VANDALS have caused more than £1,000 worth of damage after breaking into a medieval church and smashing hand-made windows.

The incident, which also saw rocks thrown down a drain and an NG8 graffiti 'tag' written on a wall, took place at St Martin's Church in St Martin's Road, Bilborough, where a significant £744,000 renovation of the building is nearing completion.

Police are investigating and have appealed for anyone with information to come forward. It is believed the vandals struck between 6pm on Friday September 26 and 8am on Monday, September 29.

Church warden, Hilary Wheat, said the renovations have been put back due to the "mindless" vandals.

Mrs Wheat, who is also the renovation's project manager, said: "We arrived on site to find someone had broken into the medieval porch, broken off the padlock and smashed some newly-installed glass. They also lifted a manhole cover, put rocks down a drain and scrawled NG8 on the wall.

"This is just people trying to damage things; this is someone who has done something completely mindless."

Mrs Wheat said the vandals had obviously "used some force" to break the padlock.

She said: "It's horrible, it's just violent damage. The windows are in a small medieval porch and they have smashed each individual four-inch square bit of glass. It's a specialist job and we've had a stained and heritage glass expert put them in.

"He's an expert craftsman who has taken time to make them but he's busy, very well known, and has other jobs – so we will have to wait.

"It's £1,000 we could really do without losing."

The church was awarded a Heritage Lottery grant of £744,000 to restore a number of old features – including the stone floor, wall paintings and hand-carved ceiling – and work began in May, with the project expected to be completed during October.

Four contractors have been working on the project, including three youngsters from Bilborough. Site manager Phil Turton, of P Turton Building and Conservation, said the team was hugely disappointed to discover the damage yesterday morning.

He said: "It's extremely frustrating. I can't understand that they haven't even tried to take anything in, they've just hit the windows. This is nothing more than sheer disrespect, it frustrates us so much especially given the amount of time and effort that has been put in here."

Police have asked for anyone who knows anything about the break-in to contact them on 101, quoting incident 152 of 29 September.

BUSINESS owners and residents could form an Arnold flood forum at a meeting to tackle the issue on Tuesday.

Dozens are expected to turn up at Gedling Borough Council's Civic Centre to hear how the town could prevent flooding in the future.

In July, nearly a month's worth of rain hit the county in less than two hours, leaving Front Street drenched and preventing shoppers from visiting Arnold's shops.

Owners used sandbags to stop floodwater pouring in and destroying stock. Launderette Arnold Top Clean improvised by using big bags of washing powder.

Launderette Arnold Top Clean staff member Kathryn Keetley said: "This year it happened towards the end of the day so it didn't affect business too much, but the year before it came right through the front.

"The next day a lot of businesses spent the whole day trying to dry their stuff out, all the way from Asda to Smiths. It definitely affects business.

"I think it puts shoppers off coming into town as well. It almost felt like a ghost town with it being so quiet."

An impact assessment has been completed by the council, which will share its findings alongside Severn Trent Water, Notts County Council and the Environment Agency at the open meeting.

A flood forum would see members volunteer to help clear gullies and warn authorities when heavy downpours begin to threaten.

It follows successful flood forums elsewhere in the county, such as Southwell – where 2013's floods prompted community action and hundreds volunteered to remove rubble from Potwell Dyke.

Vanessa Dalziel, owner of Nene's Flowers, said it was encouraging that the problem was being tackled. She added: "We're fortunate that we have concrete floors and most of our stock is off ground level. But it's still a problem. The water level was getting up to my knees.

"It's good to hear that something is being done and I'm interested to find out what they want us to do to help.

"Shops have had to put sandbags up to stop the water coming in. Our main concern is it coming through the car park behind us."

At September 30's meeting, a video will be shown of July's floods while attendees will hear results from a study of the nearby Daybrook stream.

A question and answer session will follow when the audience can raise any concerns.

Councillor Peter Barnes, portfolio holder for the environment at Gedling, is attending the meeting.

He said: "We want to keep the community involved and up to date with what we're doing going forward to reduce the impact of flash floods in Arnold.

"This meeting is a chance for local people to have their say and together with us, County Council and the Environmental Agency to come up with some realistic solutions to this ongoing issue in Arnold town centre."

MEMBERS of a group that will look after a £1.1 million country park have pledged to create a haven "everyone can be proud of".

The Friends of Gedling Country Park was officially formed at a meeting at Gedling borough council's Civic Centre in Arnold yesterday and wants to create a visitor centre at the park to keep the former colliery's mining heritage alive.

Works are currently taking place at the 300-acre site to create an access road, car park, signs and footpaths. A provisional date of March 27 2015 has been set for the official opening and further developments including a solar power farm are to begin in the coming months.

Terry Lock, of Sheering Hill, Gedling, chaired the meeting and was also elected to the group's committee. He said he was delighted with the progress being made and praised the borough council for its "support" and "vision" in leading the development.

"It's a great and an auspicious occasion," he said. "Now it's up to us to take this forward and make it a facility everyone can be proud of."

He added: "It's the hard work that has been done by the council that has been able to get us to this stage and that is greatly appreciated."

Graham Taverner was as a miner at the colliery for 35 years and said he knew the site "like the back of his hand".

Mr Taverner, who was among 12 people elected to the group's committee at the meeting, said: "I want to bring the heritage of the site alive and keep it alive. I want to show the children what we had here and be involved in the mining side of things."

The former Gedling colliery closed in 1991 and plans for a country park were first mooted at the time.

The developed site – between Gedling Village, Mapperley Plains, Lambley and Woodthorpe – will include parking for 40 cars and it is hoped walkers, cyclists and horse-riders will all have access.

Councillor Pete Barnes said: "I'm very pleased and I wish you all the success in the world.

"I've been on the council for 35 years and I never thought we would see the colliery become a country park.

"It will be second to none in Nottinghamshire without any doubt. It's coming on tremendously. Gedling will be really proud."

Mr Barnes confirmed that officers at the borough council were looking at developing other potential access routes into the site to ensure people from all over the area could walk into the park.

A landscape and wildlife management plan – which found there were two types of rare and threatened butterfly at the site – is currently with the council for approval.

A FORMER nightclub is to be turned into more than 140 flats for students.

The Halo nightclub on Goldsmith Street has been boarded up for a number of years but plans have now been submitted to turn the building into 144 flats and a small shop.

The planning application said: "The new student accommodation proposed on the upper floors is highly appropriate given the city centre location and its proximity to Nottingham Trent University, and the excellent public transport opportunities, notably the nearby tram stop.

It will bring additional life into the city centre both by day and by night, supporting the local economy and providing high levels of natural surveillance over the adjacent streets."

Developer 12 Property Rentals Limited have submitted the plans to Nottingham City Council's planning department.

A date for a decision on the proposals has not yet been set.

Vandals have "sunk to a new low" by destroying a golden gnomes on a roundabout in Ilkeston in support of childhood cancer awareness month.

The latest offering to appear at the roundabout in Nottingham Road - dubbed Gnome Island by locals - was first spotted on Monday September 22.

However, just a week later the display, which included golden gnomes, dogs and even a Buddha, had been smashed to pieces and the roundabout littered with pizza boxes and wine bottles.

Tony Mitchell, 48, of Stanhope Road, Arnold, is a project manager at Bowmer and Kirkland building services who are working near to the roundabout.

He said: "People are trying to make the island a focal point, something to talk about, but it is always the same - the gnomes are put out and before long they have been smashed, pinched or damaged.

"It is a real shame, when I saw the roundabout on my way to work last Monday it looked absolutely smashing with the creatures, characters and golden ribbons.

"There was a sign with a number on which people could text to donate to a children's charity - it really is a new low that vandals have targeted it this time."

The roundabout first attracted attention in August when garden gnomes mysteriously began popping up at the green space.

Since then, Facebook and Twitter pages have been set-up in the ornaments' honour and have attracted more than 4,000 followers between them.

An "Ilson Gnome's Master Plan" along with a petition have also been created in a bid to official rename the roundabout Gnome Island and also have a huge concrete gnome installed on the site.

Mr Mitchell, who put up posters to help track the gnomes when they first went missing in August, believes the council will have to step in to prevent further vandalism.

He said: "If the council get involved then they will be able to put up CCTV cameras which would hopefully prevent people from spoiling it for everyone else."

Mr Mitchell had wanted to use one of his company's CCTV cameras to keep an eye on the gnomes but feared it would not be practical as the cameras are motion sensitive and would focus on the moving traffic instead of the ornaments.

This latest bout of vandalism has caused a stir on the Ilson Gnome Facebook page with nearly 70 comments. Neeky Noo said: "So sad. Our daughter was so upset to see the smashed gnome when we passed. Even worse was she knew why they were there and we have a friend fighting terminal cancer, so it really made her sad."

Patricia Ann Bullock also commented: "What a shame! Needless, heartless vandalism."

THE blaze that tore through a new building at the University of Nottingham's Jubilee Campus will be discussed by the Fire Authority this Friday.

The £20 million GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry burnt down on September 12, with more than 60 firefighters tackling the fire at its peak.

The fire authority will meet and will hear that a "structured debrief" is taking place into the fire and that firefighters from other areas are keen to hear about any learning points from tackling the blaze.

The meeting will take place at 10am at the headquarters of Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue at Bestwood Lodge, Arnold.

Football fan Joshua Brough has pleaded guilty to going onto the pitch during a Nottingham Forest and Derby County game.

The 20-year-old, of Peatburn Avenue, Heanor, Derbyshire, offended on September 14 during Forest's 1-1 draw with Derby County.

At Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, September 30, Brough admitted a charge under the Football (Offences) Act 1991.

It was previously reported he was one of seven fans arrested in match at the City Ground.

Police said three Derby fans and four Forest fans were detained, with the majority of the arrests connected to a pitch invasion which took place during the second-half of the match.

Details of Brough's actions were not outlined in court after the case was adjourned for a further hearing to decide if he should be subjected to a match ban.

The application for the ban is being made by the prosecution but is contested by the defendant, the court heard.

Brough was bailed to attend on November 6.

Swimming and trampolining used to be the top priorities for schoolboy Kamari Parker.

But after he was struck by a car in Clifton, just sitting up in bed has become a struggle for the six-year-old - who has been left paralysed from the waist down.

Kamari is just entering his ninth week in the Queen's Medical Centre after being involved in the crash, and there are no guarantees he will ever be able to walk again.

The family are remaining positive though and looking to the future – including plans to start rehabilitation in November at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.

Mum Lisa Gilman said: "He is still a happy-go-lucky boy.

"Everyone has been so supportive, they have been brilliant.

"He misses his school - Glapton Primary - he misses his friends and he misses just being able to go out to play. But he is making lots of friends on the ward, the nurses love him and to us, he is just our little miracle."

Kamari was out having fun with his cousins, planning a picnic and to go swimming at the Clifton Leisure Centre on Southchurch Drive when the crash happened on July 29.

Kamari tried to get across the busy road, but he was hit by a car and rushed to hospital.

Mrs Gilman was just putting Kamari's tea in the oven when she got the phone call.

"I have really bad arthritis so I can't run, but God gave me strength and I rushed out the door," said the 44-year-old.

She discovered her son surrounded by paramedics and went in the ambulance with him.

But the future was looking bleak, as doctors told Mrs Gilman and her 22-year-old daughter Cody that Kamari might not pull through.

"I didn't realise how bad things were until we got to A&E," she said. "The doctor said he was very poorly and we didn't know if he would make it. I was devastated."

Kamari spent the next 12 days in intensive care with his mum and sister barely leaving his side.

But against the odds, the little boy pulled through the worst to be moved onto a ward.

Miss Gilman has taken time off of work to support her brother, but he is still paralysed from the waist down due to bruising and bleeding in his spine.

"Kamari is getting angry and frustrated that he can't use his legs," she said. "He is loving physio, which is great to watch, but when he sees a trampoline or a football he wants to play and we have to tell him he can't."

Nottinghamshire Police said they interviewed the woman who was driving the car on a voluntary basis - but investigations were still ongoing.

NEW speed limit signs that have been put up in front of a dead-end have been branded "daft" by residents.

Nottingham City Council has put up hundreds of 20mph speed limit markers across Lenton and Radford in recent weeks as part of a city-wide initiative to lower limits in residential areas.

But residents in one part of Radford have questioned the need for signs on roads where it would be "impossible" to travel faster than the limit.

This includes a path between Dulwich Road and Norwood Road which is closed off to traffic by a series of concrete bollards.

Nottingham City Council has admitted the sign is in the wrong place and will be moved.

Rich Holmes, 26, from Dulwich Road, said: "It's a bit daft really. You would have thought people would have common sense and not put the sign up with the bollards right there."

And Darren Warner, 27, added: "It's impossible to go that quick on these streets anyway so what's the point of the signs."

A footpath is not the only place where residents claim a sign is not needed.

Nearby Target Street has a 20mph sign attached to a lamppost – but it is just a 45 metre stretch connecting Bramcote Street and Citadel Street.

Speaking about the Dulwich Road sign, a Nottingham City Council spokeswoman said: "It's pretty clear this sign is in the wrong place and will be removed.

"The scheme is still under construction and so the checks to pick up on issues like this are yet to be carried out.

"Changes like this are implemented before speed limit orders come into effect."

Council documents show the cost of work to introduce the new restrictions was £147,000 in Radford and Lenton.

It first introduced 20mph speed limits in Sherwood in April 2012.

Other areas including Bulwell and Bestwood have also had lower limits put in place.

Consultations on slowing traffic down will take place in other areas of the city – Wilford, Bilborough, Wollaton and City Centre – until 2016.

The council spokeswoman added: "20mph speed limits are being introduced in residential areas across the city and have been shown to bring a number of benefits to local communities, such as streets that are more cycle and pedestrian friendly, reduced traffic noise, safer road junctions and improved air quality."

DRIVERS say they fill their cars at petrol stations that are convenient rather than cheap, after three major supermarkets slashed their fuel prices.

Asda has taken 2p off its unleaded and deducted a penny from diesel prices while Tesco and Sainsbury's have each announced a drop of up to five pence per litre.

For motorists at Asda's forecourt in West Bridgford, the price drop was welcomed but excitement was minimal.

"More often than not I get my petrol at the supermarket but that's just as much down to convenience that price," said Jonathan Latham, of Stamford Road, West Bridgford.

"I can't see people rushing to the supermarkets because of a few pence here and there. I've filled up £23 today; that's 23p and I don't see that making much difference to my life."

Mr Latham said he considers supermarkets to always stay among the lowest of the petrol sellers, but he wouldn't seek them out - despite the price slash.

"If I'm running low and I'm not near a supermarket I'll pop into any petrol station," he said. "Convenience trumps price unless you're talking about a world of difference."

But fishmonger Nick Cooper, who delivers fresh catches all over the East Midlands from his Codfather van, says his business will save hundreds.

"In the van alone, I can spend between £4,000 and £5,000 in petrol over the course of a year," said Mr Cooper, of Carlton, while topping up his van.

"I've just put 60 litres of diesel in so that's 60p in one go. By the end of the year you could see quite a significant difference."

He said he was surprised to see the price drop for a change and suggested it might be a way of convincing customers to shop at large supermarkets rather than discount stores like Aldi.

"I wasn't expecting it. If you drop petrol prices and people come for that they'll probably do their shopping here too."

Avishai Moor, Sainsbury's head of fuel, said: "Fuel is a big part of the weekly budget for many households, which is why we're taking the lead and cutting the price of unleaded petrol and diesel."

"This means more motorists can make real savings," said Tesco fuel director Peter Cattell.

Andy Peake, Asda's petrol trading director said: "With this latest price cut we're now seeing some of the lowest fuel prices around." He added that although Asda's cuts were less, it is the only retailer to have a national fuel cap.

A MYSTERY bus driver is being celebrated for his heroics after stopping a woman from throwing herself off Trent Bridge.

Nottingham City Transport posted a message on Facebook on Monday night praising its employee's lifesaving actions - after he pulled a bus full of passengers to the side of the road and got off to help talk the woman down.

But the company only named him as Patrick and his growing number of fans want to know more.

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed they were called to Trent Bridge at about 6.55pm after a report was made of concern for a woman's safety.

Online posts then began to emerge claiming the driver of the Navy Line 1 bus pulled over on his way to Gotham and, along with other passengers, helped to calm the woman down and stop her from jumping from Trent Bridge.

Shortly after the incident, NCT posted its surprising message on Facebook, saying: "On behalf of the company, we'd like to say an enormous well done to Gotham Garage driver Patrick and other passengers on the Navy Line 1 bus earlier this evening, who stopped a lady jumping off Trent Bridge.

"You are a credit to the company - well done!"

Almost 1,000 people have liked the post, along with tens of comments thanking the driver for his swift actions to help the unidentified woman.

Debbie Jackson wrote: "Well done indeed. I hope the lady gets the help she needs."

Marie Tomlinson posted: "Well done for taking the time out to actually help someone.

Makes a change to hear something good."

And Andy Thompson added: "Well done Pat. Top man and part of a top team."

The support also fell over to Twitter, with groups like The Tomorrow Project - which aims to prevent suicide - tweeting their respect for the driver.

"We'd like to extend thanks and support to all involved in preventing a #suicide tonight," the charity wrote. "Amazing humility!"

A police statement said officers arrived at the scene shortly after the call and spoke to the woman, who was then taken to hospital.

The Post contacted NCT to find out more about the driver, but the company's spokesman was keeping quiet about Patrick until he has met with his manager on Thursday to discuss what happened. 

CITY centre pub The Company Inn is looking to alter its licence to avoid paying the controversial late night levy.

The Wetherspoons pub wants to stop serving alcohol at 12am to avoid being hit with an annual charge of £2,730.

The Late Night Levy will see bars and clubs which open after midnight help contribute towards the cost of night-time policing in the city – estimated to be nearly £1.5 million a year.

The pub company said it didn't want to comment on the case before councillors looked at the plans on Thursday.

The city council has said it expected 20 per cent of all premises in the city to alter their licences to avoid paying the charge which comes into force in November.  The authority has already received 80 applications to vary licences to avoid the charge.

The levy will see pubs charged up to £4,440 with the money split between the city council and Nottinghamshire Police.

The council has said the money will be used to fund two community protection officers who will work in the city centre.

Members of the Nottingham Business Improvement District lobbied the council to be exempt from the charge and this was granted – but the Company Inn sits outside the Nottingham BID area.

The authority consulted on the plans and 74 per cent of businesses and individuals said they disagreed with the plans.

But a city council spokesman said the consultation also looked at "a range of issues such as how and when it should be applied" – and this feedback led to the exemption for the BID.

But some businesses are still upset about the levy.

Alan Williams, head of trading services at Nottingham Trent University Students' Union, said: "The money the council will get from this will pay for two more community protection officers and our two campuses will put in more than £4,000 a year each, but will they ever need to come here or patrol here?

"It might be that we pay the cost and see none of the benefit."

Director of Nottingham's Crime and Drugs Partnership, Peter Moyes, said: "The number of people using the city during that time is quite limited and the number of businesses that are open during that time is also quite limited.

"We feel that the businesses that benefit from that extra service should be paying for it.

"There's nine businesses that would pay £12.16 per night, that's less than a cost of a bottle of wine. We think the bulk of the businesses would be paying either £2.10 or £3.44 a night – 27 businesses would probably pay £2.10 per night and 34 businesses would pay £3.44 a night.

"We are not asking the earth or for something that is beyond their means to pay."

Council leader Jon Collins, said: "Nottingham is a very popular night-time destination and we want to make sure that people continue to choose to come here and are able to enjoy a safe night out when they do.

"We never expected the Levy to be popular in the licensed trade – even though it is a modest fee which no viable business will struggle to meet."

THE murder of teenager Danielle Beccan shocked Nottingham – but ten years after the tragic shooting her legacy is living on in community projects across the city.

Danielle was 14 when she was gunned down as she walked to her St Ann's home from Goose Fair.

A memorial trust was set up in the name of the bubbly schoolgirl, and a decade after her murder it has given out £300,000 to projects in and around the city.

Nina Dauban, Chief Executive of the Nottinghamshire Community Foundation which administers the fund, said: "It's wonderful to see that in spite of tragedy that it can turn to something of huge benefit to local young people."

She added that her legacy is living on in projects that contribute to the "love of the arts in young people like Danielle".

The fund gives out awards of £30,000 annually to local charities and community projects under the theme of the creative arts, including community choirs, a steel band for the Blue Mountain Women's Group and community recording studios.

Mapperley Park-based musical training group Magdala is also among those to have been supported from the fund.

Director Michelle Wegwart said: "Magdala has been able to utilise generous funding through the Danielle Beccan Memorial Fund to run our music education workshops in inner city areas like Radford and Hyson Green specifically.

"We have brought young people together to learn new skills in music, dance and performance, combining rap, hip-hop and pop music with opera.

"Participation in the workshops significantly raised their self confidence and self-esteem, resulting in showcase public performances where they were able to fuse their own music compositions with extracts from classical operas."

The memorial trust was set up in the wake of Danielle's death with Nottingham celebrities and civics doing their bit to raise funds in charity challenges and dinners.

A permanent memorial to Danielle was also part of the new look Victoria Leisure Centre when it reopened two years ago.

A large room used as a dance hall was named the Danielle Beccan Health Suite.

Speaking at the time, Danielle's mother Paula Platt said: "Having Danielle's name on the door is a moment of pride for me, but what happens in the room afterwards is more important. I hope groups will come and use the facilities."

Meanwhile, a tribute night to Danielle is currently being arranged for next Thursday, October 9.

The evening will include spoken word and other performances to mark the tenth anniversary of her passing.

Organiser Danielle Wood-Wallace, 24, of Basford, went to the Elliott Durham School with Danielle.

She said: "Danielle inspired me to get more into the performing arts and it's great to see all the good that's happened in the 10 years since she died."

Junior Andrews, then 23, and Mark Kelly, then 20, were convicted of Danielle's murder in 2005. Both were jailed for life, with a minimum term of 31 years.