Samantha Noble
BBC News Online

An 83-year-old man who went missing from his home in Leicester has been found.

Leicestershire Police said the man, who was last seen yesterday, is safe and well.

David Pittam
BBC News Online

A 90-year-old man has died in a bungalow fire in Derbyshire.

Investigators believe the blaze, in Willow Avenue, Shirebrook, yesterday morning was started by the "deliberate ignition of combustible materials".

The man was rescued by firefighters but died after being taken to hospital.

Image source, Google

The fire service the blaze was not being treated as suspicious.

A spokesman appealed for people to check elderly neighbours, friends and family members were well and not feeling isolated.

Boss Neal Ardley says Notts County respect striker Wes Thomas' decision to refuse to train because of fears about Covid-19.

Watch live coverage as the Championship side Stoke City face Premier League side Leicester City in the FA Cup third round.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

A road has been closed in the Peak District after a crash, thought to be caused by icy conditions.

A car landed on its roof after the three-vehicle collision on Chesterfield Road earlier, according to Derbyshire Police.

Image source, Derbyshire Police

There were no serious injuries reported.

The car has since been recovered but the road remains closed due the weather.

Amy Orton
Local Democracy Reporter

Tributes have been paid to a "dedicated and passionate" frontline NHS worker who died after catching coronavirus.

Yvonne Taggart, a 55-year-old mother-of-three, died on Christmas Eve, Leicester's Hospitals said.

Daughters Emma, Sarah and Danielle said: “Mum had a big heart full of love to give and she has left a big hole in the hearts of everyone who knows and loves her. She is forever in our thoughts.”

Image source, University Hospitals of Leicester

Chief nurse at Leicester’s hospitals, Carolyn Fox shared an emotional tribute with staff.

“With incredible sadness, I share news of the death of one of our own," she said.

“Remembering Yvonne, her closest colleagues have spoken of their thankfulness for having known her.

"She was a team player, hardworking, passionate and extremely proud to work for the NHS. She cared well and deeply for her patients and was never fazed by challenge.”

Ms Taggart began working for University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in 2003 on wards, including 29 and 42, and had been working regular bank shifts in the hospitals since 2016.

Officers say the gym had stayed open in breach of tier four Covid restrictions.

BBC Weather

Today will be mostly cloudy and cold with patchy light rain, sleet and snow.

There will be a maximum temperature of 2°C (36°F).

Through this evening and tonight, it will become dry and gradually clearer. A cold night with the risk of local pockets of freezing fog by dawn.

Image source, Philippa

Kit Sandeman
Local Democracy Reporter

Nottingham hospitals need to recruit 73 more midwives to return to desirable staffing levels, a new report has found.

The news comes a month after midwifery services at City Hospital and the QMC were deemed inadequate by healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

An inspection found there were not always enough maternity staff "to keep patients from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment".

The Nottingham University Hospitals Trust said in a report to Nottingham City Council it needs to recruit dozens more staff.

The report said the trust had identified a need for "more midwives to provide that care for the increasingly complex pregnancies that we are seeing".

The report added: "We are committed to recruiting more midwives and that work is ongoing, but will take time."

Seven midwives were recruited in December, which the trust says is the equivalent of 18.19 full-time posts.

National Childbirth Trust senior policy advisor Elizabeth Duff said: “It is absolutely essential to maintain adequate staffing levels in maternity services, even more so at a time when a woman cannot always have her partner with her in hospital."

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

Loughborough University has confirmed it will refund campus accommodation fees for students who are not returning to their flats because of the latest lockdown.

The university reminded students not to return to campus and said there would be no face-to-face learning until at least mid-February, with exams taking place online.

Exceptions for students who can return are those who had already arranged international travel back to the UK, those without adequate space at home to study, if their mental health is negatively affected by remaining at home and those part of an elite sport performance pathway or teaching programme.

Image source, Loughborough University

The university's chief operating officer, Richard Taylor, said: “We are very disappointed that we are not able to welcome students back to our campuses due to the new lockdown, but we recognise we must follow the government arrangements for higher education and we are committed to doing so."

He said there would be "robust testing processes" for any students and staff who had to return and procedures in place to keep the campus safe.

East Midlands Today

A Nottinghamshire coach company has been enlisted to help transport people to Covid vaccination sites.

Marshalls, based in Sutton-on-Trent, has been contracted by Nottinghamshire County Council to start taking people to a local site from next week.

Simon Read, transport manager said: "It's a privilege to be involved in anything that gets rid of this terrible situation we have got and to be able to help out is brilliant."

Mr Read said the coach travel and tourism sectors had been hit badly by the pandemic and made an emotional plea to the government for more support.

He said: "Without coaches the country comes to a standstill.

"Who is it that supports the rail industry when trains break down? It's the coach industry.

"Who moved the army up to Liverpool for mass testing? It's the coach industry."

The BBC has approached the government for a response.

Preston sign Leicester City goalkeeper Daniel Iversen on loan until the end of the season.

More than 400 Covid-19 patients are on wards and critical care units are 75% above usual capacity.

Rob Sissons
East Midlands Today Reporter

The Derby Arena is a big venue and there was a big buzz down there today.

This wasn’t a sporting event or a music gig, though. This was people coming in to get vaccinated against coronavirus.

They were excited and it was not just them, the joy on the faces of the relatives and carers who had brought them along was clear to see.

You can’t just turn up. It is by invitation only and the focus today was on the people aged 80 and over. However, they are hoping to roll it out to other age groups as the days go on.

They all went away happy and clutching a card telling them when their second booster jab will be needed.

Going forward, the key thing is the size of the venue as it will be big enough to increase the number of people coming to get those jabs.

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

A man has died in a house fire in the early hours in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.

Emergency services were called to the house in Marlborough Road just after 02:00 today.

Nottinghamshire Police said residents in neighbouring properties were evacuated and rehoused overnight while firefighters put out the blaze.

The force said the man was pronounced dead at the scene and his family have been informed.

Image source, Brett Stone

Det Sgt Mark Shaw, said: "We're keeping an open mind while we determine what caused the blaze but at the moment there's no suggestion of suspicious circumstances."

Samantha Noble
BBC News Online

British Gas workers in Leicester were among thousands of staff who began a five-day strike earlier, in a dispute over new contracts

The GMB Union said staff have walked out after an attempt by the firm to push through pay cuts by threatening to fire workers.

On Thursday, staff joined a picket outside the British Gas site in Aylestone Road, Leicester.

A spokeswoman for Centrica, the owner of British Gas, said: "We've done everything we can with the GMB to avoid industrial action.

"While we've made great progress with our other unions, sadly the GMB leadership seems intent on causing disruption to customers during the coldest weekend of the year, amid a global health crisis and in the middle of a national lockdown."

Justin Bowden, GMB national secretary, said: "GMB members from Land's End to John O'Groats have stayed home, stayed safe and supported the first national gas strike in a decade.

"The months and months of fire and rehire pay-cut threats from British Gas CEO Chris O'Shea have provoked thousands and thousands of GMB engineers and call centre staff to strike."

Nearly 230 more students say they will withhold rent for accommodation they cannot use.

David Pittam
BBC News Online

The head of an East Midlands hospital trust said this is the "biggest challenge [he's] ever seen" in 30 years working for the NHS.

Gavin Boyle, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, made the comments as the trust cared for its highest number of coronavirus patients since the start of the pandemic.

There are 426 patients with Covid-19 on their wards, with the critical care unit 75% above its usual capacity.

Yesterday the Royal Derby Hospital alone had more patients than the whole trust (UHDB) saw at any one time during the first wave.

Samantha Noble
BBC News Online

A woman was rescued by firefighters and then taken to hospital after a three-car crash on the A1 southbound near Newark.

Nottinghamshire Police said no-one was seriously injured in the collision near the Claypole junction, which officers were called to just after 9:00.

After the woman was rescued from a car, she was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre, in Nottingham, as a precaution, police said.

The road was closed but both carriageways have since reopened, said Highways England.

Image source, Google

Samantha Noble
BBC News Online

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice has been issued by the Met Office for the whole of the East Midlands and the majority of the country.

The warning has been put in place from 17:00 today until 23:59 tomorrow.

Icy stretches are likely to form and perhaps lead to travel disruption with snow falling for some places, said the Met Office.

Image source, Philippa Jacks