Five Peterborough stories you might have missed

Shaun the Sheep sculptures will be dotted around Peterborough until the end of August

A familiar Aardman character made the city his home, while there are changes in the pipeline for Peterborough's iconic art deco lido.

Here are five stories from the city you might have missed this week.

Plans for covers at Grade II listed open-air lido

The plans have been submitted to add covers to Peterborough's lido

Plans for mechanical covers at a city's Grade II listed open-air swimming pool to help reduce energy costs have been submitted.

Retractable covers would retain heat, "potentially extending the swimming season and increasing revenue", planning documents have stated.

Worker threatened with weapons by shoplifters

Shop worker Kieran Essex says he faced violence on several occasions

A convenience store worker has described being threatened with weapons when challenging shoplifters as incidents increase across a county.

"I've been threatened with knives, with hockey sticks, every day you're seeing something get worse," said Kieran Essex, 27, who works in a shop in Peterborough.

Figures from Cambridgeshire Police show reports of shoplifting have more than doubled over the past five years.

Shaun the Sheep art trail arrives in city centre

The trail will feature 12 models of Shaun the Sheep across Peterborough

A flock of giant Shaun the Sheep statues has made its home in a city for the summer.

The sculpture trail in Peterborough features 12 "supersized" Shauns, standing at about 1.6m (5ft 3in) high and painted by different artists.

Man meets nurses who cared for him as a baby

Zak Stevens (centre) and his parents met with some of the nurses at the neonatal unit

A police officer who was delivered three months early as a baby has been reunited with some of the nurses who cared for him.

Zak Stevens, 38, was born prematurely at what is now Peterborough City Hospital.

He also presented a cheque to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit alongside his parents to improve facilities for the families of other pre-term babies.

Council turns experienced worker into AI chatbot

Geraldine Jinks has worked for Peterborough City Council for 35 years

The knowledge of an experienced council worker has been turned into an AI chatbot to help fellow employees.

Geraldine Jinks has worked for Peterborough City Council for 35 years as a therapy practitioner supporting adult social care, and her colleagues often ask her for advice.

She helped feed information to the AI tool, called Hey Geraldine, so it could answer questions in her usual chatty and direct manner.

The week in politics

It emerged that three people have been arrested in connection with a police investigation into alleged misconduct at Peterborough City Council.

A woman in her 60s from Cambridgeshire, a man in his 70s from Bedfordshire and a man in his 80s from Cambridgeshire were arrested in May.

They have all been bailed until later in the year.

Meanwhile, the council begun an investigation into reports of people experiencing botulism symptoms, thought to be from unlicensed or counterfeit Botox-like products. At least four people have been admitted to hospital.

Building work on Great Haddon's first nursery and primary school will begin this summer.

Many more building projects have now been approved by Peterborough City Council, including more than 1,000 homes in Paston, a sports pavilion in Castor and padel courts in Stanground.