THIRTY spaces for children under school age could be created alongside eight local jobs in a bid to convert a house into a nursery.

Parents of young children in Mapperley and Carlton could be sending their toddlers to the day nursery in Westdale Lane from Spring if plans are approved.

But some local residents think the plans will create danger on the roads and noise pollution.

Applicant Maria Fullwood, who works in childcare, says "quality" local provision of early years care is needed in the area.

"The Government is calling for more quality nurseries and because of my experience I know that's what I will provide.

"There are also a number of new housing developments proposed and with that comes young families or couples starting families."

The four-bedroom detached house with a double garage would see three tailor-made rooms - for under twos, two-year-olds and for children aged three to five.

"There are friends of mine who say they travel for miles to find a nursery for their children," said Mrs Fullwood. "So I'm hoping to provide that quality in the Mapperley and Carlton area.

"I want to make the jobs available to local people and offer training opportunities," she said.

Five parking spaces would be made available, plus two extra spaces in the garage of the house, which is next door to Westdale Community Centre.

But some local residents are concerned that parents dropping off their children might cause danger on Westdale Lane, a busy commuter road.

"I can see there being a terrible accident there," said Betty Turner, 75, who lives across the road at Westmore Court. "It's right beside the bus stop and with a lot of toddlers there you dread to think what might happen.

"Most of their parents will drop them off and that's only going to clog up Westdale Lane more. It's already a nightmare to cross that road."

Philip Slater, of Digby Avenue, has objected because he is concerned about noise from the children in summer months.

"It's a peaceful road," said Mr Slater, whose house backs on to the community centre. "The children will be making a lot of noise, especially when the sun comes out."

But one condition of the permission, if granted at a meeting of Gedling Borough Council's planning committee on Wednesday October 29, is for Mrs Fullwood to install an acoustic fence to combat the noise.

"The noise shouldn't be an issue," said Deborah Labbate, 51, of Westdale Lane. "I'm more concerned about the congestion. This road is not designed to have parked cars and all the parents will be dropping them off at the same time."

Nottinghamshire County Council's highways consultees are happy with the number of spaces, as their guidelines require one for every six children.

Councillors will vote on the proposals at the meeting at Arnold's Civic Centre in Arnot Hill Park at 6pm.

SIGNING Tom Ince could give Nottingham Forest a welcome boost, according to top scorer Britt Assombalonga.

The Reds hope to complete a loan deal for the Hull City winger today, in time for him to face Huddersfield on Saturday.

Stuart Pearce is keen to add some spark to his squad, following a run of seven games without a win in the Championship.

Assombalonga has faith in his manager's judgement – and believes the former Liverpool, Notts County, Crystal Palace and Blackpool player has the quality to succeed with the Reds.

The Championship club hope to get an initial one-month loan deal over the line, if a few final details can be ironed out with the Tigers.

Ince, 22, only joined Hull in the summer, but has found it tough to pin down a regular first team place, starting only four games, the last of which was in the Capital One Cup last month.

The son of former Notts boss – and Pearce's old England team-mate Paul Ince – is understood to be keen to prove himself and would welcome the chance to do so at the City Ground.

Assombalonga says any new signing would give the squad a lift – but believes Ince is a good player.

"The manager knows what he is doing, he will know the right players to bring in and the kind of players we don't need to bring to the club," said Assombalonga (inset).

"It might give us a lift. At the end of the day sometimes you have to take a chance on something, to see if it does give you a boost.

"He is a good player, I can't say anything else, because he is a good player.

"Time will tell what happens, but if he comes in it will be a good thing. It is up to the manager what he wants to do. He knows what is best for the club."

Ince would only add to the impressive attacking arsenal at Forest, with Assombalonga (nine) and Michail Antonio (eight) having already notched 17 goals between them in all competitions.

Assombalonga finds himself at the top of the Championship scoring charts just a few months after his £5.5m move from League One Peterborough.

And the Congo born player says he is focused on proving that he can get even better, following the bright start to his Forest career.

"It is good. As a striker you want to score goals. You also want to prove to yourself that you can do it in the higher division," he said. "That is still what I am trying to do.

"I just have to prove that I can keep getting better. I don't want to settle for anything. I want to keep improving.

"I don't know if it has altered my ambitions, because I don't really set myself any goal targets.

"I am just going with the flow. I am just going to try my hardest and hope that things go well."

ZELI Ismail would love to extend his loan spell at Notts County in January after playing down his chances of storming back into the Wolves team.

The tricky winger (pictured) has been in red-hot form of late and scored the winner in Saturday's 1-0 victory at Scunthorpe with a last-gasp penalty.

Ismail's loan does not expire until the New Year, as is the case with fellow Wolves team-mate Jake Cassidy, who is also at Meadow Lane.

But with Kenny Jackett's side flying high in the Championship, Ismail concedes his chances of gaining a place in their starting line-up are remote.

"Wolves are doing really well so I can't see them making too many changes to the team," he said.

"My loan is supposed to end in January, but I would be happy to extend it because I'm loving every minute of every day here.

"If we keep going like we are and I'm playing, then of course I would love to be a part of that.

"The manager has played for some big clubs and I've learned so much from him.

"In training everybody is buzzing and we are winning.

"Who doesn't enjoy that?"

Ismail is currently Notts' joint top scorer with four goals and has produced some wonderful performances in recent weeks.

It has helped Notts to climb to third in the table.

And Ismail paid tribute to boss Shaun Derry for getting the team to gel so quickly after making 20 signings over the course of the summer.

"We are on a great run at the moment," he said.

"It's a completely different team from last year so the gaffer has done so well to get us all to gel.

"The boys here are so honest and they work so hard for the cause.

"Hopefully, we can carry this run on for as long as we can.

"We've a game against Walsall at home on Saturday and we are all focused on that now."

A MUCH loved mum-of-three, who dedicated much of her life to the Sea Cadets, has died suddenly after suffering from a brain haemorrhage on holiday.

Gillian Domleo was just 39-years-old when she passed away on Friday.

The full-time mum from Bestwood Park was rushed to Queen's Medical Centre by Air Ambulance on Thursday morning after being taken ill when away with friends near Skegness.

But doctors were unable to save her and she passed away in the early hours of the morning.

Gillian is survived by her husband Tony, and three children, Jack, Ashlei and Kaira – as well as her identical twin sister Teresa.

Before dedicating herself to family life, Gillian and her sister took great pleasure and pride from their work with the Nottingham Sea Cadets.

Joining on their 12th birthday in March 1987, the twins became an integral part of the group and, as children, liked to use their identical looks to fool others.

Michelle Welsh, former Commanding Officer of the cadets and family friend, said: "Being a twin wasn't always easy for the staff as no one could tell them apart. They always enjoyed winding people up and used to swap classes.

"We always remember the Royal Naval Inspections when it really confused the inspecting officers, until they saw Gill and Teresa together and realised we had two of them."

But as she grew up, Gillian threw herself into all aspects of the group, graduating to become an adult instructor.

She knew all the tricks the cadets would get up to, as "she invented most of them," and loved all the sailing aspects, weekends away and cooking for the team.

Ian Dickinson, also a former Commanding Officer for Nottingham Sea Cadets, added: "It is still very hard to believe that Gill has been taken away from everyone at such a young age, but her memories will live on forever."

Leaving tributes to her, her husband Tony said: "You are my life, my soul and my partner for life. I have loved you from the day I met you and will do until the day I die. I am so proud to have you as my wife."

And her sister Teresa added: "Half my heart is lost forever. Heaven has gained one amazing angel. Love you with my broken heart."

Nottingham coffee lovers are among the top spenders in the country when it comes to shelling out for their favourite caffeinated drink.

People in the city now spend £151 a year on average on coffee, according to a recent survey, putting us at joint second in the rankings alongside London and Norwich.

Brighton topped the charts with an average of £177 per person spend. 

The study was commissioned by UK bakery chain Greggs and carried out by the University of Stirling to discover how we've become a nation obsessed with not only drinking coffee, but talking about it. 

Nottingham is dotted with coffee shops offering every flavour and variety, including chain brands such as Starbucks and Costa, or smaller boutiques. Located in Pelham Street, independent coffee bar Wired sells a variety of coffee called the ristretto, priced at £1.60, which is half the size of a standard espresso but much sweeter. They also have the piccolo, £1.80, which is served in a 90ml glass and combines a ristretto with milk. 

Co-owners of the shop, Très and Vanessa Gretton-Roche, said that coffee shops are all about the experience for the customer. The 46-year-old, from Sherwood Vale, said: "When we first started Wired, we wanted to be somewhere exciting to go to. 

"It's all about the experience and the atmosphere and somewhere you can connect with other people." 

The report also found that people can now distinguish between different brands and tastes of coffee, and that more than 40% of us prefer socialising with friends over a coffee rather than an alcoholic drink.

"When we were first starting up in October of last year we travelled all over the country to find the right blend for us, and we discovered that there are over 1500 different tastes of coffee, compared to only 500 of wine," said Très. 

"Peoples' tastes are becoming more specific. People don't just want a cup of brown liquid anymore, they understand the difference between bad and good coffee." 

As well as the city centre, areas including West Bridgford, Carlton and Arnold boast high streets filled to the brim with coffee shops. Sales manager Kate Sabat, from West Bridgford, said that she regularly heads into coffee shops for meetings with friends or for business. 

The 26-year-old said: "I'm a big coffee drinker and there's a lot of places I visit in both the city centre and West Bridgford. 

"Going for a coffee is nice for a meeting, even if it's for business. Coffee shops are much better than busy restaurants." 

Julie Tinson, Professor of marketing at the University of Stirling which completed the study, said: "Coffee has become an identity statement, acting as a 'social glue' that binds different groups together. 

"Just like our European cousins, who are known to spend hours in cafes or coffee shops watching the world go by, it seems catching up with friends or colleagues over a coffee is becoming as popular as heading to a pub."

A SCHIZOPHRENIC man called the police about himself after breaking into a relative's home for the third time.

The courts had imposed a restraining order on 25-year-old Joe Yexley, banning him from visiting the home in Grantham Road, Radcliffe-on-Trent.

The court heard that Mr Yexley was charged with three breaches of the restraining order as well as two charges of criminal damage, all of which he admitted.

Rod Chapman, prosecuting, told Nottingham Magistrates' Court yesterday that during the first offence, on August 8, Mr Yexley "had simply got on the bus" and that he felt bad as he knew he had upset his relative and "did not want to cause them any grief."

The court then heard that, on the second occasion, on September 21, the family relative had returned home to find a broken window with a brick below.

But on October 16, Mr Yexley reported himself to the police after again breaching the restraining order and breaking into the relative's house.

"He admitted that he knew that he should not go to the address," said Mr Chapman.

The court heard the defendant was "finding it difficult coping with the hostel he was staying in" and that on the morning after the third offence, he had reported it to the police because he "didn't want to frighten" the family relative. At the time, the defendant was also subject to a conditional discharge for an offence of common assault.

Robert Keeble, defending, said Mr Yexley's offences were a consequence of his emotional and mental instability.

The court heard Mr Yexley had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008 and knew he had gained entry to the relative's house in a "wholly inappropriate fashion."

Deputy District Judge Richard Marshall gave Mr Yexley a 12-week prison sentence for each of the breaches of his order, to run concurrently, and suspended for 12 months.

He was also ordered to pay £175 compensation for the criminal damage and £150 in prosecution costs.

More earthquakes are likely to hit Nottinghamshire by the end of the year.

David Galloway, a seismologist for the British Geographical Survey, said he could not predict when the next one would be, but was "99 per cent sure" it would be this year.

On Tuesday, there was a 2.6 magnitude tremor at 7.16pm - the strongest since 1984.

But it was nothing compared to the county's historical 4.2 magnitude earthquake in 1816.

"It was not the biggest earthquake," said Mr Galloway. "If you had had one of that magnitude in the North West of Scotland, it would be doubtful anyone would feel it.

"But this was in a very populated area and at a time when everyone was sat down watching prime time TV, so it had a much bigger response."

Almost 240 people reported the tremor to the BGS, describing it as "like the rumble of thunder that shakes everything, but under my feet" and "like something large had hit the house, almost like if a car had crashed." 

A four-year-old with no speech will be given "the childhood he deserves" after volunteers enlisted by a charity made him a purpose-built garden.

Zidaan Ahmed has Treacher Collins syndrome, affecting his eating and drinking and making him partially deaf and unable to play in the garden unsupervised.

But with help from 25 data analysts from Experian, charity WellChild has given him the gift of play - adding a swing, a lawn and decking where he can play with his favourite toy cars.

Mum Uzma Aziz-Ahmed, said: "It's fantastic already. This garden will make the world of difference to Zidaan.

"It's going to be amazing - and will give him the childhood he deserves to have. I can't thank the charity enough."

Uzma and husband Tokeer moved in to their house in Manville Close, Beechdale, shortly before becoming pregnant with Zidaan, their only child.

"With Zidaan's condition we've been to endless health experts about it and there is always something to save up for, like his hearing aids," said Uzma, who gave up teaching when Zidaan was born. "The garden was always put on the backburner."

But after an occupational therapist suggested the family call WellChild, £1,900 has been put into converting the garden at the family home, from the charity's Helping Hands scheme.

"It will make the world of difference to him," added Uzma. "Because he is also autistic he has a limited awareness of danger so the garden as was would have been too difficult. This space will allow him to play without us worrying that he is going to hurt himself."

Ben Brooksby led a band of 12 volunteers from Experian's offices at the NG2 Business Park in The Meadows to dig, screw, nail and paint to help renovate the garden.

They left their day jobs as data analysts for the great outdoors, and will be followed by a further 13 volunteers who will finish the job.

"It's been great to get out of the office and good for team building," said Ben, 38, of Southwell. "But the main thing we will all take from this is how nice it is to do something that will change this boy's life. You don't do that every day."

Project manager Alastair Higginbottom, from WellChild, is overseeing the project and offering help to the untrained volunteers.

"We have a system of fitting a lot of work into just two days," he said. "The volunteers, who we could not do this without, work as the nuts and bolts and we direct them along.

"It's been designed to fit Zidaan's needs and allow him to play just the same as other children. It will give him the independence he's never had before."

The family of a man who was stabbed to death by his mentally-ill grandson say they still haven't had closure – more than five years after his death. 

The children of John McGrath are embroiled in a dispute with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). 

The 81-year-old was killed in 2009 by his schizophrenic grandson William Barnard, who later pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

But his family have been fighting for answers ever since it emerged that William had been identified as a suspect in an attempted robbery two months earlier, but was never arrested.

They are now disputing a comment made in the IPCC report by deputy chairman Sarah Green, which states: "We can never know if arresting William Barnard would have prevented John McGrath's death." 

Mr McGrath's son Peter McGrath, of Ilkeston Road, Stapleford, said: "It's now over five years since the death of my father. We thought that the inquest would give us some sort of closure and we were very happy with the narrative conclusion given by the coroner.

"But what is upsetting us at the moment is that the IPCC has stated that no one can know whether arresting William would have prevented our father's death – that just completely flies in the face of what the coroner said."

In June, assistant coroner Heidi Connor concluded that if police and health professionals had acted sooner the death may have been avoided, saying: "If William had been arrested, it is likely that an assessment under the Mental Health Act would have ensued, William would have been detained, and would not have been at liberty to kill his grandfather."

A full report into the IPCC investigation was released last week and Mr McGrath's children, Peter, Ann Popow, Kathleen Barnard and Christine Boot, are now in the process of writing a letter to the IPCC to air their grievances. 

Peter, 67, added: "The IPCC had legal representation at the inquest and had the opportunity to question witnesses – so why do their views differ from the findings of the coroner? We want closure, but when you get a good result from the coroner and then another public body comes up with a different version of events, it's upsetting."

Peter's sister Ann, 65, said: "This should have been finished by now. and after the inquest we thought we could lay it all to bed.

"But when you get the inquest result smacked back in your face it's devastating. We just want to get to the bottom of everything for my dad's sake."

The family are preparing to give evidence before the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into policing and mental health. Their case was put forward by Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry and if called, they will give evidence before MPs in Parliament. 

Peter added: "We are pleased to have been asked and hope we can be of some assistance. We want to make sure lessons are learned to prevent a similar situation happening in the future." 

Since being contacted by the Post, the IPCC has removed the disputed comment from its website. A spokesman said: "We await a letter from the family of John McGrath. Once we have received the letter we will consider its content before formally responding."

POLICE have released CCTV footage of five men they want to speak to in connection with a burglary in Nottingham city centre. The burglary took place at a block of flats in Castle Gate at about 11.30pm on Friday, October 10. All five men are white and in their mid-to-early twenties. If you recognise them or think you can help, contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 683 of October 12.

Arsonist Kyle Jackson attacked a prison officer with a piece of metal lighting and shouted he was going to kill him and colleagues, a court heard.

Jackson, 25, was jailed on Wednesday, October 29, for more than 11 months at Nottingham Crown Court.

He was found guilty of assaulting prison officer David Chambers and causing him actual bodily harm.

Jackson is already serving an indefinite sentence for public protection for arson at HMP Lowdham Grange, a Category B men's private prison.

Before he is released he must show he is no longer a danger to others.

But at the time of the attack on Mr Chambers, Jackson was on the prison's segregation wing due to his recent behaviour, the court heard, and was described as "unpredictable and violent".

"He [Jackson] swung his arm backwards and hit me four or five times with a metal object before he was fully restrained by my colleagues," said Mr Chambers in his statement.

Another prison officer said of the attack: "Kyle Jackson was continually shouting he was going to kill us."

A third officer said: "I saw Kyle Jackson hit him [Mr Chambers] three times in quick succession. He was shouting screaming and threatening us."

Jackson, of no fixed address, was restrained and sent to a special observation cell.

He had admitted the attack to police but pleaded not guilty at his trial.

Then, in the witness box, he admitted what he had done at 11.15am on Monday, August 19, last year.

Tony Stanford, prosecuting, explained to the jury how Jackson said to police afterwards he wanted to cause damage that day.

"When asked why he did it he said, 'I just didn't like the Governors, and went on to admit he planned to assault a member of the prison staff," said Mr Stanford.

Recorder Roger Evans imposed 48 weeks in prison, which is just over 11 months.

He said the trial was unusual as Jackson, who was convicted of arson at Preston Crown Court in December 2008, was not represented by a barrister or solicitor.

Jackson had declined to ask prosecution witnesses any questions, so their statements were read out to the jury and the case was over within an hour.

After the jury returned with a unanimous verdict, the judge told Jackson: "You actually went into the witness box and admitted what you had done, although you wished to plead not guilty."

He said Jackson must serve this sentence before his parole is considered.

"You may wonder it is quite an extraordinary case," he told the jury.

"It is most unusual for a defendant to go into the witness box and admit it but he has and added a few more months to his sentence."

Arson accused Melanie Shaw choked back tears as she told a jury she did not start a shed fire or write offensive graffiti on a neighbour's door and wall in Sherwood.

Shaw went on trial at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, October 28, accused of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered on February 1 and damaging property at the same house on June 26.

The 44-year-old, of Bonnington Crescent, Sherwood, was charged after her neighbours, a family of five, fled from their home after one of their sheds was set alight and rude words penned on a wall referring to their 12-year-old daughter.

The writing was allegedly Shaw's, who prosecutors say, bore a grudge against the mother at the house and had threatened her before.

Four months later church-going Shaw is said to have attacked the family's home again – after paint was thrown on a door and wall of the house.

But Shaw has denied the allegations or that she had a problem with the family.

Adrian Reynolds, defending, asked her on October 29: "Did you start the fire?"

She replied: "Absolutely not."

He asked if she had written the words on the front of the family's home and she again denied she had, saying: "As God be my witness, as a member of Southwell diocese for four years, absolutely not."

Mr Reynolds told her: "We know somebody on March 26 slashed the tyres of a car on Bonnington Crescent, was that you?"

She told him: "No".

He went on to ask her about the paint that was daubed on the front of her neighbour's house, and again asked if that had been her, and she firmly told him "not at all".

Prosecutor Siward James Moore said photos taken of graffiti on the wall and an example of the defendant's handwriting were sent to a forensic document examiner and found to support the proposition it was her handwriting.

After the paint attack in June, he also said a brown bin bag with paint inside was found in the garden in bushes and Shaw's fingerprint was on the outside.

Inside her home were eight to nine tins of paint and bin bags.

He had said the Crown's case was Shaw bore a grudge against the woman at the house and graffiti had been left on the house targeting her and her family.

The trial continues

Businesses are being invited to invest in the renovation of Hucknall's Byron Cinema as volunteers seek to raise £190,000.

The Byron Community Project has been trying to renovate the 1936 building, on the corner of High Street, since last year.

But after putting in a bid for £1.9m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project was invited to withdraw their application in order for £190,000 match funding to be secured first.

Project member David Heathcote said: "Where we've got with the Heritage Lottery Fund is a bit like driving a car towards a brick wall. We've spotted the 'wall' in time, we've stopped and we haven't crashed. Now we have to find a way round the 'wall' and carry on.

"This is an opportunity for someone who has made some money to invest that money back into the community and bring more life and vigour to that end of the High Street. We will look very carefully at any ideas."

The Byron Cinema had a seating capacity of 1,189 before it was split and the downstairs part used as a bingo hall. It has not shown any films since 2006.

A group of dedicated volunteers is looking to re-open it as a multi-use venue for films, exhibitions, performances, conferences and Xbox and gaming competitions.

The project is also seeking help securing the match funding from a number of public bodies.

Next week, it will find out how much it has received from the Lloyds Bank Community Fund 2014.

It has been whittled down to the final four successful projects in the Alfreton area, which will all receive between £500 and £3,000, depending on how many votes it has received.

Volunteers are also working on an application for a Nottinghamshire County Council's Supporting Local Communities grant. From this, the group could be awarded up to £50,000. They will find out whether they have been successful next April.

Owner of the Byron Cinema building, Sritharan Tharmalingham, said: "I don't have a problem with an external investor coming in. Either to buy the building or invest in the project.

"Unless there is a 'no-strings' benefactor out there, though, any investor will want some return on their money.

"Maybe someone could buy the building, and then rent the lower half back to the current bingo business while the rest of the building is renovated?"

Byron Community Project team member, Marc Cash, added: "With the up-and-coming regeneration of Hucknall, there's never been a better time for someone to invest in this iconic part of Hucknall's heritage."

What do you think of the plans? Leave us a comment and let us know