Rendall Munroe's supporters can start planning for some late summer action from Leicester's 'Boxing Binman'.

Manager Mike Shinfield is working towards a September date for Munroe, who made his comeback following a brief retirement in his home city a couple of months ago.

Munroe, who will be campaigning at super-featherweight in the future, swept aside Hungary's Laszlo Fekete in just 101 seconds at Club Republic to post the 25th win of his career.

That destructive performance appears to have whetted the appetite of those who watched it, which can only be good news for the city favourite.

"There are a couple of small-hall promoters interested in getting me on their cards," said Munroe.

"Clifton Mitchell is interested in putting me on again after such a good turn-out at Club Republic last time, so there is plenty of interest out there."

Munroe, pictured, is currently ticking over in training with September in mind, although recent toe and ankle injuries have slowed him down – slightly.

"For the last couple of weeks I've been riding my bike, going to the gym and swimming," he said. "I haven't been doing much cardio-vascular work.

"But with boxing at this weight, two divisions up from super-bantam, I'm enjoying doing different things in terms of training and can do weights twice a week.

"I'm enjoying it again. Before it was always on my mind about making the weight and I was concentrating on that more than anything else. Now I'm feeling fresh and feeling better."

As ever Munroe, who will be running the Leicester Marathon in October for the Bodie Hodges Foundation and Vista charity, is content to let manager Shinfield and trainer Jason Shinfield work out the route ahead.

Some might say that at 33 there is little time to waste for the former undefeated European and Commonwealth champion, but age does not concern him in the slightest.

"We'll see what comes up and go from there," said Munroe. "I look after myself – I'm the English version of Bernard Hopkins!"

He does, however, retain hopes of once again pushing his claims for world-title glory.

"I still think that I can be a world champion," he said. "No disrespect to any other boxers, but when I look at what is out there in the super-featherweight division, then why aren't I good enough to be a world champion?"

The desire is certainly still there after his short hiatus at the start of 2013. It is now a matter of finding the fights and putting in the performances to get back on the path that will lead him to a second tilt at the ultimate prize.

Credit where it is due to Josh Cobb and his Leicestershire Foxes side.

They may have missed out on the Friends Life T20 quarter-finals, but the way they finished the 20-over season bodes well for the future.

With nothing to play for, the Foxes could easily have gone through the motions in their final two games.

But they produced some outstanding cricket to thrash Derbyshire Falcons at Derby on Friday, and yesterday they lifted the intensity even further to demolish Yorkshire Vikings by 10 wickets at Grace Road.

Too little too late, the glass-half-empty merchants will say. That would be uncharitable. What the Foxes lacked from the off was experience, and players like Greg Smith, Shiv Thakor and Rob Taylor have a good deal more in the tank now.

That will help them and the Foxes become a more potent one-day force in the coming seasons. Smith and Taylor were instrumental in yesterday's crushing win, Smith cracking 39 not out from 30 deliveries, while Taylor claimed 2-24 from four very good overs.

Thakor also played a cameo, taking a wicket in his one over, while Shakib Al Hasan's 2-26 kept Yorkshire on a tight rein.

It was Cobb, though, who waltzed off with the man-of-the-match honours.

His figures of 3-9 from four overs might have done that on their own as Yorkshire collapsed from 51-1 to a dismal 105 all out after winning the toss.

Cobb then finished the job with a swashbuckling 52 not out from 44 deliveries, icing the game in the perfect manner as he hammered William Rhodes high over long-on for six at the start of the 13th over.

The ease of Leicestershire's win had not been immediately apparent as Yorkshire made a tidy start to their innings, and Alex Lees looked as though he could be the man to set the home side a testing target on an afternoon when showers threatened throughout.

But having reached a useful 51-1, the Vikings simply imploded. The run-out, from a wide, of Lees for 32 was crucial and, as Cobb also bowled Rhodes in that 12th over, Yorkshire found themselves in freefall.

With Tom Wells holding a couple of good, sharp catches, the Vikings were never allowed to recover, and the good-sized crowd could only have been delighted at the way their favourites had seized control.

The main danger to the Foxes' progress appeared to be the weather, but umpires Peter Willey and Mark Benson did an excellent job in keeping the action going despite the odd burst of rain.

However, with that threat in the air, Leicestershire had to keep one eye on the Duckworth/Lewis sheets. Well, initially they had to. As it was, Cobb and Smith ran away with matters.

Each of the openers had an escape as the Vikings failed to cover themselves in glory in the field, but there were also some glorious shots from the Foxes batsmen, Smith producing a flat-batted straight drive and a conventional off-drive to pick up boundaries as the run-chase gathered momentum.

There were to be no dramas, either, as the Foxes got themselves ahead of the D/L target and then made sure they stayed there, with Cobb and Smith still at the crease when the winning maximum was struck.

Archaeologists have removed an inner lead coffin found within a medieval stone coffin at the Grey Friars site, in Leicester, and taken it away for analysis.

The coffin has gone to the University of Leicester's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, where tests will be carried out to find the safest way of opening it without damaging the remains inside. It took eight people to lift the stone lid from the outer coffin, which is more than two metres long.

Grey Friars site director Mathew Morris said: "We still don't know who is inside.

"None of us in the team have ever seen a lead coffin within a stone coffin before."

Archaeologists suspect the grave could belong to one of three prestigious figures known to be buried at the friary. These include two leaders of the English Grey Friars Order – Peter Swynsfeld, who died in 1272, and William of Nottingham, who died in 1330.

Records also suggest the friary contains the grave of "a knight called Mutton, sometime mayor of Leicester".

This may be 14th century knight Sir William de Moton of Peckleton, who died between 1356 and 1362.

However, many other people were buried in the Greyfriars church and it may be impossible to say for sure who was buried in the coffin, which was discovered during the dig for Richard III's body in September, but was left in the ground to keep it preserved while archaeologists concentrated on the king.

Leicestershire have suffered two major injury setbacks as they prepare for a return to County Championship action on Friday, when Lancashire visit Grace Road.

Both Joe Burns and Jigar Naik have made their final appearances for the club this season.

Burns is to return to Queensland for treatment on a hip injury as he hopes to take his place in the Brisbane Heat side which will play at the Champions League T20 next month.

And off-spinner Jigar Naik has had an operation on the dislocated shoulder he suffered in the Foxes' T20 victory against Nottinghamshire Outlaws a couple of weeks ago.

"Joe has a hip injury which has gradually got worse," said County head coach Phil Whitticase.

"He said he was up for selection for our last two T20 games, but he needs to get back to Queensland for their physio to look at the injury.

"They have the Champions League coming up and Joe wants to be part of that.

"So we are happy to send him back – had the roles been reversed, then we would want our player back."

Leicestershire will not be looking for a short-term replacement, with Ramnaresh Sarwan due back at Grace Road late next month.

Whitticase says off-spinner Naik is just starting a four-month rehab programme after surgery, a huge blow to Leicestershire at this stage of the year when, traditionally, conditions are more conducive to spin bowling.

Naik had been performing well and would have been one of County's main bowling weapons in the second half of the season.

"We've had a chat and Jigar is upbeat," said Whitticase.

"Knowing him and the type of character that he is, Jigar will be getting stuck into the work now.

"He has bowled magnificently for us this season and now, when the sun has come out, he isn't available."

The manager of Leicester's Highcross shopping centre says the city needs to smarten up to attract shoppers and tourists.

Jo Tallack says the city centre can look "tired and grubby" at times and it needs to sort out its poor-quality parking.

Her concerns have been raised in a report she has written for Leicester City Council.

While she acknowledges the continuing work to regenerate the city through the council's £19 million Connecting Leicester scheme, she highlights the "poorly-maintained" arterial routes into the city.

She describes them as a "mix of landscapes between residential and vacant or rundown shops, which don't reflect a city that has undergone such recent regeneration".

She said: "The city centre can look tired and grubby, particularly after a busy trading day.

"There needs to be a renewed focus on basic operations to ensure the city centre presents itself well at all times."

She criticised the poor quality of some city centre car parks, which offer visitors a negative first impression.

Ms Tallack also said it was time for Leicester to "stop thinking like a town" and start thinking about its strengths as a city".

She told the Mercury: "There is a real buzz about the city at the moment and there's so much going on following the Richard III discovery and the bid to become City of Culture. I would hate it if we lost an opportunity to make the most of those things."

She said there were problems with the city's park-and-ride buses not matching retail hours or serving the nighttime economy because they did not run after 7pm or on Sundays.

She also said the lack of a suitable facilities for coaches in the city was prompting parties of visitors to give the city a miss and said the Highcross had not seen a noticeable growth in shoppers since the opening of the temporary Richard III exhibition in February.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said she had put her finger on what the city council and its partners were working on

He said: "She and her colleagues have been enormously helpful in pointing out the things we need to address to make sure Leicester raises its game.

"We are in the process of making a dramatic transformation of the city centre but there is a big deficit to make up.

"It is helpful to be reminded of what we have to change."

So far, a number of streets have undergone refurbishments and a £7 million revamp of the market is planned.

Sir Peter also intends to turn a car park in St Nicholas' Place into a £4 million plaza called Jubilee Square.

Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Martin Traynor said he agreed with most of Ms Tallack's observations.

He said: "The city needs to be confident and ambitious and the mayor knows that."

Her concerns have been raised in a report submitted for a review into the effectiveness of Leicester's tourism strategy.

This is the 30ft-high "Leicester Lightbulb" that could soon be illuminating part of the city.

The sculpture has been unveiled as the preferred design in a competition to erect a landmark on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way, in Rushey Mead.

It would go on the site of the former GE Lighting factory, on which Sainsbury's is building a superstore.

The company is contributing £70,000 towards the creation of the landmark.

This design, one of several submitted and the one favoured by the team of judges led by Leicester East MP Keith Vaz – was conceived by professional sculptor John Sydney Carter, from Foxton, near Market Harborough.

It would be made with stainless steel tubes in the shape of a giant lightbulb and illuminated by lights shining on it.

Sydney said: "I thought if we wanted something that compares with the Angel of the North and will put Leicester on the map, we needed a design that was modern and futuristic.

"At night it would be lit up.

"The design is a nod to the industrial heritage of the site where millions of lightbulbs were made over the years.

"The idea was to try to incorporate a kind of globe and what is not too clear from the image is a ring of stone or slate set in the ground which will carry the name of every country in the world that people have come from to settle in Leicester."

Sydney, who created the "Concerto" sculpture at De Montfort Hall and the Atomica at the Henry Wellcome building, at Leicester University, said he was not sure his design could be delivered for £70,000 but said: "There may be a way to get some more money for it – maybe through public donations."

Mr Vaz said: "By far the most popular proposal centred on the theme of a lightbulb, with 40 per cent of submissions this shape.

"The next highest design type was statues of Richard Attenborough which made up 8 per cent of those sent in."

Of Sydney's idea, he said: "The design is stunning. It looks to the future but builds on the past.

"The public has made it clear this is their preferred design and I'm delighted Leicester will get what it has always deserved – an instantly recognisable landmark for 21st century.

"Mr Carter has encapsulated the history, diversity and future of the city."

Other ideas put forward include a statue of naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough and a giant DNA double helix to celebrate the city's breakthrough in genetic fingerprinting, led by Sir Alec Jeffreys.

Mr Vaz thanked members of the judging panel, including Leicester Mercury editor Richard Bettsworth, business leader Dharmesh Lakhani and Mellor Primary School headteacher Karen Hammond.

He also thanked the scores of competition entrants.

The new Sainsbury's store is set to open before Christmas.

A university student awoke in terror to find a burglar climbing in through her bedroom window, a court heard.

The intruder, Alexander William Donald (19), was spotted by vigilant security staff on Loughborough University's campus.

They grabbed his foot and dragged him out of the window, at West Grove halls of residence.

Donald claimed he was looking for food and had not eaten for days as the guards detained him until the police arrived.

It turned out he had already burgled two bed-sits in the nearby Harry French halls of residence.

One of the occupants was asleep as Donald reached into an open window to steal a wallet from a windowsill. The first the victim knew about it was when the police knocked on his door to return the wallet, found on Donald when he was arrested.

The second victim was out, but had cleverly installed a CCTV camera in his bed-sit, which recorded Donald climbing in and stealing his laptop and wallet.

Donald was also filmed making an untidy search of the room.

The stolen items were recovered 20 metres away, near a campus perimeter fence, said Paul Prior, prosecuting, at Leicester Crown Court.

Donald, a former soldier who was discharged from the Army after twice going absent without leave, admitted two burglaries and attempting to break into the female student's accommodation, in the early hours of May 15.

Donald, of Pevensey Road, Loughborough, was sentenced to 16 months' detention.

Mr Prior said the female victim was woken by an unknown person shouting a warning.

He said she had looked up, still sleepy, but had seen her curtain moving.

"Security were watching him going through the window, which was left open as it was a warm night," said Mr Prior.

"He was pulled out of her room and nothing was stolen.

"The enormity of the incident began to hit her and she started to cry.

"It sent shivers down her spine thinking what might have happened. It took her three hours to calm down.

"She's now worried about the security of her room and feels vulnerable."

Judge Simon Hammond said: "That young woman will never forget what happened that night.

"He says he was looking for food, but there are other ways for people without means to get food, including food banks.

"Burglaries leave victims feeling frightened and insecure."

James Varley, mitigating, said: "He was discharged from the Army after going absent without leave in order to help his father, who was having accommodation problems.

"He'd seen the Army as a career but ended up jobless.

"He'd tried to obtain benefits, but there were delays, and you have to have a benefits book to access the food bank.

"It was desperation that led him to do what he did.

"He didn't know there was a young lady in the room he was trying to burgle."

Leicester City are ready and raring to go for the new season, midfielder Matty James has declared.

The former Manchester United academy product said that, despite Saturday's 3-0 defeat to AS Monaco at the King Power Stadium, all of Nigel Pearson's squad were nearly up to speed and ready for the opening game against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

City face one more friendly test, at Northampton Town tomorrow night, and James said he could not wait for the real action to start.

"I think we are ready now," he said. "We have one more game left to sharpen up a bit more but, overall, it has been a good pre-season.

"Individually, I felt quite good. Hopefully, I'll get a few more minutes tomorrow and then be ready for Saturday.

"I am not probably as fit as I want to be just yet and it might take one or two games in the Championship to get going, but I am not far off.

"We were mainly looking to get 45 minutes each against Monaco and we knew it would be tough. Others got a bit more.

"We covered some distance having to chase the ball, but I think we needed that in our preparations."

James said it was a good experience to face Monaco's big stars, such as Radamel Falcao and Joao Moutinho.

"At times we didn't get the ball as much as we would have liked, but they brought some very good players and kept the ball very well," said James. "It was a good experience.

"We expected to be without the ball for long spells. We played a different system too, 3-5-2, so there were times when players were out of position.

"Overall, I thought we kept a good shape. We conceded from a set-piece and then it was good movement for the second.

"We had a couple of chances but the difference was they had two chances and scored two goals.

"We were disappointed to lose a goal to a set-piece. The Championship is very strong on set-pieces, but it is something we can work on.

"The second goal showed they had some class and I am sure they will be pushing for the title in France."

Nigel Pearson said he will not be adding to his Leicester City squad before the end of the transfer window.

City have made one signing so far this summer, the free transfer of defender Zoumana Bakayogo, and Pearson said the opportunity is not there to bring in any more.

Financial Fair Play sanctions take effect from this season and City are trying to cut their cloth to meet the demands of the regulations.

City's largest wage earner, Jermaine Beckford, has been sold to Bolton, and Richie Wellens has been released from the final year of his contract.

"It doesn't matter if I need to (bring players in) or not, I won't be," said Pearson.

"I don't think I have ever made noises during pre-season that that was going to be the case. I don't think I have ever said since the end of last season that I will be adding to the squad.

"The opportunity to add to the squad is not there, so there is no point me talking about it."

City, who kick-off the new season on Saturday at Middlesbrough, suffered a 3-0 defeat to AS Monaco on Saturday in a friendly at the King Power Stadium.

"It was a disappointing result," said Pearson.

"I would have liked us to have made a bit more of a fist of it.

"Conceding from a set-play early on didn't make it the type of game I would have liked. The biggest observation from my point of view about my team is that we didn't do enough with the ball.

"I don't think we created enough opportunities or dangerous situations when we had possession.

"In the first half, we had some really good situations that we didn't capitalise on.

"But I suppose playing against a side with the quality they have, you could argue you would expect them to make the most of the chances they made.

"But I am still a bit disappointed that we didn't give them more problems, because I think we were capable of doing so."

Striker David Nugent missed the game after picking up a minor injury, but Pearson said he would be fit to face Middlesbrough.

"He is okay," said Pearson. "Fortunately for us, he was able to get a full 90 minutes at York, whereas a week ago we would have been delighted he had any pitch-time.

"He missed the (Monaco) game but should be available for the start of the season, and that is the most important thing."

City finish their pre-season fixtures with a trip to Northampton Town tomorrow night.

Leicester City were convincingly beaten by a star-studded AS Monaco side at the King Power Stadium.

A crowd of 10,633 turned out on Saturday to watch City take on the French Ligue 1 side, who have spent more than £200million on such international stars as Radamal Falcao, Joao Moutinho, Eric Abidal, Ricardo Carvalho and Jeremy Toulalan in a bid to qualify for the Champions League this season.

Monaco boss Claudio Ranieri fielded a strong side and all five of his big-hitters started the game, with another huge multi-million pound signing, James Rodriguez, among 15 substitutes.

City boss Nigel Pearson sent out a side that is not expected to be too far off the line-up that is likely to kick-off the new season at Middlesbrough on Saturday, with the exception of striker David Nugent, who was not risked because of a minor thigh strain.

City also employed the 3-5-2 formation that Pearson has used several times during pre-season.

City started the game brightly when Jamie Vardy burst in behind the Monaco defence and pulled the ball back for the on-rushing Matty James, but Danijel Subasic produced a good save.

From that point on it was the French side in control, with City enjoying only occasional bright moments.

Moutinho was pulling the strings in midfield and Falcao's movement up front was causing City plenty of problems, which was to be expected from players of such outstanding quality.

What was not expected was for City to go behind to a straight-forward set-piece after just eight minutes.

City may not face the likes of Falcao and Moutinho in the Championship, but they will have to defend plenty of corners – and they will have to do it a lot better than they did when Moutinho curled in a near-post corner and Layvin Kurzawa stole a march on Andy King to glance his header home.

The visitors dominated possession, aided by City who stood off their opponents and gave them plenty of time and space to play, affording them too much respect.

City had their bright moments. Chris Wood forced a good save from Subasic, and then the striker picked out James – one of the home side's better performers – who wriggled between two defenders and beat the Monaco keeper with a back-heel, but his effort was cleared as it trickled towards the goal-line.

However, Falcao's influence was growing in the game. Wes Morgan produced a timely block to deny him, and Kasper Schmeichel had to be sharp to save at the Colombian's feet after he beat the City off-side trap minutes later.

City were emphatically undone in the 38th minute when Monaco carved them open with a goal of breath-taking quality. Falcao and right-back Andrea Raggi were involved at the start of a sweeping move, and eventually it was Raggi's low cross which found the unmarked Falcao and he swept home from close range after Yannick Ferriera Carrasco had sold a great dummy.

City made seven changes at half-time and, 20 minutes later, Monaco made 10 substitutions.

But the second half lacked any intensity, which was surprising considering the amount of fresh legs on the pitch.

Subasic and then sub keeper Marc-Aurele Caillard were barely troubled by City in the second period, and that will be of concern to Pearson.

Anthony Knockaert and Martyn Waghorn both had decent efforts, and Neil Danns probably had City's best chance of the half but his goal-bound shot struck Knockaert.

At the other end, Schmeichel was still getting a good work-out as Valere Germain and Delvin Ndinga forced him to make good saves.

However, Marcel Tisserand sealed the win for Monaco with a deft finish four minutes from the end, and the margin of victory did not flatter them.

Controllers had to go back to pen, paper and telephones to dispatch crews to calls after the East Midlands Ambulance Service computer system crashed for more than a day.

Instead of sending out ambulances by computerised messages – similar to a text alert – control staff had to use a radio system and telephones.

Managers declared a "serious untoward incident" as computer screens froze on the morning of June 12.

When the system crashed at about 11am, a group known as the emergency "gold command" cell was set up.

It took nearly 26 hours to get all the systems back up and running and tested to make sure it was working properly.

Details of the incident were released in the minutes of the service's audit committee.

A full external review of the system has now been commissioned.

Zuffar Haq, from the Leicester Mercury Patients' Panel, said: "Had a major incident occurred during this time it could have been catastrophic. There should be a back-up system for this type of event.

"For an emergency service to have to fall back on pen and paper is worrying."

Dr Stephen Dykes, acting medical director for Emas, said: "We can reassure the public that we are conducting in-depth analysis into the causes and continue to improve the resilience of our systems.

"As an organisation we harness modern technology on a daily basis and this one-off incident was positively managed by all concerned."

Emas has its headquarters in Nottingham and is responsible for emergency care service for 4.8 million people across six counties – Leicestershire and Rutland as well as Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire.

It receives about 2,000 calls a day in its control rooms in Nottingham and Lincoln.

Dr Dykes said: "When we carry out routine updates to our software, we use a paper-based system whilst the updates take place.

"This means that our control staff are experienced in using paper and can easily transfer over to this method should an unexpected problem occur.

"Most importantly, we continued to provide a quality service during the time our systems were not functioning fully."

The audit committee minutes state: "Diagnostic work located the problem to be a failure in the software linking various systems and may have been as a result of updates not having been carried out."

Jon Sargeant, director of finance at Emas, told committee members that "one server had been set up incorrectly with out-of-date software.

"In addition, following a change of staff in the information and communications technology team, the monitoring of updates had not been carried out as previously."

He said one problem was that Emas had relied heavily on e-mail and had no system to replace it in the event of failure.

This had led to difficulties in contacting other organisations to let them know about the problems.

Mr Sargeant said that a full external review of all the service's systems had now been commissioned.

The latest hi-tech super-airliner was due to begin the first of two new long-haul holiday routes out of Leicestershire today.

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner was set to leave East Midlands Airport at 11.40am, carrying 291 holidaymakers bound for Sanford Airport in Orlando, Florida.

The flight – TOM586 – will mark the first long-haul Thomson Airways flight from the airport. A new service to Cancun, in Mexico, is also being launched.

The Dreamliner has been designed to revolutionise air travel and leave passengers more relaxed and refreshed. The manufacturer says added levels of comfort should reduce the effects of jet-lag.

The two new services come after several months of teething problems with the US-built jet. The new planes were temporarily withdrawn from service earlier this year for modifications after concerns that batteries on board could cause fires.

Thomson Airways managing director Chris Browne said: "We're incredibly excited to be the first UK airline to fly the 787 Dreamliner to and from East Midlands Airport.

"Our aim has always been to make the Dreamliner as accessible as possible to our customers, who we know want to fly from their local airport."

"By flying the state-of-the-art aircraft from East Midlands, we're opening up a whole host of exciting long-haul destinations to the region."

Parent company Manchester Airports Group is investing £12 million improving the security and departures areas at East Midlands Airport.

County Hall is to launch an investigation into why a town centre was submerged when torrential rain fell on Saturday night.

Market Harborough traders say they are angry that the town was hit by a metre-high tidal wave of water, despite a multi-million pound flash-flood defence system being installed eight years ago.

Anglian Water, which installed the flood prevention scheme, said the amount and intensity of the rain was beyond the capacity of the system, which includes a three-million-litre overflow tank under the town's Commons car park.

Yesterday, businesses were trying to count the cost of the storm, which deposited an "almost unprecedented amount" of rain inside two hours.

Neil Holman, who runs George Halls Cycles, in Northampton Road, reopened his shop yesterday after clearing up drenched carpets.

He said: "There must be an investigation into what has gone wrong. The drains could not cope and silt and muck came back up and covered a number of shops. Why wasn't the capacity of the big tank under the Commons car park enough to cope? I am sure some of the drains were blocked.

"Our shop was flooded for the first time and we have seen a number of similar storms.''

The worst-affected shops and business were in High Street, The Square, Northampton Road and St Mary's Road.

Sarah Stamp, of Denhams jewellers, in St Mary's Road, said: "We have been open for only four weeks. We have been devastated. Our cellar is filled with 10ft of water and all our fixtures and the carpets have been ruined. We estimate £20,000 damage has been caused."

Wes Suter, of Steffans jewellers, in The Square, said: "It is difficult to estimate, but I would say it will cost us at least £50,000 to put things right."

A spokesman for Anglian Water said the flooding "was not the result of any failure of flood alleviation equipment in the town".

He said: "Anglian Water installed a huge flood tank under the Commons car park in 2005 to help the sewer system cope in times of heavy rainfall. This tank has the capacity to hold close to three million litres.

"On Saturday night this tank was filled, from empty, in a little over two hours. The tank performed exactly as it is designed to. It was simply the almost unprecedented amount and intensity of the rain fall that caused the flooding."

County Hall highways spokesman Peter Osborne said no drains were blocked.

He said: "We will be carrying out investigations into the flooding. This will include looking at the responsibilities of partners and ascertaining the cause of flooding, particularly where property has been affected and assessing what can be done to prevent or reduce such flooding in future.''

Leroy Rhoten, 53 Evington

"It's okay, I've seen much worse places, such as Brixton.

"Yeah, it's a bit untidy at times and there are too many empty shops but you find me a big city that isn't like that."

Kumar Nallaperuma, 45 cleaner, Evington

"There are always people sweeping the streets but that's because there is always litter. It's a never-ending battle.

"I don't think it is too bad but the lady has a point."

Tom Harris, 24 shop worker, city centre

"It depends. I work in Highcross and some parts of that don't look very good at times.

"It isn't terrible but it could do with improving in places."

Verity Bingham, 22 receptionist, Blaby

"I've just got back from uni in Sheffield and both places have the same kinds of problems. Leicester's not as bad as it used to be."

Barbara Woolman, 70 retired, Aylestone

"It's terrible because of people who don't know what a bin is for. When I was a teenager, Leicester was known as the cleanest city in Europe. It looks a disgrace at the moment."

Gaz Veeren, 47 roadie, Evington

"A lot of money is being spent on things like Jubilee Square – don't get me started on what a waste of money that is – but there's no point doing that if you can't keep the place tidy."

Tammy Clinton, 40 Victim Support worker Thurnby

"I don't think she's right.

"The Lanes are lovely and very well looked after. The city council works very hard keeping the streets clean."

Cas Beckett, 56 charity worker Beaumont Leys

"You do see a lot of fast food wrappers blowing around.

"I've just got back from Lanzarote and it's spotless over there."

Chris Coupland, 63 retired, Thurmaston

"Some parts of the city centre do need a good clean-up. Highcross is lovely. Some of the empty shops look a bit tatty and the roads into the city centre don't look very good."

Sam Jan, 20 student, city centre

"I don't think people avoid town because it's a bit messy sometimes but it could be cleaner. All you've got to do is look around and you see rubbish on the floor."

Ray Ladkin, 86 retired, Thurnby

"People don't respect the place. It's not just young people, you see old people dropping litter.

"The council doesn't always help. The slabs in Humberstone Gate East are a nightmare."

Joan Ladkin, 84 retired, Thurnby

"I wish people wouldn't spit their chewing gum out all over the floor. That does make the place look grubby.

"But Leicester is still nice and I love living here. It's a bit rough but that is the charm."

A motorist tried to escape from the police after being stopped for driving at 111 mph, a court heard.

Dominic Williams was dragged out of a patrol car by two of his friends and they attempted to drive off.

However, the patrol car blocked their path and another police vehicle soon arrived on the scene.

At that point, the 29-year-old surrendered to officers.

Victoria Rose, prosecuting, told Leicester Crown Court that at 6.30pm on March 20, officers carrying out speed checks, on the northbound carriageway of the M69 near Sapcote, clocked Williams' silver Peugeot travelling at 111mph.

The speed limit is 70mph.

They followed him for a mile before he pulled over on the hard shoulder before his unsuccessful escape bid with two passenger friends.

Williams, of Featherbed Lane, Rugby, admitted speeding and escaping from lawful custody.

He was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for a year with supervision, and banned from driving for six months.

In mitigation, the court heard that Williams had been grief-stricken over the death of his mother.

He panicked and tried to escape, fearing if he was arrested he would not be able to attend her funeral the following day.

The police released him the next day in time for his attendance, the court was told.