A huge vulture spotted on the Yorkshire/Derbyshire border and in Lincolnshire was born in the French Alps last year, according to new genetic research.

Image source, Ashley James

The bearded vulture is one of the largest wild birds ever seen in the UK and was seen in the Peak District in July.

Birdwatchers flocked to Howden Moor, near Sheffield, to catch a glimpse and grab a photograph of the rare raptor, which is larger than a golden eagle.

It's thought the vulture was blown off course by bad weather.

Image source, Ashley James

Feathers collected by Yorkshire birder David Ball, and analysed by the Vulture Conservation Foundation, show the female bird was born in the French Alps last year in a wild nest.

The bird, nicknamed Vigo, spent much of her summer in the Peak District, but has also been seen in Lincolnshire.

Image source, Ashley James

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Sheffield City Council has confirmed a long-standing city centre strip club surrendered its sexual entertainment venue licence.

Image source, GEOGRAPH/BASHER EYRE

Spearmint Rhino, which was based on Brown Street in the city centre for 18 years, withdrew its licence renewal application and its alcohol licence was transferred to another operator.

The council said it had not received any further applications from any company operating as Spearmint Rhino.

It was closed due to coronavirus restrictions implemented in March, then in the summer the club dropped its privacy case against campaigners who commissioned secret filming of dancers at work.

The footage was shown to the council in support of calls to have the club’s licence removed last year.

Pro-campaigners later marched through the city calling for the club to stay open, with some supporters comparing the footage to revenge porn.

Following an eight-hour hearing in which both sides gave passionate speaches, the club kept its licence for another year.

Spearmint Rhino were unavailable for comment, following several attempts to contact them.

Independent shops in Leeds say they are struggling due to coronavirus pandemic.

Council leaders in Leeds say the city is on a government watchlist and could be placed under the highest coronavirus alert level.

Image source, Google

Councillors believe the government's preference would be for more regions to follow the Liverpool City Region into Tier 3.

Leeds is currently on Tier 2.

They said discussions with the government were continuing and they wanted extra support for businesses.

The city said the current rate is 422 cases per 100,000 people and rising.

The number of positive cases in hospitals doubled in the last week.

Council chief executive Tom Riordan said: "This is a really pivotal moment for us again and there is a prospect that we could go into Tier 3.

"At the moment, the judgment has been that we should go into Tier 2.

"We support that, but the data changes every day and we need to just look at the epidemiology as well and see where the virus is spreading in settings and whether the extra restrictions in Tier 3 are justified."

City leaders believe the government would like more areas to have similar restrictions to Liverpool.

A landlady in Filey says some people are not sticking to the rules set out to keep them safe during the coronavirus pandemic when visiting her pub.

Image source, Google

Lynn Nordan runs The Star in Filey and says her staff have to watch out for people trying to get around the guidelines concerning the "rule of six."

Speaking on BBC Radio York she said: "We've had so many people booking two tables within half an hour of each other, using different means of communication, telephone calls or online.

"Then when they arrive at slightly different times from each other, it's soon obvious they're actually all together."

"As soon as we realise the groups are together we move them as far apart as we can."

You can listen to the full interview by clicking this link:

Rotherham United boss Paul Warne enters a period of self-isolation after a family member tests positive for Covid-19.

Images have been released in the search for a woman who went to the aid of a suspected rape victim in Leeds.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

A woman was found in a distressed state on Back Harehills Place shortly before 08:00 on Wednesday 30 September, according to West Yorkshire Police.

Officers now say they want to trace the woman in the images above, who's thought to have been walking a child to school along Ashton Road when she went to the victim’s aid and gave her a coat to wear.

She is described as having dark hair and was wearing a black coat, grey-and-white patterned leggings and white trainers.

Officers from Leeds District Safeguarding Unit say they'd like to speak to the woman as a potential witness or hear from anyone who knows who she is.

A 43-year-old man has since been charged with rape and false imprisonment in connection with the incident, police say.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Street lights across Sheffield will be dimmed to help reduce carbon emissions, it's been confirmed.

The city's old sodium, yellow glow traditional street lights have already been converted to lower energy, bright white LED lights.

In 2013, sodium lights resulted in 17,168 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but five years later, when all the lights had been converted, this had been reduced to 6,848 tonnes.

A new control system now means the council can adjust the times and intensity of lights on individual lampposts and on different streets.

Following a successful trial in Endcliffe, Meersbrook and Crosspool, street lights will be dimmed across the city, meaning a further 10% reduction in emissions, the council says.

In a report, Gillian Charters, from Sheffield City Council, says: "Historically, street lighting intensity has been set to accommodate the maximum amount of traffic density on a road.

"This density may only occur for short periods of the day, such as morning and evening rush hour.

"As a result, for long periods, streetlights are over-lighting the highway and neighbourhoods and adding to carbon emissions and light pollution as well as wasting money.

"Sheffield highways can be lit to a lower lighting class, but we can still change and increase levels as necessary, such as a planned event or in response to an incident," she adds.

Two firms, including one from West Yorkshire, have been charged with safety breaches after a cinema collapsed during demolition work.

Image source, Lewis Roseby

Masonry and scaffolding from the Odeon in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle, which was built in the 1930s, fell on 3 April 2017, crushing a bus shelter.

All Round Demolition Limited, of Halifax, and Freemont Limited, of Bishopgate, Manchester, have been charged with failing to prevent danger while carrying out demolition work.

A pre-trial review will take place at Newcastle Crown Court on 16 October.

No-one was injured when the building collapsed.

The case is being brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the companies have been charged under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act.

All Round Demolition and Freemont Limited are accused of failing to reduce danger to employees or members of the public during the demolition work, under the 1974 Act.

A woman's been arrested after the death of a 61-year-old cyclist who was hit by a car in North Yorkshire at the weekend.

Image source, Google

The male cyclist suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead at about midnight on Sunday after being hit on a section of the A1041 near Selby, known locally as Camblesforth Straight, say police.

The driver of the vehicle involved didn't stop following the collision and instead left the scene, according to North Yorkshire Police.

A force spokesperson said: "A short time later, officers on patrol in Selby stopped a vehicle they suspected was involved in the collision.

"A woman arrested in connection with the incident has been released while under investigation."

Officers want to speak to anyone who was in the area between Camblesforth and Selby at around the time of the collision.

They're also appealing for anyone who saw a bike being ridden towards Selby, or a silver vehicle with significant damage to the windscreen being driven in the area, to come forward.

A small number of grants are being offered to help rescue some of the field barns that are among the most distinctive buildings in the Westmorland Dales area of Cumbria.

Image source, Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme

Many of the buildings are falling into disrepair or even being demolished because modern farming techniques mean they no longer have a purpose, and their isolated positions mean they cannot easily be converted to other uses.

Because of the high cost of the work, a limited number of grants is available for buildings that are highly visible in the landscape, and that can be turned over to other uses, although housing is excluded.

Hannah Kingsbury from the Westmorland Dales partnership, external said: "We’re keen to conserve a few key buildings which will help to demonstrate the link between our traditional farm buildings and how the land was once managed."

Sheffield's mayor says it was "reckless" to impose extra restrictions without government support.

PA Media

As the number of coronavirus cases in the UK continues to rise, senior care staff at a North Yorkshire nursing home say they are "scared" of what a second wave might bring.

Image source, PA Media

"It's scary," said Simon Walls, a clinical lead at Saint Cecilia's Nursing Home in Scarborough, which lost 10 residents in the space of two weeks during the first spike earlier this year.

Staff at the home say one major concern is a lack of reliable testing.

Residents are tested for the virus every 28 days, with staff tested weekly.

However, a backlog at the UK's laboratories means Mr Walls has only ever had one Covid test result returned, three weeks after he sent it off.

Mr Walls (pictured top right) says: "It's scary because we know it is going to come and it feels like it is only going to be a matter of time until we get our own problems within our own nursing home and within the group.

"I know I am just as apprehensive and scared as I was in March because it's just an unknown quantity.

"The government has given out mixed messages to care homes and that is difficult to follow."

On Wednesday, every area of Yorkshire will officially be classified as being on medium or high alert for coronavirus - otherwise known as Tier 1 or Tier 2.

Image source, Reuters/Phil Noble

For some areas, this will mean people being placed under extra restrictions for the first time.

Following yesterday's announcement by Boris Johnson, North and East Yorkshire are designated Tier 1, which is the lowest tier and is classed as "medium" alert.

However, all of West Yorkshire - Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield - is now classed as Tier 2 under the new system.

Meanwhile, in South Yorkshire, Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield are also Tier 2.

Tier 2 means the "rule of six applies" to everyone living in those areas, even outside. It also means people can't meet another household indoors.

However, under Tier 2, organised outdoor sport can continue, with pubs and restaurants also remaining open.

Nowhere in Yorkshire currently is placed in Tier 3 - the highest level.

A full list of what people can and can't do is available on the government's website, external.

The new system will be voted on by MPs later today and each area's classification will be reviewed every 14 days, the government says.

BBC Sport meets volunteers who trained themselves during lockdown to maintain grass pitches for their communities.

With this year's Challenge Cup final to be played at an empty Wembley, BBC Sport looks at a history of 'firsts' in the competition.

Yorkshire spin bowling prospect Jack Shutt signs a contract extension for the 2021 county season.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The number of reports of domestic abuse to police in Doncaster increased by 19% during lockdown, it's been revealed.

Image source, Science Photo Library

During March, 468 reports of domestic abuse were made to South Yorkshire Police in Doncaster. By July, the number had increased to 558 – 19% higher than in March.

Although reports reached a peak in July, by August they had dropped, with 494 reports made.

A report to be heard by Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime commissioner, says the Covid-19 pandemic has posed a “challenge” for Doncaster’s policing team in identifying vulnerable victims, as isolation will have led to crimes going unreported.

The force’s online reporting tool was found to be helpful for victims, particularly in Doncaster.

The report, to be heard at the PCC’s public meeting on Tuesday, added: “Domestic abuse incidents have increased as lockdown eased and victims could more readily engage with services.

“This demand reached a peak in July and has started to drop through August. This Covid effect must also be considered against traditional crime calendar demands and an increase is often seen through summer months."

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A cloudy and grey day with outbreaks of rain through the morning and afternoon.

Tonight it will stay cloudy and wet with clear and dry spells developing in the early hours: