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Traffic chaos on the A14

OVERNIGHT road works on the A14 will start on Thursday and will include lane closures and diversions.

Work is set to take place on a 10-mile section of the A14 between Girton Interchange and Spittals Interchange.

The Highways Agency said the maintenance work would be carried out in both directions on week nights only between 9pm and 6am, and should be completed by Monday, October 3, weather permitting.

Keith Hutchinson, Highways Agency project sponsor, said: “This work will maintain the road surface and minimise the need for emergency roadworks.

“The work has been carefully planned to keep disruption to a minimum and that is why it is taking place overnight when traffic flows are lowest.

“We ask that drivers allow extra time and take extra care when travelling along the diversion routes.”

Work will be carried out in two phases:

The first will be from Thursday and Friday on the westbound carriageway between Girton and Spittals as well as the A1307 Huntingdon Road out of Cambridge.

Westbound traffic will be diverted onto the A428 at the Girton interchange to join the A1 northbound at St Neots and rejoin the A14 westbound at Brampton Hut. Local residents and residents of Bar Hill and Lolworth will be signed off the A428 at Hardwick and up to the Dry Drayton junction.

Phase two – from September 28 until October 3 will be on the eastbound carriageway which will be closed between Spittals and Girton. Eastbound traffic will be diverted onto the A1 southbound at Brampton Hut, to join the A428 eastbound at St Neots and back onto the A14 at Girton. On October 3 the A14 eastbound will be open from junction 24 (Godmanchester). Local residents with access directly off the A14 will be escorted through the works.

nA further scheme to maintain the embankment and replace the safety barrier on the eastbound carriageway of the A14 at Godmanchester will start on Wednesday, September 28, for approximately one month. There will be 24-hour narrow lanes in place as well as 50mph speed restriction.

Huntingdon Olympic Gym Club, Team GB, Coach Paul Hall

A FEW weeks ago a pommel horse was delivered to one of the tallest buildings in the City of London, and taken in the lift to the roof.

A plinth was built that elevated the horse to the highest possible point, just feet away from the parapet and more than 40 floors worth of air.

Step forward one Louis Smith, Olympian, to perform a one arm handstand on one handle set on the top of that horse, overlooking the capital. It was an amazing shot and just another day in the crazy life of Louis who has been juggling similar appearances with the relentless preparation for the forthcoming World Championships in Japan in a few weeks time.

Both Louis and club mate Daniel Keatings performed well at the selection event at the end of August and, barring injury, should form part of the team that fly out to Tokyo at the beginning of October.

Prior to that the Huntingdon gymnasts have had a hectic few weeks starting with the British Championships on September 17, and then moving on to France the following Wednesday for a friendly two way international. A dash back across the Channel will see them in Basildon, Essex, the following Saturday for GB against Spain, and then it’s a final few days at the National Centre in Shropshire before flying out to Japan at the end of the week.

The guys are now seasoned travellers and well used to living out of suitcases, and have over 50 countries notched up between the two of them over the past six years.

Luke Folwell continues his rehabilitation for a persistent shoulder injury and hopes to be back early in 2012 ready to challenge for a place during Olympic selection next June, and the junior boys and girls squads back at the club are training in earnest, already thinking about the carnival in Rio in 2016.

Barely 10 months to go to the big event, the excitement is building!

The next report will come from Tokyo….

Paul Hall

Councillor Ken Churchill

A COUNCILLOR struck off the register of physiotherapists for an alleged relationship with a client has been suspended from the controlling Conservative group on Cambridgeshire County Council.

A COUNCILLOR struck off the register of physiotherapists for an alleged relationship with a client has been suspended from the controlling Conservative group on Cambridgeshire County Council.

Cllr Ken Churchill, who also sits on Huntingdonshire District Council and is a magistrate, has been suspended for six months, it was announced on Friday afternoon.

Cllr Churchill was struck off the register of physiotherapists in June after the Health Professions Council found an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship with a vulnerable patient amounted to serious misconduct and that his fitness to practise was impaired as a result.

He was given a reprieve by HDC Tories last week when the two-thirds majority vote needed to suspend him was not reached.

However at the time, executive leader Jason Ablewhite said that he was “watching with interest” for the county decision, warning that if they voted to suspend then Cllr Churchill’s position “would become untenable everywhere”.

Police

TWO new telephone numbers are being introduced in Cambridgeshire in a bid to stop 150,000 calls unnecessarily blocking the 999 emergency lines each year.

From next month Cambridgeshire police will begin using the easy-to-remember 101 number and, by April 2013, NHS Cambridgeshire will introduce its new three digit telephone number – 111.

Both numbers will be suitable for calls involving non-life threatening incidents.

A police spokesman said: “The number change is part of a national scheme to make 101 the single non-emergency number in England and Wales. The change is being introduced so residents will have one easy-to-remember way to contact local police wherever they are.

“The new number should also reduce the number of non-emergency calls coming through to the 999 control room.”

The split between the two police numbers is summed up by saying that someone witnessing a crime or a violent attack should still ring 999, while 101 will be used for reporting incidents including burglary and car theft.

A total of 125,840 calls were made to the county’s 999 number in 2010-11, answered in the force control room at police headquarters in Huntingdon. The non-emergency calls on its 0345 456 4564 number, which will continue for the next 12 months to allow people time to get used to 101, are answered at the force’s police service centre in Peterborough and will use a new automated phone system.

Following successful pilot projects in other parts of the country, NHS Cambridgeshire is introducing a 111 non-emergency number next year. This will relieve some of the pressure on the East of England Ambulance Service’s 999 call centre. A total of 74,887 emergency 999 calls were made from Cambridgeshire to the ambulance service during the 2010-11 financial year. Just over a third – 27,568 – were classified as life-threatening situations.

The 111 number will be staffed by a team of advisors supported by nurses who will direct callers to the most appropriate person. The 24/7 service will eventually replace NHS Direct.

Spokesman for NHS Cambridgeshire Lorraine Rollo said: “It is a national requirement that all NHS areas have a 111 number operational by April 2013 and we are working to this deadline in Cambridgeshire.”

Police

BURGLARS raided a village primary school in the middle of the night to steal a safe containing hundreds of pounds in cash and cheques.

They broke into Great Staughton Primary School just before midnight last Wednesday (September 7) and escaped with a digital safe, just two days into the new school year.

The safe was recovered on Monday at a farm in Caldecote but police are appealing for information from anyone who may have witnessed the incident.

Officers were alerted to the burglary when the alarm system at the school, in The Causeway, was triggered shortly before midnight. The offenders had broken in through the front door, and went straight to the school office, where they forced a locked cupboard and accessed the safe.

It contained £600 in cash and £1,400 in cheques, said a Cambridgeshire County Council spokesman, including many start-of-term payments from parents.

The front door was damaged in the raid, but the school opened as usual on Thursday morning.

A police spokesman said: “Police were called just before midnight last Wednesday (September 7) to Great Staughton Primary School.

“Police were alerted after the alarm at the school was activated. Forensics attended the scene, and house-to-house enquiries have been carried out. The safe was recovered on Monday at a farm in Caldecote.”

INFORMATION: Call 0345 456 4564 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

SCBU ball logos

A HUNTINGDONSHIRE charity which supports children’s medical services in the district is appealing for raffle and auction prizes.

Dreamdrops, which provides equipment and funding for the children’s ward and special care baby unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon, has a number of fundraising opportunities coming up – but needs public support.

Over the next few weeks the charity is holding a raffle at the concerts being staged at the Huntingdon Philharmonic Orchestra but needs quality prizes to offer in the raffle.

The first concert is at Hinchingbrooke Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, November 13, when the orchestra will be playing Mozart’s Symphony 41 and the Requiem Mass.

Other concerts are planned for December 17 and at various dates in 2012.

Dreamdrops has a stall at the monthly St Ives Crafter fairs at the Free Church but after a few successful months the prizes are all but gone.

The next event is due to take place on Saturday, October 1, with others on November 5 and December 3.

A Dreamdrops spokesman said: “We are in very short supply of raffle prizes and would love to hear from anyone or any business who can provide us with some for these occasions.

“The money is put to a very good cause and helps to supply equipment for sick children which the NHS would otherwise be unable to provide.”

Dreamdrops will also be among the charities to benefit from next year’s garden show at Abbots Ripton Hall, the home of Lord and Lady de Ramsey.

The charity has been asked to organise a silent auction needs some special prizes for what could turn out to be a significant fundraiser.

INFORMATION: Anyone who can provide a raffle or auction prize can drop it into The Hunts Post offices at 30 High Street, Huntingdon or contact Dreamdrops by e-mailing Dreamdrops@ccs.nhs.uk

LET’S DANCE: Kathryn Meadwell and Stephen Meadwell at the Royal British Legion’s 90th anniversary celebrations in Sawtry.

DANCING displays, vintage vehicles and a barbecue helped Sawtry to mark the 90th anniversary of the Royal British Legion.

More than 200 people, including MP Shailesh Vara, attended a day of celebrations at Sawtry Ex-Servicemen’s Club on Saturday, when there were also displays of Second World War memorabilia, a Home Front exhibition and a stand from the Sawtry History Society.

Organisers estimate that they have raised more than £1,000 for the Royal British Legion.

There was a host of displays of items from the early days of the RBL, and visitors enjoyed discovering – or re-discovering – them and their past, while dancers gave a demonstration of traditional 1940s dancing to the crowds.

In the evening, guests had the chance to dance the night away themselves with the Caxton Swing Band.

Allan Fowler, who organised the day with Tony Nickerson and Stewart Wilie, thanked all those who brought displays, performed on the day or turned up to be entertained.

“It would not have been possible without them,” he said. “The whole day was a success, and we are very pleased with the outcome.”

Baby of year comp

THERE will be even more time to vote for your Baby of the Year – as the phone lines have been extended.

For the annual Hunts Post Baby of the Year, 180 babies were photographed over six days in a joint venture with Sainsbury’s in Huntingdon.

The pictures were taken at Sainsbury’s Huntingdon by Photo Imaging of Cambs.

All the photographs have been entered for the competition and since yesterday readers have been voting for the baby they think should win.

You can still vote by calling 0901 307 3315 – listen to the message and enter the code underneath the baby of your choice.

Call will cost 51p from a landline. Charges from mobiles may vary.

You can vote as many times as you like.

The phone lines will remain open until Sunday, September 25.

Fire engine

FIREFIGHTERS were called to a fire at a building supplies manufacturer in St Ives yesterday.

Crews from St Ives, Papworth and Huntingdon attended the blaze, which had started when a kiln became overheated, at Marshalls Mono in Meadow Lane around 3.50pm.

They used one hose reel to extinguish the flames and returned to their fire station by 4.55pm.

The cause of the fire was accidental.

Hinchingbrooke School

HINCHINGBROOKE School opened for the new term as an academy last week, after concerns over the future upkeep of the listed buildings were settled.

HINCHINGBROOKE School opened for the new term as an academy last week, after concerns over the future upkeep of the listed buildings were settled.

The school had to drop out of the seven-school Huntingdonshire Secondary Education Partnership in July after concerns were raised by the Foundation of Hinchingbrooke School, which owns the school buildings and land, over who would have responsibility for future repairs and maintenance.

But in a letter to parents at the start of the new term, headteacher Keith Nancekievill confirmed the issues had been resolved and Hinchingbrooke had converted to academy status by the September 1 deadline “by the skin of our teeth”.

He also revealed that he would be retiring from his position at Easter 2012, and that governors would look to find his successor by Christmas.

Mr Nancekievill told The Hunts Post the trustees, governors and staff worked hard to ensure all parties “were comfortable” with the arrangements, and that academy conversion papers were signed with just hours to spare on the evening of August 31.

“It was a case of getting the balance right between what best preserves the heritage of the school and providing effective buildings for education,” he said.

Plans to build a “community focused” reception area and a new classroom will also go ahead, said Mr Nancekievill, after funds were released by Cambridgeshire County Council as part of an infrastructure investment agreement from a housing development in Godmanchester 10 years ago.

The reception area, which was already being planned, will be moved to the other end of the school’s administration building, positioning it closer to the school’s entrance.

Hinchingbrooke has not yet decided what the new classroom will be built for, but expects to put proposals to governors next month and for building to start next year.

After nine years as headteacher, Mr Nancekievill will leave Hinchingbrooke at the end of the spring term.

He said he had been “thinking quietly” about retirement, and hoped to spend time writing, gardening or pursuing his sporting interests or voluntary work.

“After 40 years working in school, almost 25 of them as a headteacher, I need a new and very different challenge. It is a good time for both Hinchingbrooke to have a change and for me.”