With my award from #tescomumoftheyear couldn't sleep last night as was still #buzzing . Off to 10 Downing Street now! twitter.com/claire80lomas/…

— Claire Lomas (@claire80lomas) March 4, 2013

Sir Peter Soulsby is looking to relocate a symbolic statue of Richard III to a more prominent place – and he wants your help.

The sculpture in Castle Gardens, near West Bridge, was donated to Leicester by the Richard III Society in 1980.

It stands in the quiet public park near the city centre, overlooking the spot where Richard rode out to Bosworth to meet his end in August 1485.

Now, the city mayor has said he wants to relocate the monument to a more prominent place in the city and he wants Mercury readers to offer their suggestions as to where that should be.

It follows the discovery of the Plantagenet monarch's remains in a city council car park in Leicester.

"Personally, I think somewhere near the cathedral would be ideal," said Sir Peter.

"It's close to the site where King Richard was discovered and it would be near the new visitors' centre and, more importantly, wouldn't cost a lot.

"But I want the people of Leicester to tell us where they think it should go.

"Castle Gardens isn't a bad spot – in fact, it overlooks West Bridge, where Richard was said to have crossed on his way to battle – but it's such a lovely monument that I think more people should be able to see it."

Another possible location for the bronze statue could include the proposed Jubilee Square development in St Nicholas Place, off St Nicholas Circle.

The plan to relocate the statue has been backed by the Richard III Society.

After the society donated the monument to Leicester in July 1980, it was fittingly unveiled by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester – Richard had been named Duke of Gloucester in 1461.

Society spokeswoman Philippa Langley, who launched the search for Richard III's remains, said she was fully behind the proposals.

"It's my favourite statue, anywhere and I've been to Florence," she said.

"I think it's a great idea to get it moved. It'll give it a much more prominent position nearer the cathedral. The more people who see it, the better."

The monument's plinth includes a plaque which marks the place and year of Richard III's death – Bosworth, in 1485.

It also carries the inscription that the monarch was "piteously slain fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies" – a famous account of his death by the historian Polydore Vergil.

However, not everyone is as keen to see the sculpture moved.

Stuart Bailey, chairman of Leicester Civic Society, believes it should stay where it is.

"My personal opinion is that it's in a great place already," he said.

"It looks out over West Bridge, where Richard rode off to battle, and is close to Bow Bridge, which is also closely associated with him.

"We must not be tempted to put all our eggs in one basket and clump everything around the new visitor centre."

The statue was created by London-born artist James Butler, who also sculpted the Leicester Seamstress which stands outside the City Rooms and Thomas Cook, by Leicester railway station.

To give your ideas to Sir Peter for where the statue should be placed, e-mail:

themayor@leicester.gov.uk

Also, tell us what you think in the comments section below or tweet us @thisisleics

South Leicester bounced back from the previous weekend's National Three Midlands defeat to Sandbach by demolishing Derby 59-17.

Gareth Kerr and Will Keeling scored two apiece while Andy Harris, Josh McLaurin, Ricky Aley and Mark Lord also crossed. Lord converted a penalty-try as well as adding four other sets of extras, and Aley kicked two conversions.

Syston lost 49-26 at Sandbach, while Hinckley were edged out 19-16 in an enthralling derby at Nuneaton, despite a try and two conversions from Josh Smith and a score from Devon Constant.

Coalville and Oakham are sitting pretty in the top two of Midlands Two East (North) with four games remaining.

Two more bonus-point wins will all but clinch the title for Coalville after an impressive 39-24 triumph at a fourth-placed Ashbourne outfit that had not previously lost at home.

Tries came from Myles Griffin, Michael Richmond, Matt Twigg, Joe Moretta and Mark Davies. Sam Blackburn kicked two penalties and added four conversions.

Dronfield started the day nine points behind Oakham with a game in hand but they were hammered 55-5 as James Beanland and Angus Boyle notched braces. Rhys Grieve, Mark Matthews, Owen Smith and David Wiggin also crossed, and Matthews kicked 15 points.

The result enabled Oakham to move nine points clear of Belgrave, who suffered an unexpected 28-24 home loss to Nottingham Casuals.

Belgrave's tries came from Louis Summers, Josh Jones and Sean Kyle, while Kev Curtis added nine points with the boot.

Leicester Forest took the derby honours after an emphatic 43-17 win at Aylestone St James.

Dave Lamb (2), Mitch Lamb (2), Liam Warren, Tom Martin and Lee Palmer were Forest's try-scorers, while Callum Dacey and Dean Mooney shared kicking duties.

Jimmies' tries came from Vuz Chinyere, Luke Geary and Jake Harmer, with Jamie Muggleton adding a conversion.

Melton Mowbray won 33-17 at Bakewell Mannerians courtesy of tries from Sean Crowe (2), George Ord, Nick Crossland and Phil Stimson, who also kicked four conversions.

Vipers and Oadby Wyggs are now six points adrift in Midlands Two East (South) with six games to go.

Vipers lost 28-7 to Northampton BBOB while Wyggs suffered a 29-22 setback against Dunstablians.

Wyggs' tries were scored by Bob Beevers (2) and Neil McBride, while Olly Mills kicked two conversions and a penalty.

Luke Cragg scored and Matt Evans converted in Vipers' home match.

Salt was rubbed into Vipers and Wyggs' wounds as Biggleswade beat Lutterworth 20-17 and Wellingborough won against second-placed Leighton Buzzard.

Market Harborough were edged out 13-6 at leaders Huntingdon & District.

The dig for the car park king has scooped a top archaeology award.

Readers of Current Archaeology voted the University of Leicester's search for Richard III as research project of the year. Richard Buckley, the dig's lead archaeologist picked up the award at a ceremony in London, hosted by the best-selling archaeology magazine.

The discovery of the king was up against five other projects voted on by readers.

Carly Hilts, assistant editor of the monthly magazine, said: "Richard III was a tremendously exciting discovery.

"These things just don't happen in archaeology. In fact, it shouldn't have happened, but we are very pleased it did.

"You just don't set out to find a particular thing or person, and then find them.

"It was wonderful to see the different disciplines at the university come together and work so well, and equally brilliant to see the public so interested in archaeology.

"Richard III got almost 40 per cent of the votes – given we had so many strong contenders this year, that's a really impressive share."

The discovery of the king was up against Cardiff University's discovery of a huge Roman building complex outside the Roman fortifications of Caerleon; findings at Caistor St Edmunds by the University of Nottingham – shedding new light on what happened to the Iceni after Boudicca's revolt against Rome; work at Stonehenge by the Stonehenge Riverside Project, which revealed more about the prehistoric landscape; the Open University's work at Salisbury Plain; and the surprise discovery of warship HMS Namur beneath the floor of a wheelwright's shop by The Historic Dockyard Chatham, University of St Andrews and Oxford Archaeology.

More than 4,500 readers then voted for their favourite, with 37 per cent choosing Richard III.

Mr Buckley thanked everyone involved in the project when he picked up the award.

"For me, what is really nice, having done so much archaeological work in Leicester over the decades, is this discovery has focused international attention on Leicester's fantastic archaeology, which is some of best in Britain," he said.

"I am proud to accept this award for the Grey Friars Project and, in particular, I want to thank Philippa Langley (member of the Richard III Society), who raised the money for the investigation and never doubted for a minute we would find Richard III.

"This discovery is down to the hard work by our team, particularly Mathew Morris, who led the work on site, and our scientific team, who did the osteological and forensic work back at base camp."

About 12,000 people submitted postal and online votes for the entire awards, which also included prizes for book of the year, archaeologist of the year and photo of the year.

The dig for Richard III will be the cover feature of the next issue of Current Archaeology, which hits shelves on Friday.

Centre Matt Smith said that the fear of three consecutive defeats helped Leicester Tigers put together their most complete 80 minutes of the season against Sale.

Tigers ran riot against the Aviva Premiership's bottom club at the weekend to go into the three-week break with a bonus-point 48-10 win.

It took them to within just a point of second-placed Harlequins with five games left.

Smith says Leicester were spurred on to success by the fear of continuing a two-game winless run after defeats by Harlequins and Saracens.

"Three wins on the trot is unheard of here and we spoke all week about putting a big performance together," said the 27-year-old.

"Apart from the opening 15 minutes (against Sale) when we left two or three tries out there, it was a pretty good 80-minute performance.

"We were shocked in those opening 20 minutes because there was a lot more space about than we have been used to in recent weeks. It actually caught us by surprise.

"It was a nice day, weather-wise, and it made a difference playing without freezing hands and in good conditions.

"It's been frustrating not being able to run with it as much as we would have liked in recent times."

Smith put in one of his best performances of the season, running in two of Tigers' six tries during a golden five-minute second-half spell.

Flat passes from George Ford – who kicked eight out of eight with the boot – and Dan Bowden created space for Smith's scores, and the outside-centre was full of praise for the men on his inside.

"I have played a couple of times with Dan and we are forging a good relationship," said Smith.

"Dan is a fly-half, playing at inside-centre. He has a lovely dummy and is a great reader of the game, too.

"George is a confident lad for his age and he is an amazing player. He trained well leading up to the game and that performance will give him a boost.

"We have a couple of weeks without a game now and then the internationals will be back.

"There will be some really good competition in the squad when they return."

Tigers flanker Tom Croft will train with the England squad this week in preparation for the Six Nations game with Italy on Sunday.

The 27-year-old returned to form with a sensational performance in Tigers' win against Sale.

Croft is back from nine months out with a neck injury.

A skiing holiday turned into tragedy when a vehicle carrying three men was involved in a fatal crash on the way to the airport.

Gavin Smith, 34, died at the scene of the accident on the notorious Shoby Bends stretch of the A6006, near Melton.

Married with a three-year-old son, Gavin was a front seat passenger in a Land Rover which was involved in a collision with a lorry travelling in the opposite direction shortly after 6am on Saturday, February 23.

Gavin and close friends, Thomas Freeman and Mike Pratt, all from Melton, were on their way to pick up Jason Addenbrook, of Old Dalby, to catch their plane from East Midlands Airport for a week of skiing in France.

Gavin's wife, Jenny, paid tribute to her husband.

She said: "Gavin was an incredibly friendly person and very conscious of his family.

"He was also a workaholic, but in a nice way. He had a work ethic that would be difficult to match. He was acutely aware that his reputation remained solid and sound.

"He was very loving and a gentle giant. He loved a joke and had lots of friends.

"Our son, Edward, looked up to his daddy and he loved going on tractors and combines with him.

"He was very 'hands-on' as a dad and was like a big kid himself."

Jenny also spoke about the friends who were with Gavin in his last moments.

"I couldn't have wished for two more caring friends, who are absolutely distraught at their loss," she said. "Apparently, the conversation they were having just before it happened was about the lovely evening Gavin and I had the night before, at Pizza Express, in Melton."

Gavin, who grew up in Market Harborough and later lived in Nottingham, studied at Brackenhurst College of Agriculture, near Newark, and worked in farming, including A and R Cramphorn, of Melton. He also worked for Wrights, of Rothley, and Bill Scorror, of Colsterworth.

More recently, he had worked for Rutland's John Morris, dealing with groundswork for Anglian Water and gritting all over Rutland.

He was due to start a new job this week as an HGV driver for Gerry Farmer, based between Melton and Harborough.

Gavin's funeral will be held at St Nicholas' Church, Little Bowden, Market Harborough, on Thursday, March 14, at 2pm, followed by a cremation at Kettering for close family only.

Jenny has asked for family flowers only, but donations can be made in lieu to Macmillan Cancer Support by post or online.

Send donations to J Stamp and Sons, Funeral Directors, 15 Kettering Road, Market Harborough, LE16 8AN.

Alternatively, visit:

www.jstampandsons.co.uk

Gordon Birch is the former editor of the Harborough Mail and close family friend.

Leicester Lions have unveiled two major sponsorship deals ahead of their 2013 Premier League campaign.

County company Harry Jordan Haulage has stepped into the void vacated by Elliott UK to back the team, which will now be known as the Harry Jordan Leicester Lions.

In a separate agreement with a midlands-based business, their Beaumont Park circuit will be renamed the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium.

Both deals are a considerable boost to the Lions for their third competitive season in speedway's second tier.

Harry Jordan Haulage was founded 40 years ago by speedway fan Harry Jordan and is now owned by his grandson Russell Bateman.

"My granddad first took me to watch speedway at Blackbird Road in the last three seasons before it disappeared and I have been interested in the sport ever since" said Bateman.

"I was really pleased when the Lions returned and have followed the team from day one.

"I was looking to become more involved in the club and, when the opportunity arose for the position of main team sponsor, I thought it would be an ideal way to provide assistance to the promotion."

Barry Jordan founded Jordan Road Surfacing Ltd in 1995 and it has since grown into one of the largest and independent surfacing and planning contractors in the midlands.

"It is a great honour for Jordan Road Surfacing to be associated with Leicester Speedway and we are proud to become part of the club and have the stadium named after the company," said Barry Jordan.

"We are a local company with a working presence in Leicestershire and, with 75 per cent of our workforce living in the county, there is already an affinity with the area."

Promoter David Hemsley said: "It is so important for the development of Leicester Speedway to have people like Russell and Barry on board.

"Without the support of our sponsors and business partners, improvements in all aspects of the club would be that much slower.

"Our vision is to bring Elite League speedway to Leicester in the not too distant future and, with our on-going plan of improving the amenities in the stadium, it becomes much more achievable through the generosity of people like Russell and Barry.

"Leicester Speedway is no different to any new business as it is forever evolving.

"We see the re-branding of the stadium as a significant milestone in the life of the club as the venue will take on a new identity."

Their first meeting of the season at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium will be on Saturday, March 16, when the Lions meet near-neighbours the Coventry Bees in the East Midlands Bowl.

A 44-year-old man remains critically ill in hospital with head injuries following an incident in the city centre.

The man was walking his Rottweiller dog in King Street at 4.45pm on Wednesday when he became involved in a row with one of a group of young black men.

Police said the man fell to the ground and suffered a head injury.

He is being treated at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, and was said to still be in a critical condition yesterday.

A 19-year-old man arrested in connection with incident on Friday has been released on police bail.

A worker in an office near the scene of the incident, who asked not to be named, said: "I heard a scream and when I looked outside I saw a bloke on the floor with his dog next to him and people trying to help him.

"He was out cold for at least 10 minutes. He was still holding his dog's lead and the dog was just sat there."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555111.

A beef product has been permanently withdrawn from the county council's school menu after traces of horse meat were found in it.

Tests showed minced beef from Hampshire-based supplier Pinnacle Foods contained traces of horse DNA.

The meat, used in spaghetti bolognaise and lasagne dishes, has been served in schools over the past 12 months. It was removed during the half-term holiday to await test results and will now be replaced by a different type of minced beef.

Council bosses have assured parents there was no health risk and the product contained less than a 1 per cent trace of horse DNA. However, parents have expressed their concern.

Louisa Day, of Ashby, north west Leicestershire, who has two boys at a county primary, said: "I think if people are happy to eat cows, pigs and sheep, then they should be happy to eat horse. The concern is that the content of the food being served isn't known. That's the main issue."

Another parent, from Whitwick, who did not want to be named, said: "The council has made a big deal in the past of its school menu being locally-sourced where possible, but the question is how on Earth can this happen?"

The council, which only uses food produced in the UK, had sought reassurances for two items which had not been processed on site by the supplier.

Results showed no trace of horse DNA in the other product tested – a beef grill steak – which will now be reinstated on menus.

Graham Reed, managing director of Pinnacle Foods, which supplied the minced beef, said: "We're very disappointed and feel let down by our supplier as we've never knowingly bought, handled or processed equine.

"We're seeking their assistance to ascertain the source of the contamination."

The firm said it has since implemented new testing and monitoring procedures.

Wendy Philp, the county council's head of school food, said: "We've moved quickly and taken action and won't be using this product in the future. We want to reassure parents there's no health risk and we're satisfied with the quality of all the beef products we serve."

Ms Philp said the council would be seeking regular assurances from school food suppliers to ensure they are complying with legislation.

The council provides 22,000 meals to children at 24 schools in Leicestershire every day.

Health inspectors who found instances of pork contamination in beef burgers and chopped and shaped beef at a county supermarket and takeaway – as reported last week – have said it was less than 0.1 per cent in both samples. Trading standards are investigating the reasons, to see if any mislabeling amounts to a criminal offence.

Nigel Pearson said he still believes his Leicester City side can push for an automatic promotion spot.

City face Leeds tonight at the King Power Stadium looking to return to winning ways after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Ipswich.

They will also hope to close the eight-point gap that has opened up between themselves and Hull, who are in the second automatic promotion spot.

Pearson admits his side have left themselves plenty to do to get back in contention for promotion, but said he had faith in his players that they can mount a strong challenge during the final 12 games.

"There is an awful long way to go and I am a realist," said the City boss.

"I know we have quite a bit of work to do but I have a very strong belief in the people I work with, the staff and players alike, and that's how you deal with it.

"We have lost a bit of ground but, with the number of games we have left and the belief we have in ourselves, I think it is important to concentrate on what we can affect moving forward.

"We are focused on trying to get things right and we want to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible."

Leeds are unbeaten in their last three games but have won only three times on the road this season. However, Pearson is expecting a physical challenge from Neil Warnock's side.

"They are very much a front-foot side," he said.

"In other words, they like to get in your face and try to disrupt any flow you have yourselves.

"We have to deal with that and make sure our game-management is right.

"We have to make sure that when we are in possession, we use the ball well.

"We have a lot of good players at the club and we have to make sure that, when we have the ball, we hurt them.

"Regardless of the situation Leeds are in, knowing Neil as I do, he will be wanting to come here and get a result for himself.

"He is a fantastic competitor. He is not everyone's cup of tea but I have always got on really well with him.

"He is someone I have a lot of respect for because he has operated in situations where he has had to deal with a lot of personal flak and he has dealt with it very well."

Pearson added: "He will be wanting to win and I want to beat him."

A 13-year-old schoolgirl was taken to hospital after being in a collision with a car yesterday.

The John Ferneley College pupil, who was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary, was injured in Scalford Road, Melton, near to the junction with Ludlow Drive, shortly before 3.45pm.

A police spokeswoman said she was conscious and her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

A passer-by said: "The girl was lying in the middle of the road after being hit by the car. There were other pupils from the school present and some of them were quite upset.

"There were members of staff from the school who had run down after being alerted to the accident.

"The paramedics put her head into a neck brace before they lifted her on to a stretcher and into the ambulance."

Scalford Road was closed but reopened a short time later.

A medical practice manager helped himself to £60,000 of surgery funds, bringing the centre to the brink of bankruptcy, a court heard.

Ashok Patel (54) used a bogus reference and falsely claimed he had a first class business studies degree from the University of Leicester to get the job at the Highfields Medical Centre in 2007.

He was said to have initially impressed partners at the centre, which runs two surgeries – Melbourne Road, Highfields, and Moira Street, Belgrave – with 8,000 patients registered. However, during the first day of a trial at Leicester Crown Court yesterday, the jury was told Patel – who was on a £53,000-a-year salary by the time he left in 2010 – used business cheques "as if they were his own".

Jonathan Dunne, prosecuting, told the court Patel paid thousands into his own bank accounts and drew out large sums in cash.

Posing as a doctor, he was said to have gone into a car dealership and used a medical centre cheque to put a £5,000 deposit on a Mercedes car. Patel denies four counts of fraudulently using his employers' cheques, between March 2008 and July 2010.

Mr Dunne told the court: "The prosecution say he's an out-and-out fraudster who brought this practice to the brink of bankruptcy.

"The doctors will tell you the practice nearly went bust with bills going unpaid. As practice manager he was responsible for running the finances."

Mr Dunne alleged Patel, of Blundell Road, Evington, Leicester, tried to hide his dishonesty with false entries on cheque stubs. These included falsely purporting payments had been made to a pharmaceutical company for supplies.

The cheque stubs showed a decorator was paid £3,700, when, in fact, he only received £700 and the defendant allegedly pocketed the remainder.

Senior partner Dr Jatin Patel told the court: "We were paying him handsomely and I felt I could trust this guy."

Mr Dunne said: "The total loss was about £60,000."

Patel used a cheque to pay off a £1,000 personal credit card balance and others to settle phone bills, which was not part of his salary agreement, it was claimed.

Mr Dunne said when questioned, the defendant claimed the centre's partners were trying to frame him and "had got it in for him".

He claimed every cheque he used was with their consent and they knew what he was spending the money on. He also put some discrepancies down to errors and poor bookkeeping.

When police searched Patel's home they allegedly found a fake MBA certificate from the University of Leicester.

The court was told he had never attended university. Mr Dunne said: "He got the job based on a creative CV."

The trial continues.