Emma Bazeley, 44, from St Crispin, was being driven northbound on the M1 by her partner when, near junction 15, a dark-coloured saloon car swerved across its lane towards them.

Her partner took evasive action and kept his distance but soon pulled alongside. The couple were then shocked to see that the driver had fixed to his windscreen his mobile phone, which was playing a video or streaming TV.

Emma said: "I thought 'are my eyes deceiving me?'.

"Then I said, ' Oh my God, he's watching a TV programme'.

"He did not have a clue what was going on around him. He was driving erratically and swerved over the line, he nearly hit us.

"He was going right up to the speed limit and then slowing down."

At that point, Emma decided to film the inside of the other car as evidence.

She said: "Even when we are alongside him, he doesn't even notice until my partner beeped his horn.

"The look of shock on his face was a comedy gold moment."

Emma has uploaded the video footage to a police website.

Chris Boyd believes James Grayson is 'serving a good apprenticeship' at Saints.

And the boss has backed the talented young fly-half to go on to be the natural successor to Wales star Dan Biggar.

Grayson was the match-winning hero for Saints at the Stoop last Saturday as he held his nerve to slot a tricky conversion in the final minute of the game.

It earned the black, green and gold a precious 20-19 victory against Gallagher Premiership top-four rivals Harlequins and displayed the ability of Grayson.

The 20-year-old had come on for injury victim Piers Francis four minutes into the second half, putting in a big shift at full-back.

Grayson made a try-saving tackle on Marcus Smith before serving up some late heroics with the boot, following Alex Mitchell's eye-catching try.

And Boyd said: "Jimmy's got plenty of chat so he wouldn't have wanted to miss that because he might have got a bit back.

"He's a good, young prospect and he's done a good job for us in Dan's absence.

"He's got a good head on him and he's serving a good apprenticeship under the tutelage of (attack coach) Sam Vesty and Dan Biggar.

"By the time it's Dan's turn to leave Northampton, I'm pretty certain James Grayson can play a lot of games for Saints in the future."

Saints were forced into several back-line reshuffles at the Stoop, with Francis and Ahsee Tuala forced off during the second half.

And Boyd said: "It was an interesting discussion in the box.

"With 20 minutes to go, we'd already lost Piers Francis and we thought we were going to have to take Dan Biggar off, which would have meant putting Jamie Gibson on the wing or one of the half-backs.

"Dan said he could play but he couldn't kick the ball because he had an Achilles issue and he was playing on one leg.

"When Ace Tuala got cramp he was gone so we decided to put Cobus (Reinach) on the wing with Alex Mitchell into nine and the young fella scored a try, with the other young fella (Grayson) able to slot it between the posts by about 20 centimetres."

It took firefighters hours to control the blaze. which resulted in the collapse of the famous spire to collapse. The cause is unknown but officials have said it was possibly linked to ongoing renovation work.

Cobblers once again illustrated their set-piece prowess on Saturday when Sam Foley headed home Scott Pollock’s corner to earn a point against Mansfield Town.

Town have looked a constant threat from dead ball situations ever since Keith Curle took over as manager at the start of October, with six of their last 10 goals scored from either a corner or a free-kick.

And rather than being a coincidence, their set-piece success is the product of hard graft on the training field where Curle and his coaching staff regularly conjure up new, wacky routines in an attempt to catch opponents by surprise.

“It all comes from training,” defender Jordan Turnbull explains. “We did set-pieces on Friday before the game and we worked up a good four or five different routines to go through for Saturday’s game.

“The goal we scored was from one of them and it came off on the day. We all just piled on the edge of the box and sprinted into different zones as quickly as we could. We looked to get on the end of it and Fols did that.

“We work on it enough throughout the week and each time we try something different. It’s just anything to disrupt the other team and if it comes off in the game, then brilliant.

“We’ve been fantastic from set-pieces this season and scored a lot of goals so obviously it works and we’ll keep trying to come up with new routines and and keep trying to score from them.

“The manager always has something up his sleeve on a Friday so we’ll look forward to something different this week!”

Not only do Cobblers practise hard at perfecting set-piece routines each week, Curle also revealed they have a name for every one to avoid confusion, adding: “We have names for them. The one for the goal on Saturday was the Red Arrows.

“It’s a spearhead formation and we have two variations of another one when they meet in the middle and fan out while other times they cross over to the other side. That one’s called Constantina.”

Pollock was the man who delivered the corner for Foley to head in during Saturday’s 1-1 draw and he added: “We’ve worked a lot in training on set-piece routines and I’m glad it paid off in the game.

“I looked to whip it in hoping someone could get on the end of it and luckily it worked. You have to time it right and it all comes from hard work on the training pitch.”

A Ted Baker handbag was stolen during a burglary in Charles Street, Kettering.

The break-in happened between 10.30pm on Wednesday, April 10, and 7am on Thursday, April 11, when the burglars gained entry to a property in the area via the back door and stole the black handbag.

Witnesses or anyone with information should call Northamptonshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Scaffolding and corrugated fencing has been built around the Eleanor Cross in London Road as the first steps in conservation work by the borough council.

It comes after the council secured a grant from Historic England to cover half of the repair costs, with the rest being funded by "council resources", according to councillor Tim Hadland.

Architects Skillington Workshop have been commissioned to carry out the conservation work and are expected to finished in August.

The first steps will be to use X-rays and radar technology to assess the extent of the work needed.

Architect Henry Sanders AABC, who will oversee the project, said: "Much like in surgery, you don't know what approach will be best until your patient is under the knife.

"You have to approach an historic building such as this with an open mind. What approach you take will very likely change as you inspect the building."

Skillington plan to restore the cross using limestone mortar and will make no visible changes to the stonework - which will mean no replacement for the long-lost spire of the monument, which has been missing for centuries.

Many conservationists in the town feared the cross would not survive another winter, and in the past have shared photos of small pieces of the stonework they found on the floor where it crumbled off.

Councillor James Hill, cabinet member for planning, said: "We said we would start work as soon as possible and that’s precisely what we’re doing.

“The exciting project we are set to embark upon will see the sensitive and cautious repair of this beautiful and important monument, preserving it for future generations.”

The Eleanor Cross was one of 12 such monumemnts built in the 13th-Century to mark one of the resting places of the wife of Edward I, Queen Eleanor of Castile, as her body was transported to London. It is one of only three surviving such crosses.

Northampton's cross was last weatherproofed in 1980 and caused controversy in 2016 when it seemed like neither the borough council nor the county council were responsible for its maintenance. The borough council promised to take action for the cross in 2017.

After two years of negotiating, scaffolding has finally gone up around the Eleanor Cross as specialist architects plan to secure the stonework from further damage.

Megan Eyles took over ownership of Peppertrees, in the Ridings Arcade, back in 2016, and after investing her hard-earned savings she expanded the shop to make room for extra stock.

But yesterday morning (Monday) she issued a heartfelt statement on social media saying she is now closing the store due to "outgoing costs beyond control" and "footfall in the town centre declining" along with other factors.

Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo Megan, of Abington, said: "Of course I’m disappointed that it’s ended but for me, personally, it had to happen.

"My biggest worry was people thinking I had failed but when talking to people it became clear that people didn’t think that at all – in fact they said that identifying that this was the right time to close was more of a credit and it shows more about me as a person."

This week marks 25-year-old Megan's last week as manager of the gift shop. Her mum is set to step in to run the store during it's final weeks to May 31.

Megan, who has now got a new job, was given the option to take over ownership of Peppertrees in 2016 after she worked on the shop floor for two years prior, and invested her savings into making the shop her own.

She has always strived to keep the shop open as she believes Peppertrees has always been a core town centre shop which offers ‘in-depth knowledge’ about its stock.

She added: "It’s been hard work. People say, 'it must be nice to be your own boss because you decide what you want to do and you can have time off' but you don’t.

"If you leave early or have a day off you’re still working and thinking about your business - sleepless nights when trade isn’t good, whether your next pay cheque will come, the constant worry, it all adds up.

"Independent shops are people’s lives. We’ve out our own money, hours and time into providing unique places for shoppers to visit. The amount of times I’ve listened to conversations and watched people searching on their phones to get it cheaper elsewhere is endless. But independents aren’t always more expensive when you add in postage costs, and you can walk away with it the same day."

Megan also cited a rise in parking charges in Northampton town centre as becoming a problem for trade as well as eye-watering bills. But despite the increasing popularity of online shopping, there are still customers who like to shop on their doorsteps.

"Yes, online retail is a factor but I still hear people saying that they like to see what they are buying in person rather than online," Megan said.

"The costs of running a bricks and mortar shop is extortionate, plus business rates."

Megan pays over £30,000 in rent and business rates alone each year, and has to cover electricity bills, new stock, staff wages and packaging on top.

"I think landlords need to be more flexible with rent if they want reduce the amount of vacant units in the town.

"Also rising parking charges are eventually going to push people away. If you haven’t got the variety of shops to entice people they’ll go elsewhere where parking charges are more reasonable for what that particular place has to offer."

The closing down sale starts on Tuesday, April 23 where all stock will be sold at a 50 per cent discount before it closes finally at the end of May.

A clubhouse has been broken into in Northampton.

The burglary happened between 9.30pm on Friday, April 5 and 8.30am on Saturday, April 6, at the Dallinggton Lawn Tennis Club just off Dallington Park Road, when someone attempted to force open the shutters of the clubhouse but failed.

However, they then went to the front door and forced their way in via that entrance instead. Once inside they stole tennis equipment, alcohol and cash.

Witnesses or anyone with information should call Northamptonshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. Anyone who has recently been offered tennis equipment in suspicious circumstances is also asked to call police.

Two houses in a Northampton neighbourhood were broken into in the same way within just a few hours of each other.

Witnesses are being sought after the two burglaries in Thornby Drive, Kingsthorpe, between 10.30am and 2.30pm.

Two houses in the neighbourhood were broken into via their back doors. Once inside the offender/s stole cash and jewellery before making off.

Witnesses or anyone with information should call Northamptonshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Ticket operators for London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway recovered a total of £1,284,746 of unpaid fares during the financial year to April 2019.

Of that total, £876,483 was recovered from passengers on London Northwestern Railway services and £408,463 was recovered from passengers on West Midlands Railway services.

These figures cover both Penalty Fare Notices and tickets sold to passengers at stations, attempting to board trains without paying.

For repeat offenders, unpaid Penalty Fare Notices and where there is sufficient evidence that someone has been deliberately travelling fraudulently, court cases can be brought.

3,038 such court cases were heard over the past year, with £462,292.95 recovered in costs and revenue.

Sean McBroom, head of on board experience for London Northwestern Railway, said: “We know that our fare paying passengers find ticketless travel a real issue, and we are committed to tackling this as best we can.

"We have been trialling a new route-based approach to help inform our revenue protection activity, so passengers will see our teams out at stations and on trains more frequently.

“We always advise passengers to purchase a ticket before travelling – either from station staff, ticket vending machines, online, or via the London Northwestern Railway or West Midlands Railway apps. Anyone found travelling without a ticket will be liable to a penalty fare if they are found travelling on our services.”

The train operators issued a total of 19,579 penalty fares during this period and 95 per cent of these Penalty Fares were enforced last year, with just five per cent being successfully appealed.

Penalty fares are issued to anyone found travelling without a ticket, where they started their journey from a station where ticket purchasing facilities were available.

These can be issued by teams stationed at ticket barriers, but also by 'revenue protection managers' on trains across the rail network.

These cost passengers either £20 or twice the walk up single ticket cost, whichever is greater.

During March 2019 alone, revenue protection teams spent 1,163 hours across the London Northwestern Railway network, and 705 hours was spent on trains and 458 hours we spent at stations.

Thieves ransacked a smallholding outside Brackley after the owner was taken to hospital in an ambulance – the latest in a long history of break-ins on his land.

Valuable chainsaws, a hedgecutter, a new battery and a new set of sockets were taken from the property off the A422 Farthinghoe Road sometime between Sunday evening and yesterday afternoon (Monday).

Four vehicles were broken into by smashing windows or prizing open the doors while random items like cans of cola and cider were also stolen.

All while the owner, James Carpenter, better known as Bill, was at the Horton General Hospital for a hip replacement after hurting himself in a fall last week.

This is the 44th crime on Bill’s land over the past 30 years, he has lived there for the last five to try to put off thieves, the last theft was in November, 2016.

His son Nick Carpenter said: “Not many people knew he was in hospital, he’s been living there for five years and the first time he’s not there, he gets robbed.

“Someone must have been watching – it’s massively frustrating.”

Nick locked up The Old Piggery at 7.15pm on Sunday after his father, 79, was taken to hospital by ambulance as he could not walk because of his damaged hip.

On their return yesterday at around 3.15pm, with Bill not having had the surgery, they found the damaged vehicles and realised what had been stolen.

The thieves had cut a fence with wire cutters to gain entry to the land from a neighbouring smallholding.

The windows on a Mini One, a Ford Mustang and a Land Rover Defender had been smashed to see what was inside, while the back of a Peugeot Bippa van was forced open.

Nick said: “They ransacked the place, we’re still not completely sure what they took.

“But I want the goods to be as hot as possible so they can’t sell them, one of the chainsaws was quite rare.

“Someone must have seen something or heard something, but no-one seems to know about it.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting reference 19000192182.

The murderer of Northampton teenager may have 'offloaded' information onto a confidant over the past 40 years, the lead detective in the case believes.

Sean McGann left his grandparents' home in Victoria Gardens on Tuesday, April 17, 1979, with a pound in his picket to visit the funfair on Midsummer Meadow.

But he failed to return home that evening and the teenager's body was found by a passerby at 8.10am the following day in a service road that runs behind a group of houses in Birchfield Road East.

He had been strangled and to this date, no one has been brought to justice over the murder. Though it appeared to be a sexually motivated attack, Sean had not been assaulted.

But with today marking the 40th anniversary of Sean's death, police have released further details of fresh evidence in the case.

A recently discovered letter, sent to the McGann family in 1991 from an unknown source, purports to have information that could lead to the killer.

Speaking yesterday, lead detective DCI Ally White launched a fresh appeal for the author of that 1991 letter to come forward.

But he also believed that, over the course of the years, someone must have been confided in by the killer.

"This is an appeal for information," he said.

"I don't expect the offender to come forward and tell me that they were the murderer, but if that person has offloaded onto you and it is in your conscience and you have been waiting for a reason to offload that information yourself - then now is the time, 40 years on from the death of Sean.

"I want to appeal to the author of that letter to come forward and let us know what you know."

DCI White said the force's original investigation was not without criticism.

Original lines of enquiry appealed heavily to members of the gay community to come forward with information, as a public toilet block at Becket's Park was a known meeting or so-called 'cruising' place at the time.

Chronicle and Echo headlines written during the 1979 investigation suggested that police were searching almost exclusively for a killer among that community as well.

DCI White said officers from 40 years ago - and the headlines running in the Chron - became 'miopic', or short-sighted.

"It was a different time and there were different attitudes," he said of the 1979 investigation.

"The truth is this could have been anyone.

"Fortunately, as a police service, we are more enlightened. We are working together with all parts of the community now rather than against."

It is not known whether Sean ever made it to the fair, or what happened to the orange Campari jacket he was wearing at the time.

Though DNA was discovered on the recently obtained letter from 1991, the source of it has not also been possible to attain.

These are 11 of the most expensive houses currently for sale in and around Northampton, as advertised on Zoopla.

Northampton Borough Council did want to raise the tariffs to park in surface car parks and multi-storeys from April 15, yesterday.

The evening rate to park in places such as St John's and Mayorhold would have gone up by 300 per cent.

But a fortnight ago questions were raised over the manner in which the decision to increase revenue from the charges was taken.

Councillors and businesses felt the borough council had paid lip service to the notion of public consultation - leaving many feeling they had not had the chance to fully have their say.

The Chron set about rectifying that - asking you to send in your thoughts about proposals. Last week we sent more than 100 of your comments on to the council.

Shopkeepers, publicans and cafe owners also held crunch meetings with the council asking for a rethink of the plans.

Today, following the backlash, sources say the council has now agreed to put the parking increases on hold while it considers the responses it has had.

Councillor Gareth Eales (Lab, Spencer) was among the first to call for a fresh consultation over the tariffs.

“This feels like a small victory and I’m pleased to have played my part in exposing what was an undemocratic approach," he said.

"I still feel any increases in parking charges would be immensely damaging to the town centre and our small businesses. The truth is the funding gap the Conservative council is trying to plug is to pay for the local government restructure, which nobody supports or wants."

The borough council, which had budgeted for an extra £625,000 to from the parking increases, is expected to make an announcement on the charges tomorrow.

Forecasters are predicting sunshine and high temperatures for the four-day Easter weekend.

Temperatures across Northats will begin to rise from tomorrow to 16C and into Thursday it should be around 18C and sunny for much of the day.

Good Friday will see temperatures jump again up to 21C and 22C on Saturday with long spells of sunshine.

Easter Sunday will see it slightly cooler at 20C and Easter Monday 17C with showers forecast later that evening.

The Met Office forecast reads: "Fine and often sunny through the period, with any overnight mist and fog quickly clearing during the mornings. Very warm, although staying cooler along the coast, with onshore winds.

"The second half of the Easter weekend will slowly turn more changeable and cooler, with outbreaks of rain and stronger winds spreading in from the northwest. However, some southeastern parts could remain dry, bright and fairly warm especially through Sunday and at first on Monday."

The rest of April is described as 'more changeable' across the UK.

The long-long forecast predicts: "For the remainder of April the weather looks set to become generally more changeable across the UK with showers or longer spells of rain, as well as some periods with stronger winds.

"Despite this, there will be some drier and brighter interludes at times and overall, temperatures should be around average for the end of April.

As it often the case at this time of year, there may be some marked variations in temperature across the country."

Jordan Turnbull has every intention of still being a Cobblers player come the start of next season as he heads into the final year of his contract with the club.

Whilst Turnbull is not one of the numerous players out of contract at the end of the current campaign, his place in the squad, as with everyone else, could be under threat given manager Keith Curle’s desire to make major changes this summer.

But the 24-year-old, who’s played 34 games in all competitions this season, has enjoyed an excellent campaign, albeit one that began slowly with his first league start not coming until October, after Dean Austin’s sacking.

Since then though, he’s become a regular in the team and after initially doing well in his customary centre-back position, he was moved into central midfield where he continued to impress.

“The first 10 games under Dean Austin, for whatever reason, I wasn’t in his plans and he didn’t fancy me in the team,” said the former Swindon man.

“But for me, for myself, I had to work hard, keep plugging away, keep training well and wait for my opportunity and that happened to come when the new manager came in.

“I thought I grasped that opportunity with both hands. Swindon away was my first start and near enough I’ve been an ever-present since barring a couple of injuries, so I’ve had a great run from that standpoint and I’ve enjoyed it.”

Turnbull, by and large, has been considered one of Town’s stronger performers this season, and when asked whether he would like to stay at the club, he replied: “Yes, of course.

“I’m under contract for next season and every player will have their individual meetings with the manager at the end of the season to see where they stand in his plans.

“But I’ve enjoyed a decent season and I feel I’ve done really well when I’ve come in and I’m really happy here.

“It’s been positive for me and I just can’t wait for next season to see what happens, see where we can go and where we can build to.”

A couple has been found guilty of subjecting their children to horrific acts of cruelty at a Northampton household.

The jury took just three hours today (April 16) to convict the Northampton parents of six counts of wilful neglect and child cruelty after a five-week long trial.

The very worst of the charges surrounded how a boy was kept locked naked and alone in a filthy, dark bedroom with no mattress or lightbulb.

When police found this room, they found the walls and floors covered in excrement. A lock and an exterior alarm were fixed to the door and the blind over the curtain was nailed in place.

Northampton Crown Court also heard how the father would beat the boy regularly, squeeze his genitals and order siblings to hit him as a form of punishment.

Another child was made to sleep in a urine-soaked bed when they did not help them with their bed-wetting problems.

When he took the stand, the father in the case burst into tears and tried to dismiss the allegations as his attempts to handle his children's behavioural problems.

He even claimed the lack of furniture or toys in the bedrooms was because he was planning on decorating, and said he treated the boy who was locked in the dark bedroom 'like his other children'.

But the jury took only three hours to convict the couple of child cruelty.

The mum in the case was found guilty on several counts of failing to protect her children from the abusive father.

However, the jury found the couple not guilty of several counts of regularly beating other children in the house, and thought this was a form of chastisement that did not cause unnecessary harm or suffering.

The couple were remanded into custody and will be sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on May 28.

Northamptonshire Police lead investigator, DC Nicola Langston, said: “This has been a serious and complex investigation undertaken by the police with the cooperation of social services, the health and education authorities.

“It has been undeniably difficult because it involves the evidence from young children who were asked to recall traumatic and distressing events from their past.

“They have suffered significant harm and hopefully with this closure they will be able to recover and move forward with their lives.

“The prosecutors, Grace Hale and James Armstrong-Holmes, have dedicated innumerable hours and effort in securing this conviction.”

A fish and chip supper has long been a foodie favourite.

But if you're struggling to settle on a spot for your chippy fix, these nine restaurants and takeaways come highly recommended in Northampton, according to TripAdvisor reviews. This is what customers had to say.

Construction work has begun on a £12m 'luxury' care home in Brackley that will create more than 100 jobs.

Kingsley Healthcare Group is developing the 66-bedroom nursing home, scheduled to open in the summer of 2020.

Kingsley chief executive Daya Thayan said: “We are proud to have partnered for the first time with Deeley Construction in building this state-of-the-art home in our 20th anniversary year. We look forward to continuing the partnership on future projects.

“As well as setting the standard for elderly care we are passionate about making a positive contribution to the communities in which we operate.

“This home will generate well-paid jobs from senior managers and nurses to chefs, support workers, maintenance and housekeepers.”

The home in Turweston Road will have modern en-suite bedrooms and generous and comfortable living space.

Luxury features will include a cinema room, library, café, hairdressing salon, quiet lounges and a conservatory.

Outside, there will be extensive gardens with beautiful landscape architecture, including a water feature.

Steve Turner, construction director for the Deeley Group, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Kingsley Healthcare on this project which will bring much needed residential accommodation for older people in Northamptonshire, as well as some outstanding on-site facilities for residents.”