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T20 cricket: Leicestershire Foxes boost hopes of quarter-final with win against Derbyshire

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Leicestershire Foxes maintained their outside hopes of a place in the NatWest T20 Blast competition with a five-wicket win over Derbyshire Falcons at Chesterfield.

The Foxes were set a target of 144 to win after putting the hosts in to bat at Queen's Park, Wes Durston hit a fine 89 for the Falcons but Anthony Ireland's career-best 5-22 kept their score well below what the Falcons would have been looking for on the picturesque ground.

Jigar Naik also impressed with a four-over spell which yielded just 20 runs and also brought him the wicket of the dangerous Marcus North.

The Foxes might have come out all guns blazing as they set about chasing down a third win of the season but the pitch was not the easiest to bat on and the slow bowlers caused some problems.

However, Greg Smith played a disciplined innings as he finished unbeaten on 65, a 52-run partnership for the third-wicket with Ned Eckersley keeping the Foxes progressing nicely towards the win.

Smith duly rounded that off with his eighth boundary, Leicestershire winning with four balls to spare.

T20 cricket: Leicestershire Foxes boost hopes of quarter-final with win against Derbyshire


Video of driver beating up another motorist in a road rage attack goes viral

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A video of a driver beating up another motorist in a road rage attack has gone viral on the internet.

The assault was filmed by people travelling in a car following the other drivers along Asquith Way, in West Knighton, Leicester.

The clip shows an angry young man pulling his car in front of another at a set of traffic lights and then starting a fight with the driver.

Leicestershire Police said the incident had not been reported to them.

However, after seeing the video, a spokesman for the force urged anyone with information about the incident to get in touch.

"This was a violent incident and we would urge anyone who witnessed it to report the matter to us," he said.

The video shows the young driver pulling his car in front of another at traffic lights.

He then speaks with the occupants of a third vehicle before shouting at the driver, an older man. He punches him through the open driver's door.

The victim, who is much shorter, gets out of his old Volkswagen to argue, before deciding to get back in his vehicle.

As he drives off, he is punched again. This time, he gets out of the car and a fight starts.

The older man starts swinging, but is dragged to the ground, where he is kicked and punched.

The men who have been filming the incident then decide to intervene and break it up, ignoring the driver of their own car, a woman, who yells at them to call the police. The incident took place on Tuesday, September 10 last year, at Asquith Road's junction with Aberdale Road, but was only posted on the web last month.

Since it was posted online it has attracted nearly 13,000 hits from around the world and 90 comments.

City councillor Inderjit Gugnani, who represents the area where the incident happened, said: "Road rage endangers the lives not only of those involved but innocent travellers as well.

"Asquith Way is a very busy main road and it is very dangerous for people to fight in the middle of the road.

"I would not have encouraged the bystanders to get involved.

"They should have taken the numbers of the vehicles and contacted the police so that the incident could be investigated."

T20 cricket: Ireland and Smith keep Leicestershire Foxes in hunt against Derbyshire

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Career-best figures of 5-22 from Anthony Ireland set up Leicestershire Foxes' five-wicket win over Derbyshire Falcons at Chesterfield yesterday.

Ireland's performance kept the home side down to a modest 143 and Greg Smith's unbeaten 65 saw Leicestershire home with four balls to spare.

The Foxes fielded the same 11 that had dismantled Northants at Grace Road on Friday night before rain prevented them crossing the winning line.

Again Ireland was effective up front as he bowled both Chesney Hughes and Gareth Cross in his first two overs, the first of which was a wicket maiden.

Both men fell attempting lavish drives, emphasising the need to bowl straight as, on the small Queens Park ground, any width was punished.

Wes Durston in particular helped himself with boundaries either side of the wicket, although he escaped on 25 when he was missed at midwicket by Ben Raine off Charlie Shreck.

The Foxes did gain a third success when Wayne Madsen fell lbw to Scott Styris with the total on 56, but Durston remained a real threat, joined by left-hander Marcus North.

Styris and Jigar Naik did a good job of containing the scoring through the middle overs.

Naik, who had tidy figures of 1-20 from four overs, took a fine return catch to dismiss North for 20 in the 16th over after the Falcons' fourth-wicket pair had added 56.

Durston had by that stage raced past 50 from just 33 deliveries and had plundered 89 from 63 balls when he was finally caught in the penultimate over off Raine, who also accounted for Scott Elstone in the same over.

An extraordinary final over saw Shreck removed from the attack for bowling a second full toss over waist high, leaving Ireland to step in to devastating effect, claiming the wickets of Tony Palladino, Alex Hughes and Greg Cork in the space of four balls.

To top it all off, Mark Turner was then run-out from the last ball of the innings attempting to steal an overthrow.

A target of 144 looked well within the capabilities of Leicestershire's batting and they would have been bitterly disappointed not to have got home and complete a double over their neighbours. Niall O'Brien's early dismissal did not help them, and neither did the loss of Josh Cobb on 39 after he had smashed Chesney Hughes into the crowd.

However, Smith set out his stall to bat through and, as long as he was in the middle, Leicestershire were favourites.

He and Ned Eckersley added 52 runs in seven overs to keep the Foxes comfortably in front.

After Eckersley fell, Matt Boyce helped take Leicestershire closer to the finish line before he was caught in the deep, Styris following in similar fashion. It was fitting that Smith should crack the winning boundary, his eighth in a 56-ball innings which showed great discipline when there must have been a real temptation to clear the ropes at every opportunity.

The Foxes now have three wins to their name in this season's competition and remain just about alive in the hunt for a quarter-final place.

They will need to win their last four matches to do that, but more performances like yesterday's will help to maintain those aspirations.

T20 cricket: Ireland and Smith keep Leicestershire Foxes in hunt against Derbyshire

Live: traffic and travel updates from Leicester and Leicestershire

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8.30am: Delays on M1 southbound between J20, A4303 (Lutterworth) and J16, A45 (Northampton West), because of an accident earlier on. Travel time is around 45 minutes.

8.14am: Charles Street in Leicester has now been re-opened.

7.09am: Charles Street in Leicester closed in both directions between the Halford Street junction and the Humberstone Gate junction, because of a building fire. Police directing traffic.

For more local and national travel information and weather updates see the links below:

MOTORWAY UPDATES: For traffic updates on UK motorways and other key roads - CLICK HERE.

LIVE CAMERAS: Check the M1 through Leicestershire with our live traffic cameras - CLICK HERE.

NATIONAL RAIL: For live UK train updates - CLICK HERE.

FLIGHT INFORMATION: For East Midlands Airport visit: CLICK HERE.

WEATHER: See the latest five-day weather report for Leicester and Leicestershire

CONTACT NEWSDESK: Send us your news and pictures. Tweet us @Leicester_Merc or email newsdesk@leicestermercury.co.uk

Live: traffic and travel updates from Leicester and Leicestershire

Speedway: Leicester Lions bare their teeth with a winning show against Belle Vue

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Leicester Lions eased to their largest points haul of the season at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium on Saturday night with a comfortable 56-36 win against Belle Vue Aces.

The Lions were back to full strength for the first time at home since April 12, and they began the meeting in the best possible way by scoring maximum points when Simon Stead edged Aces rider Chris Harris out wide on the second bend, which allowed his team partner Jason Doyle through on the inside.

Leicester were fortunate to split the points in the reserves' race that followed, as Max Clegg had to start the race 15 metres behind the other three for breaking the tapes.

In the re-run, Josh Bates secured a win for the Lions and Clegg almost caught up with Dan Greenwood for third place.

The home side were hampered again in heat three when Krzysztof Buczkowski was excluded after falling and, in the re-run, Craig Cook and Scott Nicholls were first across the finishing line.

The points enabled the Aces to draw level with Leicester, but that was to be the closest the visitors came to taking the lead in the match.

From there on it was all Leicester as the Lions nosed ahead in the next race when Nicolai Klindt won on his home debut.

Bates passed Tom Perry on the first bend and then capitalised on a mistake by Richie Worrall to move up into second behind Klindt.

Doyle passed Nicholls down the back straight and Buczkowski made up ground on Michael Palm Toft to gain another success for the Rapid Solicitors Lions, which moved their winning margin to six points from five completed races.

In entertainment value, the meeting was developing into an interesting contest as the visitors were trying to get back on equal terms.

When Cook forged to the front, it took a skilful ride by Lions captain Mads Korneliussen to draw level down the back straight and, after taking a wide line around turns three and four, he emerged ahead to win heat six in the fastest time of the night.

Stead then added another win to his total and Greenwood fell under pressure from Clegg for third place.

The outcome added more daylight between the two teams and further points were surrendered by Belle Vue when Nicholls was excluded in a heat eight crash.

The race between the two team captains began with Nicholls gaining the upper hand over Korneliussen, only for the Leicester man to ride a faster line around turns three and four which gave him more speed along the home straight.

Entering the first bend, he lined up his bike to overtake the seven-time British champion on the inside, at which point Nicholls fell and the race was stopped with the Aces rider excluded for causing the stoppage.

The result of the re-run went Leicester's way and, with Belle Vue trailing by 12 points, they gambled with back-to back tactical rides that, if successful, would earn them double points and a way back into the match that was slipping away from them.

In the first, Cook was nominated but he was blocked by Doyle and Stead, who were content to sit behind race leader Nicholls.

The second attempt also ended all-square, but only after Buczkowski caught up with Harris before overtaking him.

Three of the final four heats went Leicester's way, with the only reply coming from Toft, whose win in heat 14 was only the second time in the meeting they had a rider first past the chequered flag.

Lions team manager Norrie Allan was delighted with his side's victory.

"It was the first time that we have fired as a team this season," he said. "Everyone played their part, which made my job so much easier, and each rider in the main body of the team was at some stage involved in one of our four maximums during the meeting.

"The arrival of Josh Bates has made such a difference to our bottom end, and I feel sure Max Clegg would have scored more points had it not been for that early exclusion.

"We weathered back-to-back tactical rides which could have changed the course of the final result, and the way we rode gives me optimism for a better second half to the season."

Speedway: Leicester Lions bare their teeth with a winning show against Belle Vue

Cricket: Leicestershire confident ahead of Kent test in LV County Championship

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Leicestershire's batsmen will try to take the form they displayed against India into the LV County Championship when Kent arrive at Grace Road today.

Angus Robson and Greg Smith both hit stunning centuries against the tourists, while Dan Redfern weighed in with an excellent half-century.

That followed on from a determined performance with the ball against India's much-heralded batting line-up, all of which suggests Leicestershire are a considerably better side than their winless status would suggest. Their bonus-points tally, 45 from nine games, compares favourably with most of the sides in the Second Division.

It is simply the fact that, having put in decent performances in the first half of the game, they have developed the habit of losing their way – and with it losing matches.

Director of cricket Phil Whitticase was more than satisfied with the performance that his players put in during the tour match, which came on the back of a 10-wicket Championship defeat by Surrey at the Oval.

"The Indian batsmen retired when they got to 50 or 60," he said.

"Greg and Angus retired after they got centuries but they didn't look like getting out.

"It was a confidence-boosting performance. I was really pleased for Greg. He had been left out of the Championship side against Surrey and wasn't happy about it.

"But he responded in the right way by going out and scoring runs."

Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan continues to struggle with a back problem and remains doubtful for the visit of a Kent side who County pushed all the way at Canterbury in the opening game of the season.

Former Foxes favourite Darren Stevens will be a threat with bat and ball, but the man who is really impressing for Kent this season is off-spinner Adam Riley.

The 22-year-old former Loughborough student has taken 31 wickets to date and is widely regarded as a player who has an England future ahead of him.

Cricket: Leicestershire confident ahead of Kent test in  LV County Championship

Arthur didn't have far to travel home - Leicester City historian John Hutchinson on the club's special sites

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Leicester City's official historian John Hutchinson continues his series revisiting those sites in Leicester which were significant in the history of the club. Today, as we walk past these sites, we are often unaware of the part these places played in the history of the club.
ARTHUR CHANDLER'S HOME IN FILBERT STREET Nowadays, it is hard to imagine a time when the nation's top football stars lived in terraced houses near to their club's ground. These houses were often owned by the club, but it was not always the case. Between 1925 and 1927, Arthur Chandler, Leicester City's record-breaking goalscorer (273 goals in 419 games between 1923 and 1935), lived at 147 Filbert Street, directly opposite the old Filbert Street ground (Picture 1). While living there, Arthur scored 54 top-flight goals in 72 First Division games. Many of these goals were scored within feet of his front door, which was behind the Filbert Street stand and in line with the goalmouth. Picture 2 shows him attacking the goal near his front door. Chandler was well-off, compared to the average working man. All of Arthur's City contracts, including this one from 1925-26 (picture 3) are in the club's archives. For most of his time at Filbert Street, he earned £8 per week (£6 a week in the close season). This amounted to £384 per year (£20,356 in today's values). Win and draw bonuses were added. This compared favourably with the average worker's weekly wage of £1.60 per week (about £4,400 per year at today's values). Chandler also lived in houses on Aylestone Street (1924), Norman Street (1927), Equity Road (1928), Latimer Street (1929-30) and Lambert Road (1931 onwards). His Lambert Road house is pictured here as it appears today (picture 4).THE CASCELLOID FACTORY, ABBEY LANE The now demolished Cascelloid factory (picture 5) in Abbey Lane played an extremely important part in the history of Leicester City. The business provided much-needed capital for the club. Furthermore, had it not been for Alf Pallett, the owner of Cascelloid, the club might well have gone into liquidation in 1940. Alf Pallett had started the company in 1919 as a small business making celluloid toys and fancy goods. Surviving a disastrous fire in the 1920s, the company, in association with another business called British Xylonite, moved into the large newly-built Cascelloid factory on Abbey Lane in 1932. This new factory specialised in making celluloid 'Palitoy' toys and dolls. Pallett (along with local businessman Len Shipman) joined the board of Leicester City in November 1939. He quickly became the chairman of the board, guiding the club through problems that threatened its existence in 1940. These included a huge financial deficit, directors in-fighting, and an FA investigation into financial malpractice at Filbert Street, which resulted in lengthy suspensions for nine directors, 12 players and one former manager. It was at about this time that Pallett's Cascelloid factory switched to war production. Instead of making toys and dolls, the factory started manufacturing fuel tanks, parachutes, cartridge containers and eyeshields. Sep Smith, one of Leicester's greatest-ever players, who died in 2006, once told me that when players' contracts were suspended at the outbreak of war, he was given a reserved occupation job at Cascelloids by Alf Pallett. This enabled him to make 213 wartime regional league and cup appearances for City. Picture 6 shows Sep in front of the Main Stand at Filbert Street after it had been bombed (in November 1940) and burned out (in June 1942). The company continued to prosper after the war, developing a huge range of plastic, PVC and polythene products which included toys, bottles, packaging and mouldings. This cartoon of Alf Pallett (picture 7) was an illustration in a menu for a dinner celebrating City's 1949 Cup final appearance. Having helped rescue the club in 1940, he served on the board until 1979. He was chairman twice (1940-8 and 1967-70). The site of the factory is now derelict and very overgrown (picture 8), and has been for several years. TWO TRAINING GROUNDS Leicester City's current state-of-the-art training ground on Middlesex Road is in marked contrast to the training facilities used by the club in the post-war years in the late 1940s. In 1948, the usual practice of training at Filbert Street was severely restricted due to the poor state of the pitch. Consequently, in March 1948, the club advertised locally for the use of a sports ground to train on. This resulted in Dunlop Ltd, based at St Mary's Mills on the other side of the canal from Filbert Street, offering their Sports ground at £50 rental for the 1948-49 season. In addition, the Corporation's Parks' Committee gave the club permission to train on the Recreation Ground next to Filbert Street (although they turned down the club's offer to level the Recreation Ground's surface). The Dunlop arrangement didn't survive much beyond November 1948, as City began investigating the possibility of using the nearby Electricity Sports Ground. However, life-long supporter Leonard Cook (seen here in picture 9 as a boy in 1947 with City players Joe Calvert, Don Revie and Mal Griffiths) still remembers seeing the City players running down the towpath to the Dunlop Sports Ground. Today, it is hard to find evidence of the Dunlop Sports Ground. It has been covered by the Aylestone Meadows Local Nature Reserve (picture 10). The old Dunlop factory is nearby. However, City continued to train on the Recreation Ground behind Filbert Street's Double Decker and Main Stands. Picture 11 shows a training session there in 1949. The players with the balls are inside-left Ken Chisholm (left) and Welsh international right-winger Mal Griffiths. A few weeks later, both played in Leicester's FA Cup final side against Wolves, Griffiths scoring City's goal in the 3-1 defeat. Picture 12 shows part of the site of the Recreation Ground today, taken from roughly the same spot as the 1949 picture. The King Power Stadium can be seen in the background. As a footnote, Corahs Ltd also offered their Sports Ground for City to use in 1948, but the directors felt that "while the facilities were suitable, the rental of £52 per year was excessive".

Arthur didn't have far to travel home - Leicester City historian John Hutchinson on the club's special sites

Leicester City: Paul Gallagher signs loan deal at Preston for season

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Paul Gallagher's Leicester City career appears to be over after he joined Preston on a season-long loan.

The forward is entering the last year of a four-year contract with City but is unlikely to pull on the shirt again after re-joining the Lillywhites, with whom he spent most of last season on loan.

The 29-year-old, who joined City from Blackburn in August 2009, has not made an appearance since going on as a last-minute substitute for Lloyd Dyer in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace in April 2013.

The last time he started a game was the FA Cup home defeat to Huddersfield two months before. Gallagher was an ever-present under Nigel Pearson during his first spell as City boss, and was rewarded for his performances with a four-year contract by Sven-Goran Eriksson.

But after Pearson's return, Gallagher has fallen out of favour and will leave City as a free agent at the end of the season, having made 137 appearances for the club and scoring 28 goals.

The Scotland international was a big hit at Deepdale last season, making 35 appearances and scoring 10 goals as Preston reached the League One play-offs.

"It was something we were looking to do with Paul Gallagher over the summer," said Preston boss, and former City captain, Simon Grayson. "He made it very clear to us that he wanted to come back and, after negotiations with Leicester, it is a done deal for the season.

"We are grateful to Leicester for letting him come here."

Meanwhile, City, who return to pre-season training today, have been strongly linked with Sunderland striker Connor Wickham as they look to recruit a new striker.

City's bid to lure Fraizer Campbell to the King Power Stadium from Cardiff has stalled after failing to agree personal terms with the former Manchester United striker, while Brighton are standing firm on their £10million evaluation of Argentine frontman Leonardo Ulloa.

Neither deal is completely dead and the situations could change quickly, but City have been looking at alternative targets and 21-year-old Wickham is now reported to be on their radar.

Leicester City: Paul Gallagher signs loan deal at Preston for season


Whitehall Growth Deal: Leicestershire's £80m will help transform derelict area and create jobs

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Nearly £80 million of Government cash has been secured for projects to create jobs and improve roads and public transport in Leicestershire.

The cash has come from a Whitehall Growth Deal announced today and will pay for schemes in the city and the wider county.

Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) bid for the money, which will see £28 million provided in the 2015/16 financial year and a further £52 million coming in the following four years.

The initial £28 million will be spent on improving the A50 and A6 through the county and into the city, the regeneration of Leicester's run-down Frog Island riverside area, employment training schemes and other projects.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, an LLEP board member, said the package meant the city council would get £20 million for its plans to improve the area on the banks of the River Soar.

He said: "That is an area of huge potential but it has not been developed because the sites are either too costly or risky for the private sector.

"This money will help us pump prime much-needed development on the wedge of land between the A50 and A6.

"In the 1990s, we transformed the area to the south of the West Bridge with large amounts of Government investment for the City Challenge.

"We are calling the next phase Challenge II and it will help us achieve something similar to the north of the West Bridge."

He said the money would allow the council to buy large sites, prepare them for development and then sell them back to private developers.

It will also allow the council to build roads and possibly a bridge over the Soar so the area is more accessible.

The city council hopes the first phase of the scheme, up to 2020, will see 400 homes built and 20,000sq ft of employment land, creating 140 jobs.

County council leader Nick Rushton said he was pleased £1 million had been secured for Great Central Railway towards its project to link up the divided rail line from Leicester to Nottingham, as well as £3 million to improve rural broadband.

He said: "I am pleased that overall we have secured a good result for the city and county."

The MIRA Enterprise Zone, near Hinckley, will also get money over the next five years.

Whitehall Growth Deal: Leicestershire's £80m will help transform derelict area and create jobs

Nigerian trafficked into UK and treated like slave caught in Beaumont Leys using false ID

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A woman who was trafficked into the UK and treated like "a slave" managed to flee and live under a false name.

Miriam Michael, a Nigerian, used a forged Portuguese identity card in the name of Anna Sousa to obtain work and open a bank account.

It was only when she was caught shoplifting cosmetics at Tesco in Beaumont Leys, Leicester, that her real identity became known.

Leicester Crown Court was told Michael (24) produced the ID card when she was arrested and it was found to be bogus.

Victoria Rose, prosecuting, said: "In interview, she explained she was trafficked from Nigeria into London in 2005 and was held against her will and repeatedly mistreated.

"In 2009, she left London and moved to Leicester and used the forged identity card to obtain bank accounts and employment."

She had a National Insurance card, bank cards and a library card, all in the false name.

"If the identity card had not been spotted as false, she would have been charged under the assumed identity.

"She was in the country illegally and there's nothing to confirm her account as to how long she's been in the country.

"She has no previous convictions and until she was arrested for shoplifting had been living a peaceful and law-abiding life, paying income tax and National Insurance."

Michael, of Linney Road, Beaumont Leys, admitted possessing a false identity document on May 28.

She was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with 50 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: "Yours is a sad case and I accept you came under threat and were trafficked into this country in circumstances which are deeply unpleasant and kept almost in slavery in London.

"You were given a false identity card while in London and came to live in Leicester and have worked and paid tax and National Insurance.

"The falsity of your Portuguese ID card only came to light when you committed a shoplifting offence, for which you were given a six-month conditional discharge at the magistrates court.

"You were using the false identity you had adopted out of necessity rather than to facilitate serious crime.

"Because your real identity has been discovered you're not able to work until the process for seeking asylum is completed."

Lynsey Knott, mitigating, said Michael "came to the UK at 15 and later came to Leicester".

Miss Knott said: "She's been living under a false identity for some years because she was unlawfully in the country.

"She's now dependent on others to sustain her and doesn't get any assistance from the state. She never wanted to live off the state.

"Solicitors have written to the UK Border Agency on her behalf, seeking asylum or leave to remain and the proper procedures are now being followed.

"She wasn't leading a criminal lifestyle and was earning enough money with cleaning jobs so she didn't have to rely on the people who mistreated her.

"She didn't seek proper assistance earlier out of fear she would be deported."

Nigerian trafficked into UK and treated like slave  caught in Beaumont Leys using false ID

Firefighters tackle blaze at flat in Charles Street, Leicester

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Firefighters have been tackling a flat fire in Charles Street, Leicester this morning.

Crews were called to an incident in the city centre just after 3am.

A second storey flat in Charles Street, on the junction of Humberstone Gate was well alight.

Police closed Charles Street in both directions between the Halford Street junction and the Humberstone Gate junction just before 3.30am.

The building inspector, who was also called, will be returning to the incident at 9am.

Firefighters tackle blaze at flat in Charles Street, Leicester

Now that's what we call a selfie! Space Centre mascot snapped 21 miles above the earth

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Leicester's National Space Centre has marked its 13th anniversary by sending its mascot into orbit to get an out-of-this-world selfie. The miniature explorer, named 2.0 (two-point-oh), climbed to a height of almost 21 miles – three times the altitude of a commercial jet – thanks to a weather balloon. A video camera filmed the entire two-hour journey and also captured the moment the balloon burst and 2.0 came hurtling back to Earth, landing in a field south of Husbands Bosworth, 16 miles from the space centre. He was tracked by GPS and picked up a short time later. Josh Barker, of the Space Communications Team, said: "Space officially starts at 100km (62 miles) above the Earth's surface – this is called the Karman line. "Our balloon reached 33.5km so not quite space – about a third of the way. "This was a comparable height to Felix Baumgartner's flight earlier this year – he reached about 38km if I remember correctly." The stunt was aimed at marking the space centre's 13th birthday. It was opened in June 2001, and has welcomed more than three million people through its doors since. Among some of the more notable visitors have been Sir Patrick Moore, International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield and the second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin. Star Wars and Harry Potter star Warwick Davis is also a regular at the centre's sci-fi film events, which attract hundreds of movie-lovers each year. Among the attractions is a Soyuz spacecraft – the only one on display in western Europe, with another at the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, USA. The centre has six main galleries of exhibits and numerous activities covering space flight, astronomy and cosmology, as well as its space theatre and planetarium. Professor Martin Barstow, pro-vice chancellor of the University of Leicester and president-elect of the Royal Astronomical Society, praised the centre and said its greatest achievement was its education program. He said: "It has been an amazing success for the city and it's made a huge impact on education. The education programme is much less visible, but has a much deeper impact. "Students who take part in the programme often go on to university and then go to work in the space industry." In 2003, the space centre took on the role of mission control for the ill-fated Beagle 2 project, funded by the European Space Agency. Led by renowned scientist Professor Colin Pillinger, who died in May, the Beagle 2 mission came to a premature end when the probe disappeared a short time after entering the Martian atmosphere. Prof Barstow was one of the handful of scientists there on the day. He said: "I wouldn't call it a highlight, I was there on Christmas Day waiting for the signal – it was one of the worst Christmases I've ever had! "But it laid the foundations for future successes in planetary science. "We might never have made the great strides we did without that particular failure."

Now that's what we call a selfie! Space Centre mascot snapped 21 miles above the earth

Leicestershire hit back on opening day against Kent

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Leicestershire's batting fell apart at Grace Road as they were bowled out for 217 on the opening day of the LV County Championship match against Kent. But the County rallied splendidly after tea and by the close had the visitors rocking on 106-5. Only opener Angus Robson flourished for the hosts as he made 56, the pace of Mitchell Claydon accounting for five County batsmen, including Robson. Rob Taylor (37) and Jigar Naik (25) added 52 for the eighth wicket to threaten some kind of comeback but when Taylor was yorked by Adam Ball with the total on 206 the end was swift in arriving. Kent reached 40-0 in reply but then the Leicestershire seam bowlers struck back hard. They built up plenty of pressure with a nagging line and length and forced the breakthrough when Kent skipper Rob Key was caught off Charlie Shreck's bowling. Ben Raine, Rob Taylor and Nathan Buck also chipped in with wickets before Shreck, playing against his former county, claimed a second success when he had Sam Northeast well caught at second slip by Greg Smith.

Leicestershire hit back on opening day against Kent

Schoolboy badly beaten during attempted robbery in Rushey Mead

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Three thugs punched and kicked a defenceless schoolboy in a failed attempt to steal his bag. The 14-year-old victim was treated in hospital for multiple injuries following the attack by two young men and a woman in Rushey Mead, Leicester. The teenager was targeted as he walked in Rushey Fields, near Melton Road and Rushey Mead School. He noticed the three attackers following him a short time before they attacked him from behind. The three punched and kicked the teenager as he lay on the ground before making an unsuccessful attempt to snatch his bag. The attack happened between 8pm and 8.30pm on Tuesday, June 24. Police released details today. Pc Michelle Sutton said: "This was a particularly shocking attack in which the victim was repeatedly kicked and punched in the stomach, face and head and needed hospital treatment for his injuries. "I'd urge anyone with information to come forward." The first suspect black, 18 to 20, of thin build and has short black hair in tight curls. He was wearing a black Nike lightweight sports jacket, black tracksuit bottoms and either Air Max or Adidas trainers. The second suspect is also black, a similar age. He has a shaved head and was wearing a blue lightweight sports jacket, black adidas tracksuit bottoms with white stripes down both legs and either Air Max or Adidas trainers. The third suspect is black, 16 to 18, approximately 5ft 5ins and is described as 'chubby'. The young woman was wearing a full length black dress with a white stripe through the middle, a head scarf which covered her head and neck, but not her face. Contact Pc Sutton on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Schoolboy badly beaten during attempted robbery in Rushey Mead

Leicester City players have returned to pre-season in great shape, says Nigel Pearson

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Leicester City returned to pre-season training today and manager Nigel Pearson said his players were raring to go for their Premier League campaign.

Everyone except goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, captain Wes Morgan and midfielder Riyad Mahrez, who have been given additional time off after international duty, were at Belvoir Drive for the first official training sessions.

Pearson talked to the media and said his players had come back in good shape after two months off and excited about competing in the Premier League.

"It has been a long break but, coming in today, the players are clearly very focused again for the new season," he said.

"The players who have been here a long time, at least a couple of seasons, have worked very hard to get us in this position, and the lads who have joined us have joined a club that is moving forwards.

"We know we are not going to be able to dominate like last year but it is an exciting prospect and all the players are really excited about having the opportunity.

"We have to prepare in the way we always prepare. The players have come back in good condition physically.

"Mentally it is a bit different than last year because then they had to come back after what was a very negative event (the play-off defeat at Watford).

"They came back in a positive mindset then and we had a successful season. They have again come back with a positive mindset after a very good experience.

"Now we are looking forward to getting our preparation right for the season."

Leicester City players have returned to pre-season in great shape, says Nigel Pearson


Motorcyclist injured in crash on M1 near Leicester Forest East

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A motorcyclist was taken to hospital with serious leg injuries after he was involved in a collision with a car on the M1. The injured man's yellow Yamaha V-Max bike collided with a blue VW Polo as the two vehicles passed underneath the A47 Hinckley Road bridge, near Leicester Forest East Services, shortly after 10.30am on Sunday. Police said today the motorcyclist was being treated at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. The driver of the Polo was not injured. Pc Adam Sparrow, of the serious collision investigation unit, said: "Both vehicles were travelling northbound at the time of the collision. "We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the collision, whether they were travelling on the M1 at this time or to anyone who may have viewed it from the motorway bridge." Contact Pc Sparrow on 101 or Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Schools shut in Leicestershire for Thursday's strike action

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Schools will shut and some council services grind to a halt on Thursday when strike action gets underway across the city and county. Union members from the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Unison, GMB, Unite, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), and Fire Brigades Union (FBU) will march from King Street, Leicester, at 11.45am towards Town Hall Square for 12.15pm for a mass rally to protest against changes to their pension, pay, and working hours. A reduced emergency fire service will be in place from 10am until 7pm as firefighters join in. A list of school closures will be published on the Leicester Mercury website and regularly updated. Any schools who wish to inform us of their closure can email fionadryden@leicestermercury.co.uk Schools which will shut on Thursday are: Birchwood Special School; Melton, Richard Hill Primary; Thurcaston, St Denys Infants; Ibstock. Schools which will be partially closed are: Hind Leys Community College; Loughborough,St Margaret's Primary; Stoke Golding.

Writers of Adrian Mole musical reveal they bonded with Sue Townsend over Jeremy Kyle

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Two writers who have re-created The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and Three Quarters for Leicester's Curve have spoken of their lunches with author Sue Townsend, and how they bonded with the writer over Jeremy Kyle. Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary have spent the past three years writing a musical adaptation of Sue's classic novel for the stage. "We asked Sue how we would bring her book to the stage and she said to us, 'as long as you stick to the book, you will be fine'," said Jake. "Her book has been our bible - and I've also read Sue's autobiography too because we really want to get a sense of her voice and personality onto the stage." Jake said the Leicester author was "really excited" about the project. He added that she was "so supportive" of the pair, and used to invite them round to her house. "We used to go for lunch around her's," said Jake. "We bonded over Jeremy Kyle because it was about real people and their real lives - Sue loved to talk about real people, she loved to gossip." Pippa added: "She always had so much time for us." Sue died at her home in Leicester on Thursday, April 10, aged 68, after a short illness. The first of an eight-book series, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and Three Quarters was published in 1982 and went on to sell 20 million copies worldwide. The musical adaptation will run at Curve from March until April next year. Priority tickets for Leicestershire residents - anybody with an 'LE' postcode - will go on sale on Wednesday. Buyers must use the promotional code 'SECRET' when booking their tickets. Members of the general public will be able to buy tickets from Thursday. Show director Luke Sheppard said: "We want the musical to speak to new generations and also, to re-invent it for those parents who grew up with it." The team is searching for an "extraordinary" cast to play the main characters in the musical. "It's a very demanding show," said Luke. "We're searching far and wide for that person to play Adrian who will bring the right personality and essence to the stage. "And Leicester's going to be one of the main hubs that we search - I think we would be naive to ignore the young talent in Leicestershire." For more information and to buy tickets visit: www.curveonline.co.uk

Writers of Adrian Mole musical reveal they bonded with Sue Townsend over Jeremy Kyle

Lying village postmistress jailed for claiming she had been robbed at gunpoint

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A village postmistress who lied about being robbed at gunpoint, sparking a massive police hunt, has been jailed for 12 months. Margaret Player rang 999 and falsely claimed a masked raider with a handgun had made off with cash from the post office in Main Street, Croxton Kerrial, near Melton. She did it to cover up her thefts from the till. Between 500 and 600 police hours, costing almost £14,000, were wasted pursuing the non-existent robber. The inquiry involved 19 constables, including a tactical firearms team, three sergeants, various inspectors and forensics investigators. Player (46), of Main Street, in the village, admitted fraudulently falsifying accounting records, to conceal the fact that £3,800 was missing, between August 2011 and January 2012. She pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice by falsely claiming that she had been robbed on December 20, 2011. Sentencing at Leicester Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: "You persisted until June this year, insisting there was a robbery. "You've finally faced up to the truth." The judge added: "You had pleaded guilty at an earlier stage to misappropriation, by taking money that wasn't yours when in a position of trust. "You fabricated a robbery and caused a considerable waste of police time and resources. "What you hoped to achieve by reporting the robbery was the writing off of the money you'd taken – money that's been wasted by you. "You succumbed to the temptation of putting your hand in the till when you were a post mistress, entrusted by the Post Office with substantial sums." He said an immediate jail sentence was "inevitable and necessary". Neil Bannister, prosecuting, said inquiries revealed that Player had asked the Post Office for an additional delivery of £1,000 of funds, prior to the false robbery claim. The request was refused. She told a pensioner on the day of the fake robbery she did not have enough cash to cover pension payments. Mr Bannister said: "The police couldn't find any evidence a robbery took place, and her explanation of what happened did not appear credible." House to house inquiries were made, and people who were at a bus stop opposite the Post Office at the time of the supposed raid said they had not seen anything suspicious. A Post Office audit ascertained £3,196 was missing following the 'robbery' but Player went on to steal a further £658 from the till after it was restocked. At one stage, Player pointed the finger of suspicion at the previous post mistress who still lived on the premises – resulting in an innocent woman being arrested and interviewed. Jonathan Dunne, mitigating, said Player had no previous convictions and was in debt at the time. He said: "She found it all too easy by using the post office till as a way of making ends meet, using it for extra money to tide her over. "Having told the initial lie, it's taken until now to admit to her lawyers what she'd done. "She lost her job because of her dishonesty and is in even more reduced circumstances than in 2011." Mr Dunne said Player suffered from ill health and was facing eviction from her home. After the hearing, Detective Constable Rob Buckley said: "When Margaret Player reported the robbery she informed the call handler a firearm was used to threaten her and steal money. "As a result officers from the armed response team were deployed to the incident. "The initial response and subsequent inquiries resulted in many police hours being spent on the investigation, the inquiries spanned over two years. "This was a complex investigation and we hope this case will deter others who may be considering abusing their position of trust."

Lying village postmistress jailed for claiming she had been robbed at gunpoint

Leicester city centre flat gutted by fire was a 'cannabis factory'

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Firefighters tackling a blaze in a flat in Leicester city centre discovered it was being used to grow cannabis. About 30 cannabis plants were found in the property, in Charles Street, close to the junction with Humberstone Gate. Crews were called to the blaze just after 3am today, when a nearby resident spotting smoke coming from the flat. Firefighters arrived to find the flat, on the second floor of a three-storey block, was well alight. By 3.30am, the fire had spread into the third floor of the building, and was ripping through the roof. Nobody was injured in the incident. Police have confirmed that between 20 and 30 cannabis plants were found at the flat, which was unoccupied at the time. The owner of Love2Lunch, a business located nearby, said he had been able to smell cannabis coming from the property "on and off" for the past year. "The place seemed to be unoccupied but there were people going in and out all of the time," said the man, who did not want to be named. A woman who lives nearby, who only wanted to give her name as Miss Hedges, said she was alerted to the blaze after being woken up by the blue flashing lights on the fire engines. "There was a lot of smoke coming out of the window," she said. "The fire had swept across the entire flat. We thought something had exploded." The shops below the flat, on the ground floor of the block, were closed and cordoned off throughout the day yesterday. The included Unity hairdressers and The Nook Newsagency, which are believed to have been severely damaged by the water firefighters used to tackle the blaze. Charles Street was closed in both directions between the Halford Street junction and the Humberstone Gate junction from 3.30am until 7am. The cause of the fire is under investigation. No arrests have been made. The blaze follows a similar incident last month, in which a house in Leicester's West End was gutted by fire after 'electrical misuse'. Some 100 cannabis plants were found in the property, in Luther Street, off Hinckley Road. Steve Robinson-Day, of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said that as well as being illegal, growing cannabis in homes was also extremely dangerous. "There are plenty of reasons we advise against growing you own cannabis," he said. "Other than it being an illegal activity, there are two main risks associated. "First of all, people try and bypass the meter to avoid paying the extra cost for the electricity. Playing with the fuses can be a major hazard. "Second of all, the electrics are on 24/7, and people are not going to stay in for the whole time. Something could happen when they are out. "And then, they avoid calling the emergency services because they are partaking in a criminal activity. "Not only does this put themselves at risk, but it could potentially harm other people." Signs of cannabis cultivation include windows permanently covered, a pungent smell, visits to the property at unusual times, a vent protruding through the roof or a rear window or a large number of empty bags of fertiliser in bins. A spokeswoman for Leicestershire Police said the force was investigating yesterday's blaze. Officers are appealing to anyone who has any information about the blaze, or the drugs, to call them on 101. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers, which is anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

Leicester city centre flat gutted by fire was a 'cannabis factory'

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