They're used to serving ice cream in intermissions at pantos, but now the charity who run Blackfriars Theatre in Boston are opening an ice cream parlour.

Image source, Robert Barclay

The charity say they're opening the new cafe because they're keen to expand what they currently do at Blackfriars but are restricted by the building.

They're leasing Shodfriars Hall, a Tudor building in the town (pictured below).

The hope is the parlour, which is planned to open this weekend, will fund a multi-purpose event centre in what used to be a 650-seat theatre at the rear of the building.

In the long-term the charity hope it will house a heritage centre for Boston.

Image source, Google

The county's gritters are used to going out to melt ice, but today they've been dealing with melting roads.

The county's gritters have been spreading sand on the surface of Waterloo Lane in Skellingthorpe, near Lincoln.

Darrell Redford from Lincolnshire County Council Highways department says "only a few months ago they were in minus figures, but they can quickly heat up."

Council workers in Lincolnshire are being told to check for hedgehogs before carrying out gardening work on road verges.

Image source, Getty Images

Every year several hedgehogs are killed or seriously injured by cutting or strimming machines in parks and gardens, according to South Kesteven District Council.

The authority has now told workers to be more careful and put bright yellow stickers on equipment as a reminder.

Speaking to staff at a Lincolnshire hospital, the medical director for NHS England has admitted that the health service "certainly needs more staff" to deal with poor morale.

Image source, NHS

Steve Powis, the head of NHS England, was talking to staff at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston (pictured) as part of celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of the NHS.

In response to a question about how to deal with "poor morale in the NHS and a lack of patient confidence", Mr Powis said he understood the pressures staff had faced over the winter.

He thanked them for their hard work and said part of the solution was hiring more workers.

Parade organisers in Lincolnshire are being offered free training and road signs to help keep their traditions alive.

It's after the county's police force said its officers could no longer attend events like they used to.

Last year, several towns had to make changes to their Remembrance Sunday parades because of a lack of emergency services to police them.

Ellie Wilkinson made the transition to living as a girl over one weekend while at school.

The RSPCA is appealing for the public to help to find a suspected dog fighter who didn't turn up a number of court hearings.

Image source, RSPCA

John Knibbs, 54, from Polyanthus Drive in Sleaford, failed to attend hearings in April, May and June at Lincoln Magistrates' Court.

Mr Knibbs is one of five people due in court in connection with an RSPCA and police investigation into dog fighting.

The government has released the money needed to build a new mental health inpatient unit in Hull.

Image source, Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust

The centre, which will offer psychiatric care beds for people aged between 13 and 18 across East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, is expected to open by autumn next year.

The unit in Walker Street will cost £7.8m.

The funding approval, which has come after months of lobbying by MP Emma Hardy, whose Hull West and Hessle constituency will house the unit, has delighted the Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust's Chief Executive.

A man has been injured after a burglary at a house in Cleethorpes.

Image source, Google

It happened on Carr Lane shortly before 19:30, external last night.

Police want to speak to anyone driving in the area or who has dashcam footage.

The emergency services attended a number of grassland fires across Lincolnshire yesterday evening.

They were in Foxby Hill in Gainsborough, Bourne Woods, North Hykeham and Cowbit, near Spalding.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue officers say most of these were started by unattended campfires, discarded cigarettes and burning waste.

Abbie Dewhurst
Weather Presenter, BBC Look North

A fine morning to come with some decent amounts of warm sunshine expected.

The dry, settled weather will continue in to this afternoon with more sunshine.

The top stories from across Lincolnshire so far today include:

• A taxi driver in Mablethorpe is assaulted by three men with a baseball bat
• The number of young people referred to gender reassignment in the county rises dramatically
• Lincoln's council made a £53k loss on the city's Christmas Market last year after cancelling its final day
• A green-fingered group in Boston is "deeply saddened" after its floral displays are vandalised and set on fire
• The latest fluffy animals are revealed at a National Trust Property

Temperatures will be up sharply tomorrow, with the hottest weekend of the year so far expected across our region.

Tomorrow will be mostly dry with plenty of sunshine, although there is a very small chance of an isolated heavy shower into the afternoon.

It will be hot, with highs of about 28C (82F) in East Yorkshire and 30C (86F) in Lincolnshire.

Friday will be hot and sunny.

The 2017 Lincoln Christmas Market made a loss of £53,750, just a year after making its first profit in six years, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Image source, City of Lincoln Council

The event was cut short last year by predictions of snow on the Sunday which in the end never materialised.

In 2016, the City of Lincoln Council-run event made a profit of £10,282.

Simon Walters, from City of Lincoln Council, says: "The Lincoln Christmas Market is a much-loved event, and the losses incurred in 2017 will not have an effect on the event in the coming years."

James "Eddie" Fish, 80, was found dead at his home in North East Lincolnshire in January.

Is a 60mph speed limit too fast for rural roads in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire? That's what a new report for the Department of Transport suggests.

Speed limits on such roads should be reduced to 50mph, particularly for single carriageway rural roads, according to the report.

The A15, which runs from the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire to southern Lincolnshire, is notorious for accidents.

One lorry driver on the road today, Scott, has told the BBC the move "would make it worse" on roads like the A15.

"Driving at 50 all the way down here, you're going to have a lot more people overtaking on bends and brows of hills," he said.

"The only way to solve the problem down here is to dual carriageway it the whole way."

The RAC says it won't support a blanket reduction on speed limits as some roads are perfectly safe.

The organisation adds that local authorities should decide on a case-by-case basis as to whether speed limits on some "A" roads should be reduced from 60mph to 50mph.

The number of children across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Humber region being referred for gender reassignment has risen dramatically, new figures show.

Image source, Wiki Commons

The number of under-18s feeling trapped in the wrong body has risen six-fold in the last five years, according to figures obtained by the BBC.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, the number of people referred for gender realignment rose from 37 to 271 in the past five years.

In the East Midlands, which includes Lincolnshire, the number rose from 24 to 153 cases.

A total of 42% of those referred went on to have hormone therapy.

The Labour MP for Great Grimsby has expressed scepticism about the govenrment's commitment to the UK's fishing industry ahead of Brexit.

Environment secretary Michael Gove has said the fishing industry will get a larger share of domestic catch after Brexit, once the UK "decides access" to its own waters.

He said the UK would be in the "driving seat" in quota negotiations once the UK leaves the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, but he would not commit to a specific figure.

But Ms Onn has said she's not convinced:

A taxi driver in Mablethorpe has been assaulted by three people wearing masks and armed with a baseball bat.

Image source, Google

The attack, which happened on Monday lunchtime, began with three attackers smashing the windscreen and the side window of the taxi.

The attackers then used their weapon to hit the driver on his head several times before running away.

The driver was left with bruises, swelling and cuts to the side of the face.

Police say it happened at the entrance to Mablethorpe Caravan and Chalet Park on Links Avenue in the town (pictured) and are appealing for witnesses.

Staff at Gunby Hall and Gardens, near Burgh-Le-Marsh in Lincolnshire, have welcomed some adorable additions to their estate.

This armful of fluffy kestral chicks is being cared for by specially trained volunteers at the National Trust property: