The decision by Marks and Spencer to shut its store in Keighley, West Yorkshire, is "unbelievable", according to one trader in the town.

Image source, Reuters

The Keighley closure is one of 14 planned by the supermarket chain as part of a restructuring programme.

It follows a disappointing Christmas period for M&S, when sales of both food and clothing fell.

The company says it hopes those affected can be redeployed.

Stephen Holland, who runs a pet supplies stall in Keighley's market, says the news has come as a bombshell in the town.

He says: "Marks and Spencer has been an institution for years. We can't believe it. It's just unbelievable that they can actually shut."

The boss of Yorkshire Water says the firm's plan to plant one million trees on its land over the next 10 years will mean new opportunities for local residents to get out and about.

The trees will be planted to help in the creation of a Northern Forest, according to Yorkshire Water chief executive Richard Flint.

Earlier this month, the government said it was providing £5.7m to increase tree cover along a belt spanning Manchester, Leeds and Bradford.

Mr Flint says: "We want to see these new woodlands provide opportunities for local people to get out and enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits that spending time in the natural environment can provide.

"We want to support the growth of the Northern Forest and hope our commitment will encourage others to play their part."

More on the news that a convicted sex offender from Bradford has been jailed for 21 months plus four years on licence for attempting to sexually assault an 11-year-old girl at a pantomime.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police/Google

Malcolm Naylor, 70, of Rushton Road in Bradford, sat next to the girl during Peter Pan at Bradford Alhambra Theatre on 24 January.

At Naylor's sentencing today, Recorder Simon Batiste said: "This was not a momentary lapse of control. You had no genuine reason to attend this pantomime; you saw it as an environment to sexually abuse a child."

Mr Batiste said he was satisfied that Naylor went to the panto on his own "because you knew there would be children present and it would give you the opportunity to satisfy your perverted lust".

Leeds Crown Court was told the girl had suffered anxiety, bed-wetting and was scared to be alone as a result of what Naylor had done.

Naylor has a string of previous convictions for sex assaults on young girls, including indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl and another girl after drugging them."

The Chairman of the Yorkshire Dales Park Authority has written an open letter to people who own second homes in the area.

In it, Carl Lis explains why the authority's considering asking them to pay more council tax.

The letter explains how the high proportion of second homes in the Dales is one of the factors contributing to the decline of some towns and villages.

In the letter, Mr Lis says: "Too many second homes are bad for local communities. Plenty of studies have shown it to be the case.

"For every new home we build in the National Park, two existing homes become second homes or holiday lets," he adds.

"That leaves us with only two options. We do something, or we shrug our shoulders and do nothing."

Malcolm Naylor, 70, went to the pantomime alone and tried to assault an 11-year-old girl.

The University of Sheffield has been named as a top employer for workplace equality for the fifth year in a row.

It's ranked been ranked 24th in the LGBT charity Stonewall's Top 100 Employers list.

The list, which has been published every year since 2005, showcases the best places to work for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff.

David Carr was dismissed after a row erupted involving his decision to dismiss a colleague.

BBC Sport

Leeds United have signed West Bromwich Albion striker Tyler Roberts for an undisclosed fee, reported to be about £2.5m.

Image source, Getty Images

Roberts, who never started a game for the Baggies, has agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal at Elland Road.

The 19-year-old scored five goals in 19 games on loan at League One side Walsall this season.

He could make his debut for Thomas Christiansen's Leeds side against Cardiff City on Saturday.

Yorkshire Post

A Yorkshire farmer famous for her TV appearances and self-sufficient frugality has died, external at the age of 91.

Image source, Yorkshire Post

The City of York Council's opposition group say they have "real concerns for stable and effective governance of the city" after the council's leader was sacked.

David Carr's dismissal followed a vote of no confidence by members of his own party, after a row over his decision to sack a senior councillor.

He's been replaced as Conservative leader by Ian Gillies, who could be elected leader of the council at the next full council meeting.

But Mr Carr says all the decisions he's made will prove to have been the right ones:

Leeds International Festival has announced this year's line-up this lunchtime and it will include talks by Helen Sharman CMG OBE, Sarah Beeny, and Steve Lamacq., external

The new event bills itself as the UK's leading metropolitan festival of new ideas and innovation.

Image source, National Waterfront Museum in Swansea

Talks on all sorts of subjects have been planned including Dr Kate Devlin discussing the history of sex and technology and how the advent of AI throws up complicated questions around the issue.

There's also a talk on space travel in the future hosted by first Briton in space Helen Sharman and BBC TV presenter Dallas Campbell.

The event runs for a fortnight and includes numerous musical performances as well - tickets go on sale on Friday.

Championship side Leeds sign West Brom striker Tyler Roberts for an undisclosed fee on a four-and-a-half-year deal.

South Yorkshire Police are warning people to be vigilant after two cases of men trying to con elderly people out of thousands of pounds in Barnsley.

In both cases, they went to the homes of elderly residents telling them they needed work doing before taking them to a bank to withdraw thousands of pounds.

In both cases the banks alerted police before any money was handed over.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

Detective Sergeant Claire Moss, investigating, said:

"I’d like to ask residents to be vigilant and be mindful of anyone offering to do work who does not seem genuine. If you have elderly friends of relatives who you think could be vulnerable to incidents like this, please talk to them and ask them to call us to report anything suspicious.”

BBC Weather

Image source, Met Office

The Met Office has issued a weather warning of ice , externalaffecting Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Western parts of North Yorkshire..

It's in force from 18:00 tonight through till 10:00 tomorrow.

It says following a spell of rain, sleet and snow, temperatures will fall quickly, allowing ice to form on untreated surfaces.

A convicted sex offender has been jailed for 21 months plus four years on licence for attempting to sexually assault an 11-year-old girl at a pantomime.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

Malcolm Naylor, 70 of Rushton Road in Bradford, sat next to the girl during Peter Pan at Bradford Alhambra Theatre on 24 January.

He escaped through an emergency exit when the girl alerted a relative and an usher, jurors were told.

Stephen Wood, prosecuting, said Naylor, an Oxford University chemistry graduate, had gone to the pantomime alone.

During his trial jurors heard he had previous convictions for indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl and another female after drugging them.

Leeds Rhinos have created a team of people who have physical disabilities.

It's the only the second of its kind in the country.

They have their first game away at Warrington on Sunday, with the Last Leg's Adam Hills and Alex Brooker there.

Take a look at their preparations:

A woman who runs an alcohol recovery service in York has backed plans to train council staff to spot signs of excessive drinking.

Hundreds of frontline North Yorkshire County Council staff and volunteers have been trained to step in and help if they think someone needs support to moderate their drinking.

It's after it was revealed in a council report that nearly 5,500 people across North Yorkshire are dependent on alcohol.

Claire Cook, who says she used to drink "24 hours a day", runs York Alcohol Forum and Smart Recovery.

She says it's vital that staff get the right training:

The night sky above Yorkshire has a special display in store tonight with a lunar event being called the "super blue blood Moon".

Image source, SPL

The super Moon should appear about 7% larger than average and about 15% brighter.

For Australia, Asia and some parts of the US, external and Eastern Europe, there is a lunar eclipse, as the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon.

On the very same night, our only natural satellite enters the closest point to us in its elliptical orbit.

It will also be the second full Moon of the month, commonly called a Blue Moon.

The word "blood" has been used to describe the deep red colour of the sunlight that passes through Earth's atmosphere to illuminate our celestial neighbour.

As always though, the whole thing could be obscured behind cloud, with current forecasts showing cloud and rain until about 01:00 tomorrow morning here in Yorkshire.

Gary Leslie, from the West Yorkshire Astronomical Society, says: "It's got nothing to do with the Moon being blue. It all stems back hundreds of years to an American almanac - for some reason they called the fourth full moon a Blue Moon.

"Unfortunately we won't see the the eclipse - that will only be seen in the southern hemisphere, but it will appear red to us."

BBC Sport

Doncaster Rovers boss Darren Ferguson has been fined £1,000 by the Football Association after saying he would "shoot" League One's "appalling" referees.

Image source, PA

He admitted a misconduct charge in relation to post-match comments following his side's 1-1 draw with Plymouth on 13 January.

The 45-year-old also issued an apology via the club following the game.

Ferguson admitted at an FA hearing his comments were improper and brought the game into disrepute.

A man has been jailed for 21 months plus four years on licence for attempting to sexually assault an 11-year-old girl at a pantomime in Bradford.

More to follow...