A Lincolnshire farmer has been jailed for a total of 14 years after attempting to blackmail Tesco by putting knife blades in baby food.

Image source, Hertfordshire Constabulary

Nigel Wright, 45, who's from Market Rasen, attempted to swindle the supermarket out of £1.4m in the plot.

The Old Bailey heard that he sent dozens of letters to the retail giant between May 2018 and February 2020.

He was sentenced today to 11 years in jail after being convicted earlier this year of three counts of blackmail and two charges of contaminating goods.

That sentence will be served consecutively with a three-year sentence for a charge of blackmail against a driver with whom he had had a road rage altercation.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Warby said: "You were under no pressure from others, or from circumstances.

A total of 18 arts venues in Lincolnshire have been given grants totalling nearly £3m in a bid to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has released £157m in funding to help struggling arts venues across the country.

One theatre in Lincolnshire which will be getting a share of the funding says it will be the difference between some venues surviving the next few months or going under.

Here's the full list of Lincolnshire venues which are set to benefit - and how much they're getting:

A Lincolnshire Conservative MP has hit out at his own party for a curfew which closes pubs and restaurants at 22:00.

Karl McCartney, MP for Lincoln, said the rule, introduced in a bid to cut the number of coronavirus infections, "might not be achieving what it set out to achieve".

He says the curfew is "not helpful" to the industry and suggests the rule fails to take into account "how young people operate these days".

Mr McCartney said he would "potentially" vote against the government if the 22:00 curfew is up for a vote in parliament:

Two women have been seriously injured in a crash near Market Deeping at the weekend.

Image source, Google

The crash happened at about 14:50 on Sunday on the A1175 at Tallington.

A motorbike collided with a Citroen C1 which then hit a Ford Ranger, police say.

The motorcyclist, a woman in her 50s, and the driver of the Citroen, a woman in her 20s, were both badly hurt.

Police are appealing for anyone who saw what happened, or who has dash cam footage, to get in touch.

Young people in Lincolnshire are more "exposed" to Covid-19, according to the county's Director of Public Health.

Image source, Reuters/Carl Recine

Figures show about a third of positive coronavirus cases in the county are people aged between 18 and 21.

Professor Derek Ward has told BBC Radio Lincolnshire that 20% of those cases are people aged 18.

He says he's expecting that number to rise this week as students continue to arrive at Lincoln's universities.

But he's keen to stress that young people themselves aren't necessarily to blame for the prevalence of Covid-19.

He says younger adults are "often the ones working in hospitality, they're often the ones working in shops or stacking shelves.

"People in those age bands are more exposed to the wider population. It's not just about what they're doing in their free time, it's about what they're doing in work time as well."

A Lincolnshire farmer is due to be sentenced later after contaminating baby food with metal shards and attempting to blackmail the Tesco supermarket chain.

Image source, Hertfordshire Constabulary

Nigel Wright, 45, who farmed near Market Rasen, was found guilty at the Old Bailey in August.

The court heard how two mothers were moments away from feeding their infants when they spotted the shards.

Jurors were told Wright sent dozens of letters and emails to the supermarket giant between May 2018 and February 2020.

He demanded £1.4m was paid via the online currency Bitcoin.

Wright was convicted of three counts of blackmail and two charges of contaminating goods.

He was also convicted of a further charge of blackmail for demanding £150,000 worth of Bitcoin from a driver with whom he had a road rage altercation.

It appears that it may a little damp today.

Showers are forecast for most of the day - but if you're lucky you may dodge them!

You can find your local forecast here.