A wildlife charity is trying to find out how many water voles there are in Yorkshire amid fears it is in decline.

Image source, PA/Barry Batchelor

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have recruited a trainee who will be out and about looking for signs of the semi-aquatic rodent.

It wants to find data to support anecdotal evidence, which suggests numbers of the once common mammal have gone down.

Play equipment in an East Yorkshire village has been "damaged beyond repair" by "mindless" vandals at the start of the Easter holidays, according to police.

Image source, Humberside Police

Police are investigating the arson attack at playing fields on Addison Road in Preston.

A slide and climbing frame were severely damaged.

The new play equipment, which was part funded by the residents and Preston Parish Council, is expected to be closed for some time for safety reasons.

PCSO Darren Bainton said: “I am absolutely appalled that this senseless act has caused such devastation to what is practically a brand new play area and at the heart of our community in Preston.

"I'm sure the young users of the park will be devastated that their favourite piece of play equipment is now destroyed, especially as we are in the school Easter holidays."

Humberside Police are appealing for information about the incident, which took place between 23:30 on Saturday 6 April and 09:30 on Sunday 7 April.

A woman accused of murdering her partner has admitted manslaughter.

Dianne Williamson, 70, died at a house in Gristhorpe, near Filey, North Yorkshire, on the evening of September 2 last year.

Her partner, 65-year-old Sheila Lockridge, was charged with murder but had pleaded not guilty.

She was due to stand trial at Leeds Crown Court on Monday, but prosecutors said the Crown had dropped the murder charge and accepted the defendant's guilty plea to the alternative charge of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Briefly outlining some of the details of the case, the prosecution explained how Lockridge and Miss Williamson's relationship had been marred by "conflict", adding that some witnesses had described the defendant's behaviour as "bullying".

Lockridge, of Lodge Gardens, Gristhorpe, was told by the judge to appear at the same court on Tuesday, when her sentencing may take place.

Children's nursery work was damaged during a burglary at a primary school in Scarborough.

Image source, Google

Thieves used a paving slab to smash a double-glazed door at Braeburn School, in Eastfield, before entering the nursery and carrying out an "untidy search".

A number of windows at the school were also broken during the incident at about 23:30 on Monday 1 April.

The offenders had fled the scene before the police arrived.

A motorist was stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs in Wakefield and police found they were carrying a knife and a BB gun.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police shared photographs of the items on Twitter.

He also said he was going to carry out a school shooting and praised Adolf Hitler, a court hears.

Police are appealing for information after a taxi driver was assaulted in Richmond.

Image source, Google

Officers say they want the public’s assistance to help "establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident" on Newbiggin.

Anyone who witnessed the assault at 02:15 on Monday 1 April is asked to get in touch with North Yorkshire Police.

A Halifax rugby fan gets a stag do surprise when he’s led on to the pitch as a club mascot.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Roundhay Park In Leeds could soon become one of the biggest outdoor concert venues in the country.

Ed Sheeran is set to play two nights there on August 16 and August 17 and the council now wants to increase the scope for larger-scale live events to take place in Leeds's biggest park.

In the 1980s and 1990s Roundhay Park hosted the biggest pop acts on the planet including the Rolling Stones, Madonna and U2.

The park had previously held a licence for events capacity of 79,999, but this was reduced in 2006 due to the lack of demand at the time.

Leeds City Council wants to increase capacity to almost 80,000, dwarfing its current capacity of just under 20,000.

This would put capacity on a par with the likes of London's Twickenham Stadium and Old Trafford in Manchester.

A Pocklington man is in hospital with a serious head injury after he was assaulted while confronting illegal metal detectors on his land, police say.

Police say he challenged the men who were "nighthawking" on Yapham Road shortly after midnight on Saturday 6 April.

The suspects left the scene in a silver vehicle, believed to be an Audi, and the victim is currently in a stable condition.

Humberside Police say "nighthawking" often involves archaeological sites, with offenders often stealing coins and other artifacts for their historical and financial value.

In a statement, police said: "Counties such as the East Riding of Yorkshire are particularly vulnerable due to the rich heritage and large amounts of arable land."

Leeds council wants to increase the crowd capacity for live events at Roundhay Park to 80,000.

A major conference in Bradford is hearing more money's needed to tackle child sexual exploitation and "grooming gangs".

Image source, Getty Images

Survivors and experts from across the country are discussing ways to combat grooming and sexual abuse at the national event.

It's been organised by the Muslim-led campaign group Together Against Grooming, and follows a number of high-profile cases in West Yorkshire.

Some of the leading experts on the issue are asking challenging questions about how cultural factors affect certain types of abuse.

Dr Ella Cockbain, a lecturer in child sexual exploitation, says pointing the finger at Asian communities isn't helpful.

She said: "Child sexual abuse is endemic across the country, this isn't unique to West Yorkshire.

"One of the main affects of the racialisation of the debate around child abuse is it makes it very difficult to talk about child abuse within Asian communities because of the fear of the far-right hijacking this narrative.

"One of the great things about today is saying, 'yes there's a problem here, just as there's a problem in many other communities'."

South Yorkshire firefighters have been thanked for their help after a cat was rescued from a house fire.

Image source, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

The crew were fighting a blaze over the border in Derbyshire when they were told by the homeowner that their pet cat Bella was still inside.

The firefighters, who are based at Rotherham, went back into the smoke-filled house to search for the cat returning 10 minutes later with her.

Bella has since made a full recovery.

Police say there's been a significant fall in reports of suspected hare coursing across East Yorkshire.

Image source, Humberside Police

Humberside Police received reports of 332 incidents of suspected daytime hare coursing between the 1 August last year and this month.

The vast majority, 259, were in East Yorkshire, with 73 in northern Lincolnshire.

The number of reported incidents is down from 508 over a similar period the previous year.

Humberside Police says its using dispersal powers and other anti-social behaviour legislation to try to prevent hare coursing.

A group of men attacked the victim before making off with his Mercedes near Rotherham, police say.

A North Yorkshire family is taking part in a trial scheme at a prison, where inmates are filmed reading bedtime stories to their children.

Prisoners at the jail in Nottinghamshire will be given a DVD where the storybook is animated behind them, in a bid to try and tackle reoffending.

The Storybook Dads programme means children like Dilion, who lives in North Yorkshire, will be able to watch and listen to his Dad Sean from home.

Sean said: "I want him to grow up knowing who I am, to show that I'm thinking about him, that I care about him."

Joe Smith, now 23, was a child when he committed crimes dating back to 2006.

The complaints stem from the ex-Rolling Stone's relationship with a teenage Mandy Smith in the 1980s.

An art gallery in Hull has acquired a painting by one of East Yorkshire's "most celebrated artists".

Image source, Ferens Art Gallery/Ian McKeever

The Ferens Art Gallery has secured Withernsea-born artist Ian McKeever's Portrait of a Woman for its permanent collection.

The picture was donated by the artist along with five works on paper.

Stephanie Jones, exhibitions assistant at Ferens Art Gallery, said: said: “We are very proud to have secured this important contemporary painting by the locally born artist Ian McKeever.

“McKeever was inspired by the work of Stanley Spencer at the Ferens Art Gallery as a boy, so it seems very appropriate that we have come full circle to acquire an example of his own work for our permanent collection."

A motorist's hand has been severed in an attack in Rotherham yesterday, police say.

It happened at about 22:50 on East Bawtry Road in the Whiston area.

Officers say the man was travelling alone in a white Mercedes when he pulled over close to the junction with Lease Gate Road.

As he got out of his vehicle he was approached by a group of unknown men and attacked with a metal weapon.

Police say: "During the incident the man's hand was severed."

They say they are unsure what the weapon used in the attack was.

Officers say the victim remains in a serious, but stable, condition in hospital.

The South Yorkshire force want anyone with any information about the incident to contact them.