September saw meals processed right here in Grimsby land on plates around the UK. Here is our ninth installment of the 2012 Review Of The Year.
SEPTEMBER 1: Well-known fundraiser Ron Kitching was heartbroken when thieves ransacked his charity shop's office – the day before he was due to retire. They targeted Grimsby And District Healthcare, in Freeman Street, Grimsby, taking more than £800.
SEPTEMBER 1: Newspapers are said to dig up dirt, but it's not often they get dug up themselves – literally! More than ten printing plates from the old Grimsby Telegraph presses were discovered underground in mum-of-two Emma Stark's garden in Cleethorpes. They were from July 1984, and found as work was being done on the garden.
SEPTEMBER 4: The first meals featuring Morrisons' seafood – and processed in Grimsby – landed on plates around the country. A team of 90 were working at the supermarket's new plant in Europarc.
SEPTEMBER 5: Border officials said they had closed down a major South American drug-smuggling operation after seizing cocaine valued at an estimated £5.5 million at Immingham Docks. The stash was discovered hidden in loads of coal being transported from Columbia during three separate raids.
SEPTEMBER 5: Improved security measures were being installed to protect the iconic Boy With The Leaking Boot statute when it was returned to its rightful place on the seafront after being attacked by naked vandals who jumped into the lake it sits in and pushed it over. The vandals were never caught.
SEPTEMBER 6: The owners of land on and around the former Macaulay Lane tip were planning to submit an official application for 250 homes and a country park on the site. Developers also announced plans for a third major housing development off Humberston Avenue, for 400 homes at the New Waltham end of the parish.
SEPTEMBER 10: Thousands turned out in blistering sunshine to run the inaugural Smileathon, a three-mile Telegraph-backed fun run around Cleethorpes, raising money for eight Lincolnshire charities.
SEPTEMBER 11: More than 30,000 people attended events at the outdoor Meridian Park arena, in Cleethorpes, this year, it was revealed. It was estimated that the activities and events there equated to an additional £995,960 being spent with local businesses.
SEPTEMBER 11: Grimsby's former Salvation Army hostel, in Brighowgate, was privately sold by the council for £225,000.
SEPTEMBER 12: New figures revealed that more than £10,000 had been paid out in compensation by North East Lincolnshire Council in the past five years due to potholes and related problems.
SEPTEMBER 13: It was victory all round when Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Immingham and Caistor scooped gold awards in this year's East Midlands In Bloom competition.
SEPTEMBER 15: Pensioners Ann Taylor and Stuart Jaffray stripped down to their swimming costumes in opposition of the proposed closure of Scartho Baths. They rallied support by braving the cold and collecting petition signatures.
SEPTEMBER 18: A Cleethorpes soldier was injured in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan. Ryan Rowbottom, 21, suffered severe neck and arm injuries in the blast which blew up the Jackal personnel carrier his group was travelling in. It killed his commanding officer and seriously injured another colleague.
SEPTEMBER 20: It was a happy ending for Oscar, a Staffordshire cross who, when he last appeared in the Grimsby Telegraph, had been so badly neglected that he was forced to eat part of his starved mother's dead body to survive. Following an RSPCA court case, in which Katrina Plumridge, of Grimsby, was punished, Oscar was rehomed with a family in Holton-le-Clay and was the picture of health.
SEPTEMBER 20: A cleaner stole a trusting pensioner's treasured diamond engagement ring and tried to hide the crime by making out that the victim had dementia. Lyndsey Smith, of Grimsby, was jailed for two years and three months.
SEPTEMBER 22: Two masked men – believed to be journalists from a national tabloid newspaper – sneaked into Grimsby hospital's accident and emergency department and tried to take photographs of patients. Health bosses believed the incident was due to a report criticising a high death rate at the hospital. The men were removed from the premises, and when the next round of mortality rates were released, staff reassured residents that steps were being taken to address any concerns.
SEPTEMBER 24: Local singing stars Micky Parsons and Ella Henderson made it through to the judges houses on TV talent show The X Factor.
SEPTEMBER 25: Cannabis plants and cash were seized from a house in Lancaster Avenue, Grimsby, during a police raid. It prompted officers to warn that drug dealing and taking "will not be tolerated on the West Marsh".
SEPTEMBER 25: Residents were urged to share their thoughts on council tax benefit cuts. The local authority told how more than 10,000 people would receive 24 per cent less in benefits to pay their council tax from April 2013 unless another solution could be found.
SEPTEMBER 27: A factory worker told of his shock at finding a four-year-old girl wandering the streets of Cleethorpes at 4.30am. The child, wearing only pink pyjamas and clutching a toy elephant in wet and windy weather, told him her mother was sleeping and that she was looking for a drink. She was returned safely to her family.
SEPTEMBER 28: Two workmen rescued a sleeping man from a blaze that tore through his home in Yarrow Road, Grimsby. Quick-thinking Mark Edwards and Tony Brannan climbed onto the porch of the house and banged on the bedroom window to wake up the occupant.
SEPTEMBER 29: Thousands of residents signed up to the fight to keep Scartho Baths open by signing a petition against its closure. The document was presented to North East Lincolnshire Council for officials to consider.
