certain hotspot areas to first have their dog registered on a DNA database and making it an offence to allow dogs to enter marked and maintained sports pitches.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club secretary, said: “The Kennel Club is firmly in favour of targeted measures to deal with irresponsible dog owners but simply does not believe that a DNA registration scheme would be effective.

"In our view it would penalise responsible dog owners in the area and make things difficult for law-abiding citizens.

"We would like to work with Daventry council to assist them in finding other, more effective methods of targeting the minority of irresponsible dog owners.”

Similar plans were suggested and trialled in Barking and Dagenham and Thanet, but according to The Kennel Club, both councils quickly dropped the idea after deeming such a scheme to be impractical, costly and having a negative impact on dogs and owners as well as visitors to the area.

The club claims one such scheme resulted in only two identifications of dog fouling and only two per cent of the local dog owning population registering during a trial period.

"The Kennel Club has long had concerns about compulsory DNA registration and believes it may be a step too far for many dog owners," a Kennel Club spokeswoman said.

"Daventry’s current PSPOs have previously been hailed a success by the council – one such measure introduced three years ago included a ‘means to pick up’ PSPO where dog walkers had to prove they had an adequate receptacle for which to pick up their dog’s poo.

"However, this was relatively cheap and quick to implement in comparison to a DNA scheme."

As a DNA scheme for dog fouling has never officially been put in to practice anywhere in the UK, the club believe there are still a lot of unknown factors for a council to consider including costs, what steps would be taken to ensure people register their correct details, and how the system will comply with the new data protection laws.

The Kennel Club, which was founded in 1873, insists it's also important that a council includes exemptions for those physically unable to pick up after their dog due to a disability.

Dog owners wanting to have their say on the proposals can complete the council’s online survey by the deadline of midnight on Tuesday, July 24.