BBC Radio Bradford

Plans for a clean air zone in Bradford City Centre are expected to be approved later today.

Image source, BBC / Jeff Overs

The zone, due to be introduced next year, would see a charge for more polluting vehicles.

The proposed charge for non-compliant vans is £9 a day.

Taxis would pay £12.50 and buses, lorries and coaches would face a £50 charge per day.

Private cars would be exempt.

Chris Ashley, head of environmental policy at the Road Haulage Association, says: "There's no dispute about the need to clean up the air - we all want that.

"But there are business factors to take into account. Things like 'is there the availability of the vehicles that we want' and that's been a problem."

However, Sally Jones, monitoring and evaluation manager for the clean air plan, says: "We've got some significant funding from government that we're keen to get out to communities before this happens, to help.

"We've also got some really interesting ideas around exemptions as well, and sunset periods, so we can help businesses get where they need to be."

The council's executive is recommended to approve the scheme at a meeting later this morning.

Police have released pictures of men wanted in connection with an attempted robbery which left a village shopkeeper with facial injuries.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

A group of men entered Old Lane Newsagents in Birkenshaw just before 19:00 on Monday 22 February and attempted to steal items from the shop, according to West Yorkshire Police.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

The shopkeeper confronted the males and was assaulted.

Officers say they want to hear of any sightings of the men pictured in the area.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

The force is also appealing for anyone who can identify the individuals to come forward.

A world-renowned knife-maker, who crafted blades for clients including the Queen, Elvis Presley and US presidents, should have a memorial in the city where he worked, his family has said.

Stan Shaw, 94, was believed to be one of Sheffield's last little mesters - self-employed craftsmen who worked out of the city's famed cutlery works.

He spent almost 80 years forging, grinding and finishing blades before his death on Friday.

Mr Shaw, who was awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen's New Year's Honours list in 2017, had a four year-long order book, but was forced to stop working in 2019 due to ill health.

His daughter, Jane Lees, said Mr Shaw's skills made his work "priceless".

She said: "I think it'd only be right the city does a statue or some kind of memorial in his name.

"It's a pity because of Covid because I said to my mum I think he could fill Sheffield Cathedral twice over [for his funeral], but obviously we can only have 30 people [because of the restrictions]."

BBC Weather

Today will be dry, cool and overcast throughout, with light winds.

Mist and fog patches will develop overnight under calm conditions. A cold night with light winds:

A seafood supplier in Cornwall has been bought by Bradford-based UK supermarket Morrisons.

Image source, PA Media

Falfish, which operates from Falmouth and Redruth, has supplied Morrisons for the past 16 years.

The supermarket purchases 80% of its fish from Falfish, accounting for about half of the wholesaler's £40m annual revenue.

Morrisons said the purchase, for an undisclosed sum, meant it had become the first supermarket in the UK to own its own fishing boat.

The deal is the latest move by Morrisons to own parts of its supply chain.

The supermarket said it would help to reinforce its commitment for sustainable seafood and fish

Local leaders are pushing for more devolution, as England eases out of lockdown.

Hull city council has proposed further devolution for the area. We spoke to people in the city centre to hear their views.

Maria Howarth died two days after being strangled by David Bestwick in Sheffield, a court hears.

Police in North Yorkshire will be using an undercover HGV as part of a road safety initiative.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Operation Tramline uses the unmarked cab fitted with cameras to record motorists breaking the law.

If the lorry patrol see an offence taking place it is reported to marked units who then pull the vehicle over so the driver can be dealt with immediately.

In the operation last year, officers filmed a man who took both hands off the wheel to use his phone and a lorry driver who rolled a cigarette.

Traffic Constable Mark Patterson said: “In my time as a traffic officer, I’ve seen crashes where people have died or suffered life-changing injuries just because a motorist got distracted.

“All drivers on our roads know using a mobile phone while driving is wrong. But nobody thinks they’ll be the driver that causes one of those incidents."

The force said other motorists caught on camera last spring included drivers of various vehicles seen reading/checking paperwork on the motorway and a tractor driver driving illegally on the motorway while using a mobile phone.

The drivers received fixed penalty notices, which typically include a fine and points on their licence.

A five-year-old girl was seriously injured when the car she was in was hit by another car being followed by police, officers say.

Image source, Google

The child is in hospital following the collision on Fish Dam Lane in Barnsley just after 12:30 yesterday, according to South Yorkshire Police.

The driver of a blue Citroen C3 drove off when spotted by police and collided with a white Range Rover Evoque close to the junction with Shaw Lane, officers said.

A force spokesperson said: "A five-year-old girl travelling in the rear of the Evoque suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital where she remains.

"The driver of the Evoque, a 32-year-old man, and the front seat passenger, a 32-year-old woman, both suffered minor injuries."

The driver of the Citroen, a 29-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and causing serious injury by dangerous driving, police added.

The Citroen was later identified as having been stolen in a burglary in Barnsley, the force confirmed.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has been notified of the incident.

Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact police.

This year's Great Yorkshire Show could go ahead in July following last week's announcement about the gradual easing of coronavirus restrictions, organisers say.

Image source, Great Yorkshire Show

If restrictions are eased sufficiently, the 162nd show could be held between 13-15 July, according to the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS).

However, the event, which is held at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, "remains subject to restrictions being lifted as set out by the government", YAS has said.

More than 130,000 visitors usually attend the three-day event, which has been held annually since 1838.

However, last year’s show was cancelled in full due to the coronavirus pandemic, the first time that's happened since the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001.

Charles Mills, honorary show director, says: "We will only go ahead with the show if we can do so safely for all concerned."

Organisers add they are "exploring what the show programme can safely include" and further details about the event will be announced "in due course".

A fireball seen over Yorkshire was "beautiful" and "incredible", according to one of the many people who saw it.

Image source, Jon Maher

Hundreds of people took to social media to say they'd seen the meteor in the sky at about 22:00 last night.

Jon Maher said the image (above) he captured while driving near Stanley, West Yorkshire "doesn't do it justice".

"It totally lit up the sky. Absolutely fantastic. Initially I thought 'Is it a firework?'

"It's quite a beautiful thing really. You don't want to get too romantic about it but on the backdrop of everyone being cooped up, it was one of those nice moments that we all shared."

Image source, Brad Caslin

Astronomical writer Brian Jones, from Bradford, says the fireball was likely to be a rock the size of a cricket ball.

He said: "The fireballs you can't predict. This fireball could have emanated from a chunk of rock, say, as big as a cricket ball.

"You can't see these in space, they're too small, but once they come down through the atmosphere, the visual impact can be quite stunning."

Some meteors do make it to the ground and become meteorites, although the size of the final rock can be so small it's never identified.

Stan Shaw - dubbed Sheffield's "last little mester" - counted the Queen and Elvis among his clients.

A man's been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of the murder of a woman who died after being assaulted in Sheffield.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

Maria Howarth, 44, was found critically injured at a property on School Lane, Greenhill, at about 04:00 on 6 September last year.

David Bestwick, 60, of Chesterfield Road, Woodseats, was convicted at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday after a trial.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: "Bestwick himself made the initial call to police in the early hours of Sunday morning, claiming he had strangled Maria."

They said she was rushed to hospital where she later died from her injuries.

It was later confirmed that she'd died from strangulation.

Bestwick was sentenced today to life imprisonment and was told he must serve at least 17 years.

Ms Howarth's family said in a statement: “No sentence, however long, is as long as the sentence the family will have to endure with this heinous crime that has been committed.”

South Yorkshire Police said officers had followed a car with a smashed windscreen on Sunday.

Prosecutors say there was not enough evidence to charge anyone over the death of Jack Barnes.

BBC Radio Bradford

More trees have been planted as part of Bradford Council's aim to plant 55,000 over the next two years - one for every primary school pupil in the area.

Image source, Bradford Council

By the end of March, it's hoped 15,000 new trees will be on the site, off Wrose Brow Road in Windhill.

Bradford Council has invested £250,000 in the Tree for Every Child project and has invited schools and community groups to take part.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, who represents Windhill and Wrose, helped plant the latest batch of 150 trees.

He said: "It's part of our approach to tackling climate change.

"We know planting trees is great for the environment generally. We want to make sure those trees stick around.

"If you take the tree back out in a few years you've not got that benefit, so it's choosing the right site."

The latest trees planted were all native to the UK, including Birch, Holly, Hawthorn, Alder, Hornbeam and Scots Pine.

Simon Brown, from Morley, who was shot in Iraq, is raising money for the Blind Veterans UK charity.

An appeal for witnesses has been launched after a blaze at a shop in Selby, North Yorkshire.

Image source, Google

The fire caused extensive damage to McColl’s convenience store on Barwic Parade, according to North Yorkshire Police.

Emergency services were called at about 13:30 on Saturday, however police said no staff or customers were injured.

A spokesperson for the force said: "Officers are requesting the public’s assistance to help establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.

"We're appealing for customers who were in the store at the time to get in touch, particularly a man who initially alerted staff to the fire in the back yard of the premises."

Tim Daley
Journalist, BBC Radio Leeds

A new campaign aimed at educating parents about the warning signs their children have started being exploited by criminals has been launched by West Yorkshire Police.

Image source, Image courtesy of West Yorkshire Police.

It's after figures from November 2020 showed 436 youngsters were victims of Child Criminal Exploitation, most of those being males aged between 13 and 18.

West Yorkshire Police says they are often drawn into crime by so-called "County Lines" gangs, whose members offer them money, designer clothes and electronics in return for drug dealing, looking after weapons and hiding money.

As part of the multi-agency campaign, the force is publishing a list of eight warning signs which it wants parents to look out for, with the first being that their child becomes "secretive or disrespectful",

Jasvinder Sanghera, from the Leeds Safeguarding Children's Partnership, says: "The criminal exploitation of children is one of the most vicious crimes conceivable. It robs a child of a childhood and is every parent's nightmare."

Anyone who suspects a child has become involved with criminals is being urged to ring Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111