Whether you have decided on a course or are just exploring your options, the college's Open Events provide an ideal opportunity for you to see exactly what Northampton College has to offer. You can meet tutors, find out more about their wide range of courses and take a look around its fantastic facilities. The event runs from 10am to 1pm at the Booth Lane site.

The grade II listed manor was extensively damaged in a 2001 fire, and the council has since attempted to protect the building and restore it to a ‘productive’ use.

It is now set to prepare a supplementary planning document (SPD) to help shape its ideal outcome for the restoration of the hall.

The decision to progress with the SPD was taken by councillors at the authority’s strategy meeting on Thursday evening (March 7).

It is expected that the SPD would outline what is important about the Hall and its setting and parkland, the main options for the future of Overstone Hall, and any important characteristics that should be respected in any replacement building.

Council papers say: “Restoring the hall has been a policy objective of the council since 2013, and the fact that this has not yet been achieved does not reflect a lack of effort or attention, but rather the complex and intractable nature of the issue.

“The council is now at a position where it would be particularly useful to set out its preferred approach going forward. This should help provide the owner, any prospective owner, and all other affected parties with clarity about what is, and is not, likely to be considered justified and appropriate in relation to the hall, including in particular what scale and type of enabling development might be acceptable without identifying specific locations.”

It comes as the council is set to hear two live planning applications regarding the Hall, which was sold by The New Testament Church of God to Barry Howard Homes in December 2016.

The new owners applied for planning permission and listed building consent in May 2018 to restore the Hall and convert it into 16 flats. It also applied for planning permission for around 60 houses on land just south of Overstone village, as enabling development. It would fund the estimated £20million costs of refurbishing the Hall.

The application for the hall restoration came before the council’s planning committee on January 30, but councillors decided to defer the scheme so it could receive further information on the degree to which the existing fabric of the Hall could be retained. Councillors also wanted to determined the enabling development application alongside the Hall application.

The council says work would cease on preparing the SPD if it became evident it was not going to be needed during the planning process.

Stagecoach have announced an overhaul to their Northamptonshire services and hope to give young people more reason to ride the bus for less.

However, the new prices have nudged up the fares of the standard day rider many people use to get to work and travel.

The new fares take effect as of April 14.

A day travel ticket now costs £4.20 a time, up from £4.00. The weekly ticket is now £15 and the monthly ticket is now £53.30.

However, the megarider Plus weekly and monthly tickets will be coming down £1 and £2 respectively.

Meanwhile, the age that someone can buy a child/young person ticket has changed from 15 to 'under 19', and the price is a consistent 25 per cent off the adult price.

From mid July, seven day and 28 day young people tickets will be introduced at 25 per cent off the adult price.

And a new 'Studyrider' ticket will be introduced to replace the 'Termrider' ticket, and will allow travel all day, every day during the school term. The prices - which are yet to be confirmed - will be worked out based on distance travel but should be 25 per cent off the adult price.

Stagecoach say they have announced the changes as part of a plan to simplify their tickets.

For more information on Stagecoach ticket prices, visit their website.

Managing director Phil Medicott said: "We looked at our fares as a whole and tried to ensure that, although we had to put some fares up, there are more people who will see their fares change positively.

"Young people are amongst the biggest winners. We need to encourage young people to stay with public transport to help tackle the catastrophic congestion we see on the roads and throughout out cities and towns."

An investigation by the police watchdog has found a former Northamptonshire detective constable, Andrew Lock, failed to act on evidence that could have led to the early conviction of the teenager's groomer.

The family say the error led to the abuser grooming their child for two years straight, during which time the victim exchanged nearly 4,000 messages with the predator, many of which were of a sexual nature and included pictures.

In December 2014, former DC Lock was assigned to investigate a woman's concerns that her teenage child was the victim of online sexual grooming by a person possibly acting outside of the UK.

The victim's mobile phone was analysed and an email containing all the texts from the suspect were sent to DC Lock as evidence.

But when it arrived, the DC open the email, read it and deleted it - without viewing the texts available for download.

Then, when Interpol emailed DC Lock to follow up enquiries, he ignored their email too, believing it 'disproportionate' to reply.

The case was closed in March 2015.

However, the family contacted the police a year later in 2016 to say their child was still being contacted and 'controlled' by the online groomer.

Northamptonshire Police reopened the case. When the phone was later examined, officers found 3,925 texts, photos and videos on the phone - many of which were sexually explicit and showed the control the suspect had over the victim.

The offender was jailed in 2016 and handed an extended sexual harm prevention order.

The report read: "Northamptonshire Police received a formal complaint from the teenager’s family in November 2016 saying that, had a thorough investigation been conducted in 2014, their child would not have been subjected to continued abuse until the suspect was arrested."

As a result, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) looked into DC Lock's original investigation and in 2018 a panel ruled his actions amounted to gross misconduct.

The panel ruled the DC would not have been dismissed as a reprimand for the slip up - but by then, Mr Lock had since quit the force.

The IOPC report into the investigation was published on February 20, 2019.

Keith Curle is hoping Exeter City arrive at the PTS Academy Stadium with their sights set on claiming three points on Saturday - as he believes that could play into the Cobblers’ hands.

The Grecians are in the heat of the battle to claim a spot in the Sky Bet League Two promotion play-off places.

Matt Taylor’s side currently sit in fifth place in the table, but they are only one point better off than eighth-placed Colchester United.

With Carlisle United only a further point behind, things are certainly tight at the top and Curle feels that may force Exeter’s hand this weekend.

The Devon side were beaten 1-0 at home by Tranmere Rovers last Saturday, and the Town boss feels the pressure is on them to win at the PTS, as a draw would not be a ‘credible’ result.

The Cobblers have found themselves frustrated at home at times recently, with lowly Morecambe and Crawley setting their stalls out for, and getting, draws.

So if Exeter are more pro-active, that could be a good thing, as long as Town take their opportunities when they come.

“If you look at our home performances, we have still created chances,” said Curle.

“Teams are coming to us knowing we have a decent home record.

“We have drawn a few games, but if we had won a few of those it would have been a very good points return.

“Saturday’s game will be a different challenge from the away games we have had, but the players are looking forward to it.

“They know that in the Crawley game we had good opportunities in the first half, and if those chances had gone in it would have been a different game, as the opposistion would have had to have changed their mindset.

“Crawley came here for a point and they got a point, but do I think Exeter will come here for a point? No, I don’t.

“The position they are in now, I think they understand they need wins, and a draw at Northampton would not be seen as a credible point.

“They need to win because of where they are in the division, and that can change their mindset, but we need to win it as well.”

The £9million borough council led project has faced a series of hurdles over the last five years, but workers are set to finally be on site within the next three weeks.

It comes after Northampton Borough Council appointed Rugby-based construction company Stepnell as the main contractors for the development. The appointment was confirmed at a behind-closed-doors discussion at a cabinet meeting in January.

It means the project seems to finally be moving forward according to the latest cabinet report from Councillor Tim Hadland, who is responsible for regeneration in Northampton.

In his report, which will be read by councillors before a full council meeting on Monday (March 11), Councillor Hadland writes: “This is the largest town centre regeneration scheme for many years, and will provide a springboard for new and expanding businesses in the creative industries.”

The council had agreed ‘in principle’ back in June 2014 to redevelop the former Vulcan Works site into a ‘creative industries hub’, to provide new business space for those in the creative and digital sector. And planning permission was granted in January 2015.

Demolition work has already taken place at the former Amalgamated Tyres site at the junction of Fetter Street and St John’s Street.

Once complete, the project will provide a total of 59 lettable units of variable sizes for creative industries. During its first ten years of operation, Vulcan Works is expected to support up to 100 businesses, creating around 300 jobs.

The project, which is aiming to be completed by autumn in 2020, has been boosted by £3million of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which has been added to £6million of funding from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP).

The injury-hit Grecians are currently fifth in Sky Bet League Two, nine points adrift of automatic promotion and only one inside the play-off places.

Northampton and Exeter were separated by 16 points less than a month ago but that gap has come down to 10 ahead of Saturday's game, with the Cobblers unbeaten in five matches and City winning only once during the same period.

The visitors are also plagued by injury problems, but Curle believes they still represent a stern test for him and his players.

"There's nothing better than going back home against a footballing team in Exeter who are at the other end of the table where we want to be operating," said the Town boss.

"It's a good opportunity to test ourselves against a team that are chasing to get out of this division. They are where we need to be and that's where we want to be. We've got aspirations to be in that position next season so it's a great opportunity to test ourselves."

NTFC Supporters’ Trust chairman Andy Roberts has urged fans of the club ‘to keep an open mind’ ahead of Sunday’s public meeting, which is being held to discuss the potential future community ownership of the Cobblers.

The ‘Project: Proud To Be’ meeting is being held at the Park Inn by Radisson hotel in Northampton town centre this Sunday (March 10), starting at 1pm.

The meeting is open to all, and among the topics under discussion will be a ‘community ownership model’ for the Cobblers.

The guest speakers will be Nick Hawker, the chairman of Exeter City Supporters Trust, Ashley Brown of Supporters Direct, who specialises in the field of community ownership in football, and former Wycombe Wanderers chairman Don Woodward. There will then be a Q&A session at the end for supporters to air their views.

The Cobblers are currently under the ownership of chairman Kelvin Thomas and his fellow directors, David Bower and Mike Wailing.

Things have picked up on the pitch of late, with Town on a five-match unbeaten run, and as respectful Roberts and the Trust are of the work being done by the current owners, they are keen to look at the long-term options for the club.

And they want the club’s supporters to go along to the meeting and be open to new ideas.

“We are looking in future at a possible different way of doing things, or constructing things for the football club,” said Roberts, speaking in an interview with Neil Egerton on the It’s All Cobblers To Me podcast.

“It is not a slight on Kelvin Thomas or David Bower and some of the things they have done at the club, certainly on the commercial side and on the community side, because there is a lot of good stuff going on.

“It is a fact of life, but some people will look at this and they will have a fixed opinion about it, saying ‘this can’t work’, ‘how are we going to raise that amount of money’, ‘who’s going to run the club’, and I understand that,”

“It is quite challenging, it is a big ask really, but what I would ask people is that if you have got concerns and you are not convinced, please still come along to the public meeting, don’t close your mind to it and just listen to what we have to say.

“You might come out of it and think ‘no, it’s still not for me’, and that is fair enough.

“But please come along and see what other people have to say, see what other ideas are there, see what might be a realistic achievement.

“It is a great opportunity to look at a different way of doing things.

“Sport is one of Northampton’s great strengths and we firmly believe there is a bright future for a progressive football club, rooted in its community, building strong partnerships with local businesses, the local authority and the other sports clubs in Northampton with supporters who are members of the club and not just customers.”

And he added: “This might not happen, we are just exploring it at the moment, but please keep an open mind.

“There are frictions between the Trust and club, and the Trust and certain other fan groups and indivduals, and a whole lot of things come into play.

“I know the Trust isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and we accept we perhaps haven’t communicated with the Trust members or the fanbase as well as we could have done in previous years, but we are working hard to sort that out.

“All I can assure fans who aren’t members of the Trust or have suspicions about the organisation, we are all Cobblers fans at heart.

“We want to be critical friends of the club. We love the club and want it to do well, as we all do, but we need to have an eye on the future.

“If you have supported the 
club for the length of time I 
have, then you know things are probably going to go pear shaped before too long, and we need to have a bit of a plan to deal with that eventuality.

“We know it is a Sunday afternoon, we know people’s time is precious, but please come and have a listen to the discussion. You never know, your mind might be changed.

“One thing I would stress is that I would say the time is right for us to have a proper look at a different way forward for the football club.

“In nearly 50 years of me supporting Northampton in private ownership, yes we have had a few highs, but generally it has been pretty flatline. There are no guarantees in private or community ownership, but that shouldn’t stop us from seeing whether there is a better way.”

You can listen to the full interview with Andy here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7178152-it-s-all-cobblers-meets-the-ntfc-supporters-trust

Cobblers aim for a third straight League Two victory on Saturday afternoon when play-off hopefuls Exeter City are the visitors to the PTS Stadium.

We'll have all the build-up, in-game updates and post-match reaction as it happens on this page. Hit F5 or refresh for the latest news from the PTS.

Cobblers gave their faint play-off hopes a shot in the arm when goals from Aaron Pierre and Andy Williams handed them a third straight victory, beating fifth-placed Exeter City 2-1 at the PTS Academy Stadium on Saturday.

Town were the better team throughout the contest and deservedly recorded only a second home win in nine games, a run which dates back to November, as they temporarily jumped up to 13th in Sky Bet League Two, the highest they’ve been all season.

Despite a shortage of opportunities, Town dominated the opening 45 minutes and their superiority was rewarded via Pierre’s seventh goal of the season around the half-hour mark.

Williams, on as a sub in the opening period, made it two shortly after half-time and despite City pulling one back three minutes later, the Cobblers held on with little cause for concern.

The charge for a play-off berth remains unlikely at this stage but, with three straight wins in the bank and a favourable set of fixtures to come, it certainly isn’t out of the question ahead of the final 10 games of the campaign.

For the first time since taking charge of the Cobblers back in October, Keith Curle named an unchanged XI as he stuck with the same team that won at Crewe Alexandra last time out.

Town were the better side for the opening 20 minutes but they failed to make the most of several promising situations in attack, with Exeter comfortably dealing with long throws and a couple of set-pieces.

And it was the visitors who would then go on to create the game’s first clear opportunity when some neat football around the edge of the penalty box ended with Archie Collins seeing an effort blocked by Aaron Pierre.

The danger was not over there though, and only desperate last-ditch defending from Charlie Goode and ‘keeper David Cornell prevented Matt Jay forcing the ball over the line, despite the City man having several stabs at it.

The importance of keeping the visitors at bay during rare passage of Exeter pressure was then made clear when Town moved in front just past the half-hour mark.

Their opening goal was the product of persistent work by Daniel Powell who forced City to concede a cheap corner and from Sam Hoskins’ resulting cross, Marvin Sordell’s header hit came back off the crossbar and fell nicely for Pierre to squeeze over the line.

The only downside to the goal was an injury sustained by Sordell, who had to be replaced by Andy Williams with what looked a neck or upper body injury.

Exeter’s insistence on passing the ball out of defence had got them into a few tangles throughout the first-half, and they were fortunate not to be two down at half-time when another mix-up played in Powell, but visiting stopper Christy Pym stood up well to block.

Former Cobbler Hiram Boateng came on in one of two half-time substitutes for Exeter, and they upped the ante in the second-half, finally forcing Cornell into action.

The Cobblers goalkeeper had to be at his very best to thwart Jay when he was down in a flash to parry away the City man’s low drive from inside the penalty box.

And again, like the first-half, a chance gone begging for Exeter at one end was swiftly followed by a goal for the Cobblers at the other. Powell was again involved when, just shy of the hour-mark, his fizzed low cross gave Williams a simple tap-in at the back post.

But any thoughts this would be a straightforward stroll to victory were misplaced and within three minutes City got one goal back, Martin nodding home after Cornell kept out the initial header.

In fairness to Town though, they defended their narrow lead with relative ease in the final half-hour, even going close themselves when Williams was denied a second by an out-stretched Pym

The full-time whistle confirmed victory and it was thoroughly deserved.

Match facts

Cobblers: Cornell, Goode, Taylor, Pierre (c), Buchanan, Turnbull, Foley, D Powell (J Powell 79), S Hoskins, O’Toole (Elsnik 90), Sordell (A Williams 33)

Subs not used: Coddington, J Williams, Bowditch, Bridge

Exeter: Pym, Woodman, O’Shea, Martin, Law (Bowman 78), Jay, Wilson, Taylor (c), Collins (Boateng 45), Hartridge (Holmes 45), Forte

Subs not used: T Brown, Williams, Hamon, J Brown

Referee: Andy Haines

Attendance: 4,954

Exeter fans: 412

Marie Curie has provided overnight nursing care in the county to people living with a terminal illness, and support for their families, for many years.

But in December the charity took on a new countywide contract for palliative care services when NHS Nene and NHS Corby clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were seeking a new provider.

As part of this, the CCGs are now working with the charity to ensure people get the care they need to remain at home, if this is where they wish to spend their final days.

Dr Emma Donnelly, a local GP and clinical executive director at Nene and Corby clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), said: “Marie Curie is a renowned and highly respected provider of palliative and end of life care services, and we are very pleased to have them working with us in Northamptonshire.

“Since the launch of the new service in December, we have been working with Marie Curie to enable a seamless transition of care and ensure patients and their families are aware and feel reassured about the new arrangements.

“The experience and specialist skills that its nursing team can call upon will ensure that people in Northamptonshire with life-limiting illnesses and their loved ones will have access to compassionate and high-quality care and support.”

Patients, their families and healthcare professionals can access this support through a single point of contact from the Marie Curie Northamptonshire Rapid Response Service.

This focuses on patients who require urgent care and those who may be at risk of being admitted unnecessarily to hospital, which can be distressing for everyone concerned.

The nurses and healthcare assistants in Marie Curie’s rapid response team have special training in palliative and end of life care which ensures they can offer information and advice over the phone, and urgent hands-on care in people’s homes.

The service also includes two specialist nurses, supported by healthcare assistants, working in Northampton General and Kettering General hospitals. The nurses support the discharge of people with a Northamptonshire GP from hospital to their preferred place of care.

Tracy Wotman, care coordination centre team leader at Marie Curie, said: “I lead the team who work in the care coordination centre to provide telephone contact service seven days a week, all year round. We provide a dedicated phone line for patients, families and healthcare professionals, and liaise directly with the nurses who provide urgent care to meet the needs of our patients.

“All of our coordinators are experienced in dealing with families during difficult and sensitive time. It’s rewarding to know that we can really make a difference to patients and their families at the end of their life.”

If you have any questions about terminal illness or simply want someone to talk to, you can call the Marie Curie Support Line on 0800 0902309 or visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/help.

Saints' clash with Bristol Bears ended in a Franklin's Gardens farce as the home side were reduced to 11 men before Ian Madigan's conversion sealed a 26-24 win for the Bears.

Piers O'Conor made the most of the depleted Northampton ranks as he cruised over, with Madigan's kick sealing a dramatic success for Pat Lam's men.

Boos rang out after Christophe Ridley's handling of the closing stages, with the referee continually refusing to award a penalty try in favour of dishing out four yellow cards.

Cobus Reinach, Jamie Gibson, Tom Wood and Alex Waller were all sin-binned before O'Conor and Madigan held their nerve to snatch the win from Saints' grasp.

It was a hammer blow for the home side, who had gone 24-19 up, registering a bonus point in the process thanks to scores from Taqele Naiyaravoro, Ahsee Tuala, George Furbank and Reinach.

But Bristol had the final say amid surreal scenes as Saints saw their seven-match Gardens winning streak in all competitions go up in smoke.

It denied Saints the chance to move to just a point behind the Gallagher Premiership top four and they must now regroup ahead of the Premiership Rugby Cup final against Saracens at the Gardens next Sunday.

Chris Boyd's men had lost David Ribbans to injury before the battle with Bristol, with Api Ratuniyarawa stepping in and James Craig on the bench.

And Bristol took advantage of the disruption as they started strongly.

Atter some patient play, the away side were able to send lock Joe Batley skipping in out wide.

The Bears missed the conversion but Saints needed an early response as the Gardens fell silent, with the Bears continuing to threaten.

And with Saints still sleeping, it wasn't long before the away side had their second as Jordan Crane got the ball down.

Luke Daniels added the extras and Bristol were 12-0 up inside the opening 18 minutes of the match.

Daniels lined up a kick from halfway soon after but his ambitious attempt didn't have the direction even though it had the distance.

Saints were struggling to awake from their slumber but they almost managed it when the rampaging Naiyaravoro eyed the line before Harry Thacker forced him to knock on.

Naiyaravoro was certainly the bright spark for Saints during the early exchanges and he was the one who finally ignited the hosts with a flying, one-handed finish in the left corner.

Piers Francis missed the conversion from out wide on a windy afternoon but Bristol had been hit by a big injury blow as full-back Charles Piutau had to be helped from the field.

Piutau's replacement, Mat Protheroe, presented Saints with a great chance before the break as he knocked on while trying to keep a Francis penalty in play.

But Saints wasted the opportunity and the score remained 12-5 in Bristol's favour at the break.

However, it wasn't long before the home side had their second try after the interval as Naiyaravoro made the initial inroads before Grayson flung the ball out to the other wing, where Tuala finished in acrobatic fashion.

Francis missed another tough touchline conversion but Saints now had the momentum and Bristol were struggling to contain them.

And Saints soon scored again as Tuala provided a moment of magic, using his power, speed and awareness to cut Bristol open before offloading to Furbank, who sidestepped in tidy fashion to finish.

Francis added the extras as the Gardens roared and Saints were now seeking the bonus-point score against a Bears team that had lost all of their early bite.

That was until they hit Saints with a real sucker punch as centre O'Conor beat Hutchinson in the middle of the field and raced forward before offloading to the onrushing Harry Randall for the score.

Daniels added the extras and Bristol led again, at 19-17, with 25 minutes to go.

But that advantage soon vanished as Reinach claimed one of his trademark intercept scores and Francis converted to make it 24-19 to Saints, who now had the try bonus point.

Bristol kicked a penalty to the corner in a bid to respond almost immediately, but Saints stood firm.

And the Bears then emulated those defensive efforts to thwart their hosts at the other end.

The game then turned into a huff and puff affair, which suited Bristol as they started to put a spanner in Saints' works.

And after Reinach was sin-binned for a high tackle with seven minutes to go, Gibson headed the same way as Saints were reduced to 13 men for the final four minutes.

It was penalty after penalty against the home side as Bristol knocked loudly on the door.

It was becoming farcical as another yellow card was shown, with Wood's departure meaning his side were down to 12 men.

And Saints were to be reduced to 11 before the end as the boos continued to ring out, with Waller sent to the sin bin.

After matching the Bears at the scrum, Saints were inevitably beaten out wide as Bristol had plenty of space against their weakened hosts and O'Conor scored.

Bristol still needed the conversion and Madigan delivered a nerveless kick from a position that was far from easy.

Referee Ridley was the most unpopular man in Northampton as the teams trudged off, but Bristol didn't care as they celebrated their big away win.

Saints: Furbank; Tuala, Hutchinson (Craig 77), Francis, Naiyaravoro (Mitchell 73); Grayson, Reinach; van Wyk (Waller 62), Marshall (Fish 56), Hill (Ford-Robinson 65); Moon, Ratuniyarawa; Wood (c), Ludlam, Eadie (Gibson 63).

Bristol Bears: C Piutau (Protheroe 32); Morahan, O’Conor, S Piutau (cc), Daniels (Madigan 68); Sheedy, Uren (Randall 49); Thomas (Woolmore 65), Thacker (Parry 77), Afoa (Thiede 72); Batley (Smith 58), Vui; Luatua, Heenan, Crane (cc) (Lam 43).

Referee: Christophe Ridley

Town were the superior side for much of the game, especially in the first-half when Aaron Pierre's scrambled finish from close-range handed them the lead at half-time.

Andy Williams tapped in a second just shy of the hour-mark before Aaron Martin's header three minutes later set up a jittery final half-hour for home supporters.

But when in times gone by the Cobblers might have panicked and conceded again, this time they stood firm with impressive ease to see out a third straight victory, moving them up to 14th in League Two and eight points away from the play-offs.

"We were playing against a very good team today who have operated in the play-offs for the majority of the year but, on the balance of play, they probably had only 12 or 15 minutes when they played how they wanted to," said Curle.

"The credit for that goes to us because we stopped them from playing and nullified their threats. I'm disappointed with the goal we conceded but I thought we managed the game very well.

"The second goal was excellent and then, again we had the manage the game in the second half and we did that very well."

Saturday's victory was only Town's second on home soil in nine games since early November.

"A home win was the only thing that has been missing because our away form has been very good," added Curle.

"David Cornell maybe made one very good save low down but, apart from that, we managed the game.

"We got on the front foot in the first-half and handled the departure of Marvin Sordell to injury very well because Andy Williams came on and slotted straight into the system, and he got his reward with the goal."

Chris Boyd says Saints were 'somewhere between stupid and embarrassing' as they suffered late agony against Bristol Bears at Franklin's Gardens.

Saints were sinners as they were hit with four late yellow cards, reducing them to 11 men before Piers O'Conor scored and Ian Madigan converted to seal a 26-24 success for the Bears.

Referee Christophe Ridley was jeered regularly in the closing stages, but Boyd believes it was his side's own fault that they found themselves in late difficulty.

They had opportunities to seal the win before Bristol bagged themselves a bonus-point victory at the end.

And when asked whether he had ever witnessed anything like the crazy ending to the game, Boyd replied: "No, I haven't. I need to put the five minutes out of my mind otherwise it will haunt me for ever.

"What irritated me more was the 15 or 20 minutes leading up to that final five minutes when we had the game under control.

"We got ourselves in a situation to put them away and we didn't.

"It was a succession of poor bits of skill and very dumb decisions that cost us and gave them opportunities to get back in the game.

"Credit to Bristol, but it's a game that we've lost.

"We worked out way back into it and got ourselves into a reasonable position but we kept insisting on being somewhere between stupid and embarrassing."

On the officiating, Boyd said: "There was some really interesting stuff going on around the rucks, particularly when George Smith came on.

"It was two sides who were going at the ball pretty hard and the ref had some difficult decisions to make but it should never happened at the end because we should have been well past five points up."

The Grecians are chasing a play-off place this season and arrived at the PTS occupying fifth place but, on a blustery day in Northampton, they were second best and could have few complaints over the defeat.

City, who also lost to Tranmere last weekend, have now dropped all the way out of the play-off positions and down to eighth in Sky Bet league Two.

"We didn't compete well enough and we didn't play the conditions well enough," fumed Taylor. "We've got good ball players but they get taken out of the picture when they don't get the ball and get control of possession.

"We didn't match them anywhere on the pitch. We really struggled at both ends and they really imposed their physicality on the game and full credit for them for that because they played that game a lot better than we did.

"They were a lot more effective. As much as we can prepare our boys for knowing where the ball is going, they've still got to deal with it and the goals were an example of how weak we were at times.

"They've got to understand the game and they've got to understand they'll be put under pressure and there'll be contact and physicality. The ball isn't going to be clean at their feet. As much as we want our players to get the ball clean at their feet, that happened very few times today and we had no control.

"That's the basics in League Two. Before you start any game, they are the basics. If you want to give yourself a chance of winning, you have to do the basics and we didn't do that today."

Aaron Pierre bundled in Town's opener on 31 minutes before Andy Williams had a simple tap-in to double the lead just shy of the hour-mark, with Aaron Martin's header three minutes later proving nothing more than a consolation.

"In all honesty, we were a little bit relieved to get into half-time only 1-0 down because the ball was bouncing around our box an awful lot," added Taylor.

"We got the goal back and you think you've got half a chance but, I said it last week and I've said it too often, we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

"There's a weakness in there and I think anyone who's been at the game today could see that. We were too often surprised by where the ball ended up as opposed to being there first to clear the danger or deal with it.

"You can't come to Northampton and be surprised by what happens. That's no disrespect to Northampton because they're a very good side and they were just more effective than us - we will speak about it because I picked the players and it's my responsibility."

Northamptonshire’s community services for people in mental health crisis have been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust could win a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Value Award for its services available to manage and reduce the risk of mental health crisis for people in the county.

These community services have reduced the burden on emergency services and acute inpatient mental health, resulting in significant financial system savings.

Mental health service users were closely involved in the design, development and ongoing review of the crisis community services, meaning they are ‘co-produced’ by both NHFT and the community.

The Crisis House (known as The Warren) was launched in Northampton in August 2016 to offer an alternative to acute mental health admission for people in mental health crisis.

Rooms are available in a dedicated bungalow for short stays where individuals can engage in collaborative, non-judgemental recovery.

Building on the success of The Warren Crisis Cafes were piloted in early 2017, in collaboration with MIND, with the primary aim to provide a safe out-of-hours space for people to seek help for a mental health crisis without having to rely on A&E departments or other emergency services.

Due to success and positive feedback from service users it was rolled out further, now providing Crisis Cafe coverage all week across Northamptonshire.

In the case of The Warren, the avoided cost of admitting patients to acute inpatient mental health wards is between £117,718 and £1.3 million.

Adam Smith, assistant director of the Crisis Pathway, said: “This award nomination has gravitated from our service users, carers and third sector partners and their incredibly valuable input into the development of mental health services in Northamptonshire.

“Any award nomination must focus on the strength and determination of service users and carers to have their voices heard in the shaping of services, and in holding NHFT and the third sector to account for ensuring that future community mental health care in the county is linked directly to the needs of our population.

“Both NHFT and Mind staff have been able to work outside of historical service boundaries in order to develop truly innovative crisis provisions for the county.

“These collaborative resources are now becoming the bedrock of mental health service provision within Northamptonshire and it is through them, and the vision of the staff within them, that we will continue to grow services for our population in the coming years.”

The shortlisting comes after NHFT won the coveted Trust of the Year award in November 2018, and being rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission in August 2018.

The winner of each category will be announced at the HSJ Value Awards on May 23.

Churchill Retirement Living had wanted to build the 45-apartment building at the current Towcester Commercials site on Water Lane, opposite Waitrose. The application involved bulldozing the existing bungalow currently in place on the site.

But planning officers had recommended the scheme for refusal, and councillors on South Northamptonshire Council’s planning committee followed their advice, with all members declining to give the scheme the go-ahead.

Planning officers said that the building’s design ‘failed to reflect the local style’. A report by the officers states: “The proposed scheme has merit in so far as it locates the building in the most logical position on the site, creates a strong frontage and successfully screens the parking from the public realm.

“Officers do though consider that the scale and massing of the building fails to respond to the immediate context whilst the elevation treatment is random and conflicts with the formal detailing chosen.

“Further, the architectural detailing, materials and roof form all fail to reflect the local style. Officers consider that these design choices result in a scheme that fails to respond to the character of the area or reinforce local distinctiveness and therefore does not represent high-quality design. This results in significant and unacceptable harm to the character of the
area in this prominent position.”

Speaking at the planning meeting on Thursday (March 7), held at The Forum, Councillor Martin Johns said: “The scale of this building would be out of keeping with the local area.”

Towcester Town Council also objected to the application, saying that it represented an ‘over-intensification of the site’. It also criticised lack of parking, unsuitable access arrangements and a ‘detrimental impact on neighbouring residential properties’.

Had it been approved, the apartment block would have been open for people aged 60 and above with a partner aged 55 and above. It would have featured 30 one-bedroom apartments and 15 two-bedroom apartments spread over three floors.

Who impressed and who struggled at the PTS? Find out with James Heneghan's player ratings - scroll down and flick through our picture gallery to see how each player performed.

The Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) is a multi-agency project designed to reduce gang violence, not necessarily by locking gang members up, but by working with them to show them the consequences of the life they are choosing to lead and showing them an alternative pathway through mentoring, support, job opportunities and other change programs.

Anyone can refer into CIRV - whether that be someone who needs help themselves to get out of ‘gang life’ or someone who is concerned about someone they know.

Chief Inspector Daryl Lyon who leads CIRV, and launched the event at Sessions House in Northampton on Sunday, said: “CIRV has been hugely successful in Glasgow, Cincinnati and Boston and we are hoping to mirror that success here in Northamptonshire.

“The program is not an easy way out for anyone and it requires a significant level of commitment and hard work - those engaged must commit to leaving drugs and violence behind.

“Gang life might look glamorous and financially promising to a lot of people but the reality is far different. Is it really worth constantly looking over your shoulder, facing long lengths inside prison and wondering if today is the day you look down the barrel of a gun?

“Gang members are also often exploited by those higher up in the chain that get them to deal drugs and take all the risks.

“Some people feel like they’re in too deep to reach out to us but CIRV is designed to work with individuals to help them choose a better path than the one they are currently on. I for one am very much looking forward to seeing the success of this project benefit the people of Northamptonshire.”

One of the key tools that CIRV uses to communicate the consequences of violent behaviour to those people involved in a gang is the ‘Self-Referral Session’ which is delivered to gang members in a court room and involves a number of people including police officers, doctors who treat serious injuries, ex-gang members and family members of gang members who have been killed.

The session is designed to show gang members the negative consequences of the life they are currently leading and encourage them to live one free of violence and drugs.

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Stephen Mold, and his team, supported by Northamptonshire Police, tendered a bid to the Home Office and were awarded £627,000 to support the program.

PFCC, Stephen Mold, said: “The threat that gang related crime causes to every community is much too significant for us to simply do what we have always done. We have to find new ways to tackle gangs and to intervene early with people who are at risk of becoming involved or who are already involved, and do whatever we can to encourage and support them to change.

“This is a key area of work that we have to get right if we are to make sure that Northamptonshire is safer in the future.”

The NTFC Supporters’ Trust are holding an open meeting in Northampton town centre on Sunday (March 10).

The purpose of the meeting, which will be held at the Park Inn by Radisson hotel (1pm start), is to look into a potential future community ownership of the club.

Here, Trust chairman Andy Roberts offers up the reasons why he feels the time is right for such a meeting.

“A half century ago, on 11 March 1969, Northampton Town defeated Southport at the old County Ground in front of a crowd of little more than 5,000. The scoreline was 1-0, the goalscorer Phil Neal.

An unremarkable match and, on the face of it, an even more unremarkable statistic.

Southport have long since disappeared from the Football League landscape. The writing was clearly on the wall for the struggling Sandgrounders in the 1970s - and also smudged on the shirt, courtesy of their centre forward who in a game at the County Ground appeared with the number nine marker pen inked onto the back of his jersey.

Irchester lad Phil Neal was later sold to Liverpool for a bargain £60,000 in 1974 and went on to become the most decorated player in English football.

And Northampton Town? Well they were relegated to the fourth division of English football in May 1969, so completing their abject fall from grace after a single ‘season in the sun’ battling first division giants in 1965/66.

Roll on fifty years, the home ground has changed but little else. The team remains in the fourth tier, attendances remain around 5,000, the ground still has three functioning sides and a lack of ambition prevails.

It shouldn’t really be this way. Northampton is a much bigger place than it was in 1969 but home gates have remained the same. The club is not progressing in any meaningful, strategic way and there is a clear disconnect between the club and football fans in the town.

Of course, Northampton is also home to a rugby union club playing at the top of its game. A club which has benefited from strong local investment in recent years and one which has adopted a progressive outlook since the sport turned professional. It has captured and retained the town’s floating sports fans for the best part of two decades, a fact that should not be seen as a negative but as an incentive to the association football club up the road.

The town of Northampton needs more people coming to watch top-class sport, it needs more people spending their cash in the town and it needs a boost to its visitor economy.

Then again of course there are a lot of football fans in Northampton that owe their allegiance to Premier League football clubs or overseas club with a global brand. More often than not, a televisual fantasy. This represents the changing face of football, more and more screen entertainment and less and less a live spectacle. It is a challenge to most league football clubs and one that is not easily overcome.

Although some clubs are giving it a bloody good go. The likes of Accrington Stanley, Burton Albion and AFC Wimbledon, to name but three, have all been punching above their weight.

As did the Cobblers in 1966, when the late Joe Mercer famously said that ‘the miracle of 1966 was not England winning the World Cup, it was Northampton Town playing in the first division’.

However we are now punching well below our weight and, as chairman of the club’s Supporters’ Trust, I feel that this has to change if we are to enthuse and encourage a future generation of supporters.

Which is why I am really looking forward to the public meeting on community ownership which we are hosting at the Park Inn in Northampton town centre on Sunday 10 March (1-4pm).

The club is not in financial crisis, owners David Bower and Kelvin Thomas have kept things ticking over nicely since the dark days that engulfed us all at the end of the Cardoza reign three years ago. True enough, the team has been in freefall since lifting the League Two championship in 2016. But that can be attributed to a failure of recruitment rather than a shortfall in investment.

That being the case, when the garden is still comparatively rosy, why look at community ownership now? To be clear, the public meeting – which will discuss community ownership in English football and explore a potential viable future model for the Cobblers – is not a reflection on the current stewardship at the club.

But it is a reaction to the years of stalemate negotiation around development of the stadium and the land surrounding it. The club is unable to progress while this stalemate persists and this is entirely unacceptable. The club is on the market and at some point the present owners will move on. The last outside investment, from Chinese media group 5U Sport, proved to be a disaster for the football club.

The Trust is looking to initiate a community ownership model which can be developed into a robust plan, with a vision and direction to implement progress on and off the field via investment in infrastructure. If life-changing investment from outside ever became a realistic prospect, a community-owned club would be in a position to pass the club on, as at Portsmouth.

In fact, a community-owned club would could be in and even stronger position for such a deal with stronger governance and infrastructural improvements creating a more attractive proposition. Can there be a better way for Northampton Town in the future? I don’t know for sure but I think the time is right to see what options may be available to the club.

Consider these facts:-

The club is in a lower position in the Football League than it was in 1969 and years of private ownership have failed to register sustained progress for the football club

If you play a word association game with football fans and say ‘Northampton Town’ they will inevitably say ‘George Best’, a Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend who scored six goals against the Cobblers at the County Ground in an FA Cup tie in 1970. Enough said.

Sixfields stadium, built as a community facility in 1994, is in danger of losing sight of this status. The Supporters Trust has just won a long battle to have the stadium and surrounding land listed as an asset of community value.

In the last 50 years, the club’s most successful periods came between 1985 and 1990 and then again between 1995 and 2000, when the link between the club and its Northampton community was at its strongest at managerial and board level respectively.

The stadium, while marginally increasing its capacity in 25 years, is without a viable East stand and has seen no external expansive infrastructure development in 25 years.

And let’s look at the opportunities:-

There are no guarantees that community ownership – be it a 100 per cent model or a hybrid joint venture scheme – would result in a different outcome but, in light of the failure of private ownership, it is worthy of serious examination

The town of Northampton is confronted with clear challenges in terms of its future generation – let us look at a clearly-defined sports strategy for the town, not least for the Sixfields area where some joined-up thinking would be beneficial to improve the sporting, health and wellbeing offer to the people of the town.

Northampton Borough Council is likely to be replaced by a unitary authority from next year so the opportunity to build a strong partnership with a new local authority is optimum.

The Town’s football, rugby and cricket clubs provide Northampton with a level of sporting excellence that only the cities of London, Manchester and Leicester can presently boast. We have to capitalise on this celestial alignment and, while appreciating the sporting rivalries and cultures of the respective clubs, bring them closer together in a more organised fashion.

Last, but by no means least, Northampton Town and its Supporters’ Trust was at the vanguard of the supporter movement in 1992 under the expert guidance of the late Brian Lomax. Wherever Northampton Town goes in the future, it is time to renew and re-enforce those principles on behalf of supporters who are in danger of becoming increasingly disenfranchised.

I hope people in Northampton who have the football club’s best interests at heart attend Sunday’s meeting. You may think the idea is a non-starter and unworkable – but please don’t close your mind to the discussion, come along and listen to speakers from Exeter City, Portsmouth and Wycombe Wanderers who have been there and done that. You may come away still unconvinced but at least you will be better informed.

It would be lovely if some rich billionaire on a white charger would ride in over the horizon and lift us out of the doldrums. It hasn’t happened to date and it is likely that it won’t happen in the near future, certainly while the club is nearer to the non-league fall out zone than it is to the sunlit Championship uplands.

If the Trust decides to pursue a community ownership model for the football club, it will need to attract financial support and raise additional funds. The Trust will only take on a project long term with the required financial planning in place. Strong governance is key and obviously a conversation on funding will be in line with a model deemed suitable for Northampton Town.

The club has been on the precipice of oblivion on several occasions in the last 50 years – 1972, 1984, 1992, 2002 and 2015. It would be daft to say that it never will be again.

In the mid-eighties, a local journalist Dave Hickey wrote the club’s obituary and ended his article with the throwaway line… ‘If anyone knows a suitable millionaire out there, please ring the club on Northampton 31553.’ A chap called Mick Conroy did know a suitable millionaire, rang the club and in time Watford tobacco merchant Derek Banks became club chairman and steered the club to considerable success in the lower divisions.

There may again be potential local investors out there willing to come together with a community ownership vision and we have already been approached in this light. The Trust are aiming to pull the Northamptonshire community together with investment purely for the good of the club for a defined vision.

Investment can come from different angles, from individuals or groups.

So, millionaire or not, we ask all that care about the football club to come along on Sunday.”