A DOG WALKER has told of her elation when two men were plucked to safety from the River Humber thanks to her keen eyesight and knowledge of the coast.

Christine Nightingale was instrumental in rescuing kite surfers who got into trouble in the water last Saturday.

They were rescued by volunteer RNLI lifeboatmen with the help of the Humber Coastguard, as reported, after being alerted by Christine.

Thankfully, the 64-year-old, of Seaford Road, Cleethorpes, knew the precise grid reference of where the kite surfers were in difficulty.

The coastguard assumed she had a GPS system on an electronic device, but Christine knew the information from memory because she conducts surveys on behalf of The Shark Trust.

She regularly logs sightings of ray fish with her husband Mike, and they report back to the trust.

The couple walk their dog Ellie on the beach every day and Christine, a former council electoral officer, also collects shells to make mosaics.

"I watch the kite surfers all the time," she said. "That morning I could see he was getting into difficulty and his kite went down.

"I saw the other kite surfer go over to him and I realised they were both in trouble.

"Another man dumped his kite at the shore and swam out, which he should not have done. That's when I rang 999 and spoke to the coastguard.

"When they brought them safely to the shore I was elated. I am glad I was there with my phone.

"I was very concerned for them, because it was so rough and cold. They looked exhausted."

Both men thanked Christine for her prompt action.

As reported, they are thought to be aged in their 40s, one from Aldborough and the other from the Sheffield area, and got into difficulty as a snow squall blew in from the sea.

A Coastguard officer said: "Christine was definitely switched on and helped a lot.

"The water was shallow at that point, so we called on the Cleethorpes Lifeboat crew to help bring them to shore. They did not require medical treatment.

"Kite surfing is exhilarating, but needs to be done in a group with someone ashore to keep a watch on everyone.

"No one should enter the water to attempt such a rescue.

"There have been numerous occasions when the would-be rescuer also ended up in trouble and needed rescuing, too."

A GROUP of residents say they had a lucky escape after fire swept through their sheltered accommodation.

Two men were taken to hospital suffering from the effects of smoke after the fire broke out at Warwick House, in Hilda Street, Grimsby.

A flat was gutted and others were damaged by smoke and water when flames spread at 8pm on Thursday, as residents in the two-storey block of 29 were preparing for bed.

Alarms sounded, but a number of the occupants are elderly and hard of hearing, and some, wearing pyjamas, had to be led to safety by firefighters

One of the rescued men was revived using oxygen therapy. The other received first aid before paramedics arrived.

Both were taken to the Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital by paramedics, where one remained for treatment for the effects of smoke inhalation.

Humberside Fire And Rescue Service said the cause of the fire was still being investigated.

Kathy Pendregaust, 60, has lived at Warwick House for only two weeks, and resides in the flat below where the fire started.

"I could hear an alarm and there was a terrible smell of burning rubber," she said.

"I was one of the first ones out. There is nothing left in the flat above apart from the iron frame of the bed."

Neighbour Steve Sharp, 65, pictured left, a retired train driver, said: "It could have been a lot worse. I am hard of hearing so I didn't realise what was going on until I opened the door and there was a fireman.

"It was a lucky escape. There is no way any of us could have got out of the windows."

Albert Welsh, 74, added: "I was the last one out; I was asleep until someone knocked on the door."

And Michael Rumsby, 72, said: "I could not get out of the building the usual way because the smoke was so bad. All the alarms went off so I went the other way."

Fire service incident commander Martin Peers said: "If there had not been a working smoke detector system, I am in no doubt this incident could have been a lot more serious. The crews professional and fast actions stopped the fire from developing any further."

The block is run by Shoreline Housing. Chief executive Tony Bramley said: "We immediately responded, quickly attending the scene to ensure the health and well-being of our tenants and providing hotel accommodation for a number of residents.

"Those residents have now returned to their homes, emergency work has been organised and future repairs are being assessed by our repairs supervisors."

The "Tardis-like" cash machine and payphone which appeared out of the blue on Cleethorpes promenade was carted off on the back of a truck yesterday ... and replaced by a telephone box.

The 8ft by 4ft box caused concern among residents after springing up overnight last week, but has now been taken away with BT Payphones withdrawing its retrospective planning application.

The firm applied "out of courtesy" as it didn't need permission, but has now concluded that the location was "unsuitable".

Instead it and North East Lincolnshire Council are working together to find a more suitable location in the area.

Andrew Munro, business manager for BT, said: "We have made a decision to remove the payphone and combined ATM from the promenade.

"There are no fixed plans for alternative locations at this stage, but we are likely to discuss it with the council as the area is shown to be lacking in ATMs.

"It is evident that the facility is something that would be welcomed by many businesses in the vicinity, as the availability of cash has been shown to increase spend."

Despite not needing permission to site the "Tardis" where it had been, BT Payphones said its contractors had "jumped the gun".

Cleethorpes resident Carl Leslie spotted it disappearing after coming out of Brown's Cafe on the promenade yesterday morning.

"I noticed that contractors were digging it up and putting it on the back of a lorry," he said.

"They had barriers around it. It's strange that it has only been there for a week or so.

"I wonder if it will be back?"

Melvyn Randall, 68, from Grimsby Road, was passing by at the time.

"I saw them take it away when I went to do my shopping on my bike," he said.

"The cash box might have proved useful to some people but it did look different and out of place."

Keep reading the Grimsby Telegraph for updates.

A BUDDING model who dreamed of a career in the beauty business had her hopes wrecked when she was viciously punched in the face and left with "devastating" injuries.

Her violent attacker boasted about being "the hardest man in Grimsby" before knocking out some of her teeth, breaking her jaw and leaving her lip hanging off, a court heard.

She could not face modelling again after the "horrendous" attack – and was told the day she left hospital that she had reached the finals of a modelling competition.

Daniella Fowler, the victim of the horrific attack by James Pickard, 23, of Cleethorpes, has spoken to the Grimsby Telegraph about the devastating attack which left her with a fractured jaw, bottom lip torn away and hanging off and broken teeth.

In the first of a three-part series, we reveal details of the attack and the man behind it today. Read the first part of Daniella's interview online at www.thisisgrimsby tomorrow and the second in Monday's Grimsby Telegraph.

Pickard, of Fuller Street, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Daniella and assaulting her friend, Danielle Barker, causing actual bodily harm, on August 17.

Mark Kendall, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the two women became involved in confrontations outside a Cleethorpes nightclub after 2am. Pickard boasted that he was "the hardest man in Grimsby" and that he "owned the streets".

He hurled a shoe and the heel hit Miss Barker, 20, on the head. One of his companions punched her in the face.

Pickard grabbed hold of Miss Fowler, 20, by the waist and punched her in the face "with his full weight behind it", knocking her unconscious.

The scene was "horrendous" and she was "covered in blood". Some of her teeth were knocked out and her bottom lip was torn away and hanging off. Her jaw was fractured and she needed operations to remove teeth, clean and repair her lip, and reposition her lower jaw. She now needed false teeth.

On the day she got out of hospital, Miss Fowler received a call to say that she had got to the finals of a modelling competition. She was "gutted" she would not be able to continue her modelling.

"She used to be proud of her smile but now avoids smiling with her mouth open," said Mr Kendall. She had lost her confidence and took a long time to do her make-up to cover up scars.

Miss Fowler, of Sheffield, did not now feel confident about working in the fields of make-up and beauty which she had originally planned to do.

Pickard had 42 previous convictions, including for offences of robbery, wounding, affray and assault, causing actual bodily harm.

Richard Hackfath, mitigating, said Pickard acted first as a peacemaker but matters "degenerated". He landed a single blow on Miss Fowler but caused serious injuries. He claimed he could not remember much about the incident and regretted getting involved.

Pickard, who had been in custody, was jailed for two years and 11 months. Recorder Jonathan Bennett told Pickard: "They were serious offences. It's the sort of incident that rightly concerns the public."

The injuries had caused a "very significant impact" on Miss Fowler. "She was looking at a career in modelling," he said. This was now "highly unlikely to happen" because she still had a significant injury to her lower lip.

"You gave her an almighty punch that knocked her to the ground, causing those devastating injuries," said Recorder Bennett.

"You pose a high risk of harm to the public, linked to your violent behaviour."

IT IS understood two people were taken to hospital with neck injuries after a collision involving a suspected drink driver.
A man has been arrested following the incident which happened at 12.38pm today on St Peter's Avenue, Cleethorpes, a Humberside Police spokesman confirmed.
The man remains in custody, keep checking here for further updates.

Richard Brodie was on target but leaders Grimsby were made to work for a 1-0 win over struggling Telford.

Brodie went close to breaking the deadlock in the first half, but his curled effort from the left side of the area went narrowly wide.

But Brodie only had to wait three minutes of the second half before he found the net. Joe Colbeck released the striker through on the goal and he clinically rolled the ball past Ryan Young into the bottom corner.

Mark Cooper's side battled back in the second half and Phil Trainer almost equalised with 20 minutes left but his 25-yard drive flew narrowly wide.

Jake Reid also tried his luck from outside the box but Mariners goalkeeper James McKeown saved well.

Ross Hannah should have added a second with three minutes left but his attempted chip missed the target after he pounced on a defensive error.

The miss did not prove costly as Grimsby extended their unbeaten run to 17 matches in all competitions.

SO GENERAL manager John Mackintosh feels that some media coverage has inaccurately represented Atos Healthcare's role in benefit provision.

I feel its role has been accurately reported and thank God it has, the public needs to be aware of what's going on so keep the truth coming Austin and The Grimsby Telegraph.

The article goes on to say that the Atos role is one of being confined to conducting assessments within strict guidelines set by the Department For Work And Pensions so they can make a decision on a person's need for support. Support to do what because there are very little work opportunities out there for anyone?

This appears to me that maybe Atos Healthcare appears to either be passing the buck or it's a very clever way of crunching numbers to fit what the Government wants to see?

Furthermore, John Mackintosh states that it is not the Atos role to diagnose, its role is to purely assess capabilities. I agree that it is not Atos's role to diagnose, it's the person's GP/consultant's role to diagnose, what an insult to the integrity/skill of our GPs and consultants. Many GPs and consultants have known their patients for years so will have some in-depth knowledge/awareness about their patients' background and capabilities.

If it is not the Atos role to diagnose, why does its capability assessment not take into account the GPs/ consultant assessment/opinion regarding the person's capabilities, after all it's the GPs/consultants who will be treating the people who have become ill or died as a result of having one of these assessments?

What if someone's capabilities are good on one day but not good on another day due to that person having a variable physical/mental disability?

People are not robots, not everyone fits in the tick-box questions, what about the additional stress these assessments are placing on people who are already living with enduring physical/mental disabilities?

John Mackintosh states that, yes, Atos does make mistakes and in some cases this does have very real effects. Is one of the effects then that some people have died after having a Work Capability Assessment? That's certainly real enough.

I think its brilliant that Austin Mitchell has spoken up about the failings of these assessments, more people need to be standing up for what they feel to be morally true right and just in this society, we need to be taking care of the less fortunate, instead of making things worse for them.

Chris Fletcher, Cleethorpes.

IN RESPONSE to the Viewpoint letter from Atos manager John Mackintosh, I will start by showing the headlines of the Independent paper earlier this month: Atos told incontinent woman to "wear nappy": Firm condemned by MPs for pressuring sick and disabled into returning to work .

Further comments in the article were: "Thousands of sick or disabled people have died after undergoing assessments to find out whether they were fit to work, the House Of Commons was told today.

"Former Labour minister Michael Meacher opened the debate saying that 1,300 people had died after being placed in the 'work-related activity group', for those currently too ill to be employed but expected to start preparing for an eventual return to work.

"A further 2,200 died before the assessment process was completed and 7,100 died after being judged to be entitled to unconditional support because they are too ill or disabled to work."

If you go on the internet, you will be able to find out all about Atos and the government programme of getting people off incapacity, or as they now call it, Employment and Support Allowance .

For instance, large numbers of people found ineligible for the benefit are appealing against the decision to find them fit for work; about 41 per cent of those refused support go to tribunal and 30 per cent are subsequently granted the benefit. There have been more than 600,000 appeals since the WCA started, costing about £60 million a year.

Another newspaper article reads: "A nurse who used to work for government contractor Atos has apologised after describing how she was forced to "trick sick people out of their benefits".

Mr Mackintosh admits in his letter that Atos does not get it right every time, what he fails to say is how many times it gets it wrong, I have a friend who has been on the receiving end of the system and Atos.

My friend went for assessment, it stated that the examination took 19 minutes, how can you do an assessment of a person in such a short time, but more importantly the person being assessed claims the time was less than 15 minutes.

Anyway, my friend failed the interview, needless to say with no points, but they did appeal after being prompted by myself and others.

The benefits were stopped until the appeal, which took several months to be heard because of the backlog. My friend attended the tribunal and was interviewed by the judge and a doctor, this took longer than the Atos interview, and they won the appeal. Strange that Atos gave no points.

The benefit was backdated, but it was a struggle for them between payment stopping and restarting and this happens to all that fail as far as I am aware.

The story does not end at that, my friend was put on the employment and support allowance, which is for 12 months after winning the appeal, they are then supposed to be contacted by the job centre to attend interviews to help them back into work. So far this has not happened.

They have appealed again about being put on employment and support allowance as opposed to support allowance, once again they have a waiting time of several months it seems and if the DWP turns it down, it goes to a tribunal which can be months as well, so you could end up waiting nearly a year without anything.

It seems strange that you can win an appeal that says you are unfit for work, but be asked to attend an interview to help you back to work. I am all for getting people into work I might add, but at what cost?

Not at the cost of what I think is bullying someone who is ill and making them worse.

People who have worked most of their lives and become ill or have a medical problem that makes it impossible to work should not be treated in this way. It is the ones who have never worked who have lived off the system that need to be tackled, those who are irresponsible.

A welfare believer, details supplied.

HOW pitiful it was to read John Macintosh's letter regarding Atos assessments (January 29).

I really would like to question how anyone can absolve his company of anything negative with regards to work capability processes by stating that the company works to guidelines set by DWP, therefore seemingly pleading that Atos has barely any blame on the impact this is having on disabled peoples' lives because they are just operating to these guidelines.

Surely Atos must have some say in the running of these guidelines or are they just sheep being led? Then again they probably dare not question what they do.

After all the input given by thousands of people who have been assessed the company must be aware of the inadequacies of the assessment, as must DWP, and it's about time they reviewed their so-called positive feedback of the "90 per cent" mentioned.

Even if it is true the 10 per cent left amounts to an appalling number of people who have been devastated by the assessments and resulting loss of benefits.

The DWP should be questioned every step of the way to ensure a justifiable assessment process and argue the case that a tick-box assessment is of no use without taking proper feedback by people, doctors, etc, at the time of assessment and this feedback should be a main part of the decision making on whether a person is given appropriate benefits.

I have been assessed and despite having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, diabetes and neuropathy in my legs and feet, I'm currently on the second phase of an appeal (which has taken months and still waiting) and am in a living hell of despair and desperation, in constant pain and an ever growing worry for my future.

Please do not pass the buck onto the DWP, Mr Macintosh, after all Atos is the first port of call for people having the assessment and your company has a responsibility to provide DWP with feedback

But I won't hold my breath!

Steve Flello, Lancing Way, Scartho.

GOVERNMENT support to make the Humber the "UK's Energy Estuary" has emerged from the £30-million Regional Growth Fund launch.

As reported yesterday, Business Minister Michael Fallon described Grimsby as the gateway for the wind-farm revolution that should create between 200 and 500 jobs in the short term, with hundreds more likely as the later rounds of offshore development are realised.

Mr Fallon, who oversees the RGF funding across Britain, spelled out the importance of the Humber, and the backing it will get, quoting Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) chairman Lord Haskins' vision.

He said: "There is a real focus here now on unlocking growth potential as the 'UK's Energy Estuary', and that includes, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop a new offshore renewable energy industry right across the Humber. We want to support the Humber to deliver on that ambition. We have already announced two enterprise zones to help support for the new renewable energy cluster, and we are investing £87 million in the Growing Places Fund and Regional Growth Fund.

"We have facilitated a further £30-million investment to the area and I know colleagues will use this to generate even more investment and growth. £10 million will help support growth of an offshore wind and renewable energy supply chain on the South Bank."

Enterprise zones include the huge Able Marine Energy Park proposal at North Killingholme, as well as sections of Grimsby Docks.

Mr Fallon added: "The reason this is so important is that it is not central Government controlling it. It is the local partnerships themselves that better understand the challenges there are to growing the local economy here.

"This marks our recognition that the LEP in the Humber is best placed to identify these challenges, the barriers to growth, and how we work to see them tackled.

"There are 39 LEPs I deal with and take responsibility for, and Humber is well up that league table in preparedness and readiness to take responsibility and shape its future.

"I am confident the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership can do a huge amount for the local economy with this cash."

Referring to the work already done with the funds handed down to North Lincolnshire Council to help mitigate the steel works restructuring, Mr Fallon praised leader Liz Redfern's work.

"Councillor Redfern and her board are already doing an excellent job, with more than £5 million now gone out of the door. It has been committed by North Lincolnshire Council and is creating 370 new jobs in the area," he said.

Businesses interested in applying are urged to seek assistance from the LEP and local authority. For more information, call 01482 685260, e-mail funding@humberlep.org or visit http://goo.gl/vxM95

VOLUNTEERS in Immingham weren't afraid to get their hands dirty as they planted a forest for the future.

Immingham In Bloom, Keelby First Scouts, Grimsby Rotary Club and the Women's Institute were among the community groups who started planting 600 trees at Coomb Briggs Meadow, Immingham.

It was the second wood – the first being at Spring Road, in November – to be planted in the town as part of the Jubilee Wood Project – a scheme to plant six-million trees in the UK to celebrate the Queen's 60th year on the throne.

The Mayors of Immingham and North East Lincolnshire also lent a hand at the planting events, with another taking place next Sunday.

Councillor Mike Burton (Lab, Immingham), Mayor of North East Lincolnshire, said: "It's nice to see so many people here, giving their time to improve Immingham.

"Most of these probably won't be here to see their hard work come to fruition, but in 30, 40 or 50 years time, it will be somewhere our children, and their children, can enjoy."

Neil Castle, Mayor of Immingham, said: "Today is part of a wider plan to make Immingham a better place to live, work and visit in the future.

"Last year, we won our first In Bloom gold award and Best Kept Town in the area, but it's an ongoing process. In years to come, future generations will be able to appreciate and enjoy this wood."

Mike Sleight, ecology officer for North East Lincolnshire, said the wood will be the perfect habitat for many species such as squirrels, jays and deer.

It is just one of many woodland areas planned that will see up to 100,000 new trees planted in the coming years.

Mr Sleight added: "Northern Lincolnshire is an area with very little woodland, so we are making the effort to change that.

"Woods like this one will improve the populations of all sorts of creatures, from the tiny invertebrates up to large mammals such as deer."

Grimsby Rotary Club chairman Mike Carr, who was planting with other Rotarians, said: "Every tree absorbs carbon dioxide, so 600 more of them could improve the air quality in the local area."

TWO drunken troublemakers have been given drink banning orders in the latest crackdown on rowdy behaviour in Cleethorpes.

The orders were imposed by Grimsby magistrates as part of a determined new initiative to clamp down on problems caused to ordinary members of the public by drink-fuelled disturbances.

The 18-month drink banning orders were given to James Aspbury, 22, of Mallard Mews, Grimsby, and Liam McKiernam, 25, of Fairview Avenue, Cleethorpes.

The court heard that the two men were standing in a smoking zone outside the Hype nightclub in Cleethorpes town centre when they viciously attacked two men, without any warning, by punching them.

It was a totally unprovoked attack and the people attacked had no chance at all to defend themselves, the court heard.

One victim was almost knocked unconscious by the attack.

Aspbury and McKiernam admitted assaulting Anthony Newman and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards Josh Jacklin on November 30.

But both opposed the voluntary imposition of the drink banning orders. The orders were, however, made by the magistrates.

The orders ban them from entering a large number of pubs, clubs and bars in Cleethorpes town centre, between 6pm and 4am seven days a week.

The court had the power to impose banning orders for a maximum of two years and a minimum of two months.

Cleethorpes Pub Watch scheme has also banned the two for a similar period of time because of the incidents.

McKiernam is banned from all pubs in the scheme up to June 20 next year and Aspbury is banned under the Pub Watch scheme until July 2 next year.

Both were represented by defence solicitor Andrew Havery, who argued that there was no need for a court banning order to be imposed because the pair were not regular offenders.

But the magistrates decided that they needed to protect others who used Cleethorpes town centre pubs, clubs and bars in the evening and night time.

Aspbury was given a two-year supervision order and McKiernam was ordered to do 120 hours' unpaid work. Both must pay £60 compensation to Mr Newman, of Humberston, and £85 costs.

FINDING a way to win when not at your best is often referred to as 'winning ugly'.

But fewer things can be more pleasing on the eye for Grimsby Town fans than seeing their team still sitting pretty at the top of the Blue Square Bet Premier.

Although the Mariners weren't best at Blundell Park on Saturday, once again the table-toppers' resilience and stoic self-belief led them to another hard-fought victory, this time over AFC Telford.

And it's becoming an increasingly handy trait to have because, on another weekend when some of their title rivals dropped points, Town crucially maintained their three-point advantage over the chasing pack.

All the talk before kick-off was the absence of Jamie Devitt's name on the Mariners' team-sheet because of illness. He was replaced by Joe Colbeck, while Derek Niven came in for Andi Thanoj after the youngster's international exploits in midweek.

Ross Hannah was on the bench for the second week in a row, with Richard Brodie again preferred up top alongside Andy Cook.

The opening ten minutes were forgettable to say the least and, despite a couple of early forays, Town looked disjointed in the opening exchanges – a couple of nervy, scuffed clearances from goalkeeper James McKeown epitomised his side's uncertain start.

Telford, on the other hand, were seeing plenty of the ball but, fortunately for Town, there was little end product from the Shropshire outfit.

With nearly a third of the half gone, Cook skipped past the ailing challenges of two defenders but saw his far post drive blocked on the line while Town skipper Craig Disley's tame follow-up was scurried behind.

Sam Hatton then struck a sharp effort from 18-yards to test the reactions of Telford keeper Ryan Young on 25 minutes before the Bucks stopper was called into action again minutes later by Marcus Marshall as the hosts' improvement continued.

At the other end, Telford won a free-kick from 25 yards out, but debutant Ian Craney ballooned his effort over the Pontoon Stand and out of the ground – much to the home crowd's amusement.

Those ironic cheers nearly turned to ones of delight three minutes before the break when Brodie rolled past his marker on the corner of the box and curled an effort inches wide of Young's far post.

But that was the closest Town came in the first half as referee Anthony Backhouse sent the two sides in for the break.

While the home players didn't need a rollicking, they did need a lift, and it was soon clear that the joint bosses' half-time team-talk had done the trick.

Having re-appeared with renewed intent, the Mariners came close to going ahead within a minute of the restart when Cook drew a point-blank save from Young with a firm header from Aswad Thomas' cross.

The league leaders smelt blood and when Colbeck's superb cross-field pass sent Brodie through on goal, the frontman shrugged off a challenge of the chasing defender and kept a cool head to poke past Taylor at his near post before wheeling away in front of a jubilant Pontoon stand.

After breaking the deadlock, Town began to play with a freedom they had not previously enjoyed in the game and when Colbeck slid Brodie in again, his clever work on the right won another corner – from which Town nearly doubled their advantage.

But Telford reacted well to their host's fast restart and McKeown had to be alert to hold on to Steve Jones' twice-deflected volley from the edge of the area on 54 minutes while, at the other end, Shaun Pearson hooked a speculative overhead kick on target from a half-cleared corner.

Both sides brought on fresh legs on the hour mark, with Town's Lenell-John Lewis coming on for goal-scorer Brodie while Jones made way for Charlie Henry.

The changes didn't stem Town's flow, however, and most inside Blundell Park thought they had a second goal on 65 minutes when Cook headed home Colbeck's superb cross from the right.

But as the frontman looked up to toast what he thought was his eleventh goal of the season, he was greeted by the sight of the linesman flagging for offside.

Town couldn't afford to rely on their slender lead and they were thankful for Niven as, when Telford worked their way into the box, only the Scot's outstretched leg prevented Jake Reid from getting a clean shot on target.

Hannah was thrown into the mix for the last ten minutes as a replacement for Marshall and it was the striker's clever touch that created an opening for Cook to thrash a volley into the side-netting.

He had a sight of goal himself with five minutes remaining when he got on the end of a long clearance from a Telford corner but, with Young out of position, Hannah's attempted lob bobbled past the far post.

The home crowd felt that Town needed a second goal and when that didn't look to be forthcoming, tensions began to grow.

First, they appeared to get away with a late penalty shout when Pearson manhandled substitute Richard Peniket at a Telford corner, and then when the spirited visitors won a free-kick right on the edge of the area, home fans' hearts were firmly in their mouths.

But Jay Smith's woeful effort was more likely to trouble the corner flag than McKeown and the Blundell Park faithful drew a delighted sigh of relief as Backhouse blew for full-time.

Town had retained their spot at the top of the league and the three-point lead they'd opened up with a similarly hard-fought victory over Alfreton the week before.

That ability to grind out results when not at your best is a useful one, particularly with the schedule Town have coming up.

Because if they are going to realise their dream of a Football League return, every win between now and the end of the season will be crucial – but not all of them will be pretty.