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

Scunthorpe end a run of three successive League Two defeats with a comprehensive victory over Lincolnshire rivals Grimsby .

A food bank with a difference has opened to help people struggling to feed their pets.

Lincolnshire Police say the bash was actually a number of "individual parties" in the same building.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Councils along Lincolnshire’s coast will next week join others in approving proposals to increase their share of council tax by almost £5.

Image source, Google

Both Boston and East Lindsey are proposing the £4.95 increase, which is the highest the authorities can go before sparking a referendum.

For East Lindsey residents, this will see their share of Band D council tax go from £146.79 to £151.74 – a 3.37% increase.

In Boston, the same band will go from £192.96 to £197.91 - a 2.57% rise.

A report before East Lindsey District Council’s Overview Committee said the authority has balanced its budget, despite the extra strain of the pandemic.

However, it warns that a budget deficit of £1,285,000 will be reached by 2023-24.

It said work is “already under way” to bridge the gap, including further development of the strategic alliance with Boston.

Meanwhile reports to both Boston’s Audit and Governance Committee and its cabinet say 2021-22 will have a surplus of £98,000, but will face saving requirements of £700,000 per year from 2022-23 onwards.

The dogs, which were rescued from kennels in Skegness, are now being nursed back to health.

Lincolnshire's care home staff and residents should have all had their first Covid jab by this weekend, it's been confirmed.

Image source, Kirsty O'Connor/Pool via Reuters

Martin Fahy, the county's director of nursing, says three quarters of residents and staff have already had the jab.

Lincolnshire’s health services had been “at great guns” since the start of the vaccine roll-out, he added.

"We’re on track to complete all our care homes by this weekend, so we’re really excited about that," he told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a woman in her 40s was pushed over and her bag was stolen in Fishtoft, near Boston.

The woman, who was walking her dog on Bladon Estate at about 20:10 on Wednesday night, was run at and pushed over by two young men and two young girls, officers say.

The victim was also kicked and her black rucksack, which contained prescribed drugs and her purse, was pulled from her and stolen.

The stolen medication could be dangerous if swallowed by anyone for whom it's not intended, police add.

Anyone with information about the attack and theft is being asked to contact Lincolnshire Police.

More than half of people aged over 80 in Lincolnshire have had their first Covid-19 jab, it's been confirmed.

A total of 24,253 people in their 80s and above have been vaccinated in the county so far - that's 52% of the county's population of people in their 80s.

Meanwhile, figures show that 8% of Lincolnshire's adult population have had the jab - 49,633 people in total.

The figures include the first two weeks of vaccination, up to 17 January, so do not include people who've been jabbed at the mass vaccination centre which opened in Boston this week.

A Lincolnshire pub landlady says she's "gutted" at a scientist's suggestion pubs and restaurants may not open until May due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Image source, The Ship

Dr Marc Baguelin, a scientist who advises the government, told the BBC opening pubs and restaurants would cause a "bump in transmission" of Covid-19.

Lesley Hunter took over as landlady of The Ship Inn in Horncastle in December and it's stood empty every day since (pictured).

She says: "May just feels such a long long way away".

Vandals who stole a defibrillator in Gainsborough have been branded "brain dead" by a councillor:

The life-saving machine was taken from outside Northolme Football Stadium and was later found found abandoned and water-damaged in nearby bushes.

Councillor Matt Boles, from West Lindsey District Council, says the machine had only recently been used to help someone living nearby.

He says it "beggars belief" that someone would break it.

Officials say the kit will be replaced, but in the meantime people are being urged to call 999 in an emergency.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A Lincolnshire councillor is set to express “extreme concerns” over the potential withdrawal of health services from Gainsborough’s John Coupland Hospital.

Image source, Google

In a motion before West Lindsey District Council next Monday, Liberal Democrat councillor Matt Boles is expected to say: "Following the removal of various services over several years at John Coupland Hospital, there is now speculation consultant-led outpatient services are also to be withdrawn."

He will call for the leader of the authority to write to United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust (ULHT) chiefs explaining that the council is "extremely concerned to protect services at John Coupland Hospital” and seeking confirmation of the move.

"We all appreciate the Covid-19 pandemic is stretching NHS services, but the impact of such a withdrawal of services from Gainsborough would have similar far-reaching consequences to both the physical and mental well-being of town residents as the short-term impact of Covid."

Councillor Boles is calling for details of a recovery plan to be released to help manage the long-term impact on Gainsborough residents.

Paul Matthew, from ULHT, has confirmed the trust is considering changing how it delivers “some outpatient services at some peripheral sites” but said details were yet to be decided.

“We will be undertaking a comprehensive public engagement exercise in the near future to help in shaping the future service arrangements,” he said.

“Some colleagues on our peripheral sites were put on notice for redeployment, however this process has now been stopped."

BBC Weather

Today will be chilly but mostly dry and sunny although an isolated shower cannot be ruled out towards this evening.

Brisk westerly winds will gradually ease.

The risk of one or two isolated showers this evening but otherwise a dry night is expected with broken cloud.

Turning cold. Gentle winds:

Mel Kerr, a nurse in Lincoln, said the pandemic had thrown "complications, stresses and pressures" on staff.

BBC Weather

It will be a dry but cold night in Lincolnshire.

Here's the latest forecast:

Grimsby Town sign Fleetwood midfielder Jay Matete on loan until the end of the season.

Lincolnshire Police seized three vehicles after suspected hare coursing in the county, it's been revealed.

Image source, PA

The force control room received a 999 call at just before 08:00 on Tuesday concerning workers at Low Grounds in Swineshead who were reportedly being threatened by 10 or more men.

Due to concerns for these workers, and indications this was connected with hare coursing, six police vehicles were sent, according to the Lincolnshire force.

When officers arrived, five 4x4 vehicles left the scene.

A dispersal order which covered Lincolnshire for the day was issued just over 30 minutes after the initial report was received, police said.

Three vehicles were subsequently seized, several tickets were issued for breaches of Covid regulations and £6,000 was recovered from one vehicle, officers added.

A total of 49,633 coronavirus vaccination doses have so far been administered in Lincolnshire, new government figures show.

The breakdown of the figures for Lincolnshire includes:

FIRST DOSE TOTAL: 46,935

• Under 80s: 22,682
• 80+: 24,253

SECOND DOSE TOTAL: 2,698

• Under 80s: 1,136
• 80+ :1,562

Nearly two million people in the UK have received their first dose of the Covid vaccine in the past week, figures show.

By the end of Tuesday, 4.61 million people had received their initial jab, up from 2.64 million the week before.

The health of 30 dogs found matted and in a neglected state in Lincolnshire has improved significantly - and they've been given a makeover, the RSPCA has said.

Image source, RSPCA

The animal charity was alerted to the plight of the dogs after they were found in kennels outside a property in the Skegness area last week.

Image source, RSPCA

Some of the dogs’ fur was so matted their breeds were unrecognisable and many also had rotten teeth so were struggling to eat.

However, they have since undergone a transformation at the RSPCA's Radcliffe Animal Centre in Nottingham where staff will be working with the dogs until they are ready to be rehomed.

Ella Carpenter, from the RSPCA, said: "They have a new lease of life and are now able to move freely without experiencing the pain of those heavy matts."

There's been a rise in the number of people in Lincolnshire found to have the new variant of Covid-19.

A total of 60% of all positive cases of the infection in Lincolnshire in the first week of this year contained the new variant of the virus, it's been confirmed.

Andy Fox, a consultant on Lincolnshire's Public Health Team, says viruses are always changing: