I was given some information earlier this week about an incident at the weekend which sounded so unbelievable that I felt the need to confirm the details with the police.

I was told that Shiptonthorpe Parish Council clerk, Catherine Simpson , and her partner, were driving through the village on Saturday to do their weekly check of the defibrillator when they saw a long-standing friend standing outside his house on Town Street Shiptonthorpe talking to Cllr Leo Hammond. Catherine’s friend bipped his horn and they both waved at their friend.

By the way Catherine is standing as an independent candidate in the Wolds Weighton Ward and therefore against Cllr Leo Hammond.

I hear that Leo was so upset by this attack on his ear-drums that he reported the incident to Humberside Police, claiming a person blew his horn at him and he felt “intimidated”. The Police contacted Catherine’s partner who was driving and said they would not be taking any further action.

Remarkably Humberside police have indeed confirmed that they:

“Received a call at around 3pm on Saturday 18 March, from a member of the public who reported he felt intimated after a car travelled past him and the occupants attempted to get his attention on Town Street in Shiptonthorpe. Enquiries have been carried out and all individuals involved have been spoken to”.

After reaching out to Cllr Hammond for comment he responded:

We need to be encouraging more people to report poor behaviour, not put them off. I for one will not tolerate poor behaviour towards my residents.
I am not going to involve the member of the public as I do not feel that would be appropriate. However, I am confident that they would dispute the version of events as put in the statement you have received.
In this election I will continue to stand on my track record of delivery for my ward, and allow my residents to judge as to whether they wish me to stay or not based off of my record. I feel any candidate who takes to publicly attacking others, only does so because they have little to offer themselves.

NB. I have not included Cllr Hammonds full response as it included other claims which I do not consider to be directly related to my original query about the distress caused by a car horn. Nor have I had time to look further into his claims. I’m sure that Cllr Hammond will use his own page if he wishes to provide more information. Or I might when I get more information.
I’ll be keeping a beady eye on what’s going on in Shiptonthorpe as it is looking to be a great source of political drama and intrigue. Who would have thought? Shiptonthorpe!