A petition calling for the East Coast main line to be nationalised has been handed in to the government.

Activists are calling on Transport Secretary Chris Grayling not to bail out the franchise operated by Stagecoach and Virgin.

Earlier this month, Chris Grayling said that Virgin Trains East Coast would only continue to run the London to Edinburgh service for a "small number of months".

This morning a group called We Own It has handed in a 30,000 signature petition to the Department For Transport calling for the service to be brought back into public ownership.

The number of child sex offences recorded by Humberside Police has risen by 20% in the past year.

Nationally, figures are at an all time high in the UK.

The NSPCC claims an offence was recorded every 8 minutes last year.

Humberside Police says it has specialist officers who work with social services to help and support victims and it has experienced teams who specialise in catching offenders who prey on children online.

Staff at four of Yorkshire's biggest universities will go on strike for two days this Thursday.

Image source, historic Engalnd

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are walking out in a row over pensions.

Sixty four universities around the UK will be affected by the action.

Staff at the universities of York, Sheffield , Leeds and Hull will be taking part in the action, the first in a total of 14 walk outs over the month.

The strike will affect more than 33,000 students in Leeds alone.

A Universities UK spokeswoman said a solution to "significant funding challenges" facing the scheme needed to be found.

Police are asking for help to find a man who's gone missing from hospital, external in Cottingham.

Image source, Humberside Police

John Finnie, who's 52-years-old was last seen at Castle Hill hospital, where he was being treated, at around midnight.

He's thought to have walked in the direction of Cottingham village centre.

Police are asking anyone with any information to contact them on the 101 number.

Former Hull City and Southend United boss Phil Brown turns down the chance to replace Russell Slade at Grimsby Town.

Hull City Council is looking at new ways to deal with derelict and vacant properties.

Image source, Geograph/Chris Morgan

Buildings like the Lord Line (pictured above) and the Hull National Picture theatre (below) could get more regular inspections.

It's part of a new strategy by the council, which would mean they would be able to take action against owners who don't look after their properties.

The council will decide whether to give the plans the go-ahead at a meeting later today.

Two police officers accused of carrying out secret surveillance on the sister of a man who died in police custody are to face a misconduct hearing next week.

Image source, Alder family

Christopher Alder died on the floor of a custody suite in Hull in 1998.

During an inquest into his death in July 2000, two officers undertook surveillance on Mr Alder's sister, Janet Alder, and her legal representative.

Image source, Alder family

The hearing will determine whether the officers breached standards of professional behaviour.

Listed for four days, it will take place at the Magistrates Court Building in Goole from 26 February.

Hundreds of KFC branches are expected to stay closed today after running out of chicken.

Two out of nine outlets across our region are open, one in Hull and one in Scunthorpe.

The company's been having delivery problems since Thursday.

Tributes are being being paid to a former Lincolnshire teacher who died with his grandson when their car was hit by a train.

Image source, Family Handout

Will Hallett, 15, and Barry Hearnshaw, 72, died at a level crossing in West Sussex on Saturday.

Will's local school said that he "was an intelligent, high grade achiever, who aspired to be an airline pilot."

Mr Hearnshaw taught at Cordeaux High School and Deighton Close School in Louth before he retired.

His family said that he "gave so much to so many people - we know his passing will be a great loss".

All routes into Hull are busy this morning because of the closure of Bankside.

The through-route to the city centre will remain closed until May because of flood prevention work.

The £36.5m project by the Environment Agency will protect more than 60,000 properties in Hull.

One BBC Radio Humberside listener wants to see more done to help alleviate the resulting congestion:

A Scunthorpe mum will deliver a petition to Downing Street today, calling for specialist toilets for people with disabilities to be compulsory in all public places.

Image source, AVESCO LTD

Lorna Fillingham has gathered over 50,000 signatures urging the government to change building regulations so "Changing Places" toilets are included in future building plans.

These specialist toilets include a hoist and adult-sized adjustable changing bench.

The government says there are already more than 1,000 across the UK and it's helped fund a new website so people know where to find them.

Campaigners are calling for urgent changes to the law to make looking or secretly filming up a woman's skirt illegal.

There's currently no law banning so-called "upskirting," but there are calls to make it a specific criminal offence.

There are concerns many offences go unreported.

A businessman from Anlaby Common pleaded guilty last year to attempting to take indecent photos of a child when he tried to take a photo up the skirt of 12-year-old girl as she stood waiting for the bus.

There'll be a greater police presence in Beverley this week in an attempt to combat anti-social behaviour.

It's after people living on the Swinemoor estate told officers what crime problems they were most concerned about, and now the police are taking action.

Large groups of youths hanging around and noise were among the problems highlighted.

Now, Humberside Police are setting up a pop-up station on the estate to increase their presence in the area.

More pupils are being temporarily excluded from schools in our region than anywhere else in the country.

Image source, Getty Images

Ofstead figures show 43,000 children were excluded for a fixed term in the Yorkshire and Humber area, in just one school year.

North and North East Lincolnshire have some of the highest rates in the country.

Now school inpstectors are being asked to look into this and Ofstead has written to head teachers about the high numbers of pupils being kept out of school.

The £36.5m project would protect more than 60,000 properties in Hull, the Environment Agency says.

The top stories from across East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire so far today include:

• Police appeal for information afte a teenage girl is assaulted in Cleethorpes
• The A63 cycle ban plan consultation is extended
• Flood defence work closes a busy Hull road for three months
• New ways of easing congestion on Hull's roads are being looked at as the container terminal at the city's port doubles in size
• Grimsby Town steps up the search for a new manager

A Hull business has become the first ever principal sponsor of the city's Ferens Art Gallery.

Image source, Lorne Campbell

The gallery says Kingstown Works Ltd's sponsorship means it will be able to continue to bring the best national and international exhibitions to the city, following a record-breaking 2017.

The gallery hosted a number of high profile exhibitions last year including the Turner Prize as part of the Hull City of Culture celebrations.

Last year Ferens Art gallery saw 519,000 visitors, the highest in the gallery's 90-year history.

There's been such a lot of interest in plans to ban cyclists from part of the A63 in East Yorkshire that Highways England says it will extend the consultation period.

Image source, Getty Images

The road is regarded as the fastest time trial route in the country and attracts top cyclists like Sir Bradley Wiggins (pictured).

Highways England says police raised concerns about safety following six accidents in the last five years, including one death.

Image source, Google

It's now asking people to share their views on the proposed ban and people have until Monday 12 March to make their opinions known.

Paul Murphy
Environment correspondent, BBC Look North

New work to improve flood defences in Hull has begun today and it means one of the city's busiest roads is closed for a number of months.

Bankside will be shut until May and there will be no access from Clough Road to Air Street as the Environment Agency invests more than £36m to reduce flood risks.

I've been to the site to find out more:

A man's been attacked and robbed by three men in a Hull street.

Image source, Google

It happened near the Haworth Arms on Beverley Road at about 21:30 on Friday.

The attackers asked the man for money and, when he refused, they assaulted him and stole money from his pockets, leaving him with bruises to his face.

Police are appealing for information.