The elderly motorist turned right and crossed three lanes of the busy motorway before driving towards oncoming traffic.

When the male driver realised his mistake he tried to reverse back along the fast lane before pulling forward again.

The driver eventually manages to reverse back up the road before driving the wrong way down the sliproad.

The video shows the hapless motorist join the southbound carriageway of the M1 at Milton Keynes, at 1pm earlier this month.

Lorry driver Mark Thomas, 54, captured the terrifying moment on his dashcam as he drove from Tilbury Docks in Essex.

The divorced dad-of-one, of Shrewsbury, Shrops, said: “I was really shaken up by it, he could have killed someone, I couldn’t believe it.

“I was driving in the middle lane and noticed in the distance was not quite right.

“I was doing around 60mph when I saw the car coming up on the fast lane, and slowed down to 40mph in an instant.

“I just slowed right down and put on the hazard warning lights.

“I could see a young bloke in the white van next to me brake hard and he was really straining on the seatbelt.

“The man in the silver car looked like he was 65 to 70 and was very confused.

“He might not have understood the signs. I wondered if he might be a foreigner.

“When he was reversing on the fast lane I was shouting out the window at him to turn around, in fact I went hoarse from shouting.

"He tried reversing back down the carriageway a couple of times until he weaved his way back down the fast lane and goes the wrong way down the slip road.

"It was lucky it was a clear day because if it had been foggy that would have been it. The road was busy with cars and lorries like mine and he could have caused carnange.

“I have been a trucker for 32 years and this is the first time I’ve seen anything like this.

“I sent the dashcam to the police and they say someone has already reported it, I don’t know what’s happened to the driver."

A Northamptonshire teenager desperately needs a specialist seat to save him from the agony of his spine curving and relieve his painfully stiff muscles.

Tom Dadd, 13, of Old, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a life-limiting condition that is slowly robbing him of the ability to use his muscles.

The teenager uses a powered wheelchair that gives him the freedom to get around, but doctors say using it all the time is causing severe curvature of the spine.

Tom's dad Simon said: "We want Tom to be as comfortable as possible and make the most of the time he has left.

"We are desperately worried his next check-up at Great Ormond Street Hospital will reveal his spine has deteriorated even more.

"Being in a cramped position all day means Tom has contractures in his ankles, and stiff and uncomfortable muscles and joints for which there is no relief."

Tom last walked 18 months ago and is losing his upper body strength. His weakening muscles even affect his breathing so he uses a ventilator at night.

Having an adjustable, supportive seat to sit in would make a big difference to his life, but Northamptonshire health and social care have refused to fund it.

Now Newlife - the charity for disabled children - is urgently appealing to the community to help raise £3,430 for the specialist seat.

Simon said: "Having this supportive seat is so important. Not only would Tom avoid his spine getting worse adding to his pain, he would actually be comfortable while we all watch a film together or while he plays online games with his friends.

"It would give Tom a little bit of normality for a while, especially as his deteriorating condition means he has already had to give up so much."

Tom added: "This seat would let me be able to join in with family things like watching TV and to play games with my friends in comfort."

Tom’s six-year-old brother, Ben, also has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. With two disabled children, parents Simon and Ruth find it difficult to find places that will cater for their needs, so most of their memories are made at home.

Newlife’s Senior Manager for Care Services, Carrick Brown, said: “A single piece of disability equipment is simply not enough. No one would expect an able bodied person to go the entire day without changing position - and yet Tom is expected to endure sitting in a single position for the whole day.

“Unfortunately, although we want to help Tom and his family, we simply don’t have the funds to buy the equipment right now. So are desperately appealing to the local community for help to raise the money so Tom can get some much-needed relief.”

Anyone able to help Tom should urgently contact Newlife on 01543 431 444, visit the website at www.newlife.support/HelpTom or email local@newlifecharity.co.uk.

You can also text NEWLIFE TOM to 70500 to give £10 to Tom’s appeal. Texts cost £10 plus one message at your standard network rate.

It is Paris. It is the 1890s and young Edmond Rostand is suffering from a major case of writer's block.

The scene is carefully set as part of Alexis Michalik's dizzyingly clever play, Edmond de Bergerac, which started its run at Northampton's Royal and Derngate this week.

And, with Edmond as the central character, audiences sit back and watch the action unfold in an imagining of how this struggling writer became one of France's most celebrated playwrights, the author of Cyrano De Bergerac.

Although the audience may be sitting back, there is certainly no lounging involved for any of the fantastic cast in this action-packed farce.

From the beginning, the play has its own, very distinctive feel. Realism is not the central focus as actors move together in what appears to be highly-choreographed scenes, in almost constant movement.

There is no time to relax as the actors each have to deliver a layered tale, exploring a little of Edmond's own adventures and challenges as well as the development of Cyrano's story in Edmond's imagination. There is even an echo of Cyrano in Edmond's own life as he begins to become embroiled in the romantic life of his friend, Leo.

Quite appropriately, the stage set frequently contains the backdrop of theatre curtains, with balconied structures being moved about as needed. This seems appropriate, given the fact we are witnessing the story of an author, the making of his play and the play itself.

As with all good farces, comic timing is everything, and this production, directed by Roxana Silbert, does not disappoint.

The play works with an extremely strong cast, including some trusted comedy actors, such as Josie Lawrence playing background and supporting roles.

Josie delivers some very funny scenes, taking on a large number of minor parts (as actress Sarah Bernhardt, a waitress, an old actress and brothel madam, Suzon). Each part is delivered with 'scene-stealing' humorous facial expressions, accents and character creation.

Holby City actress Chizzy Akudolu also shines in her various roles, most notably as Maria, the 40-something actress shoehorned into playing the leading lady, Roxane, until she rather humorously encounters accident and misfortune while on stage.

Simon Gregor also deserves a mention for delivering the laughs in a series of roles including theatre wardrobe master and hotel receptionist. I particularly enjoyed the scene in which he is the receptionist dealing with enquiries from two men, each claiming to be the writer Georges Feydeau. Simon's look of horror when the real Georges turns up and is not able to convince reception he is the genuine article is comedy gold.

This is a play on which to concentrate, but it is not difficult to understand. It is only when the action is over that, as an audience member, you really appreciate the physical and mental feat it must take to successfully convey the content of the play, and make it look easy.

I also enjoyed the late 19th century Parisian backdrop to the scenes which really helped to bring colour to the story, what with its array of Moulin Rouge dancers, brothels, cafes and theatre houses. These details certainly helped transport the action to another time for audiences.

Edmond de Bergerac will run at Royal & Derngate until Saturday, April 13. Visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk

A bridal boutique in Long Buckby has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

Staff at Anna Wood Bridal need people’s votes to win the Bridal Boutique of the Year award at the National Wedding Awards.

The award recognises excellence in the wedding industry across the UK and winners will announced at a gala dinner on June 26.

Owner Anna Wood said: “It’s been a whirlwind six months since we opened the doors of Anna Wood Bridal.

“We have met so many lovely brides to be and assisted in finding many of them ‘the one’, and already received such lovely feedback about our boutique and service.”

Vote at https://natweddingawards.co.uk/nominate/vote

Emergency services were called to the A5 in Northants last night (Tuesday) following a serious collision involving two vehicles.

At around 6.40pm, a white Fiat Diablo was in collision with a white Ford transit van on the A5 in Fosters Booth - midway between Weedon and Towcester.

Both vehicles collided at the junction of Butchers Lane.

The man driving the Fiat suffered serious injuries and was taken to University Hospital Coventry.

The man driving the Ford suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Anyone with information or who witnessed this incident is asked to call the Drivewatch Hotline on 0800 174615.

Three drivers - one with serious injuries - were taken to hospital yesterday after three cars and a lorry were involved in a crash on the Flore bypass.

The collision happened at about 6.20am on Tuesday (April 9) when a red Nissan Juke travelling towards Weedon was in collision with a DAF lorry travelling in the opposite direction.

The lorry was then in collision with a grey Ford Galaxy and the red Nissan Juke was then in a further collision with a grey Nissan Juke.

The driver and front seat passenger of the Galaxy sustained serious injuries and were taken to University Hospital Coventry.

The driver and a passenger in the grey Juke and the driver of the lorry were also injured and taken to Northampton General Hospital.

The driver of the red Juke sustained minor injuries.

Witnesses to the collision or anyone with information are asked to contact the Northamptonshire Police Serious Collision Investigation Team on 101 or via the Drivewatch Hotline on 0800 174615, quoting incident number 47 of 9/4/19.

The Northampton and England centre, who is a passionate cyclist himself, paid tribute to the hundreds of riders who, despite miserable weather last September, raised an impressive £65,000 for Northamptonshire’s Cynthia Spencer Hospice.
Among them was Jessica Pilkington, who led a team of 17 cyclists in memory of her son Harry Chadwick, who was just 19 years old when he passed away last March.

Having been given the opportunity to meet others with cancer as a patient at the day hospice before he died, Harry’s last days were spent at home and it was in enabling that move to familiar surroundings for which Jessica says she couldn’t thank Cynthia Spencer and its Hospice at Home Team enough.

She said: “My sister had lived out her final days at the hospice, where we all experienced the wonderful care of the entire staff, but that Harry was able to die at home, surrounded by his family, was an incredible gift.
“So although last year’s ride was only six months afterwards, we knew we just had to ride as we wanted to show our immense gratitude in the best possible way - by raising
money and ensuring that others have access to such amazing support should they sadly ever need it.”
Indeed, Team Harry’s generous donation of £2,600 – taking the total raised in the 15-year history of the event to almost £600,000 - ultimately saw Piers award Jessica and the team with the Chairman’s Cup, a trophy which is given to someone whose special efforts represent the ‘spirit of the ride’.
Piers also presented the other 2018 trophies, including that for most money raised by an individual, which went to Gary Denton for collecting over £500; to the biggest team, won again by Shirefit East Northants with 52 riders; and for the best fancy dress, which went to friends Lynsey Brecani and Karen Eke.
Meanwhile the award for the corporate team raising the most money went for the second year running to Northampton firm, Piroto Labelling, whose 40 cyclists raised more than £7,000, taking their two-year total to more than £22,000. They were riding in memory of their colleague, Laura Silk, who passed away at Cynthia Spencer in 2017.
The launch event also provided an opportunity for the Hospice’s fund-raising manager, John Helm, to thank the event’s continuing sponsors, including EMW Law LLP, who are headline sponsors for the second time, as well as timber merchants and countrywear specialists, Linnell Bros Ltd, and lettings and sales agent, Chelton Brown.

He added: “Cycle4Cynthia is our biggest fundraiser in the year and £64,807.67 is a fantastic total, especially when you consider how the weather tried to interfere, so we’re incredibly grateful to everyone for their support and would encourage anyone with two wheels to take part this September to help make it the best ride yet".

Cycle4Cynthia 2019 will take place on Sunday, 22nd September at Holdenby House, by kind permission of James and Karen Lowther, with routes of five, 25 and 50 miles on offer.
For more information, including registering for the ride or for details of corporate sponsorship opportunities, please call the Hospice on 01604 21094 or email fundraising@cynthiaspencer.co.uk

The current FirstCare system records and tracks social care cases for vulnerable people, but is now 14-years-old and there are concerns that it's not keeping pace with the growing demand.

A council report states that the system has 'blind spots' where ‘potentially crucial information is not available to the right people at the point of decision making’.

It added: “The system is not easy for practitioners to use and over time has been complicated by additional fields, markers and processes that mean assessment recording can take significant time, and staff are reluctant to record information.

“Integration with other systems is poor, which is driving further significant manual activity and increasing the likelihood of human error and further affecting productivity.”

On Tuesday (April 9), the county council’s cabinet agreed to purchase a new system to replace it.

Cabinet member for children’s services Councillor Fiona Baker said: “It is hard to overstate just how critical this system is. This holds all the information we have about the interactions we have with some of our county’s most vulnerable residents. This information is used to make crucial decisions about the care these people require.”

Cabinet member for adult social services Cllr Sandra Naden-Horley added: “The current system is in urgent need of being replaced. It is 14-years-old and the needs of social care have changed so much in that time.

“A new system will give us improved information to help people making decisions about people’s care needs and will also work more seamlessly with other systems like those used by the NHS, meaning people’s time is freed up to focus on their front-line activity.”

But Liberal Democrat leader Chris Stanbra questioned why it had taken such a long time to replace the system.

He said: “How many of the 14 years this has been in place have these been problems? I heard a year ago that this system was not fit for purpose. Who knew before me, and why has it taken so long to take action?"

Cllr Naden-Horley responded: "IT moves quickly. But 14 years is a long time and I welcome this updated system."

Director of transformation Paul Helsby said a previous attempt to update had changed scope and ended up costing a predicted £8million, which the county council could not afford at the time.

After that, he says, he doesn't know why an updated system was not looked at sooner.

£1.5million from the council’s capital budget will be used to pay for the new system.

Worshippers of St Mary’s, Grendon, gathered with those from St Andrew’s, Yardley Hastings; St Mary Magdalene, Castle Ashby; Castle Ashby, St Margaret of Antioch Denton and St Mary the Virgin, Whiston to meet the Archbishop on his two-day visit to the Peterborough Diocese.

The Rev Paula York welcomed the Archbishop who wanted to see an example of a rural ministry.

During his hour with the congregation, he met members involved in different aspects of church life including members of the clergy, church wardens, youth workers, members of the Benefice and Community choir, who gave a performance, and everyone involved in church life.

She said: “We wanted to show that rural ministry is alive and well in our diocese and to demonstrate to him the imaginative ways that we are engaging with our five village communities.

“He spoke to those involved in running and maintaining our churches and was particularly inspired by the T-shirt that our Messy Church had made for him as well as our work with the Grendon C of E Primary School and young people in the Benefice.”

Wearing the T-shirt emblazoned with ‘ABC Justin’ on the back, he continued his tour.

Two long-serving church wardens, with a century of service between them, were presented with certificates by the Archbishop who thanked them for their hard work.

Paula added: “The Archbishop presented Gerald Hunt and Richard Dicks, who have both served 50 years as churchwarden at St Mary Magdalene Church in Castle Ashby, with long-service awards.

“The church members also presented the Archbishop with a basket of ‘rural’ produce including local honey, homemade jam and half a dozen fresh eggs.

“He then went into the ringing chamber to talk to bellringers from across the benefice who rang as he left to visit for Northampton.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to take time to celebrate the hard work put in by so many through the parish churches in Castle Ashby, Denton, Grendon, Whiston and Yardley Hastings to build community and serve our villages in Jesus’ name.”

The Archbishop said: “I saw an amazing example of thriving rural ministry this morning in Grendon. Thanks Rev Paula York and all for welcoming us.”

Workers in Daventry earn more than £1,000 more than the average annual salary in the East Midlands each year, HMRC data shows.

Income inequality charity the Equality Trust says the figures, which reveal a gap of more than £35,000 between the UK’s richest and poorest areas, “paint a bleak picture”.

The average worker in Daventry made £22,400 before tax in the 2016-17 financial year, HMRC figures show.

That’s higher than the £21,100 median income across the East Midlands .

HMRC uses the median, the middle number in a series, instead of the mean average, so the figures are not distorted by extreme highs and lows. The data only covers taxpayers, and does not include people who are self-employed.

Dr Wanda Wyporska, executive director of the Equality Trust, said: “These figures paint a bleak picture for our society, and we can see a huge divide between incomes in the north and the south.

“These gaps are further evidence of the shockingly high level of inequality in the UK, which we know is linked to poverty, mental and physical ill-health, and lower levels of social mobility.

“This damages us all, rich and poor.”

A new range of grant funding is now available and open for applications through the office of Northamptonshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold.

This year, three different funds are available that will give a wider range of community groups, charities and other voluntary organisations options to seek funding, with more than £250,000 being made available.

Stephen Mold set up the Making Northamptonshire Safer fund in 2017 and since then, it has provided £100,000 to 13 different groups to allow them to undertake a wide variety of projects.

Now a further £100,000 is available through the Making Northamptonshire Safer Fund, and that is complemented by two additional funds that are being made available through the Commissioner’s office: The Northamptonshire Road Safety Community Fund of £150,000 and the Tackling Hate Crime Fund with £11,000.

These three funds are making available a total of more than £250,000 for good causes in Northamptonshire.

The Making Northamptonshire Safer Fund provides grants of between £3,000 and £10,000 to groups carrying out projects that support the aims of the Police and Crime Plan: early intervention and preventing crime; enforcing robustly to fight crime and protect people; putting victims at the heart of justice and reducing reoffending.

The Northamptonshire Road Safety Community Fund is supported by the Safer Roads Alliance and gives grants of between £500 and £5,000 for initiatives that support the Northamptonshire Strategic Road Safety Plan: speed reduction; anti-social road use; distraction driving; drink or drug driving; road victims and their families; use of seatbelts; child restraints and seats; educational initiatives leading to positive behaviour change.

The Tackling Hate Crime Fund is provided by the Northamptonshire Hate Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour Delivery Group and is open for bids of between £1,000 and £11,000 for initiatives that will: support victims of hate crime or hate incidents; support confidence in reporting; support work with offenders to successfully change behaviour.

Northamptonshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold said: “I’m pleased to be able to make such a significant amount of money available to non-profit organisations and groups that are working in countless ways to support communities across the county.

“As well as supporting bids that are working to tackle crime, this year we are able to offer or administer funds for a wider range of work on road safety and hate crime. There are so many fantastic groups working in the county, I am really looking forward to seeing some strong bids come forward.”

Applications are now invited for all three funds, and the current round closes on May 31. Further details and application packs are available at www.northantspcc.org.uk/community-grants

The chairman of the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Board has said the county’s safeguarding partnership between the county council, police and health providers has not been as ‘effective as it could have been’.

Speaking this morning at the county’s health and wellbeing forum in Thrapston, Keith Makin, who has chaired the children’s safeguarding board since March 2014, said the public service partners charged with looking after the safety of Northamptonshire’s young people have been found wanting in recent times.

In front of a room full of senior public servants, Mr Makin said: “I want to be frank and say that I think the safeguarding partnership has not been as effective as it could have been. There are plans to strengthen that. I am pleased with the inter-agency partnership discussions that are happening.

“Safeguarding responsibility rests with health, police and all parts of the council.”

The role of the safeguarding board is to ensure member organisations work together and also hold them to account.

Mr Makin presented the 2017/18 annual report to the health and wellbeing forum, but the situation has now moved on in many areas. Since April 2018 the county council’s children’s services department had a damning Ofsted report which found referrals to social services were not being dealt with correctly and that social workers were ‘drowning in work’.

Mr Makin said the annual reports will now change and the one for 2018/19 will be published this summer.

Next month (May) two serious case reviews will be published into the deaths of two children who have died in Northamptonshire.

Chairman of independent body Northamptonshire Healthwatch David Jones, who is a former social worker, welcomed the honesty of Mr Makin and said while it was good to focus on progress, the failures need to publicised.

He said: “The partnership has not been working. That is the message we need to hear.

“There is still a lot of worry about partnership working. The way schools work with children’s services.

“If we don’t recognise that we are deceiving ourselves. We have to recognise there is quite a mountain to climb.”

Partnership working between Northamptonshire’s public services has been fractured over recent years. Speaking after the meeting Mr Makin said he did think improvements were starting to be made following the appointment of new police chief constable Nick Adderley and a new joint chief executive at the NHS Corby and NHS Nene Clinical Commissioning Groups, Toby Sanders.

A village church in Daventry district is to receive a share in a funding payout to help fund vital repairs.

St Peter & St Paul's church in Watford will get £10,000 from the National Churches Trust to fix its nave and chancel roofs which were damaged after metal was stolen from the roof last year.

The Grade I listed church will become watertight, thus preserving its historic fabric and removing it from Historic England's Heritage 'at risk' register.

Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, the vice-president of the National Churches Trust, said: "The UK's historic churches and chapels are a vital part of our national heritage.

"But to survive, many need to carry out urgent repairs and install modern facilities.

"The cost of this work is far beyond what most congregations can pay for themselves.

"So I’m delighted that the church of St Peter & St Paul, Watford village, is being helped with a £10,000 National Churches Trust Grant.

"The work to repair and replace the nave and chancel roofs will help secure the future of a historic building."

A total of 34 churches and chapels in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will benefit from the latest grants from the National Churches Trust, the charity supporting church buildings of all Christian denominations across the UK.

These grants are the first to be made in 2019. In 2018 the National Churches Trust awarded grants of £1.2 million to help 202 projects at churches and chapels around the UK.

A council chief executive involved in plans to create two new unitary authorities in Northamptonshire says that ‘everything is being done at risk’ because as yet a final decision has not been made by the Government.

A decision by the Secretary of State James Brokenshire about whether to scrap Northamptonshire’s eight councils and replace them with two super councils was expected before the Easter break but has not happened because of the Brexit problem.

Since last summer the chief executives and political leaders of the councils have been meeting and staff have been involved in work to plan out some of the details of what the reorganisation could look like.

But speaking at yesterday’s (April 11) health and wellbeing board chief executive of Daventry District Council Ian Vincent said that as no final decision has been made all the work could have been in vain.

He said: “Everything we are doing at the moment is being done at risk. An awful lot of time and money is going into this.

“All authorities have agreed to set up a joint committee. Those are public meetings that have limited terms of reference. But it does give us an opportunity to move forward. A way of short-circuiting eight authorities making decisions on the same issues.

“Government civil servants were getting concerned that we were not making progress that others had made. We are no further behind than Dorset was at this stage. However, the real crux is getting a decision from Government to agree. What we are doing is quite useful whether we integrate or not. We all missed a trick that we could be working together.

“The latest promise is that there will be [a decision] by the end of this month but we have had those sort of promises before.”

The eight councils all committed £500,000 towards the unitary reorganisation but there are concerns the cost of the reorganisation could run above £50m altogether.

Once the Secretary of State makes a decision – which is expected to be in favour as the unitary reorganisation was the Government’s suggestion – there will need to be some legislation passed through Parliament and then two shadow authorities set up.

The original date for the new unitaries was for April next year but there are now suggestions this could be delayed to April 2021.

The man charged with overseeing the safeguarding of children in the Northamptonshire says he has ‘strong concerns’ about the rapid rise in the number of county children being home-schooled.

Chairman of the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Board Keith Makin told the county’s health and wellbeing forum yesterday(Apr 11) the number of children now being schooled by their parents has increased dramatically in the past three years and is allowing children to become ‘hidden’.

According to the latest figures from local education authority Northamptonshire County Council, there are 965 children being home-schooled. This is up from 734 in March 2017.

130 of these children are already known to social services according to the Northamptonshire County Council’s deputy director of children’s services Sharon Muldoon.

The government is looking at bringing in new regulation for home-schooling which is likely to make it compulsory for parents to register their child and also make it a legal duty for local authorities to provide resources for home-schooled children.

Mr Makin, who yesterday also admitted that the county’s safeguarding partnership had not been effective enough in recent times, said the situation in the county was worrying.

He said: “We have strong concerned by the home elective situation, it has doubled in a three-year period. It is a terrific number, just under 1,000 now. There’s a lot who are being electively educated because their parents have chosen to and they construct a programme of education.

“There are other cohorts for whom we have real safeguarding concerns. They are hidden within the system. It is not statutory to oversee them.

“Some changes are now going through Parliament. Although we are not confident as to the timescales and it is still quite a light statutory touch.”

He said the Northamptonshire safeguarding board would now focus on the issue.

Sharon Muldoon said the council’s children’s services had looked at the matter this week and that 13.5 per cent of the home-schooled number were known to social services.

Home-schooling has risen sharply across the country in recent years. Parents have cited school standards, bullying and mental health concerns among reasons to home educate and the head of Ofsted Amanda Spielman has also expressed concern about schools putting pressure on parents to educate their children at home to prevent exclusion.

The standard of education in the county has come into focus in recent weeks. Only two thirds of the 42 secondary schools in the county are good enough according to watchdog Ofsted, although standards are better at a primary level. The county council adopted a motion raised by Labour county councillor Julie Brookfield to ask the regional schools commissioner to get involved whenever a school falls into the ‘requires improvement’ category.

It has also come to light in recent weeks that the county is facing a secondary school places shortage and has had to add extra capacity into six of Northampton’s secondary schools and is having to bus some Corby children to nearby Oundle for a school place.

Two men from Northamptonshire have been charged in connection with an incident where shots were reportedly fired in Weymouth.

Dorset Police received a report last May of shots being fired near to the Asda supermarket.

There were also reports of a number of men seen running from the scene.

Following a detailed investigation, a 21-year-old man has been charged with possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and a 19-year-old man has been charged with possessing a firearm. Both are from Northamptonshire.

They are due to appear before Poole Magistrates' Court on Friday, May 17.

A 55-year-old Weymouth man and a 33-year-old Portland man who were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder are no longer under investigation and will face no further police action.

A 22-year-old woman from Weymouth and 48-year-old Weymouth man who were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender are also no longer under investigation.

A district and borough council in the West Northamptonshire region paid just two officers each on salaries of over £100,000.

The annual Town Hall Rich List, compiled by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, shows that in 2017/18 both Northampton Borough Council and Daventry District Council had two employees each earning over the amount.

The councils compare rather favourably to some of the other authorities in the East Midlands region, given the respective size of the boroughs. Kettering Borough Council, for example, had four employees being paid over that amount.

Earlier this week, we reported how Northamptonshire County Council had employed 19 people earning over £100k, the joint tenth highest in the country.

The numbers are naturally much smaller at the district and boroughs in the county. At Northampton Borough Council, the then director of customers and communities earned £132,000 overall, made up of a £113,000 salary and £19,000 in pension contributions.

And the council’s then chief executive earned £126,000 overall, with a £117,000 salary and £9,000 in pension contributions.

It is understood that since then, a senior management restructure has ensured that the chief executive alone is paid over £100,000.

And the findings for 2017/18 were roughly similar at Daventry District Council. The chief executive earned £146,613 overall. This was made up of a £123,111 salary, £1,483 in expenses, £18,919 in pension contributions and an unspecified sum of £3,100.

Meanwhile, the deputy chief executive earned slightly less, coming in at £125,452 overall. This included the £105,679 salary, £952 in expenses, £17,128 in pension contributions, and a similarly unspecified sum of £1,693.

Figures for South Northamptonshire Council were not available. The TaxPayers’ Alliance says that this was either because no employees were paid over £100,000, or it didn’t publish its accounts in time for their research.

Northamptonshire County Council still has more than 150 children without an allocated social worker.

The figures have been revealed in a report which will be looked at by the authority’s overview and scrutiny committee next week, after councillors asked for more detail about what is happening in the children’s services department following a damning Ofsted report six months ago.

Ofsted inspectors found that there were 267 unallocated cases where children did not have a social worker and that ‘social workers were drowning in work’.

After the findings the Government sent experienced children’s commissioner Malcolm Newsam to the department to ‘oversee improvements’.
The report looks at the number of children in need without an allocated social worker, how the service’s front office is now working and also at the long-standing issue of social worker recruitment and retention.

It says that there are still 152 children in need without a dedicated social worker and that the average amount of time for a child waiting to be allocated is two weeks. The longest wait was 75 days.

It reads: “The negative consequence of families not being allocated to a named social worker is that visits are undertaken by different workers on each occasion, the work is limited to a monitoring function and plans of support and intervention agreed with families during the assessment phase cannot be actioned.”

The report said there has been a full review of the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub, which is the first point of contact for many who report concerns about a child. It had been criticised by Ofsted for not being ‘effective in ensuring that risk and need is addressed’.

But according to this latest report there are still a significant number of social workers with higher than target caseloads.

It says: “Simply put, within the safeguarding team we need 10 social workers to allocate all cases. It is our number one priority as agreed with our children’s commissioner; at present 23 per cent of the safeguarding service is agency staff, while this is a real improvement from Northamptonshire’s historical position this is still a challenge to us.”

Speaking at the health and wellbeing board last Thursday (April 11) the council’s deputy director of children’s services Sharon Muldoon said the department was ‘making good progress but there is much more to do.’

Chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee Labour Cllr Mick Scrimshaw said there is still ‘ a genuine real problem’ within the department.

He said: “These figures are still too high which is why scrutiny wants to look at this issue. We hope to understand the problem that still exists and offer any recommendations that could help the council.”

The scrutiny meeting will take place on April 24 at One Angel Square, Northampton.

​​A man has been remanded in custody after appearing before magistrates charged with burglary and other offences.

Callum Gordon, aged 28, of no fixed address, appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Friday, April 5, charged with burglary, theft from a motor vehicle, vehicle interference, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

The offences took place in Long Buckby in March.

He was remanded in custody and will next appear at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday, May 8.

Residents of a number of Daventry homes are set to be sent a letter of apology after they were wrongly told their homes would be sold - but homeowners who moved house now look increasingly unlikely to be offered compensation.

Residents of 32 homes in Middlemore received letters from Daventry District Council saying that their homes would be sold off, a decision confirmed by council in July 2016 at an estimated value of £6.75 million.

A number of residents decided to move out of their homes, but the decision to sell off the homes was reversed by the council more than a year later.

The council’s strategy committee has now agreed to write a ‘without prejudice’ letter of apology to all residents who were affected, but has stopped short of compensating residents who moved on.

Proposals from Labour councillor Ken Ritchie to compensate those residents was rejected at the latest strategy committee meeting on Thursday (April 11).

Councillor Ritchie said: “Residents want to know that they have a district council that’s there to show a little bit of compassion and do what it can to assist them. At these meetings they have always been told that we are listening sympathetically and that we have their best interests at heart.

“If we simply say that we are not taking any further action and it has nothing to do with us, at the best we will be seen as being disingenuous, and at worst as being totally cynical. It will damage our reputation as a council that represents its residents’ best interests.”

He proposed that original tenants who have moved home as a result of the letter sent to them on January 18, 2018 should be compensated. He said that compensation for the 12 tenants who have moved should be £2,000 each, costing the council a total of £24,000.

But council officers said that tenants took on private tenancies on terms that were ‘clearly expressed’, and reinforced in the letters each received on switching to a statutory periodic tenancy. They were told that the fact the council’s intentions subsequently changed was not unlawful or improper.

Councillor Adam Brown was part of a taskforce alongside Councillor Ritchie examining the decision to sell the houses. The only point on which they disagreed was whether to compensate the homeowners who had moved.

Councillor Brown said: “We are there to gather evidence and arrive at a sound decision to influence policy, and we have done that. When you look at the evidence, on the balance of probability the council has acted properly.

“We have not breached the threshold in order to justify compensation, but by offering an apology we are acting with humility and good manners, and acknowledging that things could have been done better.”

His stance was supported by Councillor Richard Auger, a member of the strategy group.

He added: “It was absolutely the right decision not to sell those homes. But my issue is with this compensation. Where there is genuine loss of finances, absolutely there should be compensation. Just because we made mistakes, why should that automatically result in some financial costs? That’s just ludicrous, you can’t live life like that.”

But Councillor Ritchie responded: “The people who have moved from Middlemore, it has cost them. They would not have had those costs if they hadn’t had a letter saying that their homes would be sold.”

He was supported by fellow Labour councillor Aidan Ramsey, who said: “You might say at the end of the day that we didn’t sell the houses, so they didn’t have to sell either. But when it first came forward to seemed like a sensible decision. A resident who is scared will take action to protect themselves.

“If you had moved and gone through all that stress, and then a letter arrived came from the council saying ‘sorry about that’, then I think I’d be showing it two fingers.

“The money proposed is a lot to those residents, but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t for the district council.”

There may yet be a final lifeline for Middlemore residents though, as the strategy group’s recommendations will likely need to be rubber stamped at the next full council meeting.