Work has begun to dismantle and repair one of the largest pipe organs in Europe as part of a £1.8m restoration project.

Image source, Simon Nieborak

Engineers will spend the coming months carefully disassembling the 50ft-high (15m) instrument at Leeds Town Hall.

About 4,000 pipes will be individually removed from the 70 tonne organ before being taken to be cleaned and repaired.

Originally built by Gray and Davison of London to designs by William Spark and Henry Smart in 1853, the organ was last serviced about 50 years ago.

It's hoped it will be ready to be played again in late 2023.

Leeds City Council will pay for the organ's refurbishment, but it is hoped the money can be recouped via a fundraising campaign.

Having city status would help to promote the historic town as a tourist destination, say officials.

The amount raised by Kevin Sinfield's 24-hour 101-mile run for motor neurone disease research (MND), has topped £1.6m.

Image source, PA Media

The rugby star (pictured), set off on Monday from Welford Road, where he is a Leicester Tigers coach.

The route ended at Headingley, home of rugby league club Leeds Rhinos, where he played for 18 years.

His ex-Rhinos team-mate, Rob Burrow,was diagnosed with MND in 2019.

Image source, PA Media

Sinfield, 41, set an initial target of £100,000 for the Extra Mile Challenge, but the total raised is now more than £1.6m., external

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said the Rugby League legend should be knighted for his fundraising efforts, external for MND.

Daniel Ainsley, who brutally killed Mark Wolsey at his Harrogate flat, is given a life sentence.

West Yorkshire Labour MP Yvette Cooper has said the Home Office should no longer be responsible for the Windrush compensation scheme.

Image source, PA Media

The Windrush generation is the name given to people, some of them children at the time, who emigrated from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to the UK on board MV Empire Windrush (pictured) in June 1948.

Two years ago, the Home Office launched a scheme to "right the wrongs" of a scandal that erupted in April 2018 when many were threatened with deportation due to a lack of official paperwork. The UK government has apologised.

Image source, PA Media

Ms Cooper, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford said applicants were still being repeatedly asked for "impossible information and evidence".

She called for urgent reforms to "speed up the system, in order to increase some of the payments" and to entrust the scheme to an independent organisation.

This would "rebuild trust in the whole compensation system," she said.

The York hotel was issued with an enforcement order in April demanding the pods were demolished.

Sheffield United midfielder John Fleck is discharged from hospital after collapsing during their win away at Reading on Tuesday.

CCTV images have been released after a 30-year-old man was attacked by a group of four women and one man on a tram in Sheffield.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

The victim was followed onto a service at the Castle Square Tram Stop then punched, kicked and stamped on, just after 21:00 on 8 November, according to South Yorkshire Police.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

A spokesperson for the force, said: "The man suffered injuries to his head, legs, back and face during the attack.

"Do you recognise the woman dressed in black, the woman in the green, the woman in the black and white top and the man in the light blue t-shirt?"

Anyone with any information about any of the individuals pictured is urged to contact police.

A teacher in Leeds who has provided beds to nearly 1,400 children in the city says referrals are continuing to rise.

Bex Wilson set up the charity Zarach in 2017 after she realised some of her pupils did not have a bed to sleep in.

"Every postcode in Leeds has been affected by bed poverty and we know that because we've delivered beds there," she said.

"It's just not right in 2021 that, in Britain, we have children that don't have a bed."

A man's been charged with causing criminal damage after climbing to the top of York Minster.

Image source, David Dunning/YorkMix

A four-hour rescue operation was mounted in a bid to bring a man down from the roof of the 235ft (72m) tall cathedral at about 23:00 last night.

He eventually climbed down himself using an internal ladder and was subsequently arrested.

Image source, David Dunning/YorkMix

In a statement on social media, external North Yorkshire Police said the rescue was brought to a safe conclusion just after 03:00 today.

Three men arrested over a fatal crash in Lincolnshire have been released under investigation.

Image source, Google

A Mitsubishi Shogun crashed on the A1133 Collingham Road, Newton on Trent, at 22:00 on Saturday 20 November.

Lincolnshire Police said a 24-year-old man died in the single-vehicle crash. The force has

The force has since renewed its appeal for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage taken in the area at the time to get in touch.

Det Sgt Emma Ward said: "We will do everything we can to establish the circumstances and complete a thorough and detailed investigation."

BBC Weather

This morning will be largely dry with occasional sunny spells.

In the afternoon it will turn cloudier but remain largely dry.

It will remain dry and cold throughout the night with clear skies and frost likely to form:

Super League will be shown live on free-to-air television for the first time in its 26-year history in 2022 following an agreement with Channel 4.

A man has been charged with the murder of a missing woman in Lincolnshire, police say.

Image source, Lincolnshire Police

Ilona Golabek, 27, was last seen on CCTV in two areas of Boston on 9 November.

Kamil Ranoszek, 40, of Wormgate, Boston, has been charged with her murder and is due to appear before magistrates later, Lincolnshire Police say.

A second man arrested in connection with Ms Golabek's disappeareance, aged 32, has been released while inquiries continue.

Ms Golabek's body has not been found despite intensive searches in the Boston area.

Det Ch Insp Richard Myszczyszyn says: "We are continuing to search for Ilona and our thoughts are with her family at this very difficult time."

Sheffield United boss Slavisa Jokanovic confirms midfielder John Fleck is "conscious in hospital" after collapsing during their win at Reading.

An incident-packed ending to the first half sparked by Eoin Doyle's goal sets up Bolton's win over 10-man Doncaster.

Substitute Jake Scrimshaw rescues a point for bottom-of-the-table Scunthorpe as they came from behind to draw at home to Leyton Orient.

Tranmere fightback in the second half to pick up a 2-1 victory against Bradford City.

Sheffield United beat Reading in a match overshadowed by Blades midfielder John Fleck collapsing on the pitch.

Substitute Josh Windass returns from injury to score a stoppage-time winner for Sheffield Wednesday against MK Dons.