Kirklees Council

Three men have been jailed for historical sexual offences against two "young female victims" in Kirklees in the 1990s which were reported in 2018.

West Yorkshire PoliceCopyright: West Yorkshire Police

At Leeds Crown Court, Paul Ineson (pictured left), 52, from Dewsbury, was jailed for 24 years for rape and indecent assault.

Phillip Ryan (pictured right), 56, from Scarborough, was jailed for 11 years after admitting indecent assault.

Peter Craven (pictured centre), 48, from Batley, was sentenced to nine years after he was found guilty of indecent assault.

The three men were sentenced on Thursday.

The convictions follow a "complex investigation" by detectives at the Kirklees Child Safeguarding Unit, West Yorkshire Police said.

Ineson was convicted of two counts of rape and 23 counts of indecent assault.

Ryan admitted 11 counts of indecent assault.

Craven was convicted of seven counts of indecent assault

One person has been taken to hospital following a crash on the M62 this afternoon, according to Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Highways England/Crown CopyrightCopyright: Highways England/Crown Copyright

The crash happened between junctions 21 and 22 eastbound, with several vehicles being involved, according to Greater Manchester Police.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) was sent to the scene, with one person subsequently being taken to hospital by road ambulance, according to YAA.

The westbound carriageway has since been reopened.

There are delays of up to 90 minutes, Highways England said.

Traffic is now being allowed to continue on its way on the M62 westbound following an earlier closure due to a serious crash on the eastbound carriageway.

Highways England/Crown CopyrightCopyright: Highways England/Crown Copyright

Both carriageways were closed for some time while emergency crews, including the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, dealt with the incident, and that operation is ongoing.

The crash, between junctions 21 and 22 eastbound, involved several vehicles, according to Greater Manchester Police.

While the westbound carriageway is now open, eastbound traffic remains at a standstill due to the incident.

There are delays for drivers of up to 90 minutes, Highways England added.

A crash on the M62 which has led to the complete closure of the road in both directions near Ainley Top in West Yorkshire involves several vehicles, police have said.

Highways England/Crown CopyrightCopyright: Highways England/Crown Copyright

Emergency services have been at the scene of the incident since about 14:30, according to Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

The "multiple vehicle" crash has led to the closure of the M62 in both directions between junction 20 and 24.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has also been at the scene.

GMP said: "Police were called just after 14:30 to reports of a multiple vehicle collision on the M62 Eastbound between junctions 21 and 22. Emergency services are in attendance."

There are delays of up to 90 minutes on the approach due to standing traffic, Highways England said.

A crash on the M62 at Ainley Top near Huddersfield is currently causing over five miles of congestion, according to Highways England.

The M62 is currently closed in both directions near the scene of the crash, which is believed to involve an overturned vehicle:

Motorists are being told to avoid the M62 with delays of more than 90 minutes expected because of a serious crash.

Highways England/Crown CopyrightCopyright: Highways England/Crown Copyright

A vehicle has overturned between junction 24 for Ainley Top, near Huddersfield, and junction 22 for Denshaw, according to Highways England.

There are long delays with the entire road being closed eastbound between junction 20 for Rochdale and junction 26 for Bradford, Highways England said.

The road westbound is also closed between junction 24 for Huddersfield and junction 21.

All emergency services are at the scene, with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopter landing a short time ago:

The M62 eastbound is currently closed in both directions because of a "serious" crash involving multiple vehicles between West Yorkshire and Lancashire, according to Highways England.

Highways England/Crown CopyrightCopyright: Highways England/Crown Copyright

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has been in attendance, Highways England said.

The road is currently closed between junction 20 for Rochdale and 24 for Ainley Top eastbound.

It is also closed between junction 24 to 22 westbound.

Drivers are being warned to expect delays.

Dewsbury's market is to be halved in size and moved onto the town's surrounding streets, a new report suggests.

OtherCopyright: Other

According to the Kirklees Council report, some traders may also be offered a new home inside vacant shops in the town, although the majority of stallholders will be relocated to town centre streets between Corporation Street and Market Place.

The move's expected to cost £2.3m and council bosses also plan on spending another £15m to revamp the market, saying they want it to be "a major draw" which can be a "unique asset".

But the number of stalls available at the market is expected to fall from 400 to 200 as part of the changes which are due to be introduced from March 2022.

Dewsbury Market was named England’s best open air market in 2007, but has since suffered decline despite a £2.7m overhaul during 2010.

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

BBCCopyright: BBC

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.

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

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.

WYCACopyright: WYCA

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.

TwitterCopyright: Twitter

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.

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

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.

BBCCopyright: BBC

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.

BBCCopyright: BBC

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."