POLICE have charged two men in connection with attempted robberies at two post offices.

Lee Parker, 39, of Leybourne Drive, Bestwood, has been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery at the Ambergate Road Post Office in Beechdale on October 13.

And 20-year-old Jordan Parker, of the same address, faces four charges: attempted robbery at the Trowell Post Office, Stapleford Road, Trowell, on October, 6 and attempted robbery at Ambergate Road Post Office on 13 October.

He also faces two charges of having an imitation gun with intent to commit an offence. Both men have been remanded into police custody to appear at Nottingham City Magistrates' Court on Monday, October 20.

A 23-year-old man who was also arrested in connection with the incident has been released without charge.

EAST Midlands trains services from Nottingham to London are back on track after delays of thirty minutes were caused by a trespasser on the line in Hertfordshire.

The company said trains were being delayed towards the end of the journey between Luton and London St Pancras due to the incident this morning.

But now trains from Nottingham to the capital are all back on time.

A tweet from East Midlands Trains said: "#EMTUpdate Trains are no longer being delayed at #Radlett"

The M1 is closed southbound between junctions 20 and 18 following a serious multi-vehicle accident.

The incident has also caused the closure of the link road from the M6 Southbound to the M1.

And the Southbound slip road at Junction 20 is closed as well.

Drivers are facing delays and congestion with the roads not expected to reopen until 2pm.

The affected stretch of the M1 is South of Leicester and near Rugby and Coventry.

NOTTINGHAM University Hospitals NHS Trust has appointed a new director of nursing and midwifery.

Mandie Sunderland has been appointed to the position, having been chief nurse at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

She will join NUH on February 1 and replaces Jenny Leggott, who retires from the NHS on October, 31 after 40 years' service to the NHS and 15 years in Nottingham.

1. Asda Hyson Green, Radford Road, 122.7p

2. Asda Nottingham, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, 122.7p

3. Sainsbury's Castle Boulevard, Castle Bridge Road, 122.9p

4. Sainsbury's Beeston, Cross Street, Beeston, 122.9p

5. Tesco Long Eaton Extra, Waverley Street, 122.9p

1. Asda Hyson Green, Radford Road, Hyson Green, 126.7p

2. Asda Nottingham, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, 126.7p

3. Sainsbury's Castle Boulevard, Castle Bridge Road, Castle Boulevard, 126.9p

4. Clifton Express, Clifton Lane, Clifton, 126.9p

5. Basford Express, Valley Road, Basford, 127.9p

Selston: Thomas Burns, 19, of Portland Road, was fined £260 at Mansfield Magistrates' Court. He pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour in Mansfield on September 5. Burns was ordered to pay a £26 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

Ollerton: A woman pleaded guilty to being more than twice the drink-drive limit. Cara Howe, 24, of Hardwick Drive, was behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Corsa in Lindhurst Lane, Mansfield, when she was caught on September 19. When tested by police, her reading was 83 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, over the limit of 35. Magistrates in Mansfield heard she pleaded guilty and fined her £275 and banned her from driving for 18 months. They ordered her to pay a £27 victim surcharge and costs of £85.

Mansfield: Liam Warren, 19, of Elm Tree Avenue, Selston, has been fined £260. He admitted using threatening behaviour in Mansfield on September 5. Magistrates in Mansfield ordered Warren to pay a £26 victim surcharge and costs of £85.

Sutton-in-Ashfield: A benefit claimant failed to inform Ashfield District Council about a change in her circumstances. Charlotte Kara , 40, of Pepper Street, pleaded guilty to failing to inform the authority she was living with her partner between January 2, 2012, and October 6, 2013. Magistrates in Mansfield gave Kara a community order with a four-month home curfew, between 9pm and 6am, and tagging. She was ordered to pay a £60 victim surcharge and £100 costs.

Hucknall: A 64-year-old man was fined £255 for drink-driving in the town. Anthony Newman, of Whyburn Lane,pleaded guilty to being over the limit in a Vauxhall Astra in Portland Road, Hucknall, on September 20. His reading was 50 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, over the limit of 35. JPs in Mansfield disqualified him from driving for 14 months and ordered he pay a £25 victim surcharge and costs of £85.

STAFF at the University of Nottingham have voted for industrial action in a row over pensions.

It is still to be decided whether members of the University and College Union will strike or stage a marking boycott.

In a ballot of staff at 69 UK universities, including Nottingham, 78 per cent voted for strike action, with 87 per cent voting for action short of a strike, such as a marking boycott.

The union is due to meet tomorrow with the universities. It has warned that if a satisfactory resolution is not found, the union will decide on Friday what form the disruption would take and when it would start.

The row revolves around the universities' superannuation scheme – the pension scheme for staff at the UK's "old" universities.

Changes to contributions are being proposed by the universities because they claim there is an expected deficit in the scheme.

However, the union says the methodology used to determine the deficit is too simplistic and does not take account of the scheme's underlying strengths.

The union claims members will be thousands of pounds worse off if the proposed changes go ahead.

General secretary Sally Hunt said: "UCU members at universities across the UK have made it quite clear that they reject the radical changes being proposed for their pensions.

"We will go into talks on Wednesday hopeful that we can resolve the current impasse."

BUSINESSES across the county are battening down the hatches as the former Hurricane Gonzalo blows in.

The Met Office issued a yellow warning on October 20 saying the storm, which battered Bermuda, is expected to bring heavy downpours, damage to trees and 50mph winds today. 

Steve Beard, plant area manager at Floralands Garden Village, in Lambley, said: "We have large shrubs knocking around so we have been preparing manically to secure these as much as possible.

"Many of our plants are almost a metre off the floor on benches. If these get knocked off, the pots can smash which costs us quite a bit of money.

"The winds put a lot of people off coming and nobody wants to garden in bad weather."

The Met Office predicted that the strongest gusts were set to coincide with Tuesday morning's rush hour, leading to possible travel disruption.

Ian Page, a van driver at H&V Insulation Supplies Ltd, in Sutton-in-Ashfield, said: "You never know what's going to happen in this weather and as a business, it always worries us.

"We deliver to a lot of building sites which could be closed off because of the high winds. We could already be on our way to drop stuff off, so we'd have to rearrange the delivery for another time."

Matt Mawson, another van driver for the business, said: "We're constantly checking the Met Office as travelling is a huge part of our job and we cover a large area of the North of England."

The hurricane has already battered many islands in the West Indies and it hit Bermuda on Friday night, causing heavy rain and 110mph winds which damaged buildings, downed power lines and caused flooding.

Frank Saunders, chief forecaster at the Met Office, said: "By the time Gonzalo crosses the Atlantic it will be a very different system to the hurricane that affected Bermuda.

"It will undergo what meteorologists call 'extra-tropical transition', which means it loses the warm-core typical of a tropical cyclone and becomes a much more standard Atlantic low pressure system – like we regularly see around the UK at this time of year.

"As such the low pressure is expected to produce wind strengths and rainfall amounts which are not unusual over the British Isles during the autumn and winter months."

For more weather details and stories go to nottinghampost.com/weather

MUM Sylvia Oates visits Wollaton Deer Park twice a week with daughter Scarlett.

And she joined the crowds yesterday to celebrate the park becoming a local nature reserve.

Ms Oates, 34, of Runswick Drive, Wollaton, said the park deserved its new special status.

She said: "I come here every week with my daughter – I think it's fantastic that it's become a nature reserve.

"One of the reasons that we come here is for the diversity of nature and if it helps to protect that as Scarlett grows up, then that's brilliant.

"I had my engagement photo-shoot here and there were eight stags standing in the background.

"I can't imagine anywhere else like that."

Her friend Saskia Rietvelt, 39, took along daughter Emma, 5, for the first time.

She sad: "We've seen the deers today and Emma has been counting the squirrels.

"If someone I knew said they were visiting to Nottingham, I would tell them to come here for all this wonderful wildlife."

In September, more than 140 hectares of the park was designated a local nature reserve by Nottingham City Council.

The move almost doubles the amount of green space around the city that has secured the title, along with 13 other designated sites.

Organisers yesterday marked the occasion publicly with an open day, inviting families to go along and take part in a variety of activities.

Guests included representatives of Nottingham in Bloom, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and the Royal Society fior the Protection of Birds.

Park ranger Craig Mulder was on hand throughout the event, showing kids how to make fat-ball bird feeders using pine cones.

Mr Mulder, a park ranger for the past seven years, said: "It's a lovely park – it's an area of countryside within the city. You've got a great variety of wildlife, of great open space.

"I think it [the new status] can only be a good thing for the park.

"Hopefully it will bring some funding to help the wildlife in the area."

Erin McDaid, of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust was at the event, meeting visitors.

He said: "From our point of view, we think it's a really important and exciting decision to grant the park nature reserve status.

"There's no question that Wollaton Park is one of the finest wildlife sites in the county, not just the city.

"It's important that its value is recognised."

HAVE you ever wondered what sort of noise a half-decayed mouse would make if it got stuck in the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner?

This weekend I had the misfortune to find out – as well as finding around £7 in small change, several packs of batteries, a jumper I bought in 1996, a Peter Andre CD (hanging my head in shame) and at least eight spiders.

I'm moving house and the packing mission is under way.

The key to success is a good list. You write it, you add to it in a frenzy at 3am when you wake up worrying about your internet package, potato peelers and whether the cat will settle into her new neighbourhood, and then you stick to it.

So the weekend has been spent packing and I am now hobbling round the office as if I've run a marathon.

I have a huge bruise on my left arm from where I staggered into a door handle while trying to balance a box of books on the loo seat.

I counted 24 boxes of books in total. I ought to start a pop-up library.

And I have two scraped knees and a hole in my jeans from Saturday night, when I went for a well-deserved post-packing pint, then let myself back into the house without switching the light on and promptly went flying over the piles of stuff lying around on the kitchen floor.

Some sort of instinct kicked in as my foot hit the first box and I managed to hurdle it, but then I got tangled up in a pile of those four-man-gang plug extenders, before being finished off by a stack of DVDs and ending up splayed out on the floor with the rubbish bin upended over my legs.

The mouse incident was another low point. My cat is not a particularly effective mouser and when she does actually strike lucky, she prefers to bring her victims into the house and then release them unharmed.

Most of the time I manage to track down these unwitting visitors and, with the help of a tea towel, pop them back outside. But the occasional one sets up camp and this particular mouse appears to have had a jolly old time making itself a nest at the back of my pantry, before expiring – presumably of natural causes – behind a box of spare tiles.

Until I made my entrance with the vacuum.

So the next time you spot an estate agent's board outside a house, just spare a thought for the poor souls inside.

Moving house is an incredibly exciting time – especially if your property has been on the market for months.

But once you've smashed a couple of family heirlooms, fallen down the stairs while balancing too many boxes, dropped your TV on the pavement (yes, I have done this) and got the sofa stuck in a doorway, you begin to wonder why you're bothering.

And the aforementioned mouse-in-Hoover noise? A muffled thrump.

VICTIMS of robbery are joining local police in backing new plans to give criminals tougher sentences.

The Sentencing Council – an independent body within the Ministry of Justice – is proposing that cases where thieves who use or threaten to use a knife or gun during a robbery should be treated as the most serious.

It believes this would mean the longest sentences possible would be given to the criminals – rather than the existing guidelines where the use of a weapon does not automatically put offenders in the top category.

Aaron Lee was robbed at knifepoint in 2007 when he and his friend were walking home after work from Morrisons in Aspley. The 26-year-old said: "I think it is a good idea to make the sentences the most serious they can be.

"I was fairly lucky that nothing happened to me, but you hear about people that get injured and the offenders should get a lot more than a slap on the wrist and should be dealt with appropriately."

The shake-up of robbery sentences is being put out for public consultation today, with the council keen on hearing from people who work in the criminal justice system.

Notts Police is backing the calls for stronger sentencing.

Assistant Chief Constable Simon Torr said: "We would always support tough sentences for robbery offenders who use, or threaten use of, knives and guns, as well as penalties in line with lasting impact that robbery has on the victim."

But he said that education and preventative work was also key to reducing the crimes.

He added: "Our focus is on preventing people carrying a knife or a gun in the first place and tackling gang culture."

Another part of the council's consultation also calls for more focus to be put on the psychological harm a victim suffers as a result of the robbery, rather than just physical.

Chairman of the Sentencing Council Lord Justice Treacy said: "Robberies can leave victims injured or traumatised as well as losing property, so we are ensuring that the full impact of these offences is at the forefront of judges' considerations about the length of sentence a robber should get."

Andy Cash, director at Cartwright King Solicitors, of South Parade, said the consideration of psychological harm was already being used widely in court and he welcomed the formalisation of the approach.

However, he warned there may be unintended consequences if the consultation was successful.

"This may well produce an increasing prison population and a disinclination on the part of an offender to admit his crime at an early stage, thus avoiding the need for a trial – as offenders usually receive credit for an early plea of guilty," said Mr Cash.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have found a bottle used hundreds of years ago to ward off witches and evil spirits.

The "witch bottle" was found during a dig to pave the way for the £5.4m restoration of the Old Magnus Building by Newark and Sherwood District Council.

The grade two listed structure on Appletongate will house the UK's first National Civil War Centre when it opens in spring next year, backed by £3.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The 15-centimetre green glass bottle probably dates from the 1700s. Similar bottles were once filled with fingernails, hair and even urine, all contents linking a building with its owner, to ward off witches' spells.

Will Munford, of Pre-construct Archaeological Services, said: "We often forget that people were very superstitious – it was part of their everyday lives. They thought that secreting such personal objects would offer protection from malign forces."

Bryony Robins, Old Magnus Building project manager with Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: "We hope to display the bottle when the National Civil War Centre opens next year."

IT was more than a decade ago when Matt Oldham was given his first reptile, a neglected bearded dragon that he nursed back to health.

It started what would become an obsession that has led to him becoming the owner of his own shop.

Today, he is one of hundreds who will be celebrating Reptile Awareness Day.

Matt has been the owner of Nottingham Reptile Centre, in Sherwood, for two years.

He said: "We have too many reptiles here to count – about 80 to 100 snakes, tortoises and we have a great big lizard who walks around the shop.

"He's a black and white Tegu called Thomas. He's quite big now about 4.5 ft. We've had him since he was a baby – he's about 11 now.

"You do get people who use these animals, especially big snakes, as status symbols. They don't give reptiles the credit they deserve."

Hundreds of reptiles are sold every year in Nottingham.

Some in-demand species of snake, such as the red-eyed leucistic ball python, can sell for as much as £1,000.

Luke Brown, 24, of Calverton Avenue, Carlton, started collecting snakes four years ago and now has 16, which he breeds.

Mr Brown said: "I always wanted a snake, so when I got my first job, I went and bought a grey-banded king snake, then just wanted a bit more variety and so I got into royal pythons.

"It's just an addiction. Some people have tattoos, cars or bikes. I have this – it's hard to stop."

Dr Lisa Yon, lecturer in zoo and wildlife medicine at the University of Nottingham, hoped that the awareness day would educate prospective owners.

She added: "They can make extraordinary pets.

"A lot of veterinary problems are related to these species, with inappropriate diet and husbandry, so it's very important for pet owners to be as informed as they can about how to look after these reptiles as well."

SHOPPERS and residents say they feel "let down" by a supermarket which failed to follow through on expansion plans that promised 200 jobs.

Tesco, in Carlton Hill, owns the land on which the former Windsor Castle pub now lies empty but says a change in customer habits has stalled its plans.

Local residents think the site has become an "eyesore" and want Tesco to either follow through with its expansion or sells the site.

Thomas James, of Foxhill Road, thinks the retail giant has put its plans on hold due to competition from new supermarkets.

"I don't think they can leave it dilapidated like that just because of their own commercial aims<" he said. "It's part of the public realm and has become an eyesore.

"If they don't want to build on it they could sell it or lease it. Five years ago it was very popular with the public and it's a real shame it has not been maintained."

Mr James, 48, said the neighbourhood was largely positive about the original plans, which they felt would trigger a redevelopment of nearby Carlton Square.

"The people of Carlton feel let down as they could have benefited from a wider store and there was the offer of jobs but they never materialised," said Mr James.

MP Vernon Coaker, MP for Gedling, has written to Tesco's chief executive, Dave Lewis, to ask what is being done.

"There were all sorts of promises for hundreds of jobs and the site was going to be improved," said Mr Coaker.

"I am disappointed that Tesco have made this decision."

Tesco's planning permission to expand as planned has since lapsed, meaning it would have to re-apply to make the changes it promoted more than five years ago.

Spokesman Mark Thomas said the store will update residents when it makes a decision on the future of the pub site.

"Customer shopping habits have changed dramatically over recent years," he said. "With more people choosing to shop online and in convenience stores. In light of this we have reviewed our plans for an extension to Carlton Hill store and taken the difficult decision not to proceed.

"We understand people will be disappointed by this decision. Customers can still shop in our existing store, which continues to provide the great service that it has in the town for the past twenty five years."

A 999 worker told an inquest of a control room struggling to cope as he described how he missed a chance to send an ambulance to a man suffering a stroke.

Nottingham Coroner's Court heard yesterday of delays in getting 89-year-old John Mallalieu to hospital for a potentially life-saving clot-busting injection.

Dispatch officer Jonathan Schofield, of the East Midlands Ambulance Service call centre, told the hearing that it had been an extremely busy day and he had been in charge of 38 crews – a higher-than-usual number.

He said he was nearing the end of a 12-hour shift, in which he had managed to take only two short toilet breaks, when he dealt with a call from Mr Mallalieu's wife, Ruth.

She dialled 999 from their Caunton home at 3.59pm on December 6 after her husband suffered the classic stroke symptoms of slurred speech and impaired movement.

The call was categorised as a Red 2 case – one of the most urgent – and a paramedic was sent out immediately in a fast-response car, arriving nine minutes later.

But Mr Schofield agreed that he had missed an opportunity to send an ambulance immediately afterwards to rush Mr Mallalieu to hospital – and by the time he did request a vehicle nine minutes later, there were no crews available.

It was 45 minutes until he checked again and an ambulance did not arrive until 5.20pm – more than an hour later.

Mr Schofield was following a new pilot scheme, which changed his way of working, introduced just four days earlier.

He said: "It was a very busy shift for all of us. I would say this new role increased demand quite significantly."

Mr Schofield said he only opened his resource log to send ambulance back-up at 4.08pm – nine minutes after the initial call was received.

He did not check again until just after 4.50pm – 45 minutes later.

Coroner Marian Casey said: "In that 45 minutes, am I mistaken in thinking nothing was happening about pursuing a double-crewed ambulance for John Mallalieu?"

Mr Schofield replied: "I would say you are correct."

The inquest heard that during the nine minutes before Mr Schofield checked his log, two ambulances had been available.

First-responder paramedic Wendy Coghill phoned for an ambulance 15 minutes after arriving at the house – but an ambulance was not sent.

Only when Mr Schofield checked at 4.50pm was an ambulance dispatched.

Further vital minutes were also lost when the ambulance carrying Mr Mallalieu to King's Mill Hospital, in Sutton-in-Ashfield, was diverted to Nottingham City Hospital because King's Mill's stroke unit was about to close. Mr Mallaleiu died at the City Hospital on December 22.

East Midlands Ambulance Service has apologised to the family for the "unacceptable delay".

Drove by fallen tree in Lambley Lane. Luckily enough before the rush. Try to avoid, traffic really bad now. #nottingham#ng4#ng3#gedling

— Carlton Town Cafe (@TownCarlton) October 21, 2014

A 21-year-old woman was taken to hospital after a fire broke out in the kitchen of a Radford house.

She suffered from smoke inhalation after the blaze in Thurman Street, Radford at 9.43pm on Monday October 20.

Three fire engines attended the scene and the woman was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Firefighters from Central and Stockhill fire stations used two hose reels and a positive pressure ventilation fan to tackle the fire.