Shop workers punched, kicked and hit with trolley in Asda Arnold theft confrontation as police release CCTV image

Hi readers - welcome to the first newsletter of the week. Hope you enjoyed your long Bank Holiday weekend.

Today we have a few news updates from across the borough, a feature on the housing market in NG4 and our resident train expert Tony Cave gives an update on news from our railways.

And finally, we've shared one of the recent retro features from our nostalgia newsletter Back in the Day about a Netherfield pub brawl that hit the headlines back in the 1920s.

Enjoy your day,

David Bratton
(Editor)

Asda assault appeal

Police have released a CCTV image of two teenage girls they want to trace after shop workers were allegedly assaulted during a theft incident at an Arnold store.

Officers were called to Asda in Front Street after reports that two suspects attacked members of staff who challenged them over suspected stolen goods.

The pair had been stopped as they tried to leave the supermarket carrying a backpack containing items workers believed had not been paid for.

After searching the bag, staff reportedly found a haul including a Pot Noodle, laundry products, alcohol and a can of hair dye.

But when employees confronted the teenagers at the store exit, the situation is alleged to have turned violent.

One member of staff was reportedly punched and kicked in the arm, leg and chest, while a second worker was struck in the stomach with a metal trolley.

The suspects then fled the scene.

The incident happened at around 5pm on August 15 and officers have been carrying out enquiries ever since.

Police have now released an image of two people they believe could help with their investigation.

Sergeant Karl Wilson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Our belief is that these two teenage girls will have information that could really assist our ongoing investigation.

“As such, we’d ask that they make themselves known, or that anyone who recognises them shares this information with the police, so that we can ask them a few questions.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101 quoting incident 479 of 15 August 2026. Information can also be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Police swoop sees e-scooters and e-bikes seized in Arnold crackdown

Police have seized five electric vehicles in a fresh crackdown on nuisance riders in Arnold.

Neighbourhood officers confiscated three e-scooters and two e-bikes as part of ongoing efforts to tackle complaints about people riding the vehicles on roads, pavements and playing fields.

The issue has become a major focus for Gedling’s neighbourhood policing team, with officers carrying out regular days of action and targeted patrols across the town.

Teams say they are frequently contacted by residents concerned about riders speeding through public spaces, putting pedestrians at risk and causing alarm.

To help tackle wider antisocial behaviour linked to the issue, dispersal orders have also been introduced when needed.

Sergeant Alison Riley, from the Gedling Central neighbourhood policing team, said: “Tackling all forms of antisocial behaviour is a priority for the team and it is clear the illegal use of electric bikes, scooters and off-road bikes is a concern for people living and working in Arnold.

“In addition to being antisocial and causing a nuisance, these scooters and bikes speeding around like they do put both passing members of the public and the riders themselves at risk of injury.

“We need parents to understand that riding e-scooters on public roads is illegal, it’s as simple as that. We will seize them whenever we see them being ridden in any public place.

“I hope people in Arnold welcome our efforts and the feedback received on patrol has been positive.”

Under UK law, e-scooters are classed as motor vehicles and cannot be ridden in public places. Officers have the power to seize them under the Road Traffic Act.

Police are also targeting illegal e-bikes. To comply with regulations, electric bikes must have a motor no more powerful than 250 watts and must not provide assistance above 15.5mph.

Any bike falling outside those rules is treated as a motor vehicle, meaning it requires insurance, taxation and a valid driving licence.

Officers are now using a compact dynamometer, a device which measures speed, to identify e-bikes that exceed legal limits and take action against riders flouting the law.

Your borough housing market update from Jennifer Swinstead of Woodstead Sales & Lettings

THE BIG LOCAL QUESTION: Are NG4 buyers gaining the upper hand — or are good homes still holding their value?

The NG4 market in one minute

The headline is not simply “prices up” or “prices down”. NG4's latest 12-month figure is -4.1%, while the five-year picture remains positive at around 12% median sold-price growth. Official Gedling data, meanwhile, shows the borough average at £250,000 in June 2026, up 5.9% year-on-year.

Why NG4 is a great place to buy

NG4 offers more than simply a choice of homes — it offers a lifestyle. The area benefits from retail parks, local shopping, pubs, restaurants and everyday amenities, while Nottingham city centre remains accessible.

Gedling Country Park and the green spaces around Colwick add another major attraction for families and outdoor-minded buyers. From a property perspective, NG4 combines established communities, a broad range of property types and relative affordability within parts of Greater Nottingham. No property market can guarantee year-on-year growth, but the combination of amenities, connectivity, green space and established demand makes NG4 an area worth considering for buyers thinking about the longer term.

What does a home cost in NG4?

Carlton vs Netherfield & Colwick vs Gedling

A better local comparison uses the same measure throughout: median sold price by property type, using the same Area360 historical recorded-sale series for 2025 and 2026. This is separate from the NG4 headline average above and should not be read as the same metric.

How to read this: the local series shows that movement is not uniform. Carlton's recorded semi-detached median is lower in 2026 than in 2025, while Gedling's is higher. That is precisely why a single “NG4 average” cannot describe every street or property.

Local takeaway : The same property type is not moving uniformly across the area: Carlton and Netherfield & Colwick show softer semi-detached medians in the 2026 recorded series, while the Gedling series is higher. Terraced values are steadier in Carlton and softer in Netherfield & Colwick, with Gedling showing an increase. This is why street-by-street evidence matters.

Five-year perspective

The longer-term NG4 story is stronger than the latest 12 months alone suggest: the supplied report's five-year comparison shows about 12% median sold-price growth in NG4 against about 10% across the wider NG greater Nottingham postcode area.

What does this mean for autumn 2026?

The positive case for NG4

There is a compelling reason to buy in NG4. Buyers get access to established neighbourhoods, a broad range of homes, shopping and leisure facilities, pubs and restaurants, and substantial green space. Compared with some of the higher-priced parts of Greater Nottingham, the area can offer an attractive balance between what buyers pay and what they get. The evidence also shows that NG4 has delivered positive five-year median price growth. That does not promise future annual gains, but it does provide a sensible long-term reason to look beyond short-term market noise.

Jennifer Swinstead, Director at Woodstead said: "As local agents, we're seeing continued demand from buyers who recognise the strength and value of the area.

While individual postcodes can naturally experience fluctuations, the overall picture for Gedling is positive, and we remain confident about the local housing market and its appeal to both buyers and sellers. What we see on the ground is a more considered buyer. People are still very much looking to move.

Train expert Tony Cave's latest update from our local railways...

Railcard Reminder

Tickets from Netherfield and Carlton can be used interchangeably when travelling to and from Nottingham. For example, you may travel from Netherfield to Derby and return to Carlton.

Railcards provide a discount of around one-third on rail fares. See Railcard for further details.

Conversations at Carlton Station

The 09:35 service to Crewe saw 16 passengers board and one alight. The guard remarked that more passengers appeared to be boarding at Carlton than at Newark.

Eighteen adults and one child boarded the 09:35 service, while one passenger alighted. Another guard commented that the train had been relatively quiet until reaching Carlton.

One passenger explained that although they lived in Carlton, they had spent six months travelling into Nottingham to catch trains before realising they could travel directly from Carlton Station to Newark.

The 08:29 service to Crewe, which starts at Newark, has reportedly been cancelled several times recently. It would be helpful if the 07:50 Lincoln to Nottingham service, which passes through Carlton at 08:39, could make an additional stop when this occurs.

Another traveller arrived at Carlton at 10:40 after boarding the 10:03 Skegness train at Nottingham, having mistakenly been told that it called at Grantham. As that train bypasses Grantham, they left the train at Netherfield.

A better option would have been to remain on board until Bingham and then connect with the 10:45 Nottingham service, which calls at Bingham at 11:01.

East Midlands Railway (EMR) News

The new Aurora trains being introduced on London services have experienced a number of issues, including problems with air conditioning.

Being "old school", I remember the days when trainspotters could lean out of carriage windows to identify locomotives approaching on adjacent lines. Air conditioning certainly wasn't something passengers worried about then, although the occasional speck of soot in the eye was not uncommon. I even lost a school cap somewhere between Derby and Tamworth.

Recent summer heatwaves have affected not only passengers but also railway infrastructure and rolling stock. Conditions became so severe that some services on the Nottingham to Worksop and Nottingham to Leicester routes were cancelled after midday.

The Nottingham to Lincoln and Nottingham to Skegness services continued to operate during the worst of the heat, although there were still some cancellations.

At present, London services operated by EMR have been reduced as a result of Aurora train issues, problems affecting the trains they are replacing and occasional industrial action. These issues do not generally affect regional services serving stations such as Carlton and Netherfield, although news coverage does not always make that distinction clear.

2006: Twenty Years as a Station Adopter

Looking back at notes from June 2006:

• A Nottingham City Transport bus strike affected three Saturdays, resulting in increased rail usage from both Netherfield and Carlton.
• The 11:25 service to Leicester was cancelled on 10 June, leaving around ten passengers waiting.
• The following train made a special stop, something that was more common at the time, although many passengers would not risk waiting an additional hour in the hope it would do so.
• The 10:11 service from Netherfield to Nottingham was so busy that two intending passengers travelled instead to Carlton to catch the 10:21 service, only just managing to board.
• Central Trains ran a reduced-fare promotion for over-50s during the summer.
• The editor of the Conway Community Newsletter contacted me to request rail-related contributions.
• A local councillor asked for permission to include a short article about station adoption work in the Forum newsletter.
• There were ongoing issues with young people congregating in station shelters and causing nuisance.
• I discovered online journey planners incorrectly listed the 10:11 departure from Netherfield as originating at Carlton. This was reported and subsequently corrected.

Even Further Back

As mentioned in the previous column, British Rail faced significant financial pressures during the 1980s and 1990s.

During the winter of 1994-95 there were no Sunday services between Nottingham and Lincoln. Weekday services operated only every two hours, calling at all stations. As a result, small stations such as Thurgarton received the same number of trains as Newark Castle.

During the Central Trains era, autumn leaf-fall conditions often resulted in only peak-time trains calling at local stations on the Lincoln route, including Carlton.

A particularly notable example of railway revival was the Settle-Carlisle line. A manager initially appointed to oversee its decline instead helped build passenger numbers. When closure proposals were announced in 1989, widespread objections followed and Transport Secretary Michael Portillo declined to approve closure.

Today the route carries freight services, improved passenger operations and regular special trains, while also providing a valuable diversionary route when the West Coast Main Line is closed.

I have tried to achieve improvements at our own local stations, although unfortunately I never possessed quite the same influence as that manager.

Engineering Work

Monday 7 September to Thursday 10 September: The 22:34 Nottingham to Lincoln service will depart a few minutes earlier than usual.

Tuesday 8 September to Friday 11 September: The 00:08 Carlton to Nottingham service (23:00 departure from Lincoln) will be replaced by a bus.

Saturday 10 October and Sunday 11 October: Liverpool to Norwich services will terminate at Peterborough, with replacement buses beyond. Nottingham to Skegness services will be replaced by buses between Sleaford and Boston. The 09:40 Sunday service will operate later than usual and terminate at Newark.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Railway worker was left seriously injured after being attacked by Netherfield man who blamed him for getting the sack

Here's a recent article plucked from our premium nostalgia newsletter BACK IN THE DAY. Every Wednesday and Saturday subscribers receive an email full of old photos, newspaper articles and features covering past lives across Gedling borough for just £3 a month. You can subscribe HERE

From the pages of the Nottingham Advertiser June 5 1926 edition...

A Netherfield man said he assaulted a chief clark at Colwick Loco because he blamed him for getting the sack from work.

On June 5, Harry Edward Smalley of Netherfield made a court experience following an alleged attack on George William Little, an L.N.E.R. railway official at Colwick.

Smalley, aged 20, of 144, Curzon Street, Netherfield, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to George William Little, living in Wordsworth Road, West Bridgford.

Police-Sergeant Scoffield told the magistrates that at 1.45 p.m. the previous day he was called to the L.N.E.R. traffic office at Colwick, and there saw the prisoner, who had been detained. He cautioned the prisoner, and told him he was suspected of having attacked Little. Smalley denied knowing anything about the matter, and he was taken to the Carlton Police Station and detained for further inquiries to be made. About two hours later prisoner remarked to witness: "I wish to make a statement, and tell the truth." He asked witness to write his statement down, and said:

"While standing in Victoria Road, Netherfield, on Friday, May 28, about 10 o'clock, I saw Mr. Little, whom I knew well as the chief clerk in the L.N.E.R. offices. He was with another man carrying a bag. As soon as I saw Mr. Little it reminded me that he was the cause of getting me the sack from the railway where I was formerly employed as a caller-up. I understood he had told someone I had had a lot of illness, and it would not be wise for the doctor to pass me, and I was rejected.

"I have nursed this grievance ever since, about a year ago. I almost went for him on Victoria Road, but thought I would wait till about one o'clock, when I knew he would be on his own at his office at Colwick.

"I went home, and it was preying on my mind, and I could eat only half my dinner.

"I got up from the table and went to the coalhouse, and took my dad's set-stick (a short wooden tool used for gardening, and resembling the handle of a spade). I put it in my inside coat pocket, and then went to the office where Little was at work. I waited for some time, and watched workmen come and go. I then went into the lobby and took away the weight which propped the door open. I listened, and heard someone cough, and knew it was Little. I put a handkerchief round the bottom part of my face, and knocked at the door. This was not answered, and I knocked again, when Mr. Little came out. I struck him on the head three times with the set-stick, and Little fell on the ground. I then threw the stick at him and ran off."

The prisoner signed this statement after being cautioned by P.S. Scoffield. He was then conveyed to the Nottingham Shire Hall.

Superintendent Rodgers said it was a dastardly attack, and Mr. Little was in a serious condition at the Nottingham General Hospital, and not yet in a fit state to be interviewed. He asked for a remand, and objected to bail being granted.

The prisoner had nothing to say, and he was remanded in custody.

🌤️ Weather update

Your borough weather forecast for the next few days...

TODAY: 🌤️ Generally, a fine and dry start to the day with the odd mist patch clearing rapidly. Cloud filling in through the day with a very isolated shower bubbling up but feeling pleasant in any sunny spells. A fine and dry evening with sunny spells. Remaining mostly dry overnight but clouding over. Muggy overnight.

TOMORROW: 🌦️ Cloudy to start with light rain developing during the morning. This will clear leaving isolated showers but becoming fine into the evening. Temperatures around average.

THURSDAY: 🌤️ Mostly dry and partly cloudy for the next few days, although the odd light shower is possible. Feeling warm in the sun and muggy by night.

💊 Late Night Pharmacies

ASDA Pharmacy Arnold
111-127 Front Street, Arnold, NG5 7ED
Open until 9pm Monday to Saturday

Medina Chemist (closest late-opening option)
89 Victoria Road, Netherfield, NG4 2NN
Open until 9pm Monday to Saturday