FAMILIES are being urged to check their cupboards for a brand of chocolate bar, sold by Aldi in Derby, which has been found to contain salmonella.

Aldi has cleared the shelves and is calling on Derby customers to return the confectionery after the strain of food poisoning was found in 200g (7oz) packs of Choceur Tresures with a best-before date of September 1, 2015.

Families should take the products back to their nearest Aldi for a full refund.

The Food Standards Agency issued the warning, which also applies to Aldi stores in Birmingham, Worcester, Leicester, Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Grantham, after salmonella was found in one of the batches of the whole hazelnuts encased in waffle and milk chocolate.

Typical symptoms of salmonella infection are nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

These symptoms generally develop within one to three days of exposure to the bacterium and may last for up to a week.

While anyone can become ill from exposure to salmonella, the risk of infection is particularly high for children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.

While salmonella contamination is usually associated with eggs and poultry, outbreaks have been linked to other foods in the past.

Last year an outbreak affected 156 people across England.

An Aldi spokesman said: "If any of our shoppers have bought this product, we ask them to check the best-before date and do not eat it if the packaging states that the best before date is 1st September 2015.

"Instead, return the product to the nearest store and you will receive a full refund or exchange.

"Please be assured that the safety of our shoppers is our number-one priority and this was an isolated incident."

THREE little words – they're what I long to hear these days.

Just three little words – they mean so much, cost nothing to say and yet I don't hear them half as much as I used to.

Can you guess which ones I'm talking about?

And before you start thinking I've completely lost the plot, and I'm yearning for love and romance at my age, please let me hastily put you right.

The words I refer to are simply please and thank you!

It can't just be me who has noticed how impolite and inconsiderate folk are these days.

And I'm not going to say it's just the younger generation either. This wave of rudeness seems to affect all ages, all races and all genders.

Yesterday, I was driving down to Birmingham Airport to pick up my daughter. The traffic was particularly bad and quite snarled-up in places.

I noticed a car at a junction waiting to pull out into the line of slow-moving vehicles, but do you think anyone would let him in?

Not a chance. In fact, the drivers all seemed to huddle together to stop him pulling out.

Well, I thought, I'll do the decent thing when I get there and wave him through.

So I did. And you know what? He didn't even thank me!

It really irritated me. I wasn't expecting a big bouquet of flowers or eternal gratitude, for goodness sake, but a simple raise of the hand or nod of his head in acknowledgement would have been appreciated.

I've also noticed people are getting ruder on social media and in e-mails.

I belong to one of the Sell It, Swap It pages on Facebook, and it's amazing how rude some people can be, especially when they are hoping to buy something.

There are absolutely no niceties involved at times.

In fact, if I was selling a lot of the items, I would refuse to let people have them unless they showed some basic manners.

How many times do you see a message that simply says "Can I have it?" or "I want that"? No please, no thank you. Incredible.

And then, even worse, people arrange to buy things and never bother turning up. There are no end of comments about that. How hard can it be to send a quick message saying you've changed your mind?

Now I do understand some of the reason for curt e-mails. After all, we are inundated with them.

I know I can easily get 200 in a day (most of them are advertising) but even so, if someone has taken the time to write to me, I do try to reply to them.

There's nothing worse than sending something out that you think is fairly important and then not hearing back from the recipient.

I end up calling them and checking if they got the mail and that makes me feel so needy.

A few years ago, I was on a time management course, and we were told never to reply to e-mails unless specifically asked to.

And most definitely never fire back a "thank you" – the course leader claimed this was a huge time waster.

Well, I reckon it probably takes less than five seconds to send a quick "cheers" – and even if all 200 of my e-mails needed replying to that's still only 1,000 seconds.

Just over 15 minutes a day – I think I can still fit that into my day and be productive.

Still, my enthusiasm for good manners did rather backfire on me today.

I nipped out to buy lunch and picked up a few other items while I was in the supermarket.

There was a little old lady behind me in the checkout queue and she only had a couple of things in her basket, so I suggested she might like to go before me.

And then, with a sly smile, she pulled out a huge wad of National Lottery tickets for the cashier to check, one by one.

TRIBUTES have been paid to a former Deputy Mayor of Derby after he was found dead at his home.

Martin du Sautoy died, aged 73, after a long and successful career in politics in the city.

The former Conservative group leader, who later joined UKIP, was found at his home in Ravensdale Road, Allestree, by David Rice, his friend of 50 years.

Mr Rice, 74, lives in Oakover Drive, also in Allestree.

The two used to go for Sunday dinner together every week.

But Mr du Sautoy cancelled their meeting on Sunday, December 21, complaining of back pains.

Mr Rice offered to take him to accident and emergency but he declined, saying he would be OK.

Two days later, Mr Rice tried repeatedly phoning to see how he was but there was no answer.

He said: "I went round there after I'd been to buy a paper and I called an ambulance.

"When they got there they found the front door unlocked and we saw him lying in the lounge. He was a very popular chap in the Allestree area, a lovely man."

The cause of death has not yet been revealed.

Mr du Sautoy was elected as a councillor for Spondon ward in May 1982 and served there until 1990, at which point he moved to Allestree and served until 2002.

He was also Deputy Mayor from 1993 to 1994, a former leader of the Conservatives and chairman of the planning committee.

Mr Rice phoned Philip Hickson, the current leader of the Conservatives for Derby City Council, to notify him of Mr du Sautoy's death on December 23.

Mr Hickson was his successor as Allestree councillor and said: "I was extremely saddened to learn of Martin's death.

"I found him to be a very warm, friendly and engaging man with a good sense of humour and a sharp intellect, who was well able to hold his own in the council chamber."

Mr du Sautoy also taught for many years at Saint Benedict Catholic Voluntary Academy.

Assistant head teacher Jayne Cartwright said: "He organised for pupils to enter the debating competitions where his extensive knowledge of issues, language skills and understanding led to some memorable success in this field.

"He has continued to support the school productions in the years since his retirement and he will be sadly missed."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage was touched by a gesture from Mr du Sautoy when he received a gift.

It is UKIP Derby leader Steve Fowke's stand-out memory of the late politician.

Mr Fowke said: "When Nigel came to Derby last year, Martin invited him to a cricket match.

"Nigel politely declined as he was very busy but Martin bought him a nice tie from the cricket club.

"Unfortunately, he was ill when Nigel came up, so he gave it to me to present to him. He was very touched and thanked Martin personally for it.

"That showed the character and kindness of Martin – he was a lovely man."

Mr du Sautoy was a UKIP representative at the end of his career, standing for election in Allestree and Darley ward in 2012 and last year.

A MYSTERIOUS piece of Roman-style mosaic in a Derby car park is likely to have been the ornate floor of a Victorian bakery – according to an historian.

The colourful floor decoration was spotted by Terry James, a member of the Derby Telegraph's TogsQuad photographic group.

It is partially covered with tarmac in the city centre car park for Full Force Gym and import company SS Johal, in Monk Street.

People living and working in the area said they had not given the unusual site much thought.

But historian Maxwell Craven said that the most probable explanation was that it had once been the flooring for a Co-op Bakery, which was built there in the 1860s.

He said: "Bakeries put a great emphasis on cleanliness and mosaic floors would have been easy to clean.

"They were par for the course for places like bakeries, butchers, banks, at the time.

"I expect people have been noticing the mosaic for generations but never thought to ask questions about its origins."

The owner of SS Johal, Regbir Johal, said that he believed the floor could have belonged to a Victorian house which had previously stood on the site.

But Mr Craven said the houses in the area were not the right kind for such an ornate flooring.

He said: "There was no-one living in that part of Derby that was anything more than a craftsman or a small trader.

"Most of the houses were simple mid-Victorian terraces."

Mr Craven said it was not clear when the bakery would have been demolished.

Mr Johal said he believed the buildings on the site would have been knocked down more than 100 years ago as part of work to build a nearby factory.

Another man who works in the area, who would not be named, said the mosaic had been open to the elements for at least the 15 years he had been with his employer.

He said: "As far as I can remember it's always been like that. I haven't given it any thought."

If you would like to take part in our TogsQuad photo challenges, then join us on Facebook by searching for "TogsQuad". Watch out for the next themed challenge, then post your pictures on the page for a chance to be included next time.

A 43-YEAR-OLD serial shoplifter has admitted to stealing meat twice from a city supermarket.

Arthur McClean pleaded guilty to two counts of theft when he appeared before magistrates in Derby.

His hearing was told that he walked into Sainsburys on December 30 and stole £20 of goods and took another £6 of food when he walked into the same store on New Year's Day.

Lynn Manning, prosecuting, said: "CCTV shows he concealed items inside his jacket and tried to walk out without paying but was detained by security guards at the store who kept him there until the police arrived.

"He was arrested and in interview made full admissions."

Miss Manning told Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court that McClean, of Princess Street, Pear Tree, had 157 previous convictions for 339 offences and had only recently been released from prison after serving half of a 21-week sentence for a similar offence of which he was convicted in October.

Mark Salt, for McClean, said his client pleaded guilty to the offence at the earliest opportunity and had moved to Derby from Merseyside to "get away from the drugs scene".

Magistrates adjourned sentencing while the probation service prepared a report on McClean.

A LANDSCAPER has criticised Derby City Council's gritting routines after his van was written off when it slid on ice and smashed into a kerb.

Phil Marples, 53, said his work van left Maple Drive, Chellaston, a few hundred metres away from his home.

He said that this was the first of several accidents between 9.45am and 10.30am on Sunday on ice that had formed by the junction with Woodminton Drive.

A red Micra went off the road and hit the kerb, damaging its steering and suspension.

A Ford Focus crashed into a garden wall, leaving its front end badly damaged.

And Mr Marples said that an Arriva bus then skidded on the ice but the firm said that it had no reports of this incident.

The council said the area had been gritted at 6.10pm on Saturday.

A spokeswoman said: "It's difficult to say why the ice had formed as the grit generally prevents ice from forming in the first place.

"However, there was a small problem with the forecast on Saturday evening/Sunday morning in that the road surface temperature was colder than what was forecast.

"We gritted based on the forecast information we had at the time.

"However, we will ask the drivers to pay particular attention to this bend in future."

Mr Marples said the road did not look as if it had been gritted at all.

He said: "The council sent a mini-gritter out at 11.30am on Sunday but, by then, it was too late.

"It should have been gritted before because it's a main bus route."

He said the crash had left his van with broken steering and was pronounced a write-off by his insurers.

Mr Marples said: "I was coming back from Nottingham and had come around the corner. I wasn't even doing 30mph because of the conditions.

"Luckily, I only live 500 yards up the road and we managed to the drag the van back with the steering pointing the wrong way."

He said the car that went into the wall was still sitting damaged by the side of the road and that the wall would also need fixing.

A police spokeswoman said that nobody was injured in any of the incidents.

She said that the force received calls about the incidents on Sunday morning and contacted the council to let it know about the problem.

The council says it grits 38% of its road network, including A roads, B roads, and "important access roads".

When asked if all 38% of roads got attention every time gritters went out, the council spokeswoman said: "Generally, when the temperature drops below freezing across the whole city, 38% of the road network is gritted.

"If we have a marginal night – temperatures between 1C and 0C – then cold-spot routes are treated.

"These are roads that have been identified as the coldest in the city and the first to freeze and amount to about 12% of the network."

A GROUP of private investigators has joined the search for a man who went missing from the Royal Derby Hospital in September.

Ricky Hill, of Somercotes, went missing from the hospital in Uttoxeter New Road on Tuesday, September 23, at 8.30am.

His family said he had been admitted after being diagnosed as suffering from depression.

New Chapter Investigations want to work to try and find the 30-year-old.

It describes itself as a "private investigation and research business, based in UK but operating nationally and internationally".

A spokesman for the business said: "We have really been deeply touched by the plight of this family and it seems even harder to see this family going through hell."

The spokesman said it was planning to meet Ricky's family in person within the next few weeks.

He said: "We will not rest until this young man is found and the family have the answers they so badly need, on that you have our word.

"Please think deeply, do you know this young man? Do you have even a tiny scrap of evidence that could lead us to Ricky? If you do please, please get in touch as soon as possible. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

"Every single lead will be taken seriously, however small the piece of information may seem."

Ricky's wife, Dawn Hill, said she hoped the investigators would be able to help them find him.

She said: "Anything is good news to try to find Ricky. We're at a loss and are getting nowhere.

"This has distressed the family because Ricky was loved by everybody.

"When you're living in this nightmare, it's horrible. We've always been united for each other and been together.

"Without Ricky it feels like a piece of a jigsaw is missing in our family. The investigators want to build a picture and try to piece together what happened.

"We will never give up the search for Ricky. One of his friends, Trev, has been constantly looking and never gives up."

Ricky is white, of medium build, with short blonde hair and tattoos on his left arm. He was last seen wearing grey jeans, a grey v-necked fitted jumper, a black TN cap and black-and-white Nike trainers. A spokesman for the police said the investigation was open and anybody with information should call 101.

I was most interested to read the comments by the Bishop of Derby, Dr Alistair Redfern "People are fed up with politics and big parties... but don't be drawn to UKIP" (December 27).

He has, probably unknowingly, made an excellent case for voters to consider UKIP as a repository for their votes come May 7, 2015.

I am uncertain what qualifies the Bishop to suggest that people should not be attracted to vote for UKIP.

It is, he says, "a party without policies" and to vote for it would be "irresponsible".

And then he goes on, "my problem is I do not know what UKIP stand for". Well Sir, why don't you make an effort to find out? I would suggest that he attends a local UKIP Branch meeting (there are several around Derby), where he will learn that most members and supporters are fed up with the broken promises and blatant lies of the so-called established political parties. He will find that supporters are made up of many people who have previously not bothered to vote.

Unless the Bishop has been out of this country for the last 12 months, he should realise that the days of a UKIP vote being a "protest" vote are long gone and to continue to use the phrase is an insult to the many millions of folks who cannot wait for May 7 when maybe we shall register a sea-change in British politics.

Alan Rose

Breaston

GYMS across Derbyshire say they are gearing up for an influx of new members this month as people attempt to follow through with their New Year's resolutions.

Weight-loss groups are also expecting an uptake in interest during January, with one firm saying people often join at this time of year after "over-indulging" during the festive season.

Among gyms

He said: "Throughout the whole of January, we always see the number of new joiners go through the roof.

"For example, last January, we had 220 new people join up. On a normal month, such as June, was can expect about 100 new joiners. So the number of new members can double this month.

"Some of those won't return after about March but most do stick with it. We reckon about 70% who join now are still with us 12 months later, coming three times a week.

"I think that's because they quickly realise it's not all people in lycra who look amazing. It's like-minded people who are here to get a bit fitter and lose weight and everyone supports each other."

Choices Health Club will open a new gym in Allestree next month and, from Monday, will be at Park Farm Shopping Centre to provide information about it.

Clive Fearon, who runs the One Nation Gym in Normanton, said he also expected to see a 20% increase in membership numbers this month.

He said: "We do notice the rise in interest in January and many people do stick with it once they join.

"There are two sides to our gym – weight-training and boxing – and we tend to find people who join the boxing side are more likely to stick with it, because they receive instruction as opposed to doing it on their own."

Bosses at Slimming World, based in Alfreton, said they were also expecting a rise in the number of people joining this month.

A spokeswoman for the firm said: "This is a key time of year for us as we do find that people make resolutions to do something about their weight after Christmas.

"It's as much about the idea of making a new start in the New Year as it is about overindulging over the festive season.

"It is estimated around seven million of us make a New Year's resolution to improve our health after over-indulging at Christmas and losing weight is top of the list – above giving up smoking, getting fit and drinking less alcohol.

"So we do see an uplift in numbers at this time of year."

A MAN who battled cancer seven times has died – just 18 months after losing his teenage son to the disease.

Mark Cooper, 53, of Castle Donington, fought brain, nose, lung, liver and throat cancer over a 25-year period.

He died at home on New Year's Day.

Mark's son Joseph was 14 when he died in June 2013. He was first diagnosed with cancer at the age of eight and was in remission for the second time when he died.

Joseph and Mark both attended the Derby Telegraph Community Champions ceremony in 2013 where Joseph was awarded Achievement Against the Odds for his brave cancer battle .

WHEN 17-YEAR-OLD Cynthia Fenton fell for her future husband just after the Second World War, her mum was not happy.

Cynthia was encouraged to date the local butcher, who could provide the family with cheap meat during a time of rationing. But Cynthia wasn't having any of it and today she celebrates 70 years of marriage to Cyril Smith.

Cynthia said: "My mum did not like him. She wanted me to go out with the local butcher but I didn't fancy the butcher.

"I've never fancied anybody else but Cyril. The butcher worked at a farm and had dirty hands so I never wanted that.

"As soon as I saw Cyril, I said I'm having him. I knew our fate was sealed. It was love at first sight, there is no other word for it. People who say love at first sight doesn't exist are wrong."

The pair, both now 87, met in Burton during the Second World War, at a time when money was tight. They tied the knot but could not afford a reception, instead they visited their local cinema.

Both worked in the Stocal Enamels factory, Cynthia as a welder and Cyril as a centre lathe turner. Soon after they were married, the couple faced their first challenge when Cyril joined the RAF and was sent to Northern Ireland for two years.

After he returned, the pair lived with his parents before moving to a house in Dale Street, Burton.

Cyril worked for Rolls-Royce, initially as a centre lathe turner, eventually being promoted to foreman, while Cynthia worked in shoe shops including Benefit and Saxone, where she was supervisor.

They moved to their home in Shelton Lock in 1967.

Cynthia said that, despite her mother's first opinion of Cyril, she grew to like him.

The couple have five children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

The couple, who do not drink or smoke, have come up with some advice for partners today.

Cyril said: "I would say the best thing to do is look after each other and enjoy spending time in each other's company. You need to get on as best you can."

The couple have enjoyed many holidays, including visiting America and Canada. But the pair said some of their best memories are of trips to the Isle of Wight.

They celebrated the milestone with a meal at Dovecliff Hall Hotel in Stretton on Sunday.

Cynthia said: "There were 19 of us at the lunch and it was lovely."

OUR recent appeal for memories of prisoners-of-war working in and around Derby during and after the Second World War brought in two interesting responses.

We published a picture from our archive, right, showing German PoWs at work in a field off Ford Lane, Allestree.

The photo had been taken on June 27, 1945, more than a month after the end of the war in Europe.

According to brief details on the back, the prisoners included a U-boatman, paratrooper and two marines.

One of the PoWs was instantly recognised by reader Peter Shrigley as being one of his friends.

Mr Shrigley, who lives at Egginton, said: "The one on the right of the photo, stripped to the waist, was my very good friend Eddie Gackowski.

"He was given the option to stay in England or go back to Germany.

"When I asked him why he had stayed he gave me what was the obvious answer, 'Go back to what?'

"There was nothing left to go back to for him. Eddie was conscripted into the German army when he was 17. He fought in Italy and France and was wounded twice. He was awarded the Iron Cross for fighting on the front line.

"He was in a medical camp when he was taken prisoner by the Americans.

"He told me that, if you were taken prisoner by the Americans, you were sent to England. If you were taken prisoner by the Brits, you were sent to America.

"We met on a day when we were both going to fish in a fishing match. We got talking and discovered that we both had a passion for fishing which we shared for the next 40 years.

"Eddie died at the beginning of October this year at the age of 89. He was a very nice man. He was married three times and had two children; a son, Ted junior, and a daughter, Bernadette Gackowski, who now lives in Germany.

"Ted died about three years ago and it broke Eddie's heart."

And Barbara Trethewey, nee Byatt, of Normanton, also contacted Bygones to recall how she worked alongside some German PoWs in Derby in the 1940s.

Mrs Trethewey, 89, said: "At the start of the war, I was living in Matlock and started work at Smedley's Hydro when I was 14. I then went to work at Matlock Manufacturing Co where I made gloves for soldiers.

"My family then moved to Derby and I worked at FW Hampshire and Co on Sinfin Lane, Derby. The firm had about two or three German PoWs working there.

"I worked on the Zubes. I remember telling one of them that I was getting married and he said I looked too young to get wed. I got married at St Giles Church, in Village Street, in 1947 and I when I came out of the church I saw him watching from the opposite side of the street. He was a very nice chap."

HAVE you had this cold? The one that starts with a raging sore throat, then develops into a nose-bunging, eye watering, rib-aching cough sort of cold, then lies dormant for a few days until you think it's all over – apologies to the memory of Kenneth Wolstenholme – and then comes firing back to again lay you low? The one that goes on for weeks? That cold?

It seems that most of the country have gone down with it. We've all had it in our house and, at the time of writing, still have it.

Currently, it is Mrs R's turn to be suffering most, which is really bad news for the rest of us because, when she is ill, she takes it personally, but that's another story.

Anyway, it got us reminiscing about childhood colds, and some of the grim remedies inflicted upon children of the post-war years.

My mother swore by Beecham's Powders, a bitter tasting concoction that was mixed with water.

Incidentally, the chemist who founded the company was the grandfather of the conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham.

I bet that not a lot of people know that – I didn't until I did a Google search.

All our patent medicines – Carter's Little Liver Pills, Bile Beans, DeWitt's Backache Pills and suchlike – were kept in a sideboard drawer, except for the Coleman's Mustard Powder that lived, of course, in the kitchen.

My mother insisted that sticking your feet into a bowl containing hot water and mustard powder was a sure-fire way to halt a cold in its tracks.

I was never convinced of its healing properties.

But it did put me off mustard for life.

I loved those advertisements for medicine that promised to cure everything from lumbago to catarrh, baldness to deafness, and something called "brain fag".

Now, while I sit here and suffer – and because I doubt that you want an entire column dedicated either to my cold or to quack medicine – let me tell you about an e-mail that has just pinged into my inbox from Stan Guy.

He's an old pal from Becket Junior Boys, who went on to work for MI6 (he had simply applied for a job in the civil service and, for several days, didn't realise who was employing him) before becoming a teacher of English in Spain, then a banker and then an author of best-selling crime fiction set in Japan.

We lost touch for 50 years until I tracked him down to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan – from time to time the internet has its uses.

Stan is a wonderful correspondent.

He has now embarked upon his bucket list, and his latest bulletin comes from Kanchanaburi, in Thailand.

"I'm writing from the restaurant of a line of hotel 'cottages', the whole lot floating on the River Kwai a few miles upstream from 'The Bridge'.

"I crossed the current version a few hours ago and was completely overwhelmed with emotion, unusual for a Derby lad.

"I had taken a small boat up from a temple housing the first commemorative museum.

"It's full of potent reminders of the events.

"There is even a bell made from the remains of one of the bombs dropped on the bridge."

Anyway, not to be outdone, I've told him about my cold.

TODAY'S bygone pictures have been sent in by John Croft.

They show the Church of St James The Lesser and its vicarage at the turn of the last century before Ascot Drive, as we know it today, was constructed.

The watercolour had been painted on to a sheet of music. John said: "The painting is very fragile and it had to be photographed through glass. On the rear is a description of the painting and the address, St James the Lesser, Wilmorton, Derby, adjacent The Old Vicarage.

"A search on the internet produced the pencil drawing of the same church. The photograph shows the old vicarage with its residents in about 1910.

"Details on the back of the photo appear to have been added in the 1970s. The address is given as the Old Vicarage, Osmaston Park, Derby (now Ascot Drive).

"The family are named as the Lancasters. Being from the other side of town, Gisbourne Street in the old West End of Derby, I knew very little of this side of town.

"Being an amateur genealogist I have an interest in where Buffalo Bill's Wild West show took place in the early 1900s. I assume it was in this area? Buffalo Bill visited 1 Carrington Street on his trip. I have for years been trying to trace a picture of 1 Carrington Street to no effect."

Can any readers tell us any more about the Lancaster family or the church? Is anyone able to answer John's query about Buffalo Bill? If you can help, please contact Bygones, details below.

When was the last time you baked in a piping hot sauna?

Well, you can indulge in one every day if you buy this property that's on the market in Borrowash.

How much is it?: Offers over £499,950

Where is it? Central Avenue, Borrowash

What the agent says: A substantial five-bedroomed detached property in the centre of Borrowash that has undergone a complete programme of refurbishment to the highest standard by the current owners. The property offers spacious accommodation of approximately 3,000sq ft that, in brief, comprises an impressive entrance hallway with porcelain tiled floor, ground floor cloakroom, well appointed fitted kitchen with limed oak work surfaces and Aga, utility room, two large reception rooms, both with marble fireplaces and both overlooking the garden.

There is also a large conservatory.

Upstairs are five generous bedrooms, three with en suite, luxury family wet room and a sauna which accommodates up to six people.

Outside a paved driveway to the front leads to a garage with electric up and over door while to the rear is a mature lawned garden.

There is no upward chain.

Call: 01332 202040 if you fancy a viewing.

DERBYSHIRE'S Chief Constable has criticised supermarkets and stores which, he says, "remain unwilling to engage" in helping the police reduce shoplifting.

Mick Creedon said he believed that many supermarkets leave items of value on display close to entrances, making them attractive to thieves.

And he said some stores "write off" the loss of stock through shoplifting in their profit and loss figures.

But two leading supermarket giants, in response, say they "work closely with local police" and have "robust security measures" place to tackle shop theft.

Mr Creedon made the remarks at the latest public meeting with Alan Charles, the county's police and crime commissioner.

He said: "Overall crime is mainly down but shoplifting remains an increase area.

"This is the case across the entire country and the money we are talking about is quite low in terms of cost.

"The main supermarkets remain unwilling to engage in helping us reduce this type of crime.

"They leave items close to the entrance and exits that are of value to a shoplifter and write off the losses they incur in their profit and loss figures."

Figures revealed at the meeting of Mr Charles' Strategic Government Board show that overall crime in Derbyshire has reduced by 0.6% – or 197 fewer offences – in recent months, compared to the same period last year.

A report prepared for the meeting show that theft offences are 3% lower "despite significant increases in shoplifting" which account for over 12% of all crime reported in Derbyshire.

The report says: "Nationally shoplifting is increasing across the country.

"Analysis has taken place to identify the main victims of shoplifting offences and work is under way to engage with these outlets to try and reduce offending in these stores."

In October, Mr Charles wrote to major retailers asking to meet them after similar concerns to Mr Creedon's were raised, but only Tesco agreed.

He said he was keen to develop a long-term strategy with retailers to prevent "further drain of valuable police resources".

The Derby Telegraph put Mr Creedon's claims to the five largest supermarket chains.

A spokesman for Tesco said: "We take shoplifting extremely seriously.

"We work very closely with local police forces and each store works hard to ensure robust security measures are in place."

And a spokesman for the Co-Operative group said: "Retail crime is a serious problem which affects all retailers.

"As a community retailer we take any incidents of shoplifting extremely seriously, and we always work closely with the police in a bid to tackle the problem and reduce its impact on our stores."

Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons did not respond.

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