Officials in Leeds say they want culture to be firmly at the heart of the city's future.

Yesterday, plans for the city if it wins its bid to become European Capital of Culture 2023 were finally unveiled.

The plans include a full-sized lighthouse built in a new city park in honour of Leeds-born civil engineer John Smeaton, who built the famous Eddystone Lighthouse.

The bid will be formally submitted in two weeks' time.

Matt Burman, a member of the bid's programme team, says the scale of some of the planned events isn't without risk, but that doesn't worry him:

Barnsley Labour MP Dan Jarvis believes an option is still on the table for a Yorkshire-wide devolution deal and says he is not taking no for an answer.

His comments follow a debate in Parliament last night during which the government told Barnsley and Doncaster to get on with the South Yorkshire agreement they signed up to two years ago as they can't join a Yorkshire-wide deal.

Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry also confirmed the election for a South Yorkshire Mayor will take place next year.

Mr Jarvis says he wants the stalemate over devolution to be resolved:

John Sentamu is asked to call a meeting of those involved in the Yorkshire devolution process.

A rather rough encounter with a whale has disrupted the journey of North Yorkshire trans-Atlantic yachtsman James Hetherton.

The 59-year-old who is taking part in the round the world Clipper Race had reached Uruguay when he and his shipmates met the rather large obstacle.

He says they couldn't steer the boat after a whale took off the rudder:

Pritti Mistry
BBC Local Live

A pub in a tiny North Yorkshire village has become the first restaurant in the UK to be named best in the world by travel website Tripadvisor.

The Black Swan in Oldstead, on the edge of the North York Moors near Thirsk, beat a host of establishments from a global list including Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck and Raymond Blanc's Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons.

Image source, The Black Swan

TripAdvisor said it was the "first time" a British restaurant has won its Travellers' Choice Favourite Fine Dining Restaurants Worldwide award since it began in 2012.

It also said the winner was selected on the basis of millions of reviews and opinions collected on their site over a 12-month period.

Image source, The Black Swan

The family-owned pub is run by Tommy Banks, who's the UK's youngest chef to win a Michelin star four years ago at the age of 24, and his brother James.

Police say a 49-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer near a fracking site at Kirby Misperton, in Ryedale.

Two women have also been arrested there this morning on suspicion of obstructing the highway.

All three remain in police custody.

Third Energy was initially given planning permission to operate on the site in May 2016.

Opponents say fracking can cause water contamination, earthquakes and noise and traffic pollution.

A remote town in the Yorkshire Dales may be among the first community in England to run its own petrol station.

Image source, Google

A community partnership in Hawes will take on a lease on the filling station next month and hopes to buy it eventually.

They want to make sure residents and tourists can fill up even at weekends.

The group has already taken over the library and post office that were threatened with closure.

The Bradford Bulls Ladies’ Squad were given a civic reception at City Hall last night after winning the first Women’s Super League Grand Final.

Image source, Bradford Council

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Coun Abid Hussain, was there to welcome the players after their all-conquering season.

They beat Featherstone Rovers 36-6 in the Women’s Super League Grand Final at Manchester Regional Arena, last Saturday.

Ten of the players have been called up to play for the England team in the Women's Rugby League World Cup.

Plans to downgrade Huddersfield Royal Infirmary will be discussed by health officials over the next few days.

The proposals, which include closing the A&E in Huddersfield and moving emergency care to Halifax, have been opposed by campaigners.

The governing bodies of the groups that buy in healthcare for Calderdale and Huddersfield will discuss whether the plans make financial sense and meet key criteria.

Christina George is from the Hands off HRI campaign.

She says she thinks a number of doctors in Huddersfield support the move:

The future of 21 schools in Wakefield looks more certain today after the Department for Education (DfE) announced that they have identified new "preferred trusts".

Last month Wakefield City Academies Trust (WCAT) said it was unable to "facilitate the rapid improvement" of the academies and announced it was pulling out of the schools.

At the time, the DfE said many of the schools within the trust, external were performing below the national average.

Today eight new trusts have been put forward to take over the running of the 21 schools and the DfE will now consult parents about their views.

Police "urgently want to find" a man who has been staying at a homeless shelter in Leeds but has now gone missing.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

Paul Simpson, 29, had been staying at St George’s Crypt, but yesterday afternoon he arrived after an incident that had left him with an injury on his face.

He'd been assaulted by an unknown man in a nearby park, but after arriving at the shelter, he became distressed and left again.

Police say they're looking for him across the city centre and are "very concerned for Paul’s welfare".

The prospect of Yorkshire devolving its power from Westminster has been in the news quite a bit recently and last night there was even a short debate about it in Parliament.

But it's a complicated subject, with many opinions and disagreements over what should happen where we live.

So what's going on? Here's what you need to know:

• The idea of elected regional assemblies was first floated in 2003 by John Prescott, but dropped after a lack of public support
• Fast forward to 2014 and the Scottish referendum and the debate over control in regional spending ignites
• In 2015, the then chancellor George Osborne announced a £900m deal for an elected mayor for South Yorkshire and parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
• But, Derbyshire County Council took a challenge to the High Court claiming people in Chesterfield had not been properly consulted
• Derbyshire won and after the general election it was announced that a vote for a new mayor would be pushed back to 2018
• Meanwhile, other councils around Yorkshire say they want a region-wide deal - the "One Yorkshire" deal - which has the backing of 17 of the 20 local authorities in Yorkshire
• Despite this support, the One Yorkshire deal has so far been rejected by the government
• Last month, leaders of Barnsley and Doncaster councils - half the councils involved in the South Yorkshire deal - said it was "no longer possible" and they wanted to pursue a Yorkshire-wide deal
• But, that 2015 agreement to hand power to South Yorkshire still stands in the way and the government says it will not consider any deal which would "cut across or unravel" that agreement
• It's stalemate. Last night, Keighley Labour MP John Grogan appealed to the Archbishop of York to help mediate between the different parties

Police hunting a man who sexually assaulted a woman in Sheffield have released this e-fit image in the hope somebody may recognise him:

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

The incident happened at about 15:00 on Wednesday 23 August on Chippingham Street, Attercliffe.

The man asked the woman for her phone number as she was walking along the street and when she declined he began to touch her inappropriately and tried to kiss her.

Anyone with information about the incident or about the man's identity is being urged to contact police.

More than 100 people gathered in the centre of York last night to speak out against homelessness.

People performed and spoke about their experience of living on the streets.

The event was held following the death of homeless man in a city centre shop doorway:

A word of warning if you're planning to use Huddersfield or Dewsbury train station at the end of this month: they'll be closed for two days.

Network Rail says it's having to shut the stations on 28 and 29 October so improvement work to the signalling system can take place.

It means there'll be no services travelling through the stations and services to places including Leeds and Manchester will be replaced by up to 25 buses an hour.

This is the second in a three-stage plan to upgrade the lines and Network Rail says it'll result in "a more reliable, modern and cost-effective railway".

A car crash near York has resulted in one vehicle and its occupants going into a pond and another bursting into flames.

The accident happened on Sandy Lane at Stockton on the Forest, around midnight and involved a Mini Cooper and a Vauxhall Astra.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Police say the Mini left the road and landed in a large pond.

Three men inside were able to get out and were taken by ambulance to York Hospital and Leeds GeneraI Infirmary, two suffered serious injuries and one person had minor injuries.

The Astra continued a short distance before it also left the road and burst into flames. The driver was taken to York Hospital by ambulance with minor injuries.

Police are still investigating the cause of the accidents and the road is expected to remain closed until later in the morning.

Witnesses are being urged to contact North Yorkshire Police.

Would you like to see Yorkshire have more devolved power from Westminster?

Most councils in the region, 17 of them, back plans for a single devolution deal here, with power to make decisions on issues including transport, jobs, skills and business support.

Keighley Labour MP, John Grogan, called a debate in Westminster last night to kick-start talks.

He says he put the case for "One Yorkshire" as powerfully as he could:

The government says it is willing to discuss a "Greater Yorkshire" devolution deal, but not one only for South Yorkshire.

Ministers say they don't want to undermine next year's election for a Sheffield City Region mayor, even though Barnsley and Doncaster leaders have withdrawn their support.

Have you seen this missing Mirfield man?

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

Roy Castlehouse, 80, was reported missing from his home yesterday.

He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a shirt, tie and navy blue jacket.

If you think you've seen him, call West Yorkshire Police on 101.

Police say two people have locked themselves into a device and are lying in the middle of Habton Road, near Kirby Misperton, this morning.

Image source, Kirby Misperton Protection Camp

The road is currently closed to all traffic, and residents are being advised to use alternative routes for their journeys.

Officers say the road has been blocked since about 06.30, and is likely to remain so for some time.

Police are at the scene assessing the situation, and providing advice to local motorists.

Two children were shot at and forced to jump into a pond by youngsters who threatened them with a BB gun in South Yorkshire.

Police officers said the youngsters, both aged 11, had been forced to jump into open water.

One of the children had been injured with a BB pellet as he jumped into the water.

The pair who forced the youngsters into the open water were aged about 12 or 13-years-old, police say.

The incident happened at the pit pond in Thurnscoe, Barnsley, just off Tudor Street, between 14:00 and 16:00hrsn Saturday 23 September.

The boys with the BB gun are described as white, with one wearing a red t-shirt and the other wearing a white t-shirt.

Police want to hear from any witnesses.