East Midlands MEP Margot Parker has today announced her resignation as UKIP deputy chairman and has quit the party.

Mrs Parker, who has championed women’s rights and equality, has joined Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.

She was UKIP spokesman on women’s rights and gender equality and said: “The party leader of UKIP is carrying out a purge of party loyalists to ensure only supporters of the far right activist Tommy Robinson, with whom he now associates with, are considered for approval by the party.

“The policies of the leader have now so damaged the party, I feel I must resign my position and membership of UKIP. This I do with great reluctance and sadness in equal measure.

“The leader seems to be engaging on a ‘crusade’ on issues, which are dividing communities up and down the land.

“He has taken his eye off the ball – the goal has to be Brexit and that is why I have joined the new Brexit Party, which aims to change the political landscape and fight for what people voted for in the 2016 referendum.

“Furthermore, the leader of UKIP has deselected hard-working, sitting, female MEPs. I have fought long and hard for equality – I cannot be part of this distasteful regime any longer.”

Mrs Parker said she will see out the rest of her mandate and to continue to represent and fight for the people of the East Midlands.

The list of primary school allocations was announced today as parents found out which school their children would starting at in September.

Northamptonshire County Council says the number of children offered their first preference for school has hit a record high of 93.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the local authority says the number of families offered a place at one of their preferred schools reached 98.6 per cent, our of 8.900 primary school places offered throughout Northamptonshire.

Families who applied for their primary school place online and within the deadline are able to check offers today on the county council's website.
Councillor Fiona Baker, county council cabinet member for children’s services, families and education, said: “Despite a rise in applications, this year a record number of families received an offer at their preferred choice school in Northamptonshire – which is great news for children across the county.

“The number of families receiving a place at one of their preferred schools is also the highest on record at 98.6% with thousands of children securing a place at a school they set out to apply for.

“It’s an exciting time to live in Northamptonshire with many large scale expansions happening across our towns and villages, and we’re working hard to create additional pupil places to meet demand and to make sure children have a bright future, living and learning in our county.”

Parents have the right to appeal through the independent appeals process against refusal of a place at any school for which they have applied.

The next round of primary school place allocations (for late applicants) will take place in May.

Officials making Brexit preparations for Northamptonshire have been looking at the possible impact on public disorder, workforce shortages, food and medicine supply and transport issues.

Officials making Brexit preparations for Northamptonshire have been looking at the possible impact on public disorder, workforce shortages, food and medicine supply and transport issues.

Over the past few months the county’s local councils, police and health agencies have been coming up with plans to make sure services in the county continue to run as smoothly as possible in the face of Britain leaving the EU.

The Government has given councils across the country funds to deal with the impact, with Northamptonshire County Council receiving £87,500 for Brexit planning so far.

The local authority however has not made the report publicly available because it says the documents are ‘officially sensitive’.

A report to be considered by the county’s two clinical commissioning groups later this afternoon (April 16) highlights the concerns about the impact of a departure from the EU on the social care workforce, many of whom are EU nationals.

It said ‘there remains a significant uncertainty as to the long-term impact on the UK’s exit from the EU on the social care workforce. Northamptonshire County Council has invited care home and domiciliary providers to workshops to highlight the risks.”

The CCG has been providing information to the Midlands and East EU Exit Team and had said it had ‘appropriate processes’ in place to manage if a no deal scenario had happened. All of the county’s main NHS providers such as the acute hospitals, Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust and the East Midlands Ambulance Service had also completed an assurance document and had been rated as ‘compliant’. The main risks had been to do with workforce and data sharing.

The report highlights the problems with planning for Brexit in the light of the current deadlock in Parliament. No deal planning preparations had been a key part of the work taking place, but the immediate risk now appears to have lessened after the EU gave Britain an extended leave deadline of October 31.

If there had been a no-deal Brexit the county council, as lead of Northamptonshire’s Local Resilience Forum, would have likely have set up a temporary sit cell – a military term used in emergency planning – at One Angel Square in Northampton ‘ to support and supply the receipt of information from Government’. This would have operated daily and transmitted messages from Government to the relevant agencies.

A report that went before East Northants Council recently was critical of the Government’s communications with local councils about Brexit.

It said: “The main difficulty is knowing what we are planning for, with little or no direction coming from the Government and its ministries.

“With this lack of clarity, the council and all relevant agencies in Northamptonshire have considered the possible risks to be: public disorder, workforce shortages, food/fuel/medicine supply chain issues, transport issues.”

According to the East Northants Council report Brexit may have placed demands on the authorities’ environmental health officers to support interim ‘port health arrangements’. It did not forsee road congestion but said there could have been an impact on waste disposal arrangements because of fuel pressures.

However, it said the Government had said fuel shortages were not predicted and that arrangements were being put in place to maintain waste exports.

Do you know or recognise this man?

Northamptonshire Police officers are appealing for help to identify the man pictured in connection with a theft from a vehicle in Crick earlier this year.

Officers would like to speak to the man pictured and are asking him, or anyone who recognises him, to contact Northamptonshire Police on 101.

Information can also be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

It took firefighters hours to control the blaze. which resulted in the collapse of the famous spire to collapse. The cause is unknown but officials have said it was possibly linked to ongoing renovation work.

Forecasters are predicting sunshine and high temperatures for the four-day Easter weekend.

Temperatures across Northats will begin to rise from tomorrow to 16C and into Thursday it should be around 18C and sunny for much of the day.

Good Friday will see temperatures jump again up to 21C and 22C on Saturday with long spells of sunshine.

Easter Sunday will see it slightly cooler at 20C and Easter Monday 17C with showers forecast later that evening.

The Met Office forecast reads: "Fine and often sunny through the period, with any overnight mist and fog quickly clearing during the mornings. Very warm, although staying cooler along the coast, with onshore winds.

"The second half of the Easter weekend will slowly turn more changeable and cooler, with outbreaks of rain and stronger winds spreading in from the northwest. However, some southeastern parts could remain dry, bright and fairly warm especially through Sunday and at first on Monday."

The rest of April is described as 'more changeable' across the UK.

The long-long forecast predicts: "For the remainder of April the weather looks set to become generally more changeable across the UK with showers or longer spells of rain, as well as some periods with stronger winds.

"Despite this, there will be some drier and brighter interludes at times and overall, temperatures should be around average for the end of April.

As it often the case at this time of year, there may be some marked variations in temperature across the country."

The following people were sentenced at Northampton Magistrates’ Court:

FEBRUARY 15

Adam Perkins, aged 37, of Jenkinson Road, Towcester, no insurance; fined £300, surcharge £30, costs £85, licence endorsed with six points.

Rajanbala Rathod, aged 57, of Old Carpenters Close, Northampton, driving at 36mph in a 30mph zone; fined £220, surcharge £30, costs £85, licence endorsed with three points.

Gareth Singer, aged 35, of Greenfield Avenue, Northampton, driving at 35mph in a 30mph zone; fined £220, surcharge £30, costs £85, licence endorsed with three points.

Stuart Stone-Moore, aged 39, of Reedway, Northampton, failed to identify a driver; fined £660, surcharge £66, costs £85, licence endorsed with six points.

Anna Strzelczak, aged 37, of Clare Street, Northampton, driving at 37mph in a 30mph zone; fined £220, surcharge £30, costs £85, licence endorsed with three points.

FEBRUARY 18

Neil Hazell, aged 33, of Hidcot Close, Northampton, breach of a court order; community order made, surcharge £85, costs £100.

Phillip Bench, aged 63, of Archer Close, Daventry, sent threatening text messages; fined £108, compensation £50, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Jason Brittain, aged 37, of Hinton Road, Northampton, stole chilled food worth £47 from BP Service Station; jailed for one week, compensation £200. Numerous other offences of theft; jailed for a total of 21 weeks.

Maciej Lawruk, aged 39, of Orchard Street, Northampton, used threatening behaviour; fined £400, surcharge £40, costs £85.

Ashley Maparura, aged 29, of Nether Jackson Court, Northampton, stole two Dyson vacuums from Currys; jailed for 14 weeks. Assault; jailed for 26 weeks, compensation £100, surcharge £115, costs £85. Had an offensive weapon in public; jailed for 26 weeks consecutive.

Lisa McDonald, aged 35, of Hinton Road, Northampton, stole meat belongong to BP petrol station; jailed for one week, compensation £200. Numerous other offences of theft; jailed for a total of 24 weeks.

Nicholas Phelen, aged 54, of Park North, Northampton, drink-driving; fined £86, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for 12 months.

Ben Smith, aged 30, of Milburn Drive, Northampton, breach of a court order; community order made, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Yobo Bokula, aged 22, of Rothersthorpe Road, Northampton, possession of cannabis; fined £150, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Jason Fitzhugh, aged 48, of Boughton Green Road, Northampton, fraud; fined £80, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Connor Kay, aged 23, of Oakleigh Drive, Northampton, possession of a class A drug; fined £440, surcharge £44, costs £85.

Vladimirs Rutkovskis, aged 27, of Northcote Street, Northampton, drink-driving; fined £150, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for 20 months.

Geoffrey Lomas, aged 66, of Obelisk Rise, Northampton, fished not in accordance with a licence; fined £83, surcharge £30, costs £127.47.

Michael Lomas, aged 60, of Blossom Way, Little Billing, fished not in accordance with a licence; fined £208, surcharge £30, costs £127.47.

Alan Mineards, aged 34, of Queens Crescent, Northampton, fished not in accordance with a licence; fined £166, surcharge £30, costs £127.47.

FEBRUARY 19

Luigi D’Elia, aged 28, of Thirlstane Road, Northampton, unlicensed vehicle; fined £220, costs £85

Grzegorz Szliter, aged 31, of Benjamin Square, Northampton, unlicensed vehicle; fined £50.

Florin Dumitru, of Booth Meadow Court, Northampton, failed to comply with a court order; fined £100, surcharge £30, costs £260.

Moisa Meda, of Booth Meadow Court, Northampton, failed to comply with a court order; fined £100, surcharge £30, costs £260.

Paul Tonks, aged 59, of Lincoln Way, Daventry, breach of a court order; fined £200, costs £300.

Daniel Arbiter, aged 31, of Billing Road, Northampton, possession of cannabis; community order made, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Paul Moss, aged 27, of Newton Road, Duston, assaulted a police officer, assault, resisted arrest; pleaded guilty and sent to Crown Court for sentence.

Seadhna Treacy, aged 23, of St Michaels Road, Northampton; assaulted a police officer; community order made, compensation £50, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Sean Garner, aged 32, of Campbell Street, Northampton, used threatening words or behaviour; fined £120, compensation £50, surcharge of £30 and costs £85.

Jamie Hobbs, aged 20, of no fixed abode, stole a bike; sent to a Young Offender Institution for 26 weeks, compensation £100, surcharge £115.

FEBRUARY 20

Lee Clifton, aged 35, of Berkley House, Northampton, used threatening words or behaviour; community order to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, surcharge £85, costs £85. Stalking; community order made.

Connor Shortt, aged 24, of Bective Road, Northampton, damaged a front door; fined £120, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Adam Farquharson, aged 32, of Gloucester Crescent. Northampton, breach of a court order; community order to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work, surcharge £85, costs £85.

Oliver Threadgold, aged 26, of Windsor Crescent, Northampton, assault; community order made, fined £160, compensation £50, surcharge £85, costs £620.

Wasif Ahmed, aged 21, of Far Acre Court, Northampton, no insurance; fined £253, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for six months.

Paul Hirghiligui, aged 24, of St Francis Avenue, Northampton, no insurance; fined £660, surcharge £66, costs £85, banned from driving for six months.

Ian Pugh, aged 50, of Bridges Road, Long Buckby, driving at 106mph in a 70mph zone; fined £2,000, surcharge £170, costs £85, licence endorsed with six points.

Rizwan Bashir, aged 45, of Waterpump Court, Northampton, driving without due care and attention; fined £197, surcharge £30, costs £85, licence endorsed with seven points.

Wayne Collins, aged 50, of Montfort Close, Northampton, failed to stop at an accident; fined £78, surcharge £30, costs £85, licence endorsed with five points.

Adrian Crai, aged 35, of Uppingham Street, Northampton, failed to identify a driver; fined £440, surcharge £44, costs £85, banned from driving for six months.

Lee Adams, aged 35, of Eaglestone Drive, West Haddon, failed to provide a breath test; fined £120, surcharge £30, costs £85, banned from driving for seven days.

FEBRUARY 21

Craig Ahearn, aged 32, of Firbank Close, Northampton, dangerous driving; community order made, surcharge £85, costs £620, banned from driving for 12 months.

Daniel Richmond-Watson, aged 41, of Potterspury, dangerous driving; community order made to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, compensation £4,230, surcharge £85, costs £85, banned from driving for 18 months.

David Trethewey, aged 58, of Turner Street, Northampton, indecent photographs of children; jailed for four months suspended for 24 months, surcharge £115, costs £85.

Daniel Estwick, aged 30, of Derby Road, Northampton, possession of cannabis; conditional discharge for 18 months, surcharge £20, costs £85. Assaulted an emergency services worker; conditional discharge for 18 months, compensation £50.

Kaylea Geddes, aged 33, of Friars Court, Northampton, damaged a car; fined £50, compensation £50, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Robert Jeyes, aged 44, of Boughton Green Road, Northampton, driving without due care and attention; pleaded guilty, sent to Crown Court for sentence.

Tristan Perry, aged 20, of Military Road, Northampton, assault; fined £55, surcharge £30, costs £150.

FEBRUARY 22

Lorna Garratt, aged 47, of Braemar Crescent, Northampton, damaged a car; conditional discharge for three years, compensation £200, surcharge £20, costs £620. Resisted arrest; conditional discharge for three years.

Elena Ioan, aged 19, of Thomas Street, Northampton, stole alcohol and jewellery worth £123.90 belonging to Sainsbury’s; fined £200, surcharge £30, costs £85.

Clive Goody, aged 37, of Carey Street, Northampton, used threatening behaviour; fined £40, surcharge £30, costs £30.

Research by the BBC Shared Data Unit has found that 48 people in contact with the privatised Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire CRC (BeNCH) died in 2017/18 alone.

That figure is up from just 12 in 2015/16, prompting fears the Government's part-privatisation of probation services in 2014 is failing the convicted criminals it is charged with rehabilitating.

Out of all 21 privately-run probation services in the UK - BeNCH was found to have the highest proportional rise in such deaths. BeNch works with some 3,000 convicted criminals in Northamptonshire with the aim of turning their lives away from crime.

It comes as the partial privatisation of probation has been beset with criticism in recent months. In March, the National Audit Office said the number of people returning to prison for breaching their licence conditions had "skyrocketed".

And the chief inspector of probation, Dame Glenys Stacey, said later in the same month the system was "irredeemably flawed".

Chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Frances Cook, said the rise in deaths highlighted "the continued failure of private probation companies to keep people safe".

She said: "Whereas before we had a successful publicly-run probation service with qualified and trained staff who saw their mission as befriending and turning lives around, we now have a fragmented service with a tick-box culture where some people have not even met face-to-face.”

The arrangements for managing offenders in the UK were overhauled in 2014, when the probation service was split in two.

A new state body, the National Probation Service (NPS), which has eight divisions, was set up to supervise high-risk offenders, with 21 privately run Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) supervising low and medium-risk offenders.

Among those to be set up was BeNCH, which is run by the private firm Sodexo.

Though the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has warned that firm conclusions cannot be drawn from the rise in deaths, BeNCH has come under criticism since being established.

In 2017, the probation watchdog found that the work of the CRC in Northamptonshire alone 'was not good enough'.

"The CRC was not sufficiently focused on public protection," the report said. "Too many cases were assigned to staff without the skills and support."

The figures obtained by the BBC show 12 people under the supervision of BeNCH took their own life in 2017/18 compared to just five in 2015/16.

Tania Bassett, press officer at Napo trade union for the probation staff and probation officers said she was not 'overly surprised' to see such an increase in deaths.

“CRCs are routinely slammed by inspection reports," she said. "Safeguarding is one of the big issues and we’re also seeing a 28 per cent increase in recalls to prison since 2014, including those serving short-term sentences, which indicates something is not working as it should do.

“The probation service is also significantly short-staffed and being part of the civil service means it’s paralysed with bureaucracy and there’s a lack of flexibility in service delivery to meet local needs."

But Emma Osborne, the regional chief executive for the south CRCs at Sodexo, claimed the rise in deaths could be partly explained by the improved capturing of data.

she said: “We work with about 3,000 people in Northamptonshire every year to ensure they follow the sentence they receive in court, help them to turn away from crime and protect the public.

“Many of those we work with lead complex and chaotic lives and probation services cannot solve these problems alone. Our teams work closely with other statutory agencies to secure specialist support and services to help tackle housing, health or substance misuse needs. In many cases our collective efforts are successful.

“The collection of data now is much more accurate than it was historically and agencies including community rehabilitation companies have become much better at capturing data and tracking people through public services, which helps to explain the increase in these figures.

“We will continue to improve our understanding of what lies behind these statistics so we can help those we work with to overcome their individual challenges and turn their lives around.”

A damning survey of NHS staff working for the body responsible for Northamptonshire’s health services has said that senior managers don’t communicate properly or act on staff feedback.

New chief executive of the Nene and Corby Clinical Commissioning Groups Toby Sanders has said the results of the survey, which was carried out last November, are very poor and that senior management should ‘be very concerned about what they tell us about the organisation.’

He told members of the CCG board meeting yesterday (April 16) that if results don’t improve by the next survey towards the end of the year he would take it as a ‘personal sign of failure’.

The survey was conducted by an external survey and 103 staff - almost three quarters - took part.

This is the second year in a row the survey results have been poor with staff feeling unhappy.

The two clinical commissioning groups have responsibility for planning and contracting all health care services for the county.

Board member Kevin Thomas said the survey results were ‘frankly shocking’.

The survey found that only 39 per cent of those surveyed would recommend the organisation as a place to work.

Three of the worst five scores involved senior management.

Only 17 per cent of staff thought communication between top bosses and staff was effective; 13 per cent thought management acted on staff feedback and 17 per cent thought senior management involved staff in important decisions.

Since the survey took place Carole Dehghani, who was chief executive of both CCGs, has left.

During her time in charge the organisation lost a judicial review brought by Corby residents who were fighting plans to make changes to the town’s urgent care centre.

Mr Sanders took up the role of joint chief executive in November.

Positive results were that 83 per cent of staff felt that patient feedback was listened to and 87 per cent said they did not feel pressured to come into work when ill.

Sarah Ward, Local Democracy Reporter

Nathaniel Clark, a sixth former at Northampton Academy, dashed to the rescue after hearing 10-year-old Charlie Johnson’s cries for help on January 31.
The youngster got into trouble at Thorplands after his heavy rucksack slipped around his body and pulled him into the water.
Sixteen-year-old Nathaniel said: “My natural instincts kicked in and I didn’t think twice - I had to help the boy.”
He has been nominated for the 2019 Northamptonshire Education Awards - organised by the Chronicle & Echo, Northants Telegraph and Daventry Express - by one of his mum’s best
friends, Jessica Bentley.
Said Jessica: “He doesn’t believe he did anything special.

“But without his help the boy wouldn’t have survived the cold waters.”
Nathaniel is just one of the early entries for our awards, which are back by popular demand for the 11th year.
We need your help to recognise the outstanding work of pupils, teachers, schools and their staff.
We want readers to nominate people for honours that will be presented at a glittering awards evening at the Deco theatre in Northampton on June 27.
Once again, the event promises to be the highlight of the local education calendar.
Entry to the awards is open to all schools, including secondary, primary, nursery and special schools.
There is a wide variety of categories that also recognise the dedication and commitment of teaching staff and education supporters.
Categories include Primary School Pupil of the Year; Secondary Pupil of the Year; Inspirational Teacher Award; Young Scientist/Engineer Award; Sports Achievement; Creative Arts Award;
Changemaker Award; School Trips Award; Unsung Hero; Special School/SEN Provision of the Year; Health & Wellbeing; Career Aspiration; Primary School of the Year and Secondary School of the Year.
Each nomination is considered by our independent panel of judges and our highest scoring entries will be shortlisted and invited to the special awards ceremony.
Key dates: Judging from May 20; finalists named from June 3; awards ceremony on June 27.
The event sponsors are Veolia, while category sponsors are Kip McGrath; The Staff Room; Qube; Baldwins and RockUp.
To make your nominations please visit www.northamptoneducationawards.co.uk
For more information about sponsorship opportunities, email linda.pritchard@jpimedia.co.uk or rebecca.hawkes@jpimedia.co.uk

Delays of 30 minutes have been caused by an accident on the M1 near Northampton

Highways England said it had closed lane one northbound between junctions 15 and 15a so repair and recovery work could be carried out.

A spokesman for Highways England said: "There are 30-minute delays on the approach to this M1 incident above usual journey times, spanning 8.5 miles back to J14."

People living in Daventry District have until Tuesday, May 7 to register to vote in the European Parliamentary election scheduled to take place next month.

Daventry District Council is making preparations for the polling day on Thursday, May 23 following the latest agreement by the European Union and UK to extend the Brexit deadline to the end of October.

Residents are reminded that there are no local council elections in Daventry District on May 2 after they were postponed by the Government for a year in the light of proposals to restructure councils in Northamptonshire.

Any polling cards they receive in the coming weeks will be for the European election only.

The deadline for registering to vote in time for the European parliamentary election is midnight on Tuesday, May 7.

Those registering to vote for the first time can do so online at www.gov.uk/registertovote

Anyone unsure if they are registered, or who has recently moved house should contact the Council’s Electoral Services team on 01327 871100 or email electoralservices@daventrydc.gov.uk

Postal vote applications need to be completed and sent to DDC’s Electoral Registration Officer by 5pm on Wednesday, May 8.

Applications to vote by proxy – when some votes on your behalf - must be received by DDC’s Electoral Registration Officer by 5pm on Wednesday May 15, though if an elector falls ill or is called away on business after that date, they may be able to apply up to 5pm on May 23.

To request an application form for a postal or proxy vote call 01327 871100 or email electoralservices@daventrydc.gov.uk

The 30,000 square ft floating park will open at Billing Aquadrome, and 'will be the first of its kind in the world', according to bosses at Flipout Aqua Park.

The park is planned to have an abundance of features including huge slides, climbing mountain, jump towers, blast bags, stepping stones, trampolines, half pipe, rockers and giant wipeout balls.

Gordon Walker, operations director at Billing Aquadrome, said: “The aqua park will bring a unique and exciting contribution to Billing Aquadrome and the whole of Northamptonshire. It is the first Flipout Aqua park in the world.

"We’re hoping to get off to a strong start in April and for a summer as warm as last year’s so our visitors can make the most of the aqua park and everything Billing Aquadrome has to offer.”

The aqua park is due to open on Saturday, April 27 and will operate with timed sessions throughout the day, starting on the hour.

The project has cost £120,000 and will be taking place until the end of October, based on Willow Lake, and is set to make a return next year, too.

Brent Grundy, CEO and founder of Flipout, said: “This is an awesome, innovative leisure experience for families to enjoy.

"It's an experience that brings people of all ages and communities together in a fun, safe environment. This will encourage people of the UK to have family fun, get active and most of all have fun outdoors.

"Flipout already has trampolines parks around the world and our aqua park is a natural progression and compliments our trampoline parks offering very well.”

The Flipout Aqua Park will create around 25 seasonal and full-time jobs and is the first of ambitious plans to open 25 Flipout Aqua parks across Europe over the next three years.

Billing Aquadrome is a leisure park and facilities already on the 235-acre site include a marina, fun fair, crazy golf, escape room and swimming pool.

Children wanting to use the aqua park must be aged six or over, be able to swim 25m and more than 122cm tall.

There will also be dedicated family only sessions on weekend mornings aimed at under 18s.

You will be able to book via the official Flipout Aquapark App or you can register your interest by visit: www.flipoutaquapark.co.uk

Firefighters will hold a minute’s silence in memory of their fallen colleagues next month.

Firefighters Memorial Day falls on Saturday, May 4, and is an important day for all serving and retired firefighters.

The day honours the sacrifice of firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty, acknowledging the courage and dedication of generations of firefighters, including those who serve our communities today.

The Fire Brigades Union works in partnership with the Firefighters Memorial Trust to ensure that no matter how much time has passed, firefighters who died protecting their communities are remembered.

On-duty crews parade in fire kit on station forecourts and stand in a minute’s silence at midday as they remember colleagues lost in the line of duty.

Organisers in Northamptonshire are calling on local MPs and councillors will join the commemoration.