The University of Leeds is using robots to help sanitise parts of the city centre.

Flights from Leeds-based airline Jet2 to Spanish islands popular with UK holidaymakers will remain suspended for a further week because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Image source, PA Media

The airline said it was halting flights following the government's advice regarding travelling to the Balearic and Canary Islands from the UK.

The government advises against all non-essential travel to Spain to including the Balearic and Canary Islands following a rise in coronavirus cases.

Jet2 said the "blanket ban approach" from the government had caused uncertainty for holidaymakers.

It had previously asked some customers to end their package holidays early with flights being suspended up to and including 9 August.

Flights to the Balearic and Canary Islands will now remain suspended up to and including 15 August.

This follows a decision to suspend all holidays and flights to destinations in mainland Spain - Costa de Almeria, Alicante, Malaga and Murcia - up to and including 16 August.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Bradford will be setting up its own test and trace programme in a bid to “break the chain of transmission” in the district.

Image source, PA Media

Bradford Council made the annoucement today, saying the national track and trace programme “can only do so much” and that some in the district could not be contacted by the national programme.

The first tracing teams could be in place in the next couple of weeks.

The city is the latest area to announce it is running its own system, having been among the worst areas in the country for infection rates for over a week.

NeighbouringCalderdale announced their plansfor a system earlier this week.

Restrictions were reintroducedinto parts of West Yorkshire, including Bradford, Greater Manchester and east Lancashire on 31 July after a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Director of Public Health in Bradford Sarah Muckle said: “The virus has not gone away and Bradford is one of the places placed on high alert because of the high number of cases we have.

“We know that the key to controlling COVID-19 is breaking the chain of transmission and that the best way to do that is to understand who has the virus and who they might have passed it to.

“Once we know that, we can ask those people to take themselves out of circulation so the virus has nowhere left go."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Traffic at Sheffield railway station has been described as "the worst it's been in 30 years".

Image source, Reuters

Environmental group Friends of the Earth named the taxi rank at the station the second most polluted place in England.

Diesel trains and cabs were blamed after the rank came second in a top 10 of sites with the highest annual average nitrogen dioxide levels.

Ibrar Hussain, GMB branch secretary for the taxi trade and a driver himself, said: "The layout at the station is a major contributor to the emissions, it’s a very poor design and is chaotic.

“I've worked at the station for more than 30 years and the traffic situation has never been so bad."

Image source, Google

Councillor Bob Johnson, said one of the most significant ways of improving the air quality at the station was the electrification of the Midland Main Line and the replacement of the diesel trains.

He added: “We are also planning for the introduction of a Clean Air Zone, which would charge the most polluting diesel vehicles, while offering grants and support for drivers."

A van seen being 'driven at speed' with a completely deflated tyre, running on red diesel and being driven by an uninsured driver, on a motorway in North Yorkshire, has been taken off the road.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

The vehicle, an Iveco Daily van, was stopped on Thursday, 6 August at about 01:45 on the A1(M) near Catterick.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: "Despite being driven at speed on a motorway, the vehicle had a completed deflated front tyre and further checks found it had no insurance, and was running on red diesel."

Red diesel is only legal for use in agriculture in tractors, off-road vehicles and machinery.

The driver of the van, a man in his 20s from County Durham, was reported for driving without insurance, and using a vehicle with an incorrectly inflated tyre.

The van was seized and is being examined in connection with other offences, according to North Yorkshire Police.

The beach at Cowden, East Yorkshire, was used as an RAF bombing range during the Cold War.

A 90-year-old grandmother has had her first hug since February after her granddaughter made a 'cuddle curtain' for her.

Freda France, from South Yorkshire, was celebrating her 90th birthday when she was able to have her first hug in nearly six months.

Her granddaughter Victoria Wood said she'd seen 'cuddle curtains' online and created one with a plastic shower curtain to allow them to minimise contact.

Victoria said: "I would hate to think that I didn't hug my nan on her 90th birthday, that would've been awful."

Police are urging anyone who can help find a man missing from Bradford for 10 weeks to get in touch.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

Ismail Ali (pictured), 46, was last seen in Gulams food shop in Cumberland Road on 29 May.

He's described as a slim Asian male, with short black hair and a full beard. He was last seen wearing a red hooded top, black trousers and dark footwear.

It's thought Ismail has links to the Dewsbury and Batley areas, as well as links to Blackburn.

Officers say they are "very concerned" for his welfare and are urging the public to get in touch if they have any further information.

The arrest happened as Leeds United fans celebrated the club's promotion to the Premier League.

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A drive-through coronavirus testing site will return to Harrogate next week for anyone showing symptoms to get tested.

Image source, PA Media

The testing site will set up at Harrogate High School’s Old Education Offices on Ainsty Road on Tuesday, 11 August.

It is being organised by the Department of Health and Social Care who have warned people to not just turn up but make an appointment first either online or by calling 119 service to book.

Hull City sign Fleetwood's Lewie Coyle for an undisclosed fee and ex-Bolton man Josh Emmanuel on a free transfer.

The beach at Cowden, East Yorkshire, was used as an RAF bombing range during the Cold War.

A West Yorkshire police officer is to be investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following the arrest of a 17-year-old outside Leeds United's ground.

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

The incident happened on 17 July as fans gathered to celebrate the club's promotion to the Premier League.

The IOPC says: "Video footage showing part of the arrest in Elland Road was shared widely on social media and shows the 17-year-old boy being restrained on the ground by officers.

"In the footage an officer uses a knee, at one point, to restrain the teenager.

"The officer will be interviewed by our investigators on suspicion of common assault and also investigated for gross misconduct."

The IOPC says it decided to independently investigate the incident following a "voluntary referral from the force."

IOPC Regional Director Miranda Biddle said: “Having examined a range of evidence and accounts from the officers involved, we've taken the decision that this is now a criminal investigation.

“We've already begun to gather evidence, but would like to speak to anyone else who was at Leeds United’s ground at the same time for these celebrations and may have witnessed the incident.”

Derbyshire sign former England Under-19 all-rounder Ed Barnes on loan from Yorkshire for the rest of the season.

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Some swimming pools in North Yorkshire are to remain closed despite the government last month approving the reopening of leisure venues, it's been announced.

Image source, Google

Pools in Ripon, Knaresborough and Starbeck will remain shut and no date has been given for their opening.

Harrogate Borough Council say the pools have to remain closed because of staffing and maintenance problems.

It comes after the council welcomed back visitors to Harrogate Hydro and the leisure centres in Pateley Bridge and Ripon.

The centres were only partially reopened for safety reasons, with some services and classes yet to return.

Councillor Stanley Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, said: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to open a number of our leisure centres safely.

"We hope to open other facilities in the coming weeks,” he added.

Extra police officers have been drafted into an area of Bradford after a shooting incident in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Image source, Google

It happened at about 01:20 outside a property on Norman Lane, Eccleshill.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "Damage was caused to a door of a house and a car outside which are consistent with gunshots.

"No-one was injured as a result of the incident."

Det Ch Insp Andy Farrell said: “We have specialist officers from West Yorkshire Firearms Prevent Team investigating this incident.

“We believe this is an isolated incident and there’s no threat to the community, but have deployed high visibility patrols in the area for reassurance.”

Anyone who knows anything about the shooting is being urged to contact police.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued a warning to people not to touch any military ordnance they find on an East Yorkshire beach, following the removal of 1,000 practice bombs from its sands in one month.

The Royal Air Force operated a bombing range on the beach at Cowden, near Hornsea, between 1959 and 1998.

The range was closed due to coastal erosion, which regularly reveals buried ordnance requiring bomb disposal teams to make them safe.

Sgt William Reid from the Army bomb disposal team says: "About 30 of us have made safe about 1,000 practice bombs and removed seven or eight tonnes of explosive scrap from the beach in the last four weeks.

"If people find any items they think are suspicious they're not to interact with them in any way, they're practice bombs but still contain explosives."

Warning signs have been put up in the area and red warning flags are visible.

Lt Sam Turner, in charge of the operation, added: "There are only certain times of the day we can go ahead with controlled explosions, because we're tied to the tide times and have tried to keep disturbance to the local population to a minimum."

The Army bomb disposal team says it expects to complete its task by 12 August.

Cases in Leeds have more than tripled in a week, leading to mobile testing units being brought in.

A Leeds park is being targeted as part of a campaign against increases in littering and anti-social behaviour seen since lockdown restrictions were eased.

Image source, Keep Britain Tidy

A survey by Keep Britain Tidy found councils across the country are spending extra money cleaning up parks during the coronavirus pandemic.

The environmental charity says it found more than half of the country’s parks have had to pull in extra resources to deal with litter and anti-social behaviour, since lockdown was eased.

Richard McIlwain, from the charity, said: "We picked Roundhay [in Leeds] because it's a honeypot site for a lot of people and it's been badly affected post lockdown, by large groups of people gathering and leaving rubbish and junk behind.

"So we've put up a banner in the park with images of some of the people who use it, and the message is very much, these people are really affected by the actions of others."

Leeds councillor, Mohammed Rafique, said: "As restrictions have been lifted our parks and green spaces suffered from anti-social behaviour from some members of the public and an increase amount of litter.

“I welcome this campaign to give park users a pertinent reminder and a clear call to action to behave appropriately, responsibly and with consideration for others.”

People in Leeds, Harrogate and York are being asked to sign up to coronavirus vaccine trials.

Image source, Reuters

The testing, being run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, will involve 250 people a day being given the vaccine.

The NHS is asking people willing to take part in the trials to get in touch through the Be Part of Research website, external.

The trust says it's putting together plans for the vaccine trials to make sure "the whole Yorkshire community is involved" and that an accessible vaccine process is "available for all.”

Professor Alistair Hall, Clinical Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Network, said: “We need as many people as possible to take part in vaccine studies so we can beat this virus together.

“There are a number of different studies being considered for the region at the moment, so more details on each vaccine will be released in the coming weeks.

He added: “For now we need people to register their interest in taking part, so when we are ready to start recruiting participants we can get in contact right away.”