Gavin Bevis
BBC News

It's exactly 35 years since Nottingham's Torvill and Dean won gold at the 1984 Winter Olympics with their famous performance to Ravel's Bolero.

The spectacular display made them the highest-scoring figure skaters of all-time (for a single programme), receiving 12 perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s - including artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge.

It also turned the pair, who recreated the performance on the 30th anniversary in 2014, into national heroes and household names.

Image source, Getty Images

All lanes on London Road, near Trent Bridge, in Nottingham have reopened after a vehicle broke down this morning.

BBC Radio Leicester

Cafe chain Patisserie Valerie is said to have been saved from closure after being bought by an Irish private equity firm.

Reports say the move by Causeway Capital Partners will keep the 120 remaining stores open - saving 2,000 jobs.

The future of Patisserie Valerie has been in doubt since last October after it discovered a huge black hole in its accounts.

The chain has branches in Nottingham and Leicester.

Image source, Google

BBC Radio Derby

Rolls-Royce says it'll provide engines for the 17 remaining Trent 900-powered Airbus 380's, despite this morning's announcement that Airbus is to stop making the superjumbo

It's the world's biggest passenger aircraft, but the manufacturer says it has failed to secure sufficient orders to maintain production.

The Derby-based aero-engine maker says it'll support the whole Trent 900 fleet in service throughout its lifetime.

Image source, EPA

Kit Sandeman
Local Democracy Reporter

Controversial cuts affecting people with severe disabilities in Nottinghamshire have been partly reversed again.

It means disabled people aged between 18 and 24, who were the hardest-hit under the previous proposals, will now no longer be penalised more harshly.

In October, the Conservative-led Nottinghamshire County Council voted to increase the amount disabled people paid towards the care they received, with some people given just two days' notice that their care bills would increase by up to £55 a week.

After a series of high-profile campaigns against the cuts, the council agreed to delay the roll-out and to introduce it in two phases, with half the cuts coming into effect in April, before the full effect was felt in November.

Initially, it was proposed to separate people into three age categories with those aged between 18 and 24 told to contribute the most, those between 25 and 65 paid some more, and no change for people over a pensionable age.

Now, the lower aged bracket will be scrapped, meaning those between 18 and pensionable age will now pay the same.

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

One lane of London Road, Nottingham, is currently closed due to a broken-down car.

No serious delays are expected at this time.

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

A former police officer has admitted committing child sex offences.

Lee Bowditch, 49, pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent images of children at Leicester Crown Court yesterday, having previously admitted two counts of attempting to engage a child in sexual communication.

Nottinghamshire Police said that the former Newark officer, who was suspended following his arrest and later retired from the force, was arrested in April 2018 after engaging with someone whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl on a dating site private chat room.

Bowditch, of Paddock Close, Ratcliffe-on-Trent, is due to be sentenced on 13 March at Leicester Crown Court.

Image source, Google

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

Drivers got a surprise last night when they encountered 14 ponies making a bid for freedom near junction 26 of the M1.

Officers from Nottinghamshire Police rushed to the scene to round the runaways up and get the road back to normal.

Image source, Nottinghamshire Police

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The co-founder of a homeless charity in Leicester says the public is being conned by a beggar who rents out his dog to other beggars in the city.

Arif Varoji, who set up Help the Homeless Leicester and UK, has called on people not to give money to people in the street.

He said: "He charges £3 for a couple of hours and lets his dog go and sit with other beggars. He's been doing it for a couple of years.

"These people know that the public love animals, if they see a dog sat there they feel even more sorry for them. It's hard to believe but it is happening and people should know about it."

Image source, Getty Images

He added: "I very rarely see genuine homeless people sat outside shops asking people for money, the people doing that are just beggars.

"The genuinely homeless people don't sit in the busy city areas, they stay out of it all.

"People are much better off donating through the shop or a charity, it's the only way people know that the donation is going to the people they intend it to."

BBC Radio Derby

Alton Towers is auctioning off items from its former Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ride.

The 37 items, include signs, giant food items and Oompah-Loompah characters, are being sold individually through an online auction site.

Image source, Merlin/Ebay

The ride closed in 2015 and is being replaced by a dungeon for the upcoming season.

Money raised by the sale will go to charity.

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

Derby County boss Frank Lampard admitted his side lost control of the game in last night's 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town.

The Rams took the lead through an early goal from Tom Lawrence but the home side equalised in the second half to claim a share of the points.

Image source, PA

Afterwards Lampard said: "It's not a loss, but from going 1-0 up against a team struggling at the bottom of the table, we allowed them back into the game by not being at our best.

"We got a good start, on the front foot, getting bodies in the box and we got our goal and that's one of the most frustrating parts of the night, and you would have fancied us then to take some control and go on and win it and we didn't."

East Midlands Today

An ancient monument in Rutland has doubled its number of visitors after undergoing a huge restoration project.

More than £2m of Heritage Lottery cash was spent restoring Oakham Castle between 2015 and 2016.

The attraction is England's most complete Norman Great Hall, dating back almost 800 years to the time of the Norman Conquest.

Last year, it had more than 60,000 visitors compared with about 29,000 a year before the renovations.

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

Bartenders in Mansfield are planning to give themselves "black eyes" over the Valentine's Day weekend to get drinkers talking about domestic abuse.

Organiser and bar owner Jonathan Edwards said drinking goes "hand in hand" with violence and hopes the make-up shiners will raise awareness.

Image source, Industria Bar Mansfield

About 50 venues in the town have agreed to take part on Friday and Saturday.

Information for people looking for help will also be displayed in the bars.

A mugger is due to be sentenced today after being found guilty of causing the death of a 100-year-old woman whose neck was broken in a handbag robbery.

Sofija Kaczan died of pneumonia six days after being robbed near her home in Empress Road, Normanton, as she made her way to church on 28 May.

Image source, Derbyshire Police

Artur Waszkiewicz, 40, of Wolfa Street, Derby, had denied manslaughter and robbery but was convicted at Derby Crown Court yesterday.

The jury deliberated for just over two hours before unanimously convicting him.

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

It's a chilly start on what's expected to be quite a mild day.

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

Hi everyone. Today's news, sport, travel and weather updates will be provided by me, Nick Smith and David Pittam.