Work has finished on a £1.7 million purpose-built manufacturing headquarters in Daventry.

In 2010 Daventry District Council built a £4.5million premises in Prospect Way on the Royal Oak Industrial Estate in Daventry and leased it to international company Hi-Force Ltd for long-term use as their head office.

Now work has finished on a £1.7m expansion of the premises next door in Morris Road, providing new warehousing facilities that will enable Hi-Force, a global supplier of hydraulic tools, to expand its production.

Four old industrial units in Morris Road were demolished in September to make way for the new building, which is energy efficient and built to high environmental standards.

Alongside warehousing, the development also includes a purpose-built training area where equipment will be used for hands on manufacturing and servicing by Hi-Force, to train its own staff and other companies.

DDC’s economic, regeneration and employment portfolio holder cllr Chris Over said: “Hi-Force has been in Daventry for 40 years and are a real international success story in these challenging economic times.

“We’re pleased to work with local businesses to help them accommodate expansion and growth, and with this a boost to the local economy.”

Group managing director of Hi-Force Kevin Brown said: “The completion of this development is excellent news for us. With our business going from strength-to-strength, it will enable us to free up much-needed space to increase our manufacturing areas to meet a rise in demand globally.”

Recycling food waste just became a lot easier as households in the Daventry District and Northampton can now use surplus plastic bags to line their food waste caddies.

The food waste collection service was introduced in 2012 to reduce the amount of non-recycled waste that is sent to landfill and use it to create fertilizer and green electricity instead.

Until today householders wishing to line their caddies have been advised to use either biodegradable bags or newspaper.

However, following successful negotiations with Fernbrook Bio, which operates the plant that processes food waste for Northampton and Daventry, householders can now put spare supermarket-type plastic bags to good use. Over-size bags, including black plastic bin bags cannot be used, however.

The plastic liners are separated from the food as part of the process and sent away to be recycled, making sure that the process is environmentally friendly at every step.

Environment portfolio holder for DDC cllr Daniel Cribbin said: “We hope this move will make it easier for more people in our district to use the weekly food recycling service.

“By using any surplus plastic bags to line their caddies, they will be recycled instead of otherwise being discarded in the black bin and ending up in landfill.”

Cabinet Member for the environment from Northampton Borough Council cllr Mike Hallam said: “It’s good news for any would-be food waste recyclers. We know that up to 40 per cent of the weight of black bins can be food-related, which is why we decided to introduce the weekly food waste collection service alongside your dry recycling collections.

“We know that a lot of people would like to use the service, but are put off by the thought of the mess or the cost of biodegradable bags. The good news is that from today you can use your supermarket plastic bags in your food waste caddy.

“Doing so is a win-win. It makes is more convenient for householders and because the used bags are recycled, it’s putting the thin plastic bags to good use.”

John Farrell, Partnership Director for Enterprise, which operates waste and recycling collections on behalf of NBC and DDC said: “The introduction of plastic bags for food caddies is a great step forward in terms of recycling in Daventry District and Northampton. By making it easier and more affordable we hope that it will encourage more households in the area to recycle their food waste.”

For more information about recycling your food waste visit www.northampton.gov.uk/recycling or www.daventrydc.gov.uk/recycling

A 30-year-old woman has died following a short illness.

Laura Osborne, a well- known member of the Daventry community, passed away on Thursday, June 13. She was born in 1983 when she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and attended Brook Special School in Rugby.

She was described as a fighter in coping with her disability and warding off several bouts of pneumonia without complaining. Mum Lynne formed Positive Parents, a support group for families in a similar situation.

The group offered emotional support, get-togethers, outings, holidays and assistance with benefits and grants. Positive Parents supported hundreds of families in the Daventry area for over 15 years.

At the age of 20 Laura moved to Terrace Wing young disabled unit at Town Thorns in Essenhall.

Laura’s family would like to thank Terrace Wing Staff and the University Hospital Coventry for their excellent care and family and friends for their support. They said staff at the TW became an important part of Laura’s life.

The celebration of Laura’s life took place this morning at St Augustine’s Church.

A drugs raid uncovered around 30 cannabis plants in a flat in Roderick Court this morning.

As a result a 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of drugs offences and the plants, with an estimated street value of £15,000, have been seized.

The man is currently in custody awaiting interview.

Sergeant Sam Dobbs said:“If we want to stop our young people being offered drugs we need to disrupt the supply chain.

“Today’s warrant was yet another example of us responding quickly to local intelligence.”

The brother of a woman stabbed to death at her home said she was a loving and caring sister whose death was devastating for the family.

Robert Levy, 44, spoke lovingly of his ‘sprightly’ sister Christine Haye-Levy outside Northampton Crown Court last week following news her killer and ex-partner would serve life in prison.

Erroll George Anglin, 50, was told he would serve a minimum of 16 and half years in prison for the murder of Ms Haye-Levy in the early hours of December 11, 2012.

The mother of two sustained multiple stab wounds at her home in Jervis Close and died on the pavement outside Grenville Close after leaving the property through the dining room window.

In court Judge Mayo, sentencing, told Anglin he had taken away someone who was admired and now much missed.

Ms Haye-Levy’s brother said: “I think the jury did a fantastic job of working through this case. It must have been hard for them but they saw the evidence and it spoke for itself.

“I am pleased with the result and I think it will help to heal the pain and grief for me and my family.

“At one stage I was concerned about whether the result would come but I am happy they reached a guilty verdict knowing it was for the jury to decide.”

Mr Levy, who works as a carpenter in London, had attended the trial in Northampton every day since it began on Monday, June 3.

After the verdict on Friday he told the Daventry Express how Ms Haye-Levy was his favourite sister and that he had been very close to her growing up with six other siblings.

He said: “I suggested she came here from Jamaica in 1999 for a better life. She then studied at the North West College in London because she wanted to pursue a career as a nurse.

“She had a caring personality; she always said that if you care for other people they will care for you and that’s one of the things I really loved about her.”

Growing up Mr Levy said Christine was a sprightly little girl who liked running.

He said that her death came as a devastation to him and his family, many of whom still live in Jamaica.

Ms Haye-Levy’s ex-partner Erroll Anglin was found guilty of her murder on Friday last week. The jury returned a unanimous verdict and he was sentenced to life in prison, to serve a minimum sentence of 16-and-a-half years.

He is expected to be deported to Jamaica after his release.

The community on the Southbrook estate say they are relieved to hear their former neighbour has been sentenced and they can now put the incident behind them.

Erroll Anglin and Christine Haye-Levy, known to those on the Southbrook as Michelle, occupied the home in Jervis Close before Ms Haye-Levy was murdered on December 11, 2012.

The couple were known on the Daventry estate for organising the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the communal area outside their home.

Neighbour Michael Cadman of Jervis Close said: “Everyone knew the pair because of the jubilee celebrations. Michelle cooked and Erroll did the music at the party.

“She was a very nice woman and I thought he was a nice chap too, although we did hear them argue in the garden a lot.”

Anglin was sentenced to life in prison serving a minimum sentence of 16-and-a-half years.

Another neighbour Rula Ababneh, of Jervis Close, said he deserved a long sentence.

She said: “I used to see Michelle in the mornings and I was really shocked to find out what had happened to her.

“No matter what she may have said or done she didn’t deserve to die and he deserves a long sentence for that.”

Ms Haye-Levy died outside a home in Grenville Close as a result multipe stab wounds.

Steve Hickman, also of Grenville Close, said: “I am quite relieved it’s all over now. At the end of the day he [Anglin] took a life and he is going to serve a long time in prison for it which brings a bit of closure for everybody.

“I think most people are now glad the trial is over.”

A former neighbour from Long Buckby said she believed justice had been served.

Timothy West and Prunella Scales will be the guests of honour opening up the 11th Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally.

The husband and wife actors will be opening the event at Braunston Marina on Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30.

For the occasion, the couple will wear traditional boatmen clothing. Timothy West said: “We are thrilled to be coming at last to a Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally. We usually charge to dress up in our work. But to support this unique and wonderful canal event, we will waive our fee in this case!”

At 11am on the day, West will steer the boat President into the marina towing its butty boat Kildare steered by Prunella Scales – as working boatmen and their wives did in the past.

Tim Coghlan, managing director of the marina, said: ‘The popularity of the now well-established annual Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally and Canal Festival, has never ceased to amaze me.

“It was first organised with our co-sponsors Canals Rivers + Boats in 2003, with the intention of being a one-off. The inspiration was to celebrate the relaunch of the last surviving steam narrowboat President, which had been out of action for some years due to major repairs.

“That first rally attracted what seemed like a lot of boats – all of 29 – and that was after much work and a lot of arm-twisting. But everyone wanted to do it again, and then again, and each year it has gone from strength to strength.”

The rally attracts interest from all over the world with more than 6,000 visitors came in 2012, some travelling from as afar afield as Australia and New Zealand, Canada, the USA and South Africa.

Mr Coghlan added: “The success of the ten rallies to date has made this into the Historic Narrowboat Rally and Canal Festival. Here’s hoping we see you there.”

Members of Daventry Conservative Club are appealing for ‘lots’ of support in the latest bid to boost the Jago Worrall Campaign.

The club is organising a silent auction and is looking for unique and unusual donations as prizes for the auction, to be concluded at an event later in the year.

The 12-month campaign, being run by the Daventry Express, aims to raise as much money as possible towards the continuous therapies and home care of Jago, from Welton.

The two-year-old was left with severe brain injuries after nearly drowning in a pond at the family home last year.

Paul Hale, entertainments secretary, said: “To have the ability or chance to make a real difference to someone’s life is a gift in itself so let’s use that opportunity.”

If you would like to donate an auction lot please contact secretary Dave Derby on 01327 704991.

A WHOPPING £2,300 has been added to The Jago Worrall Foundation funds following the latest event.

Evergreen Art Cafe in Sheaf Street hosted the art and wine evening in conjunction with the Daventry Express on Thursday last week.

The evening consisted of a charity auction, raffle, wine tasting courtesy of Waitrose in the town and music from Audible Fidelity in Daventry.

There was also a visit from artist Ryan Hadley who was on hand to talk about his work.

The money was designed to raise funds for the foundation to help two-year-old Jago Worrall. He was left with severe brain injuries after he nearly drowned in an accident at a pond in the family home last year. His family are now fundraising to help his rehabilitation.

The deputy editor of the Daventry Express, Amanda Chalmers, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the amount raised at this event. A big thank you to Simon Williams and all the staff at the art cafe for organising this fantastic event.

“A big thank you also to Waitrose and Audible Fidelity for providing entertainment throughout the evening and everyone who donated prizes for the auction and the raffle. On behalf of the family, I can assure you that this effort makes a real difference.”

The owner of the art cafe, Simon Williams, said: “It was a really good attendance on the night and to me just shows what people are prepared to do for such a good cause. It was a great night.”

The final total was £2,339.

A landlord has complained that yellow lines on the road outside her pub are slapdash and confusing to drivers.

Maggie Chandler runs The George in Watling Street, Kilsby.

The road is a dead end only a few hundred yards long, with a turn off leading to some homes and the village church.

But recently double yellow lines were painted up the road, cutting across the side road and access to car parks. The lines are not straight and in places were painted over dead leaves lying on the road.

Ms Chandler said: “We did have double lines here before. They were put in to stop lorries parking here waiting to get to DIRFT and we pretty much policed it ourselves.

“The old lines had pretty much been eroded away. You couldn’t really work out which bits of the road had them.

“We have the pub and the church along this road. When there are big services on, like marriages , christenings or funerals people use the pub car parks and the road as well. It doesn’t cause a problem.

“Now the workers have come along and done this. They’ve not even done the lines right – they go straight across the junction with Church Walk and they’re not straight. You can see where they realised they made a mistake and tried to take them up, only to give up after a couple of feet.

“We’re worried now because, with parking wardens in the district, people will be caught out along here.”

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: “Double yellow lines have been in place in Watling Streetfor more than a decade and for this period they have been across the junction of Church Walk. The lines were repainted in December last year.”

A newly opened village park has been targeted by vandals who daubed racist grafitti on a shed and then spray- painted a lamb.

Cotton End Park in Long Buckby was only officially opened on Monday, May 27 but on Sunday, June 9 it was struck by vandalism.

The park has a flock of tame, hand-reared lambs, and on the Sunday night someone went to the park and sprayed racist graffiti on the sheep shed.

They then caught one of the young sheep, sprayed it purple, and then urinated on it.

Nick Hudson, vice chairman of the Cotton End Park committee, urged the perpretrators to come forward saying: “If you know who committed this wanton act of animal cruelty I urge you to report the matter to either their parents, the Cotton End Park committee or to the police.

“If you are one of the people who did this I would ask you to come forward and own up and spend some time helping at the park to make restitution. By doing this, you wouldn’t have to spend the rest of your life having to hide from the shame of cowardly torturing a baby animal.”

DAVENTRY District Council (DDC) has denied that it could be affected by a ruling which would see them unable to determine some planning applications.

According to an investigation by the magazine Planning, DDC is one of seven local authorities which could be placed in special measures and therefore be stripped of its planning powers.

This would enable some developers to bypass DDCs planning department and go straight to the planning inspectorate to determine applications.

However DDC has denied the authority is in any immediate danger of being put into special measures by the government.

DDCs community manager Maria Taylor said: “The figures quoted by Planning Magazine as part of their own investigation of this issue do not include live major applications scheduled to be determined in the timeframe set by the Government.

“It is premature to conclude that the council is at risk of being placed into special measures.

“Most of our major applications relate to the regeneration of Daventry town centre and wind farm developments.”

AN ARTIST is being sought to create a unique and inspiring piece to stand at one of the gateways to Daventry town centre.

Public artwork will be installed on a roundabout in Daventry this year as part of the Abbey Retail park development.

The retail park was built in 2009 and one of the planning obligations required the developers Ashford Developments to provide £10,000 of funding to Daventry District Council for a piece of art to be installed on the A425 South Way/Abbey Street roundabout.

The roundabout is a gateway to the town centre and also leads to the retail park and the Daventry District Council is currently asking artists to submit their ideas for the work, which will ideally be inspired by something of historical relevance to the town.

Once the ideas have been submitted a public consultation will then be held for people to choose which artwork they would like to see the most on the roundabout.

An additional grant of up to £5,000 is also being sought from the Arts Council to top up the available funds for the project.

Councillor Alan Hills, community, culture and leisure portfolio holder at DDC, said: “This funding has been given to us by the developers of the Abbey Retail Park as one of the original planning obligations to create a piece of artwork on the South Way roundabout near McDonalds.

“The money is ring-fenced to be used for that purpose and we are also applying to the Arts Council for a £5,000 grant towards the total cost, and are now asking artists to submit their exciting ideas to create a unique piece of art in the town.”

Artists have until Friday, June 28, to tender their ideas and any artists that want more information can contact Katie Arnold at Daventry District Council on 01327 871100, email karnold@daventrydc.gov.uk or visit www.sourcenorthamptonshire.co.uk.

MOTORISTS are reminded to avoid the Towcester area over the weekend due to the British Grand Prix.

As normal there will be traffic restrictions and road closures to cope with the traffic expected at Silverstone, off the A43, tomorrow (Friday), Saturday and Sunday.

Traffic heading to the circuit will be directed off the M1 and M40 and onto the A43 which will be shut to all but race traffic.

Traffic from the Daventry area heading south is advised by police to avoid the A5 around Towcester, and in particular the A43 roundabout.

The recommended diversions are to head south on the M1 to junction 15 and the take either the A508 to Milton Keynes, or the A422 to Buckingham.

A temporary weight limit of 7.5 tonnes will apply in the Towcester area between 4.30am and 9pm each day.

The Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance landed in Daventry on Tuesday morning after a cyclist collided with a van.

The helicopter was called out at 8.30am to the town centre after reports of a 12-year-old boy cyclist had collided with a van.

The WNAA team arrived on the scene, after landing near the iCon building, and assessed the boy before handing over the case to a road ambulance from East Midlands Ambulance Service.

There are no further details of injuries.

About 90 firefighters were called to a major factory blaze in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed 16 crews were called to Quality Nut Products Ltd at Cavalry Hill Industrial Park in Weedon at about 3.30am where a “substantial fire” had broken out in one of the buildings.

Factory owner Graham Blundell said he was “gutted” by the fire which destroyed one and half million pounds worth of stock.

He said: “Distressed is an understatement I started this factory in 1964 and I’m gutted.”

A spokesman said: “The fire has now been contained with minimal lasting impact to surrounding businesses and properties.

“Damping down will continue.”

The fire service expect they will have a presence in the area well into next week.

They have asked nearby Weedon Bec Primary School in West Street to keep the children inside until lunchtime and keep all doors and windows shut.

A video showing the damage from a fire that tore through Quality Nuts Ltd in Weedon this morning (Wednesday).

Almost 100 fire fighters tackled the blaze at Cavalry Hill Industrial Park after receiving a call at 3.30am. The fire is now under control but could continue to burn for up to a week.

Artists are being sought to create a new piece of public artwork worth £15,000 on a roundabout near to the Abbey Retail Park.

The retail park was built in 2009 and under the planning obligations, developers Ashford Developments are to provide £10,000 of funding to Daventry District Council (DDC).

This will help to pay for the art to be installed on the A425 South Way/Abbey Street roundabout.

The roundabout is a gateway to the town centre and also leads to the retail park and the council is currently asking artists to submit their ideas for the work, which will ideally be inspired by something of historical relevance to the town.

An additional grant of up to £5,000 is also being sought from the Arts Council to top up the available funds for the project.

Artists have until tomorrow (Friday) to put forward their ideas.

DDC’s community, culture and leisure portfolio holder Cllr Alan Hills said: “This funding has been given to us by the developers of the Abbey Retail Park as one of the original planning obligations to create a piece of artwork on the South Way roundabout near to McDonalds.

“The money is ringfenced to be used for that purpose and we are also applying to the Arts Council for a £5,000 grant towards the total cost.

“We are now asking artists to submit their exciting ideas to create a unique piece of art in the town.”

Once the ideas have been submitted a public consultation will then be held for people to choose which artwork they would like to see the most on the roundabout.

Any artists looking for more information can initally contact Katie Arnold at DDC by calling 01327 871100, by emailing karnold@daventrydc.gov.uk or by visiting www.sourcenorthamptonshire.co.uk.

Northampton College, which runs a campus in Daventry, could be making redundancies to cope with a £1.5 million staffing deficit.

The college’s governors and management team are currently consulting with staff representatives and unions.

Staff have been invited to apply for voluntary redundancy but, if not enough workers take up the offer, some forced redundancies may be made.

The redundancy process is due to be completed by the end of July but a pay freeze in 2013/14 is also expected.

Len Closs, college principal said he “deeply regretted” having to engage in the redundancy process which he said had “arisen from circumstances beyond the control of the college.”

He said: “Our first priority in exceptionally difficult economic circumstances must be to secure a sound and positive future for the college’s current and future students.

“I am confident that we achieve the necessary savings without any impact on the college’s learning provision which, following Ofsted’s recent “good” judgement, will continue to provide excellent opportunities for all.”

The funding cuts at the college are believed to be due to the changes in the way money is allocated to colleges in 2013/14, inparticular a reduction in the grant from the Education Funding Agency (EFA).

The college currently has three sites in Northamptonshire, two in Northampton at Booth lane and The Mounts and one in Daventry.

Now tell us what you think of the maintenance and grass cutting service. Is is this bad where you are?

Comment below or email editorial@daventryexpress.co.uk