A driver forced to abandon his car in a snow-filled ditch was horrified when it was taken away and wrecked – after a farmer speared it with a forklift truck.

Dan Neal, 24, left his black Citroen C2 with a note on the windscreen, after sliding off the road near to Wistow Grange Farm.

When he returned to collect the car the following day, he discovered it had already been removed by farmer Edward Gilbert.

He was then horrified to find the farmer had moved the vehicle to a barn by piercing the twin blades of the fork-lift through the bodywork.

The £3,000 car was left with a hole in the roof, smashed side windows, a shattered windscreen, scratched doors and a missing wing mirror.

When challenged, Mr Gilbert claimed it was Dan who owed him £250 for the minor damage to his fence.

Dan, who lives in nearby Fleckney, said: "He said, 'I've confiscated your car because I'm sick of people driving into my fence'.

"He was very matter-of-fact about it. He even said I owed him £250 – I couldn't believe what he was saying."

His eight-year-old car was towed away. He is now stuck in Fleckney with no transport.

The incident happened as he was driving home from work at British Gas in heavy snow, at about 6pm last Friday evening. He skidded off a bend and into the ditch next to Mr Gilbert's land. The RAC was unable to attend and Dan was advised to leave the vehicle with a note on the dashboard.

He said: "I managed to get a lift home from my girlfriend and then I met the RAC the next morning. When I went back with them at about 9.30am, the car was gone.

"I called the police to see if anyone had reported it and they'd heard nothing so I went on a bit of a detective hunt." Dan and the RAC patrolman drove around the snow-covered area looking for the car, before they spotted a couple of men in a nearby field.

Dan said: "We got out to speak to them and as we did the farmer appeared and told us what he had done.

"The car had been destroyed. It was in a real state."

The car was lifted on to the back of the RAC's recovery vehicle and taken away as scrap.

Mr Gilbert, 38, has defended his actions, saying he was "within his rights" to remove the car.

"It had damaged the fence and there were sheep in the field and a there was a danger they could escape," he said. "It was dark and snowing and I couldn't see any sign in the car, and the forklift was the only way I had of lifting it off the fence.

"We get fed up with people going through the hedges and abandoning their cars.

"If it had been a £50,000 Bentley I might have left it in the ditch.

"But as it is, I'm waiting to send him my personal invoice for the damage he's caused to my fence."

Police investigating a serious assault outside a takeaway restaurant are searching for a potential crucial witness.

Officers believe the man may have seen an attack which left a 29-year-old man with facial injuries.

The victim was targeted in Belgrave Gate, Leicester city centre at 2.30am on Sunday, December 30.

Police said the victim was injured when he was involved in an altercation with two other men, who punched him to the ground and continued kicking him.

The victim and his girlfriend went home by taxi but he went to hospital for treatment for facial injuries the next day.

Police have arrested a 35-year-old man in connection with the attack. He has been released on police bail.

Detective Constable Anita Rose said: "We have looked at CCTV, gathered victim and witness statements and made an arrest, but we are sure that this one particular witness will be able to help us further our enquiries.

"The victim received some quite serious injuries and we need to gather as much information as possible."

Contact Det Con Rose on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Gary Lineker has paid for a private jet to fly his poorly mum home to for treatment, according The Sun.

The newspaper's website is reporting that Gary is worried about mum Margaret, 73, who now lives in Spain and has been hooked up to a drip in Tarragona Hospital, near Barcelona.

Apparently Gary's brother, Wayne, has been at their mum's bedside and flew back with Margaret today.

Wayne tweeted yesterday: "Thanks to my bro Gary. Private jet pickin me & Mum up tomoz."

According to the Sun, a source close to Gary, 52, said: "He couldn't bear to think of his mum in a foreign hospital when he can afford luxury healthcare here." 

Paul Konchesky has hailed Leicester City team-mate Michael Keane as one of the best young defenders he has seen.

The former England international said teenager Keane, who is on loan from Manchester United until the end of January, could turn out to be a top Premier League defender.

Konchesky said he had been impressed by the 19-year-old's maturity and composure on the ball, which is becoming more important in modern defenders.

"He is one of the best I have seen for how old he is," said Konchesky.

"He has trained at Manchester United every day, so he has had a good education, and got experience from the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, and that has to be fantastic for him.

"Hopefully, he can get better and better.

"He is very composed on the ball and he is one of those defenders who likes to play, not just defend.

"It is a big part of his game, to come out with the ball and set things moving.

"These days, that is very important for defenders. There are a lot of players who want to play and it starts from the goalkeeper and the back four."

At 31, Konchesky is one of the elder statesmen of the City squad, and another one of the younger players who has been impressing him is new signing Chris Wood, who scored six goals in his first three games.

Konchesky believes Wood could be the final piece in the jigsaw as City boss Nigel Pearson builds a promotion-challenging squad.

"He is big and strong, and he has an eye for goal," said Konchesky.

"Every time he gets a sight of goal he will try to shoot and score.

"You forget he is only young. He has scored a few goals at every club he has been to on loan, even at West Brom.

"He is a finisher. He has a lot to his game, which is great. He has given us a boost and, hopefully, he will keep it going."

Richard Cockerill has confirmed that George Ford will leave Leicester Tigers at the end of the season.

The club's director of rugby added that the 19-year-old has told the club he will go and sign for Bath, where his dad, Mike, is assistant coach.

Cockerill said Leicester had done "everything they could, both financially and contractually," to keep Ford.

He said Ford's decision to leave was "his choice, not ours".

The Tigers boss said he was disappointed with the move and was also very critical of the advice the teenager had received from his agent and father.

"George has been here for four years and we have spent a lot of time and money developing him," said Cockerill.

"But he has chosen to leave because he wants to go and play every week.

"From a Leicester end, it's disappointing because you want your best young players to stay.

"We did everything we could contractually to keep him, both financially and with the terms of the deal, even down to the small detail within the contract.

"But he feels he has to play every week and he feels he has been given (those) assurances wherever he goes.

"If players choose to move on because they don't want to stay and fight for their spot, that's cool. I can cope with that.

"But he has had plenty of game time this and last season.

"Toby Flood is a very good player and we pick on merit here.

"The same rules apply to everyone. You earn your place in the side and you have to earn your spot.

"Culturally, I am never going to put myself in a corner where a player says 'pick me or I am leaving'.

"It is not as black and white as that but that is virtually where we are at with George.

"Last year, he played in two semi-finals and two finals. And I don't understand why any young player, after being involved against Toulouse at the weekend, would want to take himself out of that environment.

"He is only 19 but the advice that he is getting from his agent and his father is that he needs to be playing every week. I can't control that and I am not begging anyone to sign for Leicester."

If Ford does complete a move to the West Country, Gary Gold's side will have to pay Leicester £45,000 in compensation for taking the services of a player who is still within the England Under-20s set-up.

And Cockerill says Ford has told him that Bath will be his likely destination.

"I have been told by him and his advisors that he is going to go and sign for Bath," said Cockerill. "There are all of the protocols around that and they will have to pay compensation.

"George is very close to his father and he wants to go and play for the team that his father coaches. You can understand that. That's life.

"For me, the advice he has been getting is wrong, but I have no problem with George and he is with us until the end of the season.

"He will play when he needs to play and if he is better than the guys we have got, he will play in front of them.

"But I want guys that want to play for us and George doesn't. That's it. We move on."

Former Leicester Tigers flanker Lewis Moody will walk 300 miles across the Arctic next month in temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees as he attempts to complete the Yukon Ultra Marathon.

Starting on February 3, he has eight days to finish the challenge and, during that time, he will be sleeping less than four hours a day in a tent.

During one weekend of training, which consisted of 48 hours of trekking with only three hours sleep, the now-retired 34-year-old was so tired that he began hallucinating near the end of it.

He thought he saw a big house coming closer to him in the final minutes. It was only when he got to within 30 metres that he realised it was, in fact, a tree.

A friend of his thought he was being chased by a panther when he completed the 100-mile leg of the trek two years ago.

"At least it made him get to the end quicker," said Moody.

If it was not one of Leicester's favourite sons doing it, you would think anyone involved in such a task had to be bonkers.

But for someone like the former Tigers flanker, who has made a living from putting his body in the most dangerous positions known to man, it comes as no surprise.

Moody will tackle the task for charity. The HopeHIV cause is something he has felt passionately about for six years. He will be making the trek with the charity's founder Phil Wall and polar explorer Alan Chambers.

The size of Moody's task is made all the more clear when a man, who has made 223 appearances and won two Heineken Cups and seven Premiership titles during a glittering career at Welford Road, as well as a World Cup with his country, describes it as his "greatest challenge" to date.

"Walking 38 miles a day across Arctic Canada in temperatures of minus 50 is going to brutal," he said.

"The fitness side of that is not the most demanding part. It will be the cold and the sleep depravation that will be the hardest to deal with.

"We will have flash jogs as well at times to keep up, and I will need to have enough wits about me to work a small portable cooker to cook our meals.

"I have been in temperatures of minus 30 before and it was not ridiculously cold.

"But when you factor in some of the winds we will expect to be encountering, then it gets pretty tasty."

The event will be well-marshalled and, with "guys on skidoos" riding around to check there have been no casualties, there will at least be someone to help if Moody feels the need to bail out.

Ominously, of the 75 contestants who start the race each year, less than half of them reach the end.

"There will be proper athletes who are out to win it, but our goal will be just to finish it," he said.

"As a sportsman, I spent the whole of my career challenging myself physically and mentally every moment of the day, whether that be in the gym, on the training pitch or in a match.

"When I retired, I really missed that and this is a massive challenge for me, both physically and mentally."

To sponsor Moody on his Yukon Arctic Ultra challenge, either text MYGC99 to 70070 with a donation of £1, £5 or £10, or go to:

www.justgiving.com/teams/ mygreatestchallenge

For more information and for updates, visit:

www.mygreatestchallenge.org

When a 17-year-old Chris Wood made his debut for West Bromwich Albion from the substitutes' bench at Fratton Park in 2009, he became only the fifth New Zealander to ever play in the Premier League.

Although still aged just 21, the Leicester City striker believes he has a role to play as a pioneer for football in his homeland.

Rugby union is a national obsession in New Zealand and the All Blacks dominate the back pages, but Wood's excellent start to his City career, which has seen the striker score six times in his first three games, is not going unnoticed at home.

His superb hat-trick at Bristol City 11 days ago made the national news in New Zealand, and Wood believes he has a duty to try to inspire youngsters in his country to take up football.

He has played 29 times for the All Whites, and experienced the 2010 World Cup Finals and last summer's Olympic Games, which has given football greater exposure in New Zealand.

However, Wood knows that reaching the Premier League with City will make his cause a lot easier.

"If I can get into the Premier League it can only enhance football back in New Zealand," he said.

"When the likes of Ryan Nelson and Winston Reid do well over here in the Premier League, it has bigged-up football in New Zealand.

"That is something we want to keep achieving and inspire new players to come through. It is developing slowly, but the World Cup helped in terms of exposure.

"It is always coming along bit by bit. Rugby is the main sport over there and trying to overtake that would be very hard, but if we can get up to par with it, it would be good.

"I think I can be a pioneer for football. I have to be. Without sounding big-headed, kids do look up to me in a certain way and I have to respect that.

"They look to me so I have to be professional and make sure I do everything right so they can see it.

"It will make headlines, and my hat-trick was probably on the news back home."

Auckland-born Wood still has family back in New Zealand, including his sister Chelsey, who has played for the All Whites at the last two Women's World Cups.

But his parents have moved to England to be with their son as he develops his promising career, and Wood is quick to admit he has had superb support.

Football in this country is in the genes as his mum is English and hails from Lewisham.

"My mum and dad live over here permanently now and they come to every single game," he said.

"My sister and family back home watch out for all my games.

"I have been given so much support by my family that I am determined to repay them by reaching the Premier League."

He admits he could not have asked for a better start to his City career, but does not care who scores the goals as long as they reach the Premier League.

"It is very nice to score those goals, and getting my first hat-trick for Leicester at Bristol is something I will always remember," he said.

"More importantly, we came away with the three points, which is what we went for.

"It has been a nice start for me. I always have confidence in myself and my ability, but it is nice to have those goals come so quickly.

"There is a long way to go in the season and we want more goals and more points, and ultimately to get into the Premier League."

Plans to run a £32 billion high-speed rail route through Leicestershire could jeopardise a project that will create 6,000 jobs, it has been warned.

On Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to announce details of the route of phase two of the HS2 scheme.

The first phase will see 225mph passenger trains running between London and Birmingham, while phase two will see lines branch out in a Y-shape to both Leeds and Manchester.

Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton said he has been told the Leeds-bound section will cut through the county passing through a huge tunnel underneath East Midlands Airport.

Coun Rushton said he understood it would re-emerge in the middle of a site earmarked for a £300 million rail distribution depot, to the north of the airport, which would employ 6,000 people, planned by developers Roxhill. He said: "This line will cut right through north west Leicestershire.

"It will enter at Appleby Magna and broadly follow the route of the M42 corridor. When it gets to Diseworth, it will disappear down a great tunnel and come back up exactly where the Roxhill development will be.

"It will wreck that very important employment opportunity."

Coun Rushton said he did not think it would be possible for both schemes to go ahead. He said: "The developers would contribute millions to improving the road infrastructure, so if it doesn't happen there will be no Kegworth bypass and none of the motorway junction improvements. The dualling of the A453 will not happen either."

Coun Rushton spoke to the Mercury yesterday ahead of a phone conversation with Secretary of State for Transport Sir Patrick McLoughlin, who briefed him on the scheme.

Coun Rushton said he feared the route would affect communities including Appleby Magna, Measham, Ashby and Lockington where there may be compulsory purchases of homes and businesses.

He said: "I doubt it will be very popular. It would make more sense to run it up the A38 corridor and run it into Derby to use the station there."

After Monday's announcement a consultation is likely to begin in May.

North West Leicestershire District Council leader Richard Blunt said: "It does look like the route will run through the Roxhill site and I doubt we can have both."

North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen said he did not want to speculate on the route before it was officially announced but has questioned the value of the project.

Neither the HS2 Ltd – a Government-owned firm – or the Department of Transport would comment on the route though both said there would be an announcement imminently. Nobody from Roxhill was available for comment.

A few pictures from Innes England's Leicestershire Market Insite event on January 22 at the Leicester Tigers' ground.

Bungling bureaucrats have been blamed for the closure of a well-known building firm with the loss of more than 100 jobs.

Specialist accountants looking into what led to the collapse of Hallam Contracts said the Oadby company had a strong order book when it was forced into administration in November.

Accountants Begbies Traynor's report revealed a key document which could have stopped the company from going under had lain unread at a court for up to three weeks.

Meanwhile, the company was ruled by the court to be a bad debtor.

This in turn sparked a spiral of legal proceedings which resulted in the 90-year-old firm closing while owing £4 million to about 300 suppliers and subcontractors.

These creditors are likely to only get back between a quarter and half of what they are owed.

Harborough MP Edward Garnier, whose constituency covers Oadby, yesterday accused county court officials of "maladministration".

In a report into what led to Hallam's collapse, Begbies Traynor said Hallam was unable to defend itself against court proceedings brought by a creditor who was owed about £17,000 because "a backlog of three weeks unopened mail" at the court meant key documents had not been available at the hearing.

The Begbies statement said: "The defence documents which set out that Hallam would contest the jurisdiction of the court in this matter were submitted to the court by the company's legal advisers.

"Although acknowledged as received by the court, these documents were not put before the court because, as it later transpired, the court had a backlog of three weeks unopened mail.

"Consequently, in the absence of court documentation, judgement was awarded against the company."

This set off a chain of events which drove the company into administration and the loss of 117 jobs, Begbies said.

The circumstances which led to Hallam's demise were outlined in documents made public by Companies' House yesterday.

Begbies, which also claimed the £17,000 owed to the creditor was "not technically due for payment", has not named the creditor in question.

It also did not name the location of the county court, although court officials have said it was not Leicester.

Begbies said another supplier submitted a winding-up petition against Hallam, demanding it pay it back more than £500,000 it was owed.

This, along with other financial issues, left Hallam's directors, including managing director John Hallam, with no alternative but to agree to put the company into administration.

Mr Garnier said he would be speaking to officials overseeing the county court system to find out how the backlog of paperwork was allowed.

He said: "Although the demise of the company cannot be blamed on the creditors, who were entitled to recover their debts, it does seem that a whole set of circumstances, and not least maladministration at the county court, has caused a respected local construction company to go under with the loss of 117 jobs."

Alan Savill is managing director of Sanctuary Secure, of Market Harborough, which supplied security guards to Hallam building sites and is owed a five-figure sum. He said he was surprised by the administrators' report.

Hallam had been working on 15 building projects in the East Midlands at the time of its demise, including a new headquarters for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council in Hinckley.

HM Courts and Tribunal Service, the Government agency which oversees county courts, said there was no central register of county court proceedings.

A spokeswoman said that a request for a comment by the Mercury yesterday afternoon did not give them long enough to look into the matter properly and respond.