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Leeds-based Northern Ballet has returned to the stage in what is believed to be the first major UK dance performance in front of a live paying audience since the coronavirus lockdown began.

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA Wire

The company, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, performed excerpts from a number of ballet classics at Leeds Playhouse on Wednesday night.

It had to abandon its planned repertoire for 2020 and choose work that would enable dancers, musicians and backstage staff to respect social distancing restrictions.

The Iconic Classics performance on Wednesday included dances from Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Le Corsaire and Giselle.

It was the company's first live performance in more than seven months, since the world premiere of choreographer-in-residence Kenneth Tindall's Geisha in March.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "We are delighted Northern Ballet is returning with live performances for the first time in more than seven months.

"We held one performance, the world premiere of Geisha, in March before Covid caused us to have to cancel everything else for the year."

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Ongoing restrictions have seen the dancers training and rehearsing while wearing face masks; having costume fittings, physio and make-up with staff in full PPE; social distancing in dressing rooms; a stage without sets; and a socially distanced audience.

David Nixon, artistic director of Northern Ballet, said: "Although we are still far from business as usual, we are thrilled to be able to return to the stage and present a significant run of live performances."

Services across northern England and the Midlands will receive up to £68m from the government.

Coach Richard Agar says Adam Cuthbertson may have played his last game for Leeds after being sidelined with a shoulder injury.

More than 100 people have answered an online plea for more information about knife-makers from the "Steel City" of Sheffield.

Image source, Helen Murray/Name on a Knife Blade

The Name on a Knife Blade project found new stories and unrecorded knives made in the city after its search for descendants of knife-makers last month.

One man even donated his own personal collection of Sheffield-made blades.

The Ken Hawley Collection now has about 1,500 stainless steel knives made by about 1,000 different makers.

The online archive , externalhas given "a new momentum to the search and has taken it worldwide", added archive volunteer Nick Duggan.

Health bosses in York say they hope a new local coronavirus test and trace system will be more targeted than the national system.

From today, public health teams in the city will contact people who've recently tested positive for coronavirus and advise them to isolate.

They'll also ask about details of close contacts, which will be followed up by the national team.

The city's director of public health, Sharon Stoltz, says: "We've been lobbying the government for some weeks now for us to be able to set up our own test and trace service and my team have been working very hard in putting all of that in place.

"Our system will allow us to work alongside the national system to provide more targeted contact tracing in York, not just to residents but to businesses as well."

Northern Ballet believes the show was the first live dance event in the UK since lockdown began.

A car was abandoned in the middle of a railway line after a late-night police chase in North Yorkshire.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

A farmer called police on Tuesday night with concerns someone was trying to steal equipment and valuables from a farm near Malton.

A Vauxhall Vectra was pursued at high speed on the B1253 towards Duggleby, with the driver turning off its lights to try to escape.

After a 10-minute chase, the car was left in Malton on tracks near a level crossing.

Using a police dog, a drone and a police helicopter, the suspect was found in a nearby field at about 00:25.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

A man from Bradford was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop and drug driving.

The 36-year-old, who remains in custody, was further arrested on suspicion of driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, a vehicle registration plate offence, criminal damage, burglary and theft from a motor vehicle.

A number of tools and other items were found in the car, which police say were recovered for forensic examination.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a 77-year-old pedestrian died in hospital from injuries she suffered when she was hit by a car in West Yorkshire.

Image source, Google

Nellie Loughlin, from Wakefield, was hit by a grey Audi A3, at about 21:45 on Saturday 10 October.

The car was travelling away from Wakefield on the A6038 Horbury Road when the collision happened at the junction with Dewsbury Road, according to West Yorkshire Police.

Anyone with dash cam footage of the incident, or who saw what happened, is being urged to contact police.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A solar farm stretching over 80 acres which could power more than 6,000 homes could soon be built on the outskirts of Scarborough.

Image source, LDRS

Voltalia UK is proposing to build the solar farm at land near Eastgate Farm off Stoney Haggs Road in Seamer.

Kelly Clutterbuck, head of development UK at Voltalia said: “Our proposals for Eastgate Farm, would provide enough clean energy for over 6,000 family homes.

"It will also support Scarborough Borough Council in meeting the challenges it set itself when it declared a climate emergency in 2019, in addition to helping the council meet local and national climate change targets," she said.

The company says it's "very keen" to hear from local residents and businesses before it submits its planning application later this year.

An online public consultation is being held today between 17:00 and 19:00 for people to have their say on the proposals.

South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) says the police are ready to enforce the new tighter coronavirus restrictions.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commisioner

Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley move into the tier three - very high alert level of rules on Saturday.

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire's PCC, says: "Officers will do this in the way they've done it under lockdown: they will first of all engage with people not observing the rules and seek to persuade them to observe those rules.

"But if they don't clearly the rules have to be enforced.

He added: "Officers will be able to do their job as long as the public recognise that what they're being asked to do fits in with some long-term plan of the government to get this virus under control.

"But if they start to feel these new regulations are just a reaction to a blip then we're going to have some difficulties."

BBC Weather

A windy start to the day, becoming cloudy with a few sunny spells and the chance of a few blustery showers.

It'll be clear in the evening with increasing clouds overnight. A cooler night than the last few with light winds:

The vehicle left the road and was driven along a railway line in Malton to try to escape from police.

The Mayor of Doncaster says South Yorkshire's move into tier three - the very high alert category of coronavirus restrictions, will better protect residents.

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield move to tier three from Saturday.

Pubs and bars that do not serve substantial meals will have to close and there are further restrictions on households mixing.

Additional rules in South Yorkshire include the closure of betting shops, adult gaming centres, casinos, soft play centres and gym classes - though gyms will remain open.

Ros Jones, Mayor of Doncaster says: "Doncaster has got the lowest infection rates now but they are continuing to spiral and it's not levelling off and, therefore, I want to protect our residents and our NHS and our hospitals."

The soft play industry is on the brink of collapse, a trade body has warned, as centres in South Yorkshire face closure with the introduction of tier three coronavirus restrictions - the very high alert category.

Image source, Playmania Barnsley

Along with casinos and betting shops, play gyms in the region have to shut less than two months after reopening.

Meanwhile, new research seen by the BBC shows one in 10 play centres in the UK have permanently shut since August.

Gillian Kirk, director of Playmania in Barnsley, said she was "coming to the end of the line in how we can continue".

"We actually only opened 10 days ago. We lost all the stock in March, we've literally just restocked and got back up and running."

Since being allowed to reopen in August, soft play centres have seen a drop in income because they have to operate at 40% capacity to allow for social distancing.

Latest research from the Association of Indoor Play (AIP) shows that out of 1,100 play centres in the UK and Northern Ireland, 107 have closed in the past two months, with 2,000 job losses.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Businesses have had access to a multi-billion-pound package of support from the Treasury including furlough, VAT relief, government-backed loans and the new Job Support Scheme."

Ten-man Stoke City come from behind twice to deny Barnsley a first league win of the season.

Ivan Toney scores twice for the third consecutive game as Brentford secure a stylish victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

A man's in a "critical" condition in hospital after being attacked while waiting for a taxi in Barnsley, police say.

Image source, Google

The man was assaulted in the taxi rank on Peel Square on Saturday night, according to the South Yorkshire force.

A spokesperson said: "A 25-year-old man suffered a serious head injury and remains in hospital in a stable but critical condition."

A 38-year-old man was arrested and has since been released on police bail, the spokesperson adds.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, has dashcam footage, or who helped the victim following the assault while waiting for emergency services, is being urged to contact police.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

South Yorkshire got a “take it or leave it” standard financial package from the government as the region was told it faced strict tier three coronavirus restrictions, a Sheffield MP has said.

Image source, PA Media

Sheffield South East Labout MP Clive Betts says he challenged Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock in the House of Commons before this morning's announcement that South Yorkshire was entering the “very high” tier level of restrictions on Saturday.

The government will give a £41m funding package to the region – £30m to support businesses and £11m for local authorities to support public health measures such as test and trace.

But Mr Betts said Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis and the four council leaders had asked for more.

“I challenged the Minister in the Commons because the leaders were given a take it or leave it deal.

“I said they had been given the standard package, which also had a cap on it, and the Minister didn’t deny that.

“Mayor Dan Jarvis and the four council leaders got all that they could, but it was not what they asked for.”

Mr Betts said the leaders had lobbied for more support for businesses and individuals – and he warned the region could face tough restrictions throughout the winter.

A fox spotted trapped in a cellar beneath a busy York street has been rescued.

Image source, RSPCA

A passer-by saw the stuck animal on Monday and contacted the RSPCA for help.

The charity said the fox had fallen down a lightwell in Museum Street and had become stuck in the cellar which hadn't been used since the building was converted into flats.

RSPCA Inspector Thomas Hutton, who rescued the fox, said: “It was about a 15ft drop and he was unable to get back out.

"The passer-by said they spotted the fox trying to jump onto a windowsill but falling repeatedly back down, so this poor fella really needed help."

Mr Hutton said he had to crawl through the old cellar to reach the fox.

Following the rescue, the animal was taken to the nearby Museum Gardens and released back into the wild (pictured above).

People living in flats with Grenfell-style flammable cladding have reacted with anger to a government minister suggesting they will have to pay towards the cost of replacing it themselves.

The Building Safety Minister, Lord Greenhalgh, says costs will be kept "affordable" and the government has set up a £1.6bn fund to pay for repairing taller tower blocks.

But flat leaseholders like Abi Tubis in Leeds say the money is nowhere near enough: