Sandish Shoker
BBC News

A Derby pub which banned punters from talking about the royal wedding has raised more than £400 for the Nightingale Macmillan Unit at the Royal Derby Hospital.

Landlady of the Alexandra Hotel, Anna Dyson-Edge, said the ban had been for the benefit of her regulars who were sick of hearing about the event.

She said anyone who did mention it was asked to make a donation in the pub's charity tin.

Hayley Compton
Reporter, BBC Radio Nottingham

It's a name that will be familiar to generations of Nottingham's workers.

These items are from the Imperial Tobacco Horizon factory - known locally as the Player's factory, after founder John Player - which closed its doors in May 2016.

John Pye Auctions is selling 16 items from the factory this afternoon, including portraits of the Player family, original drawings, a large wrought iron sign from above the factory's entrance and these advertisements.

The items are expected to fetch up to £20,000 in total.

Giles Taylor
BBC East Midlands Today reporter

The racist incident at Nottingham Trent University drew widespread condemnation when a video was posted on Twitter just over two months ago.

It was filmed by first year student, Rufaro Chisango (pictured), and was played in court today. In it you could hear Joe Tivnan, a law student from Birmingham, shouting, "we hate blacks" and other offensive phrases.

Today the 19-year-old read out a statement in court apologising to Miss Chisango. He said the comments were not directed at her, but recognised his language was unacceptable on that night.

Image source, Rufaro Chisango

His lawyers went on to say Tivnan was aware his place at university was probably lost and his hopes for a career in law had suffered irreparable damage.

District Judge Leo Pyle said it was evident Tivnan was remorseful, but his actions had "amounted to a substantial disturbance", which had caused a "great deal" of harm to his victim.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

People reported seeing the "large snake" in Ticknall.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

A 22-year-old man has admitted stabbing a man outside Leicester Royal Infirmary's accident and emergency department in the early hours of 16 January.

Yusuf Aka of Grovebury Walk, Leicester, admitted wounding with intent, affray and possessing an offensive weapon.

Ahead of his sentencing in July, Aka will undergo a “dangerousness assessment”.

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

Can you help reunite a two-year-old boy with his favourite teddy?

Angeloux has belonged to Ronnie since he was four months old but was accidentally left on a Trent Barton i4 bus that stopped in Stapleford on Wednesday evening.

Ronnie's mum Jennifer Balloch said: "It’s got a lot of sentimental value. He sleeps with it every night and it goes everywhere with him.”

Image source, Jennifer Balloch

She added: “Ronnie loves buses so I’ve told him that it’s gone on a bus adventure to make him feel better. I think he wishes he was on the bus adventure with him.”

Jennifer said no-one has handed in the teddy yet but they're hoping someone will see the appeal and reunite them with it.

She said it "would mean the world to Ronnie" if someone handed it into Trent Barton.

East Midlands Today

New figures suggest the East Midlands region saw the highest increase in the number of dogs reported stolen last year.

Freedom of Information requests to police forces by the insurance firm Direct Line showed 142 dogs were stolen here in 2017.

That's up more than 43% on the year before. Of the stolen dogs, 49 were returned to their owners.

The most stolen breed of dog across the UK is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Crossbreeds like Cockerpoos and Puggles are the second most stolen.

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

A student has pleaded guilty to racially or religiously aggravated harassment after a video captured racist chanting at a halls of residence at Nottingham Trent University in March.

Joe Tivnan, 19, from Birmingham, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates' Court and made an "unreserved" apology to anyone affected by his behaviour. He said he was "truly sorry" for the distress he had caused to fellow student Rufaro Chisango.

Tivnan, a law student, has been ordered to pay £500 compensation to Miss Chisango after his racist chanting was described by the district judge as "disgusting, shocking and disgraceful".

His co-accused Lauren Leigh, 19, from Nottingham, pleaded not guilty to the same offence and was granted unconditional bail until her trial in July.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

You may have seen this message from Leicester City Council on Twitter earlier.

The authority said the Park and Ride site was closed because travellers had set up an unauthorised encampment there.

The site is now open and running a full service.

The council said: "We have customer services and security staff on site to reassure customers, and staff from the Multi Agency Traveller Unit (MATU) are liaising with the travellers.”

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

Did you see the great spectacle in the Peak District on Tuesday night?

A group of walkers formed a trail of lights using headtorches from Loose Hill to Mam Tor.

They were raising awareness of environmental concerns and the need for National Park pathway repairs.

BBC Derby Sport

Derby County Football Club has told the BBC it has received more than 20 applications for the vacant managerial post at Pride Park.

Image source, Getty Images

The club said "interviewing is underway" to fill the post but a decision is not expected soon.

Former boss Gary Rowett left to manage Stoke City earlier this week.

The bookies' favourite to replace him is Frank Lampard.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

The mother of a 22-year-old man murdered in Derby has been taking about the impact his death had on her life.

Tom Webb was fatally stabbed by 16-year-old Haris Mohammed in 2016.

Rachel Webb said she felt "horrendously suicidal" immediately after Tom died.

She said: "I think the effects of the trauma slowly start to unfold as the months and weeks pass by and even now I'm really struggling with my heath and mental health."

Rachel has been diagnosed with a form of post-traumatic stress disorder and suffers with severe anxiety attacks.

She's getting help from a trauma specialist but still finds it "very difficult" to go near Derby city centre.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

This might slow you down if you're heading up the A1 this morning.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

A couple from Kibworth have been left traumatised after getting stuck in a lift at Leicester's Royal Infirmary hospital for 45 minutes.

Fay Walton has compared the experience to a horror movie and said she will "never ever go in a lift again".

Fay was with her husband Alan and her daughter Mandy at the time. Alan is paralysed from the chest down and has MS.

Fay said: "We were banging on the door for help because we pressed the emergency button and it was not connected to anybody.

"We had no phone signal in there, no CCTV. It was the hottest day of the year; we were melting.

"The lights went out in the lift and a siren started blaring. It was pitch-black in there."

Eventually a passing woman heard their screams and managed to get them help.

Since returning home Fay said she's been having nightmares about what happened and Alan's medical condition has become worse.

University Hospitals Leicester said the complaint is being thoroughly investigated by all departments involved.

Chris Doidge
BBC Radio Derby, political reporter

Chris Poulter's first meeting today will see him trying to persuade the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership to still give £8.6m to the Assembly Rooms project even if it's only refurbished, not rebuilt.

The building It was badly damaged in a fire in 2014. The previous Labour authority had planned to demolish the building in 2020 and rebuild it as a music and performance venue to open in 2022.

The new leader of Derby City Council has said he wants the venue refurbished and reopened in 18 months maximum, hopefully 12 months.

Charlie Slater
BBC Weather presenter

A grey start but the clouds should clear later.

BBC Radio Nottingham

Double yellow lines have been painted on 50 streets in the Aspley area of Nottingham - mainly down one side or just on corners.

The city council said the lines are part of an 18-month experiment to cut congestion on narrow roads and make it easier for emergency vehicles to pass.

The measures have received a mixed response from people living in the area.

One person said: "It's working absolutely fine. So far I haven't had a problem because I always park on this side and people know it."

Another said: "I think it's ridiculous. It means we have to park sometimes 150-200m from our house. I don't understand it. They could have had other solutions."

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

Jamie Vardy has joined England captain Harry Kane in saying the side can win the World Cup.

Image source, Getty Images

The Leicester City striker is part of the 23-man squad for the tournament which begins in three weeks time.

He said the team can win but players need to make sure they work together and perform at 100%.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

Good morning East Midlands - I'll be writing your live page updates today, along with Sandish Shoker.

We'll have all of Thursday's news, sport, weather and travel from across the region.

If you'd like to get in touch you can send an email or use Facebook, external or Twitter, external.