The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visit was carried out in November at the premises of Thames Ambulance Service Ltd, which transports Northamptonshire patients for free to NHS appointments.

Although an inspection report has still not been published, a paper written for NHS Nene board members has revealed a long list of worries.

The report - which will be discussed in public on Tuesday (January 15) at Francis Crick House, Moulton, - says: "A risk summit led by NHS England was called in response to concerns identified at a recent CQC inspection (report to be published) and subsequent conditions that have been placed on the provider's CQC registration.

"The four main areas of concern identified were; staff training, infection control issues, transport of children, bariatric patients or patients with mental health issues and governance."

Both the CQC and NHS Nene declined to expand on the concerns.

The report says regular oversight meetings have been arranged and a quality improvement plan has been developed by Thames Ambulance Service, whose headquarters are in Essex.

It is not the first time that the ambulance service, which has contracts across the country, has been lambasted by inspectors.

This newspaper reported in 2017, when Thames Ambulance Service was awarded the contract for Northamptonshire, that a recent CQC report had found oxygen cylinders were stored unsecured overhead, posing a danger to patients and staff.

Ambulances were also found to be dirty, with discarded food, sweet wrappers and dust.

And previous to that, a CQC report in December 2016 revealed staff took a patient who was deteriorating was straight to A&E instead of calling 999 and the patient later died.

A spokeswoman for NHS Nene said: “This was based on an inspection in another county and the Northants quality team have been visiting local bases regularly to ensure Northants patients are safe.

"We are not able to provide any further comment until the CQC report has been published.”

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust is looking into the care given to three people who had been using its services before they died.

The deaths happened in July, August and September last year and were reported in the trust’s learning from deaths report published in November.

According to NHS rules, serious incidents have to be reported to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and immediate action must be taken to establish the facts.

A spokesman for the trust, which provides community and mental health care services across Northamptonshire, said: “During Quarter 2 2018/19 we instigated three serious incident investigations relating to unexpected deaths in our services, none of these deaths were in an inpatient setting.

“In line with the NHS England Serious Incident Framework we launched internal investigations into these deaths. The purpose of these investigations is to understand the circumstances of the unexpected deaths and identify any learning as part of the continuous improvement of our services.

“Our culture of continuous learning was recognised in our CQC rating of Outstanding in August 2018.”

A team of staff will be looking into the circumstances of the deaths and each investigation has a 60 working day deadline.

The trust has declined to say whether the investigations have concluded and said: “we cannot confirm any further details as it may enable the patient to be identified, which goes against national guidance. Our priority is the safeguarding of patients, families and carers and this includes complete confidentiality.”

According to the NHS Serious Incident Framework: “Investigations carried out under this framework are conducted for the purposes of learning to prevent recurrence. They are not inquiries into how a person died (where applicable) as this is a matter for coroners. Neither are they conducted to hold any individual or organisation to account as other processes exist for that purpose including: criminal or civil proceedings, disciplinary procedures, employment law and systems of service and professional regulation, such as the Care Quality Commission and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Health and Care Professions Council, and the General Medical Council.”

Last year NHFT was graded outstanding by the Care Quality Commission and in November it won trust of the year at the HSJ Awards.

A cash trap was fitted to a Rushden High Street cash machine for 24-hours before it was noticed by engineers.

The device was fitted to the TSB bank ATM by thieves between Monday, January 7, at 7.30pm and the following day, Tuesday, January 8 at 7.30pm.

Cash traps are claw-like devices that are inserted into ATMs which then grab the cash before it can be retrieved by the customer.

The TSB cashpoint was found to be damaged on Tuesday evening.

Anyone with information or anyone who noticed someone tampering with the machine should call Northamptonshire Police on 101. Alternatively, they can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Potholes that are deemed “very likely” to cause injury or damage may soon take seven days to make good rather than the current timescale of 24 hours.

The change is contained in a review of the road maintenance scheme by Northamptonshire County Council’s highways department.

It means that the response to potholes deeper than 10cm on residential streets - the biggest of which are currently repaired within 24 hours - will be downgraded so that the timescale is seven calendar days.

Potholes more than 10cm deep are acknowledged in Northamptonshire Highways’ new ‘code’ to be a serious danger, with the likelihood of injury or damage caused by such a hole deemed ‘very likely’.

Explaining the overall changes in a report to councillors, David Grindley, of the highways team, repairs would be approved on a case-by-case basis, rather than being determined strictly by the dimensions of the hole.

He said: “The actual decision as to what level of repair, if any, is required, will be based on a specific assessment of the risk of the defect.”

If the proposals are passed next Tuesday, training will be undertaken by highways inspectors in the implementation of the new code.

Mr Girindley says this will be to minimise potential errors in classifying defects.

It will therefore “reduce risk to highway users and to the highway authority in its statutory duty to maintain the highway,” he said.

The event, which takes place at Crick Marina will be held between May 25 and 27, with an extra trade and preview day on May 24.

Now Britain’s biggest inland waterways event, Crick Boat Show is organised by Waterways World magazine in association with the Canal & River Trust and Crick Marina and is expected to attract more than 26,000 visitors.

The family-friendly boat show sees Crick turned into the canal world's biggest market place and features nearly 300 exhibitors.

Peter Johns, publisher of Waterways World and show director, said: "We are looking forward to welcoming people to our 2019 Crick Boat Show, established as the top destination for waterways enthusiasts looking to upgrade or improve their boat, for newcomers wanting to get afloat for the first time and for those seeking a day out by the waterways.

"Now in its 20th year, the show hosts the largest display of new inland boats, both narrowboats and wide beams, and for three days it becomes Britain’s largest chandlery when nearly 300 exhibitors bring together the complete range of equipment and materials for inland boating.

"This year we are adding an extra trade and preview day on Friday, May 24, for exhibitors, invited waterway related businesses and a maximum of 1,000 pre-booked visitors looking for better access to view boats and talk with the specialist equipment and service suppliers."

For more information and to book tickets, camping pitches and moorings, visit www.crickboatshow.com or call 01283 742970, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

Matthew Symonds, strategy and engagement manager for boating for the Canal & River Trust, said: “Every year Crick Boat Show, the UK’s biggest inland waterways festival, celebrates Britain’s fantastic network of canals and rivers.

"The Canal & River Trust believes that waterways have the power to make a real difference to people’s lives and recent research now provides evidence that spending time by water makes us all healthier and happier.

"This year we are celebrating the 20th Crick Boat Show and we look forward to welcoming thousands of visitors to Crick for a fantastic day out by the Grand Union Canal Leicester Line in the Northamptonshire countryside, for the chance to discover more about the recreation, health and wellbeing opportunities our waterways offer people today."

The application to build 10 homes on the land at Station Road, originally intended to be an overspill car park for the rail station, proved controversial after the parish council changed its objection to the scheme on receipt of a £10,000 windfall from the developers.

Long Buckby Parish Council spoke out against the development as it felt it breached council policy on building in rural areas.

But following a meeting with developers Bovis Homes, the council voted to withdraw its objection.

Bovis agreed a ‘contribution’ to the parish of £10,000 in the form of a section 106 agreement, with £5,000 to go towards the recreation ground equipment and £5,000 agreed for street lighting improvements. The scheme will also contribute four affordable homes.

But a number of councillors on Daventry District Council’s planning committee, which was determining the scheme, felt uneasy about the change of heart from their parish colleagues.

Conservative councillor Richard Auger said: “It’s great that this is resolved because affordable houses are needed.

"But I just want some reassurance that we are comfortable with that legally, because it was originally about policy - then £10,000 was offered to the parish and the objection was withdrawn. Sometimes you get this feeling about something. Are we quite happy that there’s no suspicion that any form of corruption has taken place?”

The meeting took on an added dilemma in that Councillor Steve Osborne, the chair of the Daventry planning committee, was also the chairman of Long Buckby Parish Council. Councillor Osborne walked out from the planning debate and said he did not vote on the objection withdrawal at the parish council meeting because of his dual role. Planning officers admitted that the wording used by Councillor Osborne in describing the ‘successful’ parish council meeting had been ‘clumsy’.

Labour councillor Ken Ritchie added: “I think this stinks, it strikes me as being bribery. Perhaps the words chosen by our chair were not appropriate but Councillor Osborne has been in this process for a long time. To me, this will simply embolden developers. If Long Buckby are going to do this they should have at least demanded a decent amount of bribe. I just think it’s outrageous.”

But the Daventry councillors were given assurance by the district council’s executive director for community, Maria Taylor, who said that ‘officers were satisfied’ there was nothing to be worried with.

She said: “If there was any worry that there was corruption it would not be on the agenda and we would not be discussing it.”

She later added: “This is fundamentally how developers make deals with parish councils.”

A council solicitor added: “I can only suspect that if there was the slightest chance that deals were being done under the table then our chair would have made it clear.”

The committee eventually decided to grant the scheme planning permission, with seven votes in favour, four against, and with Councillor Auger abstaining.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting, Councillor Osborne - who returned to his seat after the debate to chair the rest of the meeting - said: “The developer came along and said that it had been given an indication that it would get recommended for approval. They said if we removed the objection they would build 40 per cent affordable housing and give £10,000 towards local facilities.

“If the developer sold the land on then the new owners would not have had to provide any affordable housing at all. It was a matter of whether they wanted to remove their objection and gain something for the village out of it, or keep the objection and gain nothing.

“The parish council has been criticised in the past for not getting for the village, so that was the decision it took.”

Councillor Osborne reiterated that he had not voted in either the district council planning committee meeting, or the parish council meeting where the objection was withdrawn.

Stroke sufferers in Nene have to wait nearly an hour and a half to get to hospital by ambulance, new NHS data has revealed.

Experts said the priority was to get the patient to a specialist stroke centre, even if that was further away than the nearest standard hospital.

After calling 999, patients had to wait on average an hour and 29 minutes to get to an acute stroke centre in August.

The Nene Clinical Commissioning Group area is served by the East Midlands Ambulance Service trust.

The trust’s ambulances, which cover 22 CCGs in the East Midlands , helped 663 patients who had an initial diagnosis of stroke.

One in 10 had to wait two hours and 18 minutes to reach hospital.

A stroke happens when a blood vessel to the brain gets clogged or bursts, and cuts off blood and oxygen.

Nationally, patients waited on average an hour and 11 minutes to get to hospital.

Alexis Kolodziej, of the Stroke Association, said: “The faster a stroke patient can receive specialist treatment the more likely they will survive and recover.

“Evidence shows that patients get better treatment and have better outcomes when they can be taken by ambulance to a larger, comprehensive stroke centres of excellence.

“In most cases, it is better for patients to travel slightly further to reach these centres than to go to a closer hospital that doesn’t offer specialist and comprehensive stroke care.”

Once at the stroke center, patients had to wait up to two hours and 27 minutes minutes for an X-ray scan.

This is crucial to determining the cause of the stroke and decide on the treatment.

Professor Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Stroke is the third biggest killer in the UK and causes over 36,000 deaths each year.

“Pioneering treatments are increasingly available for people who have had a stroke, which have been proven to save lives and reduce disability.

“They are most effective, however, when patients are treated at an early stage, and this underlines the need for strokes to be treated as swiftly as possible. For emergency services, stroke should have the same priority as heart attacks.”

Long range forecasters are predicting snowfall in Northamptonshire on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Temperatures across the county are currently sitting at a mild 10 degrees today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednedsay) ahead of a cold snap set to kick later this week.

On Thursday temperatures will plummet to around 3 degrees during the day and below freezing overnight.

Forecasters are predicting that on Monday night next week sleet will kick in at around 8pm and light snow is forecast the next morning for around four hours.

Snow is also forecast between 7 and 11am on Wednesday January 23.

The Met Office UK outlook for next week says: "Overnight frost and freezing fog patches are likely overnight into Monday. Cold weather is likely to continue through mid-week, remaining unsettled and at times windy with fronts spreading southeast across the UK bringing rain, sleet and snow."

Cold conditions are likely to remain until the end of January with interspersed wintry showers.

Prime Minister Theresa May had tabled her 585-page agreement on the terms on which the country will leave the EU on March 29.

But MPs voted overwhelmingly against the agreement, with 432 MPs voting against the agreement and just 202 in favour.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition, has tabled a vote of no confidence that has the potential to bring down the government.

Here’s how Northamptonshire MPs voted:

Tom Pursglove, Conservative, Corby and East Northants - AGAINST

Philip Hollobone, Conservative, Kettering - AGAINST

Peter Bone, Conservative, Wellingborough - AGAINST

Andrea Leadsom, Conservative, South Northamptonshire - FOR

Michael Ellis, Conservative, North Northampton - FOR

Chris Heaton-Harris, Conservative, Daventry - FOR

Andrew Lewer, Conservative, Northampton South - AGAINST

The following people were sentenced at Northampton Magistrates’ Court:

OCTOBER 10:

Philip Cooke, aged 51, of Chequers Lane, Northampton, driving at 57mph in a 50mph zone; fined £318, surcharge £31, costs £85, licence endorsed with three points.

Lisa Greening, aged 46, of Clarke Road, Northampton, driving not in accordance with a licence; no separate penalty, banned from driving for six months. Driving without due care and attention; fined £48, surcharge £30 and costs £85.

Michal Sabol, aged 35, of Lincoln Way,Daventry, driving at 35mph in a 30mph zone; fined £100, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for six months.

Bradley Bennett, aged 22, of Duston Wildes, Northampton, no insurance; fined £660, surcharge £66, costs £85, banned from driving for six months.

Dean Garner, aged 35, of Northgate, Towcester, harassment; community order made, fined £320, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Barney Eason, aged 18, of Kinross Close, Spinney Hill, Northampton, assault; jailed for 18 weeks suspended for 12 months, ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work, surcharge £115, costs £85.

OCTOBER 11

George Sturley, aged 26, of Blackwells Yard, Yardley Hastings, drink-driving with a breath test reading of 43mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath; fined £122, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for 12 months.

Craig Jobson, aged 43, of Melbourne Walk, Northampton, possession of a lump hammer in a public place, used or threatened violence, failed to surrender to custody; pleaded guilty, sent to Northampton Crown Court for sentence.

Kristaps Kruze, aged 23, of Teviot Close, Northampton, drink-driving with a breath test 68mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath; fined £350, surcharge £35 and costs £85, banned from driving for 18 months.

Dane Clarke, aged 51, of Burleigh Road, Kingsthorpe Hollow, Northampton, begging in a public place while banned; community order made, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Thomas Kehoe, aged 29, of Paget House, Northampton, committed arson’ community order made, compensation £100, surcharge £85, costs £85. Assault; community order made, compensation £50.

Sindy Reilly, aged 49, of Fullingdale Road, Northampton, intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress; fined £270, compensation £50, surcharge £30, costs £150.

Robert Smith, aged 28, of Fitzroy Place, Northampton, no insurance; fined £120, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for six months. Driving without due care and attention; fined £80. Damaged fences and destroyed a child’s place house; compensation £117.

Denis Vacarea, aged 28, of Merry Hill, Northampton, stole three bottles of Jack Daniels worth £60; fined £200, surcharge £30, costs £85. Had items in connection with theft; fined £200.

Simon Masters, aged 43, of Ham Meadow Drive, Northampton, assaulted a police officer; community order made to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work, compensation £100, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Robert Ralley, aged 30, of no fixed abode, used threatening or absuive words or behaviour; fined £40, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Paul Bishop, aged 34, of Golding Close, Daventry, stole flea treatment, fish food and flea sprays from Pets at Home; conditional discharge for 12 months.

George Jarvis, aged 21, of Danefield Road, Northampton, criminal damage; conditional discharge for 12 months.

Ian Wright, aged 57, of Radstone Road, Brackley, failed to give information relating to the identity of a driver; fined £1,000, surcharge £100, costs £620, licence endorsed with six points.

OCTOBER 12

Campbell Deegan, aged 23, of Prentice Court, Northampton, failed to comply with a community order; fined £130.

Sorin Ghergheluca, aged 46, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, no insurance; fined £300. Driving without due care and attention; fined £200, surcharge £30 and costs £85, licence endorsed with six points.

Darren Carter, aged 41, of Axe Head Road, Northampton, stole items of food worth £235.37 belonging to Lidl supermarket, jailed for two weeks suspended for 12 months, surcharge £115.

Richard Bland, aged 52, of Bromford Close, Northampton, carrying a dangerous number of passengers; conditional discharge for nine months, surcharge £20, costs £85, licence endorsed with three points.

Damien Culverhouse, aged 24, of no fixed abode, assault; pleaded guilty, sent to Crown Court for sentence.

OCTOBER 15

Daniel Annison, aged 26, of Vernon Road, Towcester, refused to stop a vehicle when requested to do so; fined £150, surcharge £30, costs £85,. Drink-driving with a breath test reading of 59mcgs of alochol in 100mls of breath; fined £150, banned from driving for 16 months.

Jonathon Gordon, aged 33, of Brickwell Court, Northampton, assault; jailed for 12 weeks, compensation £50.

Lynne Wintersgill, aged 41, of Howe Crescent, Daventry, stole dog treats and dog flea treatment; jailed for three weeks, compensation £17.30, surcharge £115.

Scott Foran, aged 37, of no fixed abode, damaged an outside light; fined £80, compensation £50, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Jack Dunne, aged 26, of Near Side, Northampton, drink-driving with a breath test reading of 88mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath; fined £276, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for 22 months.

Ali O’Driscoll,aged 23, of Crane Walk, Northampton, drink-driving with a breath test reading of 56mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath; jailed for one week, banned from driving for 16 months. Driving not in accordance with a licence; no separate penalty. No insurance; no separate penalty.

Geoffrey Warr, aged 35, of Drywell Court, Northampton, owner of a dangerously out of control dog; fined £340, compensation £200, surcharge £34, costs £85.

Ali Zarei, aged 24, of Bedford Mansions, Northampton, possession of cannabis; fined £40, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Daniel Bryant, aged 36, of Marriott Street, Northampton, in breach of a sexual offences prevention order; community order made, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Solomon Ali, aged 35, of Connaught Stret, Northampton, no insurance; fined £440, surcharge £44, costs £85, banned from driving for six months.

OCTOBER 16

Vadim Danilov, aged 24, of Arbour View Court, Northampton, drink-driving with a breath test reading of 43mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath; fined £461, surcharge £46, costs £85, banned from driving for 12 months.

Carl Furr, aged 34, of St Leonards Road, Nortampton, harassment; community order made to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Benjamin Hill, aged 32, of Harefield Road, Northampton, failed to comply with a community order; order to continue, costs £60.

Adam Sirett, aged 25, of King Street, Long Buckby, drink-driving with a breath test reading of 70mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath; fiend £338, surcharge £38, costs £85, banned from driving for 18 months.

Emma Cornell, aged 39, of Prestwold Way, Northampton, failed to provide a breath test; fined £388, surcharge £39, costs £620, licence endorsed with 10 points. Used threatening or abusive words or behaviour.

Brodie Dickson, aged 29, of no fixed abode, assault; jailed for four weeks.

Northamptonshire County Council could stop paying a subsidy to Scout groups for the use of venues.

After an announcement last week by the local authority, Scout leaders have been told that the community use of schools budget, which subsidises the private use of school halls, could be cut in its entirety.

That leaves some groups in the county facing the prospect of having to raise subscription fees or find funds elsewhere.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: "The council has had to make tough decisions to achieve savings of £42.9m in 2019/20, whilst coping with rising demand for statutory services for the county’s most vulnerable residents.

"As such, areas of non-statutory spend – such as using taxpayers money to subsidise private use of council-owned school buildings – are being put forward as potential areas of saving.

"All budget proposals are still open to consultation and we are keen to hear as much feedback as possible."

The potential loss of the grant would be from April onwards and it has prompted the county's lead volunteer to write to every councillor to try to change their minds.

Dean Smith, county commissioner and the lead volunteer in Northamptonshire Scouting, said: "This proposed budget cut is potentially devastating for the Scout groups involved.

"Because of this, I have taken the very unusual step of contacting every county councillor asking them to re-think the proposal.

"Local Scout group volunteers, parents and others are also asking the same question of their local county councillor.”

As well as having an immediate impact on Scout Groups involved all over the county, the budget proposal will significantly impede the ability of scouting to open new groups as new estates are developed.

It could also lead to an increase in subscription fees for parents.

The policy forms a significant part of the £15million Stabilisation Plan of savings introduced last year, of which £7.2million has already been saved by the county council. But the £7.8million from the council tax base, which would be provided by the six district and borough councils across the county, remains unaccounted for.

Concerns have been raised privately by a number of the local councils as to the legal validity of the scheme, and whether the sums expected by the county council can be met. In public, Daventry District Council leader Chris Millar had criticised the ‘fantasy numbers’ involved with the scheme, saying there would be ‘some big gaps to find’.

Last week, scrutiny chairman Councillor Mick Scrimshaw called for a Plan B to be put in place if those sums did not materialise, and now cabinet member for finance Councillor Malcolm Longley says his finance team is already on the case.

Following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon (January 15) at County Hall, Councillor Longley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “When the original council tax proposal was put forward in the stabilisation plan, we also insisted that there was a plan B. Whenever you put a program of this nature together you won’t necessarily get everything returning, and mitigations as well. And that’s what we’ve done.

“We now have four months until the end of the financial year and we have to make certain these things are delivered and we’ve made sure our alternative plans are in place as well as the council tax to make sure that we have it covered either way.”

But Councillor Longley refused to detail what the alternative plans proposed, whether this was financial cuts to frontline services or other efficiency savings from how the council is run, or whether reserves or the government capital dispensation could be used to plug the gap.

He said: “I’d rather not go into detail. All the officers are working very hard to make this happen. But we’ll make sure we deliver them before we crow about them.”

A burglar stole car keys and a wallet from a home in a Daventry district village before making off in a stolen vehicle.

The burglary happened in Hamilton Lane, Great Brington, on Monday, November 26, at about 2.45am.

The stolen car was later found abandoned and a stolen bank card was also used fraudulently at a number of shops in Northampton.

Officers would like to speak to the man pictured as he may have information that will help their inquiries into the alleged incidents.

The man, or anyone who recognises him, is asked to contact Northamptonshire Police on 101. Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning ahead of a sudden cold snap tonight.

The yellow category warning will be in place from 10pm tonight (Wednesday) until 11am tomorrow (Thursday) across Northamptonshire.

Forecasters are warning of ice patches developing with wintry showers as temperatures plummet following a mild few days.

People are being warned to take care on pavements and roads, many of which could be untreated.

Weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued for much of the UK.

The Northampton roads that will no longer be gritted as a priority during Winter 2018
Severe weather shelter in Northampton WILL open for the homeless for four nights
Two days of snow forecast for Northamptonshire next week

Emergency services have been called today to deal with an incident at Adderley Park, in the east of Birmingham.

READ MORE: One person killed and another seriously injured after being struck on train line through Northampton

London North Western Railway tweeted: 'Due to the emergency services dealing with an incident between #BirminghamNewStreet and #Northampton all lines are blocked.

'Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised.'

For Chiltern Railway service users', rail tickets are now valid on the following rail routes: Birmingham Moor Street - Solihull - Leamington Spa - Banbury - London Marylebone.

For CrossCountry, service users' rail tickets will be accepted between Leamington Spa, Coventry and Nuneaton.

For Virgin Train service users', rail tickets will be valid from Birmingham New Street - London Euston.

The court results for drivers caught drink driving on Sunday, December 2 were as follows:

Marius Mozac, 25, of Clover Drive, Rushden, was given a 16-month disqualification, £85 costs, £85 victim surcharge and 12-month community order.

Vadim Danilov, 24, of Arbour View Court, Northampton, was given a 36-month disqualification, eight-month suspended prison sentence, £85 costs and 160 hours unpaid work.

Alexandro Aleman, 28 High Street, Rushden, was given an 18-month disqualification, £85 victim surcharge and 12-month community order.

Mark Enever, 58, of NFA, was given a 12-month disqualification, £300 fine, £85 costs and £30 victim surcharge.

The court results for drivers caught drink driving on Wednesday, December 5:

Melanie Baylis, 42, of Cross Lane, Braunston, was given a 36-month disqualification, £120 fine, £85 costs and £30 victim surcharge.

The court results for drivers caught drink driving on Saturday, December 8:

John Sanderson, 27, of Smestow Street, Wolverhampton, was given an 18-month disqualification, £250 fine, £85 costs and £30 victim surcharge.

Arian Proctor, 36, of Arnull Crescent, Daventry, was given a 24-month disqualification, £85 costs, £85 victim surcharge,12-month community order and unpaid work requirement.

Susan Moulton, 45, of Main Road, Gilberdyke, East Riding, was given a 28-month disqualification, 12-month community order, £85 costs and £85 victim surcharge.

John Partington, 33, of Osmund Drive, Northampton, was given a 30 month disqualification, £85 costs, £85 victim surcharge, 12 month community order and unpaid work requirement.

House prices in Daventry crept up by 0.3 per cent in November, contributing to a 5.4 per cent rise over the last 12 months.

The latest data from the Office of National Statistics shows that the average property in the area sold for £281,399 – significantly higher than the UK average of £230,630.

Across the East Midlands, property prices have risen by 4.4 per cent in the last year, to £192,061. The region outperformed the UK as a whole, which saw the average property value increase by 2.8 per cent.

The data comes from the House Price Index, which the ONS compiles using house sale information from the Land Registry, and the equivalent bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The average homeowner in Daventry will have seen their property jump in value by around £77,000 in the last five years. The figures also showed that buyers who made their first step onto the property ladder in Daventry in November spent an average of £228,577 – around £63,000 more than it would have cost them five years ago.

Lawrence Bowles, research analyst at Savills, said: “We are still seeing house price growth in real terms, but very limited.”

Emergency services were been called today at 1.16pm to deal with an incident at Adderley Park, in the east of Birmingham.

READ MORE: Train lines blocked from Northampton to Birmingham following incident

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "Officers for British Transport Police were called at 1.16pm on Wednesday, January 16 to Adderley railway station in Birmingham following a report of a person being struck by a train.

"The person sadly died at the scene.

"A second person was also struck by the train and suffered serious head injuries.

"They have been taken to a local hospital for treatment.

"Officers are currently working to establish the full circumstances behind the incident."

Any witnesses are asked to text 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 278 of 16/01/19.

London Northwestern Railway tweeted: 'Road transport is operating at points between Northampton and Coventry, and Coventry and Birmingham International.

'Ticket acceptance also remains in place on @nxwestmidlands and @nxcoventry routes between Coventry and Birmingham.'

Emergency services were called today at 1.16pm to deal with an incident at Adderley Park, in the east of Birmingham.

READ MORE: One person killed and another seriously injured after being struck on train line through Northampton

READ MORE: Train lines blocked from Northampton to Birmingham following incident

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "Officers for British Transport Police were called at 1.16pm on Wednesday, January 16 to Adderley railway station in Birmingham following a report of a person being struck by a train.

"The person sadly died at the scene. A second person was also struck by the train and suffered serious head injuries.

"They have been taken to a local hospital for treatment. Officers are currently working to establish the full circumstances behind the incident."

West Midlands Railway has tweeted: 'All lines between #NewStreet, #Coventry & #Northampton have reopened following the earlier incident at Adderley Park.

'However, disruption is ongoing due to displaced trains/crew and Adderley Park station itself remains closed'.

“The county health profile isn’t where I would want it to be” says Northamptonshire’s director of public health Lucy Wightman.

“There are lots of areas where we perform significantly worse than the England average.

“We have road safety issues; we have got above average self harm hospital admissions; alcohol related hospital admissions; excess weight in adults and children can be a challenge, smoking status at the time of delivery, GCSE attainment and violent crime at county level are all a challenge. Those are areas where we are trying to prioritise our spend going forward.”

There is an annual budget of £35m (in the form of the public health grant) that Mrs Wightman has control of to try to tackle the problems. She says this is a drop in the ocean compared to what is spent across the health sector but will use this to commission new services that address local needs.

Working from the county council headquarters at One Angel Square, with her team of 30, who range from specialist health consultants to data analysts, she is leading a way forward that will provide a tailored rather than one size fits all approach.

She said: “We are now looking at all of the public health spend and making sure that the current expenditure is aligned with priority areas.”

One area where more cash will be spent is on weight management programmes.

“We are looking to enhance our budget for weight management because I don’t think it proportionate to the disease burden currently,” she says.

“We only have a couple of  services available for weight management so we need to invest more money into that to address it.”

This will involve co-designing schemes with specialists and asking people what they want, rather than running programmes and workshops that nobody attends.

And new services will be tailored to each geographical area as health problems vary widely across the county according to the level of affluence.

The director of health says: “For example, in Northampton  hospital stays for self harm is an area where they underperform. That is not the same for South Northamptonshire which has more diabetes or dementia diagnoses.  We have to be careful when we look at Northamptonshire as a whole, which is why we are trying to make sure the offer is tailored to borough and district level.”

As well as commissioning services a large part of the director of public health role is advocacy.  Her team works alongside partners such as the police and social services to try to influence where they spend their budget in a way that will provide the best health outcomes.

And the role of public health has changed in recent years. Mrs Wightman says there is more emphasis on how well people are living rather than how long they live.

She said: “Life expectancy has flatlined. In Northamptonshire it is stable, not increasing, whereas nationally there has been a decline in a number of areas.

“The emphasis has moved from making people live longer to helping people live better. What became apparent was there a number of people who were living into their 90s but from the age of 70 they were experiencing significant disease and disability, making the last 20 years of their life not enjoyable. So the shift of focus of both the NHS and public health has very much been about the quality of life. So life lived in health as opposed to life expectancy overall.”

As a former district nurse she knows well what ill health in later years looks like.

She says: “I spent years looking after people who were either immobile and homebound or they were dying and most of those people did not realise that a lot of things that they did when they were younger caused their condition. They would have had control over it at some point. It made me think I need to work upstream rather than look after people when they are really very unwell.”

Her recently-launched A Change Could Do You Good campaign hopes to get people thinking about how they can improve their own health.

“In an ideal world everybody would be eating at least five fruit and vegetables a day, taking at least 30 minutes of vigorous activity at least three times a week, not smoking, drinking in moderation, if at all, and having protected sex. But people do not live like that. In the most part because there is not a return on that investment immediately. People don’t do all of those things when they are younger and they don’t feel the impact of it at that time. They feel the impact of it later.

“Our campaign says there are little things you can do to make a difference. We recognise that not everybody is going to start running 5k three times a week but if you start using the stairs instead of the lift, if you made sure you get up in lunch hour and spend 20 minutes walking around the block, spend less time on your tablet and talked to people, that will make a difference.

“It is unrealistic to ask people to stop all of those things they enjoy. It is about making healthier choices, easier choices.”

Areas where the county is doing better than the national average

72% of mothers start breastfeeding at birth

79% of people are employed

95% of babies are vaccinated at birth

14% of children live in low income families

Areas where the county is doing worse than the national average

14 % of mothers are smoking at birth.

485 hospital admissions of 15-19 year olds for self harming

54 % of people eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day

66% of adults are overweight