Work is under way to dismantle and move a 113-year-old whale skeleton from a maritime museum to allow for refurbishment work to take place.

Image source, Hull City Council

The juvenile North Atlantic right whale, the largest item at Hull's Maritime Museum, was caught with its mother near New York in 1907.

The "fragile skeleton" has been in place for the past 45 years, and is one of 50,000 exhibits going into storage.

The specimen, along with several other whales, is being taken to Shropshire.

Image source, Hull City Council

Whale conservator Nigel Larkin, whose care the skeleton will be in, said he was delighted to be involved.

He said the 180 pieces of bone would take about three days to document, label and dismantle, and a further two months to be cleaned.

Mr Larkin added: "We look forward to returning the whale skeletons cleaner, in better condition, and mounted ready for installation in the newly refurbished galleries."

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA Media

A man has been jailed for life for the murder of another man who was found floating in a river near York 13 years ago.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

David Clarke, 43, was found dead in the River Foss, near the village of Towthorpe in North Yorkshire, in 2007.

An inquest ruled he had drowned, but in 2019 David Roustoby (pictured above) was caught on video saying he had strangled Mr Clarke before dumping his body with the help of his girlfriend Sharon Houlden.

Roustoby, 45, of Rawcliffe Lane, York, claimed the taped confession was concocted to impress his friends, but jurors heard he revealed details in the recording only known at the time to police.

He was convicted of murder at Leeds Crown Court and jailed for at least 19 years.

Ms Houlden (pictured below), 50, of Rowntree Avenue, York, who is also known as Sharon Roustoby, was jailed for two years and eight months after she pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Trouble flared when organisers refused to accept fixed penalty notices, West Yorkshire Police say.

Toulouse Olympique-bound prop Mitch Garbutt will play no further part for Hull KR after an elbow injury ends his season.

A 64-year-old man has been found with serious injuries by the side of a road in Leeds, police say.

Image source, Google

He was discovered by a passing motorist at about 22:45 on Saturday in a lay-by on Scott Hall Road, near the junction with Sholebroke Mount.

He later contacted police following his discharge from hospital to report the incident, according to West Yorkshire Police.

He had been drinking with friends and had been dropped off at his home in Moortown at about 22:00 before later being found in Scott Hall Road.

Detectives say they're considering the possibility he could have been involved in a road traffic collision.

Det Insp Guy Shackleton says: "We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed anything in Scott Hall Road leading up to when the man was found.

“This is a busy main road and even at that time of night we would expect there to have been people about or passing the spot where this man was found."

The investment comes after numerous complaints about the "derelict" state of the venue in Hull.

Dr John Wright looks ahead to the difficulties to come this winter, and considers how much has changed since March.

Work to deconstruct a Grade-II listed pub in Hull by hand before it is then rebuilt nearby has begun.

Image source, Wykeland

The frontage of the historic Earl De Grey pub, which has been closed since 2005, is to be taken down one piece at a time.

It has to be moved because of the redevelopment of the A63 Castle Street where it currently stands.

The parts are to be tagged and stored until the frontage can be reconstructed next year about 100ft away in its new location.

The Earl De Grey had a colourful reputation due to its seafaring past and spawned numerous stories, including many about the talkative parrot that frequented the bar.

Do you recognise this man? He's wanted in connection with an assault on a bus driver in Sheffield.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

Police say they have been looking for the man in the CCTV image for four months, following an assault in the Totley area of Sheffield earlier this year.

The attack took place on Friday 29 May when a man boarded a number 79 First Group bus and got into a fight with the bus driver over payment, say police.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: "It's reported the man punched the bus driver in the face then got off the bus and headed in the direction of Mickley Lane."

Anyone who recognises the man is being urged to contact police.

The former Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is expected to get a life peerage after the government was accused of "institutional prejudice" for failing to ennoble him.

Image source, PA Media

Dr Sentamu, the UK's first black archbishop, retired in June after 15 years. Despite all his predecessors being made peers and allowed to continue sitting in the House of Lords, he was not.

But a source has now told the Press Association the move is "imminent".

The Whitehall source said the delay was due to a procedural hold up with the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Previously a No 10 spokesman had told the Sunday Times Dr Sentamu was kept off the list to keep House of Lords numbers down, despite the prime minister including his brother, Jo Johnson.

His successor, the Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell, said he had been "disturbed" at the move.

David Lammy, the shadow justice minister, said on Twitter: "No 10 snubbed Britain's first black archbishop for a peerage because it says the House of Lords is too large, but it made room for Ian Botham and Theresa May's husband - Blatant institutional prejudice."

If you were in Sheffield a little earlier and didn't quite believe your eyes, don't worry...it really was a 4m-high panda you saw in the sky above you.

The panda was being craned into position above a new development in the city.

The £66m New Era Square site on St Mary's Roundabout has been under construction since 2015 and has been dubbed Sheffield's "Chinatown".

Office space, restaurants and apartments have been created at the development, with some already being let to businesses.

The panda is a symbol for friendship which is why it was chosen to "welcome people into the city", the company behind it said.

Rongmin Qin, from New Era Developments, said: “With New Era Square, our ambition has always been to deliver a true example of what modern Asia has to offer.

“We also wanted to create something special for Sheffield. Now more than ever, we are seeing the important role open public spaces within our busy urban environment play in our mental health and well-being."

Up to £1m will be invested in Hull Arena to "bring it up to standard" for the ice skaters who use it and reopen the site very soon, according to Hull City Council.

Image source, David Dixon/Geograph

The Arena is undergoing "essential maintenance" during its prolonged closure throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Almost 2,000 people have signed a petition to safeguard its future.

Hockey clubs, ice skaters and figure skaters all use the venue, which opened in 1987.

Councillor Dave Craker said skaters had been forced to travel away from Hull to carry on their training.

He said: "We've decided this morning we're investing up to £1m to bring it up to standard and hopefully we'll get it open as soon as possible.

"Reading emails that people are travelling to Leeds to do their sports surprised me, to be honest. If one town can open the doors, I don't see why we can't."

Face-to-face teaching is restarting from today at a Sheffield university after it was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Image source, PA Media

In-person teaching was paused in response to an increase in Covid-19 cases at the university earlier this month.

Teaching face-to-face is now restarting again alongside virtual lectures with a "low risk of transmission within teaching spaces", the university said.

It said: "We have worked hard to provide elements of on-campus teaching for our students where it adds most value to their education and will be putting additional risk mitigations in place and reducing the volume of this when we resume our blended learning on Monday 19 October."

It added that it had been "deemed appropriate" by Sheffield City Council and the local public health team.

It said: "We recognise the value of on-campus teaching on both learning and wellbeing, students have told us how much it benefits them and we have been assured by public health teams there is a low risk of transmission within teaching spaces as our own data also supports."

A golden mountain in the Yorkshire Dales has been dubbed "our own Ayers Rock" after a spectacular sunrise lit up the landmark at the weekend.

Image source, Sandra Millman

Sandra Millman, who lives in nearby Horton in Ribblesdale, saw Ingleborough, which is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, turn gold as the sun rose on Sunday morning.

The view lasted for about 30 minutes, Ms Millman said.

She added it's "our own Ayers Rock" because of its visual similarities with the monolith in Australia.

Known officially as Uluru, the Australian sacred site (pictured below) is owned by the indigenous Anangu people and was closed to visitors last year.

Image source, Anthony Devlin/PA Media

Visits to hospitals in Sheffield have been suspended due to a rising number of coronavirus cases in the city, it's been confirmed.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it had taken the decision to put a ban on visiting "unless in exceptional circumstances" such as end of life or birth partners.

A spokesperson for the trust said: "It is with regret that due to increasing cases of Covid-19 in the community we have taken the difficult decision to once again limit the number of people coming into our hospitals to try and limit transmission of the virus to patients and our staff.

"We do appreciate how hard this is to not see your loved ones in person, but their safety has to be the priority."

The rules apply to the Northern General Hospital, Hallamshire Hospital, Weston Park Hospital, Jessop Wing and Charles Clifford Dental Hospital as well as community health buildings, including the Stroke Pathway Assessment and Rehabilitation Centre.

Eight sheep have been stolen from a farm in North Yorkshire.

Between 1 and 7 October, the Border Leicester lambs were stolen from a field near Stokesley.

Border Leicesters are said to be distinctive in appearance, with "large upright ears".

Image source, Getty Images

The stolen sheep all have the tattoo BLA45 on their left ear, while on the right ear they carry tattooed serial numbers prefixed with the letter ‘S’.

North Yorkshire police are investigating and urge anyone who may have any information to come forward.

A convicted murderer who helped thwart an attack on London Bridge will be considered for parole 10 months early.

Steven Gallant, 42, was jailed for 17 years in 2005 for the murder of ex-firefighter Barrie Jackson in Hull.

During the trial, Hull Crown Court heard the attack was carried out because Gallant wrongly believed Mr Jackson had attacked his girlfriend.

He was on day release attending a prisoner rehabilitation event when he confronted Usman Khan with a narwhal tusk after the 28-year-old began stabbing people in November 2019.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "The Lord Chancellor has granted Steven Gallant a Royal Prerogative of Mercy reducing his minimum tariff by 10 months in recognition of his exceptionally brave actions at Fishmongers' Hall, which helped save people's lives despite the tremendous risk to his own."

Khan, who killed Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt, was later shot dead by police.

Fifteen men have been arrested and questioned as part of an investigation into allegations of historic child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

Image source, National Crime Agency

The alleged offences, including rape, are said to have taken place between 2003 and 2009 against four girls.

Arrests, which relate to three separate investigations, were made in Rotherham, Sheffield, Doncaster, Conisbrough, Blackburn, Wakefield, and County Durham as part of the National Crime Agency's (NCA) Operation Stovewood.

All 15 men have been released while investigations continue.

Stovewood is the largest law enforcement investigation into non-familial child sexual abuse in the UK.

NCA regional head of investigations, Rob Burgess, said: "This latest operational activity means we have now questioned more than 190 people as part of Operation Stovewood."

The new Archbishop of York has been enthroned in a ceremony at York Minster.

Image source, PA Media

The Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell becomes the 98th archbishop, taking over from Dr John Sentamu as the second most senior Church of England cleric.

A limited number of people were allowed to attend the socially distanced service, which was streamed online.

Archbishop Cottrell said he was "delighted and humbled" to take up the role.

"I have begun my ministry at a time of huge hardship and challenge and at the moment Covid-19 is having a particularly devastating impact in the North," he said.

His enthronement took place on the Feast day of St Luke, Apostle and Evangelist. There were readings and prayers as well as music and singing by the Minster choir.

The archbishop took his oath of office on the York Gospels, a 1,000-year-old illustrated religious book which has been at the Minster since 1020.

The condition, which causes severe pain and heavy periods, takes eight years on average to be diagnosed.