BBC News Sheffield & South Yorkshire

A fire service safety inspection of high-rise buildings in South Yorkshire found 201 properties not included on an "inaccurate" government list.

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South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service inspected all high-rises in the county following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.

It found a total of 309 tower blocks in need of improvements, including 108 identified by the government.

A report to the county's fire and rescue authority said: "It was identified early on that the MHCLG list did not provide an accurate number of High Rise Residential Building within South Yorkshire, and that more work would need to be done by the team to identify a truer list of premises."

The service said it had carried out 179 building inspections on high-rise residential buildings, and found 69 had problems with cladding, insulation, fire break systems, or other external wall system issues.

Many tower blocks were found to be unsafe following the Grenfell fire, in which 72 people died.

The government announced in February it was providing an additional £3.5bn to replace unsafe cladding in residential buildings over 18m high "at no cost to residents".

The government spokesman added: "We continue to work with the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to make sure all high-rise residential buildings over 18m in their area are reviewed or inspected by the end of this year.

"It's wrong to suggest these buildings are unsafe or dangerous. Instead, they will be part of our comprehensive review of high-rise, residential buildings to make them safer."

Barnsley Council has denied breaching a 35-year-old covenant protecting a sports ground given to the public and miners for their use.

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The council wants to move Rockingham Sports Ground to nearby Parkside Road to make way for housing, but campaigners say doing so breaches a covenant from when the council was given the land by the Earl of Wentworth in 1985 for use as a sports ground.

In November, the authority agreed a masterplan for Hoyland South - including up to 1,116 new homes, a new primary school, community hubs, active travel routes and the relocation of the sports centre.

A new Hermes delivery hub, the largest of its kind in Europe, was also approved as part of a separate masterplan for Hoyland West.

Mark Goodison, who founded the Save Hoyland group in response to the plans, says moving the sports ground to make way for the masterplan breaches the 1985 covenant, but the council denies this.

Mr Goodison says a 1990 planning application “shows clear lines around Rockingham and Parkside which cannot be used, as the land was gifted to local miners by the Earl of Wentworth".

He says residents have a "legal right" to use Rockingham but Barnsley Council says it is legal for the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation to purchase the land where the sports ground sits and then seek planning permission to develop their adjoining land for warehouse and office accommodation.

The council adds: "Long-term, this will provide a much-improved facility and a better recreational offer for the community."

Part of the site would still be available for leisure and recreation, the authority adds.

Work to move the sports ground site could start by the end of April.

This morning, patchy cloud will clear leaving settled conditions for the afternoon with plenty of sunshine.

It'll be a little cooler than yesterday, with gentle winds.

This evening any lingering cloud will disperse and it will turn cold with a sharp frost likely:

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Spectators at the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield are being monitored for how they behave as part of the government's study into allowing events to take place during the coronavirus pandemic.

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The trial is looking at the return of spectators for mass gathering events, with Sheffield's Crucible being part of a pilot.

Capacity at the Crucible will be increased in stages over the course of the snooker tournament until it reaches full capacity for the final, with spectators having Covid tests.

Professor Paul Monks, the Chief Scientific Advisor for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, says it's not just about looking at the risk of spreading the virus.

"What we're trying at the Crucible is different seating spacing, wearing face masks, not wearing face masks, to try and get an understanding of a number of things," he said.

"How clean the air is in these sorts of situations, environmental studies, but also behavioural studies. How people respond, how they adhere to the guidance, and how they move around these indoor environments like the Crucible."

A chilly start with a little patchy fog near the Yorkshire coast clearing this morning. Sunny spells with patchy cloud developing allowing a few showers over the hills this afternoon.

Cloud will thicken this evening and it will stay cloudy tonight in Lincolnshire with light rain in places

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