One of the biggest Remembrance Sunday Parades faces being cancelled due to police cuts imposed by the Government.

Leicestershire Police have confirmed they do not have the staffing levels to be able to support the parade within Melton Mowbray happening next month.

If the parade is to go ahead as planned the Royal British Legion will be forced to pay for a private firm to marshal the route on November 12th.

Melton Mowbray is very much an active military town with the prospect of the cancellation causing anger amongst the locals

Jock Bryson aged 82 who organises parade has spoken about his devastation and shock saying ‘It’s so important to Melton that we keep holding the parade, and the atmosphere is so phenomenal with the serving and ex-serving people marching through town.’

The Melton Mowbray community are now holding raffles and bake sales in an attempt to raise money to pay for private security to attend the march.

Sadly cuts to policing have had a huge impact on Leicestershire Police there is now 500 fewer officers within the force that there was 8 years ago, simply there are not enough cops.

Leicestershire Police said that there are around 500 fewer officers in the county than there were eight years ago.

Ch Sup Andy Lee said: ‘As a force we are keen to pay our respects and remember the fallen, and at some of the larger parades there will be a visible police presence to engage with the community and maintain public safety. ‘In order to support these Remembrance Day events we need to carefully manage our resources to ensure business-as-usual continues, and that our level of service across the whole county is maintained. ‘In previous years, officers in attendance at parades have been involved in assisting with road closures and traffic management along parade routes due to the lack of formal traffic management arrangements.

‘However, this had an impact on our day-to-day operations and demands. With budget cuts and reductions in officer numbers, we have to ensure officers are deployed where the operational risk is greatest and that there is a sufficient number of officers on duty to be able to respond to any incident.

‘This is not something that we can sustain alongside making sure we are able to respond to incidents anywhere in the county.’ Jim Rawlinson, chairman of the county’s Royal British Legion, said they could still put on a parade – but it would be trimmed down. ‘It’s a national problem, but it’s just caused us to think differently about things,’ he said ‘The parades will all go on, but people will have to marshal them themselves.’

Armed Police and specially trained negotiators have successfully ended a hostage situation that lasted almost four hours.

Armed Officers and Ambulance Crews responded to the major incident at the MFA Bowling Alley in Nuneaton following a vast amount of calls reporting a man with a sawn-off shotgun.

The man is believed to have taken two hostages who were both staff members within the bowling alley.

Mehdi Afshar Chief Executive of MFA Bowl confirmed that two members of his staff were being held, hostage.

It is Mehdi believe that the suspect gunman is known to one of his staff members and the relationship is either an ex-husband or boyfriend.

No customers or other staff members were hurt in the incident and were allowed to freely leave, while the suspect told many others to get the F**k out of here while screaming at his hostages it is Game Over.

 

MFA Bowl confirms two of his staff are being held hostage by a gunman believed to be an ex-husband or boyfriend at Bermuda Park in Nuneaton.

— Police Hour (@PoliceHour) October 22, 2017

The incident began just after 3pm on Sunday 22nd October when many families and children fled the scene after spotting the gunman.

Those that did not escape the scene immediately were told to leave by the gunman.  Police quickly ruled out the incident as being terror-related.

The full area is on lockdown with all roads in and out of the area have been blocked and no one is allowed to leave the Nearby Odeon Cinema located next door to the bowling alley or a nearby soft play centre.

The Air Ambulance has landed near the bowling alley and has since left the location.

Video footage shows a number of armed police officers in a car park at the scene.

 

Armed Man is believed to have taken a number of hostages at Nuneaton Bowling alley at Bermuda Park pic.twitter.com/oS1eKmUd6w

— Police Hour (@PoliceHour) October 22, 2017

Warwickshire Police confirmed that they were dealing with an “ongoing incident” however while the incident was ongoing they did not confirm the nature of the incident.

Once the incident had concluded police confirmed that the man had been arrested and two hostages had been released uninjured.

Ambulance has left the scene under police escort following reports of loud bang at Bermuda Park, #Nuneaton pic.twitter.com/fIVcMOqxnL

— Police Hour (@PoliceHour) October 22, 2017

Moments before the incident ended flash bangs were seen and heard before armed officers moved in and very quickly the suspect was arrested before being placed in the back of an ambulance which left the scene on blue lights and under a police escort.

A Spokesperson for Warwickshire Police confirmed the suspect had now been arrested and the situation was over.

“Specialist firearms officers and police negotiators, along with fire, ambulance and police air services, attended the location at the bowling alley in St David’s Way, Bermuda Park. A man has been arrested and is in police custody.

“Members of public at the bowling alley and neighbouring properties were evacuated to safety and nobody was injured during the incident.

“Warwickshire Police Chief Superintendent Alex Franklin-Smith said: “We would like to thank local people for their patience and cooperation while officers dealt with this incident. We are pleased that we were able to bring this incident to a peaceful resolution and that there were no injuries. I would like to reassure the Nuneaton community that the incident is unconnected to any terrorist activity.”

 

Three-year-old boy is currently in a critical condition after a canister of Paw Patrol bath foam exploded while he was having a bath

The product has not been recalled, however, we would urge all parents to think twice when thinking about using this product.

The little tot is currently being cared for at Belfast’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children last night.

The little boy has burns to the outside and inside of his body, it is believed he was in the bath with his Paw Patrol Foam soap and it suddenly exploded.

The boy who has not been named was rushed to hospital on blue lights in a critical condition.

A spokesman for the Belfast Trust said the little boy is “in the children’s intensive care unit and his condition is critical”.

Nickelodeon confirmed that they had heard about the incident and that they were investigating the matter.

Confirming “We are terribly sorry to hear about this dreadful incident and we are gathering more information about the licensed product involved.”

Paw Patrol is an animated TV programme that is broadcast on Nickelodeon and is popular with kids and features six rescue dogs.

But they did not say whether or not the product would be withdrawn from sale.

You can buy the bath foam at a range of high street shops.