Tracy Gee
BBC Radio Leeds

Leeds has seen the country's biggest increase in urgent referrals for mental health care, according to analysis by the BBC Shared Data Unit.

Image source, Niall Carson/PA Wire

An urgent crisis care referral is made when concerns about a patient are particularly serious, and they need help faster than they would get through a normal referral route.

The analysis shows NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) dealt with an average of 98 of these cases each month between May 2020 and March 2021, compared with 19 per month the year before the pandemic - an increase of 419%.

Geoff Heyes, from the charity Mind, told BBC Radio Leeds: "Had those people been able to get support earlier - be that through community mental health services, through talking therapies in their community - they may well have not got that unwell."

A spokesperson for NHS Leeds CCG said: "The CCG in Leeds continues to try to expand capacity to match demand for mental health services and to keep waiting times to a minimum."

The patient's death in Harrogate comes after a spike in coronavirus cases across North Yorkshire.

Yorkshire admit former player Azeem Rafiq was "the victim of inappropriate behaviour" and offer him their "profound apologies".

Local Democracy Reporting Service

£60,000 will be invested into electric vehicle charging points to make it easier for people to travel eco-friendly in North Lincolnshire, it's been confirmed.

Image source, John Walton/PA Wire

A total of 11 charging points will be installed in council-owned car parks in Scunthorpe, Ashby, Barton and Brigg. These will be capable of charging up to 22 vehicles at once.

The funding has been provided by the government’s On Street Residential Charging scheme.

Work on installing the points should be completed by spring next year, according to North Lincolnshire Council.

Council Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: “Protecting the environment is at the forefront of many people’s minds and it is something we are extremely passionate about in North Lincolnshire.

“People across our region are keen to do their bit and reduce their carbon footprint, and installing these new charging points will make it easier for them as more people make the switch to electric."

Police in Sheffield are appealing for information and witnesses after a young boy died when he fell from a hotel window in the city centre.

Image source, Google

The five-year-old boy is believed to have fallen from the window of the Sheffield Metropolitan Hotel on Blonk Street at about 14:30 on Wednesday.

The family of the boy, who has not yet been formally identified, is being supported by specially trained officers, police say.

Anyone who saw what happened, or who has information about the incident, is being asked to contact the South Yorkshire force.

Police are not treating the boy's death as suspicious, a spokesperson for the force has said.

Terry Fox, leader of Sheffield City Council, has described the incident as "absolutely devastating, just so incredibly sad".

He added: "As a council we are in close contact with the police and will provide any support we can to the family.

"My heart goes out to them. It is not appropriate for me to comment further while police investigations into this tragedy continue."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Over £60,000 of on-the-spot littering fines were issued by Leeds City Council in just three months, new data has revealed.

Despite a reduction in visitors to the city during the pandemic, 698 fines of either £80 or £100 were issued on behalf of the council by environmental enforcement agency 3GS during April, May and June this year.

In the same period in 2020, just 13 fines were issued, with a total of 2,269 during the whole year.

The locations in which people are most regularly fined for littering include Briggate, Lands Lane, The Headrow, Merrion Street and Calverley Street.

Leeds City Council charges a fixed penalty notice of £100 for those caught littering, or £80 if people pay within 10 days.

Police searching for the husband of Leeds woman Eileen Barrott have made an arrest.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

Police said 54-year-old Mark Barrott had been detained on suspicion of murder by Police Scotland in the Elgin area at 04:30.

Mrs Barrott, 50, was found seriously injured in Naburn Fold, Whinmoor, on Sunday evening, but died at the scene.

Police said Mr Barrott would be brought back to West Yorkshire for questioning in relation to his wife's death.

Officers had been trying to trace him since Sunday evening, when he was seen at Leeds railway station heading for Scotland, and had made a number of public appeals.

Det Ch Insp Rolfe from West Yorkshire Police said: "We would like to thank all the members of the public who contacted us with information, and also our colleagues in Police Scotland for their assistance and support with this investigation."

Fire investigators are waiting for the wreckage of the lorry depot in Wrangle to be made safe.

BBC Weather

Today will start with some spells of sunshine and a few light showers or spots of drizzle. In the afternoon, a band of showery rain will move in from the west, which will fall heavy in places.

This evening will be overcast with a few lingering showers.

Tonight will turn largely dry with mostly cloudy skies.

A second-half goal from debutant Sam Baldock helps Derby County win their first Championship game of the season at Hull City.

ECB asks Yorkshire for copy of the findings of an independent investigation into the racism allegations made by the county's former player Azeem Rafiq.

The popular tourist town has about 1,000 cases per 100,000 people.

At its height, dozens of firefighters were involved in dealing with the fire in Wrangle.

A new statue of the Queen will stand "proud and resolute" at York Minster, the designer has said.

Image source, Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions

Richard Bossons, part of the cathedral's masonry team, said the design would complement the medieval facade of the 800-year-old building.

The 6ft 7in tall statue, weighing almost two tonnes, will sit in an empty niche on the minster's west front.

It will be installed in 2022 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.

Mr Bossons said the statue had been a challenge to design.

"The statue needs to be part of the fabric, not a distraction from it, yet it also has to have the poise and presence befitting of the Queen's unique role," he said.

Image source, Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions

The statue will depict the Queen wearing Garter robes and the George IV State Diadem and holding the orb and sceptre, the symbols of her authority.

"She will stand proud and resolute in her niche, welcoming worshippers and visitors alike," Mr Bossons said.

The statue will be placed in an empty niche on the West Front near the door

The statue will overlook a new public square, proposed for the west front of the minster, to be called Queen Elizabeth Square.

A North Yorkshire care provider warns the sector is approaching 'crisis point' over staff shortages.

Anne and Chris Todd, from Hull, say they cannot get access to life-changing treatment.

Further tributes have been paid to the former Great Grimsby Labour MP Austin Mitchell, who has died at the age of 86.

Image source, Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA Wire

Mr Mitchell represented the North East Lincolnshire port for 38 years, from 1977 to 2015.

That followed a career in TV, including presenting Yorkshire TV's Calendar nightly news programme during the 1970s.

Melanie Onn, who succeeded Mr Mitchell as the constituency's Labour MP at the 2015 general election, said: "Austin will be greatly missed by many in Grimsby's Labour family and across the town where he was taken from the TV screen into the hearts of local people, always ready with a camera and amusing anecdote.

"He was a larger-than-life character, secured lost pensions compensation for the last generation of Grimsby's fishermen and was a vociferous opponent of council housing stock transfers to arm's length management organisations.

"Not without controversy, he will most likely be remembered as the MP who changed his name to Austin Haddock, but equally he was a tireless champion of the people and town of Grimsby, never forgetting who he was there to represent."

Ms Onn added it was "a pleasure to know" Mr Mitchell, who had been "unfailingly supportive" to her as a new MP.

Meanwhile, current Great Grimsby MP Lia Nici, who won the seat for the Conservatives in 2019, said: "I am very sad to hear about the loss of my friend and predecessor Austin Mitchell.

"I learned an awful lot from him. He worked incredibly hard for Great Grimsby and will be sadly missed."

The UK has agreed to take in up to 20,000 refugees over the next few years, including 5,000 this year.

Tim Daley
Journalist, BBC Radio Leeds

Artwork by a woman from West Yorkshire is going to feature on the front of every Leeds United match day programme this season.

Image source, Gabby Wood

Gabby Wood, from Normanton, has been asked by the club to produce hand-drawn pictures for every home match until May.

The first cover star she'll bring to life will be defender Stuart Dallas, whose image will be on the programme for the game against Everton on Saturday 21 August.

Ms Wood began creating her pencil drawings of Leeds players when Marcelo Bielsa took up the position of head coach in 2018.

She told BBC Radio Leeds: "They asked me for a meeting a couple of months ago. I thought, 'oh, it would be nice', but I never imagined they'd ask me to do the covers. It's a dream come true."

She has previously published her artwork on Twitter and says all the players she has drawn have been supportive.

Ms Wood, who also creates pencil portraits of celebrities and pop stars which she sells online, said: "It's something I'd like to do for a living and I think it's going in the right direction now."

TV viewers hit by a loss of coverage after a transmitter in North Yorkshire caught fire should see a "significant improvement" by the weekend, its operator has said.

Image source, PA Media

The Bilsdale blaze also impacted Freeview, DAB, and FM radio signals for a million people over a week ago.

Residents in parts of North Yorkshire will be updated, external by Arqiva this week, as work is carried out to restore services.

However it could be a further 10 days until service returns to other homes.

A 260ft (80m) temporary mast at the site on the North York Moors is anticipated to be working by 28 August, it said.

Engineering work has been restricted because the area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Work to boost a signal from the Eston Nab transmitter, and the installation of a further 49ft (15m) mast in Arncliffe Wood, should be completed by the weekend.

"We continue to be in constant dialogue with all our broadcaster customers, Freeview and our regulator Ofcom regarding our plans, and updating MPs to keep them informed," a spokesperson said.

BBC television remains available on iPlayer and radio stations can be listened to on BBC Sounds.