A new Leeds-based specialist service for ex-forces personnel struggling with mental health problems, has seen 85 veterans in its first six months.

The service for veterans across the north of England provides help to those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Simon Brown, from Leeds, was diagnosed with PTSD in 2007 after serving in Kosovo and Iraq.

He describes himself as a "survivor not a victim" and says the treatment is "rebuilding lives":

Universal Credit, the government’s new benefit payment, is being rolled out in Sheffield today.

The payment affects working-age people.

It is gradually being introduced across the country by the Department of Work and Pensions.

It replaces six existing benefits for people on low pay or without work.

Universal Credit only applies to people making new claims or those who have had a change of circumstances.

Frances Potter, from Citizens Advice Sheffield, says: "For a lot of people the new benefit will be a bit confusing.

"If you're on benefits now, and nothing has changed, you don't need to take any action.

"If you do need to make a claim, before you do anything get advice, because the benefit is quite tricky to manage as it has to be done on line."

BBC News Travel

Some train services from Barnsley are delayed or cancelled because the rails are "too slippery".

Image source, National Rail

With the weather turning drizzly, it means the trains can't grip the track in the way they would on a dry day.

Some services are being cancelled because of it.

The boss of York-based Persimmon Jeff Fairburn is to leave after a row over his £75m pay award.

Persimmon said he left by "mutual agreement and at the request of the company".

The issue was having a "negative impact" on the firm's reputation and "consequently on Jeff's ability to continue in his role", it said.

Last month Mr Fairburn walked away from a BBC interview when asked about his pay.

BBC Weather

Cloudy with outbreaks of light rain this morning, but brighter into the afternoon with sunny intervals. It's also going to be quite a windy day.

Tonight there'll be more rain showers, but it should turn dry after midnight with clear periods, allowing it to become rather chilly.

BBC News Travel

If you're making a journey on the rails in Yorkshire today, most services appear to be running to time at the moment.

For all the latest live updates from the county's main railway stations, click on the links below:

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

Hundreds of memorial stones have been ripped up by council workers and dumped in a crematorium car park, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Image source, LDRS

Tracie Ogilvie was told the destroyed memorial for her husband Michael Wike had been sent for landfill.

The family made the discovery when they went to lay flowers at Huddersfield Crematorium on the 27th anniversary of his death.

The council said it had sent a letter notifying relatives that leases for the kerb plaques expired in January 2017.

It said it was relocating the memorial stones and had given families the option of buying a new lease.

An inquest into the death of a nine-year-old girl who died in a rock fall on a North Yorkshire beach is due to take place later.

Image source, Family photo

Harriet Forster suffered serious head injuries in Staithes, north of Whitby, in August.

The youngster, from Oxfordshire, was visiting the area with her family at the time.

In a statement issued shortly after her death, Harriet's family described her as "the light of their lives."

There was a narrow escape for this driver who had to dodge a bouncing caravan wheel on the M62:

Leeds says it will "phase out the amount of plastic products and packaging" entering its whole site.

More than 200 people have been referred to an NHS service supporting former members of the armed forces.

Bradford City plan to hold a testimonial fixture for Stephen Darby, who was forced to retire in September, early in 2019.

The memorial stones have been broken up and dumped by council workers.

YorkMix

It's the answer to the question you never thought to ask: Where precisely is the centre of Yorkshire? Now we know, because cartological experts at Ordnance Survey have worked it out, external.

Image source, YorkMix

Yorkshire researchers have been given £10m to develop and use artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosing cancer.

Image source, University of Leeds

The government funds will allow digital scanners to be installed in hospitals in West Yorkshire and Harrogate.

It means samples of tissue cells can be digitally scanned, stored and analysed, with the data being used to "train" computers how to make a diagnosis.

A Leeds NHS Trust spokesman said the scheme would help "diagnose cancer faster, better and at lower cost".

Dr Yvette Oade, chief medical officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "This is a really exciting step for patients because computers using artificial intelligence can be trained to recognise the patterns of disease.

"This is a huge opportunity for Yorkshire to lead in this new area and further enhance our position as a hub for medical technology."

Armed robbers struck at a phone shop in Dewsbury this lunchtime.

Image source, Google

The masked men went into Pulse Phone on Huddersfield Road just after midday armed with a knife.

West Yorkshire Police say they've arrested a man in connection with the robbery.

No-one was injured and nothing was stolen during the raid.

The future of Leeds' "managed" sex zone will be debated next week, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Image source, PA

It follows calls last month from Leeds Central Labour MP Hilary Benn for the council to hold an independent review into what has been dubbed Britain's first "legal" red light zone .

Councillors are expected to debate the issue at its full meeting next week.

It comes after a Conservative councillor called for the authority to prove it can either make the "managed approach" in Holbeck work or stop it altogether.

Campaigners have welcomed the move claiming it will allow members of the council to see what life is like for people living in the area.

Taxi drivers using electric cars could get up to £3,000 from Leeds City Council in a bid to get drivers to make the switch.

Image source, Getty Images

Leeds City Council is expected to discuss plans later to give drivers with low emission vehicles a grant or loan when the city's Clean Air Zone is introduced in 2020.

The zone will see some vehicles, like lorries and taxis, be charged for driving in the city to discourage drivers and help cut pollution, according to the council.

However, there are concerns from some taxi drivers that a £15,000 car is still too expensive.

All PCSOs and 130 police officers could be cut in East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire if pension changes go ahead, according to a group of MPs.

Eight MPs from the area have written to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid to raise concerns about government plans to increase the amount police forces contribute to officers' pensions.

It could cost the force £2.6m next year and £6.6m the year after, according to Humberside Police.

Police would like to speak to this man after an assault in Leeds which left another man with a fractured jaw:

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

The attack happened on 26 October at McDonalds on Briggate in the city centre.

A 26-year-old man got into an argument with a group of men before one of the group hit him in the face, knocking him to the floor.

Det Insp Richard Holmes said: "This assault left a man with serious facial injuries and it is important we identify the man pictured in these CCTV images."