Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plans for a new leisure hall at Meadowhall have been objected to by Rotherham Council over fears it would be detrimental to the town centre.

Image source, British Land

Planning permission was granted for a new leisure hall at the shopping centre in 2018, which would house a cinema, restaurants, a gym, and 80,000 sq ft of new shops.

However, developers British Land submitted a revised application at the end of 2020, with ambitions to bring each plan to fruition separately and in a “phased approach”.

The latest plans include a £150m leisure hall on part of the shopping centre's red and yellow car parks.

Although smaller than the previous scheme, it will “deliver the same amount of quality leisure space and include a new aspirational food and drink offer”, according to British Land.

However, bosses at Rotherham Council have called for further tests to assess the impact this new offering would have on the future of Rotherham’s “fragile” town centre.

Councillor Denise Lelliott, cabinet member for jobs and the local economy, said: “After careful consideration, it is considered that the impact test has not properly accounted for the level of public sector investment and the continued fragility of Rotherham’s town centre, particularly in light of the pandemic."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Businesses in North Yorkshire planning to take part in an anti-coronavirus lockdown campaign dubbed "The Great Reopening" have been warned they face £1,000 fines.

Image source, Reuters/Phil Noble

The social media movement is urging businesses across the country which have been deemed non-essential to defy lockdown rules by reopening their doors on Saturday.

It’s unclear who's behind the movement and if any businesses will take part, but police and health officials have warned they will take “ultimate action” against those who do.

Richard Webb, from North Yorkshire County Council, said he hoped businesses would ignore the campaign.

He told a North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum briefing: “There will be no Great Reopening.

“I thank businesses for everything they’ve been doing, but my plea to all businesses is to ignore this campaign.

“My warning to those who choose to take part in this campaign is that enforcement authorities, police, trading standards and environmental health will have no choice but to take ultimate action against you."

A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “We will not hesitate to issue fines to those deliberately breaching the regulations with no regard for the safety of others.”

A burst water main near the railway line between York and Scarborough is disrupting train services.

Writing on social media the train company says: "Due to a burst water main near the railway between York and Scarborough trains running to and from these stations may be cancelled.

"Disruption is expected until the end of the day. Customers are advised not to travel."

Customers are being advised road transport will be provided and are being asked to speak with station staff for further information., external

BBC Weather

It'll be cloudy with patchy rain and a brisk wind for most of the day. The rain may be wintry in the hills.

The cloud should clear and winds should reduce overnight.

It will be a cold night with a sharp frost likely:

Eight flood warnings, external - meaning immediate action should be taken as flooding is expected - remain in place in Yorkshire following last week's heavy rain and further downpours on Wednesday and Thursday.

Image source, Environment Agency

The warnings include:

• Low lying properties in the Upper Hull catchment, external
• River Derwent at Buttercrambe Mill, external
• River Derwent at Old Malton, external
• River Derwent at Stamford Bridge - The Weir Caravan Park and Kexby Bridge, external
• River Nidd at Low Laithe, external
• River Ouse at Naburn Lock, external
• River Ouse at York - riverside properties, external
• River Seven at Marton, external

There are also 26 flood alerts - meaning flooding is possible, be prepared - currently in place on Yorkshire's rivers.

The Environment Agency said: "Further rain has fallen which will keep river levels high over the weekend.

"Our incident response staff are checking defences and closely monitoring the forecast."

It's exactly 12 months since medics were called to a hotel in York to what became the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the UK.

Image source, Google

On the evening of 29 January, two paramedics from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service were called to the 196-room Staycity apartment-hotel in Paragon Street.

Dressed in white hazmat suits, they told reception staff they were responding to a potential coronavirus case, before heading to a first-floor room.

Keith Freeman, Staycity's chief operating officer, said: "Until then, there had been a lot of suspected cases, but none that had been confirmed.

"You were hoping, in the back of your head, that it's another false alarm. You're also thinking 'what are the chances?'"

One year later more than 100,000 people in the UK have died from the virus.

You can listen to BBC Radio York's documentary When Coronavirus Came to York this Sunday at 09:30.

Or listen later by clicking this link.

A year ago, the UK was yet to record a Covid case. Then a family rang NHS 111 from a hotel in York.

Police say officers were moving more quickly to issue fines for clear breaches of lockdown rules.

Hull College's interim chief asks if the Kingston Rovers deal "was the best use of limited funds".

Hundreds of people were put at unnecessary risk from Covid-19 due to the men's actions, police say.

A woman is in a critical condition after being hit by a tractor whose driver then failed to stop at the scene, according to North Yorkshire Police.

It happened at about 17:15 on Wednesday on Fountains Road, between Ripley and Bishop Thornton, and involved a woman standing next to a broken down silver Hyundai 4x4.

The woman, who is 19 and from the Ripley area, was hit by a passing tractor and the vehicle did not initially stop, but the driver was traced a short time later, officers said.

The man, who was driving a green John Deere tractor towing a flat trailer carrying bales, was subsequently released under investigation while inquiries continue, police added.

Officers are appealing for anyone with dash camera footage, or anyone who saw what happened, to get in touch.

They say they're particularly keen to speak to the driver of a car believed to have been travelling towards Ripley and who may have seen the collision.

How the cladding crisis forced a first-time home buyer into bankruptcy within a year.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A decision to install new "state-of-the art" speed cameras on a Doncaster road which has been the scene of several collisions has been welcomed by local residents.

Image source, Google

The cameras will be installed on parts of the A635 Barnsley Road from the A1 towards the villages of Hickleton and Marr.

Hickleton and Marr often experience heavy lorries coming through the villages either in both directions leaving and heading towards the A1(M).

The issue has become so bad that both villages have some of the highest levels of air pollution in the country.

Dick Clark, chair of the Hickleton Bypass Action Group, said there had been 17 "major traffic collisions", and added that 13 have been at crossroads in the village along with numerous "bumps that don’t get reported".

The campaign group has been lobbying for some years for a bypass around the two villages, which was actually planned 30 years ago but never happened.

Sprotbrough councillor Cynthia Ransome , whose ward includes Hickleton and Marr, said: “It’s wonderful news because we’ve had so many accidents here and people do speed along this route and get impatient.

“This is going to help, this is a start. This is step one," she added.

A man unable to buy a takeaway and a person struggling to sleep due to rain were among the inappropriate 999 calls taken by West Yorkshire Police overnight.

The force took to social media to highlight the calls, which were all dealt with by handlers in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The force said one man complained he had ordered food but a cash machine later swallowed his cash card.

Call handlers asked on Twitter: "What are the police meant to do?!"

"An hour later, insomnia due to persistent rain was the reason given for a call to emergency services," the force added.

Tom Donohoe, West Yorkshire Police's senior contact manager, said the 999 emergency number should only be used "when there is a crime in progress or a threat to life".

"In those situations, it is just a matter of seconds which could mean the difference between officers catching a suspect at the scene or them getting away," he added.

"More importantly, it could also mean the difference between life and death."

A highlight of Wakefield’s annual live music calendar has been pushed back again due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Image source, Andrew Benge

The Long Division festival, external, which takes place across the city’s music venues and which was originally due to take place last June, is now scheduled to take place on the weekend of 25 September.

Organisers of the event say they are currently focusing on helping local artists, music industry workers and supporting music education during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dean Freeman, Long Division director, said: "I think the public 'itch' to see live music has transformed over the last few months.

"We still want it desperately, but we all now appreciate much more that it has to come back properly and safely.

"That's what we want, and that's what makes us excited when we look ahead through the difficult months ahead."

James Clarke received the five-year Criminal Behaviour Order after a number thefts of charity boxes.

An appeal to help find 11 lambs stolen from a field in North Yorkshire has been launched by police.

Image source, Google

The year-old Beltex sheep were stolen from a field near Boroughbridge between 10 November 2020 and 17 January 2021, according to North Yorkshire Police.

Officers say they particularly want to hear from anyone who saw any vehicles acting suspiciously on Holbeck Lane or the B6265 between these dates.

Anyone who knows anything about the thefts is being asked to contact the North Yorkshire force.

Bandit the ferret was saved by vets in Leeds after suffering a collapsed lung and bruising.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Police enforcing coronavirus regulations in North Yorkshire say they're currently dealing with reports of lockdown-flouting house parties on a daily basis.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Supt Mike Walker, from North Yorkshire Police, branded those who chose to break the rules in this way as “plain wrong” and warned lives were being put at risk.

He told a meeting of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum: “House parties, particularly over on the coast, have been one of the main breaches of Covid regulations we're dealing with.

"Officers are dealing with reports of house parties every night of the week."

Of the 328 penalty notices issued by police across the county since the beginning of the current lockdown, 160 have been for indoor gatherings and 92 of those in Scarborough, he added.

Supt Walker said: "In the last week, 87 fines have been handed out across North Yorkshire for a variety of offences, 32 of them in the Scarborough borough."

Supt Walker welcomed the announcement that fines for house parties of more than 15 people were to increase from £200 per person to £800 - and said he hoped it would make people reconsider their actions.

Four flood warnings, external - meaning immediate action should be taken as flooding is expected - remain in place in North Yorkshire following last week's heavy rain.

Image source, Environment Agency

The warnings include:

• Mill Beck at Welham Road, Norton, external
• River Derwent at Buttercrambe Mill, external
• River Derwent at Norton, external
• River Derwent at Old Malton, external

There are also 10 flood alerts - meaning flooding is possible, be prepared - currently in place on Yorkshire's rivers.

These include:

• Earby Beck and Glusburn Beck, external
• Lower River Calder catchment, external
• Lower River Derwent, external
• River Dearne catchment, external
• River Foulness and Market Weighton catchment, external
• River Spen and Batley Beck catchments, external
• Upper River Calder catchment, external
• Upper River Derwent, external
• Upper River Ure, external
• Wyke Beck, Meanwood Beck and Wortley Beck catchments, external

The Environment Agency said: "River levels may rise again in response to further rainfall today through to Friday morning. We are closely monitoring the situation."