Dave Wade
BBC News

Five men have been sentenced today for defrauding Melton Borough Council out of over £200,000.

In August 2013, the authority received a "plausible" request via an email which the council believed to be from a legitimate council service provider, according to Leicestershire Police.

The email requested that the bank details it held for the council were amended.

It was only when the legitimate organisation contacted the council over unpaid invoices the following month that the fraud was detected.

Image source, Google

Sentenced for fraud at Leicester Crown Court today:

• Robert Brown, 61, of Boyd Street, Glasgow, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to 27 months in prison
• Kevin Martin, 44, of Richardson Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to 16 months suspended for 20 months.
• Garry Easton, 47, of Henderland Road, Glasgow, was found guilty after a trial and was sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, and 120 hours unpaid work
• Stephen Best, 44, of Govanhill Street, Glasgow, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to 16 months, suspended for 20 months, and 80 hours unpaid work
• Robert Jackson, 32, of Skaterigg Drive, Glasgow, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to 16 months suspended for 20 months and 80 hours unpaid work.

Council leader Joe Orson said: “The council remains out of pocket as a result of this fraud and will now be looking to see what can be recovered from the Proceeds of Crime Act.”

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

Police have advised people in Derbyshire to ignore a scam email currently being sent around that threatens violence unless a ransom is paid in Bitcoin.

In an example email sent round by the force, recipients are told - seemingly in broken English: "Given the fact of successful development of your business, people (your competitors) paid me 30,000 £ for your severed hands."

Image source, Derbyshire Police

Derbyshire Police said: "This is a scam. Do not pay the ransom. We don’t believe the threats to be genuine.

"Please share this message with your family and friends, particularly if they are vulnerable."

Dave Wade
BBC News

Paralysed ex-rugby player Matt Hampson says his desire to see his Get Busy Living Centre in action helped keep him alive.

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

It's claimed up to half of Derby's taxi drivers could leave the city if the council introduces age limits on their vehicles.

Ian Wigley, chairman of the Derby Area Taxi Association, said a suggested five-year age limit on vehicles would force the hand of about 50% of cabbies as they would be unable to afford replacements.

The authority has started a consultation into the condition of taxis in Derby following concerns over the age of the fleet.

It says age limits are "inevitable" due to government air quality requirements.

Dave Wade
BBC News

Inrix travel services are reporting a crash on the M1 northbound between junctions 23 and 23A.

Image source, Highways England

This is how the traffic's looking at junction 23, near East Midlands Airport.

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

A section of the Intu Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham was closed today because of a "strong smell".

Tanners Walk, which includes Wilkos, Heron Foods and Greggs, was shut after complaints of a pong.

Nigel Wheatley, general manager for intu Broadmarsh said: “We received a complaint from one of our retailers about a strong smell which is understood to be as a result of the resurfacing works being undertaken on Collin Street and Middle Hill, outside of intu Broadmarsh."

All the shops except Wilko have now reopened.

One actor said the advert, which asks for flexibility with working hours, was "outrageous".

Serco say "a maximum of six prisoners" were involved in disorder at HMP Lowdham Grange.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Derbyshire County Council fell millions of pounds short of its savings target for last year, a cabinet meeting has heard.

The authority needs to cut £53m from its budget by 2022. Last year it aimed to make £22m savings but missed its target by £3.7m.

The shortfall was largely blamed on the severe winter, with the council's highways department forced to spend more on gritting and fixing potholes than usual.

The meeting heard the saving targets for the current year was £12m.

Dave Wade
BBC News

A music venue in Derby has had its licence revoked by the city council "to protect the public".

The 400-capacity Hairy Dog in Beckett Street has hosted bands including Slaves, Sleaford Mods and UK Subs since it opened in 2012.

Image source, Google

The city council's licencing sub-committee heard earlier this week there had been "repeated breaches" of licensing regulations for several years.

According to minutes published on the authority's website, external, the venue's designated premises supervisor was prosecuted in 2017 over unlicensed wrestling events.

The committee was also shown footage of a "disturbance" at the venue in April.

Mick Barker, from the committee, said: "We are fully aware of the popularity of the Hairy Dog, however our main priority is to protect the public."

The venue has said on Facebook it is remaining open after appealing the decision., external

Manager Nick May said in a post shared by the page: "We have already put in our appeal and can lawfully continue to trade until the appeal goes to court, at which point I have no doubt in my mind that we will win."

Kay Wright
BBC Radio Nottingham

BBC presenter Simon Mayo has been sharing his tips with those planning to attend BBC Radio Nottingham's untapped open auditions.

The station is searching for a presenter for its new evening show starting this autumn. Untapped's auditions are being held tomorrow at Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall, external. It's open to anyone who thinks they've got what it takes to present their own show.

Simon Mayo, who presents a weekday show on BBC Radio 2 with Jo Whiley, started his BBC career at BBC Radio Nottingham.

His advice: Keep radio intimate by imagining talking to just one person, not an entire audience.

Dave Wade
BBC News

Police carried out seven stop and searches in Nottingham last night following a shooting.

Image source, Google

No weapons were found, the force said.

Stop and search powers were used in Radford and St Ann's last night after a man was shot in the leg in Lotus Close at 17:00.

The victim is recovering in hospital, police said.

Nottinghamshire Police said it has the option of implementing further Section 60 orders in the area "if the intelligence picture indicates that such an action is necessary to protect the public".

But it said there are no plans to implement another one this evening.

Dave Wade
BBC News

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) which now runs the East Coast Mainline has asked passengers not to travel today.

It's after lightning strikes damaged signalling in Yorkshire, stopping trains between Leeds and York.

The line, between London and Edinburgh, stops at Retford and Newark in Nottinghamshire.

Image source, York Mix

A report found children were allegedly given a "truth drug", stripped and abused at the hospital.

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

Two people have been arrested, external after police intercepted a lorry on the M1 in Derbyshire last night and discovered it was packed with clothing believed to have been stolen from other lorries in Nottinghamshire.

The HGV, which had set off the road policing unit's automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system was found to have false number plates, with another set found inside the cab.

Image source, Derbyshire Police

Image source, Derbyshire Police

Image source, Derbyshire Police

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

Western Power Distribution says it has drafted in extra staff, external to deal with any disruption caused to electricity supplies in the East Midlands by today's thunder and lightning.

The firm said its network was currently operating normally but it had been warned by the Met Office the stormy weather had the potential to cause problems.

It said: "Extra operational staff have been put on standby, with the weather warnings predicted for today, this evening and throughout the weekend, plus our call centre has drafted in extra staff."

Image source, DLong

BBC Weather Watchers

Although we seem to have avoided the torrential downpours predicted earlier this week there has been rain in most parts of the region.

Here's Ripley in Derbyshire getting a short, sharp soaking.

Image source, DLong

Kegworth in Leicestershire has had some rain.

Image source, scrappy

And East Leake in Nottinghamshire's looking a bit wet here.

Image source, Maggie T

Dave Wade
BBC News

Incredible shots from above Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, where the dry conditions have revealed the outlines of 17th-Century gardens.

Patterns showing where the 300-year-old flowerbeds and paths once were can be seen under the South Lawn's scorched grass.

Dave Wade
BBC News

Stop and search powers were used in parts of Nottingham last night following a shooting.

A man was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries after the he was shot in the leg in Lotus Close, St Ann's, yesterday evening.

Image source, Google

The Section 60 order was in place until 07:00 this morning in St Ann's and Radford.

Nottinghamshire Police said it was "to keep people safe" as they had received intelligence to suggest tensions between "groups" from the areas was high.

Chief Inspector Simon Allardice said: “This decision, authorised by senior officers, was taken as a preventative measure to help keep people safe and prevent serious violence by allowing officers to use these powers, appropriately and proportionately, to stop and search anyone within the identified areas for weapons."

He said a number of searches took place overnight.

Extra officers have been brought in to the area today but there have been no further violence.