A Raven spooked by a dog has been rescued from a tree in Knaresborough by a North Yorkshire Fire crew.

Image source, North Yorkshire Fire Service

The Raven, known as Mourdour, (pictured safely reunited with her keeper) is a 10-year-old African white chested raven and is one of the Queen's ravens that reside at Knaresborough Castle., external

Mordour got her jesses caught around her legs and was unable to fly.

Crews used the aerial ladder platform to retrieve her and she was safely given back to her keeper Igraine.

Paul Walker
Breakfast presenter, BBC Radio Sheffield

Meet a family who have done something REMARKABLE! 

The Schofields from Barnsley have lost a huge 18 stone dieting together.

They are: Claire who went from 20 stone to 12 stone and her mum Margaret who went from 17 stone to 13 stone. Sister Sharon and their daughters also joined in too.

Margaret and Claire explained to me that it was team work which made the astonishing loss possible:

A woman who witnessed an arson attack in Huddersfield, which killed her cousin 20-years-ago, has talked about it exclusively to BBC Radio Leeds.

Joe McCafferty, seven, died after petrol was poured through the letterbox of a house on Haywood Avenue in Huddersfield on 3 May 1997.  

Chantelle Cunningham is now 32. She was inside the house at the time and raised the alarm.    

She's been describing what happened to her that day. 

Some people may find Chantelle's description upsetting:

Next Wednesday marks exactly 20-years to the day, since that fire was deliberately started. 

No one has ever been charged with Joe McCafferty's murder.

A second arrest has been made in the Lindsay Rimer murder investigation. 

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

Lindsay Rimer was last seen at a shop in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, on 7 November, 1994. Her body was found in the Rochdale Canal a mile from the town centre in April 1995.

Police say they've arrested a 68-year-old year man from Bradford on suspicion of the murder the 13-year-old this morning.

A 63-year-old man, arrested in November last year remains on police bail. 

A second man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Lindsay Rimer.

More to follow.

A new garden to protect the gardener's slug-eating friend, the hedgehog, opens today in Harrogate. 

Image source, RHS Harlow Carr

It'll include nest areas, tunnels and holes which are designed to encourage them and other wildlife into the garden.

The site at RHS Harlow Carr has been put together in conjunction with Hedgehog Street, which is a campaign set up six-years-ago to conserve Britain's hedgehogs.

Image source, RHS Harlow Carr

Helen Bostock from the RHS advisory team says hedgehog numbers have fallen by 30% over the last ten years. 

There are now thought to be fewer than one million in the UK.

There's concern this morning about how Brexit will affect EU citizens working in the UK. 

Labour says it would scrap Theresa May's Brexit plans and unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU residents before talks start, if they win power.  

The the Federation of Small Businesse think a work permit system - like the one they have in Sweden - should be introduced, with a transition period of at least three years to ensure small businesses can meet their labour and skills needs. 

Marek Niedzwiedz is the Founder of Mar-Pro, an investment holding group in Rotherham. He is keen for clarity over the kinds of challenges his staff will face in the future:

Which county serves the best afternoon tea in the country? Yorkshire of course!

Image source, National railway Museum

The countess of York, (pictured) a restaurant in a rail carriage at the National railway Museum in York, has won the  Afternoon Tea of the Year category in the Visit England awards.  

With Ched Evans closing in on a return to Sheffield United, what do the fans make of a potential return for their former number 9?

BBC Radio Sheffield broke the news yesterday afternoon that a fee has been agreed between the Blades and Chesterfield, with the 28 year old due to have a medical later this week. 

Evans was at Sheffield United when he was convicted of rape back in 2012; a conviction which has since been quashed after he served two and a half years in prison. 

This was the reaction from United fans on BBC Radio Sheffield's Football Heaven last night:

As the region prepares for the Tour de Yorkshire this weekend it's hoped one charity in particular will benefit. 

The Alzheimer's Society is the event's chosen charity. 

On Friday, dementia patients and their carers will ride the final mile of the race in Scarborough.

Here's John and Dot's story - on Friday they'll ride a specially adapted bike:

Andrew Barton
BBC Local Live, Yorkshire

Here are some of the stories making the news across Yorkshire so far this morning:      

• Forensic tests on batches of heroin being linked to six deaths in Yorkshire, show some were laced with a substance 10,000 times stronger than the drug itself
• There's been an increase in the use of food banks in Yorkshire and the Humber according to new figures released by the Trussell Trust
• The huge success of a scheme to makes bikes available free of charge has been revealed just days before the Tour de Yorkshire 

A violent prisoner who was on the run for five days after absconding from a jail in Yorkshire has been arrested.

Image source, Northumbria Police

Donna Willis, 36, was serving a five-year sentence for grievous bodily harm at HMP Askham Grange near York, when she fled on 9 April.

Northumbria Police joined the hunt for Willis, who is from the North East, as she was believed to be in the region.

A police spokeswoman said she was arrested in the force area earlier and has been returned to custody.  

Members of the public were warned not to approach her.

A retired South Yorkshire Police officer is being investigated over allegations about what are being described as "actions" in relation to the Hillsborough Disaster.  

Image source, Hillsborough Inquests

Durham Constabulary have confirmed that the incident under investigation did not take place on the day of the disaster, but is linked. 

The force has released a statement saying, "it is not clear at this stage if the actions consist of criminal behaviour as a charging decision has not been made by the Crown Prosecution Service." 

There are 170 allegations of misconduct linked to the Hillsborough disaster currently being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Lisa Gallagher
Weather presenter, BBC Look North

A cold day with wintry showers, any snow most likely over higher parts.   

Here's my full forecast:

Police say they are becoming concerned for the whereabouts of a 64-year-old man from York .

Officers say Richard Cooke, also known as Richard Marshall, left his home in York on Sunday around noon to go shopping in York city centre, but has not been seen or heard from since.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

It's thought the St George’s Day parade being held in the city-centre may have confused Mr Cooke, who has difficulties communicating, and so police are asking York residents to check sheds or outbuildings, in case he's sought shelter.

He's described as white, 5’9” tall and of a slim build. 

He has cropped greying hair and white beard and was wearing a beige corduroy jacket, green shirt and grey corduroy trousers and carrying a purple carrier bag.

With just days to go before riders in the Tour de Yorkshire take to the region's streets, the huge success of a scheme to makes bikes available free of charge has been revealed. 

Bike Bank was launched after the Tour de France came to Yorkshire in 2014. The scheme takes donated bicycles, fixes them and loans them out free of charge.  

Since it's launch in Yorkshire last year, 36,000 children have been given the chance to get out and ride. 

Peter Dodd from Welcome to Yorkshire says it's a staggering achievement:

BBC Sport

Sheffield United are set to re-sign striker Ched Evans from Chesterfield.

Image source, Getty Images

Evans, 28, last played for the Blades in 2012, before he was found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room in 2011 and sentenced to five-years in prison.

That conviction was quashed and, following a re-trial last October, Evans was found not guilty.

The Blades have agreed a fee in the region of £0.5m with Chesterfield.

A women's group which protested against the views of Shipley MP Philip Davies is questioning a decision by a feminist organisation to stand against him in the general Election.

The leader of the Women's Equality Party, Sophie Walker, (pictured) announced yesterday she is to stand against him.

The Women's Equality party says Philip Davies has tried to block domestic violence legislation and has criticised the benefits women get compared to men. 

But Jenny Wilson, from Shipley Feminist Zealots, named after one of the MPs statements says the move won't work:

BBC News Travel

On the rails across Yorkshire so far this morning everything seems to be running smoothly with no major delays to services.

If you're planning a rail journey, click on the links below to keep up-to-date with the live departure boards for:

• Leeds Railway Station, external
• Wakefield Westgate, external
• Bradford Interchange, external
• Bradford Forster Square, external
• York Railway Station, external
• Sheffield Station, external
• Doncaster Station, external

There's been an increase in the use of food banks in Yorkshire and the Humber according to new figures released by the Trussell Trust. 

Last year the anti-poverty charity handed out more than 69,000 food parcels, that's up from 65,000 in 2015. 

Image source, Getty Images

The figures are for the number of emergency packages containing enough food to last three days.   

The Trussell Trust says almost 28,000 packages were handed out in the last year in West Yorkshire alone. 

The Leeds North & West foodbank handed out 8,054 food parcels, more than any other foodbank in the region.

The Trussell Trust has more than 420 food banks with people who use them, on average, turning to them twice in the past year.