Local Democracy Reporting Service

Scarborough council's finance director says "checks and balances" are in place to safeguard its £9m investment in the town's water park.

Image source, Geograph/Graham Robson

Nick Edwards has told councillors there are options open to the council which include taking possession of the North Bay attraction.

It comes after the operator of the £14m facility, Alpamare UK, secured a company voluntary arrangement earlier this month to stave off a winding-up petition brought by British Gas over an unpaid bill of approximately £700,000.

The firm said at the time that was fairly common when a company has debts but is still "a viable business".

The firm said it will still go ahead with plans to open a new spa and it's looked at the way it runs the business to better suit varying customer demand throughout the year.

Scarborough Borough Council gave a £9m loan to the developer of the water park, Benchmark Leisure, and there were some concerns from councillors and residents that repayments would be in jeopardy.

A former teacher has made an appeal for 16-year-old Pamela Horvathova to make contact after she hasn't been seen for six weeks.

The Darnall teenager hasn't been seen since 19 December at an event at iceSheffield.

Police officers have been searching part of the canal near the arena for clues as to where Pamela is:

BBC News Travel

The A1(M) southbound near Doncaster is heavily congested due to a broken-down vehicle carrying a combine harvester.

Lane one is closed, and the snow isn't helping with visibility in the area.

Drivers are being warned to take care.

"Disgusting" Tyson Wardle was 12 days from being freed when he threw human waste at prison officers.

Tonight's rugby league derby in Hull is on - despite the weather - after a pitch inspection at the city's Craven Park stadium.

It's "game on" as Hull KR take on city rivals Hull FC in their opening match of the 2019 Super League season:

Dozens of drawings by the legendary Leonardo Da Vinci have gone on display across Yorkshire to mark the 500th anniversary of his death.

Leeds and Sheffield will both host the original artworks which are being shown in a bid to make his sketches more accessible to people across the country.

The pieces date back to 1485 and include the collection A Design for Equestrian Movement.

There are no surviving sculptures of his work, but the drawings were a platform for his ideas.

Councillor Judith Blake, Leeds City Council leader, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be welcoming this exhibition to Leeds Art Gallery and for visitors to have the incredibly rare opportunity to see the work of one of history’s most gifted artistic and scientific minds."

Leeds Art Gallery and Sheffield's Millennium Art Gallery will exhibit the work from today.

Matt Dean
BBC Radio Humberside

Tonight's rugby league derby in Hull remains on - so far at least - with the home side monitoring the weather situation ahead of what's expected to be a "new record crowd" at Craven Park.

Hull KR are set to host city rivals Hull FC in their opening match of the 2019 Super League season tonight.

I'm told Craven Park pitch is fine, but the club is mindful of the safety of the surrounding areas, with a local rugby league official set to assess matters at lunchtime.

There'll be full coverage of the game on BBC Radio Humberside tonight, online and on all frequencies:

A prisoner at a Doncaster prison has had his sentence extended by almost two years after throwing faeces and urine at officers.

Image source, SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE

Tyson Wardle, 28, from Barnsley, threw a bucket of human waste which hit one officer.

Wardle was just 12 days away from being released when the incident happened in December, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

He was charged with administering poison and being destructive with intent to injure and aggrieve.

Det Chf Insp Steve Handley said: “We’ve been able deal with this incident quickly and ensure Wardle was brought before the courts for his disgusting actions."Prison staff should be able to come to work and do their jobs, without fear of such incidents occurring."

The chilly weather hasn't just created snow and ice on pavements and roads.

Rivers in North Yorkshire have been affected:

Image source, Tom Kolour

Tom Kolour took these pictures on the River Swale in Richmond.

He said: "I've lived in Richmond since leaving the Army in 1976 and no-one I know has ever seen them before."

Image source, Tom Kolour

The Met Office says "ice pancakes" are a relatively rare phenomenon that tends to occur in very cold oceans and lakes.

They are most frequently seen in the Baltic Sea and around Antarctica, but also form relatively frequently on the Great Lakes of the United States and Canada.

A spokesman said: "They are believed to form when foam on a river begins to freeze which begin to join together as they're sucked into an eddy [a swirling current of water] and form into a circular shape as a result.

"As other bits of frozen foam and ice hit the forming disc they freeze to it and increase its size."

Members of a Sheffield band are on course for their first number one album later.

Image source, Getty Images

Rock band Bring Me The Horizon released their sixth album last week.

In the midweek chart they were beating The Greatest Showman soundtrack.

They'll find out whether they've managed to hang on to the top spot this afternoon on BBC Radio 1 with Scott Mills.

A man has been arrested after items of clothing were stolen from a shop in Kirkstall after thieves used crowbars to get into the building.

Image source, Google

The JD Sports shop on Kirkstall retail park was targeted in the attack.

A large amount of North Face branded clothing was stolen at about 20:15.

A 24-year-old man has been arrested nearby in connection with the burglary, West Yorkshire Police said.

A white transit van was used to drive the items of clothing away and was involved in a crash at about 20:30 near the junction of Regent Street and New York Road.

The van was found abandoned nearby with some of the clothes still inside.

People will be sleeping out in Hull tonight to raise awareness about homelessness in the city.

The YMCA is running its annual Sleep Easy fund-raising event to support young people living in poverty and sleeping rough.

Fundraising co-ordinator Alan Burley said: "We're all safe in our nice warm homes and often feel it could never happen to us but unfortunately behind most rough sleepers there's a story that often revolves around a family breakdown or the loss of a job."

A similar event will be taking place in Grimsby.

A man is due to appear before Sheffield magistrates following the attack in the city's branch.

A man has been charged after a man was injured in a machete attack in Sheffield city centre yesterday.

Image source, James Martin

South Yorkshire Police said Sy Daouda, 21, of Wensley Street, Grimesthorpe, has been charged with a section 18 wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article.

He will appear at Sheffield Magistrates' Court later.

A 47-year-old man suffered non-life threatening injuries in the incident at McDonald's on High Street.

North Yorkshire's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has put forward a proposal to increase the amount people pay for services in the next financial year.

Julia Mulligan described the move as a "difficult decision", ith the proposal due to go before a panel for approval next week.

She is proposing an increase of more than 10% for the police precept and almost 3% for the fire service.

This works out as an average of about £24 a year, the highest amount she's allowed to ask for without holding a referendum.

She says the additional money for the police will be used to increase the number of officers by at least 50, alongside more PCSOs and new public safety officers.

it follows an announcement that some back office police and fire staff supporting the commissioner are to come together as one team from April.

The government should conduct a survey to find out why so many women are missing their smear tests, according to an East Yorkshire MP.

Cervical screening is at its lowest level for 20 years.

Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle, says it's important to find out why woman aren't able to be tested, to try and get more people going to their doctors.

Latest figures show around a quarter of women in Yorkshire, who are eligible for a smear test, haven't had one in over five years.

Tom Bell died from his injuries after being shot at through a pub window in Doncaster.

Rainbow flags will fly from council buildings in Bradford and Leeds this month to mark LGBT History Month.

Image source, Getty Images

There'll also be a special light show in Leeds tonight, while Bradford has film screenings and debates across the next few weeks.

Almost 20,000 tickets have been sold for this year's Tramlines music festival, according to organisers.

Image source, Getty Images

Courteeners, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers and Manic Street Preachers are just some of the big name acts set to play Sheffield's Hillsborough Park in July.

Tramlines bosses say two thirds of tickets have already been sold, with the festival site allowed to hold 30,000 people.

The boss of Hull Trains is urging passengers to give the company a second chance following a difficult few months for the rail firm.

Image source, Hull Trains

Problems with the current fleet have seen a series of cancellations and delays to passengers travelling between Hull and London, with the operator being left with no trains available at one point.

A new high speed train (HST) has been brought in from Great Western Railway to provide "resilience", according to managing director Louise Cheeseman.

"We're all very sad at Hull Trains and we are all hurting, but actually we've started to build ourselves back up", Ms Cheeseman said.

"Our HST will give us more resilience so our customers shouldn't see the level of disruption they have been experiencing."