A volunteer who has given up his time to pick up litter and mow the grass in churchyards in Horley has been presented with a prestigious award.

Michael Nicholls first visited the St Bart’s Job Club in 2008 and has assisted with the upkeep of the premises ever since.

He took it upon himself to pick up litter on a daily basis, regardless of the weather, having noticed the abundance of waste in both the Old and New Churchyards.

Following the reduction in the Church Maintenance Grant five years ago, Michael added to his duties and joined other volunteers cutting the grass.  He also helps with general maintenance of the church as well as decorating for special occasions.

Michael was presented the Town Award during a ceremony at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Horley Town Council has achieved ‘Quality Status’ as part of the Local Council Awards Scheme.

It recognises good practice in governance, community engagement, information technology and council improvement, and it goes above and beyond their legal obligations, leading its communities and continuously seeking opportunities to improve and develop even further.

Residents of Tandridge are being encouraged to participate in a survey about open space.

This is to assist with the next stage of work on the District Council’s Local Plan.

People are asked their views about parks, play areas, outdoor sport and recreation facilities and other open spaces in the district.

The results of the survey will help the Council identify where spaces need to be protected, where new spaces will be required and those which need to be adapted to suit current and future needs.

The survey can be found at tandridge.gov.uk/openspaces and it is available until 31st March.

An off-duty officer was threatened after he pursued a suspect involved in a theft.

The officer was in ‘GAME’ in West Street, Horsham Thursday afternoon when three men entered the store.  The men left shortly before four o’clock having stolen around £1500 worth of video games.

Nobody was injured in the incident however the officer was threatened with what is believed to be a screwdriver when he gave chase.

A 24 year-old man was arrested by uniformed officers shortly afterwards on suspicion of aggravated burglary and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

Two other men are thought to have gotten into a Ford Fiesta before driving off.

A police officer based in Crawley has been dismissed from Sussex Police after admitting to sharing pornographic images among colleagues.

PC Mark Scruby also likened a female supervisor to the women in the images.

38 year-old Scruby had successfully appealed against an earlier dismissal on the same allegations last year however the Police Appeals Tribunal permitted another hearing.

The officer, who had served the force for 14 years, faced five allegations of sharing these images, all allegations took place whilst Scruby was on-duty.

He was dismissed without notice.

A man from Copthorne has been sentenced to 11 years imprisonment after being found guilty of sexual assault.

23 year-old Jordan Torbutt will also be a registered sex offender for life and he was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) severely restricting his access to vulnerable people.

Torbutt was convicted of raping two vulnerable women in a graveyard in Horsham between 2013 and 2016.