The biggest stories last week featured school staff “risking their lives”, a family facing homelessness, and a new café set to open.

Meanwhile, the county council was accused of neglecting its carers.

Take a look at some of West Norfolk’s top stories from throughout last week…

Brand-new café to open at Tesco in King’s Lynn this week

An empty supermarket space is set to be filled as bosses confirm they will open a new café this week.

Tesco Extra has revealed it will be launching its own café, called The Coffee Shop, at its Hardwick branch in Lynn.

Creating eight new jobs for the town, it is expected to be housed in the former Dobbies retail space.

High street breakdown from King’s Lynn Civic Society reveals decrease in number of empty town centre shops

At a time when town centre businesses across the country are shutting up shop, could Lynn actually be bucking the trend?

The King’s Lynn Civic Society has released its empty shops survey, put together using data collected by treasurer Kim Leonard in October.

Between the High Street, Norfolk Street, Broad Street, St Dominics Square, Tower Street, Blackfriars Street, St James Street and the Saturday Market Place, 341 business units were analysed – and it was found that of those spaces, 43 (12.61%) were empty and unused.

‘Traumatising’ attacks at Duke of Lancaster Academy in Fakenham see young staff ‘risk their lives’ for job, whistleblower says

A special needs school has been compared to Pentonville Prison amid serious concerns that its staff members could be harmed.

A former staff member at the Duke of Lancaster SEN school in Fakenham has come forward to share her “horror stories” from the facility.

This comes just weeks after it was revealed the school, which caters for students aged five to 16 with autism and other learning difficulties, is under review following an attack which reportedly left a staff member partially paralysed.

Clenchwarton family facing homelessness at Christmas slam Aviva for treating them like a ‘policy number’

A family of eight worry they could be left homeless this Christmas if they are evicted from their temporary accommodation.

Husband and wife Andrew and Kelly De-Gol have had a nightmare year, and they do not expect their living situation to get any better by the time Christmas rolls around for their six children.

More than 16 months ago, a burst water pipe in their Clenchwarton home caused “severe damage”. Now, they face eviction from the temporary caravan they are housed in.

Opening of new McDonald’s branch in Fakenham delayed

Burger lovers will have to wait longer than expected to try out a new fast food branch – as bosses have pushed back its opening date.

Fakenham’s new McDonald’s restaurant on Holt Road was originally set to welcome its first customers on Wednesday morning – but this had to be changed.

Though the reason for the delay is unknown, it has been confirmed that the chain will instead open this Wednesday, December 17.

Lidl resubmits plans to build new store at Morston Point in King’s Lynn alongside two drive-thru units

A supermarket giant has resubmitted plans to build a brand-new branch on the outskirts of town alongside two drive-thru units.

Lidl has taken a fresh look at Morston Point, between Greenyard Way and the Jubilee Roundabout in Lynn, as it prepares to erect its second town store.

The company had already lodged plans to take over the site back in 2018. However, this never came to fruition.

Norfolk County Council accused of neglecting carers as CQC finds it ‘requires improvement’

Norfolk County Council has been accused of neglecting carers in a report which says its adult social care services “requires improvement”.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) gave the department an overall score of 56% following an inspection earlier this year.

It heard from people who were providing care for friends and relatives who said they were often made to feel “tokenistic” and “ineffective” by the council, and that the “strain they were under” was not fully recognised.