BBC Sport

Bradford City have signed Leeds United defender Paudie O'Connor on loan until the end of the season.

Image source, Getty Images

O'Connor, 21, started the campaign on loan with the Bantams' League One rivals Blackpool, playing 17 times.

He could make his debut for Bradford in Saturday's trip to Yorkshire rivals Barnsley.

"Paudie is a physical defender, who loves to get stuck in and he will put everything on the line for us," boss David Hopkin told the club website., external

Local Democracy Reporting Service

It's been revealed more than £84,000 was spent investigating allegations against a senior councillor who was cleared of wrongdoing at a standards hearing last week.

Image source, Google

Liberal Democrat Keith Aspden said the two year fight to clear his name, after accusations he brought hard copies of job applications into a pub in York and had a close connection with a candidate, had been "hugely distressing."

The City of York Council has now confirmed £41,415 was spent on an investigation and £43,100 on a further report.

A spokesman for the council said: "We had a legal duty to investigate a whistleblowing allegation which concluded in July 2017.

"The standards committee decided this matter needed further investigation which resulted in the hearing

"We accept this has been an extremely complex and sensitive matter and we appreciate it's been difficult for all involved."

The committee concluded forms were not taken to the pub, Councillor Aspden did not improperly use his position to obtain an advantage for the candidate and did not bring the council into disrepute.

It's been revealed that Doncaster Council spent £92,000 on paupers' funerals in the last financial year.

The South Yorkshire authority was the third highest spending council out of 275 to respond to Freedom of Information requests from Royal London insurers.

This figure is actually down from the 80 public health funerals held in 2016/17 at a cost of just under £120,000.

Bradford was also included in the list of areas spending the most on paupers' funerals, the city was seventh in the national table.

Birmingham spent the most, with public health funerals costing the city council £990,437.

BBC Sport

England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow has signed a new three-year deal with Yorkshire

Image source, Getty Images

Bairstow has been at Headingley since the age of 11 and made his first-class debut for the county in 2009.

The 29-year-old has scored more 6,000 first-class runs for the tykes, at an average of 51.15.

A record-breaking number of people went to Hull Minster last year.

It's the highest number since more than £4.5m was spent on developing the building.

Image source, Hull Minster

The 2018 visitor numbers are more than three times the 70,000 who came to the Minster during Hull’s year as UK City of Culture 2017 and a dramatic increase from 2010 when just 14,000 visitors were recorded.

Art installations and major events are being credited for the improvement in visitor numbers.

The University of York contributes £1.8bn to the UK economy, according to an independent report by London Economics.

Image source, Historic England

It's based on the impact of research, teaching, and students both locally and internationally in the 2016/17 academic year.

The report says research alone at the university generated more than £537m, that's one of the biggest impacts on the economy.

Institutional and student expenditure came top at £702m.

The university says the report highlights York's global significance in research.

The figures will be presented to a conference today on current research projects at York, which include investigations on how nature can influence mental health, tropical disease and the thought processes of babies.

Plans for a £20m transformation of one of the busiest streets in Leeds are to be looked at by officials in the city today.

Image source, Google

The Headrow is home to many of Leeds' civic and cultural buildings, including Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Town Hall and Henry Moore Institute, as well as many flagship stores.

The multi-million plans include wider pavements, cycle lanes, more restrictions on traffic and new public open spaces.

Officials say they want to make the busy road friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists, while also trying to cut air pollution.

It's thought the transformation could double the number of bus users in just seven years.

Decision makers at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will study the plans today.

Plans to give beggars in Wakefield on-the-spot fines are expected to be scrapped.

The council was considering introducing public space protection orders (PSPOs) in Pontefract and Castleford town centres, as well as Wakefield city centre, which would mean beggars could be fined £100.

But after a public consultation and talks with the police, the council's decided the measure would not be "appropriate".

The council and the police have now agreed a plan which involves offering support to individuals such as help with housing, benefits or addiction.

Council leader Peter Box said: "We want people to go about their daily life without being threatened or feeling intimidated.

"We have taken on board the experiences of other local councils that PSPOs are not the most effective way forward."

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after crashing a car when he was driving away from police in Doncaster.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

Officers said the boy hit speeds of 90mph on Leger Way, Doncaster, before crashing the Ford Focus into a lamppost.

The driver is then said to have climbed out the car and tried "running off", but was arrested a short time later.

South Yorkshire Police said the boy had been arrested for a variety of driving offences.

BBC News Travel

If you're making a journey on the rails in Yorkshire today services seem to be running pretty much 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

BBC Weather

Today looks set to be cloudy, breezy and chilly with the chance of one or two light showers, especially during the morning.

Tonight will be mostly dry with a few clear spells, allowing it to become quite cold again.

A girl who walked from Leeds to London to raise awareness for mental health is calling on teachers to do more to support students.

Image source, Google

Chloe Bellerby, from Harrogate, says she also wants the government to help schools implement a support system for pupils.

The teenager walked just under 200 miles in 10 days, after battling with depression and suicidal thoughts, to raise money for mental health charity Mind.

She said her own diagnosis of depression made her day-to-day life "an exhausting struggle."

She's now spoken to teachers at a school in Skipton in North Yorkshire about spotting the signs and helping pupils.

She says: "I think teachers are going to have the biggest impact working with children with mental health problems.

"From my own experience my teacher made the biggest impact on me more than any mental health care professional."

England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow signs a new three-year deal with Yorkshire.

Some people who live near the former Futurist Theatre in Scarborough say cracks have appeared in their homes since demolition work began at the venue.

Work to clear the site began in April last year.

Residents were told piling work would not be used without prior warning, but the company involved has apologised after the work took place without warning when a construction manager "forgot."

The company says the cracks are age-related and were not caused by the work.

Scarborough Borough Council says it hasn't seen any photographic evidence of cracks in people's homes.

Police say a large quantity of cannabis discovered in a South Yorkshire park has been taken to be destroyed.

Image source, Rotherham Central NHP

Officers from Rotherham said the drugs had been found dumped in a park in Greasbrough,

They shared this photo of the haul on social media, but some people questioned whether it was drugs at all, suggesting instead it might be garden leaves, a bush, a Japanese maple or compost.

A man organising a break for homeless people says they face discrimination after the booking was cancelled.

Championship strugglers Ipswich Town sign Huddersfield Town forward Collin Quaner on loan until the end of the season.

Former Reading defender Sam Sodje has denied laundering £30,000 linked to an international scam.

Have you seen this man in Leeds railway station?

Police would like to speak to him after a woman was sexually assaulted.

Image source, WEST YORKSHIRE POLICE

On 14 December at about 09:00, the victim was travelling up an escalator at Leeds station.

She saw a man who was trying to come down the same escalator.

When she pointed him in the right direction, the man sexually assaulted her.

Police would like anyone who may have information about the incident to get in contact.

The Diocese of Sheffield is getting £3.5m for teams based at Rotherham Minster and churches in the Dearne Valley.

Image source, Ian S/Geograph

The fund, from the Church of England, will be used to attract clergy and youth workers and reach out to bring new people into services.

The church hopes to bring in 1,000 more adults along with 1,000 young people.