A FORMER Wisbech pub landlord sentenced for fraud and theft has been put on a black list to stop him being offered the tenancy of any other pubs. Fenland District Council has alerted other local authorities following the conviction of Stephen Robert Knigh

A FORMER Wisbech pub landlord sentenced for fraud and theft has been put on a black list to stop him being offered the tenancy of any other pubs.

Fenland District Council has alerted other local authorities following the conviction of Stephen Robert Knight, former landlord of the Bowling Green, who also uses the alias Stephen Young.

Knight was sentenced last week at Wisbech Magistrates' Court for fraud and theft and handed a nine suspended sentence and 180 hours community service.

The local authority is concerned that the two counts of fraud were due to deception when obtaining his personal licence from Fenland District Council.

A council spokesman said he used the name Knight to obtain a personal licence but failed to disclose his other names to the Criminal Records Bureau as he had a previous conviction under one of the alias names.

The spokesman added: "He also showed us false identification when he personally collected his plasticised licence card."

Emails have gone to other councils alerting them to the possibility of Knight approaching them to make a new application.

The spokesman said the court was advised that Knight is currently working for a pub chain covering the Skegness/Hunstanton district. He is thought to be living in the Skegness area.

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TWO police officers have been nominated for a prestigious bravery award after saving a family in Wisbech.

In the early hours of June 5, 2007, roads policing officers PCs Stuart Adam and Leigh Fenton spotted a fire at The Royal Standard pub.

Aware that a family was living in the apartment above and with the only exit blocked by flames, the two officers began tackling the fire, which had engulfed the roof.

PC Adam banged loudly on doors and shouted to raise the sleeping family. He managed to wake a man and young girl who escaped.

In thick billowing smoke, PC Fenton attempted to put the fire out with the extinguisher from his patrol car.

Knowing two more people were inside, he entered the building and located them by listening for their voices. He took a boy in his arms and used his jacket for the woman to hold onto and brought them to safety whilst PC Adam continued to fight the fire until the fire service arrived.

Both officers suffered the effects of severe smoke inhalation.

David Smith, Chairman of Cambridgeshire Police Federation said that it is thanks to the courage and professionalism displayed by each officer, that the family of four survived.

He said: "The bravery shown by constables Fenton and Adam is typical of police officers across the county.

"They come on duty each day not knowing what they may face. The officers fully deserve of their award and, as a result of their actions, four people are alive today who may otherwise have perished."

Chief Constable Julie Spence said: "I'm extremely proud that two very brave Cambridgeshire officers have been nominated for this award. They put their lives on the line to protect others. In doing so they probably saved an entire family. Their courage and professionalism exemplify the best traditions of British policing."

The Police Bravery Awards are hosted in partnership with The Sun newspaper and honour police officers across England and Wales for their actions to tackle criminals and keep the public safe.

This year marks the 13th anniversary of the awards. The ceremony will take place on July 10 at the Dorchester Hotel, London.

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JUDGES are due in Chatteris next Thursday to judge the town for the Anglia in Bloom Competition.

The area covered this year is bigger than last year so if you live in Bridge Street, High Street, Market Hill, Church Lane, London Road or Wenny Road, including the side roads off them, you will get a visit.

Chatteris organisers pleaded this week to "please can you make sure all litter and weeds are removed from them. It's a big ask but there are only a few of us on the committee and it will be hard on the day to check all areas and we really would like to gain a gold medal for the town this time."

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NEW self service facilities are to be introduced into March Library- the first of seven county wide libraries to make the switch.

The new machines will enable customers to:

n issue and return books, story cassettes, DVDs and CDs quickly and easily

n Check what books they have out on loan

n Pay fines for overdue items or loan charges for story cassettes, DVDs and CDs

The County Council's Head of Libraries, Archives and Information Service, Lesley Noblett,said: "Self-service is secure, quick and easy to use, but staff will be on hand to assist customers when necessary and to provide the individual pin number which will be needed to access the self service system."

She added that at the same time as the new machines are installed, the layout of the library will be revised, including new customer service points, rearrangement of the non fiction books to incorporate the reference material on each subject together and the installation of new book display units and a comfortable seating area.

In total, the work at March will cost £50,000 and will further improve services to the public. Overall the council plans to spend around £600,000 introducing self-service facilities at Libraries across Cambridgeshire.

She added:"The introduction of the new self service machines will give the team of library staff, which will remain the same, more time to provide assistance and help to our customers to find books and information and to enhance services in other areas."

On health and safety grounds, the library will be closed while the work is carried out. The facilities will be closed on Thursday, July 17, and re-open on Monday, July 28 - but library services will still be available in the Fenland areas at Chatteris, Wisbech and Whittlesey.

All books and other material on loan can also be renewed by telephone on 0845 025 5225 or on-line at www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/library.

In 2003, March Library was presented with a Civic Trust Award for its contribution to the local community and its design.

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MAJOR piling work to repair the collapsed bank on the Forty Foot Bank road between Chatteris and Ramsey Forty Foot started.

A section of the road will be closed for up to six weeks to allow the construction of a new sheet piled retaining wall and the creation of a new road embankment.

Gareth Guest, Senior Bridge Engineer for Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "The work involves push piling, with specialist equipment, 12 metre long sheet steel piles into the underlying clay strata some 10 metres below for a length of 30 metres along the watercourse edge.

"This method of work was chosen to produce less vibration to an adjacent house and a water main, given the poor ground conditions."

He added that due to the size of the machines needed to carry out this major piling work it is safer that the section of this road is closed.

"It also means the work can be carried out more quickly and we hope to have it finished, weather depending, earlier than six weeks," he added. "This bank is particularly unstable and we have to be very careful to use the right methods to repair it and not affect pipes and homes around it. We apologise for any inconvenience and ask motorists to leave plenty of time for their journey."

A signed diversion route has been set up using the B1093 via Doddington and the B1096/Lilyholt Lane via Benwick. Local access will be maintained up to the site working area from each direction.