A 54-year-old man has been given a 16-year prison sentence at Sheffield Crown Court after sexually abusing teenage girls across the country.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

Craig Lewis, 54, from College Road, Cranwell, Lincolnshire, was found guilty of child grooming, sexual assault and causing a child to watch a sex act.

He abused three teenage girls aged between 13 and 14 from Rotherham, Grimsby and Oxford.

An investigation began a year ago after an anonymous referral made to the NSPCC was reported to police.

Officers then discovered Lewis had used online social media apps to meet one of the victims, encouraging her to share photos and videos of herself.

Searching his mobile phone activity, officers identified two more victims and, with assistance from both Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire Police, Lewis was charged with the remaining offences.

Det Con Elizabeth Portman, from South Yorkshire Police, said it took incredible courage for Lewis's victims to report the abuse:

More than 3.5 million people attended City of Culture events in Hull, the city council has said.

Among the biggest draws was the Blade installation - a 250ft (75m) rotor blade artwork - which attracted about one million visitors.

Artist Paul Cummins' poppy installation was seen by more than 800,000 people.

The city's museums have also notched up a record one million visits since the city began its reign as UK City of Culture in January.

Image source, PA

It is the busiest the free attractions have been since records began in 1960, the council said.

Hotels in the city have also reported a surge in bookings, according to the authority.

Abbie Dewhurst
Weather Presenter, BBC Look North

A cold and frosty start to the day.

Here's my full forecast:

Louise Wheeler
BBC Local Live

Good morning and welcome to Local Live for Friday 15 December.

My name’s Louise and I’ll be bringing you the latest news, sport and travel from across the area throughout the day.

Please get in touch and let us know what's happening where you are, by email, Facebook, external or Twitter, external.

That's it from me today, but we'll be back tomorrow morning from 08:00 with all the latest news, sport, travel and weather updates.

Before I go, here are five things we didn't know this morning:

• 3.5m people have visited Hull during City of Culture year
• Hull City owners to meet fans tonight to discuss issues regarding club
• North Lincolnshire Council confirms there will be a new indoor market in Scunthorpe and it's looking at a couple of sites
• North East Lincolnshire gets £8m in funding
• Hull-born dancer Joseph Caley to be Lead Principal at English National Ballet

Watch the full stories on BBC One at 18:30.

The trust that runs Bridlington Hospital has confirmed two wards will be consolidated leaving one permanent closure.

Waters and Johnson wards at Bridlington Hospital will be consolidated.

The Waters ward will then be permanently closed.

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust closed the two wards in October due to recruitment pressures and says it will now be working with the unions to support staff through the transition.

Lara King
North East Lincolnshire reporter

It's been revealed that North East Lincolnshire is set to receive £8.4m worth of investment.

Funding for the projects has come from a number of sources – the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the European Union's Regional Development Funds as well as North East Lincolnshire Council.

The money will be spent on a new business park, a new road to link the ports of Immingham and Grimsby and a nature reserve.

Research by the mental health charity Mind shows that Yorkshire and the Humber has the highest proportion of people who are too embarrassed to admit they are lonely at Christmas.

It found two out of five people in the region are too embarrassed to admit they are lonely, and also found that one in 10 consider taking their own life because of the festive period .

The charity says the Christmas period can be particularly challenging, highlighting the feeling of loneliness, and is working towards ensuring people have the support they need.

Government figures show the number of people who've become homeless in England has gone up.

More than 15,000 households were accepted by councils as homeless in the three months to the end of September, representing a six per cent rise on the previous quarter .

The Hull North Labour MP Diana Johnson (pictured below) raised the issue in the Commons this morning after she was contacted about rough sleepers in Hull city centre.

In response, Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom agreed the situation was disturbing and said the government was trying to tackle the issue.

The number of successful fly-tipping prosecutions in Yorkshire and the Humber has fallen by more than 50% in five years.

BBC research also found the number of incidents in our area has gone up by 24% in that time.

Nearly £4.5m was spent on clearing up in the region during the period.

The environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy says the threat of prosecution isn't working.

An elderly Hull man was the victim of a scam by "builders" last month.

The incident happened at a property in the city on 23 November.

Men claiming to have been sent by his son took down the guttering of the house and left the work unfinished despite being paid.

Officers are appealing for witnesses and offering advice on how to prevent similar situations, external happening.

The plant in Immingham will be the first commercial producer of "biocoal" in the UK.

BBC Radio Humberside

Bosses at Bridlington hospital have told staff that a trial closure of Water's Ward will be made permanent from as early as next year.

Here's the report from Radio Humberside:

Humberside Police says a 15-year-old boy from Hull has been arrested on suspicion of the theft of two post sacks from Royal Mail delivery vans.

Yesterday the force issued a warning to delivery drivers in the city to watch out for thieves targeting their vehicles as they make their rounds.

Officers say there have been a number of incidents recently in Hull where thieves have use motorbikes, allowing them to make a quick getaway after snatching items.

Scunthorpe United have appointed former England cricketer Sir Ian Botham as their new club president.

Image source, Getty ima

Botham, 62, scored over 7,000 runs and took more than 500 wickets for England and also played professional football, making 11 appearances for Scunthorpe between 1980 and 1985.

He is the club's first president since John Godfrey, who died in 2015.

People who are homeless or at risk of being homeless are being asked by North Lincolnshire Council to get in touch.

The council says it has a housing advice team on hand to provide support.

Overnight accommodation is also available to anyone sleeping rough during this cold spell.

The local authority is also working with The Forge Project in Scunthorpe which offers a befriending service and warm meals.

The Forge will be open on selected days during the holiday period and more details are available on their website, external.

North Lincolnshire Council says it's looking at a couple of possible sites for a new indoor market in Scunthorpe town centre, adding a street market alone is not an option.

It's all part of plans to invest £60m in the centre.

Now 19,000 people have signed a petition against the idea of moving the market from the current location on to the high street, with a meeting being held to discuss the situation today.

The council says negotiations on the new site are in the final stages and should be concluded in the new year.

People thinking of buying a dog shouldn't buy them on social media or newspaper adverts according to council licensing officials.

They say many of the puppies sold in this way are reared under dubious conditions.

Last year East Riding of Yorkshire Council investigated eight allegations of unlicensed dog breeders operating in the area.

The council says it's best to buy from an authorised breeder or a rescue centre.

BBC Weather

After a cold and frosty start, any showers will be mainly confined to the west.

Sunny spells are likely, the best of which will be towards the coast.

It'll remain cold with brisk winds over hills, but moderating later. Highs of 4C (39F).