BBC News

Unemployment in the East Midlands was 4.3% in the three months ending June 2019.

The UK’s unemployment rate edged up slightly to 3.9%. Employment was estimated at 76.1%, the joint highest since comparative records began in 1971.

Wage growth also picked up to 3.9%, the highest rate for 11 years, however figures released last week showed the economy shrank 0.2% in the second quarter, the first fall since 2012.

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

The chief executive of Next, based in Enderby, Leicestershire, told the BBC the government's focus on contingency planning meant the UK was close to being well-prepared in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Lord Wolfson said simplified customs and border procedures had made the chance of hold-ups of goods far less likely.

Lord Wolfson, who was a strong advocate of Brexit in the run-up to the referendum, has previously warned that a no-deal Brexit would bring about "chaos and disorder", while stopping short of a catastrophe.

Image source, Newscast

He added he still hoped a deal could be done before 31 October.

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

Footage has shown two firefighters tackling a car blaze in Baslow last night.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to Wheatlands Lane at 19:47 last night and used one hose reel to extinguish the fire.

Alexandra Hamilton
BBC weather presenter

There are still a few showers around and they will persist into the early afternoon, but they will get fewer and farther between.

Neil Heath
BBC News Online

Officers investigating a report a gun was fired at a man in a Nottingham play park have appealed for more witnesses.

Detectives said there was a "verbal altercation" between a small group of Romanian men in the Radford Road area between 18:00 and 19:00 on Sunday.

They went into Kirkstead Street Playground, Hyson Green, where a gun was reportedly fired, but no evidence of a firearm being discharged has been found.

Det Insp Ruby Burrow, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: "We are still trying hard to establish what has actually happened and are appealing for anyone who was in the area at the time to come forward."

Image source, Nottingham Post

Whaley Bridge residents say a planned housing development could increase risks of future flooding.

East Midlands Today

More than 20,000 passengers will fly out of East Midlands Airport today on what bosses say is the busiest day of the year.

Families have been flying to warmer destinations like Alicante, Majorca and Faro looking forward to spending some time in the sun.

Heidi Barlow, from the airport, said: "We think it's because it's two weeks until the end of the summer holidays, and who can blame them? It's pretty chilly today."

Flights started early this morning and will continue until 21:40 tonight.

East Midlands Today

Unafraid of a challenge, Claire Lomas has set her sights high for her next one.

The 38-year-old from Leicestershire was paralysed from the chest down after a horseriding accident in 2007.

Since then she's completed the London Marathon, hand-cycled from Nottingham to London and is now training to fly a specially-adapted microlight plane.

"My accident did feel tough at the time and it was a struggle to get through it in the beginning but I did feel genuinely lucky because I had the use of my arms so I decided to do what I could to find a cure for paralysis," she said.

"I'm challenging myself and pushing myself out of my comfort zone and taking opportunities that come my way and I love it."

The two-month-old boy died two days after being airlifted to hospital with head injuries.

Sonia Kataria
BBC News

Can you spot the difference?

Visit Uganda UK has said a statue of their native Shoebill - placed at Rutland Water - was a "promotional stunt".

Image source, Visit Uganda UK

The statue caught the eye of many visiting the site over the weekend but the tourism board confirmed the hoax in a tweet.

They added the stunt was for the upcoming British Birdwatching Fair at the nature reserve.

Image source, Reuters

The Shoebill are endangered birds and usually inhabit freshwater swamps.

They can grow up to 1.5 metres (5ft) tall and its wings can spread up to 2.5 metres (8ft).

Katie Larn had undergone chemotherapy before applying for Personal Independence Payments.

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

A controlled explosion was carried out in Leicester yesterday after police said magnet fishers recovered "old ordnance" from the river.

A spokeswoman said the items - "believed to be two grenades" - were found on a towpath near Western Boulevard at about 15:00.

She said officers called the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team, who carried out the controlled explosion.

Police arrest a man who had fallen into a disused social club through a skylight in the ceiling.

Kit Sandeman
Local Democracy Reporter

Nottingham's new war memorial - which was opened by royalty at the end of June - is currently out of bounds.

The memorial on Victoria Embankment names 13,501 people from Nottinghamshire who died in World War One, as well as those who died in the Chilwell Shell Filling Disaster and the people killed in the Nottingham Zeppelin raid.

It was formally unveiled by the Duke of Kent, but work to install new lighting and a permanent pathway around the memorial still needed to be carried out.

Work began on the site last Monday, and the memorial's expected to reopen to the public on 26 August.

Pakistan's Babar Azam scores a superb unbeaten 55-ball century as Somerset thrash Hampshire in the T20 Blast.

Lancashire fall to their first T20 Blast defeat despite a blistering 79 from Glenn Maxwell against Birmingham Bears.

Neil Heath
BBC News Online

Threatened hen harriers had a "record" breeding season but numbers are still not where they should be, according to Natural England.

The "sky dancers" have been disappearing on English grouse moors, including in the Derbyshire Peak District, due to illegal killing, according to studies.

However, reports that 47 chicks were reared at sites in England this year, beating the previous record of 46 in 2006, have been welcomed.

Natural England's chair Tony Juniper said there was still a lot of work to do and it would be a "tragic loss" should the birds disappear from the countryside.

Image source, Peak District Raptor Monitoring Group

The Moorland Association, which manages moorland in England and Wales for wild red grouse, said it had been a "fantastic year" for the hen harriers.

Eleven of the nests were on grouse moors, the figures show.

In 2013, there were no successful nests or fledged chicks, which raised fears the bird was becoming extinct as a breeding species in England.

While the RSPB welcomed the news, it said there was "clear evidence that illegal killing" was continuing.

The government's own data suggests there should be more than 300 pairs of hen harriers across the country.

Image source, RSPB

Leicestershire sign Worcestershire all-rounder George Rhodes, son of ex-Pears legend Steve Rhodes, on a three-year deal from 2020.

Derby County sign Bristol City attacker Jamie Paterson and Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Ben Hamer on season-long loan deals.

Nick Smith
BBC News Online

A man was arrested after falling into a social club through its ceiling.

Police were called to the club, in London Road, Derby, at 14:20 yesterday to reports of a suspected burglary.

After entering the building, officers found a man who had fallen into the club through a skylight.

A 28-year-old man was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with criminal damage.

He is due to appear at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court on 27 August.

Image source, Derbyshire Police