DEVELOPERS have submitted plans for a new development of 50 houses and a mix of offices, showrooms and industrial units behind Tesco in Cleethorpes.

Bramall Properties have applied for planning permission to build a mixed complex with 50 dwellings and 150,000 square feet of space for retail units and showrooms, light industrial units and offices.

The plot of land is on Altyre Way, between Cleethorpes' Tesco and the Audi garage, backing onto the Wilton Road industrial estate.

But despite its surroundings, the address is in Humberston at a time of public outcry over proposed, large-scale housing developments in the area, including two applications for a total of 800 homes off Humberston Avenue.

Councillor John Fenty (Con, Humberston and New Waltham) said: "Too many applications are coming through for housing and I don't feel there is need or demand for them – targets for new housing in the area are wrong."

However, Lawrence Brown, from property agent Scott's Property, said it was the perfect place for a mixed usage project – which provides "a perfect balance" and should not disturb other residents.

He added: "It is on a green field but is allocated for housing in the council's local plan and we are not planning to build on a green oasis – it has Tesco on one side and an Audi garage on the other.

"This is not a sprawling housing development but a sensible mix, offering both employment and housing opportunities on a plot between Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Humberston."

Mr Brown said that the retail units could be used for a mixture of offices, retail showrooms, depots for small or large companies and light industrial units – but the exact balance is not yet decided.

He said that his client is "totally committed" and will build the business units before he finds tenants – providing high quality space for businesses who need it urgently, which he claims does not exist at the moment.

Mr Brown said that the project was "great news for the area" – but only in its current form.

He added: "A great deal of investment has gone into getting the mixed-usage of this project exactly right to make it sustainable and it is important people do not cherry pick, which bits they like."

View more details on the application

Routes to cater for a wider range of cycling abilities are being offered in the second annual Bike Ride to be organised by the Linkage Community Trust next month (Sunday 19th May 2013).

The Lincolnshire-based national charity, which provides services for young learning disabled people including a further education college at Weelsby Road in Grimsby, has again used the Water Rail Way, which follows the course of the River Witham, and has been chosen for its largely off-road terrain and safety. This year, Linkage is offering three options for riders:

1. Starting at Waterside South in Lincoln, participants will follow the route to Bardney and Kirkstead then back to Lincoln – 32 miles;
2. Starting at Bardney, head south to Kirkstead and return – 14 miles;
3. Starting at Bardney then riding to Lincoln and back – 18 miles.

The event will be in aid of Linkage's on-going appeal to turn plans for a café, shop, horticulture centre and education block at Boultham Park in Lincoln into reality.

Fund-raising Manager Christine Saxon says: "The feedback from last year's successful launch event suggested people wanted more riding options to choose from. That's why this year's Bike Ride gives choices such as a comfortable 14-mile journey to the more challenging 32-mile stretch, although they are all on the mostly traffic-free Water Rail Way. Our primary cause for fund-raising is a local project to provide great new facilities for the people of Lincoln, visitors and cyclists alike, at Boultham Park."

The entry fee is £5 per person – children 16 or under are free when accompanied by an adult. It is open to everyone aged 10 and above, and can provide their own bike in full working condition. Limited hire facilities are available at Bardney and Lincoln: pre-book before the event. With registration on the day between 9am–10am, the ride will start at 10.  Members of the cycling charity Sustrans can check bikes before the start.

The registration form can be downloaded from www.linkage.org.uk or via facebook.com/linkagecommunitytrust. Email events@linkage.org.uk for a pack or call 01522 507215. Please return completed forms to the following address: Bike Ride, Linkage Community Trust, Langton House, Lindum Business Park, Station Road, North Hykeham LN6 3QX. Cheques should be made payable to Linkage Community Trust or pay via credit/debit card by calling 01522 507215. 

I COULDN'T help but chuckle when I saw my colleague's front-page story about his attempts to track down the recipient of North East Lincolnshire's first ever Asbo.

With the words of Humberside Police, who insisted that Asbos were an effective way of controlling offenders, ringing in his ears, he went in search of Kye Green, hoping to hear how he had turned his life around since that historic day 10 years ago. Sadly, the trail ended when Peter discovered that 24-year-old Kye was in prison, awaiting sentence for an attempted handbag snatch.

I'm sure for many people this rather farcical episode is yet further evidence that Asbos don't work.

As someone with limited experience of Asbos (from reporting in court, I hasten to add!), they have sometimes struck me as overly bureaucratic – what is the point, for example, of an Asbo banning behaviour which is already a criminal offence?

Even those in the legal profession have sometimes questioned their usefulness.

In March last year defence solicitor Geoff Ellis slammed the "nonsense" and waste of public money of repeatedly prosecuting Grimsby alcoholic Colin Osborne for breaching his anti-social behaviour order, which banned him from being in certain parts of the town centre at specific times of the day.

Mr Ellis branded the terms of the Asbo "unfair" and said it had cost many thousands of pounds to bring Osborne to court for 18 breaches of his Asbo, even though on many occasions he was not behaving in an antisocial manner.

I can appreciate how the imposition of Asbos, and the publicity around them, can help local communities and police keep track of well-known troublemakers.

Andy Everett, Humberside Police's crime reduction manager argues that Asbos make it much more straightforward to put repeat offenders behind bars.

The question is then, if Asbos are so good, why are we getting rid of them?

LAST week Scotland's eight regional police forces merged into one unified service.

Aside from the predictable concerns that local accountability will be damaged by such a move, I was more struck by the name given to the new nationwide force.

Something like Scotland Police or would have been a logical choice you might think.

And it would seem the powers that be agreed – except that they decided, Yoda-style, to swap the words around and plump for Police Scotland instead. In doing so they appear to have adopted the nonsensical fad beloved of sporting bodies both here and overseas of inverting the words in the titles of public organisations, institutions and national sports teams.

So instead of the Great Britain team at athletics we have Team GB, instead of the England football team, we have Team England, while a few years back the Australian Cricket Board decided to rebrand itself as Cricket Australia.

I can only assume that this is done to make the institutions in question sound more impressive, but sadly all it does is make them sound pompous and utterly preposterous.

And if this craze continues, how long before we pay our rates to Council North East Lincolnshire, go watch Town Grimsby at Park Blundell, shop in Place Freshney or heaven forbid, read Telegraph Grimsby?

TWO weeks ago I rather absent-mindedly left a pair of trainers on the bus into work.

I discovered this only at the end of my shift when I went to change into them for my walk home.

Still I consoled myself with the thought that they would have been picked up by the bus driver at the end of the day and handed into lost property.

After all, the trainers had clocked up quite a few miles and were not exactly new.

Alas, when I rang Stagecoach the following morning I was informed that no such items matching that description had been handed in.

And last week, it emerged that one of my colleagues had previously experienced the same thing – with his smelly and sweat-soiled gym kit!

I know money is tight, but are things really as desperate as that?

DURING this past week I was left contemplating the meaning of the word "healing" after a patient thanked me for "healing her".

The choice of the word "healing" by my patient sounded strange and somewhat antiquated.

As is always the case when I am puzzling over words, my instinct is to reach for a dictionary so as to acquire a baseline for my thoughts.

The Oxford English Dictionary thus informed me that the word "heal" means "make or become sound or healthy again". The dictionary did not expand on the word "healer", other than to label it a noun; thus leaving me in the rather unsatisfactory situation of understanding that a healer is someone who makes something sound or healthy again. The problem with words is that the deeper you dig into them, the more complex the question becomes.

For example, if the two ends of a broken bone knit together, we would class that as healing. However, if the limb containing that bone is left misshapen and the patient has a resulting limp, can they truly be said to be "healed", "sound" or "healthy"? Furthermore, what does being "healthy" mean? Can a child with nothing more than mild arthritis, consider himself as "healthy"?

I believe that the answer to the last question is "yes"; just as I have come to the conclusion that being healed means far more than being rid of one's disease. Indeed, I have started to consider the possibility a person can be healed despite the continuing existence of what most people would consider as ill-health.

The child with an arthritic knee feels healthy because he has come to terms with the reality of living with a worn joint; he has come to consider that his disease is a normal part of him and thus, in his mind, he is healthy.

Perhaps healing is something we should be attempting more often, rather than trying to cure or just treat. We can only cure patients some of the time; but we can probably heal people on many more occasions.

AS reported, the issue has divided Grimsby Telegraph readers between those who are for the reforms and those against. You can comment on this at www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk

Here are a selection of your comments:

FOR REFORM

robyn27: "The bedroom tax is not putting people out their homes. It's merely saying if you want a bigger house you have to pay for it. Social housing has the cheapest rents available. I am a single parent and I work two jobs to support myself and my daughter. I have a two bedroom property, which is all I need to keep us in the right catchment area for school and able to afford to pay bills etc. People have a choice and yes, people will say there are no jobs, childcare issues and inflexibility with employers – at what point do these become excuses?"

andygy: "I would like an extra bedroom, but it would cost me circa £40,000 to move up, or £25,000 to extend where I currently live. It would cost me a lot more than £20 a week. If they are not happy about the new parameters on benefits, then get a job and pay your own way, or downsize. You're getting something for nothing and still complaining!"

AGAINST REFORM

Chixxey: "I don't think the issue here is about releasing larger under-occupied properties for families that are currently living in overcrowded conditions. I know it's a contentious issue, but I have four single pensioners occupying two three-bedroomed and two four-bedroomed properties within yards of where I live, but they are all exempt from the bedroom tax. They are hardly likely to have any more children, thus justifying them staying in such large properties. For those who have commented that they are working and therefore paying via taxation for benefit claimants to reside in such large properties, how do you feel about "paying for" these folk? There are something like 750,000 pensioners, most living in Spain, who all still claim their winter fuel allowance and Christmas bonus, as recently reported, so it isn't just the working age folk who appear to be "scroungers", is it?

AndrewClee: "Why do we all assume that the people who are unemployed now have always been unemployed? My brother is going to be affected by this but, I have to say, he worked solidly for 40 years and paid into the system for 40 years. He had no children but 60 per cent of his council tax still went into children's services. He has until recently never asked for a thing back. Now he has fallen on hard times, after financing several families over the years less fortunate than himself he feels that he has been cast adrift. Can we all remember, not every unemployed person is lazy ... this is just what Cameron wants us workers to believe. How many MPs will have spare bedrooms in their second homes financed by us?"

plodplayer: "The whole point is there are not any smaller properties for people to move into and, with unemployment rising, they are using it as an excuse to tax the poor. The majority of people on benefit are not scroungers and would work if they could. There are those who milk the system but charging all to deal with the minority is not the answer."

MufftyWednesday: "I can understand this applying to people with a dozen or more kids being housed in million pound-plus houses, but that's using common sense which nobody in this government seems to have. Why can't they be housed in two or three normal houses next door to each other ... got to be a cheaper way of doing it?"

A letter writer is for change – Viewpoint pages 14 & 15.

HATS off to Caistor Women's Institute for "clicking-up" 95 years – making the group one of the oldest in the country.

Scores of members gathered for an anniversary celebration at Caistor Town Hall, where the women have been busy knitting beanie hats for troops and woollen hats for premature babies at Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital's maternity unit.

As well as viewing displays of memorabilia and photographs collected over the group's history, the women also tucked into a special cake and had a party.

One of the group's longest-standing members, former president Joan Wright – who has given 75 years to the WI – was given the honour of cutting the cake.

Fellow members looked back at nearly a century of learning practical skills, forming friendships and attending special events.

Soon after Caistor WI formed in 1918, the group had a visit from a founder member of the Canadian WI, where the movement began.

Past highlights include a demonstration by the Grimsby Morris Men, a recital by poet Pam Ayers, a visit to the theatre to watch the play Calendar Girls – about a WI that stripped off for a charity calendar – and a workshop on making chocolates.

And there's much more to come.

President June Gaughan said: "It has been a brilliant party. It is a great organisation. It helps a lot of people. Anyone new coming into the town is welcomed and they no longer feel a stranger.

"In the countryside, people have a strong ethic to keep things going. You have to have the right people at the helm and we keep the meetings entertaining."

Things have certainly changed from those early days.

Past minutes of WI meetings on show at the event described bygone generations of women drawing pictures of pigs while blindfolded in the 1930s.

Institute minutes secretary, Wendy Handford said now the joy of being a member is caring and sharing with others.

She said: "Pooling our traditional practical skills is enjoyable, but more often it is sharing friendships and caring for each other.

"This is what Caistor WI has valued throughout its history."

Member Rita Dukes said: "It is not all jam and Jerusalem. We get involved in campaigns, such as trying to keep rural post offices open, farming issues and when we had Tony Blair at one of our conferences we slow-handclapped him."

One of the longest serving members Charlotte Linsell, 84, who has been with the WI for 61 years, said: "It has been marvellous.

"We have never had a chance to see all the minutes of previous meetings all together. They go all the way back to 1918.

"We are among the oldest in the country. It was started in Canada because the women there felt isolated and it gave them a kind of club to meet up.

"The same happened here. There were small town and village groups. Caistor was once an important place because it had the largest sheep fair in the country."

For retiring Mayor of Caistor, Councillor John Burns-Salmond the celebrations marked one of his final engagements after four years as mayor.

He said: "During the past 95 years their contribution has been incalculable, especially in these difficult economic times.

"I can see the institute has changed. They can be a great source of help, especially to people struggling on low incomes. That is exactly how it grew up in the times of the world wars.

"We are extremely proud of them. It was a great honour to be here."

The group was entertained by Caistor Ladies Choir who sang songs including The Rose, I Could Have Danced All Night and Swing Low Sweet Chariot, accompanied by Grimsby Minster organist Steven Maxson.

Find out more

Caistor WI meets on the first Thursday of each month at the town hall. More news from across the Wolds can be read on page 25 of today's paper.

ON THE WEB: To find out more about the WI www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk

HELP for those wishing to move due to the "bedroom tax" is out there.

That's the message from housing associations and North East Lincolnshire Council to tenants who are currently under-occupying their homes.

All the area's housing associations are advertising their housing stock on a shared website with tenants under-occupying their homes being given priority in bidding for houses.

However, the issue of whether there are sufficient homes for people to move to is something Shoreline chief executive Tony Bramley is only too aware of.

He said: "If everyone applies [for a move to a smaller property], we don't have enough supply and if we do have a house of the right size, the question is then, are they the sort of properties they want to move to?

"We have got a lot of one, two and three-bed properties – the biggest number of which are three bed, at a balance that has worked.

"Social housing was always about building homes for families. Going forward we might find that demand changes, there may be a bigger need for one and two-bedroom homes.

"Someone who would previously have taken a three-bedroom property when they only need two bedrooms, but would have just had a spare room, now may only take a two-bedroom property.

"If that happens, we're stuck with what we've got."

And, he added altering the mix of housing available was not as easy as simply building more homes.

He said: "The difficulty with new homes is rent levels in North East Lincolnshire are relatively low, which means rent payments alone don't provide us with enough cash for us to build new houses.

"We need subsidies to let us build homes and let them at these rates."

There are two potential sources of funding for social housing associations to do this – first of which is the Government's Homes And Communities Agency.

However, again, because of the low rents in the area, to build a £100,000 house, Shoreline would have to apply for a grant of £40,000 to £50,000.

Mr Bramley said: "We and other local housing associations have previously put bids in to it in 2011. None of us were successful.

"It is because this is a low rent area and, as a result, we have to ask for a higher grant, which makes it look poor value for money compared to areas such as York or Harrogate where the rents they command are much higher."

He added the other potential source is the local authority, which has a fund called the New Homes Bonus.

However, he said as NELC was under immense financial pressures itself, the association "can't automatically expect to get that support".

The only other means of increasing housing stock is by buying affordable housing built by developers as part of their planning permission for new developments. For every 100 homes built in the private sector, around 20 per cent have to be affordable homes, whether that's social housing or shared ownership.

Mr Bramley added: "We can buy these homes at a discount, which negates the need for a grant, but this is only useful if they are building new homes.

"We have got £10 million sitting in the bank waiting to be used to purchase and develop new homes but, because we have no grants and very little development, it's incredibly difficult to spend that money."

Social housing tenants can look for available properties by logging on to www.homechoicelincs.org.uk.

NEWS that children's heart surgery will restart at Leeds General Infirmary has been welcomed, but campaigners have warned that the fight continues to save the threatened facility.

Following lengthy discussions on Thursday between NHS England, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the NHS Trust Development Authority, and the Care Quality Commission, a decision was made to restart surgery on the site early next week subject to independent assurance of concerns raised.

It had been suspended unexpectedly last Thursday – just 24 hours after a High Court ruled it should stay open following a battle to save it in an NHS shake-up of children's heart units.

Mortality figures – said by campaigners to be inaccurate – came to light and led to the decision to suspend surgery, but following a series of meeting, that will now be lifted.

Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers welcomed the news but said the fight to save the unit is not over yet.

He added: "Clearly there were some doubts about the decision taken by Sir Bruce Keogh to suspend surgery at Leeds last week and I welcome the news that it is being lifted.

"The fight will go on and it's essential that we do everything to keep up pressure and ensure the unit stays open."

Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell said: "I'm very glad to hear surgery is being resumed. It is good news for parents, children and the consultants living in our area.

"I believe there was a plot in place to destroy the unit at Leeds and now the decision to any problems can be considered in a calm and serious manner."

Meanwhile, Sharon Cheng of campaign group Save Our Surgery, added: "We are asking that surgery be resumed as early as possible next week so that patients and families, who have been so worried through this suspension period, can be reassured that the unit is operating safely, and that planned treatments will be able to proceed. Many children are reliant on the Leeds unit for urgent or on-going treatment, so the sooner normal service can be resumed, the better."

Over the weekend, agencies will be working together to provide sufficient assurance that the service is safe and can therefore re-open next week. Maggie Boyle, Chief Executive of the Trust said: "I am extremely confident that this service is safe and effective and should recommence at the earliest opportunity. I want partner organisations to be as confident in the service as I am."

CASES at Grimsby magistrates were suddenly thrown into chaos yesterday when an embarrassing "mix-up" led to no prosecutor turning up for the main court.

Seven defence solicitors were left twiddling their thumbs after it became apparent that there was nobody to prosecute the cases on the list.

Defence solicitors were left to rue the irony of the fact that they have been repeatedly sternly warned in recent weeks that they must be ready to start court on time.

The lack of a prosecutor meant that a whole series of cases had to be adjourned.

Defence solicitor Nick Furman, who earlier in the week had meekly used the phrase "the A-word" instead of "adjournment", said: "I may be forced unwillingly to apply for several adjournments."

Solicitor Richard Hackfath joked: "By the time we have all stood here for three hours, it will have cost the taxpayer £6.50.

"There are no fat cat lawyers here."

Solicitor Michael Culshaw said defence advocates never turned up to court without a file – and certainly did not fail to turn up at all.

"We are always ready to go," he said. "We are the only efficient link in the system.

"What would happen if we turned up at 12 o'clock? It wouldn't go down very well."

Court legal adviser Zoe Nixon said the mix-up was very unfortunate and that the mistake was clearly not intentional. Questions would, however, be asked about how the blunder happened.

Mr Furman filled in the time by cracking a series of jokes.

YOUNGSTERS celebrated their achievements after completing a ten-week programme designed to boost self-esteem and employability skills.

The Mayor of North East Lincolnshire applauded the 12 job seekers who took part in the CatZero JobCentre Plus programme, that included sailing on a 72ft ocean racing yacht.

The newly confident participants hope to find employment after gaining qualifications in food safety, manual handling and handling hazardous substances, taking part in activities at sports clubs and even in a Dragons' Den-style presentation with local business people.

James Lyon, delivery officer for the South bank of CatZero, said: "All of the people who took part in Grimsby Group 3 should be very proud of themselves.

"They have put the time and effort in and now they will be prepared for whatever life throws at them.

"This programme is not just about the qualifications, it's about progression. They have to carry on being active and grab opportunities which will hopefully lead to employment.

"Everyone has completed the programme for different reasons to gain a different experience and to ultimately gain confidence. And now they have all gained the confidence they needed."

Councillor Mike Burton, the Mayor of North East Lincolnshire, handed out the participants' programme folders which contain memories.

Mr Burton said: "Society tends to judge people who can hold possessions, but what is more important is what you hold inside.

"I hope they have all taken from this programme commitment, care and citizenship.

"I congratulate them all who took part in this exciting programme."

Kim Vora, 24, from Scartho completed CatZero, she said: "It has been an inspirational journey and I have gained so much enthusiasm from it.

"It has made me come out of my shell to hopefully find employment from all the skills I have gained.

"I have also met some awesome people and I have enjoyed every minute of it."

Colin Tasker, 22, from Grimsby, was also praised at the celebration for his efforts, he said: "I would like to thank everyone who has made it possible for me to take part in this fantastic course.

"This is a very different programme to what the JobCentre normally put on because it is exciting with activities.

"I have met some good people too and I enjoyed learning something new on the first aid course."

Lorraine Charters, delivery officer of the South bank for CatZero, added: "They all deserve everything they have achieved. There have been so many highs on the course and lots of fun. They need to take those memories and that feeling of achievement away with them."

BEING schooled at home by his mum has helped this 13-year-old Grimsby boy achieve stunning grades in three GCSEs – more than two years before most of his peers will sit the exams.

Last year Andy Pollock got an A* in his maths International GCSE – a version of the qualification made up entirely of exams with no coursework.

Now he has added an A* in IGCSE biology and an A in IGCSE commerce to his impressive list of qualifications – which also includes a grade A (the highest possible) in AS-level maths.

Andy's amazing results are a vindication of his mum Jane's decision to take him out of mainstream education in January last year.

Only days earlier Jane had taken Andy's older brother Peter, who has learning difficulties, out of secondary school because he was being bullied and making no progress.

She felt it was only fair to give the same opportunity to Andy, who she believed was not being stretched as much as he could have been.

But single mum Jane, 41, a former care worker who has no experience of teaching, admits the move was a daunting one.

"The role did take a little bit of getting used to but we are comfortable with that now. Once we got the first results, that gave us the confidence that I was taking them in the right direction."

Andy is now busy studying for his chemistry, physics and English IGCSE exams, which he intends to sit this summer, and his A2 maths exams, which will give him the full A-level.

He is hoping to go to Franklin College to study the three sciences at A-level and then go on to Oxbridge.

He said: "I enjoy the sciences and I would like to take them to quite a high level. I would like to be something like a biochemist or a scientist in the Army. I would like to cure cancer or make an environmentally friendly car."

Jane insists Andy's social life has not suffered by being taken out of school.

Andy added: "I go to cadets with a lot of the people I used to go to school with. When I see them I make it sound like I have it easy! But I find it a lot better than when I was at school and I know I'm learning a lot more."

Peter, 15, achieved an A grade in his maths IGCSE last year, and a C in AS maths this year.

The pair's progress is monitored by an educational welfare officer, who carries out an annual visit to their home.

Teaching her sons full-time prevented Jane from returning to paid employment, but although it means money is tight, she has no regrets.

"I don't regret doing it for a second, especially when they are getting the results they are. It is daunting at first but it is do-able. It will take lots of time and it will cost you money, but you only get one chance when it comes to your children's education."

ON THE WEB: Would you consider teaching your children at home? Comment at www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk

GRIMSBY military man Major Stuart Morgan is ready for the test of his life – a gruelling event which bills itself as the 'toughest footrace on Earth'.

The Marathon des Sables is a race through the Sahara Desert in which competitors run the equivalent of six marathons in six days, a total distance of 156 miles.

But it's not just the distance that's the problem – temperatures regularly approach 50 deg C, the terrain is rugged and tough and athletes must carry everything they need to survive in their backpacks.

Morgan, 38, a former Tollbar pupil, believes he has what it takes to complete the challenge, and has been carefully preparing for months.

He said: "I am doing it partly to promote the parachute regiment on the worldwide stage.

"I want to demonstrate the strength and capabilities of the British soldier.

"I am also interested in the personal challenge – it is the ultimate test of physical and mental robustness.

"Although I have done nothing as extreme as this before, I have done plenty of preparation over the last six months.

"I have completed several ultra marathons, including a 55-mile single day run and a two-day event consisting of 30-mile runs on both days."

As well as the challenges of extreme distance and scorching heat, Morgan believes the unforgiving surroundings in the Moroccan desert will be perhaps be his greatest adversity.

He said: "The multi-terrain nature of the course will be difficult.

"The toughest part will be the sand dunes. There are severe dunes to go over and hard climbs – it is not just flat desert.

"The soft sand is tough going – it fills your shoes.

"Some areas feature hard shale, which is like baked sand.

"The longest stage will involve running partly at night with a headtorch and navigation equipment.

"It is not just about the distance – it is about mental robustness – the ability to keep going when your body is being slowly starved and depleted.

"You burn around 5,000 calories a day so the foods you carry have to be high in nutritional value.

"They are dry high-carbohydrate food which you add water to and cook at the end of the day.

The Marathon de Sables – which starts today – features different stage lengths varying from 20 miles to 50 miles.

Competitors have to carry all their own gear – safety equipment, first aid, navigation aids and food supplies. Water is supplied to them each day.

At the end of each stage, competitors camp out in the desert overnight ready for the next day's challenge.

As well as competing as an individual, Morgan is also one of a five-man Parachute Regiment team.

He is usually based in North Yorkshire, where he is involved with the training and recruitment of paratroopers.

After 16 years in the army, he now plans to make this year his last as a 'para' before returning to his home town of Grimsby to make a fresh start.

By completing the race, Morgan will raise funds for the Parachute Regiment's charities, as well as Unicef, the event's main charity. His team will be sponsored by sports nutrition company Grenade.

The Parachute Regiment is currently recruiting – motivated individuals should call 01206 817083 or email recruiting@parachute-regiment.com. For more information on sports nutrition and supplements, check out www.grenadefatburner.com. More information about the Marathon des Sables at www.marathondessables.co.uk.

A LOCAL woman is helping to spearhead a national campaign to make life-saving screening tests for women available from a younger age.

Lyndsey Ibbotson, 31, of Cleethorpes, says she has cried every day and suffered from severe anxiety since she underwent surgery for cervical cancer in 2008, which dramatically reduced her chance to have children.

She has lost her confidence, finds meeting new people very stressful and cannot work because she is prone to panic attacks, since being unable to come to terms with the possibility she may never become a mother.

However, after reading about Samantha Hickling, 26, who was given just five months to live but told her story in order to convince other young girls to get smear tests, Lyndsey has come forward to highlight her own campaign.

Lyndsey, of Sandringham Road, is also pushing for colposcopys, more detailed screening tests, to be made available for girls under 25 – the age women are encouraged to have NHS-funded smear tests – who show symptoms, such as irregular periods or bleeding after sex.

She said: "There is an attitude that nothing can be done until you are 25, but if you think there is a problem, don't be embarrassed to be a nuisance and make a noise – no one knows your body better than you, not even a doctor.

"I always had an intuition that something might be wrong, but never went to the doctor. I will never know if having an earlier smear test would have helped.

"All I can say is, don't take that chance."

Help and support from the Mercedes Curnow Foundation has finally helped Lyndsey get her life back on track.

The foundation is named after Sandra Cousin's daughter, who died from cervical cancer in 2011, aged 23. It raises funds for private screening for young women and lobbies parliament to make it available on the NHS.

"Having Sandra on the end of the phone has been so important. I now go out and talk to people about the foundation – I would never have done that before," she said.

On The Web: See www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk on Sunday for Lyndsey's full story and more on the Mercedes Curnow Foundation.

A KEEN gardener from Tetney is coming out of retirement to relaunch a nursery selling plants at reasonable prices.

Granville Norburn ran the popular Norburn's Garden Centre, in Station Road, Tetney, until 2009 when he decided to retire shortly after his son, Robert 28, died in a car crash.

But after witnessing the escalating cost of plants at other garden centres over the past couple of years, he has decided to reopen his nursery for the summer months.

Granville said: "When you lose a child it knocks the heart out of you and I just didn't feel up to running the business anymore, so I retired.

"I've had a lot more time on my hands and I've had to go out to other garden centres to buy plants for my own garden.

"I was out shopping for them one day when I noticed how ridiculous the prices were and it got me thinking about reopening.

"I didn't want a full garden centre again, because I only want to work part time, so I decided to just open a nursery where I could sell the plants I'd grown.

"I hope that the affordable prices will give the public what they want.

"I love meeting people and I love gardening so I'm looking forward to doing it all again."

Concentrating solely on bedding and basket plants at affordable prices, the nursery will open for the first time next Saturday and run until the end of July.

Former landscape gardener Granville originally opened Norburn's almost 30 years ago and it proved a huge success until it closed in 2009.

Despite the garden centre having closed, the Norburn's site hasn't remained vacant, with Granville's son, Stephen, and his wife, Maureen, reopening Norburn's Coffee Shop two years ago.

A craft business at the site, run by his daughter, Jill Baldwin, has also proved a great success.

Granville said: "I had planned to reopen at the start of April ready for Easter, but the weather has been so cold that the plants haven't been growing, so we had to delay it.

"This year will be a bit of a trial run to see how popular we are. I hope our old customers will come back to see us for their plants."

Norburn's nursery will be open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 2pm.

ON THE WEB: Visit www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk for a guide to the best patio plants for your garden.

TOP anglers from across the region battled it out in the five-man team event at Messingham.

It was a well-attended competition, especially considering the weather.

Three lakes were in use. Fishing Republic, from Barnsley, took the honours with a creditable performance in the team contest. They had a mixture of silverfish and carp.

Although none of them scored a section win, they were all highly-placed, an essential ingredient in team fishing.

One member of the winning team, Andy Pounder, made a grab for a loose pole section and proceeded to fall in the lake.

A complete immersion in water just two degrees above freezing would have found many people heading for home, but Pounder managed to sit it out to the end and finished fourth in his section, contributing to his team's overall win on the day.

It has to be said, judging by the hysterical laughter from other members of his team as the news filtered around the lakes, he did not appear to receive a lot of sympathy from his friends.

The individual winner on the day was the consistent, Grimsby-based Keith Easton who put together a 55lbs mixed bag of carp and quality skimmers on waggler-fished pellet from peg 36 on the Islands Lake.

Another Grimsby angler, Tony Woods, won his section on Tripp Lake. He has been in great form and has framed four times in his last four matches.

The final match in the Silverfish League produced some good sport, considering that most of the Islands Lake was frozen over on the morning of the match.

The top four individuals all had over 30lbs, with quality skimmers making up the bulk of the winning bags.

Grimsby's Steve Eyres followed up his section win in the 'teams of five' the previous day with an individual win in this match. Eyres fished a small groundbait feeder on peg 34, with maggot on the hook, for a 36lbs winning net – just 2lbs in front of fellow Grimsby angler Dave Berry.

With the top two individual positions in the league already decided prior to this last match, it was a scramble for third spot – and Neil Vessey found a section win on the day was enough to claim that place.

Easter Mondays' Pairs Match saw some frozen anglers on the banks as cold air temperatures were accompanied by a fairly strong wind.

Winners on the day were the Doncaster pairing of Craig Williams and Nobby Winters. They had a weight advantage over Mark Deans and Neil Vessey after tying on points in a closely-fought match.

Carr Lane AC kicked off its new season with a very cold but enjoyable match at Lindholme Fisheries on the Bonsai Lake.

There was a good turnout of 19, most anglers having to break a thin layer of ice on arrival.

Paul Barnstable, better known as 'Barney', got the season off to a good start – and this year it is undoubtedly going to be very competitive.

Weights were poor for the lake with Barney working hard for his win. He managed to find the bigger carp.

The second-placed angler was a guest, Phil Parker, while new member Andy Spall was third.

At Wold View Fisheries, Claxby, they had a busy weekend with some much-improved match weights.

Overall pairs results: 1st, Mark Critcher and Karl Cropper, 179lb 8oz; 2nd, Chris Legdon and Terry Jackson 94lb; 3rd, Chris Mack and Alex Ward 89lb.

At Saltfleetby Fisheries, it was also a busy weekend with an increase in attendances – and also some double-figured carp being caught by pleasure anglers using the main lake.

Chris Griffiths made it three match wins in a row, fishing from peg 19 on Island – He had 13.1lb.

Next in was Bryn Davies, who was on the next peg. He weighed in with 10.7lb. Third was Dave Dalton with 9.9lb from peg 16.

In another match on Island, Ian Sadler fished off peg 1 and caught 21.7lb for the win.

Nats AC have got a good habit of developing rising stars. New member Darren Lawton seems to have benefited from the club's coaching.

He has fished 17 matches and framed in all of them, mostly at Grange Farm, Messingham and Messingham Sands.

THEIR wedding day made the front page in the Grimsby Telegraph and it has been nothing but good news ever since for this golden couple – ex-Mariner Brian Keeble and his wife Diane.

But Diane didn't even know who he was when she first met him.

Brian, 74, says he first saw her working in a shop.

He said: "She was gorgeous. The manager caught me looking as I walked past and told me to talk to her."

Diane, 69, said: "I worked in a shop around the corner from the football ground. I didn't know who he was. I only found out who he was after my friends who worked in the shop told me that Brian Keeble was asking after me and told me he was a footballer.

"We went on our first date at the Winter Gardens but we didn't meet up until 11 o'clock because of a match.

"After that night we saw each other nearly every day.

"He courted me on the cheap. We would go to all the places that let him in for free because he played for Town.

"We always used to go dancing and to the pictures because he got in free!

"He didn't have a car and would time the buses so the drivers he knew would let him on for free.

"It has always been a laugh together, we have lived the good life.

"Before we started dating I had never been to a football match before, the club gave me a season ticket so my dad and I would go watch all of Brian's games."

Brian says the relationship grew quickly.

"It blossomed really quickly, we just went together.

"We had only been dating a few months before we got engaged and married a year later."

They held their wedding at St James's Church, now Grimsby Minster, which was a celebrity affair.

Diane said: "We were surprised to see it on the front page of the paper the next day.

"We had nearly the full team there as well as family and friends, it was really nice.

"Brian had Graham Taylor as an Usher and Derek Williams as his best man.

"We had to get married on a Monday because of the football matches and I spent my honeymoon at home as Brian had to play away at Sunderland.

"We finally got to go to Butlins in Filey for our honeymoon, which was nice to get away.

"To celebrate our golden wedding Brian took me to Venice and we rode in a gondola, it was really nice."

Family announcements start on page 30.

ON THE WEB: Read family announcements online at www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk