IT was a day that went down in history for the nurses, mums and midwives at the City Hospital.

Almost immediately after a shift handover, the babies started to flow.

The first to arrive was at 6.40am and from that point onwards there was no rest for the ten midwives who were on shift on Friday, March 1, as they delivered nine babies in 120 minutes – the highest influx of babies in the shortest amount of time the unit has ever had to cope with.

"As soon as one was delivered, another mum was coming through the doors," said maternity matron Julia Gudgeon.

"I am so proud of the way we all handled it. It really was an achievement and the whole team were outstanding."

All nine mums who gave birth within those two hours had natural births.

And at one point – between 7.30am and 8am – no fewer than four babies were safely delivered.

"It really was all hands on deck," said Ms Gudgeon.

"But we kept calm and everyone worked efficiently," she said.

One of the mums giving birth that morning was Laura Purdy, 22, of Eastwood, and she said she could tell the ward was busy.

"The midwives were in and out and I could hear in the background the bells that they have going off all the time," she said.

"But it didn't bother me, I just got on with it."

In one year, roughly 10,000 babies are born at both of the city's maternity units – at the City Hospital and Queen's Medical Centre.

However, figures for the past three years show a slight fall in the birth rate, from 10,126 babies in 2010 to 9,928 births for last year.

Old Basford: Fundraisers taking part in Cancer Research UK's Relay for Life event will next meet on Tuesday. The latest developments will be discussed and any money already collected should be handed over at The Horse And Groom pub, in Radford Road, from 7pm.

Nottingham: A civil engineering lecturer says more needs to be done to prevent cars suffering pothole damage. Dr Mujib Rahman was speaking after it was revealed yesterday that 30 per cent of motorists HAD suffered damage to their vehicles as a result of potholes.

Dr Rahman, of Nottingham Trent University, said: "The main problem is the maintenance backlog and repeat repairs of the same pothole. Councils need to speed up the process and carry out repairs that last longer."

Carlton: A programme and memorabilia fair is to be held at Carlton Town FC's Stoke Lane ground from 10am on Sunday, with last free admission at 12.30pm. Admission afterwards will be £3 and £1.50 for concessions. It will be followed by the clash between Nottingham Forest and Arsenal ladies' teams at the ground from 2pm.

Nottingham: Companies are being invited to take part in a walking and cycling challenge to encourage people to be more active. It is run by the Big Wheel cycling organisation. To sign up go to www.thebigwheel.org.uk/ workplacechallenge and then log all your walking and cycling journeys between April 8 and June 8.

A MAN has been jailed for eight months after he pointed a toy lizard at two bailiffs and threatened to shoot them.

Shane Burton picked up the nearest thing to hand and threatened the men from a window of his flat when he saw them clamping his Land Rover Freelander, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

He shouted: "Get away from the car, get away from the car or I will shoot you".

Bailiffs Christopher Heath and Ricky Knight, who had a warrant to clamp the car for unpaid parking fines, saw a square object, which they believed to be a handgun, being pointed towards them by Burton.

Jim Metcalf, prosecuting Burton, said the bailiffs were shocked and scared.

"They took the clamp off and they drove away," said Mr Metcalf. "As they drove off, the defendant came out of the flats, got into his Land Rover and followed them to Colwick Road."

Burton, 45, of Radbourne Road, Sneinton, was arrested after the bailiffs reported the matter to police.

A search of his home revealed he had lawfully-held imitation firearms and knives.

Burton said he had shouted at the bailiffs, who were there legitimately, and picked up the first thing that came to hand – the toy lizard.

Judge Michael Stokes QC had asked to see a photograph of the offending lizard but one was not available in court.

He said: "It's very odd he should pick up the lizard when he had this array of weapons available."

Burton pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

The legislation covers anything that has the appearance of being a firearm and, in Burton's case, he had also threatened to shoot the men.

Judge Stokes QC sent him to prison for eight months, saying: "We cannot have people, even with a pretend object, pointing them at bailiffs, threatening to shoot them and chasing them down the road."

The court heard Burton had been in a dispute over the parking tickets, and claimed his vehicle was cloned and he was getting tickets for another vehicle.

Adrian Reynolds, in mitigation, said described what happened as spontaneous and there was a "genuine belief" by Burton he was being wronged over the parking tickets.

"He forgot in the heat of the moment these were just two human beings doing their job," added Mr Reynolds.

Just some of the Red Nose Day events taking place today...

Staff of Nottingham City Council in Loxley House, Station Street, are taking part in an event called Hats for Hilarity. They can wear a silly hat to work and will donate £1 each to Red Nose Day.

Staff at Barker and Stonehouse furniture store, on the Giltbrook Retail Park, are completing an eight-hour in-store "spinathon" on exercise bikes for Red Nose Day, with ten staff hoping to raise £1,000 for the national campaign.

More 200 employees from E.on, at Phoenix Park, will field donation calls during Comic Relief's live BBC broadcast. The volunteers will man 70 phone lines and take part in fundraising activity throughout the evening.

Sainsbury's, at Castle Marina, will host a day of fundraising events, from a customer donut-eating competition to an Elvis impersonator and a cake stall and tombola to help raise money.

Amber Sound radio presenter Steve Curly will be waxed live on air with four male market traders.

Amber Valley Borough Council is offering car boot stalls in the indoor market for £10 today and tomorrow and. All rental income will be donated to Comic Relief.

Eight-year-old Ed Parry has organised a football tournament at the Power League football centre in Thane Road, Lenton, to celebrate Red Nose Day and is well on his way to raising close to £500. Eight football teams will come together tomorrow to battle it out for the honour of the Comic Relief 2013 title. Ed has been raising money for Comic and Sport Relief since he was three and last year undertook a series of sponsored one-mile runs and raised more £250.

Pictures of many of these events will be included in tomorrow's Post.

EIGHT-year-old Ben Storer knew he wanted to do something funny for money this Red Nose Day as soon as he heard that his favourite pop star was shaving her hair off.

Ben, who attends Arnold View Primary School, in Arnold, is a big fan of Jessie J and was inspired by her decision to chop off her locks in aid of Comic Relief.

On March 10, despite the snow and freezing temperatures, Ben completed a 15-mile sponsored bike ride along the River Trent.

He said: "I saw on the Red Nose Day website that Jessie J was cutting her hair off and it made me want to raise money too.

"I decided to do a bike ride to raise money and so far my friends and family have donated more than £100.

"It was freezing cold doing the ride and it was snowing. When I finished I was a bit blue but I was really happy I had completed it."

Ben will be watching Comic Relief tonight on TV with mum Sarah and dad Andrew at their home in Arnold. To add to Ben's total you can donate at my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/benstorer.

CHILDREN at a city school swapped their pencils and pens for spatulas and spoons as they baked hundreds of cakes to raise money for Comic Relief.

Each day this week, a different class at Blue Bell Hill Primary School has put on a cake sale as part of the Great Blue Bell Hill Bake Off – inspired by hit TV show the Great British Bake Off.

Parents and children have helped organise the cake sales alongside staff and so far the school has raised more than £250 for Red Nose Day.

The target amount by the end of today is £500.

Pupil Anaya Laing, 10, said she really enjoyed the atmosphere of the cake sales.

"It has been amazing in school this week," she said. "I made 20 flapjacks and sold them.

"I want to help children who don't have a nice life."

Her friend Laila Sheikh, also 10, said: "I made some vanilla cup cakes and some had jam and cream in.

"It has been really fun in school. I have learnt it is important to raise money for children in Africa."

Connor Scott, 11, made jam cakes. He said: "I feel good that I have helped to raise money for children who aren't as lucky as me."

Nic Williams, director of business and community at the school, said Comic Relief was an important part of the curriculum because it taught children about caring for others.

He said: "It is really important that we support Red Nose Day to give our young people an idea of what is happening in the world and a chance to help to make it a better place.

"Comic Relief supports organisations both in the UK and in Africa. Our children are aware of that and even though some of them have difficult life circumstances themselves, they are learning that it is still important to think of others – even if that is just by donating 10p."

The Great Blue Bell Hill Bake Off will culminate today with a baking competition between parents and staff and a live bake-off between Mr Williams and head teacher Jo Bradley in the school hall.

Another successful bake-off event was organised by nine-year-old Grace Farmer at St Peter's Junior School, in East Bridgford, which raised £180

Grace's father, Peter Farmer, said he was extremely proud of her.

He said: "Grace baked a significant number of cakes and also asked parents and children to bake too. My wife and I have been very proud of her efforts and the money she has helped to raise.

"It's a tremendous achievement given her age. She showed great determination and the idea was her own."

FORTY new social work jobs are to be created in Notts to cope with the increasing number of vulnerable children.

The county council is spending £1.7 million on beefing up its social services department.

It comes after a 90 per cent rise in the number of children in care in the past four years – from 405 in 2009 to 776 in 2012.

County councillor Phillip Owen, chairman of the children and young people's committee, said: "The increase in children in care has placed significant pressure on our frontline staff managing child protection cases, children in care and staff in our fostering and adoption teams.

"These additional permanent jobs will ensure that key services have the capacity to meet current and predicted demand and additional responsibilities that have arisen out of the future direction of services for children in care."

The council has had to make cuts to many services in recent years but in the coming financial year has increased its budget from £491 million to £512 million.

The money will see 20 social worker posts created. There will also be:

Supervising social workers – who will look to recruit more foster parents.

Support workers – who will try to prevent children having to enter the care system at all.

A "home-finder" social worker – who will help find homes for children who are difficult to place with a family.

Mr Owen said the money would lead to a saving in the long run. He added: "As well as meeting our statutory responsibilities, investment in additional staff will help reduce our spending on expensive agency staff and put our fostering and adoption services in a better position to deliver quality services with the increased demand that's created by the number of children in care."

Social worker Lara Thorpe said the increased workload previously meant some children were failed by the system.

She said: "We now need to find homes for more children, and elevate these children to a situation where they can be safe and protected, well looked after and cared for."

MIDWIVES at Nottingham City Hospital have faced their busiest ever shift.

They said they had never known anything like it as nine babies were born in the space of just two hectic hours.

At one point, four babies were born in only half an hour.

"It was unbelievable," said Gemma Jackson, 28, who was the sister in charge.

And maternity matron Julia Gudgeon said that in her 21 years' experience, she had never known the unit so busy.

"It was phenomenal. They were going like a train. It became almost funny because, as one was delivered, another mum was coming through the doors."

The first baby was born just as staff were changing shifts at 6.40am. "Nurses were taking their coats off and were immediately rushed off their feet, but we kept calm and efficient," said Ms Gudgeon.

One of the women giving birth was Natasha Shires, 26, of Aspley. She said: "It did seem busy. Staff were rushing in and out of the room all the time."

The mother-of-two, who gave birth to a 5lb 10oz baby girl Lexci Ibbitson, added: "I think they were amazing."

Lynsey Curtis, 32, was overjoyed at the arrival of her son Samuel, born at 7.57am. "We are over the moon," she said.

During that day – March 1 – 23 babies were born at the unit. The average is 15.

Have you been helped by the maternity unit? Tell us your story at thisisnottingham.co.uk

A MAN posted pictures of his ex-girlfriend in her underwear on her Facebook account and bombarded her with e-mails and telephone calls when they split up.

Andrew Bird left the pictures of his ex on the social networking site, called her 69 times and sent her 44 e-mails and 16 text messages last October, Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard.

His harassment of the teenager, with whom he started a relationship online when she just 16, stopped when she went to police and Bird was arrested.

He pleaded guilty to harassment without violence, claiming it was a loving relationship with consensual sexual contact.

The couple had previously conducted their relationship online for two years and pictures were sent between them before they met.

When she decided she wanted to end the relationship, he threatened to post pictures of her online.

He carried out his threat when she did not respond to his "bullying and blackmailing" text messages, the court was told.

District Judge Morris Cooper said the teenager involved was a vulnerable and immature young lady when she started the relationship.

Bird, 33, of Addison Road, Carlton, was older and may have had a "distorted perception of the relationship" which he exploited, the judge said.

"It was only when she went to university and formed some friendships that she was able to share her concerns," said Judge Cooper. "She mustered the courage, with the support of her friends, to go to police."

Posting the pictures on Facebook had caused her a "great deal" of psychological harm, degradation and humiliation, said the judge.

He imposed an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, and ordered that Bird be supervised by the Probation Service and carry out 60 hours of community work.

Bird was also given a restraining order banning him from contacting the teenager, who is now at the University of Reading, or posting any material about her on the internet or social networking sites.

Bird, who claims Jobseeker's Allowance, was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £80 and prosecution costs of £200.

Paul Wright, in mitigation, said: "His plea has been on the basis that it was a loving relationship from his point of view, where there was some consensual sexual contact."

Judge Cooper told him: "It's a question of perception rather than reality probably."

Mr Wright said there was contact between them for two years before they met and since then they had met several times. "As far as he is concerned, he is in love with her and proposed marriage to her. That was the perception."

THEY are both popular with families. Both have an array of shops and amenities. And they have some good pubs.

But which is the best place to live – West Bridgford and Bingham?

Well, according to the Sunday Times, the answer is Bingham. The newspaper named it among the top ten towns in the Midlands.

We asked visitors to our thisisnottingham.co.uk website and many disagreed – with nearly one in five picking West Bridgford as the best place to live in Notts.

Jack Shaw, 28, is very much on the side of West Bridgford.

"It has everything," he said. "I've lived here since I was a student and love it.

"You have the pubs, the shops and great sports facilities. And you can easily get into Nottingham.

"I've been to Bingham and like it but West Bridgford gets my vote any day."

Sandra Hollingsworth, 65, also sides with her home town of 30 years, West Bridgford. She said: "I worked as a childminder for many of the years I have lived here. And there could be few better places than West Bridgford to do that.

"It is easy to get around and has some good shops. There are some good schools nearby as well, which you can walk to."

By 5.30pm yesterday, 40 people had voted for West Bridgford, with Bingham gaining 15 votes – trailing behind Kimberley, with 24.

The Sunday Times list isn't the first time Bingham has been praised as a good place to live.

Last year, a study by Family Investments named it as the eighth-best place in the country to bring up children, based on factors such as school exam results, quantity and quality of early-years childcare, local crime figures and the price of homes.

And many people in the town go along with that report, including Chris Birkle, 35, who moved from West Bridgford to live in Bingham.

Though the town is further away, he said: "It's got a good bus service, which I use to get to work in the city. We moved here four years ago because house prices were much better than in West Bridgford.

"We really like it. There are low crime rates and some great schools. There's also some really good pubs and all of the shops we need. It's like a rural West Bridgford."

Claire Gittings, 45, who lives in Bingham with husband Roger and seven-year-old daughter Eliza, said: "We love it here. Eliza goes to Robert Miles Primary, which is a good school, and we have some terrific amenities."

Bingham butcher and resident Clive Lancaster said: "Bingham is great and is getting better. We are going to have a Tesco, a Costa and a Wetherspoon pub. Why wouldn't you want to live here?"

MORE than £4,000 has been raised in memory of a helicopter pilot from Nottingham who died in a London crash.

Captain Pete Barnes, 50, was the only person in the helicopter when it hit a crane on top of The Tower, St George Wharf, by the River Thames.

It fell 700ft to the ground, killing one other person and injuring 12 more.

His mother Pauline Barnes, from Woodthorpe, said: "Pete was a very kindly and considerate man.

"He grew up in Nottingham and was always very keen to keep in touch with his friends and family here.

"There were a great many people at his funeral and I'm glad this money has been raised."

Mr Barnes' father died last summer following a spell in a care home.

Mrs Barnes said: "It was the nature of Pete's personality that he would regularly go and see his ailing father.

"The rest of the time he was zooming about the country, flying the famous and the ordinary, and regularly the air ambulance.

"He never wasted a moment of his life."

She added: "His death was quite ghastly and a frightful shock. It's all still very difficult.

"It's hit his family very, very hard. His children are only eight and 12."

So far, £4,285 has been raised, at Mr Barnes' funeral and from other donations.

It will be split between two of the air ambulance services he flew with – Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, and Thames Valley and Chiltern.

A spokesman for the Air Ambulance Service said: "Pete worked with us for a number of years, flying countless rescue missions.

"He will be greatly missed and our thoughts remain with everyone who has been affected by this tragic incident.

"As a charity that receives no Government or National Lottery funding, we rely entirely on public donations so every penny really does make a difference – we're extremely grateful for everyone that has donated to this fund."

Mr Barnes' brother Chris, 55, of Edwalton added: "Pete was a fun-loving person and had a great zest for life."

Mr Barnes grew up in Nottingham and in his younger years he played rugby regularly for Nottinghamians RFC.

He also flew a few times for the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance.

TEACHING assistants at a city academy are to lose their jobs.

The cuts by Southwark Primary School in Basford have led to an outcry from Unison.

The public sector trade union said nine staff who help children with learning difficulties will be made redundant at the end of the term.

It is part of a staff reorganisation at the academy, with the remaining assistants having their roles downgraded.

David Wand, of Unison, said the move was a big mistake.

The assistants spend time with children with conditions such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and dyslexia to make sure they don't fall too far behind other pupils.

Mr Wand said: "The level two assistants play a vital role in life at the academy.

"They are invaluable for the children they look after.

"I don't see the need for the academy doing this.

"It is upsetting parents and will upset children.

"There is an additional number of teachers to be employed to replace the support staff, leading to increase in costs and possibly more redundancies in the future, leading to more upset for vulnerable children."

The school held a consultation period, with staff handing in skills audits.

Those facing redundancy were told at the end of February.

Their effective dismissal date will be March 31.

Mr Wand added: "This is an area of high deprivation. The number of pupils requiring support with basic bodily functions and hygiene is increasing.

"The number of pupils with dyslexia is increasing.

"Teaching assistants are trained to deal with this so teachers can get on with their jobs."

The mother of one child who had behavioural problems in the school's nursery, who did not want to be named, said the teaching assistant who had cared for her son had made a real difference.

She said: "She can't do enough for him and the other children.

"My child had behavioural difficulties when he started in September but since the assistant started helping out there has been a huge difference.

"He really likes her and his results have been great.

"I genuinely believe that if she leaves, he would struggle to cope with it and his behaviour will fall back again."

One teaching assistant, who did not want to be named, said: "I am devastated by this silly decision to cut staff who have worked long and hard for the children.

"We have been told that our hard work is not recognised or valued by the school or the governing body."

The Post contacted the academy a number of times but no one was available for comment.

FROM a gruelling all-day exercise to baking hundreds of cakes, the people of Notts got right behind Red Nose Day yesterday in a bid to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

Staff at the Barker and Stonehouse furniture store, on the Giltbrook retail park, completed an eight-hour "spinathon" which saw each of the store's ten staff put on a Red Nose, and pedal on an exercise bike for as long as they could.

Customers, colleagues, friends and family were encouraged to support the team, or their favourite staff member, with the hope of generating £1,000 for the cause.

Store manager, Imran Tai, said: "Red Nose Day does such a great job of raising funds and awareness for those less fortunate throughout the country and around the world.

"We're proud to be able to do our part to help the charity, in any way possible."

Staff at Sainsbury's, in Castle Boulevard, also got in the Red Nose Day spirit by staging a customer donut-eating competition, doing Elvis impersonations and taking part in a contest on rowing machines against pupils from the Bluecoat Academy, in Aspley.

And earlier in the week staff at the Bunny Appliance Warehouse in Gotham Lane, Bunny raised £938.09, for Comic Relief by baking cakes and donating two per cent of the sale price of any range cooker sold to Red Nose Day.

Vernon Coaker MP joined staff and pupils at Pinewood Infant School, in Arnold, to judge their cake competition, while children at Blue Bell Hill Primary School, in St Ann's, watched a live charity bake-off between two of their teachers.

And later in the day over 200 staff at the E.on offices, at Phoenix Park, fielded donation calls during Comic Relief's live BBC broadcast.

The call centre's team of volunteers manned 70 phone lines from 6.45pm until midnight.

David Bird, customer operations director at E.on, said: "We've a long-standing tradition of donating our call centre and volunteering our time and services to Red Nose Day, and the whole team were raring to go.

"We received hundreds of calls an hour, while helping to raise lots of money for Comic Relief."

More pictures from this year's Red Nose Day events online and in the Nottingham Post on Monday.

CHLOE Salisbury's letter nominating grandad Martin Gregg is full of simple love – complete with a gorgeous drawing of him working on their house extension.

The six-year-old writes: "My grandad is really special because he built a bit of our house. He let me help him.

"Grandad is really fun. We went sledging in the snow and threw snowballs. Grandad tells funny jokes and makes me smile.

"I love him. My grandad is the best."

Meanwhile, big sister Emily, eight, says her grandma Eileen Salisbury is special because she always gives bigs hugs and kisses.

"She knits me beautiful hats, scarfs (sic), gloves and jumpers," Emily writes. "She makes the most delicious scrumptious cakes, cheese straws, cupcakes and roast dinners.

"Grandma gives us pocket money and takes us on wonderful trips. My grandad died and that made her very upset, but she got on OK and still lives in the same house and she doesn't have false teeth!!!"

Emily goes on to say that Eileen is a big part of her family and she will always love her.

"I appreciate her because she takes time out of other things to do my hair," she writes. "She looks out for me and she cares for me and she is really kind.

"I love her lots and lots and lots."

IT'S a case of double delight for one Nottingham family after the results of our heartwarming Grandparent of the Year competition were announced yesterday.

We asked schoolchildren throughout the city to write letters nominating their grans and grandads – with entrants divided into two age groups, between 5-7 years and 8-11 years.

And in an amazing twist, the two winning letters have ended up coming from the same family!

Chloe Salisbury, six, and sister Emily, eight, who both go to Abbey Road Primary School in West Bridgford, each received the most votes in their age group and so claim all the fabulous prizes.

Chloe won in the younger category after nominating her grandad Martin Gregg, 61, while Emily was victorious in the older category, thanks to her letter about grandma Eileen Salisbury, 69.

The girls' mum, Kirsty Salisbury, was absolutely over the moon at the news.

"It was such a shock," she laughed. "It's worked out perfectly."

Our first winner, Martin, is the girls' grandfather on their mother's side. The builder, who lives in Bilsthorpe, admits he was a bit shellshocked at hearing about his amazing win.

He added: "I'm really proud of what the girls have achieved; it's not about me – it's about them writing such lovely letters.

"I don't know why they think I deserved it. I'm mostly close to little Chloe, we got to be really good friends when I was building the extension at her house. She'd help me and I'd give her the drill to hold."

So what did Martin think makes a grandparent great these days?

"Being a good grandparent is just about everyday living isn't it?" he said. "It's the little things, the jokes and the laughs we have together. I find being Grandad very enjoyable."

The girls and little sister Olivia, 3, regularly go to sleepovers with Martin and his wife Susan and have also had family holidays together in Spain and other places.

"We're very close," Martin said.

So is he looking forward to one of his main prizes, a pampering day at Eden Hall spa?

"Ooh, I don't think you'll catch me there," Martin laughs. "The wife'll love it though."

Meanwhile, our second winner, Eileen, (the girls' grandmother on their father's side) lives just around the corner in West Bridgford. Known to family and friends as Jackie, she is currently on a two-week holiday in America, but has heard the good news and said she was flabbergasted about the double win.

"What clever little babes! I'm so pleased and so proud of the girls for writing in and for winning; it's a fabulous achievement," she said.

"I'm really looking forward to the prize of a family meal out and a new photo of all my grandchildren together. I will be giving them all big hugs when I get back."

Mum Kirsty said it was Emily who first came home from school and was keen to take part and write the letter nominating her grandma.

"She loves writing," Kirsty said. "I'm sure she could write for England. Then Chloe was looking over her shoulder and she said she wanted to enter too. So it worked out well that Emily nominated Eileen and Chloe nominated Martin."

Chloe's teacher Jo Seagrave is also delighted for Abbey Road Primary School.

She said: "It was my idea for all the children from school to write letters and it's brilliant to have won. It's definitely something the children have loved doing and it's nice that grandparents have got some recognition at last."

A NEWLYWED who was run down by another man as both travelled to work at Boots has launched a court bid for more than £300,000 compensation.

The accident in Lenton partly severed one of Klodian Sulcja's legs and left him with a head injury and broken arm.

Surgeons could not save the leg and it had to be amputated.

The 33-year-old was hit by a car being driven by Stephen Robert Smith, then of Carlton, as Mr Sulcja cycled across Thane Road to get to his job in the Boots warehouse.

It happened on February 5 2011, less than a week after his wedding.

According to paperwork which has now been filed at the High Court, Mr Smith was allegedly speeding and had around five minutes left to get to work on time at 5.45am.

A "strict policy" on lateness would have meant he faced a financial penalty if he was late for work in his Boots job, according to Mr Sulcja's submission to the court.

Mr Smith was arrested after the crash and later that year admitted driving without due care and attention at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.

He was fined £300 and six penalty points were put on his licence.

Mr Sulcja, of Wray Close, St Ann's, who had a son with his wife in March last year, has now put in a claim for more than £300,000 of damages and financial loss at the High Court.

Following the accident he was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre and his lower right leg was amputated the same morning.

He was put on life support in the intensive care unit but improved and was discharged 19 days after the crash.

According to the claim form issued at the court: "Mr Sulcja had married his wife, Besiana, less than a week before the accident.

"Prior to the accident the claimant was very happy with Besiana. He enjoyed going to the cinema, playing football and cycling. He walked regularly and went to the gym most days.

"Besiana has cared for him since the accident.

"Although there have been improvements in his symptoms over time, he has needed significant care and assistance with normal daily activities."

She adds he has not been able to return to work since, and although he hopes to get a job in future is now disabled and at increased risk of developing epilepsy because of the crash.

The claim also says Mr Smith had overtaken a line of traffic and then pulled over back on to the left-hand side of the road, hitting Mr Sulcja as he cycled across.

It says he was driving at between 35 and 40mph in a 30mph limit, and says the date of the accident, February 5, was the date of Mr Smith's late wife's birthday.

She had died ten months before and as he drove to work he had been thinking about what he was going to do that afternoon with family at the cemetery. Mr Smith previously lived in Hillview Road, Carlton, but the Post was unable to contact him yesterday.

A 51-YEAR-OLD man appeared in court yesterday accused of the attempted murder of a four-year-old boy.

Steven Frogg, of Frederick Street, Mansfield, attended Nottingham Crown Court for his custody time limits to be extended.

His alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found with stab wounds on April 9 last year.

The court heard Frogg is due to stand trial on June 10.