Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry leaves Conservative Party
Firefighter diagnosed with breast cancer dies
Controversial Leicester Cathedral extension approved
Police appeal after Peak District sheep shot
Coach fire causing delays on A52
Updates for Wednesday 20 February
Nick Smith
BBC News Online
Council tax increases were approved yesterday, affecting every rate payer in Leicestershire.
Leicester City Council voted for a rise of just under 3%, while Leicestershire County Council approved an increase of just under 4%.
Image source, GoogleThe latest news, sport, travel and weather for the East Midlands.
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Alex Hamilton
BBC Weather
We can expect another mild day, with warmer weather moving up from the south leading to temperatures of around 16C.
Today will get off to a cloudy and drizzly start but it will become drier and brighter as the day goes on.
Here's Alex with the weather.
Nick Smith
BBC News Online
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Jed Wallace's second-half strike eases Millwall's relegation concerns and dents Derby County's Championship play-off hopes.
Read MoreThe woman was found in a park in Leicester covered in blood with a deep wound on her head.
Read MoreThe East Midlands Live page has now finished for the day. However some posts linking to BBC articles may continue to appear.
Full live coverage will continue at 08:00 on Thursday.
Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather
Staying dry for most places this evening but some places to the west of the region may have the odd light shower.
It'll be a fine and very mild day on Thursday with cloud breaking through to leave some spells of sunshine.
Amy Woodfield
BBC News
Heading south? This could slow you up.
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Hugh Casswell
Political reporter, BBC Radio Nottingham
The long-serving Broxtowe Conservative councillor Philip Owen has told the BBC he’s “extremely disappointed” in Anna Soubry.
Image source, AFPFormer Conservative MP Soubry was one of three to quit the party earlier announcing she was to join a new breakaway independent group.
Mr Owen said: “Bring on a people’s vote in Broxtowe and let’s have a by-election”.
Giles Taylor
BBC East Midlands Today reporter
A number of local residents have described hearing screams from a play park in Leicester at the time a woman was attacked.
They were speaking during the trial of a 24-year-old man accused of rape and attempted murder on Cedar Road in the early hours of the 3 August 2018.
However, the residents said none of them thought anything of it, as they said those sounds were common in that area.
The court also heard from Sgt Victoria Lucas, who was the first officer to respond to the scene.
She arrived in the park at about 05:00 and she described seeing a woman lying in the grass, covered in blood and naked from the waist down. She noticed a large deep wound to the woman's forehead, and gave her first aid until the ambulance arrived.
Another officer described finding the woman's handbag by her legs containing cash, but no mobile phone.
In a statement, an ambulance technician said the woman was hypothermic when he arrived, with a significant head wound, and had lost a lot of blood.
He said that in his opinion she had been left for dead. And he went on to say if she'd been undiscovered much longer, he doesn't think she would have survived.
She was taken to the trauma unit at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where the registrar described her wounds as shocking and like nothing she'd seen before.
Her skull had to be recreated with metal, but some plates later had to be removed leaving her with holes in her head.
A forensic scientist was brought into court to described how he'd analysed numerous items - including the victim's clothing, beer cans, and even a discarded condom wrapper.
Michael Wheelhouse said DNA traces matching both the victim and the defendant had been found on all of them. The defendant claimed that he met the victim in the park, but left before she was attacked.
Traces of the victim's blood were also found on pieces of paper and a cigarette packet found at his home address.
Zakarya Etarghi denies the charges and the trial continues.
David Pittam
BBC News Online
An Armani watch which belonged to a Derbyshire man who died earlier this year was among items stolen in a burglary, police have said.
The thieves are also said to have taken jewellery, electrical items and several bottles of perfume from the man's family home on Edward Street, Eckington on the evening of 3 February.
They took the keys to a Ford Fiesta and used it as a getaway vehicle. The car was later discovered in Sheffield and is now undergoing forensic checks.
Image source, Google
East Midlands Today
A Nottinghamshire pub is being repainted for a second time, after falling foul of council planning regulations.
Last month the White Hind in Newark was painted blue. But as a Grade II listed building in a conservation area, the council demanded it be changed back.
Now the landlord, Richard Belam, says he hopes he's finally agreed a compromise - grey.
David Pittam
BBC News Online
A 35-year-old was kicked in the head and face by a group of men after they asked him for a cigarette.
He was walking through Newark Market Place at around 3.15am this morning (Wednesday 20 February) when he was approached by three men and asked for a cigarette.
Image source, GoogleThey then followed the man and assaulted him near an Argos shop. They also attempted to take his mobile phone.
The men are all described as white, in their early 20s and around 5ft 6ins tall.
David Pittam
BBC News Online
A man wearing a balaclava flashed a hiker as she made her way along a Peak District path this afternoon.
Police said the man, described as in his 20s, around 6ft tall and of medium build, "emerged from the trees and sexually exposed himself" to a woman along the Midshires Path near Fernilee Reservoir.
It happened at about 13:15.
Image source, Google
Tim Parker
BBC Radio Leicester reporter
Leicestershire councillors discussing next year's budget have said growing pressure on social care services and the removal of the Revenue Support Grant are the authority's top spending pressures and the reason council tax will go up.
In the past five years the amount of vulnerable adults, children in care and demand in special educational needs has increased by 32%.
The Revenue Support Grant - a chunk of government money previously given to the authority - will stop this year.
The Lib Dem leader Simon Galton has suggested the administration is holding out for national government generosity in future years and has asked if that’s wise.
The budget meeting continues.
BBC Leicester Sport
Is Jonny May the best winger in the world? Not according to his Leicester Tigers boss.
Image source, Getty ImagesWhen asked by the BBC earlier, Geordan Murphy said New Zealand's Rieko Ioane was better.
He said: "Jonny is definitely one of the top wingers in the world right now. He’s a great player who continually wants to develop - his form is absolutely amazing."
A youth worker says they could be mistaken for stab vests and removing them "could help save lives".
Read MoreNick Smith
BBC News Online
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David Pittam
BBC News Online
A lane of the A52 to Nottingham "may be shut all week" after a burning coach and oil spill damaged the carriageway this morning, Derby City Council said.
This is likely to cause delays at rush hours, and football supporters are being urged to leave extra time to get to the Rams' match against Millwall at Pride Park this evening.
Image source, Derbyshire ConstabularyAll lanes were closed eastbound at about 08:00 near the turn for The Wyvern, but have since partially reopened.