LINCOLN City have appointed Head of Youth Grant Brown as interim manager until a suitable replacement for David Holdsworth can be found.

Yesterday, Town's Lincolnshire rivals confirmed they had parted ways with Holdsworth following the 3-2 defeat at Hereford United on Saturday.

Brown has now brought in for his third spell as Imps caretaker boss, having temporarily taken up the reins in 2007 and 2011.

GRIMSBY Town joint boss Rob Scott has said Simon Ford's proposed move to a team in Ireland is "dead".

The 31-year-old had been attracting interest from the unnamed club with a move out of Blundell Park believed to have been close.

However, speaking at Cheapside this morning, Scott said the closure of the transfer window in Ireland has put paid to any move to the Emerald Isle.

He told the Telegraph: "There's nothing on that one. Their window is shut in Ireland so I think that's dead. There was interest in Fordy from Ireland but that broke down over contract negotiations in terms of length of contract.

"So Simon is still with us and there's nothing else to report on that."

Scott also confirmed that there was 'fleeting' interest in midfielder Frankie Artus from Blue Square Bet Premier rivals Stockport County.

He added: "There was a little bit of interest in Frankie. Stockport made an enquiry. It was just a fleeting interest, a phone call,  but that didn't come to anything in the end.

 "And that suits us because we're not prepared to let too many out."

UNISON officials are urging nurses and other staff members not to sign a contract detailing changes to their terms and conditions before consulting with them first.
All employees at Care Plus Group, which provides adult health and social care in North East Lincolnshire, have been handed new contracts to sign and accept by 5pm on Thursday, February 28.
However Unison say these have been handed out to their members without them seeing it first, something they claim is unacceptable.
Paul Swarbrick, area organiser for Unison Yorkshire and Humberside, said: "We need a mandate from our members on this so we have organised a meeting to take place this Thursday evening, 5.30pm, at the Royal Humber Hotel, Littlecoates Road, Grimsby.
"Our 200 members are invited to attend and we strongly urge they do in order for us to give them a voice over these changes.
"We know some staff are stuck in limbo and are not sure if to sign the contracts or not.
"Discussions and feedback from this meeting will allow us to decide what action if any we take in response to the altered terms and conditions."
Management at Care Plus claim national funding reductions  and an increase in general costs due to inflation have left them with no choice but to change employees' terms and conditions.
Care Plus must make between £800,000 and £1 million in savings from April 1 this year to March 31, 2014.
This is on top of £865,000 successfully saved in this financial year, which ends on March 31 – with even more cuts promised in future years.
No job losses are planned but Mr Swarbrick, said: "Bosses at Care Plus say there are no cuts to staff wages but many of our members rely on their enhancements as they're on low pay band.
"This is now one of many things being changed as overtime payments are being cut from time and a half to time and a quarter - this is a very worrying time for a lot of people.
"If many of our members are against agreeing to these new terms and conditions then we will confront Care Plus.
"Care Plus can extend their deadline for staff to sign and I hope they will to allow us enough time to consult with our members."
Jane Miller, Care Plus group chief operating officer, said: "This is not an easy time for anyone, but doing nothing is sadly not an option for us.
"We hope that staff will understand the context in which we are having to do this and accept these changes.
"As a social enterprise we very much want the views of all our staff on these important issues and this is why we have sent the offer directly to them."

Braintree will check on skipper Kenny Davis ahead of the visit of Grimsby.

The midfielder missed last Tuesday night's 4-1 defeat at Forest Green after suffering a knee injury against Hereford three days earlier.

England C international Davis was touch and go for Saturday's clash with Southport but that was postponed, allowing him some extra time to recover.

Goalkeeper Danny Naisbitt remains on the sidelines with an ankle injury so Nathan McDonald keeps his place, while veteran midfielder Bradley Quinton is still out with a knee problem, but both could be available within the next couple of weeks.

Back-to-back defeats have seen Alan Devonshire's side slip back to 19th in the table, four points above the relegation zone.

Grimsby's management team of Paul Hurst and Rob Scott have no fresh injury concerns ahead of Tuesday's clash with Braintree at Cressing Road.

Striker Liam Hearn, who has been sidelined since August 14 with a serious Achilles injury, returned to light training this week but will not be ready in time to play any part against the Iron.

Otherwise, Hurst and Scott have a fully-fit squad to pick from as they continue their push for automatic promotion.

The Mariners moved one step closer to a Wembley final when they beat Dartford 3-0 in the first leg of the FA Trophy semi-final on Saturday and the co-bosses look set to stick with the same starting XI on Tuesday.

CAMPAIGNERS trying to save a vital heart unit from closing claim Leeds could never have been selected as one of the units to survive, following the final day of a review at the High Court in London.

Although a ruling on the matter has yet to be made, Sharon Cheng, of the Grimsby Telegraph-backed Save Our Surgery (SOS) campaign - which called for the judicial review to be heard - said she believed the evidence heard "underlined" the charity's belief the consultation was conducted "with one outcome in mind, keeping the Newcastle children's surgery unit open in order to protect a transplant service."

Speaking following evidence being heard from The Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT), who made the decision to close the Leeds unit, Sharon said: "From their comments in court, the consultation appears to have been a rubber stamping exercise, with clinicians, MPs and patients in this region fooled into feeling they had influence."

However, Sir Neil McKay CB, chairman of the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts, said: "Everyone agrees that the NHS should expand access to local care and pool surgical expertise in fewer larger centres and we outlined in considerable detail our defence of the process in the High Court.

"We believe the consultation was transparent, fair and lawful and that the 77,000 respondents to consultation were given detailed information needed to make an intelligent response to the consultation.

"The hearing has now finished and we await the court's judgment, expected by  March 7."

Keep checking your Grimsby Telegraph for further updates.

CAMPAIGNERS trying to save a vital heart unit from closing claim Leeds could never have been selected as one of the units to survive, following the final day of a review at the High Court in London.

Although a ruling on the matter has yet to be made, Sharon Cheng, of the Grimsby Telegraph-backed Save Our Surgery (SOS) campaign - which called for the judicial review to be heard - said she believed the evidence heard "underlined" the charity's belief the consultation was conducted "with one outcome in mind, keeping the Newcastle children's surgery unit open in order to protect a transplant service."

Speaking following evidence being heard from The Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT), who made the decision to close the Leeds unit, Sharon said: "From their comments in court, the consultation appears to have been a rubber stamping exercise, with clinicians, MPs and patients in this region fooled into feeling they had influence."

However, Sir Neil McKay CB, chairman of the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts, said: "Everyone agrees that the NHS should expand access to local care and pool surgical expertise in fewer larger centres and we outlined in considerable detail our defence of the process in the High Court.

"We believe the consultation was transparent, fair and lawful and that the 77,000 respondents to consultation were given detailed information needed to make an intelligent response to the consultation.

"The hearing has now finished and we await the court's judgment, expected by  March 7."

Keep checking your Grimsby Telegraph for further updates.

EVENTS celebrating 150 years since the arrival of Cleethorpes Railway are full steam ahead.

To celebrate the momentous landmark in the resort's history, a host of fascinating talks, theatrical performances and more will take place throughout the year.

And, there is still room in the packed timetable for anyone else who wants to join in the celebrations.

Manager of Cleethorpes Tourist Information Centre Sue Marshall promises an exciting season for residents and tourists alike.

She said: "It is very exciting and will make the whole season a very special one. The resort will be packed with something happening all the time.

"The arrival of the railway is a hugely important part of our history. The resort has transformed into such a lovely, beautiful place and is something for us all to be proud of."

The railway was built by Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company (MSL) in 1863.

To encourage more visitors to come to the resort, MSL chairman Sir Edward Watkin had the company invest the equivalent of £10 million into building the two promenades – saving the resort from sinking into the sea – and the Pier Gardens.

Dr Alan Dowling will lead two fascinating talks on how the arrival changed the resort not only physically, but socially, too.

He said: "So many people came flocking to the resort, a lot of them working-class having a day out away from the factories. It changed the character of the resort."

To find out more about the events taking place, visit Cleethorpes Tourist Information Centre at Cleethorpes Library.

THIS budding businessman wants to create a world of pure confectionery imagination in Cleethorpes – but he needs your help to do it.

Matthew Greenacre has turned to a novel technique called "crowd funding" to try to raise enough money to make his sweet shop dreams a reality.

Crowd funding works by people donating between £5 and £100 towards the start-up of the new business in exchange for various rewards, such as T-shirts, sweets and champagne.

The 23-year-old, from Grimsby, explained: "I've spent the last six months managing an American sweet shop in Sheffield and it was so successful there that it prompted me to start thinking about opening my own in Cleethorpes.

"I'm putting my own money into setting it up, but I've been turned down for funding, which has made it difficult.

"Crowd funding is widely used in other places – some game developers raised £4 million for a new game they couldn't get other funding for."

Matthew, who hopes to collect £1,500 from crowd funding to contribute to the £5,000 the shop will cost to set up, has already found his perfect premises, an empty unit opposite O'Neill's.

He added: "I'm going to put an offer in during the next week and hopefully by that time I will have had some response from the crowd funding so I can purchase plenty of stock.

"If I don't get the £1,500, then I will start out with very little on the shelves!"

Matthew, who studied journalism at the Grimsby Institute, plans to call the business Sugar Rush.

Instead of stocking traditional sweets in glass jars, he will specialise in weird and wonderful treats from overseas.

He said: "A store in Cleethorpes has the potential to do amazingly well because there is a lot of tourist trade."

Now all Matthew needs to make his dreams a reality are donations on Indiegogo, a crowd funding platform.

He added: "I know it might seem strange asking for money, but I am passionate about my idea. I want to be the Willy Wonka of Grimsby and Cleethorpes!"

Visit http://igg.me/at/sugar-rush- sweets

MORE than 9,000 people visited Grimsby's A&E department in just two months this winter – with many needing to be admitted to wards.

NHS bosses said 9,036 people visited casualty at the Diana, Princess of Wales hospital between December last year and January this year, compared to 8,461 during the same period last year – a rise of 575.

While there has been a climb in the number of people with complex health needs, it is unusual that so many needed to be admitted onto wards.

Public health officials say high unemployment levels and poverty in the less affluent areas of North East Lincolnshire – including East Marsh, West Marsh and South Ward – are contributing to the rising number of ill people.

Karen Jackson, chief executive of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG), believes there are several contributing factors to high number of A&E attendees.

She said: "It comes down to various things, including patients not presenting signs and symptoms early enough, their mind-set about seeking medical help, complex health needs rising across all generations and others just do not understand what alternative medical help is available in the community."

The figures were released following the announcement that the Trust is to conduct a Sustainable Service Review (SSR) "with the aim of providing high quality health and social care at the best value for money".

Among the matters being looked into will be unplanned (emergency) care, although the review is in its early stages and no decisions have yet been made.

Mrs Jackson said: "These are the types of things the SSR will look into."

Councillor Ros James, pictured, (Lab Heneage), portfolio holder for housing and wellbeing, said: "Undoubtedly, poverty and unemployment are associated with more unhealthy lifestyles such as higher smoking rates, poorer diets and alcohol and drug misuse, which in turn lead on to a much greater risk of developing chronic disease relatively early in life.

"Increasing numbers of people will therefore need to be treated over many years in our GP surgeries and hospitals for a wide range of chronic disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory disease and mental illness.

"Our growing life expectancy is leading to a substantial increase in disease associated with old age, in particular dementia, which is also putting a strain on our health and social services.

"To try to tackle these issues, a new Health and Wellbeing Board has been established to drive health improvement in North East Lincolnshire."

Mr Oltunde Ashaolu, clinical director of A&E at DPOW, said: "Our hospital is exceptionally busy at the moment both on our in-patient wards and in the accident and emergency department.

"We are seeing quite poorly patients coming through our doors, but I want to thank our committed staff who are continuing to work flexibly to ensure we maintain safe staffing levels during this exceptionally busy time."

See Friday's Grimsby Telegraph for details of the public consultation on plans to sell off NHS buildings at Grimsby's Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital.

WE would hate to think that any part of the NHS relies on guess work ... but how else does a hospital estimate how many people will visit an Accident and Emergency department at any given period?

It's an area of the NHS that relies on statistics, such as how many attended A&E during the same period the previous year.

But so many factors come into it, such as the weather or outbreaks, including the winter vomiting virus.

So it probably comes as no surprise that more than 9,000 visited Grimsby's A&E during two winter months this year, a rise of 6 per cent on the previous year.

But hospitals have also been targeted by government in the past with reducing A&E figures – how do they do that?

With high unemployment levels and poverty in areas of North East Lincolnshire being blamed for contributing to the rising number of ill people, health bosses would be within their rights to turn the tables and blame government, wouldn't they?

Either way, we can do our bit. Ensuring we don't turn up at what is effectively a department to treat accidents and emergencies with more minor ailments, for a start!

And also seeking health advice from pharmacists or GPs before an illness becomes too serious.

Meanwhile, the government has a responsibility, too, in overturning the bad health habits of a nation!

Comment on this article below and follow the editor on Twitter at @michellelalor

WHEN this former infantryman's medal was stolen 41 years ago, he thought he would never see it again.

So it was no surprise that Tony Williams wept when the medal, presented by Prince Charles, was returned this week – after it turned up in a Blackpool charity shop.

Thanks to a fellow veteran and the determination of his regimental comrades, Tony was overjoyed to be reunited with the treasured possession.

The 65-year-old lorry driver spent more than nine years as a private with the Cheshire Regiment, later renamed the Mercian Regiment.

He was decorated with the General Service Medal in 1972 for two tours of duty in Northern Ireland, by the Prince Of Wales, the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief, when he was based in Berlin.

When Tony and his family returned to Britain, their belongings were packed into a wooden crate and sent to his next camp at Weeton, near Blackpool.

But the crate was broken into and the medal taken. His regiment only had details from when Tony lived in Hythe, in Kent.

So when the medal, still in its box, turned up in a charity shop in Kirkham, near Blackpool, it took a determined investigation to find the serviceman.

Luckily, the woman who spotted it, Joyce Robinson, had a relative who was also a veteran.

She showed it to ex-serviceman Brian O'Hare, who recognised its importance and he handed it over to officers at the Army Careers Office, in Preston.

They passed it on to the regimental headquarters in Chester. Their last record for Tony dated back to the 1960s, and he had lived in various barracks before moving to South Killingholme 25 years ago.

Fortunately, in 2009, he had presented old newspaper cuttings from Northern Ireland to the regimental museum and his address had been kept by staff there.

Regimental commander Major Eddie Pickering then sent the medal to Tony.

He said: "I was given a replacement some years ago by my family, which was nice, but it wasn't the one given to me by Charlie.

"It has taken a great deal of effort to get it back, for which I am very grateful. I will be able to wear it on Remembrance Day.

"Mr O'Hare would have known its importance; us veterans look after one another."

Tony, who works for Immingham Transport, the Burma Star medal of his father George Williams on his wall at home alongside the Women's Land Army Medal he obtained in memory of his mother Ivy.

Tony later served as a guard to Hitler's deputy, Rudolph Hess, at Spandau prison in Berlin, where he died in 1987.

A NINE-year-old boy accidentally hanged himself while playing in his bedroom – just weeks before his tenth birthday.

Today, after an inquest ruled he died as a result of an accident, the family of "lively and bubbly" Connar Kiedyk have paid tribute to the youngster, who "never showed any fear".

Connar was found hanging from his bunk bed by a dressing gown cord by his 12-year-old sister, Skye Kiedyk, on June 27, last year at their family home in Legsby Avenue, Grimsby, in what is believed to have been a playful experiment which went tragically wrong.

The tragic incident happened on the same day as he was pictured with the Olympic torch at school – which he had been looking forward to.

The inquest, at Cleethorpes Town Hall, heard the Welholme Community Primary School pupil had been teased by fellow students about his upcoming fancy dress birthday party on the day he died, but ruled he was not a victim of bullying.

His loving mother, Ursula Kiedyk, said: "Some of the children at school said that his birthday party was not going to be very good.

"The teacher did speak to the class about this but Connar came home and said that people were picking on him.

"He said it in such a matter of fact way.

"Connar is more likely to have instigated bullying instead of being bullied himself.

"Later I asked him to tidy his room, because you were unable to see the carpet.

"We heard moving around and when we asked what he was doing, he said playing cowboys and Indians.

"He came down and said he was finished but when I asked if it was to my standard he said he would go and check. This was just before 5pm.

"He went singing and dancing up the stairs, practising for his party.

"Shortly after this I asked my daughter to go up and get him and she rushed down with tears in her eyes saying that he had done something stupid."

Mrs Kiedyk then went upstairs and saw what had happened for herself. She called 999 and performed CPR on him until the ambulance arrived.

Connar was taken to Grimsby's Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital. However, he was declared dead at 5.47pm.

Giving evidence, teacher Carol Wydall added: "We had an Olympic Torch carrier come into school, which several children – including Connar – were looking forward to and asked questions very well.

"He enjoyed PE, which we did that afternoon and, following this, one of the children had said his birthday party was not going to be good.

"I spoke to the children and told them to be mindful of each other and act maturely and kindly towards each other."

District coroner Paul Kelly said: "He was nothing other than a happy nine-year-old boy.

"There was no adverse matter affecting him and his domestic situation.

"A child of his age is unable to form the basic intent of ending his own life.

"He decided to experiment in a way that cost him his life."

UP TO 70 families who rely on a charity support service are today being reassured care will continue – despite the contract being cancelled.

Families across North East Lincolnshire with children who have additional needs are dependent on a key worker service, currently provided by the charity Barnardo's.

The service is commissioned by North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC), which has recently announced it will not be renewing its contract with the charity when it comes to an end on March 31.

However, NELC is keen to reassure those using the service, who had feared their lifeline had been cut, that officials are looking to continue this support by integrating the provision into existing council services.

Service user Melissa Websell, 28, of Waltham, said she is desperate for the service to remain the same and fears changes will be made once the contract with Barnardo's ends.

Her three-year-old daughter Emmelia was born with severe reflux and acid problems, which meant she had to undergo major surgery at Sheffield Children's Hospital.

In November 2011, Emmelia underwent an operation where a wrap was placed around her stomach to stop her from refluxing and a hole in her belly now has a feeding tube attached, so food can go directly to her stomach.

Melissa said her daughter is getting stronger each day, but it is a waiting game as to whether she will ever be able to eat a full meal through her mouth.

"I am constantly looking after Emmelia, but it gets hard, as I have two other children to deal with and I am a single parent.

"That is why I rely so much on my key worker as she does my chores, including the food shopping, picking up medication and generally gives me that helping hand I need.

"I don't know where I would be without her and I am worried I will lose her through these changes."

Councillor Ian Lindley, NELC's portfolio holder for people services, said: "Firstly, let me make it absolutely clear that we are not closing the key worker service.

"Since we first developed a key worker service there have been a number of other developments such as an integrated family support model, the Carers' Centre and Befriender schemes that all form part of the support services currently available.

"I want to reassure families currently supported by the service that we will work with Barnardo's to ensure continuity during the transition period and with the parents' forum to ensure that the right free support continues to be available to meet identified needs."

A spokesman for Barnardo's, said: "Barnardo's is committed to supporting the most vulnerable children, young people and families in our communities.

"We are currently working closely with NELC to support the families and offer them an alternative service where available."