Police say some of the reasons given to officers for being outside were "ridiculous".

Liam Barnes
BBC News

Police are appealing for information after a man in his 30s died when three lorries and a car were involved in a crash on the A50.

Derbyshire Police said they were called to the scene near Chellaston at about 19:00 on Tuesday.

The road was closed in both directions while emergency services dealt with the crash.

Amy Orton
Local Democracy Reporter

A student whose dad died from coronavirus is pleading for the public to follow guidance to bring the pandemic under control.

Owen Rodbard, from Stevenage, lost dad Gary at the start of the pandemic last year, with the 57-year-old spending 18 days on a ventilator before succumbing to the virus on 12 April.

The 19-year-old, who is studying sports marketing at Leeds University, could not visit once his father's condition worsened due to the lockdown.

He's running 150km in 30 days to raise money for Leicester's hospitals to pay back those who looked after his dad, and is calling for people to stick to the rules to stop other families going through the same trauma.

Image source, Family handout

Kit Sandeman
Local Democracy Reporter

An energy company company set up by Nottingham City Council has been placed into administration.

Robin Hood Energy (RHE), which was established in 2015 in a bid to tackle fuel poverty, will be run by accounting and consultancy firm Deloitte, with its customer base sold to British Gas owners Centrica.

An outstanding £12.5m owed to energy regulator Ofgem for green taxes known as Renewable Obligations Certificates is expected to be spread across the rest of the energy market, effectively meaning all other consumers from companies with no link to RHE will foot the bill.

Labour-controlled Nottingham City Council - which was heavily criticised for its handling of the energy company - has said it expects its total losses to be £38m.

Councillor Sam Webster, the portfolio holder for finance, told Tuesday's full council meeting RHE went into administration on 5 January, adding 116 of the company's 230 employees have been helped into new jobs.

Image source, Getty Images

Samantha Noble
BBC News Online

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice has been issued by the Met Office for parts of north Derbyshire, including Matlock and Bakewell, external.

It is in place from 08:00 today until 21:00 tomorrow.

The Met Office said heavy snow may affect parts of the warning area, possibly causing significant travel disruption.

Image source, Villager Jim

Liam Barnes
BBC News

The public need to carry on with social distancing measures to help stop the spread of the pandemic, health directors for Derby and Derbyshire have said, following a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases.

During the last month, the number of patients with the condition in hospital has risen by 67%, with nearly one in four hospital beds in the county occupied by people with coronavirus.

The county's Local Resilience Forum - a group involving local councils, emergency services and health organisations - said there's been "a significant increase" in pressure placed on the NHS.

Dean Wallace, director of public health for Derbyshire County Council, said any contact with people outside of each person's bubble "creates a risk of passing on the virus", while Robyn Dewis at Derby City Council said public compliance "is more essential now than ever".

The plea for support comes days after Derbyshire Police apologised to two women who were fined while out for a walk near their homes.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Weather

Unlike the sunshine we had yesterday, it's going to to be a wet one today. It will be largely overcast with spells of rain, which could be heavy especially through the morning.

There'll be a brief break in the rain this evening with highs of about 4C.

The rain is due to return and become heavier and persistent overnight, and it'll be quite windy as well.

Image source, John Bradburn

Alex Regan
BBC News

A 67-year-old woman has become the 3,000th Covid-19 patient to be discharged by a hospital trust.

Christine Cullen was admitted to the Royal Derby Hospital on Christmas Day after developing a dry cough and struggling to breathe.

After struggling to even walk to the toilet, her daughter rang NHS 111.

She was brought to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumococcal Covid-19 pneumonia.

Image source, UHDB

Upon her discharge, Mrs Cullen said: “Covid is very real; it can affect different people in different ways. It’s a hard journey. A really hard journey.

“Anyone with Covid-19 will know that anything you do is a small achievement, even breathing properly. You don’t realise until you have had Covid-19 how much it really does affect you.”

The Normanton resident praised the staff at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust, and requested her first meal at home be a Christmas dinner.

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

An elderly woman's life was saved after she was woken up by a call from her monitored fire alarm system, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

The fire service were called to a blaze at her Bleasby home shortly before midnight, and on their arrival, found the resident was already out of the house.

The fire service said her telecare monitored alarm system, external, having detected smoke, also alerted a designated neighbour who helped the woman get out the house safely.

Image source, Google

The fire had been started by coal fire embers placed in a wheelie bin and had spread to the roof of the property.

Group manager Tom Archer said: "I'm sure that we would have been dealing with a far more serious incident if it had not been for the system."

He encouraged other older or vulnerable people to consider installing a similar alarm system.

Rob Sissons
East Midlands Today Reporter

There are more than 150 people in King's Mill Hospital at Sutton-in-Ashfield with coronavirus and health bosses expecting that to increase.

The phrase they use is "baked in" and it is all about the lead-up time from infection rates to hospitalisation.

When someone becomes infected it can take five days to show symptoms and then seven to 10 days before hospitalisation is required.

It then could be another week or two before that person may then require intensive care.

With infection rates across the East Midlands all on the rise, hospitals are bracing themselves having to treat even more people. And all of this is coming at a time when staff are already under pressure.

A petition to prioritise teachers for the Covid-19 vaccine gains more than 460,000 signatures.

PC Maddie Hayes says the attack has made her "more determined" to help people.

The government is accused of acting unlawfully in stopping Errol Graham's benefits before his death.

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

Newly-installed flood gates, built to stop motorists from driving into deep water in Thurlaston, have been vandalised.

The gates were put up on Watery Gate Lane last month as part of a £65,000 scheme after an increasing number of vehicles were becoming stranded in an overflowing ford.

Image source, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service

Leicestershire County Council said they have already been damaged "by motorists trying to access the ford".

Since 2014, more than 20 cars have been rescued from the ford.

Image source, Leicestershire County Council

The new gates are closed by county council staff when the ford reaches a water level deemed impassable.

Councillor Trevor Pendleton said: “These gates were installed to ensure motorists' safety.

"To already have someone try to use the road when it is dangerous to do so, and damage our gate in the process, is very frustrating."

He added the council was facing another bill to repair the gates.

Amy Orton
Local Democracy Reporter

Two hospital workers have lifted the lid on what it’s like to work on an intensive care ward during the second wave of the pandemic.

Leicester’s hospitals have their highest ever number of Covid-19 patients.

Professor Sanjay Agrawal and Kirstie Hill have both spent months caring for the most poorly Covid patients, seeing first-hand the death and devastation the disease can cause.

Image source, LDRS

Ms Hill, an intensive care nurse at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, said: “I was filling in some forms of a patient the other week and their date of birth was after mine; I’m only 32.

“The patient died. I think people need to hear that to realise that it’s not just old people dying and suffering.

“We’ve had people of all ages that we are looking after but looking after someone who was younger than me was tough. It hits home how serious this is.”

For the staff on the ICU, the emotional, mental and physical challenges keep coming.

“You can take the PPE off, but you can’t turn off your feelings,” Ms Hill said.

Image source, LDRS

Both medics firmly believe we are coming closer to the end of the pandemic.

Mr Agrawal, a consultant in respiratory and ICU medicine at Glenfield, said: “Catching Covid now would be like being shot on the last day of the war.

“The, 'Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives' message is more important now than ever [before].

“What people do today has a direct impact on what the hospital and ICU looks like in a couple of weeks’ time. The direct link is there."

Image source, PA Media

Nottingham Forest extend winger Anthony Knockaert's loan from Fulham until the end of the season.

Sandish Shoker
BBC News

A man who stashed Class A drugs in his underwear has been sentenced.

Jed Wood was spotted by a CCTV operator acting suspiciously in Newark in the early hours of 19 January 2019, police said.

When officers confronted the 24-year-old in an alleyway off Castlegate, he produced eight small bags of MDMA from his boxer shorts.

Image source, Google

Wood, of Farndon Road, Newark, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday and was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 12 months, for possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and possession of cannabis.

He was also ordered to complete 50 hours of unpaid work.

Alex Regan
BBC News

A 21-year-old man who has won £10,000 a month for the next 30 years has no immediate plans to move out of his parents' house.

James Evans, a block paver from South Derbyshire, said he had completely forgotten about buying the winning Set For Life ticket for the draw on 28 December until he checked his emails the following day.

He said: "I noticed an email from The National Lottery to say I'd won a prize, but didn't think too much of it as I'd won £5 not too long ago.

"I checked the National Lottery app and saw that I had matched all of the five main numbers and the Life Ball. I couldn't believe it. I ran down to my mum to get her to check but she wasn't sure either."

Image source, PA Media

Mr Evans, who is not currently planning on moving out and still intends to work for his dad, said he was so overwhelmed he went rock climbing in the Peak District to clear his head.

Now the win has sunk in, he plans on using the money to travel.

"My first thought was a skiing trip to Canada with my family," he said.

"I would also love to go to Alaska, I will definitely take a trip of a lifetime there when it's safe to travel again."

Kit Sandeman
Local Democracy Reporter

Nottingham City Council didn't anticipate how many people would visit the city's Christmas market last year, its leader has said.

The authority was heavily criticised after the attraction closed one day after it opened due to crowds in a pandemic.

David Mellen told a full meeting of the council they decided to go ahead with the market in the hope of boosting the local economy, but that they had been caught out.

He claimed a "wide range of measures" based on "available guidance" had been put in place for crowds to follow, and though the market was opened in an effort "to help support the local economy and bring some festive cheer", public safety was "always first and foremost in all decisions taken".

Image source, Nottingham City Council

Amy Woodfield
BBC News

Police have fined 15 people that gathered at a car meet in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.

Nottinghamshire Police said multiple vehicles had gathered at Portland Park just after 22:00 on Sunday in breach of national lockdown restrictions.

Image source, Google

Officers, who found 10 cars on arrival, issued fixed penalty notices of £200 to 15 people while warnings were given to a further six.

Insp Nick Butler, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "No police officer wants to be handing out fines to people for engaging in activities that seem perfectly normal.

"But we aren't in normal times - we are at a moment of national crisis and we won't hesitate to enforce the rules when we see people flouting them so brazenly."