Kirklees Council

Bin collections in some parts of Yorkshire are being affected by heavy snow across the region.

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Rotherham Council, writing on social media, says: "There's going to be a bit of disruption today, due to the road conditions.

"If your bin doesn't get emptied please leave it at the kerbside and the bin crews will get to you as soon as they can."

Meanwhile Kirklees Council tweeted; "Due to the severe weather, we will struggle to collect some bins today."

People in Kirklees are being warned to "be alert" after several local residents received telephone calls from people pretending to be police officers requesting personal bank details.

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No cash is believed to have been handed over following the calls, which were received by three different people in the district between 18 an 19 January, according to West Yorkshire Police.

Officers investigating these incidents are urging people not to hand over any personal details to cold callers.

Det Con Vicky Foley said: "The police would never call someone to request their personal banking details or ask you to transfer money to other bank accounts.

"One of the callers appeared to have personal information about the person they telephoned, so we would also ask people to look after sensitive information and dispose of any documents with this on safely."

Plans for a "transformational" multi-billion pound mass transit system for West Yorkshire have been announced.

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West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) said the scheme could see nine routes built in stages across the county over 20 years.

The project will rely on securing central funds, with a business case due to be submitted to government in 2022.

Previously, Leeds was set to get a trolley bus network and a supertram but both plans were subsequently scrapped.

In a report, the WYCA said the options being considered are light-rail, tram-train and prioritised routes for electric buses.

An exact price tag for the scheme has not been revealed, but the WYCA said it would be bidding for a share of a £4.2bn devolved transport fund announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last March.

Judith Blake, Leeds City Council leader, said: "The people of West Yorkshire deserve a transport system that fills them with pride, with optimism and above all with the confidence our region has a clear direction of travel towards a future that brings prosperity for all."

Kim Groves, chair of the WYCA transport committee, said the scheme would "represent a bold investment - a transformational transport system that will benefit many generations to come".

A West Yorkshire resident has filmed a refuse worker as he appeared to urinate on a set of wheelie bins.

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The local captured the binman, clad in orange hi-vis gear, as a crew made their rounds in Kirklees.

It is understood the worker was identified and suspended pending disciplinary action.

The authority apologised and said it would be replacing the bins.

In the video, filmed by a female resident, the worker appears to relieve himself while a colleague attends to bins being tipped into a wagon.

The woman behind the camera can be heard to say: "Once again, one of the binmen having a pee against my bins. This is Kirklees Council."

In a response on Twitter, the authority said: "We are sorry that this has happened, it is not acceptable for our waste collection operatives to do this. We will identify the individual and ensure it doesn't happen again."

Front-line NHS workers in Kirklees are to be offered free parking in recognition of their “heroic efforts” during the coronavirus pandemic, it's been confirmed.

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Kirklees Council bosses say they've reached out to NHS and care providers to tell them they can park for free in municipal sites while they're on duty.

The arrangement is planned to run until March.

Senior councillor Peter McBride, who is also deputy leader of the council, said: “Front-line workers in Kirklees have more than enough to worry about at the moment.

"We don’t want parking to be an issue for them. They are out there saving lives and keeping our society going every single day. We want to recognise their heroic efforts."

According to its website, the council offers more than 7,000 parking spaces in 95 off-street locations as well as more than 1,200 on-street pay-and-display spaces.

A mass coronavirus testing programme in West Yorkshire will only remain open to critical workers from today, officials have confirmed.

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Kirklees Council was aiming to test 50,000 people after opening sites in Batley, Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Ravensthorpe on 18 December.

However, the authority has now said people should stay home wherever possible due to the new lockdown.

The rapid test sites, for people without symptoms, have to date carried out 20,000 tests, with 300 people returning a positive result.

Kirklees' director of public health, Rachel Spencer-Henshall, said: "Many thousands of people have stepped up to get a test and protect their families and community.

"We've found hundreds of cases in people who may never have otherwise known they were carrying the virus."

However, she said: "We have to act on the risks that we are all facing. The most important thing people can do for the next few weeks is to stay at home."

More than 300 cases of coronavirus in people without symptoms have been found during mass testing in Kirklees.

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The West Yorkshire local authority began testing people without symptoms at four venues in the area on 18 December.

They say more than 20,000 tests have been carried out, with in excess of 300 returned as positive.

Due to the latest national lockdown the testing service will only be offered to critical workers from Thursday 7 January as the vast majority of people are urged to stay at home under lockdown guidance.

Kirklees’ director of public health, Rachel Spencer-Henshall, said the response of the community to testing had been "incredible" but urged people who were not critical workers to stay at home.

She added: “If you have a job that means you will be working outside your home, you can still come to one of our centres to get a test if you don’t have symptoms and we encourage you to do this once a week. We need to focus on the people who are most at risk and try to break the chain of transmission because we know how quickly and easily the virus is now spreading."

Boxloads of food and drink are being given to those in need across the Kirklees district after officers made hundreds of donations to a foodbank appeal.

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In the run-up to Christmas, staff at Kirklees police have been donating items for the collection, resulting in seven boxloads of goods being collected at Huddersfield Police station.

Insp Graham Dyson said: “This year has been really difficult for all and it was fantastic to see all our colleagues wanting to do something for those needed that little extra support.

"We understand how hard it can be for some, especially this year and at this time of year, and we wanted to show our support for all those voluntary groups who give so much at all times to help others.”

There are long queues in Batley today as people have turned out to take part in the mass coronavirus testing programme organised by Kirklees Council.

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The programme uses what's known as Lateral Flow Tests, which can give people a result as to whether or not they have Covid-19 within 30 minutes.

The aim is for up to 50,000 people to get tested under this programme in the coming weeks.

Members of the military are being brought in to help run the system, but testing will be carried out by council staff.

Why is mass testing important? It's thought that one in every three people who have Covid-19 don't show any particular symptoms.

That means they can spread the virus without knowing it.

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It's hoped that mass testing can put a lid on that and get the numbers down

According to the most recent figures, Yorkshire's seen its first rise in six weeks in the number of people testing positive for Covid-19.

With mass testing schemes like the one in Kirklees, it's hoped those numbers can be brought down in the coming weeks.

Mass community testing for coronavirus is due to start in one part of West Yorkshire today.

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The testing in Kirklees follows a pilot project in Liverpool, where people without symptoms were offered rapid testing and infection levels fell.

It'll be used in places with "persistently high infection rates," as well as workplaces where people are thought to be most at risk.

Kirklees Council says four testing hubs will operate in Batley, Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury and Huddersfield.

Members of the military are being brought in to help run this testing system, but testing will be carried out by council staff.

Thousands of disadvantaged children will be guaranteed free school meal vouchers during upcoming holidays following a move by Kirklees Council, it's been confirmed.

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The authority has formally agreed plans to commit almost £700,000 towards free school meal support for approximately 15,500 youngsters over the two-week Christmas period and at February half-term.

Allocating £15 per eligible child per week means the funding is equivalent to £697,500. A further £790,270 will be earmarked on supporting families and individuals more generally.

In total the authority will spend about £1.5m in grant funding - made available by the government - between the start of this month and 3 March 2021.

The cash, agreed at a meeting of the council’s decision-making Cabinet, comes under the banner of the Covid Winter Grant scheme.

Council leader Shabir Pandor said: "This was an easy decision for Cabinet to make and the funding will help children to be happier and healthier, both during the festive period and beyond."

Dewsbury's Victorian arcade and the town's market are to be "re-imagined" as part of a major revamp.

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The 19th Century arcade (pictured above in its heyday), considered to be Dewsbury's first shopping mall, was bought by Kirklees Council earlier this year after having stood empty since 2016.

It's now set to form part of the council's so-called Dewsbury Blueprint and will be at the heart of a "significant" revamp of the town centre, including the market area.

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Designers have now been taken on with the aim of creating what's being described as a "world-class" attraction for Dewsbury.

Work on the arcade, which dates back to the 1890s and is pictured above in 2015, is expected to start in early 2022, according to Kirklees Council.

Councillor Peter McBride, the authority's regeneration champion, says: "The renovation of the arcade and Dewsbury Market will help to bring more independent and local businesses to the town, increasing its cultural offerings."

A total of 32 men, mostly from the Kirklees area, have been charged with "a variety of offences" as part of an investigation into non-recent child sexual exploitation in parts of West Yorkshire, police say.

Geograph/Stephen RichardsCopyright: Geograph/Stephen Richards

The allegations against the defendants are from 1999 to 2012 and involve offences committed against eight female victims, aged between 13 and 16-years-old at the time, according to West Yorkshire Police.

Some of the victims were also subjected to offences when they were young adults.

The offences are said to have taken place in parts of Kirklees, Bradford and Wakefield, say police.

The men are due to appear at Kirklees Magistrates' Court on 11 and 14 December.