Latest news with #Brigg
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Potential buyer for Lindsey Oil Refinery as deadline looms
A potential buyer has been found for an oil refinery as the window for expressions of interest in buying all or part of the site closes on Wednesday, the BBC Oil Refinery was taken over by liquidators in June after the owner Prax Group went into administration, putting 420 jobs at risk. Energy Minister Michael Shanks previously said "no credible offers" had been made to buy the entire refinery and it would be "winding down operations".However, two local politicians claimed there was a prospective bid to buy the whole site and continue the operation, with "a number of parties interested in parts of the business".The Insolvency Service said the sales process was ongoing. Martin Vickers, MP for Brigg and Immingham, and North Lincolnshire Council leader Rob Waltham said there was a potential buyer to retain the site and continue running the refinery, but added they could not disclose details of the interested party. Waltham said: "To have people who are interested in protecting jobs at this stage of the game is very heartening. "We're urging the government to keep advocating and supporting someone to buy the site as a whole."The last two units of petrol and kerosene came off the production line on Fred Brown, a process operator at the refinery and a branch secretary for Unite the union, said fuel had been put into storage and it is likely deliveries would continue until September."Over the weekend, the last of the units that actually create the finished product has come offline."The next phase is that we'll run down all of the products through the tanks - the petrol, the diesel, the kerosene, everything. That will go out of the refinery until it runs out, which should be around a month from now." Mr Brown said he expected petrol station forecourts across the midlands to be affected once supply had ceased from the refinery on a scale similar to that seen last month when garages reportedly run out of a fuel as a result of the refinery's owners filing for said there was concern that fuel would be restricted to parts of the country."This site may only provide 10% of the UK fuel supply, but that fuel supply to the west and east midlands, into Lincolnshire and probably even beyond that, is still a significant proportion of their supply. "If supply gets restricted, and it might be that the government's got a great spreadsheet that's managing all this, ... people who work in the NHS, shops and businesses throughout the country will be paying more at the pump."The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said it was confident there "is no risk to the UK's fuel supply" and refined products would continue to be sold "for a number of weeks, giving buyers time to adjust their supply chains".It added Lindsey's closure "will not make us significantly more dependent on imports".DESNZ also said interest from potential buyers remained "in some assets at the site and the Official Receiver would continue to pursue such interest".The refinery's owner went into administration after recording losses of about £75m over the course of three years. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
BBC News
05-08-2025
- General
- BBC News
Future of 800 year-old Brigg horse fair remains unclear
Visitors to an 800-year-old horse fair say it is important to keep the tradition alive amid uncertainty about the site's by the travelling community, the annual event, which took place earlier, is held on derelict land off Station Road in Brigg and regularly attracts thousands of current site has been home to the fair since the late 1990s, but North Lincolnshire Council said it had been reserved to build housing for older who travelled to the event with her young son, said people were starting to realise they had to support it otherwise they could lose it. She said: "We've got to fight for it." She added: "Everyone mixing, mingling, it's just a lovely atmosphere. It's a tradition just to keep going, really."Brigg is a lovely fair because it's quiet, everyone knows each other."It's a close-knit group that comes here all the time." Doug, who has been part of the fair for more than 30 years and sells horse harnesses, said if the event lost its home it would be a "loss" because he also relied on it for his said: "The tradition, once you start to lose these things they've gone forever."My grandad used to come to these and bring me along."Now, I feel it's the same. My boys aren't interested but my grandkids are, so we're carrying on the tradition of the family." The fair had already made way to new developments in Brigg a number of times and has been facing the prospect of finding another new home after the council approved its own planning application with conditions more than eight years ago to build 40 residential apartments, a commercial market and a new village who has been a regular at the fair for many years, said: "People gather that you don't get to see from one year to another. It's a very friendly little fair."It is pretty obvious that eventually that [the development] is going to happen."We would like to keep the fair going. I just like coming to Brigg because you meet nice people."If the council develops the land, he said one option could be to relocate to the town centre.A spokesperson for the council said it had no involvement with the organisation of the horse fair. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
