The following people have been sentenced at magistrates courts in the county:

Steven Ross Corcoran

Gipsy Lane, Irchester. Age: 23

On 14/10/2018 in Northampton assaulted a female by beating her; assaulted another female by beating her; wilfully obstructed PC Walker in the execution of his duty.

Plea: Guilty. Jailed for 13 weeks, to pay compensation of £100.

Jordan Anderson

Burns Road, Wellingborough. Age: 18

On 20/07/2018 in Wellingborough assaulted a male by beating him; assaulted another male by beating him; used towards another male threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, with intent to cause that person to believe immediate unlawful violence would be used against him by any person, or to provoke the immediate use of unlawful violence by him or whereby that person was likely to believe such violence would be used, or it was likely such violence would be provoked and the offence was racially aggravated.

Plea: Guilty. To pay compensation of £90.

Carl Loasby

Jubilee Crescent, Wellingborough. Age: 40

On 14/01/2019 in Northampton, stole about £30 in pound coins; on 29/10/2018 stole Kettering General Hospital charity boxes from the Hind Hotel, Sheep Street, Wellingborough.

Plea: Guilty. Jailed for 16 weeks, to pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £115.

Florin-Lucian Trifoi

Albert Road, Wellingborough. Age: 33

On 22/12/2018 drove a VW Golf in Wellingborough Road, Northampton, while banned from driving; without insurance.

Plea: Guilty. To carry out unpaid work for 100 hours, to pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £85, costs of £85, banned from driving for 14 months.

Desmond Connell Hooper

High Street South, Rushden. Age: 37

On 02/02/2019 in Rushden, had in your possession 8 deal bags of cannabis.

Plea: Guilty. Fined £80, to pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £30, costs of £85, eight deal bags of cannabis to be forfeited and destroyed.

David Joseph O’Hare

Keating Road, Corby. Age: 38

On 27/04/2018 drove a motor vehicle in Elizabeth Street, Corby, after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in your breath, namely 102mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, exceeded the prescribed limit.

Plea: Guilty. To carry out unpaid work for 100 hours, pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £85, costs of £380, banned from driving for 24 months.

Neil Calder

Sackville Street, Kettering. Age: 49

On 15/01/2019 in Kettering, without lawful excuse, damaged a front door intending to destroy or damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be destroyed or damaged; on 30/01/2019 failed without reasonable cause to surrender to custody at Northampton Magistrates’ Court, having been released on bail.

Plea: Guilty.

Fined £73, compensation of £100, surcharge to fund victim services of £30, costs of £85, hammer to be forfeited and destroyed.

Georgina Ruth Pulbos

Harrington Road, Desborough. Age: 32

On 20/07/2018 drove a motor vehicle in Northfield Avenue, Kettering, while banned from driving; without insurance.

Plea: Guilty. To pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £85, costs of £85, banned from driving for three months.

Timothy Barnes

Malham Drive, Kettering. Age: 48

On 02/08/2018 in Northampton, assaulted a female by beating her.

Plea: Guilty. Fined £120, surcharge to fund victim services of £30, costs of £85.

Peter Crozier

Address unknown. Age: 43

On 02/02/2019 in Rushden assaulted a female by beating her; at the Criminal Justice Centre, Northampton, with intent to cause CDO Trevor Gordon harassment, alarm or distress used threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour, thereby causing that or another person harassment, alarm or distress and the offence was religously aggravated; towards Sgt Pateman used threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress.

Plea: Guilty. To carry out unpaid work for 160 hours, restraining order prohibits defendant from entering a named street in Rushden. This order lasts until 19/02/2020. To pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £85, costs of £85, compensation of £100.

John Thomas Stewart

Arkwright Road, Irchester. Age: 66

On 07/12/2018 in Wellingborough assaulted a female by beating her.

Plea: Guilty. Fined £120, surcharge to fund victim services of £30, costs of £85.

Trevor Owen Christopher Evans

Mendip Way, Corby. Age: 41.

On 01/02/2019 in Corby, without reasonable excuse, contacted a female which you were prohibited from doing by a non-molestation order made on 29/01/2019.

Plea: Guilty - 20/02/2019 Fined £80. To pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £30. To pay costs of £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Northamptonshire’s education system is heading for a crisis with a shortage of secondary school places in some towns from this September.

Kettering, Corby and Northampton are the areas most affected – Northampton is 150 Year 7 places short already for September and some Corby pupils will be bused nine miles to Oundle to go to a secondary school there.

The authority says it is ‘facing a severe and immediate risk of failing to meet its statutory duty to provide a sufficiency of secondary school places’ in the three towns.

Its Schools Organisation Plan is also forecasting that “there will be a deficit of secondary school places in the county as a whole from the 2019/20 academic year onwards and for as long as projections are available”.

A previous baby boom which is now hitting secondary school age, migration to the county, the number of new homes being built, and the authority’s reliance on academy trusts and free schools to provide the additional spaces are all behind the problem which will impact in just six months.

The council, which is the local education authority, is planning to create temporary places at existing schools to meet the immediate shortfall and is adding extensions to some secondary schools, but it looks like that will still not be enough.

There are currently 47,040 secondary school pupils being educated in Northamptonshire and the council’s education officers say the number is expected to increase by 22 percent by the end of 2026.

However, these figures do not include the higher pupil numbers predicted due to housing growth so the authority says “the actual number of pupils attending secondary school within the county will be significantly higher”.

It says that as a minimum an extension to six existing schools and two new secondary schools are needed by 2023.

Problems the council is going to come up against include the size of the site needed for a secondary school, which is at least eight hectares. The authority says this is a particular problem in urban areas where demand for places is increasing fast.

And with unitary councils being proposed for next year the problem will be passed over to these new authorities.

The council’s leader Matt Golby said at this month’s cabinet meeting: “Schools are going to be a big question as we move to unitary as well. Whether we set up two local education authorities and how we are going to provide the infrastructure is a massive, massive ask and so that is another big strategic question that we need to be dealing with on this road to unitary.”

Despite being critical of the free schools system which it says has at times seen schools built in areas where there is less of a need, the authority is banking on free schools getting it out of its hole.

The report says: “The council has initiated discussions over the purchase of a number of sites on which new schools will be located and is also engaging with the office of the Regional Schools Commissioner regarding sponsors for these proposed new schools.”

The ability of the local education authority to control new school places is limited by the academy system. A total of 40 of the 42 schools offering mainstream secondary provision are run by academies or have free school status.

The report says: “This severely restricts NCC’s ability to increase capacity at schools in a given area of the county, as any increase requires the approval of the academy trust that operates the school. The result of this is that NCC is unable to increase capacity at existing schools, should the academy trust refuse, or is forced to pay a premium to achieve the required result.”

New school places are paid for by a combination of basic need grant funding, given by central government, 106 contributions from developers and borrowing.

But the Government has recently changed the calculations for the basic need grant, which is the largest single source of funding for new school places.

In 2020/21 the authority will receive nothing, due to a review of previous years payments.

The place shortage issue will be the subject of a report being considered by the cabinet when it meets next month.

Opposition councillors say the Conservative-run county council, which is due to be scrapped next year, have known about the looming secondary school place problem for years and failed to tackle it.

Liberal Democrat leader Chris Stanbra said, despite the academy trust landscape and changes to the policy from central government, the authority has to take some of the blame for what is about to happen.

He said: “The council may be between a rock and a hard place but it is the county council’s responsibility to ensure there are sufficient school places. It is their fault. The county is also responsible for school standards and I think they have taken their eye off the ball for some time. We as a council need to take a lot more action and pay closer attention.”

In addition to the places issue, concerns have been raised over education levels in Northamptonshire, which are ‘not at the level we want them to be’, according to the cabinet member for schools on the county council.

Cllr Fiona Baker made the admission last week as the council supported a motion from the opposing Labour Party calling on the authority to do what it could to raise standards.

According to the council’s latest performance report, only 64 per cent of secondary schools are graded as good or outstanding by Ofsted. The remaining 36 per cent are ranked by school inspectors as requires improvement or inadequate. The motion, from Cllr Julie Brookfield, called on the council to make education a priority, and to ‘intervene to ensure a trust acts more swiftly’ when it identifies that an academy is at risk of underachieving.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: “The county council has been working with academies and schools in the town to provide temporary additional capacity for Year 7 pupils.

“A report is scheduled to go before the council’s Cabinet next month outlining details of measures which are being proposed.

“Additionally, this month it was announced that £12.2 million expansion projects will create a total of 450 additional pupil places in Kettering, allowing schools to increase their admission numbers to support continued growth in the town.

“Going forward, our growing county means that we are continually faced with the challenge of providing more school places in the future and we will continue to work with our partners to make this happen.”

CORBY

There are no spare places now in Corby. Some Year 7 pupils living in the town are being offered a place nine miles away at Prince William School in Oundle.

Plans for a new free school also appear to have stalled. The school, which is being sponsored by the Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust, had been planned for a site off Geddington Road but now an alternative location has been earmarked just outside Weldon. An opening date was marked for this year but work has not yet started.

NORTHAMPTON

Two new secondary free schools have opened in the town in the past three years, but there are still 150 Year 7 places short this September. These pupils will be placed in existing schools.

The report says: “NCC does not have sufficient funding available to deliver a new secondary school to serve Northampton town, while meeting demand in other areas of the county. The provision of a new secondary school in Northampton remains the biggest single challenge.”

Plans for a new free school were dropped in 2018 and the council now says its strategic planning team is seeking a new bid by talking with a number of academy trusts.

After 2023 3,000 additional places will be needed for the Dallington Grange and Upton developments.

KETTERING

To meet Year 7 demand this year Kettering Science Academy and Southfield School have put on a ‘bulge’ class. Both schools have also recently had large extensions approved to increase numbers, Kettering Buccleuch Academy will take on more students and there will be an expansion at Latimer School and Montsaye in Rothwell. Plans for a new secondary school at Kettering East now look unlikely until after 2023 because of development delays.

WELLINGBOROUGH

After the coming academic year the council says Wellingborough secondary schools will be full. An expansion is being planned at Sir Christopher Hatton Academy and the council is talking with the town’s other schools to increase their place numbers.

EAST NORTHANTS

There is no new school planned for the area and the council says it is entering into discussions with existing schools to increase capacity instead. It is expected an expansion will be needed at Manor School in Raunds.

DAVENTRY

There is a surplus of places in the Daventry area. The council is progressing plans to expand Guilsborough Academy and is planning to open a free school in Overstone Leys which is anticipated to meet the demand for secondary places in Northampton. After 2023 there may be a secondary school required to meet the need for places from the Daventry North East development.

SOUTH NORTHANTS
Overall the area has surplus capacity but the council says some schools such as Sponne and Caroline Chisholm are full. There are also potential expansions at Campion School and Chenderit School.

Sarah Ward, Local Democracy Reporter

Chris Boyd admits he still doesn’t know what his best Saints team is.

And the boss is delighted to have a pool of 30 players who he trusts to shine for the black, green and gold.

Saints have enjoyed two huge weekends, beating Saracens 23-9 in the Premiership Rugby Cup final at Franklin’s Gardens before winning 29-15 at Leicester Tigers last Friday.

Boyd made eight changes for the trip to Welford Road and Saints stepped their performance levels up even further to register a sensational derby-day success.

They are now preparing to travel to Clermont Auvergne for the European Challenge Cup quarter-final on Sunday evening.

And Boyd has a plethora of options at his disposal as he looks to pick a team that can keep the treble dream alive.

“We certainly didn’t pick our strongest team against Saracens and we didn’t pick our strongest team last week,” said Boyd, who arrived at Saints from Super Rugby side the Hurricanes last summer.

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure what our strongest team is.

“But the nice thing is that we’ve got 30 players who we can ask to step in and they will all do a job for us.

“It bodes well going forward that we can mix and match a little bit.”

A contractor is due to be appointed imminently to oversee the second phase of the Upton Country Park project.

Improvement works will involve the construction of approximately 2,400 metres of new footway and cycleway paths, new leisure and hardstanding areas, new fencing, gates, bridges, boardwalks, a viewing platform and signage.

Other potential developments in the second phase include a car park and toilet facilities for the new county park. The land for phase two of the project runs from Upton Mill Farm to the edge of the village of Kislingbury.

The first phase was delivered in 2008 at the area including the Elgar Centre community building, which opened in 2011. It also included car parking, new drainage ponds and ditches, playing fields for five football pitches and a cricket square.

Work has been funded through section 106 money, which is made up of contributions from developers towards local infrastructure when they are given approval to build housing estates by the local authority.

Northampton Borough Council says the country park project will ‘provide a gateway to the wider countryside and create a link between the urban area and the countryside’, as well as proving an ‘attractive setting for adjoining development’.

The council’s cabinet is due to discuss the appointment of a contractor to oversee the project at its meeting next Wednesday (April 3).

It has been recommended that the cabinet delegates authority to the council’s Head of Economy, Assets and Culture to finalise the contract terms and to appoint the main construction contractor.

They would also be approved to undertake any further land acquisitions or transfers that are required in order to enable the delivery of the scheme, as long as no additional funding is required.

A housing developer is hoping to add more affordable homes to its proposed site next to Buckton Fields.

Futures Homescape Ltd has outline planning permission to build 32 homes at the site, which runs along the A5199 Welford Road in Boughton.

But it has submitted a reserved matters application which provides details on layout and scale, but also features an additional nine residential units to take the total up to 41.

The revised scheme would feature ten affordable rent dwellings, 15 ‘Right to Buy’ properties and 16 shared ownership homes - making all the units 'affordable'.

Daventry District Council planning officers have recommended that councillors approve the scheme when the planning committee meets next Wednesday (April 3), despite the development contravening planning policy by not offering a ‘mix’ of homes.

The planning office writes in papers which will be seen by the councillors: “The applicant is an established registered housing provider and maintains that the proposed tenure mix is required to address demand and housing need in the locality.

“A case is made that there is evidence of an undersupply in regards to affordable housing in the locality, which includes Northampton Borough, as the site is deemed to come within the Northampton Development Area (NDA) and that there is support from Northampton Borough Council who will have nomination rights on the scheme and who confirm their support of the proposed tenure mix. Additionally, it is noted that the scheme will be supported by Homes England.”

Futures Homescape argues that the ‘additional’ provision here will make up for the ‘loss’ of affordable housing on other nearby schemes where less than 35 per cent has been provided due to viability issues. The developer says this has reduced the number of affordable housing provided, namely elements of Buckton Fields and Dallington Grange.

A letter from the applicants to the council states: “Neither the Core Strategy nor the Housing SPD actually addresses the issue of potential overprovision of affordable housing, only prospective under-provision (if ‘justified’ by a viability exercise). It is concluded therefore that the delivery of the site as 100 per cent affordable is not contrary to either policy document.”

Developments of 100 per cent affordable homes are a rare sight at planning committee meetings, and no objections have been received from residents or the parish council in Boughton.

This proposal follows on from the grant of outline planning permission in 2015 after an appeal.

Saints have today announced three new signings for next season.

Ryan Olowofela, Lewis Bean and Karl Garside will all be moving to Franklin’s Gardens ahead of the 2019/20 season.

Lock Bean and prop Garside have impressed Saints boss Chris Boyd while appearing as guest players during the Wanderers’ Premiership Rugby Shield campaign.

They are already training full-time with the club while continuing to play for Moseley and Ampthill respectively.

Meanwhile, winger Olowofela, twin brother of Leicester Tigers full-back Jordan Olowofela, is currently plying his trade on the World Rugby Sevens Series with England and will arrive at Saints in time for pre-season.

“Ryan, Lewis and Karl are obviously very different players, but we believe they are great acquisitions for us and are confident all three will make a significant impact next year,” said Boyd.

“Karl caught our eye earlier this season while some of our other tightheads were injured and he took his opportunity superbly.

“Lewis has also been really impressive – as you might expect of a serviceman, his work rate and attitude are top class.

“Ryan seems to be going from strength to strength with England Sevens so we are really excited to get him into our environment and see what he can do in XVs footy.

“Clearly he is a high-skill player with bags of pace, so I’m sure he can be a supporter favourite here at Franklin’s Gardens.”

Olowofela came through Leicester Tigers Academy before turning his attentions to Sevens rugby and the world stage.

After making his England debut at the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Sevens Series in Moscow in 2017, the 20-year-old progressed on to the World Series the following year and has been a regular fixture in the side ever since.

This season Olowofela has scored 12 tries in 24 matches for England, and he is set to reach 50 Sevens caps overall before the end of the current campaign.

Rifleman Bean has been on two tours of Afghanistan during his time in the military services, but also worked his way up through the Army’s age-grade teams and featured in the 100th anniversary match between the Army and Navy at Twickenham in 2017.

The 125kg lock has balanced his career while playing for Moseley in National One in recent seasons, also turning out twice already in black, green and gold for the Wanderers this term, against Worcester Cavaliers and Wasps A.

Bean, who is 26, was on loan at Worcester Warriors at the start of the season and featured for the Sixways outfit in the Gallagher Premiership, before landing a switch to Saints.

And 21-year-old tighthead Garside began his rugby career at Oaklands College and featured in the RFU’s AASE League against the likes of future Saints team-mate James Grayson.

He became Saint number 1997 back in October when he made his full debut against Bristol Bears in the Premiership Rugby Cup, and has four first-team appearances to his name so far, including featuring in the Premiership triumph over Wasps at Franklin’s Gardens.

At club level Garside joined National One outfit Ampthill & District from Old Albanians in 2017, and has also represented Hertfordshire and England Counties.

Chillies restaurant and Bar Serenity, which is at the edge of the Mereway Tesco site, closed down earlier this year.

But following an open day in February, potential new leaseholders came forward with the result a deal could be signed imminently and a reopening date pencilled in for six weeks' time..

Adam Muxlow, of Trust Inns which is marketing the property, said: "I've been inundated with offers from people who want the site.

"It's in a key position near a big supermarket so its very popular.

"The deal hasn't been signed just yet but we hope to get the new tenant in in six weeks."

Split between a pub area and a restaurant, the layout of the building is set to remain the same, but with changes to the interior.

"The restaurant has to stay there, so it will be split like it was before.

"The pub part will still be that sports bar style where you'll be able to watch the football, it will just be run a bit differently."

Before the building reopens, the interior will be overhauled. The refurbishment will begin in about a fortnight and will take around a month to complete.

Cobblers boss Keith Curle has set his players the challenging task of claiming six wins and a draw from their final seven games of the season.

And if they do that, then Curle believes the team will have a great chance of clinching a place in the promotion play-offs.

Momentum had been building in the Cobblers camp, but last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Cheltenham Town was a real setback.

It leaves Town a sizeable nine points off the top seven with just 21 points left to play for, but Curle still believes it is a gap that can be closed.

The run-in is, on paper at least, a good one as Cobblers play League Two’s bottom four in their remaining matches - starting with Port Vale this Saturday - and also have four home matches to play.

And Curle is asking the Town supporters to give the team an extra push.

“The run-in starts now,” said the Cobblers boss.

“I said before last weekend that we can afford to lose one game out of the remaining eight, and now we need six wins and a draw.

“That would get us an accumulation of points, that if anybosy else potentially slips up, then we will be there waiting.

“But the onus is on us, and we need to win games, and when I say we, the supporters are a massive part of that.

“The support at Cheltenham on Saturday was phenomenal - fantastic.

“We were disappointed with the result, disappointed with the performance, but the support they gave us was excellent.”

Even if the Cobblers were to match Curle’s 19-point target, it is not guaranteed they would reach the play-offs, but the manager is demanding the best from his players, no matter the league situation.

“I have a desire, I need to be successful, and I need to surround myself with people who have that same desire, that same need, and that same hunger,” he said.

“There might be seven games to go, there might be one game to go, I want to win it.

“I want to win everything when I represent this football club, and from the players who represent me and this football club, I want that hunger.”

The incident happened close to an alleyway near the fast food outlet between 5.10am and 5.15am on Saturday, February 9, when Mr Matcham was punched once to the head, causing him to lose consciousness and collapse.

He was taken to University Hospital Coventry but sadly died as a result of his injuries on Monday, February 18.

His friend Billy Torpey is among his loved ones and colleagues who are taking on the Northampton Tough Mudder at Franklins Gardens on June 1 and have so far raised £1,120 - at the time of writing this article - in his memory.

Mr Torpey said: "The memories we all have of Bradley are treasured ones that we will keep hold of forever.

"I had the honour of calling Brad my friend but he felt more like a brother to me.

"His presence has made such an impact on my life that has made me a better person today. I know he affected so many other lives who also feel this strongly towards him."

Bradley always wanted to take on the Tough Mudder and his nearest and dearest now want to complete the challenge in his honour.

"Brad's outlook on life was to always 'enjoy yourself'," Mr Torpey added.

"He truly was one in a million and the world certainly feels a lesser place knowing that Brad is no longer here.

"His cheeky, charismatic and vibrant personality were just some of the qualities that Brad possessed but most importantly, he had the ability to make others feel more positively towards life itself."

To donate click here.

Phil Moore reviews slowthai at the HMV Institute in Birmingham

Tyron Frampton, AKA slowthai, is the 24-year-old rapper from Lings in Northampton and he’s the breakout star of a rap scene that's overloaded with talent.

Of mixed Barbadian and Irish descent, his gritty and politicised version of hip-hop has quickly become a hit, with punk and grime fanatics alike connecting with his sound and message, not to mention his Brexit Bandit persona.

This is his second headline tour and crucially his first since Doorman took over the airwaves and propelled him into the wider consciousness.

A near capacity crowd at the Institute in Birmingham were hyped for Ty, with help from support act Jeshi and the tour DJ.

By the time he appeared onstage he was immediately full of that Jack Nicholson-esque maniacal energy that has made his music and face instantly recognisable.

He was joined throughout by his topless, balaclava-clad DJ and hype man (and his regular producer) Kwesi Darko, whose looming presence was itself a magnetic force.

At the Institute, slowthai played a game of three halves.

The opening salvo was an intense mix some of his best known tunes including Polaroid, Drug Dealer, Peace Of Mind and Rainbow and its exhilarating blast of beats.

“I need it from your heart Birmingham,” he implored and he got the reaction he requested in spades. Mosh pits were aggressively encouraged and fans complied.

After Ladies, he tried his first crowd interaction, pulling out an inflatable dinghy to crowdsurf.

Sadly it doesn't work too well - it’s hard, after all, to hold a 6ft man up when you’ve always got a mobile phone in your palm.

It was laughed off brilliantly, fortunately, as the crowd clearly had an affinity with him, even though most were seeing him for the first time.

Tonight’s middle section was a mix of the deeper tracks from EPs and his early singles, mixed in with some new tunes from his forthcoming debut album Nothing Great About Britain which is out on May 17.

There’s nothing to hide here, no topic is off limit. Mayday is “a song about ketamine”.

In North Nights, a ShoeTown-referencing older track, he slates the prime minister - “Theresa May wanna be like Branson” – while also laying out his local issues with friends and enemies, cabs and the cold nights.

He also brought out Birmingham rapper JaeKae and the two worked through his big hit from 2017, Moscow. Inevitably the crowd went wild.

There was a moment during Gorgeous - where it played simply the recording of this new track, giving him a chance to get close and personal with the front row - that you wondered if he’s got enough material yet to truly pin the audience into submission.

However, he finished with a one-two that had everyone moshing hard.

T N Biscuits elicited a huge roar and the finale of Doorman almost raised the foundations of this hallowed building - an anthem to disenfranchised youth if ever there was one.

It was a special moment for everyone to head home to and if he can produce more of those moments on the album then the world is his for the taking.

On Wednesday night slowthai (importantly: no space, no caps) showed us what he’s got - charisma, talent and desire.

He laid it down for all to see - his anger is his energy. All hail slowthai, the Prince of Northampton.

slowthai played:

Polaroid

Drug Dealer

Dumb

Peace Of Mind

Ladies

Slow Down

Why You Wet

Rainbow

GTFOMF

Moscow [with JaeKae]

Mayday

IDGAF

North Nights

Gorgeous

T N Biscuits

Doorman

* The show took place on March 27. Visit www.slowthai.com for details of future tour dates.

Port Vale manager John Askey insists his full focus remains solely on this weekend’s game against the Cobblers despite growing concerns over the club’s off-field future.

Vale, who are only two places and seven points outside the relegation zone in League Two, have problems off the pitch as well as on it, with owner Norman Smurthwaite announcing his intention to put the club into administration if a buyer is not found by May 5.

Following supporter protests about his running of the club, Smurthwaite told BBC Radio Stoke this week he will only fund Vale up to the final game of the current campaign, claiming that as much as £600,000 will be needed to keep the club going until the start of next season.

“I wasn’t the person or group of people who said ‘you’ve got to go’,” he said. “They didn’t and don’t understand the implications of what they’ve done, and they’ll learn that as time goes by.

“The football club has to trade through to May 5 and it will. I’ll pay all of the bills up to that point. After 5 May, I will not put one cent more into the club.”

Former Shrewsbury and Macclesfield manager Askey, who replaced Neil Aspin at the start of February, played down the distractions this week and insisted his focus is purely on Saturday’s game against Northampton.

“The last few days have been normal and we’re looking forward to the Northampton game,” said Askey, whose side’s four-game unbeaten run was ended by Forest Green Rovers last weekend.

“There were a lot of plus points from the Forest Green game even though we lost and and the atmosphere is quite good.

“I don’t think there are any distractions, not for myself or the players anyway. We’ve got a job to do and that’s to get safe and that’s our sole focus. Nothing else impacts us.”

Data released by the Police.uk website tracks the number of reports of burglaries across the town.

This data is based on the latest available information, which tracks reports of burglaries for January 2019 in the area. There were a total of 50 burglary reports. Areas listed are a rough guide based on policing districts and images are for illustrative purposes.

Ash Taylor believes the club is now more stable on and off the pitch that at any time in his 20 months as a Cobblers player, and is ‘in a great position’ to launch a serious bid to get back up to Sky Bet League One.

The central defender joined on a three-year deal from Aberdeen in the summer of 2017, signed by Justin Edinburgh at a time when the club was in league one and aiming high thanks to investment from Chinese company 5USports.

But it’s probably something of an understatement to say things haven’t gone to plan, for player or club.

Since Taylor signed, the 5USports investment is no more, the Cobblers have been relegated to league two, and the club is on its fourth manager, with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Dean Austin being hired and fired following the sacking of Edinburgh.

But things have looked up in recent months.

Keith Curle took the managerial reins from Austin in October, and in the six months since there has been genuine signs of stability and some real progression.

The team have pulled away from the league two relegation zone they flirted with for the first six months of the campaign, and recent form has been so good there were hopes the team could sneak into the play-offs this season.

Last weekend’s defeat at Cheltenham has perhaps put an end to that, but regardless of the result at Whaddon Road - which was the Cobblers’ first defeat in nine games - Taylor feels the club is now, at last, heading in the right direction.

“I think the club is the most stable it has been, and that’s performance-wise as well,” said Taylor, who was named the supporters’ player of the year last season.

“It is a shame things haven’t worked out the way they should have, and we are in the position that we are, but the club is pretty stable now and is in a great position at the moment.”

Now 28, Taylor admits he didn’t envisage playing in the bottom tier of English League football when he joined Town after spending three successful seasons in the Scottish Premiership with Aberdeen.

But that is how things have panned out, and he is now just keen to get back up the divisions.

“I don’t want to be playing league two football for another year, but it is looking likely,” said Taylor.

“If we can get out of it this year then it would be fantastic, but we just want to get this club back into league one and then kick on again.”

Taylor has seen for himself the potential the club has on and off the pitch, and believes the supporters can still play a part in the team making an unlikely charge for the play-offs this season.

The fans rallied around at the back end of last season when Town were battling against relegation.

There were big crowds at Sixfields and more than 2,200 travelled to the final away game at Walsall, and although Austin’s team ultimately fell short, Taylor was impressed with the backing the team got from the fans.

“If we can put in the performances like we have, and get the backing of the supporters, then they can help us massively,” said Taylor.

“We have seen it when we have been on a good run, they really get behind us, and that doesn’t half help the team, especially with the likes of the younger lads coming in and playing.

“With the fans behind them it is only going to fill them with confidence, knowing they are supported, and that is only going to be good for the club.”

Almost 650 supporters made the trip to the Cotswolds last weekend for the Cobblers’ disappointing 3-1 loss against the Robins, and Taylor says he still bemused as to what went wrong.

“It wasn’t a great performance, and disappointing on our behalf,” he admitted.

“We didn’t turn up, we got out-battled and it wasn’t like us at all considering the run we have been on, and the performances we have put in.

“It was so disappointing to send the fans home unhappy, but I can’t put a finger on what went wrong, we just didn’t get near them.

“We didn’t get in their faces like we have been, and Cheltenham played some good football as well which put us out of our stride a little bit.

“It was just an off day for us.”

Dozens gathered to see the second branch of a social enterprise cafe throw its doors open in Northampton town centre today.

The Good Loaf opened for its first day of trading at All Saints church following a ribbon cutting ceremony led by Lord Lieutenant David Laing.

The social enterprise bakery, based in Overstone Road, provides a work programme for women wanting to break the cycle of unemployment, offending and poverty.

And the fresh loaves popular at its Mounts-based will all be available at the new All Saints venue - alongside cafe the full menu of sandwiches, soups and cakes.

Chief executive of The Good Loaf Suzy Van Rooyen, said: “I’m really pleased that we have been able to enhance the work we are doing to support vulnerable women in the county with this new facility in the heart of Northampton at All Saints.

“Our work is based on strong partnerships and together, we can drive through improvements to the criminal justice system that help women, their families, and the

wider community.”

The new cafe has already provided four new paid jobs for women who have completed the six-work work programme at the Overstone Road site.

It will also deliver crisis services for women, with a particular focus on mental health. The service aims to reduce the number of women entering the criminal justice system and to break the cycle of offending.

The project, made possible thanks to a successful funding bid to the Ministry of Justice, is a collaboration between the probation service, Northamptonshire's police, crime and fire commissioner, Northampton's university and the NHS among other partners.

Father Oliver Coss, the rector of All Saints Church, said he was thrilled to see the Good Loaf taking over the cafe.

"The Good Loaf has a wonderful track record of changing the lives of women in Northampton that really need people to invest in them," he said.

"It really matches our Christian ethos.

"Every cup of coffee people buy will be helping to change lives."

A cafe has operated at All Saints Church for more than 30 years and the venue was previously run by Northampton mayor Councillor Tony Ansell.

Northamptonshire's police, fire and crime commissioner, Stephen Mold says the Good Loaf will make an important addition to the town centre.

He said: “The model that has been set by the Good Loaf has been extremely successful, providing support and intervention to help vulnerable women and their families and preventing

them from being drawn into further crime.

"I am very pleased that this amazing scheme is expanding and that the benefits it brings to the women, their families and the wider community are spreading more widely.”

A third branch of the Good Loaf - the first in the north of the county - will open in Kettering later this year.

This data is based on the latest available information, which tracks reports of possession of weapons for January 2019 in the area. Possession of weapons includes items such as a knife or firearm. There were a total of 16 possession of weapons reports. Areas listed are a rough guide based on policing districts and images are for illustrative purposes.

A coveted curry award is back on show at a Northampton town centre restaurant, after a replacement was commissioned to replace the stolen original.

Thieves broke into Saffron in Castilian Street, Northampton in January, making off with thousands of pounds worth of alcohol, electrical goods and the Tiffin Cup – a crystal trophy won by the restaurant following a cook-off at the House of Commons in 2016.

Despite the restaurant offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to its safe return, the original trophy remains at large. A specially-commissioned replacement has now been presented in Westminster following a joint intervention by Northampton South MP Andrew Lewer and Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East.

Owner Naz Islam said: “Having worked incredibly hard to bring the trophy back to Northampton, it was sickening to have it snatched away from us.

“We are extremely grateful to both Andrew Lewer and Keith Vaz who have helped issue a replica so we can still have the trophy on display in the restaurant.”

The Tiffin Cup is an annual competition run by the House of Commons to honour the UK’s best South Asian cuisine. It is awarded by the Tiffin Club of MPs, formed in 2006.

Andrew Lewer MP said: “I know how much hard work the restaurant team put in to win the cup and the senseless theft was a bitter blow to them. I am so glad that it is now replaced and back where it should be in the restaurant.”

Saffron became the first Northampton restaurant to ever win the competition and the trophy took pride of place in the restaurant until the theft. The break-in was captured on the restaurant’s CCTV system and detectives from Northamptonshire Police are still investigating.

Keith Vaz MP said: “We were all saddened to hear of the break in and theft of the Tiffin Cup. It truly is back where it belongs once again at the home of the winner of the Cup. I look forward to visiting Saffron again to rediscover what made this the best curry house in the UK.”

The number of planning applications for HiMO’s in the town has been steadily increasing as Northampton welcomed the opening of the new university campus at Waterside last year. The council’s policy around HiMO’s includes an Interim Planning Policy Statement and wide ranging Article 4 areas, which aims to limit the density of HIMO’s in Northampton. Under the Article 4 Direction, there should not be more than 15 per cent of HiMOs in a 50-metre radius. This ultimately aims to protect the character of areas and communities while ensuring adequate provision of facilities, amenities and services, such as parking, healthcare and recycling. Pictures shown in this gallery are for illustration purposes only.

The hospital, along with the wider NHS, says it is continuing to see an increase in daily activity attempting to cause disruption and gain access to IT systems.

Deborah Needham, the acting chief executive, said in board papers that on average 240 attempts were blocked each day. With the NHS's aim to become paperless this would only increase, she said.

Mrs Needham said: "Staff are constantly reminded not to open strange emails or click on links that they did not know.

She added: "With an ever-growing estate of devices, applications and medical devices the IT team have a huge challenge to keep the trust’s patient and staff data."

Board papers list the main issues for the trust as being:

Opportunistic and targeted attacks: phishing email campaigns that attempt to fool trust staff into clicking a link that installs malware such as a virus.

Exploitation of unpatched software - ensuring the trust's software is kept up-to-date with security patches is a priority as this is one of the most likely ways that an attack will be successful against the hospital

Human resources cyber security.

A Northampton kebab shop was fined £10,000 by the Home Office last year for hiring an illegal worker.

Immigration enforcement officers visited Al Fairoz Kebabish, in Sheep Street, in November 2017 on an intel-based operation.

As a result, they found and arrested an illegal worker employed at the shop by Al-Feiroz Catering Ltd.

It led to the business and its director, Kamran Ayoub, being handed a £10,000 civil penalty in the first three months of 2018.

The fine was published in late February 2019 on a Gov.uk listing for employers who had been served fines for not complying with illegal working legislation.

Al Fairoz Kebabish - which holds a food hygiene rating of three-out-of-five on the Food Standards Agency website - was contacted for a comment.

The report on the Government's website reads: "This report lists employers on whom the Home Office have imposed civil penalties (fines) for not complying with illegal working legislation, and who have a) not paid them, or are not making regular payments towards them 28 days after they have exhausted all their objection and appeal rights, and b) been served with a second or further penalty once they have exhausted all their objection or appeal rights regardless, of whether they have made any payments."

Northamptonshire County Council is finally lifting the Section 114 notice which banned any new expenditure.

The decision comes following a recommendation from the two government appointed inspectors who were brought in to oversee the council’s turbulent financial crisis.

It also comes as the council appears to be closing in on balancing its in-year budget for 2018/19.

The commissioners say that the latest financial monitoring report, which will be released next week and covers the first 11 months of the year, is broadly balanced - and that this is the first time in seven years that this has been the case.

The ban on new expenditure that wasn’t statutory - known as a Section 114 notice - has been implemented twice within the last 18 months at the county council, the first being in February with the latest one being brought in in July 2017. Prior to that, it hadn’t been implemented by any local government in two decades.

But the council’s leadership say that this is a sign that the authority is finally heading in the right direction.

Brian Roberts, the finance commissioner for the council, said: “We are impressed that this has been achieved without the use of any funds other than those budgeted for at the beginning of the year.

“The county council is living within its own means and has demonstrated that it is capable of doing so without putting services at further risk. It is a significant achievement which reflects well upon the members and staff of the authority.

“Whilst the disciplines of the s114 process have assisted in this - and will be retained - there is no longer a need for the council to live under the shadow of this failure. The work to restore the operating capabilities of many of the council's services, which have been greatly diminished over the years, can continue as the council prepares to place these services into proposed new arrangements for two unitaries in the county area.”

Leader Councillor Matt Golby added: “Earlier this year I said that all indications were that we were turning a corner and we had successfully built stability back into the council’s finances.

“Today’s announcements by the commissioners further underlines this point. We are due to publish our latest monitoring report next Monday and all indications are that we are now balancing our budget. Given that at one point the deficit stood at £64million this is an incredible achievement.

“All of this has been achieved utilising our own financial resources. The commissioners, our chief executive, her leadership team, my cabinet colleagues and indeed every member of staff at the council have worked tirelessly to achieve what so many people thought unachievable.

“Of course this does not mean the lifting of strict financial controls, we will never again be complacent and we must continue with the energy and commitment we have shown to get us this far to further strengthen our finances and critically transform our services so they can move forward with confidence.”

Although the financial turnaround has used the council’s own resources, it has needed unprecedented government help along the way.

In November, the government allowed the county council to use £70million of its capital funds - which are normally reserved for building and infrastructure projects - to be spent in its revenue stream, which includes adult social care and education.

The use of that £70million allowed the council to wipe out its deficit of £35million from 2017/18, and replenish the reserves level that had been decimated.

Westminster has also given help for the coming year ahead, allowing the county council to raise council tax levels for 2019/20 to 4.99 per cent, two per cent more than is usually allowed without a referendum. The county council has argued though that council tax levels for Northamptonshire will still compare favourably to many other authorities.

The final update on the 2018/19 financial year will be discussed at the next cabinet meeting, on Tuesday April 9.