Sheffield City region mayor Dan Jarvis said the rail upgrade will bring a "significant boost".

The first bands who are due to play at Wakefield's Long Division festival have been announced after the event was postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Image source, Paul Alexander Knox

Sunderland post-punk group The Futureheads (pictured), Mercury prize-nominated Lanterns on the Lake and Idlewild singer Roddy Woomble will be among those playing at venues across the city.

The event usually takes place in early June, but has been shifted this year to the weekend of 25 September

Festival organisers say they are optimistic about the festival going ahead following the UK government’s "roadmap" towards easing Covid-19 restrictions.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Harrogate Convention Centre will be ready to host events again this summer if lockdown restrictions are lifted on schedule, its boss has said.

Image source, Google

It was announced on Monday that the council-owned venue will close as an NHS Nightingale hospital next month - a year on since it was transformed into the emergency unit built in case hospitals became overwhelmed.

The 500-bed facility has not treated a single Covid-19 patient during the pandemic and there are now questions over how quickly it can be dismantled and when the convention centre will be handed back over to business.

Under the government’s "roadmap" out of lockdown, some events may be permitted to go ahead with restricted capacities – up to 1,000 people or 50% capacity – from 17 May.

But Harrogate Convention Centre director Paula Lorimer said staff were working towards events making a full return on 21 June when all restrictions on social distancing are due to be lifted.

She said: “Discussions with colleagues from the NHS about their plans for returning the Harrogate Convention Centre to us are ongoing. However, we are confident the venue will reopen from 21 June in line with government restrictions ending.

“All the team at the convention centre are proud of the contribution the venue has made to support the NHS in its fight against Covid-19 over the last 12 months.”

Ms Lorimer said more than 30 events had been confirmed for the venue between June and next March, with a further 56 provisionally booked.

She said this demonstrated “loud and clear” that the events sector can make a quick recovery from Covid-19.

BBC Radio Bradford

Today marks one year since Ward 31 at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) became dedicated to treating coronavirus patients.

Image source, Google

A ceremony is due to take place today marking the anniversary and to thank staff working on Ward 31 and across the hospital site.

At least 3,040 Covid-19 patients have been treated at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust sites, according to the latest data., external

Karen Dawber, chief nurse at the BRI, says: "The staff have just absolutely gone above and beyond.

"We've asked them to work in a completely different way, to wear different clothing, wear different PPE, and to look after patients they wouldn't normally look after."

Mel Pickup, CEO of the hospitals trust, says as the number of Covid patients decreases, the site will remain busy.

She adds: "We have to address all those patients who have very patiently been waiting for procedures that, had Covid not come along, they would probably have had by now."

Two of the men have also been charged with possession of an offensive weapon, police say.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Doncaster's mayor has announced the death of a council cabinet member after a short illness.

Image source, DONCASTER COUNCIL

Nuala Fennelly was cabinet member for children, young people and schools and served on several of the council’s committees.

Paying tribute, Mayor Ros Jones said she was devastated by the news: "She was a dedicated champion of children and young people in Doncaster.

She added she would miss her as a "colleague and a friend".

“Nuala carried out her role with passion, dedication and loyalty. She was hugely respected by council staff, fellow councillors and partners."

Further tributes were paid on social media.

Adam Dale, of Leger Education Trust, said: “I am so shocked by this and our thoughts are with her family.

"She was such a powerful and passionate promoter of Doncaster and its young people. A great loss to us all.”

More than 30 shows are already confirmed for Harrogate Convention Centre, its director says.

PA Media

Bradford-based supermarket chain Morrisons has revealed that profits were cut by more than half over the past year after it was hit by £290m in pandemic-related costs.

Image source, Mike Egerton/PA Wire

The supermarket group told investors that profits before tax and exceptional costs slid by 50.7% to £201m for the year to 31 January.

The retailer said it was affected by higher than expected pandemic costs after a recent increase in absences, as well as the £230m impact of handing its business rates relief back to the Treasury.

Group like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT, jumped by 8.6% as it was buoyed by strong grocery demand, with 9% growth in a strong final quarter.

Morrisons said online sales tripled during the year as its capacity jumped five-fold.

The company expects to post higher profits for the new financial year and has seen "strong trading" since it began in February.

Andrew Higginson, chairman of the company, said: "This has been a year where Morrisons' resilience has been severely tested and I could not be more proud of the way the whole business has met that test."

Wartime love letters from a pair of mystery sweethearts have been found under the floorboards of a Scarborough seaside hotel.

Image source, SCARBOROUGH ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The handwritten notes and an array of objects dating back to World War Two were discovered during renovations at the Esplanade Hotel on Belmont Road.

The pair, whose names are unknown, declare their love for one another, with the man writing: "Oh darling I'm so lonely without you."

Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society, which has been researching the material, has asked for the public’s help to find out more about the lovers.

Image source, SCARBOROUGH ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

A return address on another note placed the woman at 50 Dellburn Street in Motherwell, Lanarkshire.

Marie Woods, from the society, said: "It would be truly wonderful, if by some miracle, we were able to find out more about these wartime sweethearts and their lives after the war."

The Humber Bridge is currently closed to all high-sided vehicles because of the wind.

A 30mph speed limit is also in operation:

Rail lines between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden are currently blocked after heavy rain caused flooding.

Image source, PA Media

Train operator Northern said services running through these stations, including trains from Leeds to Manchester Victoria and Leeds to Preston, will be cancelled or delayed by up to an hour.

Disruption is expected until 12:00, with Northern customers able to use their tickets on First Transpennine Express services between Leeds and Manchester.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

At least 125,000 people in Wakefield have now received their first coronavirus vaccine - that's over a third of people in the district, it's been revealed.

Image source, EPA/Neil Hall

Around 95% of people aged over 80 have taken up the offer of a jab, according to Wakefield's Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

People aged between 55 and 59 are now being contacted about their appointments, with the CCG saying it expects all adults will have had their first dose by the end of July.

Dr Colin Speers, from Ferrybridge Medical Centre, told a CCG meeting that helping to administer the vaccines had been “a very exciting programme to be a part of”.

He said: “It’s probably the most exciting thing I’ve done in my career so far. The level of uptake has been phenomenal. It’s not often you get clapped into a care home."

Around 83% of Wakefield’s NHS and care workers have had their first jab, the highest rate in West Yorkshire, according to the CCG.

About £30,000 worth of paracetamol has been stolen from a lorry in Barnsley while the driver slept in the front of the vehicle.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

It happened sometime between midnight and 05:30 on Tuesday morning in Elmhurst Park, Dodworth.

The drugs, made by Galpharm, are in blue boxes and contain the batch numbers PYA0050A and PYA0051A.

Det Insp Tom Woodward said: "If you are suspicious of anybody selling these paracetamols in large quantities, please let us know immediately and do not buy them."

BBC Weather

Today, early rain and gales will clear eastwards, leaving sunny intervals and scattered showers.

One or two of the showers could be heavy this afternoon with local hail. Strong westerly winds.

Tonight will be breezy and quite chilly with further showers in places, a few of which will be wintry over upland areas.

Cloud breaking at times to give some clear breaks. Brisk westerly winds:

A Met police officer continues to be questioned on suspicion of murder and kidnap after human remains were found in the search for Sarah Everard, who is originally from York.

Image source, Missingpeople.org/Handout

The remains were discovered in woodland near Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday but detectives have not yet been able to confirm their identity.

Ms Everard, 33, was last seen on 3 March in Clapham, south London, on her way home from a friend's house.

The officer was arrested in Kent and is also being questioned about a separate allegation of indecent exposure.

Ms Everard, a marketing executive, was last seen in doorbell video footage walking alone down a main road near Clapham at 21:30, with police saying it was unclear if she reached her home in Brixton.

In a televised statement, Met Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick confirmed officers searching an area near Ashford had "found, very sadly, what appears to be human remains".

She said specialist officers had updated Ms Everard's family on the investigation.

The arrested officer was responsible for uniformed patrolling of diplomatic premises - including Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster, as well as foreign embassies in London.

He was off duty at the time of Ms Everard's disappearance.

A woman in her 30s was also arrested in Kent on Tuesday evening on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Eight year old Chanua will be released into the wild in Tanzania as part of a conservation scheme.

A Yorkshire cancer charity is campaigning to get smokers to switch to e-cigarettes in a drive to reduce premature deaths

Yorkshire Cancer Research has released a film featuring GPs, lung specialists and other health experts to get across the message that vaping is safer than smoking cigarettes.

Figures show that smoking is the leading cause of premature death in Yorkshire:

Two Dracula fans who made a pit stop at the port where their fictional hero arrived in England have been fined for breaching Covid-19 rules.

The pair were on a 350-mile trip from Edinburgh to Cambridge at the weekend when they decided

Image source, PA Media

The pair were on a 350-mile trip from Edinburgh to Cambridge at the weekend when they decided to take a detour to Whitby Abbey, police said.

The abbey features in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel and Dracula's first victim is in Whitby.

Police warned they would be on the lookout for other would-be visitors

Supt Mike Walker, North Yorkshire Police's lead officer for Covid response, said the couple were not the only people to opt to visit Whitby in recent days.

He said four more people had been found making a 140-mile (225km) round trip to visit the attraction.

Read more on this story here.

Daniel Ainsley appears at Leeds Crown Court charged with the murder of Mark Wolsey in Harrogate.

A rhinoceros is due to start an incredible journey today, heading all the way from North Yorkshire to eastern Africa.

Chanua, an eight-year-old black rhino, will be taken from Flamingo Land to Tanzania - home of the North Yorkshire theme park's conservation scheme, the Udzungwa Forest Project.

It comes two years after another rhino, three-year-old Olmoti, also headed from Flamingo Land to the Rwandan National Park.

Gordon Gibb, owner of Flamingo Land, says it's "a really exciting time" for everyone involved.

"Chanua is on the first stage of her voyage to the wilds of Tanzania where she'll be released with her new family. We're extremely proud to be a part of it," says Mr Gibb.