A nightclub in Northampton is to have its licence reviewed after police were called out twice to control crowds outside the venue because of ‘disorder and tension’.

Northamptonshire Police has prompted the review of Academy on Gold Street, after two occasions where it says officers had to resort to ‘public order tactics’ to control clubgoers outside the venue.

On one of those occasions, 25 officers had to form a ‘police line’, ‘deploy batons’ and make three arrests.

Now the force is calling for the club’s capacity to be reduced from 550 to 380 and to require its bosses to produce a health and safety management plan every time they run an external promoter event.

It is also calling for owners of the venue to take greater control over ticket sales to such events.

In a statement to be heard before Northampton Borough Council’s licensing committee on Tuesday, March 3, Northamptonshire Police’s licensing officer, Sergeant Martin O’Connell states: “The review relates to two occasions where police were required in numbers to use public order tactics to control crowds directly outside the club due to tension and disorder.”

On Friday, October 24, police were called when more people than expected turned up to see DJ Kyze – a ticketed event at the Gold Street venue ran by external promoters.

Initially there were no concerns with the event, but ‘early on in the night’ police say manager Russel Adinkra called them to say that so many clubgoers had turned up to the event he felt the venue ‘couldn’t cope’.

Officers attended the club and advised management to keep the doors shut.

But Sgt O’Connell said: “This in turn caused numbers of people to be outside the premises and some tension among those that had purchased tickets in advance.”

His statement goes on to say that at 3.40am, scuffles ensued as tensions rose and those with tickets demanded entry to Academy.

The scuffles could not be contained by door staff and 25 police officers were forced to attend the scene.

Three arrests were made but no one was seriously injured following the incident.

Then, in the ‘early hours’ of Sunday, December 28, at the close of another event at the club, the force had to disperse “a large and volatile crowd, some of whom showed hostility towards the police force.”

Sgt O’Connell, said: “It is of note in the police reports into this that no identifiable doorstaff were present.”

The borough council’s licensing sub-committee will consider Northamptonshire Police’s application on Thursday, March 2 at the Guildhall.

Club bosses will be allowed to make representations at that meeting.

An Ofsted inspector says “too many” pupils are being excluded from The Duston School in Northampton and it is “not improving” behaviour.

Following concerns about pupil behaviour at the school, which was rated outstanding in November 2013, Ofsted carried out an inspection last month.

A report of the visit, carried out by Her Majesty’s inspector Emma Ing, stated school leaders and managers had “not taken effective action to maintain the high standards of behaviour and attitudes identified at the school’s previous inspection”.

The report said: “Too many pupils are internally secluded or excluded from the school for fixed periods and too many are repeatedly experiencing these serious punishments.”

The report states that, according to the school’s records, more than 10 pupils had been excluded on three or more separate occasions since the start of the school year in September.

Senior leaders told the inspector that “the bar had been raised”, but were unable to identify in what ways the triggers for these high-level punishments have changed.

The report states: “The school’s strategies to support these pupils to improve their behaviour are not working.

“Pupils who are eligible for free school meals and those who have been identified as having special needs are excluded at a much higher rate than others.

“Senior leaders have not devised effective ways to help these pupils, or for all others at risk of exclusion, in order to support them to improve their behaviour.

“The school’s systems for tracking improvements in individuals’ behaviour resulting from the interventions are not working.”

The inspector also found that pupils did not always arrive at lessons promptly.

When challenged, different pupils explained that “lots of pupils are late” and indicated that they did not feel that the school attached much importance to this.

The report also states that in “far too many” lessons small groups of pupils were observed “lolling around, chatting to neighbours, and quietly ‘larking about’”.

Teachers were also “not consistent in checking for and countering low-level disruptive behaviour, or minor infringements to the uniform policy”, the report said.

Ofsted has set the school as series of priorities to improve behaviour including reducing the number of fixed term exclusions and internal seclusions:

- Create individual action plans and programmes to support those at risk of internal seclusion or exclusion to improve their behaviour.

- Gather and analyse data about incidents of unacceptable behaviour in order to identify pupils and groups of vulnerable pupils.

-And ensure all staff share high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and punctuality and that they identify and challenge all behaviour that does not meet these expectations.

The school has been approached for a comment.

An 18-year-old man from Northampton who broke a man’s nose after he hit him with a scaffolding pole has been given a community order.

R’Shaan Brimm, of Ethel Street, Northampton, was in an alleyway in New Road, Wootton, with a friend when they were mugged by a group of young men.

The court heard the pair managed to get away but then returned to the alleyway to try to retrieve Brimm’s friend’s mobile phone, which had been stolen.

Kate Plummer, prosecuting, said Brimm then picked up a scaffolding pole and “panicked” when he saw two men, who were not among the group that mugged the pair, and swung it in front of him.

The pole collided with the face of one of the men, causing damage to the cartilage and bone of his nose. The nose had to be reset during an operation at hospital.

Brimm, who pleaded guilty to a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm, accepted that he had been “reckless” and caused the man’s injuries during the incident on May 30 last year.

Judge Lynn Tayton sentenced Brimm to a 12-month community order, including completing 180 hours of unpaid work and education and employment activity. He must also pay costs of £380 and victim surcharge of £60.

Judge Tayton said she was giving Brimm “a chance” by not imposing a custodial sentence as the probation report stated he was a “low risk” of reoffending.

She said: “Don’t blow this chance. I don’t want to see you before this court again.”

A leaking pipe that has flooded a Northamptonshire road for a week will not be repaired until the end of April.

Water has been steadily trickling down Preston Deanery Road, which runs between Quinton and Preston Deanery, since at least February 18.

However, Gavin Hardy, who reported the problem has been told be Anglian Water that it is unable to take action for two months because it does not have permission from Northamptonshire County Council to close the road.

Mr Hardy said: “There are two issues, here. One is that the leak is flooding land around it, including access to two places of work.

“The other is the amount of water that will be lost over the course of two months. I’m sure that, come the summer, Anglian Water will be ordering us not to use hose pipes yet they seem content to watch it gallons of it dribble away.”

An email to Mr Hardy from Anglian Water said they understood from the council that the length of the diversion that would be created has delayed permission being granted.

It says: “Having looked at the work that is required, we are going to have to close the road for two to three days to replace a section of main that we believe is leaking.

“Whilst the road is a fairly minor road, the diversion for people wishing to travel from Preston Deanery to Quinton will be approximately four miles.

“Northamptonshire County Council Highways will have taken this in to account when we requested the road closure and have determined that they are not prepared to allow us to close the road until the end of April. “Unfortunately as they are responsible for the road network, we are bound by the instructions of the local council and we have to compromise within their timescale.”

Anglian Water added that, if the leak worsens they can request a higher priority for the road closure.

Emergency services were called to the A5 crossroads in Northamptonshire this morning following a crash involving a car and a van.

Police were called to the scene at 8.05am this morning to reports of a crash at the Watford Gap crossroads on the A5.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police confirmed that a car and van were involved in the crash but there were no serious injuries.

Recovery has been arranged for both vehicles.

Cobblers defender Ben Tozer will miss the next four to six weeks with a knee injury.

Tozer was not in the matchday squad for last Saturday’s game against York City and had his keen scanned on Monday.

The results of that scan have shown damage to the meniscus, the diagnosis for which may require a minor operation, although rest may be the preferred option.

The blow is a significant one for Northampton as Tozer can play at centre-back and is the only cover for right-back Brendan Moloney, but the impact of his loss is lessened by the return to training of Zander Diamond, after a hamstring pull, and Lewis Hornby, who has had a dead leg.

“It’s a bit of a blow to us because Ben covers a few positions and it’s disappointing for him and for us,” he said.

“On the plus side, Zander Diamond is coming on really well and hopefully he’ll be available for selection on Saturday, as will Lewis Hornby, who is back in training this week.”

Saints star George North will start for Wales against France on Saturday.

North has not played since February 6, having sustained two hefty blows to the head in the Six Nations opening night defeat to England.

He had been undertaking concussion protocols, despite being symptom-free, and Saints boss Jim Mallinder had suggested he may play a part at Bath last weekend.

But the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) neurologist advised North to take time out and he is now fit for the trip to Paris this weekend.

The Northampton juggernaut will become the youngest ever player to reach 50 Test caps at the age of 22.

If a red balloon lands in your back garden in the next few days, you could be in the money.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine helium balloons were released from a secret location in Yorkshire earlier today, 200 of which contain £5 notes.

And one golden balloon is carrying £250 in cash inside it.

The stunt was arranged by online casino {https://www.leovegas.com/en|LeoVegas.com|} to celebrate its first year of trading in the UK and the launch of its new TV advert.

Although the balloons have not been tracked, they could travel for up to 15 hours before landing which means the potential ‘drop zone’ could be anywhere in Northamptonshire.

UK country manager at LeoVegas.com Shenaly Amin said: “LeoVegas.com brings the thrills of the Vegas Strip direct to your mobile and we wanted to extend that even further by giving everyone the chance of finding some extra cash to celebrate our launch.

“We’d encourage people in Northamptonshire to keep their eyes peeled for balloons floating down from the sky today!

“We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our anniversary and new TV advert than by sharing our success with the nation.”

If you’re lucky enough to find a winning balloon tweet a photo of yourself with the prize to {https://twitter.com/LeoVegasUK|@LeoVegasUK|} with the hashtag #FlyingHigh.

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Dean Snedker has left the Cobblers after having his contract at the club terminated.

The 20-year-old was out of contract at the end of the season and has not made a first-team appearance during the current campaign.

Snedker, who progressed through the youth system at Sixfields, has made three appearances for the senior side and represented England at under-19 level two years ago.

“It’s a situation where he wanted to be playing football and I understand that at his age,” said manager Chris Wilder. “It’s pretty much the same as the David Moyo one – he’s contract is up at the end of the season and it’s an area we’re looking into pretty extensively.

“Matt Duke’s contract is up in the summer but he’s been an important part of a really good run and I need to look and I need to make decisions.

“We wish Dean all the best.”

Snedker is expected to sign for Conference North side Brackley Town, with whom he has previously spent time on loan.

The Cobblers have signed Shwan Jalal to provide goalkeeping competition for Matt Duke.

Town parted company with Dean Snedker on Tuesday and have moved quickly to fill the void, bringing in the 31-year-old on a contract until the end of the season.

Jalal is best known for his time with Bournemouth, for whom he played 171 games between 2008 and 2014, and spent the first half of the current campaign with Bury but fell down the Gigg Lane pecking order when Nick Pope was signed on loan from Charlton.

The goalkeeper, who was born in Baghdad and was selected for an Iraq international squad in 2011, had his contract with the Shakers terminated in the January transfer window.

“We’ve brought him in to battle it out with Matt (Duke) for the first-team spot between now and the end of the season,” confirmed manager Chris Wilder.

“I had him on loan at Oxford, he’s won at couple of promotions at Oxford and he’s an experienced goalkeeper who is a good age.

“It gives us a good opportunity to look at him between now and the end of the season.”

Travelodge is spending £450,000 upgrading its two hotels in Northampton.

The hotels in Round Spinney and Wootton are to receive a make-over this year, as part of a nationwide £100 million brand modernisation programme.

The revamp at Northampton Round Spinney will receive a complete make-over which includes a new room design which has been created by Travelodge customers. Work is expected to be completed in winter 2015.

Travelodge Northampton Wootton, a 51-room hotel on London Road, will also be refitted later this year.

The biggest investment in the new room is an upgraded new luxury king size bed called the Travelodge Dreamer which is used predominately by luxury hotels worldwide.

The bed includes a 952 pocket sprung mattress and each individual spring is designed to follow the natural contour of an individual’s body in order to provide the correct amount of support and comfort to ensure they receive a good quality night’s sleep.

In addition truckle beds have been installed into family rooms offering children their own individual bed.

As part of the refurbishment programme, hotel reception and Bar Café areas will also be updated too.

Cherly Charlesworth, Northampton Round Spinney Travelodge Hotel Manager said: “We are well underway with our plans to build new Travelodge. We’re investing more than £100 million on modernising our hotels for our customers and it is great news that our Northampton Travelodge hotels are to benefit.

“Last year, we enjoyed double digit growth due to the rise in business and leisure customers in Northampton switching to us. Our new modernised hotel will ensure that we continue to grow sales and become the favourite hotel for value in the area.”

Northamptonshire County Council has officially launched its new ‘Race to the Top’ strategy in which it is investing £1 million in a bid to become one of the best performing local authorities for education by 2020.

The county council, which is currently ranked 114th out of 150 for the quality of its secondary schools and 129th for its primary schools, is inviting all 367 schools in Northamptonshire to come forward with ideas about how education standards can be improved.

No new staff will be employed to instigate the Race to the Top strategy but the county council will rely on its existing communications channels with schools to spread the message of the new project.

Four workshops are also due to be held in four different parts of the county in the next couple of months where schools will be invited to find out more about how to bid for funding.

Councillor Jim Harker, leader of the county council, accepted that £1 million would not provide funding for every school but said the local authority hoped to secure more money from the Department for Education in future years if the project was successful.

Councillor Harker said the local authority had decided to act after figures published last year showed a third of schools in the county were not rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.

The council leader said he believed the council could still have an impact on improving the performance of schools despite the fact half of the schools in the county are now academies, therefore no longer under direct control of the local authority.

He said: “We came to the conclusion that it is about time that changed.

“It is not good enough, particularly for an aspiring county like ours. Particularly when there is a need to provide and educated workforce for the businesses that want to locate here.”

Councillor Matthew Golby, director of children, families and education, said he no longer wanted the county’s education standards to be “plagued by mediocrity”

He said: “We don’t want to just aim to be above average, we want to be among the best performing local authorities in the country.”

Councillor Harker said one of the ideas he would like to see schools come forward with was homework clubs or activities that occupied pupils after school lessons finished at 3.30pm.

He said homework clubs or sports activities could be provided “relatively cheaply”, possibly using volunteers, that may help to improve education standards.

Councillor Harker said he thought one of the main reasons schools were underachieving in Northamptonshire was due to poor leadership.

Part of the Race to the Top strategy will involve sharing best practice amongst headteachers and creating a coherent teacher training programme to produce the school leaders of the future.

The Northants Enterprise Partnership is also working in partnership with the council to help improve the interaction between businesses and schools.

Race to the Top will be overseen by a Strategic education and Skills Partnership Board, involving business leaders, county council staff, the Department for Education and the voluntary sector.

However, it has not yet been established how often this board will meet.

Opposition councillors have criticised the scheme for its relatively low level of funding, which is 0.2 per cent of the annual Northamptonshire school’s budget of £420 million.

Councillor Danielle Stone (Lab, Abington and Phippsville) said: “£1 million for schools in Northamptonshire does not add up to a hill of beans. Much more is required than that.”

A charity shop in Northampton has been targeted by thieved who stole money and donations from the store.

The Mind shop in Alexandra Terrace in Kingsthorpe - which raises money for the national mental healthy charity - was broken into sometime between 5.30pm on Saturday and 9am on Monday.

The contents of a safe and charity cash tin were stolen during the burglar.

Anyone with any information can call Northamptonshire Police on 101. Alternatively, they can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or use the anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

An unexploded hand-grenade rendered safe by explosive experts yesterday (Monday) in Northamptonshire was found just yards from the offices of a financial services company and two privately owned cottages.

The hand grenade was discovered by a groundsman while he was digging on the verge of a car park on the Churchlands Estate in Chipping Warden, a 70-acre property in Northamptonshire owned by Philip English, chairman of Philip T English International Financial Services Limited.

A witness said: “I think the groundsman self identified the grenade as being from the Second World War. The pin wasn’t in and the handle was pressed down the weight of the ground.”

“It was centimetres beneath the surface.”

The groundsman bravely took it upon himself to move the grenade to a field off Appletree Road, further away from the office building and also incidentally home to Mr English’s herd of prime Hereford cattle.

Police were contacted and eight employees were evacuated from the office building.

“The police were there in five minutes,” the witness said. “They cordoned off the area and the workers had to move their cars.

“When the bomb disposal unit was called they decided to set up an extended exclusion zone.

“It was a bit surreal really. Someone must have been on the phone to the police saying they had dug up a hand grenade. It isn’t your every day event.”

Police officer James Reid attended the scene. He tweeted: “MOD lost a grenade 70+ years, found by farmer in field , now waiting for #hurtlocker to deal, exclusion zone in place”.

The grenade was believed to have been made safe in a controlled explosion at 8pm.

A new coach station could be built on land to the west of the former Greyfriars bus station.

Northampton Borough Council said today that talks are being held about an “improved facility” near the Mayorhold car park.

Coaches currently leave from shelters in Victoria Street, where some toilets have recently been installed for waiting passengers.

And the council also announced it is working with National Express to relocate evening coach services to the North Gate Bus Station later this year.

A spokeswoman said: “Some work on the site has already begun and a feasibility study is already looking at the creation of a new, improved facility for coaches on the western island section. This would replace the Victoria Street coach stop and complement the facilities at North Gate.

She added: “The shelters and toilet recently installed at Victoria Street coach stop were designed to be suitable for easy relocation and can be moved to the new coach station site.”

The announcements are part of a ‘concept plan’ being worked on to guide the development of the Greyfriars site after the demolition of the old bus station on March 15.

The four-acre site was subject to a public consultation carried out last year, which offered more than 300 ideas for cultural, retail, transport, residential, commercial and community uses.

The spokeswoman said the plan would look at the best way to mix a number of uses on the site to “work with other regeneration in Northampton and take the town forward into the future”.

Councillor David Mackintosh said: “Greyfriars offers a stunning opportunity for future regeneration in the town centre as part of our ongoing Northampton Alive strategy, which has already brought a number of significant developments to the town.

“We have already had interest in the site from a number of developers and it is important that we have expert advice on the options for the site so that we make the best possible decisions for the future.”

-The commissioning of a concept plan will be discussed at a meeting of Northampton Borough Council Cabinet on Wednesday 4 March.

-If approved, a specialist company will be retained to produce a plan by July.

-When the Greyfriars building has been demolished, the site will be cleared and made ready for development by the demolition contractors, before being handed back to the Borough Council by the summer.

A teacher from a Northamptonshire school has been banned from the classroom for four years after telling a girl he was ‘falling in love with her.’

Ross Patrick Clark, 39, who taught at Prince William School, Oundle, was banned for a minimum of four years after disciplinary panel findings that he, among other things, had told a girl pupil he was “falling in love” with her and on one occasion gave her £500.

The National Council for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) found him guilty of unacceptable professional conduct

A hearing heard he had also sent her an email on one occasion in which he stated that he was “crying” as he responded and he was “weak”, “pathetic”, “unfair” and a “terrible person”.

NCTL deputy director, Alan Meyrick, said the allegations were “serious” and that Clark’s behaviour “fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.”

However, he added: “I consider that a four year review period will allow a sufficient time period for Mr Clark to develop the necessary insight and reflection to address his serious departure from the personal and professional conduct elements of the teachers’ standards.”

The decision means Clark will be entitled after four years to seek to return to teaching.

He has the right to appeal the decision to the high court.

Union bosses have said firefighters in Northamptonshire are scheduled to go on strike tomorrow over pensions.

On Wednesday firefighters across England will walk out for 24 hours from 7am over the “unworkable” pension scheme the Government wants to implement. Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “Government ministers have ignored three written requests in the last few weeks by the union to meet to try to resolve this dispute.

“Government ministers are quick to call this union ‘militant’ and yet it’s them who still refuse to talk to us when we remain ready to meet and negotiate at any time.

A picket will be held at The Mounts station.

Tom Wood and Courtney Lawes could play a part in Saints’ clash with Harlequins on Friday night after being released by England.

The pair, who have now recovered from ankle injuries, returned to training with the national squad on Tuesday, but were sent back to Franklin’s Gardens later that day.

Calum Clark and Alex Corbisiero were also allowed to return to their club, but Dylan Hartley and Luther Burrell remain in camp ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations game against Ireland in Dublin.

Saints are likely to call on the services of Clark and Corbisiero in the Aviva Premiership game against Quins after both impressed in last Saturday’s superb win at Bath.

And the return of Lawes and Wood will give boss Jim Mallinder plenty to ponder as he considers whether to shuffle his pack.

Lawes has not played since injuring his ankle in the win against Leicester on December 20, while Wood has been out since limping off in the defeat to Racing Metro on January 24.

England’s 26-man training squad: Forwards: Attwood, Brookes, Croft, Easter, Hartley, Haskell, Kruis, Marler, Robshaw (c), Thomas, B Vunipola, M Vunipola, T Youngs. Backs: Brown, Burrell, Cipriani, Ford, Goode, Joseph, Nowell, Pennell, Twelvetrees, Watson, Wigglesworth, B Youngs.

A ‘dragon dance’ marked the official opening of a new Japanese restaurant in Northampton.

Ginza, situated in Wellingborough Road, opened earlier this month and includes two levels of seating for 120 people as well as a third floor with three karaoke rooms.

Manager Lance Pang said he was hoping to bring something slightly different to the culinary scene in Northampton.

He said: “This is true, authentic Japanese food. It is all cooked fresh in open kitchens. You can see the sushi chef creating the orders, nothing is frozen.”

An official opening event was held when customers were invited to watch, and take part in, a ‘dragon dance’, which is traditionally performed to mark the Chinese New Year.

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) is discussing ways to cover sickness absence after losing more than 80,000 hours last year due to increased staff illness.

A rise in staff absences in Northamptonshire meant that EMAS has spent less time in total responding to calls, losing a total of 80,369 hours over 2014, compared to 61,361 in 2013.

During a meeting with the EMAS Trust Board yesterday, directors explained that recent rises in staff sickness are often linked to stress and correlate to a hike in calls and increased pressure on the ambulance service in general.

Figures collected by the Board showed a 45 per cent increase in higher-emergency ‘red’ calls in January this year compared to the same time last year, and a 66 per cent increase in ‘green’ calls, which often include elderly or vulnerable people suffering falls or ongoing illnesses.

Kerry Gulliver, EMAS’s acting director of workforce and engagement, said: “We have seen a six per cent increase year-on-year in calls in Northamptonshire.

“We have been trying to respond by working on staff absences, as well as reducing annual leave and time off.”

Dermot Toberty, non-executive director, added: “Staff are working harder and harder and are being put under more pressure with higher volumes of calls.

“This has led to increased sickness levels, so we must also make sure we are recruiting new staff.”

But issues with staff recruitment were another problem discussed at the meeting, held at University of Northampton’s Park Campus.

Blanche Lentz, general manager of EMAS in Northamptonshire, said: “We currently have 21 vacancies for frontline staff. Filling these would help fill the gaps which have left us struggling to improve performance.”

Other measures discussed to reduce pressure on front-line ambulance staff included proper training for volunteer first-aiders and installing “common access” defibrillators in public places, such as supermarkets.