We recently received information below from Greg Mulholland MP that may be of interest to you.

“I’m writing to you to let you know that ‘Cold Weather Payments’ have been triggered for LS6, LS7, LS16, LS18, LS19 and LS20.

These payments are made to vulnerable and elderly people who receive income support or pension credit. The payments should be made automatically but if this doesn’t happen then please let me know.

The payment is set at £25 per week. It used to be £8.50 per week but was raised to £25 as a temporary measure in the winters of 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. This temporary measure was then made permanent by the coalition government.

There’s some more information about the payments here: https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment/overview

If you’re not eligible then please let people who you think may be eligible know.”

Some of you may be aware an email is going round about a car scam which allegedly was received from Divisional Administrator, Humber & North Yorkshire Police.

We recently took this matter up with the Humber & North Yorkshire Police to see whether this information was correct and were told it was a hoax.  The police had no information about this incident but did say that it may have happened in another country.

However, we do believe that this sort of incident could happen in our country and therefore we should be extra vigilant and be safe.

You may wish to pass on this information to your friends and family who are not on the internet.

This is the text we received below for your information: –

“Please read this message. Important message from Crime Stoppers, please read..While driving on a rural end of the roadway on Thursday morning, I saw an infant car seat on the side of the road with a blanket draped over it. For whatever reason, I did not stop, even though I had all kinds of thoughts running through my head. But when I got to my destination, I called the Police and they were going to check it out. But, this is what the Police advised even before they went out there to check…

“There are several things to be aware of … gangs and thieves are now plotting different ways to get a person (mostly women)to stop their vehicle and get out of the car.

“There is a gang initiation reported by the local Police where gangs are placing a car seat by the road…with a fake baby in it…waiting for a woman, of course, to stop and check on the abandoned baby. “Note that the location of this car seat is usually beside a wooded or grassy (field) area and the person — woman — will be dragged into the woods, beaten and raped, and usually left for dead. If it’s a man, they’re usually beaten and robbed and maybe left for dead, too.

DO NOT STOP FOR ANY REASON!!! DIAL 9-9-9 AND REPORT WHAT YOU SAW, BUT DON’T EVEN SLOW DOWN.

“IF YOU ARE DRIVING AT NIGHT AND EGGS ARE THROWN AT YOUR WINDSCREEN, DO NOT STOP TO CHECK THE CAR, DO NOT OPERATE THE WIPER AND DO NOT SPRAY ANY WATER BECAUSE EGGS MIXED WITH WATER BECOME MILKY AND BLOCK YOUR VISION UP TO 92.5%, AND YOU ARE THEN FORCED TO STOP BESIDE THE ROAD AND BECOME A VICTIM OF THESE CRIMINALS.

THIS IS A NEW TECHNIQUE USED BY GANGS, SO PLEASE INFORM YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES. THESE ARE DESPERATE TIMES AND THESE ARE UNSAVOURY INDIVIDUALS WHO WILL TAKE DESPERATE MEASURES TO GET WHAT THEY WANT.”

Please talk to your loved ones about this. This is a new tactic used. Please be safe.

Get started NOW — SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES TO BE CAREFUL AND AWARE OF EVERYTHING AROUND THEM SO AS NOT TO BECOME A VICTIM.