Lancaster finally flies for Dambusters anniversary
EMAS to get up to £19m in extra funding
Schoolboy admits stabbing fellow pupil
Man charged over 'offensive' MP emails
Reassurances over rail franchise collapse
Melton bypass plan gets £50m funding boost
Updates on Thursday 17 May 2018
BBC Radio Leicester
Youngsters at a nursery have been learning about the royal wedding by staging a play.
Children at Little Poppets Nursery, in Leicester, called their performance 'When Harry met Meghan'.
Lisa Saul, from the nursery, said: "The kids have been learning a lot about the royals and the family, how things work and marriage and how special it is."
Amy Woodfield
BBC News
A Melton Mowbray bypass campaigner has said the scheme needs to be handled with care to avoid it becoming a "ghost town".
Plans for the new road have taken a big step closer with the government approving funding for the project.
Stephen Hallam, from Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, said there have been cases where a bypass can cause a town to become too quiet.
To overcome this he believes there should be more investment in promoting the town centre to keep it "vibrant" and has suggested opening a heritage centre.
Calum McKenzie
BBC News
A memorial to British victims of terrorism overseas is due to be unveiled later.
Image source, Stollery FamilyAmong those remembered will be John Stollery, from Walesby, who was one of 30 UK holidaymakers killed by a gunman near Sousse in Tunisia in 2015.
The unveiling of the tribute, at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, will be attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and foreign secretary Boris Johnson.
Amy Woodfield
BBC News
Police are appealing for help to find this 17-year-old girl.
Anh Kim Vo was reported missing from Balderton on 12 May. Police have said they are concerned for her safety.
Image source, Nottinghamshire PoliceTroubled East Midlands Ambulance Service said it would recruit an extra 300 staff to tackle pressures.
Read MoreCalum McKenzie
BBC News
Leicester are close to signing Porto full back Ricardo Pereira for about £25m, according to reports in the Telegraph., external
Image source, CARLOS COSTA/AFP/Getty ImagesRead more via the BBC Sport gossip column.
Calum McKenzie
BBC News
A Lancaster bomber has taken to the skies to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Dambusters raids, a day after it was cancelled due to the weather.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's (BBMF) Lancaster flew over the Derwent Dam with the last British Dambuster Sqn Ldr George "Johnny" Johnson on board.
Crowds were left disappointed on Wednesday when they were then told the Lancaster's replacement, a Typhoon, would also not fly, only for it to roar over minutes later.
Sqn Ldr Andrew Millikin, from the BBMF, said that they did not have time to organise the "essential safety measures" required to have crowds watch this morning's flight.
Calum McKenzie
BBC News
Derby's Assembly Rooms look set to be saved, after Labour lost control of the city council.
Image source, John Sutton/GeographThe performance venue was set to be demolished and subject to a £44m reconstruction, after it was closed following a fire in 2014.
But the Conservatives, who look set to run the authority with UKIP and Lib Dem backing from next week, have said the building will instead be refurbished.
Charlie Slater
BBC Weather presenter
It's looking good for the next few days.
Calum McKenzie
BBC News
Rail passengers are being assured services will not change, despite the East Coast Main Line being taken over again by the government.
Image source, AFP/Getty ImagesThe line, which runs from Newark North Gate and Retford to London and Edinburgh, will be handed over by Stagecoach and Virgin from 24 June.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling said , externalhe did not want the changes to worry passengers.
"I want to reassure them there will be no change to train services. The timetable will remain the same.
"Tickets purchased for future travel – including season tickets – will continue to be valid."
The Department for Transport will run the service until a new public-private partnership can be appointed in 2020.
Calum McKenzie
BBC News
Plans for a long awaited bypass for Melton Mowbray have moved a big step closer, after the government approved funding for the project.
It is contributing £49.5m to the scheme, with Leicestershire County Council providing the other £14m.
The road will be almost four miles in length and run around the east of the town to ease congestion.
Byron Rhodes, deputy leader of the county council, said: "It’s great news that the government is backing our plans to develop a relief road.
"It’s an exciting scheme which is part of a strategy which includes further measures to address congestion issues, air pollution, public transport improvements, and provide healthy walking and cycling options."
Rob Sissons
East Midlands Today health correspondent
The region's health bosses have agreed that East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) will get up to £19m a year extra funding.
EMAS is reaching the most critically ill people in an average of nine minutes, two minutes short of its target.
The funding, which will help pay for an extra 300 staff, is understood to be worth about £9m this year and up to £19m every year after that.
Bosses at EMAS believe the cash will now allow them to hit response time targets by next April.
But the service has been warned by the region's clinical commissioning groups that it may hold some of the money back if it does not meet targets.
Sonia Kataria
BBC News
A 72-year-old man has been charged with sending "offensive" emails to Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan, Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry, both Tory, and four others.
David William Hall faces trial on seven counts of improper use of a public electronic communications network.
Image source, PAMr Hall is also accused of emailing Conservative MPs Dominic Grieve and Heidi Allen, and Labour's David Lammy and Eleanor Smith last December.
It is alleged the emails were grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.
Image source, PAWest Midlands Police said: "David Hall was arrested on 30 January in relation to emails sent to six different MPs of an allegedly offensive nature, between the 14 and 19 December last year."
Mr Hall, of Windsor Gardens, Wolverhampton, will appear at Walsall Magistrates' Court in June.
Calum McKenzie
BBC News
Good morning and welcome along to Thursday across the East Midlands.
Amy Woodfield and I will be with you until later with the region's news, sport, weather and travel.