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Top Gear indeed as best of Leicestershire features in show
Vehicle manufacturers from Leicestershire took part in a best of British showcase on hit TV show Top Gear.
Caterpillar in Desford and Triumph motorcyles in Hinckley sent vehicles down to London to appear on the programme, which was shown on Sunday night.
Presenter Jeremy Clarkson said the team wanted to end the final show in this series with a demonstration of what Britain offers the world of motor manufacturing.
The show lined up more than £200 million worth of motor machines along The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace.
The line-up included Aston Martins, Rolls Royces, Jaguars, Bentleys, buses, taxis, ice cream vans, Formula 1 cars and diggers.
He said: "A lot of people say that today Britain is nothing more than a bank or a boutique or a busted flush, but looking at the staggering collection I am not sure they are right."
Caterpillar sent six machines – four from Desford and two from County Durham.
Tana Utley, Caterpillar UK country manager and vice-president, said: "We are very proud to see UK-manufactured Cat machines involved in such an epic scene celebrating Britain.
"Caterpillar has been in the UK for more than 60 years in support of a large European customer base.
"Top Gear wanted to show how great Britain currently is on the motoring world stage.
"Caterpillar agrees and we were thrilled to be a part of it."
Triumph Motorcyles sent four bikes down for the parade which lined the famous street down to the Queen's home.
A Triumph spokesman said the company sent down a £12,899 Rocket 3 roadster, a £10,599 Daytona 675R, a £7,199 Thruxton and a Street Triple worth £6,999.
He said: "We were delighted to join in. The bikes were sent down the day before and then brought out very early so that the parade could be filmed.
"As the line-up showed, the motoring manufacturing sector in this country is very much alive and kicking."
Council's loan to bank sees 181 homes bought
A council scheme to allow people to get a foot on the property ladder has led to 181 home sales.
Last year Leicestershire County Council agreed to lend Lloyds TSB £10 million so it could offer mortgages to up to 400 first-time buyers with a deposit of just five per cent.
So far, the council has supported 242 low-cost mortgage applications, totalling £26.9 million, of which 181 have been completed.
Yesterday the council released the latest phase of its investment, taking the total to £7.4 million.
Leader Nick Rushton said: "We know first-time buyers are struggling, so it makes sense to lend the bank some of our reserves to help them get on the property ladder.
"This helps people into homes, boosts the economy and enables the council to get its money back, with interest, from the bank."
Carl Knott, 27 and Zoe Scott, 25, are new home-owners.
Zoe said: "We dreamed of having a home of our own. However, with two young children, saving for a deposit seemed impossible. We went online to find out more about this and things moved really quickly."
Forklift thief rammed his 4x4 into police car
A man who injured two police officers when he rammed their car with a 4x4 vehicle during a £60,000 raid on a timber yard has been jailed for four years.
John Harty, (28), left one officer needing spinal injections – and both with whiplash – when he hit their vehicle head-on after they were called to reports of forklift trucks being stolen from premises in Sewstern, near the A1.
The officers were deployed from Melton after a milkman spotted suspicious activity during his early morning round, Lincoln Crown Court was told.
Four forklift trucks valued at more than £60,000 were removed from the yard, between Grantham and Stamford.
Stephen Lowne, prosecuting, said that when the officers arrived, they spotted one of the forklift trucks being driven by a man who then got in to a 4x4 vehicle.
Both officers described how the 4x4 – driven by father-of-five Harty – accelerated towards them and rammed into their vehicle.
Harty, of Hollydene Crescent, Nottingham, was only linked to the burglary after a DNA match was made more than a year later.
He later admitted the burglary, which occurred on May 1, 2010, and assault causing actual bodily harm to the two officers.
Passing sentence, Judge Sean Morris told Harty: "You have no respect for those whose job it is to uphold the law. They have families as well. There is a man who has had spinal injections because of you."
Police called to help with eviction of disabled tenant
A disabled man was left partially dressed in the street in his wheelchair after being evicted from his home.
Police had to break down the front door of Vincent Tumulty's house in Leicester yesterday after he had barricaded himself and his carer inside because he did not want to leave.
The 51-year-old had backed his wheelchair up against the door to stop his landlord and officers entering the property.
However, police were able to force their way past and Mr Tumulty, who has multiple sclerosis, was evicted at about 3pm.
By about 4pm, the windows of the property, in Avenue Road Extension, Clarendon Park, were being boarded up, while Mr Tumulty, who was not wearing trousers, sat outside.
His carer was granted access to the house to collect a small selection of his belongings, including a new litter of Jack Russell puppies which had been born that morning, and which Mr Tumulty clutched in a box outside his former home.
Landlord Vipen Gohil had been granted a court order "as a last resort" to evict Mr Tumulty, whom he described as an "abusive" neighbour.
Mr Tumulty said: "Social services offered me somewhere temporary, but said I had to get rid of my dogs.
"They also said I'd never see them again if I did, so I'm not doing that. That means I've got nowhere to go."
A city council spokesman said it had offered Mr Tumulty a place in a nearby nursing home, which he had declined.
The spokesman said: "That offer still stands. We have also advised him that he can go to the Dawn Centre, and have given him contact details for the Dogs Trust and RSPCA."
The Dawn Centre, in the city, provides temporary accommodation for the homeless.
Mr Gohil, 42, said he had tried to evict Mr Tumulty in June, but the tenant had resisted.
Yesterday, Mr Gohil, the police and a team of bailiffs were at the scene to remove him.
Mr Gohil said Mr Tumulty was asked to move out after neighbours had complained about his abusive behaviour.
He said: "He was asked to leave about two months ago but refused, so we had to get a court order.
"Neighbours had said he was intimidating them, swearing and throwing glasses. This is a last resort – we haven't been left with any other choice."
Mr Tumulty denied he had abused his neighbours.
"That's absolute rubbish," he said.
His carer, Iwona Nawrocka, who had been in the house with him when the police broke through the front door, said: "He doesn't want to leave, he's been here for three years. He lives by himself, and has MS and he needs care.
"This eviction was humiliating for him, everyone could see him in his wheelchair outside his house, he wasn't even given a chance to put on trousers."
A spokeswoman for the police said: "Police were called to assist a landlord in possession of a court order to evict an occupant of a property in Avenue Road Extension.
"Officers assisted in negotiating with the man to voluntarily leave the property where arrangements have been made for him at an alternative accommodation."
Mr Tumulty said yesterday that he did not know where he was going to spend the night.
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150 drivers caught breaking new limit in just 90 minutes
A speed camera van caught 150 people breaking a new 40mph limit in just 90 minutes.
The van spent an afternoon parked on the A50 at Field Head, between Leicester and the M1, where a 40mph limit was recently imposed, reduced from 50mph.
A spokesman for the county's road safety camera scheme said: "People were regularly breaking the limit, going considerably faster than 50mph.
"We want people to realise there is a speed limit change and this has been introduced after a number of rear-end shuts and incidents involving heavy goods vehicles.
"It's treated as a fast road and we've had lorries overturning along there."
The motorists caught by the camera van during the operation last week will not be fined, but drivers have been warned future violations would be treated seriously.
The spokesman said: "The survey last week caught 150 people in 90 minutes.
"They won't be prosecuted. We will allow drivers a bit of time to get used to the new limit."
He said there were no plans for permanent speed cameras in the 40mph zone but warned it would be policed.
The 40mph zone is in two stretches. One is to the north west of Groby, around Bradgate Hill and the other between the two roundabouts in Field Head.
Residents of Field Head have welcomed the attempt to slow traffic on the road.
Paul Turner, 59, walks along the A50 with his dog.
He said: "It doesn't surprise me how many people they caught going fast. The cars treat it like Mallory Park or Silverstone around here.
"I was in favour of them bringing the speed limit down. It wanted doing ages ago.
"I hope they keep sending the camera vans and send them more often.
"The trouble is people treat this as a fast run to and from the M1 and they drive like it's part of the motorway."
Sarah Pearson, 44, said: "The roundabout has a lot of accidents and a lorry overturned there recently.
"If the new limit reduces the speed of traffic it's a good thing, but they tend to hare along here and the motorbikes are so fast. It's very loud.
"When the camera van is here people usually slow down then but I'm not surprised there were lots of people still going fast."
Jane Peers said: "It's going to take some getting used to for people driving but as a resident I'm very happy about it.
"The traffic approaches the roundabout near me very quickly.
"If you want to go all the way around it rather than just straight over it is pretty tricky."
Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Safety Camera Scheme, which is run by a partnership of the police and councils, said it would be making an announcement this month when it would begin enforcing the new limit with fines for motorists.
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'Homeopathy obsessive MP is out of touch with voters'
A Tory MP has been accused of obsessing over fringe issues after raising the use of homeopathy in farming in Parliament.
David Tredinnick has been criticised for submitting an Early Day Motion about a Yorkshire farmer's use of alternative remedies on his flock of sheep.
Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Bosworth Michael Mullaney says his Tory rival has got his priorities wrong and is wasting taxpayers' money by bringing up the issue at Westminster.
He says Mr Tredinnick, a long-time advocate of homeopathy and herbal medicines, is failing to focus on matters important to his constituents.
Mr Tredinnick lodged his motion – entitled Successful Use of Homeopathy in Farming – on July 1 calling on the Commons to congratulate farmer Lester Peel for winning an award after mixing homeopathic remedies with his flock's feed.
The farmer says his animals have been free of viruses and worm infestations since.
An Early Day Motion is a means for MPs to raise awareness of an issue in the Commons. Other MPs can show their support by signing it.
So far, only one other MP, Alan Meale (Labour, Mansfield) has supported Mr Tredinnick's motion.
Councillor Mullaney, who hopes to take the Bosworth seat in 2015's General Election, said: "This shows why, after 26 years of Mr Tredinnick as our MP, our area desperately needs a change.
"An Early Day Motion costs about £400 of public money – surely that is money that could be better spent?
"Surely, Mr Tredinnick has better things to do as our MP than campaign on using homeopathy on farms?
"I have not heard the National Farmers' Union or large numbers of farmers clamouring for the use of homeopathy.
"People in Bosworth want an MP who will campaign all year round on the issues that matter to people, jobs and local services.
"Instead of endlessly obsessing about homeopathy, he should be concentrating on the real issues – creating jobs and delivering quality services."
An unrepentant Mr Tredinnick said his Lib Dem rival had failed to grasp the importance of homeopathy.
He said: "I am not sure this is a subject he is very well briefed on. You shouldn't take on people on their strengths."
Mr Tredinnick, a member of the Commons select committees on science and technology and health, said homeopathy and herbal medicine were becoming increasingly popular as the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics grew.
He said: "He (Coun Mullaney) is making a mistake here because antibiotics resistance is creating a rising cost to the health service and we must look at alternatives. The chief medical officer says resistance to antibiotics is a serious issue.
"I was making the point that homeopathic remedies have worked with animals. Animals do not lie."
Mr Tredinnick said he had also been committed to improving the economy in his constituency – particularly at the new Enterprise Zone at Mira Technology Park, near Hinckley, which is undergoing a £300 million investment which could create 2,000 jobs.
He said: "I was very much involved with that. I met three ministers in one day.
"I wasn't sent to Parliament to say what everybody else is saying."
Business set to close doors over car-free zone concerns
A businessman is quitting his city centre shop, blaming a proposed pedestrianisation scheme for his decision.
Pete Butler has run Cartridge World, in St Martin's, since 2008 – but he will be shutting up shop on August 17.
Mr Butler has decided not to renew his five year lease, because he fears plans to make the surrounding streets car-free will cost him half of his customers.
Hotel Street and Grey Friars are earmarked for pedestrianisation as part of city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby's £19 million Connecting Leicester revamp of the city centre.
Mr Butler said: "My customers come in from across the county to recycle cartridges or bring in printers. If they can't stop outside the door, many of them won't come.
"If it weren't for the pedestrianisation I probably would have carried on. It's a great spot – at the moment – but I'm faced with losing half my trade and I can't take that risk.
"I will be the first to go, but if these streets are pedestrianised another four or five shops could follow."
He added: "I'm not against everything Peter Soulsby is doing. I think his plans for the indoor market are great but he doesn't seem to understand that customers need to get near shops.
"We'll have lovely street surfaces but a load of empty shops." He said he would carry on his business "somewhere, but it won't be from here".
Sir Peter said: "The council has a lot of experience with pedestrianisation schemes.
"I was around when Gallowtree was pedestrianised. People said all the shops would close and Marks & Spencers would be out within the week.
"There were similar dire predictions when Market Street was pedestrianised. Those streets are still succeeding."
He said The Lanes shopping area, in the vicinity of St Martin's, remained buoyant.
He said: "The city council owns a number of shops in that part of town and we have seen very good take up there in recent months.
"There is always turnover of shops in The Lanes."
Traders in the St Martin's area have complained about the pedestrianisation and, if their objections cannot be resolved by the council, a Government inspector could be called in to adjudicate on the proposed traffic regulation orders.
The council has said it might commence routine highway repairs in the area next month even if the matter has gone to a planning inspector and has yet to be determined.
The most recent phase of the Connecting Leicester scheme got under way yesterday with workman moving into Guildhall Lane to begin a £500,000 revamp. The carriageway, from its junction with Cart's Lane to Applegate, will be rebuilt so the path and road will be on one level, matching recent work on nearby Silver Street.
Pavements will be relaid with pink and grey block paving and the road will be finished in red asphalt.
The council has written to businesses and residents with details of the scheme. Work is expected to take about 12 weeks.
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Richard III: Historian claims he was 'airbrushed out of king story'
Historian Dr John Ashdown-Hill claims he has been airbrushed out of the city's Richard III story, despite making one of the project's pivotal discoveries.
On Monday, February 4, the University of Leicester announced to an astonished world's press that it had identified the Greyfriars remains as those of King Richard III.
Academics explained how the skeleton's DNA matched with that of Canadian furniture maker, Michael Ibsen - who had been proven to be the monarch's 16th great grandnephew.
However, Dr Ashdown-Hill who tracked down Mr Ibsen more than decade ago, said he was extremely disappointed he was not invited to the event and felt "airbrushed" out of the project.
He said: "Finding something like the DNA line, which led to Michael (Ibsen) was an amazing thing to do. I was astonished that we actually succeeded in doing it.
"But then I was hugely disappointed that I wasn't allowed to be there when the results were revealed."
A spokesman for the university said: "We had to go through Richard's lineage again, and verify the work which was carried out more than 10 years ago. We can't have everyone at the press conference. Perhaps we should have invited the creator of DNA fingerprinting as well, seeing as he played a part?"
But Dr Ashdown-Hill maintained his discovery was key to the project.
He said he was upset that he had received a letter a few days before the press conference, asking him not to attend.
He said: "I didn't dig up the remains, that was Richard Buckley. I didn't analyse the DNA, that was Turi King.
"But I would like the university to acknowledge that without my research there wouldn't have been a search for Richard in the first place.
"I feel airbrushed out of the university's version."
Dr Ashdown-Hill also said he was asked not to attend a private meeting where Mr Ibsen was told that the DNA from the remains matched his.
He said: "The private revelation, on the day before the big press conference, was a huge disappointment to me. This is something I had spent a great deal of time researching.
"Both Darlo (the documentary makers) and Philippa wanted me there, and wanted to see my reaction to the results, but the university sent me a message telling me I wasn't allowed to attend."
Philippa Langley, from the Richard III Society, was the driving force behind the search for the king and initiated the project last year.
She said: "John's influence was huge. Without his research there would have been no dig. His book, for me, was crucial because I knew that if we found his grave, we could identify him.
"So it was because of my research and John's research that we were able to go to the university and Channel Four and prove that this wasn't a wild goose chase."
The University of Leicester said it mentioned Dr Ashdown-Hill on many occasions when referencing the Greyfriars project, but that no matter how many times it did so, it would not be enough.
A spokesman said: "The fact is, we mentioned John Ashdown-Hill a dozen times on our website, in four press releases, cited him prominently at the press conference on February 4, invited him to the inaugural press conference, arranged media interviews with him and he was present at the dig, where he appeared on Channel 4's most-watched documentary ever.
"Perhaps no matter what we did, it would never be enough for John Ashdown-Hill."