Forecasters are predicting heavy snow will fall in Northamptonshire this afternoon (Tuesday).

A severe weather warning for ice is currently in place across across the county until around midday as temperatures dip to a 'feels like' temperature of around -2C.

This afternoon heavy snow has been forecast between 2 and 6pm.

The Met Office has said there is a 90 per cent the snow will arrive and is set to be heavy.

A second severe weather warning for ice will also be in place from 4pm today until 11am tomorrow (Wednesday).

Residents of three villages in Daventry district will go to the polls this week to decide whether they agree with proposed neighbourhood development plans for their areas.

Separate plans for Badby, Guilsborough and Welton have been developed by the parish councils in order to guide the future development of their villages.

Referendums in each of the parishes this Thursday (January 24) will ask residents whether Daventry District Council (DDC) should use their respective neighbourhood development plans to help decide future planning applications in their area.

If more than 50 per cent of those who vote are in favour of an individual plan, then DDC is required to ‘make’ that plan so it becomes part of the statutory development plan.

Residents in Badby will be able to vote in a polling station at Badby Village Hall, while those in Guilsborough should vote at Guilsborough Village Hall and those in Welton at Welton Village Hall.

Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday, January 24.

All three neighbourhood development plans have been subject to public consultation before being reviewed by independent examiners, who recommended they go to a referendum.

Spring is almost in the air at Canons Ashby.

It re-opens on February 4 after a month of conservation work.

During January the team at Canons Ashby have been busy polishing, planting and planning to make sure the historic house and gardens are looking their best for the coming year.

The house team have been busily deep-cleaning the whole of the building, carefully cleaning everything from Georgian textiles to Tudor windows, and inspecting everything for agents of decay: insects like woodworm, clothes moths and silverfish are bad news in a place with plenty of fragile historic artefacts.

Visigt www.nationaltrust.org.uk/canons-ashby or canonsashby@nationaltrust.org.uk

On January 18, Adrian Mark Westley, 56, of Long Lawford, Rugby, was convicted and sentenced for nine charges after a 10-day trial at Northampton Crown Court.

The offences included multiple rapes and indecent assaults which took place in the 1990s at the Post House and Move On House, where Westley was then deputy manager.

The homes provided accommodation and support for children coming out of social care from the age of 15, as well as homeless people dealing with issues such as drug or alcohol abuse.

Investigations into Westley began in August 2016, when a woman contacted Northamptonshire Police to report that she had been regularly raped and sexually assaulted by Westley while living at the Post House in the 1990s.

The subsequent investigation identified a second victim who also disclosed being raped by Westley as a teenager.

At his trial at Northampton Crown Court, Westley denied 13 charges against him.

Jurors heard from both victims, as well as witnesses including fellow residents, a former manager who detailed an internal investigation into Westley’s actions and counsellors who helped one of the victims.

After the guilty verdict, the prosecution read from victim personal statements which revealed how Westley’s abuse of the two women had led to a lifetime of physical and psychological suffering.

Passing sentence, His Honour Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey said both victims were troubled and vulnerable and should have felt safe and secure in the home, branding Westley’s actions ‘utterly wicked’.

Speaking after court, investigating officer Detective Inspector Simon Barnes, of Northamptonshire Police, said: "I would like to praise the courage of each victim and other residents of the Post House who provided evidence in this investigation.

"Mr Westley maintained his innocence throughout the investigation and trial, forcing each witness to attend court and give their account.

"I do not underestimate the personal strength and resilience this required from all those that gave evidence.

"Without their evidence, this verdict would not have been possible.

"Some may think that [time passed] is a barrier to a successful investigation and prosecution – it is not.

"I would like to encourage any victims of crime, recent or not, to report it to the police.

"Not only can we provide you with support through partner agencies, but as this case shows, we can bring offenders to justice."

Mark Westley was convicted of nine charges including multiple rapes and indecent assaults, for which he received five 15-year sentences, to be served concurrently.

He was acquitted of four further counts of indecent assault.

Anyone who may have been a victim of this type of crime is encouraged to report it to police on 101. Support for victims and witnesses can be accessed via Voice, regardless of whether a report has been made to police. To speak to Voice, call 0300 303 1965 or visit www.voicenorthants.org

Northamptonshire County Council’s much delayed audit is expected to cost an extra £300,000.

Work is still being done by external auditors KMPG on the 2017/18 accounts in which the authority overspent by £35.3m.

The authority’s chief finance officer Andy Duncan has said the report won’t be ready to be viewed by the council’s audit committee until early March.

The audit will reveal the final situation for the 2017/18 financial year. The additional £300k cost is on top of the £253,000 paid by the authority to KPMG according to its draft accounts.

Chairman of the council’s scrutiny committee Labour’s Cllr Mick Scrimshaw said the news was disappointing.

He said: “I’m not surprised the audit has been so delayed as the auditors clearly had a lot of work to do as there were so many issues with the council’s finances.

“It is really disappointing that the financial mismanagement has led to further financial expense.

“This means that we will not know the true position for 2017/18 until after we have set the budget for 2019/20.”

The authority has had to make a number of savings this year across a range of services to get itself on the path to balancing its books this coming April.

It has not been restocking its libraries with new books and this winter it will cut back on gritting 400km of its road network.

The audit was supposed to be ready for final sign-off during the summer. Since then it has been delayed a number of times and auditors KPMG have said they have been held up in their work due to waiting for information from the authority.

The two commissioners who have been appointed by central government to oversee the county council until it is replaced with a unitary council, also appointed their own team from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy to analyse the 2017/18 accounts.

In November central government gave the authority a £70m capital dispensation which has allowed it to use £35m of the sale proceeds from headquarters One Angel Square in Northampton to settle the 2017/18 overspend.

Another £20m has been put into reserves and the remainder will be allocated to capital projects.

Overstone Hall has been in disrepair ever since the 2001 blaze, but a change in owners in December 2015 has helped bring forward plans to redevelop the hall. Now those plans have been formally submitted.

Barry Howard Homes is proposing to restore the hall to its former glory - but the 16 residential units that will be built would not be open to members of the public.

It will form one of two phases of an overall development plan for the site, with the developers intending to build 60 homes in the grounds to enable the restoration, which is estimated to cost £20million.

The plans have provoked strong responses both in favour and against the application.

Historic England has raised concerns that the enabling development proposed in the parkland ‘may not actually achieve much in terms of progressing restoration of the Hall, but will cause harm to its setting’.

Overstone Parish Council has ‘strongly objected’ to both the restoration and enabling applications, saying: “Barry Howard Homes (BHH) has no transparent ‘Exit Plan’ to complete the restoration of the hall and no secured funds or secured any land interests to fully fund the cost of renovation.

“BHH has no submitted plan to prove he ever will have in the future. The villagers are not prepared to put up with a partial renovation over many years, with the site covered in tarpaulin and scaffolding.”

County councillor Judy Shepherd has given her backing to the parish council, saying: “The relationship that already exists between Overstone Park and Overstone village is at present very finely balanced. The extra traffic that would be generated from an enabling development scheme would be overbearing and burdensome upon the whole locality.”

She adds that the plans would see Overstone Hall ‘no longer being worthy of a Grade II listing’.

And residents group Overstone RUINED has previously warned that there are ‘no guarantees the renovation would ever be completed’.

But Daventry District Council has raised no objections, with its planning case officer writing in a report to councillors: “The restoration to the hall itself should be given great weight, and in cases similar to these you would expect to see some compromise. Although the council would prefer to see further supporting information, in the interest of preserving a building which is of national importance, it is considered that the benefits of its restoration outweigh the harm.”

And the Victorian Society has also ‘welcomed’ the scheme, praising the ‘thorough approach being taken by the applicant to conservation, repair and reinstatement of features and spaces of key significance’.

Overstone Hall was built for the first Lord Overstone by W.M. Teulon, and over its history has also acted as a girls school, and as a home to the New Testament Church of God.

Elected councillors on Daventry District Council’s planning committee will meet on January 30 to determine the application.

The following people were sentenced at Northampton Magistrates’ Court:

OCTOBER 23

James Summerfield, aged 37, of Drayton Walk, Northampton, failed to comply with a community order; order to continue, costs £60.

Jacqueline Fox, aged 43, of Gladstone Road, Northampton, failed to comply with a community order; costs £60.

Paul Mckintosh, aged 52, of Sharrow Place, Northampton, damaged items belonging to another person; community order made to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, compensation £500. Assault; compensation £100.

Raymond Beasley, aged 70, of Danetree Gardens, Northampton, driving while not wearing a seatbelt; fined £97, surcharge £30, costs £620.

Guido Monterzino, aged 36, of Main Street, Hannington, driving while using a mobile phone; fined £311, surcharge £31, costs £300, licence endorsed with six points.

Mohammed Nur, aged 62, of Knighton Close, Northampton, driving while using a mobile phone; fined £220. No insurance; fined £660, surcharge £66, costs £620, licence endorsed with eight points. No test certificate; fined £220.

OCTOBER 24

Walie Roberts, aged 43, of Wordsworth Road, Daventry, driving at 55mph in a 30mph zone; fined £369, surcharge £39, costs £85, licence endorsed with six points.

Marian Stoica, aged 20, of St Pauls Road, Northampton, driving at 35mph in a 30mph zone; fined £146, surcharge £30, costs £85, licence endorsed with three points. Driving not in accordance with a licence; fined £146.

Ben Turner, aged 24, of Skinner Avenue, Northampton, driving at 68mph in a 40mph zone; fined £569, surcharge £56, costs £85, licence endorsed with six points.

Anthony McCormick, aged 68, of Salcey Street, Northampton, driving without due care and attention; fined £139, surcharge £30, costs £85, licence endorsed with three points.

Adam Goode, aged 40, of Vernier Close, Daventry, driving at 53mph in a 30mph zone; fined £650, surcharge £65, costs £85, licence endorsed with six points.

Pedro Teixeira, aged 58, of London Road, Northampton, driving without due care and attention; fined £440, surcharge £44, costs £85, banned from driving for 12 months. Driving not in accordance with a licence; fined £220.

Farai Jonga, aged 34, of Great Ground Walk, Northampton, damaged property; compensation £420. Possession of a class B drug; fined £80, surcharge £30, costs £85.

OCTOBER 25

Henry Cuffe, aged 38, of Greenfield Avenue, Northampton, dangerous driving, failed to provide a blood test, no insurance; pleaded guilty, sent to Crown Court for sentence.

Sean Sye, aged 44, c/o Lower Mount, Northampton, trespass; conditional discharge for three months, surcharge £20.

Marcus Walfall, aged 33, of Penn Court, Northampton, failed to provide a breath test; fined £120, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for 12 months.

Lauren Bates, aged 32, of St Albans Road, Northampton, damaged property at a pub; community order made, compensation £462.

Louise Davy, aged 50, of Banbury Lane, Northampton, failed to notify Department for Work and Pensions of changes relating to employment allowance; community order made to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, surcharge £85, costs £300.

Moulton Joggers will first meet at Moulton Community Centre for two sessions on a Monday and one session on a Saturday.

The sessions are free of charge and ideal for beginners with little if any running experience and an interpreter will be there to support people with any communication needs they may
have.

Northamptonshire Sport’s Disability Development Officer, Graeme Wilson said: “This is absolutely brilliant to have such a group starting in the county.

"Deaf people are sadly still the least active of any group in society, and often it’s their concern about communication barriers with providers that prevents them from being involved in more mainstream activities."

The running group starts on Monday, January 28 and the interpreter will only be on hand on Mondays.

“Deaf people should feel confident at being included in most activities as coaches, or instructors will usually find an appropriate way to communicate with them," Graeme added.

"However having an interpreter in place to support a group like this is fantastic, so I just hope that deaf people join them in order to make the most of this great service and inclusive opportunity."

For more information about Moulton Joggers people should contact either Kathy on kathyholley48@yahoo.co.uk 07718 369382, or Alexy on community@deafhub.co.uk
07817 753187 (text only).

If any deaf people would like information about more opportunities available to them, or activity providers would like help to include deaf people in their activities then both should
have a look at the UK Deaf Sport website for further assistance: ukdeafsport.org.uk

All three lanes southbound between junction 15 for Northampton and junction 14 for Milton Keynes have been closed today (Wednesday) following a crash involving a van and a lorry.

The accident happened at around 10.15am leaving one person trapped in a vehicle, according to traffic reports.

All lanes northbound between J14 and J15 were temporarily shut to allow for the air ambulance to land on the carriageway and re-opened again at 11am.

Southbound remains shut with emergency services deal with the incident.

Queuing traffic at the scene has been left trapped on the carriageway following the closure, while other drivers are being diverted ahead of the incident.

Highways has advised that trapped vehicles will be turned around shortly.

A spokesman said: "We have now begun turning the trapped traffic around. We will have you all moving real soon. Please remain stationary until advised by #TrafficOfficers"

The following diversion is in place: Follow Hollow Circle. Off at #J15, onto #A508 south, to #A5 south and then on to the #A509 to rejoin at J14.

Anyone travelling south is being advised to exit the M1 at J19 and to use the A14.

A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Police said: "We confirmed that the M1 southbound is closed from junction 15 and we are about to close it from the slip road.

"We are dealing with a serious collision that happened just after 10am, which looks like a van and lorry."

A spokesman for Highways England confirmed that the collision involving a van and HGV occurred on the southbound carriageway, adding that emergency services were on the scene dealing with the incident.

Stagecoach Midlands tweeted: "Due to the closure of the M1 southbound between junctions 15 and 15a, we are experiencing severe delays to our X6 and X7 services.

"Should the resulting congestion continue, this may also cause delays to our number 7 service. Apologies for any inconvenience caused."

A nursing home in Brixworth that has been found wanting by inspectors on six occasions in three years is on its final chance.

Pytchley Court Nursing Home has repeatedly breached two regulations since February 2016 relating to governance along with safe care and treatment.

It is now in special measures following the publication of a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report from a visit in September 2018, during which safeguarding alerts were raised over the care and welfare of 11 elderly residents.

And the health watchdog has now confirmed it could close the home within weeks if it cannot demonstrate it has turned a corner.

A CQC spokeswoman said: "The service is being closely monitored and it will be inspected within six months [of the September 2018 visit], or earlier if we receive information of concern.

"If the service does not make the required improvements within six months, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service.”

The September visit found numerous serious concerns relating to recognising when people were unwell and referring people for medical care:

- When people became unwell there were no systems in place to compare their condition with their 'healthy' condition as no baseline observations had been recorded.

- Three people were hospitalised with potentially deadly sepsis in the previous month. The CQC said nurses had not been taking full sets of clinical observations, which can allow infections such as sepsis to develop,

- One person had frequent falls and their blood pressure and pulse indicated they could be bleeding or in shock. Staff stopped taking their blood pressure after a while and took two hours to call the GP.

- One person's records showed they regularly had blood sugar levels above the normal acceptable limits, but they were not referred to the diabetes team for assessment.

- One person was at risk of not receiving a pureed meal because it was omitted from their care plan and was at risk of choking.

- A resident with dementia broke their arm when they fell in the home. An exercise plan prescribed by the physiotherapist was not carried out, meaning they risked not regaining the full use of their arm.

- Four people had lost weight in the last few months. Their risk assessments recommended fortified foods and drinks; however, there was no system in place to ensure they received these.

- Where people had not met their daily target for drinks, nursing staff did not take any action.

- Staff had recorded in the daily notes that two people had unexplained bruising; no action had been taken and these incidents had not been reported to the local safeguarding team.

The spokeswoman for the CQC said it had declined to close Pytchley Court so far because, in deciding sanctions, "we determine which will result in the best outcomes for people living at services".

As things stand. the conditions placed on Pytchley Court require the manager to "update the CQC regularly with evidence of regular audits" and "provide action plans detailing the work being done to make improvements."

A spokeswoman for Pytchley Court said: “The health and wellbeing of our residents is always our number one priority, and we take all feedback from the CQC seriously.

“Following the CQC’s inspection, we quickly put a comprehensive action plan in place, and the senior regional team is supporting the implementation of this at Pytchley Court. A recent internal inspection has shown that the home has already made positive progress.

“We continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to make and sustain improvements, and we are confident we will have made significant positive progress by our next inspection.”

One in ten Daventry babies are born to single parents, new data reveals.

Single parent charity Gingerbread said lone parents still face some stigma, but that recent reports debunk the idea that having only one parent can negatively impact children.

Office for National Statistics figures show that 53 babies were registered by just one parent.

A further 32 had two parents living at different homes.

That’s a total of 85 children being raised by single parents in 2017 – ten per cent of the births in Daventry.

Across England, 52 per cent of babies were registered by parents who were married or in a same-sex civil partnerships, in line with the average for the UK. In Daventry, it was 54 per cent.

Rosie Ferguson, chief executive of Gingerbread, said single parents’ aspirations for their children may be thwarted by circumstances out of their control.

She said: “The majority of single parents work, but many are still locked out of the secure, flexible employment opportunities they need in order to provide for their children.

“We need to strengthen the system of support for single parents.”

The M1 remains closed between Northampton this afternoon following a serious crash between a van and a lorry at around 10am this morning (Wednesday).

All three lanes are currently closed between junction 15 and 14 southbound as emergency services and highways continue to work at the scene.

It is not expected to open until around 5.30pm today. Highways England has apologised for the inconvenience.

Officers from Highways England have been working for several hours to release stranded motorists.

The latest update stated: "We are now releasing traffic from the front of the queue through the works lane as well as turning traffic from the rear. Please remain in your vehicles and await further instruction."

If you are diverting off at junction 15 please use the A508 and A5 which will divert you back on to the M1 at J14.

All other routes advised are to use the A42 at J23A and then the M40.

Consultation on the remaining eight libraries, including Long Buckby, which are part of plans for the long-term future of Northamptonshire County Council’s Library service started today (January 23).

The proposals are for all of these to be community managed and non-statutory, with the exception of Duston which will remain part of the statutory offer and under county council management.

Cllr Cecile Irving-Swift, deputy leader of the county council with the responsibility for the Library Service, said: “At the heart of this proposal is the fact that we’ve worked with some wonderful community groups who, like us at the county council, clearly have a passion for books.

“At this stage these are simply proposals and what we need now is for people to have their say on what they think of these plans.”

The final eight libraries being consulted on are Irchester, Finedon, St James, Duston, Long Buckby, Far Cotton, Higham Ferrers and Abington.

The consultation will run for just over eight weeks until March 22 and there will be public engagement events at all of these except for Duston, where there is no change proposed.

The consultation for the first 28 libraries closes on February 8, so there will be a two-week overlap with the final eight so that people can consider all 36 proposals and respond to these with this in mind.

Once the consultations have been completed then the county council will consider all of the responses as one and will be taking a paper to Cabinet in May with the outcome of the consultation and final proposals for Cabinet to approve.

To go to the consultation visit www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/library-consultation

Wheatsheaf Court Care Home in Sheaf Street was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in an unannounced inspection in November 2018.

A previous examination resulted in the service being rated as 'requires improvement' and the latest inspection has concluded the care home is now 'inadequate'.

Among the watchdog's findings were allegations of abuse by staff towards residents.

"We have received some feedback that staff do not always communicate with people in a kind or respectful manner," states the report.

"This raises concerns that people have been subject to abuse and safeguarding referrals have been made as a result."

It continued: "During our inspection, people disclosed allegations of abuse to members of the inspection team and safeguarding referrals were made as a result.

"People were not consistently protected from the risk of abuse as the registered manager was not aware of all incidents that occurred at the service where people were at risk of harm."

Because improvements haven't been made since the 2017 inspection, the CQC has put the service in special measures.

Wheatsheaf Court will be re-inspected in six months by which time the CQC expects significant improvements to be made.

If the care home is still inadequate by then, it will begin the process of preventing provider Interhaze Ltd from operating Wheatsheaf Court.

Inspectors also noted that:

- Areas of the home were not well maintained or clean and improvements were not always made in a sufficiently timely manner.

- People did not always receive their care from staff who knew them well as there was a high reliance on agency staff. This also affected the amount of social interaction and activity available to people.

- Improvements were required to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

- There is a lack of care delivered to meet people's individual needs and maintain their dignity. People's dignity is not being maintained at the service. People's personal care is not being provided in the way they wish and some people are in an unkempt state.

- We have received some feedback that staff do not always communicate with people in a kind or respectful manner.

- This raises concerns that people have been subject to abuse and safeguarding referrals have been made as a result.

- People's personal preferences in relation to their care is not always considered and people lack stimulation and choices about how they spend their time.

- People are not provided with an appetising choice of food.

- We have been told that the food served at mealtimes is often cold and of poor quality.

- People do not feel listened to by the provider, as they have raised concerns about the service they receive but no action has been taken.

Michelle Caisley, the registered home manager, said: "We acknowledge that the home is in special measures and would like to state that we are continuing to work with external agencies with regards to the rating.

"Further agencies such as Northamptonshire County Council and Nene Corby CCG - both agencies having been working with the home over the last year to push through improvements neither of which have raised any concerns over this period or after the report was published.

"We had a recent quality audit in January 2019 with the outcome rating of 93 per cent.

"We are in a 400-year-old building that is not purpose-built and continuing to complete refurbishment to make the home more welcoming.

"Whilst I cannot discuss individual resident with regards to safeguards, safeguardings that have been raised by the home and by the CQC have been fully investigated and closed by safeguarding team with no further action taken.

"Whilst we respect the work that the CQC does, the report was the opinion of the inspector on the day and is not a true reflection of the homes current state with work going into the home over the last year.

"We continue to ensure our resident are safe and free from the risk of harm."

The CQC report, published earlier this month, can be read on the watchdog's website.

Northamptonshire County Council aims to repair dangerous potholes within two hours of being alerted, data obtained by the RAC Foundation shows.

That’s the most common response time, with the slowest councils in the UK taking up to five days.

Hitting a pothole, or even swerving to avoid one, can ruin a car’s suspension, steering or tyres, according to the AA.

In extreme cases they can cause serious accidents.

In 2018, the AA estimated potholes cost drivers and insurance companies £12 million.

It said: “The pothole epidemic has become nothing short of a national disgrace.”

A Freedom of Information request by the RAC found that Northamptonshire County Council determines how dangerous a pothole is by measuring its size and depth.

But the data shows deeper potholes on quiet lanes will still be less of a priority than minor defects on a major route.

On rarely-used roads, Northamptonshire County Council will only intervene when potholes are at least 7.5cm deep .

On busy major routes, potholes at least 4cm deep will be investigated.

The RAC Foundation recommends a different approach, assessing the impact of a pothole on road users over size.

Director Steve Gooding said: “The total number of potholes being filled in might still be limited by a shortage of funding, but this approach at least means those that are most dangerous are fixed first.

“Those particularly vulnerable to potholes – cyclists and motorcyclists – might ask whether the speed of pothole investigation should be based solely on the risk to users.”

Repairs for the least troublesome potholes in Northamptonshire could take up to a month.

The Local Government Association called for more funding for council-controlled local roads.

Transport spokesman Councillor Martin Tett said: “Keeping roads safe for all users is one of the most important jobs councils do.

“That’s reflected in the fact that local authorities are fixing a pothole every 21 seconds.”

He added that councils need “consistent and fairer government investment in local road maintenance”.

A 60-year-old van driver was killed in a fatal collision with a lorry on the M1 yesterday.

Shortly after 10am on Wednesday (January 23), south of junction 15 on the southbound carriageway, a white Renault Master van hit the back of a Mercedes Actos lorry.

Sadly the Renault driver, who was from Bedford, died at the scene.

The southbound carriageway of the motorway was shut for several hours as emergency services attended the scene.

The northbound lanes were temporarily shut so the air ambulance could land.

The motorway was eventually reopened at 5.30pm.

Witnesses to the collision or anyone with information are asked to contact Northamptonshire Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 101 or via the Drivewatch Hotline on 0800 174645.

Welton Road is one of 497 roads no longer deemed a priority for gritting by the county council in a move to save the cash-strapped local authority £475,000.

Northamptonshire Police's response team in Daventry tweeted: "This poor motorist had a fright when her car skidded down the hill and crashed into another car.

"No one was hurt. Our request for the road to be gritted (as it was an ice rink) was refused by the council. Please take care!"

Gritting is undertaken on precautionary routes whenever there is a forecast temperature of 0.5C or lower over a 24-hour forecast period, and they take priority when it snows.

Roads on the adverse network, which the 497 roads are part of, will instead be treated in daytime hours in advance of a high confidence forecast for snow or when temperatures are not forecast to rise above zero for 48 hours.

In effect, it means it will have to be much colder for much longer for these roads to be gritted.

A list of the downgraded roads can be seen here.

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire County Council said: “The council grits over 1543km of roads across the county and has a finite gritting resource which needs to be applied in the most effective way.

“Therefore a gritting network comprising the busiest roads and those linking communities are gritted as a priority.

“Our gritting routes are clearly publicised, but regardless of whether a road is gritted or not, we advise motorists to take extreme care when driving in icy conditions.”

Jake Christopher Brian Cox, of Langdale Road, Kingsthorpe took his tipper truck to Spectacle Lane near Moulton and poured the waste onto the road.

There was so much waste that it blocked Spectacle Lane to traffic and small pieces of underlay and insulation blew into surrounding hedges and fields, which took two days to clear.

Unfortunately for Cox, he was spotted in the act by a cyclist who noted the registration number of the truck and reported it to Daventry District Council.

The rubbish was traced to him and, after admitting the offence, was fined £1,000 by magistrates and ordered to pay the council's costs of £3,372 - which included the £600 it cost to take away the waste.

Speaking after the hearing, cabinet member for environmental health Councillor Richard Auger thanked the cyclist for reporting the incident, which took place in October 2017.

He said: “I would like to commend this public-spirited person, who had suspicions when they saw the tipper truck in the lane, and then had the presence of mind to note its registration number and get in touch with us to report it.

“That vital piece of information allowed us to trace the source of the rubbish and bring about this conviction, without need for the cyclist to attend court.

"I’m also extremely grateful to the Council’s former Environmental Protection Officer Alan Lovell, who carried out the original investigation and who briefly came out of retirement to attend the court hearing in support of this action.

“Our district typically suffers from between 60 to 110 fly-tips each month, costing time, money and resources that could be better spent elsewhere. Hopefully this prosecution sends a powerful message that we will not hesitate to take action against those who think it is acceptable to blight our countryside with their rubbish.”

Anyone who witnesses the illegal dumping of waste in Daventry District is asked to report it to the Council at www.daventrydc.gov.uk/online

White people in Northamptonshire are more likely to be employed than black and minority ethnic people, analysis shows.

Race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust says the ethnic employment gap is a “systemic” problem.

Just 70 per cent of BAME residents in Northamptonshire are in work, according to the Office for National Statistics. For white people, the employment rate is 79 per cent.

In Northamptonshire, 4.1 per cent of BAME jobseekers aged over 16 are unemployed. For white people, the rate is 4.3 per cent.

Runnymede Trust director Dr Omar Khan said part of the gap is down to hiring discrimination, adding: “We need to consider tougher measures to tackle discrimination.”

The motorway is shut southbound between Northampton and Milton Keynes from junctions 15 to 14.

There are diversions in place with drivers asked to follow the hollow circle symbol via the A508/A5/A509.

Two crashes were reported on the M1 this morning which had initially caused the delays.

Highways England have since taken the decision to shut the motorway while recovery is carried out.

UPDATE: Two lanes have been closed northbound between junctions 14 and 15.