• New figures reveal 77,300 car thefts and 63,500 bike thefts went unsolved last year

• Only 3.9% of car thefts lead to someone being charged, down from 6.8% five years ago

• Conservatives accused of allowing criminals to steal vehicles on "an industrial scale"

Shocking new figures have revealed a "vehicle crime epidemic," with over 140,000 car and bike thefts going unsolved by police last year.

The local Conservative party are clearly embarrassed by the Serco debacle, with bins not being emptied reliably. They even suggest in their election material for the Carsington Water Ward by-election that residents should ask other parties what they would do in order to 'improve the service quickly'. This is equivalent to asking someone to sort out your baking when you have mixed all the ingredients and put things in the oven.

Easter is regarded as the most important holy day by Christians. The Easter season in the UK traditionally includes the 40 days of lent and Holy week culminating in Easter Sunday.

There are many traditions surrounding Easter but perhaps one of the largest today is the giving of Easter eggs. Chocolate eggs, often wrapped in silver or gold foil, are given to children on Easter Sunday. Early Easter gifts were originally birds' eggs, painted in bright colours and patterns. Some still celebrate Easter with egg painting as a children's activity. Eggs are considered to be symbolic of new life created during the spring and may have originated from the original pagan traditions surrounding the holiday. (Easter 2022, 2023 and 2024 - PublicHolidays.co.uk)

We now have a criminal Prime Minister.

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have both been fined for breaking Covid laws. Laws they wrote, and you followed.

While we made countless sacrifices to protect each other, they were partying in Downing Street. They think they're above the law.

Neither of them are fit to hold office. If Boris Johnson won't resign, Conservative MPs must sack the Prime Minister.

Time for a radical re-think as Marks and Spencer announces move from the town's market square

Howard Borrell, the Shadow Liberal Democrat spokesman for the Town Centre and Visitor economy, commented about the recent announcement by Marks and Spencer that they will be re-locating to Ravenside.

He felt "it was both a disappointment and a vote of confidence. So many town centres, with much bigger populations than Chesterfield - such as Birkenhead and Bournemouth - have seen their store close completely. Yet here the company has decided to expand and grow their range of products to meet demand, even though it's moving a short distance, to the edge of the Town Centre. However the closure at a key site on the Market Place means that there is now an urgent need to look for new ways to broaden the town's appeal.

Chesterfield Lib Dems would like to send our warmest wishes to all those observing the holy month of Ramadan here in Chesterfield.

Ramadan is a time of sacrifice, devotion, and renewed strength. It is a time to celebrate the strong sense of community as people gather together in mosques and community spaces to share iftar meals ( the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset) with their neighbours and the wider community.

Responding to reports that Boris Johnson is still refusing to accept that the law has been broken over Downing Street parties despite 20 fines being issued by the police, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip and former police officer Wendy Chamberlain said:

"It is completely absurd that Boris Johnson still won't accept that the lockdown parties in Downing Street broke the law.

Boris Johnson broke the law, lied to you and treated you with contempt.

Millions of people obeyed the lockdown rules, often at huge personal cost. They missed funerals, cancelled weddings and said goodbye to dying loved ones on video calls - some on the very day that Number Ten illegally hosted a garden party.