Deserving case

Schoolgirl Bethany Powell was knocked down by a car a matter of yards from the hospital entrance.

Her mother, Mrs Emma Powell, had gone to meet Bethany from the Magnus School but arrived on Bowbridge Road to find her lying on the ground after the accident.

An emergency paramedic was quickly on the scene. Although an ambulance arrived soon after, Mrs Powell, understandably in the circumstances, said the wait seemed like a lifetime.

The hospital was tantalisingly close but its lack of a fully-fledged accident and emergency unit, and protocols in place governing the type of patient who can be seen there, meant Bethany could not be treated in her home town.

Instead, she was taken 20 miles to Lincoln.

Mrs Powell speaks from the heart when she says: “Newark deserves a hospital with an A & E department that will take all patients.

“If they won’t give us that then the very least we deserve is an ambulance service capable of meeting demand.”

o-o-o-O-o-o-o

Volunteers in Claypole collected an astonishing 50 sacks of rubbish in a village clean-up on Sunday.

Their efforts deserve the highest praise, but also serve to highlight the scale of the litter problem faced by our communities.

Don’t throw your rubbish down wherever you feel like it — take it home or look for the nearest bin.