Summary

  • Updates for Wednesday 23 March 2016

  • News, sport, travel and weather updates resume at 08:00

Live Reporting

Amy Woodfield

  1. Biffa says sorry for Christmas delays

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    ”We have had a number of detailed discussions about this issue with officers and elected members of the council. However, we are not prepared to comment publicly on what is a private contractual matter that is yet to be resolved. Christmas collections are always pressurised because of the greater time intervals between rounds, and the substantial increase in refuse and recycling. Biffa apologises to residents who may have been affected, and hopes that they recognise the effort put in by our staff throughout the year.

    Biffa spokesman

  2. Bin firm fined for Christmas delays

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    Cast your mind back a few months to Christmas and you might remember recycling in Leicester took weeks to be collected.

    Biffa, which the city council pays to collect our rubbish, has now been fined £22,000 over the delays.

    Recycling bag on the street in Leicester

  3. Grand National winner recognised with green plaque

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    A new green plaque is being unveiled in Loughbrorough this afternoon for a Leicestershire horse that won the Grand National in 1914.

    Sunloch's plaque will be attached to Gainsborough House in the town, which was where he was stabled.

    I'll have some photos of the plaque for you later today.

  4. Bradgate Park calendar: How to get involved

    Helen McCarthy
    BBC Radio Leicester Reporter

    Here are all the details you need to enter the competition...

    Poster for calendar competitionBradgate Rotary

  5. Bradgate Park calendar: My 'Lonely Duck' effort

    Helen McCarthy
    BBC Radio Leicester reporter

    This morning I met up with members of Bradgate Rotary Club, which is organising the competition.

    BBC Radio Leicester’s Jo Hayward is one of the judges.

    This is my attempt – entitled "Lonely Duck"  - it just caught the early morning philosophical feel to the day.

    Mallard duck stood by the river at Bradgate Park

  6. Get your photo on Bradgate Park calendar

    Helen McCarthy
    BBC Radio Leicester Reporter

    If you’ve ever taken an artistic photograph of Bradgate Park in Leicestershire, the local rotary club wants to see it.  

    It’s looking for 12 amazing, different photographs of the park to create a charity calendar for 2017.

    The photographs could be of people using the park, taken at various times in the year and unusual times of day.

  7. Weather update for Leicestershire

    BBC Weather

    Staying dull, cloudy and largely dry with highs of 10C (50F).

    The cloudy and dry theme continues with temperatures down to 5C (41F).

  8. Motorbike parking consultation begins

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    The city council is asking bikers what it's like to park in Leicester.

    The authority wants views on the safety, suitability and amount of dedicated motorbike parking available.

    A Triumph T140 TSX motorcycleThinkstock

    It's a six-week consultation that could potentially lead to new facilities, like secure lockers and overnight parking.

  9. Basketball: Watson hoping to stay at Riders

    BBC Leicester Sport

    Leicester Riders' Neil Watson is hoping to extend his stay with the club. His contract deal expires at the end of 2016.

    Riders court

    He says: "You know I love Leicester but you don't know how things will turn out."

  10. Snooker: Woollaston progresses

    BBC Leicester Sport

    Leicester's Ben Woollaston is through to the last eight of the Players Championship in Manchester.

    He beat Jimmy Robertson 4-3 and will now play the winner of today's match between Matthew Selt and Andrew Higginson.

  12. County Hall flag at half-mast for Brussels

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

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  13. Council eagerly await more tourism figures

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    The city council is "waiting with baited breath" for the tourism figures for 2015.

    It says there was a 6% increase in tourism the year before that, when the skeleton of Richard III had been discovered but was yet to be reburied.

    King Richard III statue

    The 2015 figures will be ready in a couple of months.

  14. Pulis: Leicester could out-do Forest

    BBC Leicester Sport

    West Bromwich Albion manager, Tony Pulis, says Leicester's achievements could out-do Nottingham Forest's, who became English and European champions in the 1970s.

    Leicester were bottom of the Premier League a year ago, but are five points clear at the top now with seven games to go.

    Nottingham Forest celebrate with the European Cup trophyGetty Images

  15. Car park king boosts hotel numbers

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    Hotel Maiyango's postition close to the Richard III Visitor Centre makes it an ideal location for tourists coming to soak up some king-related culture in Leicester - and apparently business has been booming.

    Hotel Maiyango

    Rebecca Humphreys from the hotel says: "We've seen a lot more people coming through the door, occupancy has increased, we've had a lot more people coming into the restaurant, drinkers, it's been really good."

  17. Boiler breakdown closes school

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    Oaklands School in the Evington area of Leicester is closed today because its boiler has broken.

    Oaklands SchoolGoogle

  18. Hotels benefit from Richard III appeal

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    The council says hotels are also benefiting from the increase in tourists since Richard III was found, with 80% of rooms are regularly occupied. 

    Leicester hotel

    A website catering for short family breaks in Leicestershire says it's seen the number of bookings more than double over the past year.

  19. Car park king brings millions of pounds to Leicester

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    In the year since King Richard III was reburied in Leicester, £20m has been generated from tourists visiting the city. 

    The city centre director says the figure is a direct result of people visiting the Cathedral and the Richard III visitor centre.

    King Richard III in Leicester Cathedral

  20. MEP: 'Brussels in a state of shock'

    Amy Woodfield
    BBC Local Live

    East Midlands MEP, Andrew Lewer walked past the metro station just minutes before the blast there.

    Andrew Lewer

    He says: "My wife and my parents were on to me pretty quickly to find out that I was ok, which I and my team thankfully were but a vast number of people were not.

    "The city's in a state of shock but it's shock after shock because we had the arrest of that terrorist, so many of the people from that previous atrocity in Paris were based here, so it's a very unsettled atmosphere."