Homes were evacuated and an Army bomb squad was called to Calvin Gatford's address, a court hears

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Large employers in Lincolnshire could be asked to carry out asymptomatic rapid Covid testing as part of a planned package of government and council support.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service says Lincolnshire County Council is hoping the government will approve a new protocol which will allow partner organisations to set up their own lateral flow rapid testing sites.

Nearly 9,500 tests have been carried at the existing four locations in Lincolnshire - two in Lincoln and two in Boston - with more than 120 asymptomatic positive people being found and asked to isolate, a positivity rate of 1.3%.

Andy Fox, consultant in public health at Lincolnshire County Council, said the team were in discussions with central government, who were leading on expansion of the testing regime.

Under the plans, large employers would work directly with the Department for Health and Social Care to get tests, while smaller employers would receive packages of support from the county council.

Mr Fox said his colleagues were still waiting for further clarification on how it might work.

But he said the latest testing figures showed “pretty small levels”.

“The main protection against Covid transmission is people who are symptomatic going to get a test and self-isolating, but it does show there’s a small amount of cases of people who don’t have any symptoms.”

Local Democracy Reporting Service

North Lincolnshire Council has approved a 4.99% council tax increase for 2021/22.

Image source, Google

The Local Democracy Reporting Service says the cabinet meeting on Monday agreed on recommendations for council tax to increase by 1.99% alongside a 3% rise for adult social care.

This means a band D property will be charged around an extra 61p per week more - an increase of £31.53 a year.

North Lincolnshire’s spending power will increase by £6.8m in 2021/22 – £1.5m from a government grant and £5.3m from council tax increases with the added 3% adult social care precept added.

Becky McIntyre, director of governance and partnerships at the council, said: “The overall cost of delivering services is anticipated to be achieved within the total budget allocated.”

Council leader Rob Waltham said: “We’ve worked incredibly hard right across all of the council with the teams working tirelessly to protect the most vulnerable and balance a budget. We’re in a case where many councils certainly would envy us.”

The proposals will go to Full Council later this month to be confirmed.

Grimsby loan in Brentford's Joe Adams and Sheffield United's Jake Eastwood, while free agent Joe Bunney signs a short-term deal.

Lincolnshire's latest mass vaccination centre opens its doors today.

It's based at the Lincolnshire Showground north of Lincoln and is a similar size to the one which opened in Boston last month.

The county also has a number of smaller vaccination sites.

Maz Fosh, Chief Executive of the Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust says they'll build up the number of jabs they give out at the new centre.

People over the age of 80 in Lincolnshire who have not been contacted about a coronavirus vaccine are being asked to call their GP.

Those in younger age groups will be contacted in due course.

Parts of the county are covered by a Met Office yellow warning, external for snow and ice for the rest of today.

However, for the majority of the region it should be a cold and wet morning with some snow flurries.

You can find the latest local forecast for where you live here.

Just over 1% of rapid lateral flow tests carried out at coronavirus test sites across Lincolnshire have come back as positive, according to new figures.

Lateral flow tests are designed to detect live virus in people with no symptoms who are highly infectious.

Results are usually available in 30 minutes which means those who test positive can isolate quickly.

So far, more than 8,000 lateral flow tests have been carried out at a number of centres in Lincolnshire, with just over 100 of the rapid tests returning a positive result.

It will be a cold night in Lincolnshire.

Here's the latest forecast:

The Met Office has issued a yellow "be aware" warning for snow which could affect parts of Lincolnshire overnight.

The warning runs from 22:00 today until midnight tomorrow:

People who film bad driving on their dashcam can upload it to Lincolnshire Police from today.

Working together with the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, the new dashcam portal allows drivers to submit footage of dangerous, careless or inconsiderate driving.

The film will be reviewed by officers and potentially investigated.

Lincolnshire Police say addressing poor driving can help them reduce serious injuries and deaths on the county's road.

Large-scale vaccinations are due to begin at the Lincolnshire Showground site from Tuesday.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Covid cases in Lincolnshire more than halved in January compared to December, but deaths dropped only by a fifth.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service says in January 2021 there were 10,667 Covid-19 cases and 426 deaths in Greater Lincolnshire, compared to 25,347 cases and 545 coronavirus deaths in December 2020.

Figures for the weekend closing January show there were 524 coronavirus cases and 18 Covid-related deaths across Greater Lincolnshire.

The government’s Covid-19 dashboard for the weekend recorded 423 new cases in Lincolnshire, 63 in North Lincolnshire and 38 in North East Lincolnshire.

Some 16 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, one in North Lincolnshire and one in North East Lincolnshire.

These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England reported 11 new local hospital deaths over the weekend, including nine at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT) and two at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG).

Hospitals have seen 258 Covid-related deaths since January 1 – down from 294 in December.

Flood warnings are still in place in and around Lincolnshire.

Image source, Environment Agency

It follows heavy rain in recent days.

Environment Agency staff have been out in the area to check the flood defences and clear any blockages.

The latest information can be found here, external.

Grimsby Town re-sign striker Lenell John-Lewis on a one-and-a-half year deal from Hereford, for an undisclosed fee.

The forecast is for a dry day with outbreaks of sunshine.

You can find your latest local forecast here.

Breaking news, sport, travel and weather updates from across Lincolnshire.

Matty Stevens scores a late winner as Stevenage secure a much-needed League Two victory away to fellow strugglers Grimsby.

BBC Weather

This evening will see a few showers in places before it turns largely dry overnight.

Quite chilly tonight with cloud breaking at times to give a few clearer intervals.

Cloud thickening again by dawn:

Members of the public stepped in after Shepherd Place Farm's owner warned it could close due to lockdown.