Three friends are gearing up for an epic rally across Europe in aid of a cancer charity.
Steven Greaves, who lives in Burton Joyce, will be joined by pals from Arnold and Gedling, Simon Glover and Geoffrey Hunkin for the 3,000 mile drive from Margate to Corfu in the Dumball Rally.
Setting off on September 14, it will take them nine days to complete their journey, travelling through France, Switzerland, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania and Greece.
The car taking the group on their journey cost just £500.
There will be 48 cars in the rally and every team will be raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The lads were inspired to take part in the trip after a teenage family member was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
West Bridgford and Hucknall would also be included under new plans to expand the city boundaries.
PICTURED: The current Nottingham city boundary (IMAGE: Crown Copyright, Ordnance Survey
It was announced yesterday (Monday, September 10) that a ‘case for change’ is being drawn up – essentially a business plan which could then be sent to the Government.
The leader of the city council, Labour’s Jon Collins, said it was in response to a plan being drawn up by the county council to scrap district and borough councils and create a new ‘super council’ for Nottinghamshire.
Councillor Collins said as the county’s plan was going ahead, his council was drawing up its own plans, which it would submit to the Government if the county council’s plan was submitted.
The Government would likely have the final say on whether either, or both schemes were approved. It is also possible that both would be rejected.
But council bosses in areas which Councillor Collins hopes to expand to have pledged to ‘fight’ and ‘battle hard for our existence’.
Councillor Collins, who represents the St Ann’s ward for Labour, said he was reluctant to go down the route of local government reorganisation, having been through it 20 years ago.
But he said the city council needed to ‘be part of the debate’ about re-organisation after the county council’s move.
Speaking at a full council meeting yesterday, he said: “Nottinghamshire County Council has decided to argue for local government reorganisation, and consequently we will need to be a part of that debate too.
“If the county puts proposals to ministers for unitary local government outside the city, we will respond with our own views of where Nottingham’s county council boundaries should be, so that they better reflect the reality of our urban area.
“In reality we believe those boundaries should include many of the areas mentioned in the question (which had been asked in the meeting about expanding the city.)
“For example, any neutral observer would take the view that Arnold, Carlton, Beeston Hucknall, West Bridgford and Stapleford to name but a few, are all in reality a part of Nottingham, and our proposals will seek to reflect that.
“And as the county develops its business plan for the options it wishes to put to government, I can assure you that similar effort and resources are being put into the development of our case for change too.
“Nottingham is a growing, successful and increasingly influential city, and we should not lose sight of that.”
Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Cllr John Clarke remains opposed to both the super council plan and the planned expansion of the city.
He said: “It’s disappointing, but while they play their political games, we’ll keep doing an outstanding job for our residents.
“We’ve got a job to do, and we will continue to serve people, but we will battle hard for our existence, because that’s what the people of Gedling want.”
“The vast majority of people in Gedling want to remain as a borough, because they are proud of being from here. It’s their home.”
The county council will meet tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss the unitary plan. It is expected to approve spending £250,000 to put together its own business plan.
Residents in Gedling borough are being warned to be on their guard against cold-callers urging people to pay out hundreds to review their council-tax bandings – when it can be done for free.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s Trading Standards team has issued the alert after residents reported receiving phone calls from companies claiming their property was in the wrong council-tax band, and they could investigate this for an up-front fee.
All properties in England are given a council-tax band, which determines how much they pay, based on the price of the property in 1991.
However, it is possible some properties were put into the wrong bands due to errors made when council tax was introduced.
But a free check can be made with the Valuation Office Agency which is responsible for allocating council tax bands.
Trading standards officer for Nottinghamshire County Council, Margaret Statham, said: “We’d always suggest hanging up on any unexpected telephone calls. If the call is genuine, the organisation will have another way of contacting you.
“If you are receiving unwanted telephone calls, we would suggest that you speak with your landline provider as some providers have free services that you can register for. There are also a number of phones with inbuilt call blocking services that are available to purchase from retailers.
“These will require you to have Caller Display / Caller ID activated on your line and although some providers offer this service free of charge, other providers do make a charge. ”
The intruder told the couple he was from Neighbourhood Watch and that he needed the woman occupant to help him search around the front of the house.
At this point she became aware that there was another suspect upstairs.
Both men, who are described as white and were wearing face coverings, then fled through the front door.
One of them is about 5ft 8ins tall and of medium build.
It happened at around 9.20pm on Monday evening (September 10).
Detective Inspector Kayne Rukas said: “Our inquiries are ongoing and we’re appealing for any witnesses or anyone with any information about this burglary to call us on 101, quoting incident number 909 of 10 September 2018.
“We’d urge people to make sure their front and back doors and windows are locked at all times, even when they’re at home.
“Distraction burglars often prey on our most vulnerable residents, tricking their way into homes by making up stories, by pretending to work for an official company or asking for help to try to gain entry.
“We want to remind people to be on their guard, especially if someone you’re not expecting – a man, woman or even a child – knocks on your door.
He added: “Don’t allow anyone without valid identification access to your home and, if you’re unsure, don’t let them in. Keep the chain on the door while talking to them and check with the company that the person is purporting to be from.
“Our advice is always to say no to cold-callers and to report any suspicious activity to police immediately.”
For more advice on how to deal with unwanted callers, please follow this link https://bit.ly/2N4Pn0p
Gedling Eye now has a Whatsapp group so you can keep up to date with the latest news from across the borough. We will send you one message a day with our main headlines, as well as the big breaking news alerts. To sign up text NEWS to 07958532672. Make sure you add the number to your contacts as ‘Gedling Eye’. We won’t share your phone number or use it anywhere else.
New parliamentary changes proposed today for Nottinghamshire would result in the Gedling seat disappearing altogether, it has been revealed.
Under the new proposals, Gedling, which is held by Labour MP Vernon Coaker, would largely be absorbed by a new Nottingham East and Carlton seat.
The boundaries of most of the county’s constituencies would change if recommendations by the Electoral Commission are approved by government.Nottingham East, which is held by Labour’s Chris Leslie, would become Nottingham East and Carlton.
The final report was published today by the Electoral Commission following months of consultation and planning.
It will now be sent to the Government for final approval.
The commission was tasked with reducing the overall number of constituencies across the country from 650 to 600.
Secretary to the Electoral Commission, Sam Hartley, said, “The recommendations we’ve published today mark the end of a thorough and consultative process to build the new map of constituencies.
“We’ve travelled the country, taken account of over 35,000 public comments, and heard many impassioned views about how best to reflect local communities in our recommendations, while ensuring that constituencies are all much more equally represented.
“We’re confident that the map we propose today is the best match of the legal rules Parliament has set us. It’s now up to Parliament to decide whether these boundaries will be used at the next general election.”
Gedling Eye now has a Whatsapp group so you can keep up to date with the latest news from across the borough. We will send you one message a day with our main headlines, as well as the big breaking news alerts. To sign up text NEWS to 07958532672. Make sure you add the number to your contacts as ‘Gedling Eye’. We won’t share your phone number or use it anywhere else.
A local Liberal Democrat group has criticised the vote of no confidence by the Mapperley branch of the Labour Party in Chris Leslie, their MP for Nottingham East.
The branch passed a vote of no confidence in Mr Leslie for what it sees as his opposition to Jeremy Corbyn.
PICTURED: Chris Leslie MP
It means the larger Nottingham East Labour group will now hold a constituency-wide vote of Labour members to decide whether to pass a broader vote of no confidence.
Mr Leslie said his party had been ‘infiltrated by intolerant hard left elements’ and that, following two similar votes about other MPs, the moves were being orchestrated nationally.
Now, the Nottingham Liberal Democrats have said the actions of the Mapperley branch were ‘for the few, not the many.”
They also agreed with Mr Leslie in saying hard left elements were behind the move.
A statement from the Nottingham City Liberal Democrat branch says: “Across the country unelected Momentum activists have been going round encouraging backroom deals to attempt removal of sitting MPs.
“When an MP is elected with over 70 percent of the vote as Chris Leslie was in Nottingham East, it’s insulting to the electorate for a very small number of people to hold factional, closed door meetings to try to get rid of them.
“It’s further proof that the current direction of the Labour Party is for the few and not the many.
“It seems to me that a relatively small number of activists are trying to subvert the will of tens of thousands of people in constituencies across the UK and here in Nottingham, people of all parties should either recognise how our democratic system works or seek to amend it openly and not secretly.
“The local Labour Party’s hard-left instincts seem to have blinded them to rational debate and, indeed, to a sense of basic democracy.”
It is understood that a constituency-wide vote of no confidence will take place about Mr Leslie in the coming weeks.
A game that some were already labeling a relegation battle just half a dozen games into the new season, as two of the bottom three sides met each other here at Eagle Valley.
The Eagles without top scorer Curtis Millward and with just one point and sitting three off the bottom faced bottom side Borrowash Victoria who were still looking for their first point of the season.
A nervous start by both sides but It was the visitors who took the lead on sixteen minutes when a ball over the top split the home defence and Matt Taylor slotted passed a helpless James Elliott in the Arnold goal.
The home side pushed forward and got a slice of luck on the half hour when a cross from the right was headed into his own net at the far post by Callum Gilmartin.
Matt Taylor could have scored a second for the visitors on the hour when a cheeky lob from 20 yards out seemed to be heading for the net, full credit to Elliott who managed to scramble back and with two attempts, managed to palm the ball out before it crossed the line.
The winner came just five minutes later and it was Taylor again on target. A scramble in the goalmouth saw Taylor’s effort seemingly cleared off the line with Lynton Francis netting from the clearance but the referee signalled that the ball had crossed the line and Taylor got the goal.
The season gets no better for the Eagles who face a daunting task in the FA Vase next Saturday against Loughborough University at Eagle Valley…
The Millers, without a win since the opening day of the season, were ultimately good value for the three points in a match that could have gone either way in the first half in particular.
The Millers started on the front foot and in just the second minute Ben Hutchinson played a lovely ball to Opoku in an advanced position. He was dispossessed but the ball fell to Sargent who hit a fierce drive from outside the box which was heading into the top corner until an excellent save by Burton-loanee Jack Livesey.
At the other end Kieran O’Connell whipped over a cross from the left which Martin Smyth just failed to connect with in front of goal.
Smithson was having a productive afternoon and he sped down the right, sent over a lovely cross to Opoku in the area. With his back to goal he turned delightfully but didn’t connect properly with his shot and Livesey was able to scramble the ball away for a corner.
O’Connell responded and he hit a shot which drew a comfortable save from Jack Steggles.
It was end-to-end stuff and O’Connell did get the ball in the net on 15 minutes but his close-range effort was correctly ruled out for offside.
Opoku, who caused the Moatmen problems all afternoon, was next to advance and he hit a superb cross which Hutchinson missed by inches.
Gresley should have done better on 28 minutes when Eric Graves found himself in a good position on the right hand side of goal, but he fired his shot high over the bar.
Carlton made them pay on 32 minutes with a lovely goal. Sargent, impressing in midfield, played the ball up to Opoku, just inside the area with his back to goal. He was marked tightly but he swivelled, created a yard of space and fired into the top corner from 15 yards.
The second half was a more scrappy affair as both sides cancelled each other out. Carlton were content to keep Gresley at arms-length and launch attacks by using Walker’s long throw and raids down the flanks from Smithson and Davie. Opoku hit one overhead kick over the bar while Hutchinson saw a shot comfortably saved.
Gresley failed to test Steggles at all in the second period, with the Millers defence proving too strong for the hosts.
They did have an opportunity with five minutes remaining when they broke quickly from a Carlton corner but, with two men available at the far post, the cross was misplaced and Davie was able to clear.
Carlton saw out the remainder of the match fairly comfortably to secure a valuable three points and make it two wins out of two away from home in the league.
It has become apparent that over the last year the way in which we are targeted for cyber crime has moved from online attacks to telephone attacks.
Now it is a regular occurrence when someone calls pertaining to be from a well known company, Microsoft, BT etc.
Once they’ve talked their way in, they’ll have you sat in front of your PC and leading you through an exercise in viewing some part of the PC which means absolutely nothing to you, yet their story convinces you that something is seriously wrong, even with that doubt in the back of your mind they’re asking you to look at something on your screen which which could be an issue, or to them is a serious issue which is spreading harm across the internet!
At that point your doubt has disappeared and fear has kicked in, they’ve gained your trust and now they want to help you, they’ll direct you to a website which will then allow them to gain remote access to your PC.
All the time they are talking to you, explaining what they are doing, however in the background they are transferring an encryption to the BIOS and loading a lock on the PC. After a while that doubt has kicked back in followed once again by the fear, except the fear this time is knowing this is a scam and you’ve fallen hook line and sinker!
You’re now either listening to their demands for money to complete the clean up of your PC, or you’ve hung up the phone and turned off your internet router cutting their connection to your PC, either way it’s too late!
You think you’ve survived but the next time you turn off the PC and back on again you find you’re locked out….
They haven’t got your credit card details, so you’ve inconvenienced them in their efforts, but in return they’ve inconvenience you by locking the PC.
In the last week they’ve even phoned me, knowing they’re scammers, I get the pleasure to play dumb and lead them down the garden path, before revealing they’re not getting a thing from me! Its 10 minutes spent so someone. somewhere is saved for now.
It’s not all doom and gloom as we can access your folder structure and backup your data, a reinstall of Windows and you’re back up and running in less than 24 hours.
But please never give access to your PC to a cold caller, these companies will never call & ask you to do that, if in doubt hang up and seek advice.
Simon Salvin lives in Mapperley and runs Simple PC – which offers tech support. You can find their website at www.simple-pc.com
Drivers in Gedling borough with a poor credit score are being warned not to fall for a series of fake adverts for car leases being posted on social media.
The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) said fraudsters are paying for social media advertising on channels that include Instagram, and are posing as BVRLA members to lure in customers with enticing headlines, targeting those with poor credit ratings.
FAKE: One of the scam accounts spotted by the BVRLA on social media
The BVRLA is telling people in Gedling borough to think twice before responding to any adverts that promote vehicle leasing deals that require ‘No credit checks’, promote ‘No deposit’ and ask people to ‘Direct Message’ via text to get the deal.[irp]
BVRLA Chief Executive, Gerry Keaney said: “These criminals are purposely targeting the vulnerable, scamming money from people who can least afford to lose it. It’s deplorable.
“Their adverts can appear very convincing with some even posing as BVRLA members and citing membership numbers of legitimate members.
“We want to get the message out there that all legitimate leasing brokers adhere to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules and will carry out credit and affordability checks. Those who don’t, will not be legitimate traders and could be out to scam you.”
Customers who want to check whether a leasing broker is a genuine are advised to contact BVRLA’s Adam Holt on adam@bvrla.co.uk.
