Updates for Friday 5 April
Scientists discover world's tallest tropical tree
Teens released after M1 fuel tanker crash
Five sentenced over summer street shooting
Crews battle overnight house fire
City expressway plans 'could devastate countryside'
Force records rise in violent crime
Adrian Mole musical heads to West End
Five-day festival to celebrate city's caves
Pet rabbits found dumped in lay-by
Gavin Bevis
BBC News
Police have advised people to avoid Gilmorton Road in Lutterworth at the moment because there's a jack-knifed lorry blocking the road, external.
Image source, Leicestershire Police
Giles Taylor
BBC East Midlands Today reporter
Five people have been sentenced in connection with gunshots that were fired in a Nottingham street.
Nobody was injured when the bullets were fired on Oldknow Street in Hyson Green at around 20:00 on 21 August, but four people were convicted of possession of a firearm and the fifth assisted two of the offenders.
Image source, Nottinghamshire PoliceGavin Bevis
BBC News
Police have released video footage of two men they want to speak to after a woman in her 50s had cash and a bank card stolen from her in Leicester.
Police said the card was then used to withdraw more money following the theft in Evington Road at about 13:00 on 25 February.
They've asked anyone with information to get in touch via Twitter or Facebook, external.
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Amy Woodfield
BBC News
Three teenagers, arrested after a crash involving a stolen Audi and a fuel tanker, have been released by police while their investigation continues.
The two 14-your-olds and a 17-year-old were arrested on suspicion of burglary and other offences.
The car had been stolen from outside a house in Ipswich between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Image source, GoogleSuffolk Police made other forces aware and the vehicle was spotted by police in Nottinghamshire just before 07:00 on Wednesday.
The car was followed into Derbyshire where it crashed on the slip road at J30 of the M1.
Three other teenage boys, aged 15, 16 and 17, are being treated in hospital for serious injuries, which are not life-threatening.
Gavin Bevis
BBC News
Netting that angered nature lovers when it was placed over hedges at a housing development in Radcliffe-on-Trent has been removed.
The netting is regularly used by developers nationwide to make it easier for them to remove greenery without having to worry about nesting birds but wildlife groups have strongly criticised the practice.
The removal of the Radcliffe-on-Trent netting was spotted by a delighted local resident yesterday morning.
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Amy Orton
Local Democracy Reporter
A family left homeless after a fire destroyed their home have set up a fundraising page to try to collect enough cash to repair the property.
The Rafique family, who lived in the Beaumont Leys area of Leicester, have been sofa surfing, staying with relatives and doing odd jobs in return for somewhere to live since the blaze last May.
They aim to raise £35,000 to make the home habitable after the fire, which started in a house next door and spread to their property.
Image source, Leicester MercuryIqbal Rafique, 44, told the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service of his "deep shame" that he did not have house insurance at the time of the fire.
Mr Rafique said: "It is just so heartbreaking to see my wife and children with nowhere to live. We dream of going back to the house we love but we can't afford to repair it."
Image source, Leicester MercuryBecause the family were in crisis they were offered emergency accommodation at the Border House hostel by the city council but they turned it down.
Since then, the council has been in talks with the family and offered various forms of accommodation and support.
Mr Rafique has asked the authority to pay for repairs to his property because the fire started in a neighbouring property owned by them.
The council has no obligation to repair his home but has offered to buy the property from the family for £50,000 - an amount Mr Rafique says is not enough.
Mr Rafique, who is still paying the mortgage, said: "We don't want to sell the house, we want to repair it and live there again like we did before."
A dispute between parents and an academy trust over the removal of a head looks set to reach Parliament.
Read MoreGavin Bevis
BBC News
Mansfield Town say there will be a minute's applause in the 73rd minute of tomorrow's home game against Cambridge United in memory of former striker Kevin Randall.
Randall, who also played for Chesterfield and Notts County, died last week at the age of 73.
His funeral is due to take place in Chesterfield on 17 April, external.
Image source, Mansfield TownGavin Bevis
BBC News
An 18-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of affray following a stabbing in the St Ann's area of Nottingham has been released on conditional bail, external.
Two men were injured in the altercation in Hedderley Walk at about 13:15 on Wednesday. One man suffered a minor stab wound to his leg and the other had minor head and hand injuries.
A 21-year-old man who was also questioned on suspicion of affray remains in police custody.
Image source, Google
BBC Radio Leicester
Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre is among 14 hospitals chosen to pilot a new way of measuring performance
Instead of aiming to see and treat virtually all patients in four hours, the sickest will be prioritised.
NHS England wants heart attack, stroke, acute asthma and sepsis patients to have care started within an hour.
Some see it as an attempt to move the goalposts because across England the A&E target has been missed for more than three years.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham first spotted the tree in a Malaysian rainforest last August.
Read More
Sandish Shoker
BBC News
Parphea Hinds, from Derby has not been seen since Wednesday morning.
The 49-year-old was last spotted in the Burton Road area, near Derby city centre, at 10:00.
Derbyshire Constabulary asked anyone who knows where she is to get in touch with them.
Image source, Derbyshire ConstabularyAmy Woodfield
BBC News
There are a couple of problems worth bearing in mind if you're on the road in Derbyshire this afternoon.
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Gavin Bevis
BBC News
Two pet rabbits are being looked after by the RSPCA after being found dumped in a layby in Leicestershire.
The two females were found by a passer-by in Deans Lane, Woodhouse Eaves on 25 March.
The charity said there was no cage, food or water with them but they were "clearly domestic bunnies".
Image source, RSPCAInspector Susan Hammond said: “There is never an excuse to abandon an animal like this as there are always options available for those who feel they can no longer cope with their pets."
The pair, named Tulip and Primrose by RSPCA staff, will be rehomed if their owner does not make contact.
BBC Leicester Sport
Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has been shortlisted for the Premier League manager of the month for March.
He's up against Pep Guardiola. Jurgen Klopp, Ralph Hasenhuttl and Marco Silva for the honour.
Image source, Getty ImagesGavin Bevis
BBC News
Scientists from Nottingham have discovered the world’s tallest tropical tree, measuring over 100m high.
The tree was first spotted in the rainforests of Malaysian Borneo last year by researchers from the University of Nottingham's geography department using an airborne survey instrument that uses laser pulses reflected off the canopy and ground surface.
Follow-up studies were carried out and a local climber measured the tree in January as 100.8m.
Image source, Unding JamiDr Boyd, from the University of Nottingham, said: “By following up the discovery of the tree by my PhD student, Chris Chandler in the airborne data, with a terrestrial laser scan and drone flight by colleagues at University of Oxford, we were able to establish additional dimensional information about the tree."
The teams worked out that 95% of the tree's mass was in its trunk, with only 5% in the crown.
Press Association
Education secretary Damien Hinds is to write to 23 universities - including the University of Derby, Nottingham Trent University and Loughborough College - urging them to stop using "unacceptable" admission tactics.
Mr Hinds has hit out at the "unethical" practice of making "conditional unconditional offers" to students - meaning they are guaranteed a place providing they commit to making the university their first choice option.
Data shows that students who accept unconditional offers were proportionally 7% more likely to miss their predicted A levels by two grades than students with conditional offers, the Department for Education said.
Image source, University of DerbyMr Hinds will ask the independent regulator of higher education in England, the Office for Students (OfS), to take a "comprehensive look" at university admissions procedures.
While the scope of the review has not been determined, the Press Association understands it will look at whether "conditional unconditional" offers are in breach of consumer law.
The DfE added the University of Nottingham was one of three universities that made conditional unconditional offers in 2018 but had since announced it was ending the practice.
Gavin Bevis
BBC News
Police are looking for a 17-year-old girl who's gone missing from the Bestwood Park area of Nottingham.
Daisie Moffat was wearing blue jeans and a grey crop top when she disappeared yesterday.
Anyone who's seen her has been asked to contact Nottinghamshire Police urgently, external.
Image source, Nottinghamshire PoliceAmy Woodfield
BBC News
Oops - the size of East Midlands Airport's air traffic control tower was greatly exaggerated yesterday.
Some media outlets were reporting the tower was 10,500 ft tall when, in fact, the figure released by the airport was that it had control of airspace up to 10,500 ft above ground level.
The media coverage was to mark the tower's 20th birthday.
To put the figures into perspective - the Eiffel Tower is only 1,000 ft tall and the Statue of Liberty is just 300 ft tall.
BBC Radio Derby
Plans for a new office block in Derby, funded by the city council, have fallen through.
The council was to put £6.4m into the project on Bold Lane, which would have created space for 300 jobs, but a ruling at the Court of Appeal against another local authority has deemed such developments unlawful.
The ruling in November said any projects like this need to go through the EU procurement process, which the council did not do.
Image source, Derby City CouncilThe council's plans had just got permission and construction was due to have started, but it will now have to go back to the drawing board and consider its options.