Breaking news, sport, weather and travel updates from across North, West, East and South Yorkshire.

Mid-table MK Dons upset the formbook with victory at second-placed Hull in League One.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has been at a crash between a lorry and a car on the M1 this evening.

Image source, Highways England/Crown Copyright

Emergency services were called to the M1 northbound carriageway between junction 30 and 31 for Rotherham at about 16:45 to reports of a crash, police say.

The collision is between a HGV and a grey BMW estate car on the inside lane, South Yorkshire Police added.

“Officers are currently on scene with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, East Midlands Ambulance Service."

The southbound carriageway is due to reopen following the air ambulance taking off.

The M1 towards South Yorkshire is closed in both directions after a crash, police say.

Image source, Highways England/Crown Copyright

Emergency services are dealing with the incident, which has closed the north and south carriageways, between junction 30 for Barlborough and 31 for Anston.

The air ambulance is also in attendance, Highways England said.

Carl Marrows's father says information revealed at a new inquest left him "absolutely disgusted".

The government should consider scrapping smart motorways before more people die "unnecessarily", according to South Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner.

Image source, PA Media

Dr Alan Billings was repeating his call to get rid of the motorways after Highways England was told it should be investigated over possible manslaughter charges.

It came after Nargis Begum, 62, from Sheffield was killed after her car broke down on a part of the M1 with no hard shoulder.

Highways England said it did not believe it had committed any offence, however, coroner Nicola Mundy suggested it should be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider if manslaughter charges were appropriate.

Dr Billings said this was the second time a coroner had raised concerns about smart motorways, which uses sensors and cameras to report live-lane breakdowns to a control room, which then closes lanes.

He said: "The evidence is mounting all the time that something is seriously wrong about these types of motorway with all running lanes.

"They must act before there are any further unnecessary deaths or serious injuries.”

A coroner has previously found a lack of hard shoulder had contributed towards the deaths of Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu, who also died on the M1 in South Yorkshire.

Undercover police officers will be travelling around anti-social behaviour hotspots in parts of Bradford on a decoy bus to tackle anti-social behaviour this weekend, say police.

Insp Nick Haigh, said: “Attacks on buses and taxis not only present obvious dangers to the drivers, passengers and other road users, but also affect communities while buses are out of action and services people rely on are reduced or suspended.

“Tactics such as the use of the Trojan bus are used by police, especially when issues have been raised by local residents and the community.

"We will continue to identify and target those hotspot areas to deter any further offences. "

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Sheffield Council has called for firm action from the government following “continued broken promises” on cladding safety.

Image source, LDRS

Councillor Bob Johnson, leader of the council, and councillor Paul Wood, cabinet member for safety, said a £3.5bn government fund for the removal and replacement of dangerous cladding on buildings over 59ft (18m) tall “isn’t good enough” and leaves many in Sheffield facing financially “crippling” bills.

They said: “Many will have bought their property in good faith, only to face both the immediate cost of having to fund ‘waking watches’, as well as not knowing whether they will one day be confronted by a financially crippling bill from their building owner for remedial works.

“It would be distressing to see anyone held to ransom in this way at any time, but it is even more concerning given the current economic uncertainty and pandemic.

“Sheffield Council believes it is time for firm action from the government rather than continued broken promises, to avoid a repeat of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The funding announcement was made by Robert Jenrick, housing secretary, in Parliament who said it was the “largest ever government investment” in building safety.

It comes as many thousands of flat-owners face huge bills for fire-safety improvements brought in after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

A Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire will be elected on 6 May.

A warning's been issued following a spate of burglaries in Sheffield where thieves have stolen house keys through cat flaps and letterboxes, say police.

The most common method is pushing a pole through your door and hooking keys which have been left in plain sight, according to South Yorkshire Police.Det Sgt Lee Corker said: “We’ve seen criminals operating like this get away with cash, bank cards and of course, cars parked outside on the drive.

“Don’t leave your car keys on the table near the front door, or the kitchen worktop just above a cat flap.

Simply putting your keys out of sight makes your home much less appealing to thieves, the same goes for purses, wallets and open handbags."

DS Corker added: “Another thing I’d really urge you to do is lock your door, even when you’re in the house.

“I know it sounds blatantly obvious, but so many burglaries reported to us are because doors or windows are just left unlocked.”

The sub-zero temperatures in the last few days have provided some wonderful photo opportunities, especially in the more rural parts of the county.

Image source, Mik Bullock

This stunning hedge icicle display was captured by Mik Bullock who said he came across this "amazing ice hedge" on way to work on the road between Hetton and Flasby, near Gargrave in the Yorkshire Dales.

Image source, Mik Bullock

BBC Weather forecaster Ben Rich explained: "Icicles form when the temperature of the air is just below freezing but the temperature of a surface, like a tree branch or a roof, rises just above zero.

"This is normally because the sun is shining directly on to that surface, and the extra warmth causes any lying snow or ice to gradually start to melt."

Image source, Mik Bullock

Ben continued: "Water will begin to drip off the branch or the roof, down into the sub-zero air and that drip of liquid water slightly warms the thin layer of air around it, in a process called conduction.

"The warmed air rises, taking the heat energy away with it, causing the water drip to freeze back into a drop of ice.

"As the process of melting, dripping and freezing continues around that first frozen drop, an icicle will begin to form - and if the conditions stay just right for long enough, it'll grow bigger and bigger."

Ten people who were at a children’s party in York have been fined for breaching rules on indoor gatherings during the Covid pandemic lockdown, say police.

Image source, PA Media

Patrols discovered the party taking place in Acomb yesterday afternoon.

In England, nobody can meet anyone from outside their household or support bubble indoors.

Supt Mike Walker said: "We're really disappointed. We've put out enough messages and people have had enough time to understand what the rules are in terms of indoor gatherings.

"My message to people still planning parties and thinking 'fingers crossed we'll get away with it' is we are getting plenty of reports from members of the public around these types of gatherings as we will have done yesterday."

People in North Yorkshire will vote on 6 May to elect a Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The organisation which runs York’s leisure centres is to receive £800,000 from the council as part of a bailout.

Image source, Google

GLL runs Yearsley Pool, Burnholme Sports Centre, Energise Leisure Centre and York Leisure Centre at the city's new community stadium.

City of York Council has been asked to cover the cost of keeping the centres closed during lockdown, to protect jobs and make sure there are still leisure facilities for residents when the lockdown is lifted.

A council finance report says.“The council has been required to fund the net cost of the facilities whist closed and GLL have suffered from reduced revenues when the facilities have been open during the year.

“The likely additional cost to the council is currently forecast to be circa £800,000 but the council and GLL are seeking Government / Sport England funding to mitigate this cost.”

A spokesperson for GLL said: “GLL is a charitable social enterprise and not-for-profit organisation that reinvests any surpluses back into our communities.

“With no income during the past three lockdowns, GLL – along with every other public leisure operator in the UK – has asked for financial support from local authority partners, to protect jobs and safeguard public services which will be in greater demand when we reopen.

“We are pleased that City of York Council have identified support for their leisure centres and we continue to work with them during the pandemic.”

The Government launched a £100m fund for local authority leisure centres in October 2020, with organisations invited to bid for cash.

Results of the funding bids are expected to be announced later this month and the money can be used for costs including utilities, staffing, maintenance and security during lockdown.

A collection of 450 coins including an "extremely rare" penny from the reign of Alfred the Great have sold for more than £200,000 at auction.

Image source, Dix Noonan Webb

The collection belonged to the late Rev Richard J Plant, who died at his home in Bawtry, South Yorkshire, last year.

Auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb said the sale raised a total of £202,895 - double its pre-sale estimate.

Rev Plant was well known for his work in the field and wrote several books on the subject.

The rare penny sold for £3,720.

Several days of sub-zero temperatures have caused icicles up to 4ft 11in (1.5m) long to form in a railway tunnel on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

Image source, Network Rail

Although the massive icicles hanging inside the Blea Moor tunnel on the Settle to Carlisle line look spectacular, the hanging ice can fall and damage passing trains causing delays to passengers and goods, according to Network Rail.

Image source, Network rail

The operator says: "As well as removing icicles we operate special winter trains, with hot air blowers, steam jets, anti-freeze equipment, brushes, scrapers and snowploughs clearing snow and ice from the tracks to keep services moving.

"Empty trains, known as ghost trains, also run overnight to keep the tracks clear."

A £150m expansion plan for Leeds Bradford Airport has been approved.

Image source, Press handout

Environmental campaigners told officials they're worried about the level of emissions and the impact on climate change. But councillors voted for the proposals.

The terminal currently deals with about four million passengers annually but the airport hopes its expansion will increase numbers to seven million over 10 years.

Earlier this week an open letter signed by 114 people said plans to increase the airport's size and passenger numbers were "fundamentally wrong".

In July 2020, a group of climate scientists said the expanded airport's greenhouse gas emissions would be higher than those allowed for the whole of Leeds in 10 years' time.

In a statement Leeds City Council said: "the airport’s plans showed the proposed new terminal would replace the inefficient existing terminal and be built to a higher standard of environmental performance which would also provide an improved ‘gateway’ to Leeds, with an associated creation of new jobs."

The expansion plan will now be referred to a government minister.

Highways England should be investigated over possible manslaughter charges after a Sheffield woman's death on a smart motorway, a coroner has said.

Image source, Irwin Mitchell

Nargis Begum (pictured), 62, was killed after her car broke down on part of the M1 with no hard shoulder.

Her own vehicle was subsequently hit and Mrs Begum was fatally injured, and the length of time the accident went undetected was highlighted by South Yorkshire coroner Nicola Mundy. Highways England said it did not believe it had committed any offence.

Ms Mundy suggested the government-owned company should be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider if manslaughter charges were appropriate.

Previous hearings into Ms Begum's death in 2018 have heard that 16 minutes elapsed between her Nissan breaking down near Woodall Services and the crash. It took a further six minutes before warning signs were activated.

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Begum's daughter, Saima Aktar, said she was pleased the CPS would look into her mum's death and the use of smart motorways.

She said it had been "incredibly difficult" for the family to come to terms with her mother's death, especially for her father Mohammed Bashir, who had been driving.

Three flood warnings, external - meaning immediate action should be taken as flooding is expected - remain in place in Yorkshire.

Image source, Environment Agency

The warnings are for:

• Low lying properties in the Upper Hull catchment, external
• River Hull at Hull Bridge and Beverley, external
• Roam Drain and River Hull at Hempholme, external

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

The Environment Agency says it is "closely monitoring the situation".

A mostly dry and bright day today with sunny spells and some cloud. Some parts of the county might experience a few snow flurries.

Tonight will be cold and dry night with moderate winds: