Archive for category: News

Members of the public are being warned about courier fraud scams after two recent cases resulted in victims losing a total of £14,000.

Earlier this month, officers in Ely and Cambridge were alerted to incidents where fraudsters posed as a fictitious detective – DC Harris – from a fictitious force – Hammersmith Police – to persuade their victims to hand over large amounts of cash.

In one instance, the suspect called an elderly woman from a withheld number and claimed to be from the police. They claimed to have arrested two men in connection with fraudulent activity at her bank in Ely. They explained her account had been compromised so she needed to withdraw £6,000 as part of the investigation.

This initial phone call was then followed by another asking her to read out serial numbers on some of the bank notes she had withdrawn. The man on the phone then claimed the notes were fraudulent and needed to be handed over as part of the investigation and arrangements were made for the suspect to visit the victim’s home in Ely and collect the notes.

In another similar incident a second elderly woman was contacted by fraudsters using the same sham story.

In this instance, the man on the phone claimed those arrested had been found with bank cards in her name and counterfeit money. The victim was asked to call 999 while still on this call and request to be put through to the fraud squad to verify the caller’s details (in these instances, the fraudsters remain on the line and the call never goes through). She was asked to confirm her name, date of birth, address and what bank accounts she owned. She was then asked to go to her banks in Cambridge and withdraw £6,000 from one account and £2,000 from another, being careful not to get fingerprints on the notes. A man then met her in Cambridge to collect the money.

Cyber and fraud prevention officer Kate Thwaites said: “These crimes often have a devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of the victims and their families.

“We urge residents to please be vigilant to this and pass the message on so others can be vigilant too.

“Please remember your bank and the police will never:

• Ask for your bank account details or PIN over the phone
• Ask you to withdraw money and hand it over to them
• Ask you to send them your bank cards or any other personal property

If you receive a message from an unknown number claiming to be a family member, pause and check in on their usual number before proceeding

Further information about courier fraud can be found on the police website.

The lights go ‘on’ – Saturday 2nd December

The Barton Christmas Spirit Committee is raring to go and is delighted to invite you all to the annual village Christmas tree lighting and Barton Primary School carols on Saturday 2 December, next to the village pond, between 4.30-6.30pm. Join us for mulled wine, mince pies and wonderful community Christmas cheer.

Barton’s annual festive ‘dress up’

Following the enthusiasm for previous Christmas displays around the village, this year we are taking the idea of village scarecrows and raising it to village ‘snow pals’. This December we hope lots of residents will join in with bedecking the village with their creation of a snow pal in their front garden, window, tree, anywhere visible for all to see.

Every kind of snow pal creation is welcome  – snowmen, snow angels, snow dogs, snowcats….snow horses…snow spacemen (?!).There are no rules, we welcome you all to indulge your wildest artistic imagination and join in the fun.

(Any households who would like to feature on the Snowpals Map, please drop a line to ).

December dates for your diary:

Saturday 2 December, 4.30pm – 6.30pm – Official lighting of the Village Christmas tree at the village green by the pond. Details above.

Friday 8 December, 5-7pm – Barton Primary School will be hosting their Christmas fair. All are welcome.

Tuesday 12 December, afternoon – Barton Primary School Choir will be singing at Burwash Manor. This is weather dependent.

Friday 15 December, from 1.30pm – The children of Barton Primary School will be a-carolling around the village.

Barton Parish Council was shown the detailed plans for Barton Greenways (village centre). Once the plans have been approved by Highways, we will hold a public drop in to show residents what is happening. (This will not be a consultation as this was held last year. This will be the final plans that will be implemented in Barton early next year.)

Bullet Points from the meeting:

Barton Greenways Update (October 2023)

1. The current plans are split into early works and those that require more detailed design and land purchase.
2. Early works include the section from the New Road/A603 junction through Barton centre to join the existing shared pavement on Comberton Road (near farm cottages opposite 9 Comberton Road). They do not include the New Road/A603 junction itself (traffic lights). This junction is part of the later scheme.
3. Early works will start after Comberton Greenways scheme is finished (centre of Comberton). This is likely to be end of 2023 start of 2024.
4. New Road will be 30 mph up to current 20 limit. Shared pavement will be widened to 3 m reducing the width of the carriageway.  There will be a pedestrian and cyclist crossing next to the entrance to Burwash Manor.
5. Kingsgrove junction will have raised table. There will be radius changes at the junction. There will be signage and street furniture to make it safer for cyclists to rejoin the carriageway. There will be a pavement put in on the Burwash Manor side to the bus stop.
6. From Kings Grove to High Street there will be sinusoidal humps put in to keep traffic speed down. (Similar humps are on Storey’s Way, where it is possible to drive over these comfortably at 20 mph.)
7. At School Lane, High Street and New Road/Comberton Road junction, the slip road will be removed (triangle) and the triangle changed so that School Lane will join New Road directly and High Street will join Comberton Road. The 70^th jubilee column will be moved, tree canopy adjusted, pavement widened, grass space extended and planting added to enhance the triangle. (Note that there should be more than enough additional parking on High Street where the former road is blocked off to compensate for the loss of parking on the slip road.)
8. Outside the farm cottages and opposite 9 Comberton Road, the plan is to install a build-out, similar to those on entering Grantchester and on Long Road Comberton. Priority given in one direction to traffic leaving the village. Signage will indicate cyclists crossing to rejoin the shared pavement. This will be a protection for cyclists joining the carriage way coming in to Barton with a separate route through the build-out for cyclists crossing the road to join the shared pavement.
9. We asked about discouraging cyclists from continuing along the pavement by the pond, and also about pedestrians crossing from the Post Office to School Lane. We also asked that they link in works with CCC Highways plans to resurface the road, and also for them to speak to Cambridge Water about the state of the water mains running along New Road. (It has been repaired three times in the last few years and is likely to fail again due to the age of the concrete pipe.)
10. The Greenways team will hold another meeting with us when plans are finalised for M11 bridge, A603/New Road junction and bridleway across to Grantchester. These works are not likely to start until September 2024 at the earliest.
11. Other than the sinusoidal humps, there will be no additional marking on New Road from Kings Grove to the pond as cyclists will cycle along the carriageway, round the bend by the pond, and up Comberton Road, to join the shared pavement opposite 9 Comberton Road at the farm cottages.

 

Following on from this meeting, John Howland Jackson and Andy Martin had a separate meeting with the Greenways team on 5^th October to ask the team to move the build-out slightly and to add “Keep Clear” on the road at the shared entrance to 9, 9A, Low Barn and 11 Comberton Road. This is to ensure easy access to all the driveways of these houses and to ensure that traffic on Comberton Road does not block these driveways.

When detailed approved plans are signed off by Highways safety team, we should have access to the plans and be able to show residents what is happening. We want to have a public meeting at the Village Hall before work starts and hope to do this before Christmas.

We have emails for two residents asking for additional measures to reduce speed through Barton to 20 mph. We responded to both.

Barton Greenway (greatercambridge.org.uk)

 

 

M11 junction 6 to 13 – Electronic message sign renewal

 

I am writing to tell you that as part of a series of improvements on the M11, we plan to renew the existing electronic message signs between junctions 6 and 13. Once complete, the new signs will offer reliable information and service to the road users. The signs have been built with a longer lifespan and durability.

 

We plan to complete this work in three phases over 12 weeks between Monday 4 December and February 2024. We will work between 9pm and 5am on weeknights only, weather permitting.

 

Closures and diversions

To carry out the work safely, we will need to close sections of the M11, and divert traffic as detailed below:

 

Closures	Date	Time	Diversion
M11 northbound between junction 12 and 13	Monday 4 to Tuesday 5 December   Thursday 7 to Friday 8 December	9pm to 5am	M11 northbound traffic will be diverted off the M11 at junction 12 onto the A603, A1198, A14, to re-join the M11 at junction 14 – (See map 1).
M11 southbound junction 10 to 8	Monday 11 to Thursday 14 December	9pm to 5am	Traffic will be diverted via A505, A10 and A120

 

In addition to the above closures, there will be various lane closures in place between junctions 6 and 13 throughout the duration of the work.

 

A map of the diversions can be found below.

 

Other work on the M11 

 

M11 junction 10 slip road resurfacing – Tuesday 28 November to Friday 01 December. While this work takes place, we will close M11 southbound between junctions 12 and 10 on Tuesday 28 November, with traffic diverted onto the A10 and the A505, and the M11 junction 10 southbound exit slip on the remaining days, with all work taking place between 8pm and 6am.

 

M11 junction 8 to 10 safety improvements work – Saturday 2 December and Sunday 3 December. The M11 will be closed between junctions 8 to 10, southbound on Saturday 2 December and northbound on Sunday 3 December.

 

Northbound traffic will be diverted off the M11 at junction 8, at the Birchanger Green Roundabout exit onto the A120 west towards Standon, then travel north on the A10 towards Royston. Take the A505 east towards Duxford to rejoin the M11 at junction 10.

 

On Sunday 3 December, southbound traffic will exit the M11 at junction 10 (Duxford), and travel on the A505 west before joining the A10 southbound at Royston. Take the A120 east towards Bishops Stortford and rejoin the M11 at junction 8 (Birchanger Green Roundabout).

 

Drainage work will also begin for two weeks in January 2024 between junction 7A and 8.

 

M11 junction 6 to 7 resurfacing – Monday 8 January 2024 for three weeks. 

 

The M11 will be closed between junction 6 to 7 from Monday 8 January to           Friday 26 January 2024.

 

Diversion will be via the M25 to J25 (A10), A10 northbound and A414 eastbound to rejoin at junction 7.

 

 

How to find out more

To find out more about these M11 road improvements, please visit our website at https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/east/m11-junction-7-to-junction-10-maintenance-works/

To find out more about road improvements we’re carrying out across the East of England – https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-work/east/.

If you would like more information, please contact us on 0300 123 5000, or by email at .

 

An elderly man living in a South Cambridgeshire village has been safeguarded thanks to the kind efforts of a concerned member of the public.

The man in his 90s was reported missing from Gamlingay last week after taking his dog for a walk approximately 90 minutes previously.

Within 11 minutes of the call reporting the man missing, a passerby noticed something wasn’t quite right and called us to say they had found a man wandering with his dog.

Checks revealed the man had dementia and we put further safeguarding measures in place with his family, including the Herbert Protocol.

Have you heard of it the Herbert Protocol? It’s a scheme we support that can help find people with dementia if they go missing.

The scheme encourages family and friends to keep a document that will help officers in the event a loved one goes missing by collating key pieces of information, such as a physical description, familiar places, health details and an up-to-date photo.

For more information or to download a Herbert Protocol form, visit our dedicated web page