Chris Wood is the perfect tonic for Leicester City's promotion push, said manager Nigel Pearson.

The £2 million striker made an impressive debut against Huddersfield Town yesterday.

Wood scored twice in the opening 24 minutes as City recorded an impressive 6-1 victory over Simon Grayson's side at the King Power Stadium.

City had signed Wood on an emergency loan so he could make his debut. He will complete his permanent move from West Bromwich Albion today.

Pearson said he was delighted to have convinced the 21-year-old that his ambitions can be served at City.

"Chris has made a commitment to play for us, which I am really pleased with," he said.

"He is an ambitious lad and we are ambitious ourselves. He gives us a real tonic in what is a very important part of the season now.

"He played a very positive part in a very good team performance.

"His attributes fit the bill. He is a team player who works exceptionally hard, he shows a lot of football intelligence as well and it is very pleasing for him to get off to the start he has."

Wood struck up an instant understanding with strike partner David Nugent but Pearson feels the New Zealand international will compliment any of his strikers.

"They did look good as a partnership but I think we have some good forwards," he said. "There is a lot of potential here with Jamie Vardy, Martyn Waghorn and Marko Futacs, who has done well for us when he has come on as a substitute.

"We have got a few different options and the competition is going to be very good moving forward.

"On top of that, the quality we have in wide areas is going to be important in terms of supply for those players."

Pearson was unhappy with the second-half tackle which ended with Ben Marshall limping off, but he said the winger had escaped serious injury.

"I thought it was a very dangerous tackle," he said.

"Fortunately, he is okay but I am very surprised the officials missed it. He is all right and he is walking around, so it was a near miss for him."

Teenage defender Michael Keane, who is on loan from Manchester United, played the entire 90 minutes and Pearson said they would try to extend his stay with City.

Keane and team-mate Jesse Lingard's loans expire today.

"His loan will finish but we will have a chat with Manchester United to see what their thoughts are about that," he said. "He played very well today."

A convicted sex offender started a relationship with a single mother and then used her laptop to access indecent pictures of children.

Mathew Royale also persuaded the unsuspecting mum-of-three to get a broadband connection and buy him a mobile phone, which he used to search for pornographic images of children on the internet, Leicester Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Victoria Rose said Royale (35) started a relationship with the woman in January last year.

He gradually befriended her and was eventually allowed to stay at her home, which she shared with her three young children.

It was then that he used her laptop computer to look at indecent pictures of children.

At the time, he was prohibited from accessing the internet by a sex offences prevention order (SOPO), imposed after he was convicted of distributing indecent images of children in November 2010 – something the woman was not aware of.

Royale, of Regent Road, Leicester, admitted breaching the SOPO between January and June last year by having access to the internet.

He also admitted failing to notify a change of address, in accordance with the sex offender register, two counts of possessing indecent images of children and breaching a suspended prison sentence.

He was sentenced to a three-year community order, with supervision, and requirements to live where directed by his supervising officer and to attend a sex offender programme.

He was also placed on a 12-month electronically monitored curfew, between 7pm and 7am.

Jacqui Callan, defending, said her client recognised he had a problem and had been working with a psychologist to try to stop his offending.

Dumped rubble and soil which blocked and damaged a badger sett cost the landowner more than £6,215 in fines and costs.

At Leicester Magistrates' Court, Kuldip Singh Kainth (60) was found guilty of interfering with a badger sett by damaging and obstructing it from February 1 to 8 last year.

Kainth, a textile merchant, is the owner of land containing a derelict bungalow in Anstey Lane, Leicester, among other properties.

The court heard he had employed workmen to clear some of the land to build a garage, despite knowing that badgers had an active sett on part of it and having an application to remove the animals refused by Natural England.

Wayne Chapple, who lives next to the site, said that before the work, the land was overgrown and the badgers had made trails where they regularly walked.

He described the rubble being built up in a big mound by the workers clearing the site.

"I told them there were badgers there but they just carried on," he said.

Prosecutor Louise Cox said Kainth, of The Broadway, Oadby, spoke to a wildlife adviser at Natural England about removing the animals in March 2011, and was told he required a licence.

In June he was told a licence was not to be issued until Natural England knew who was going to undertake the work.

Kainth was fined £2,500 on each charge and ordered to pay £1,200 costs and £15 victim surcharge – a total of £6.215.

District Judge Timothy Daber said the fortunate thing was no harm was done to the badgers occupying the sett.

Neil Hughes, Leicestershire police's wildlife officer said: "I am pleased with the result. It shows that builders and land-developers have to comply with wildlife legislation."

More than 1,000 fines have been issued to drivers using city centre bus lanes late at night or early in the morning when few services are actually running.

Earlier this week, the city council revealed nearly 19,243 drivers were fined for straying into bus-only zones in Charles Street and Causeway Lane, Leicester, from July to the end of October.

Yesterday, it said 1,418 – 7.4 per cent of the total penalties – were issued between 11pm and 6am, when most buses are not running in the city centre.

The lanes were installed to try to stop buses getting caught up in city centre traffic, but now there have been calls to rethink the 24-hour enforcement.

A handful of drivers have contacted the Mercury to point out they have been caught late at night or in the early hours when public transport is not running.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has commissioned a council scrutiny commission to review the round-the-clock enforcement but stressed he felt it was the best way to avoid confusing motorists.

He said: "In other cities, bus lanes are not enforced 24 hours a day and I would like to see what their experiences are.

"My own feelings are that a bus lane should be a bus lane at all times. That way it is always clear to drivers.

"If people are deliberately breaking the rules, they deserve to be fined, but I have asked officers to look again at the signage to make sure it is totally clear."

Liberal Democrat Councillor Nigel Porter, who sits on the scrutiny commission, said: "I think the council needs to be flexible with its enforcement.

"The fact that so many people continue to get caught suggests the enforcement is not having the desired effect.

"That desired effect is to free up buses but we are fining people when buses are not even on the roads."

Roy Rollings, assistant manager of Pillings Lock Marina, at Quorn, said his staff were driving back from a Christmas party at 12.34am on December 18 when a fine was issued on Charles Street.

He said: "At the time, the weather was awful.

"Driving rain meant the signs could not be seen, or not specifically identified among the various other signs littered around the streets.

"The company spent in excess of £800 on the event in Leicester.

"It is a shame that when valuable custom is brought to the city, people are issued with penalty notices.

"I do not see why any restriction should be on a bus lane at 12.34am at night.

"There were no buses running."

The scrutiny commission will carry out its review in the coming months and make recommendation the city mayor.

Overall, the council has collected nearly £450,000 in fines, which it says will be pumped back into public transport schemes.

This stunning photograph of a hairy-footed flower bee making itself at home inside a brass keyhole has won amateur photographer Tony Cooper top prize in a national competition.

Mr Cooper, pictured, a geologist from Long Clawson, near Melton, captured the image last April after noticing the bee camped in the lock of his back door. The image scooped the Best Photograph Award in the Great British Insect Photography Competition 2012, run by the Royal Entomological Society as part of last year's National Insect Week.

"I was on my way out to the garden when I found this bee in the keyhole of the back door," said Mr Cooper, 61, who, along with wife Barbara is a keen member of Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. "We put quite a few photographs on the trust website and I thought it would make a great picture."

Mr Cooper, who was also commended by judges for a picture of sawfly larvae on a birch tree leaf, took the photograph using a Nikon D200 digital camera and a Tamron manual macro lens. "I saw the competition and thought I'd enter the picture," he said. "Not only does the brass of the keyhole match the colouring of the bee, but I thought it would be unusual – capturing a bee in a human environment."

Mr Cooper's picture saw off competition from more than 400 other entries, earning him a prize of £500 worth of Olympus camera equipment. "I take pictures for the pleasure but I am honoured to have taken a picture that professionals in the field deem to be a good one," he said.

To see more of his pictures visit:

www.naturespot.org.uk

Cases dealt with at Leicester Magistrates' Court include:

Michael Daniel Webster (28), of St Mary's Avenue, Braunstone, pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis on November 3.

He was given an 18-month supervised community order, including participating in a thinking skills programme and doing 180 hours unpaid work.

Webster was ordered to pay a £60 victim surcharge and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 30 months.

Brett Alan Anderson (48), of Wilmore Crescent, Kibworth Beauchamp, pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle on November 15, with 80 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35 microgrammes.

He was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, ordered to participate in a drink-impaired drivers' programme, pay £85 costs and was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 42 months.

Aiden Thorburn (26), of Narborough Road, Braunstone, Leicester, admitted committing fraud by attempting to cash a £1,560 cheque to which he was not entitled on November 12.

He was given a community order, including 40 hours unpaid work.

Andrew Wellington (34) of Whittington Drive, Ratby, was found guilty in his absence of failing to give information about who was driving a vehicle at the time of an alleged offence on July 14 2012.

He was fined £600 with £85 costs. Six penalty points were also put on his driving licence.

Hubert Zawadzki (21), of Wolverton Road, Rowley Fields, Leicester, was found guilty in absence of failing to give information about who was driving a vehicle at the time of an alleged offence on July 17.

He was fined £600, with £85 costs. Six penalty points were put on his licence.

An injury time penalty try earned Leicester Tigers a dramatic 19-14 win against Worcester at a packed Sixways and sent them to the top of the Aviva Premiership.

Tigers had been blown away in the opening quarter and trailed 14-0 after 22 minutes.

But they survived the sin-binning of Martin Castrogiovanni and began a thrilling fightback with Scott Hamilton's try just before the break.

A penalty try followed after the re-start but it looked as though Toby Flood's series of missed penalties might prove costly as Worcester led 14-12 going into the final minute.

In an astonishing finish though, Leicester played from near their own line to win a five-metre scrum and then won a penalty try as the home pack was sent back on its heels before disintegrating.

Worcester began the game with some good possession and former Tigers fly-half Andy Goode opened the scoring on nine minutes from in front of the sticks.

That became 8-0 soon afterwards when a lovely break from Jon Clarke created space for winger Demi Lemi to fly over in the corner.

The Warriors were full of confidence in the opening quarter and, when Goode atoned for his missed conversion with another penalty, Worcester led 11-0 after 20 minutes.

Things got even worse for Leicester when prop Castrogiovanni was sin-binned for an illegal tackle on Dean Schofield and Goode gave the hosts a 14-0 advantage.

Tigers defended well a man down and a huge hit by Samoan prop Logovi'i Mulipola on Aleki Lutui repelled another scoring chance after Josh Drauniniu's line break.

There was a crazy finish to the half. Flood missed a penalty but Leicester were finally on the board two minutes later when Mat Tait found Hamilton in the corner.

Goode was then binned for kneeing the Kiwi in the back as he grounded the ball and, although Flood missed the conversion, he immediately got a penalty on halfway instead of a restart, which also came up short. The Warriors went into the break a man down but, with a 14-5 lead, they were full value for it.

Leicester spent the first five minutes of Goode's binning in their own half, but it could have been more costly had back-up place kicker Chris Pennell not missed a pair of makeable penalties.

Goode came back on with no damage done but, with Julian Salvi, Dan Cole and Marcos Ayerza all going on from the bench, Tigers piled forward and earned a penalty try on 54 minutes after a huge surge by the pack five metres out.

Flood's conversion cut the deficit to just two points.

With both side's set-pieces working well and Warriors prop Euan Murray negating any sense of a Tigers advantage in the scrum, it became a real bun fight.

Flood had a chance to win it for the visitors but his kick fell short for the fourth time.

But there was still one more chance when Leicester played from deep in their own half, Tait made a thrilling break and Leicester earned a five-metre scrum with the last action of the game.

A massive push shoved Worcester back on their heels and, with the Warriors pack disintegrating and Tigers about to touch down, referee JP Doyle awarded a penalty try which Flood converted to leave the visiting fans in raptures.

Rail worker Mark Steele was on the right tracks when he chose his numbers for last week's Euromillions Lottery draw.

The 50-year-old grandad used his four children's, his and his wife's ages for the five numbers and two lucky stars in Friday's draw, and scooped £244,437.

His numbers were based on Jack, 17, Will, 24, David, 26, Selina, 27, and wife Sadie, 49, and he split his age into five and 10 for the two lucky star numbers. He also has a six-year-old granddaughter, Poppy. Mark celebrated his win by buying friends in his local pub, the Welby, in Nottingham Road, drinks – and will be back at work next week.

"I've not had time to think about what I'll do with the money yet," he said.

"It's not enough to retire on, but it makes a nice little cushion."

Already on the cards, though, are plans to pay off the mortgage on the former council house the family bought a few years ago, and wife Sadie, a care worker, will be getting a new car.

Mark, who works all over the country on rail electrification projects, said yesterday: "We'll probably have a family holiday, and it's Sadie's 50th birthday today, so we'll be going out somewhere at the weekend and if the kids want anything they can have it."

"The draw was on December 28, but I didn't check the ticket until the next day," he said.

"I was a bit shaky. I rang Camelot and they told me not to tell anyone, but I told them it was too late.

"I've done the lottery since it started, but this is my first big win. I do the National Lottery as well and I've won the odd hundred here and there."

Mark, who has lived in Melton all his life and whose family all live locally, said: "I come into the Welby every day so I put a tab behind the bar for all the people I've known in here. I'm quite laidback about things.

"I work every weekend and go all over the country fitting overhead electrification on railway tracks. It's a job I've done for 13 years and I'll be back there next week."

Friend and fellow pub regular Jeff Baker, 53, of Melton, said: "Good luck to the old boy. He's a family guy, a nice guy, a local, one of the lads. It's nice to see him win and it's nice to have a bit of good news for a change."

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill makes a mammoth 12 changes to the side that beat Gloucester 17-12 last Saturday.

Only Adam Thompstone, captain Louis Deacon and Ben Youngs retain their places as Cockerill rests his key players ahead of next week's Heineken Cup clash with Ospreys.

Tom Croft makes his return to the starting XV at flanker following nine months on the sidelines with a neck injury.

2 min: Tigers are awarded an early penalty at the breakdown on the halfway line. A lovely kick from Toby Flood puts Tigers in the corner. The line-out leads to a driving maul but Tigers eventually give a penalty away and their chance to score is gone.

8 min: PENALTY 3-0 It is Tigers who go behind as the returning Croft is penalised for not rolling away at the breakdown in front of the posts. Former Tiger Andy Goode makes no mistake as he strikes the ball cleanly and watches it fly over.

10 min: Tigers have the chance to restore parity as they win a penalty just inside the Warriors' half. But instead of going for goal, Flood opts for touch, which results in Tigers giving away a penalty at the breakdown and missing their chance to equalise.

14 min: TRY 8-0 Tigers now find themselves further behind as lovely footwork from Warriors' Jon Clarke sees him sidestep his way through the Tigers backline. He off-loads to Chris Pennell who plays in David Lemi in the corner and the winger dives over the line in the left corner. Goode's kick drifts wide of the posts.

20 min: PENALTY 11-0 Martin Castrogiovanni is pinged for not releasing the ball in front of the posts on his 10 metre line and Goode drills his kick straight between the sticks.

21 min: Castro finds himself in the bin. After a long TMO decision, the prop is shown a yellow card by referee JP Doyle for not using his arms in a tackle on Dean Schofield.

23 min: PENALTY 14-0 Croft is penalised once again at the breakdown on his 10 metre line, to the left of the posts. Goode strikes it clean as a whistle and Tigers are now 14 points behind. They desperately need some ball.

33 min: Fourteen-man Tigers look under pressure as Warriors continue to pile on the pressure just outside Tigers' 22. But a crunching tackle from Logovi'i Mulipola forces hooker Aleki Lutui backwards and wins a penalty which allows Tigers to clear. It is 15-a-side again now as Castro returns to the field.

38 min: TRY 14-5 Tigers get another penalty, and Flood opts to put Tigers in the corner with a little more than a minute on the clock. The gamble pays off as the ball is eventually spun out right to Mat Tait who beats his man and off-loads to Scott Hamilton, who gets over in the corner. Flood's kick again falls short.

40 min: It is a double whammy though, as Goode is given a yellow card for a knee in the back on Hamilton at the try and Tigers are awarded a penalty back on the halfway line for it. But, for the third time, Flood's goal attempt falls short of the posts.

h-t min: Worcester 14 Tigers 5

45 min: Not the start Tigers would have wanted as they give away two penalties in their own half in quick succession. With Goode in the bin, full-back Pennell takes it. His first hits the post and the second drifts wide. Tigers are lucky not to have gone even further behind.

50 min: TRY 14-12 Tigers are awarded a penalty on the right touch on the Warriors 22 but Flood opts to kick for the corner instead of taking the points. Tigers get a good rolling maul going and, after forcing two penalties, Tigers are awarded a penalty try. Flood quickly knocks it over.

63 min: Doyle does Tigers a favour as he pulls the play back for a penalty to Worcester on Tigers 10 metre line, despite the home side seemingly having a decent advantage. Goode, back from the bin, puts it wide. Despite being second best for the majority of the game, Tigers can still win this.

79 min: TRY 14-19 It is an incredible finish as Doyle awards Tigers their second penalty try of the game after Worcester are adjudged to have collapsed the scrum on their own line with just seconds to spare. Flood converts and Tigers have somehow managed to get out of jail.

A couple can begin picking through their soggy belongings after a salvage expert rescued their sunken houseboat.

Carolann and Trevor Forman's 61ft boat Merlot has been moored at the marina in Thurmaston since the summer.

As the Mercury reported on Wednesday, high water had engulfed all but three feet of their £50,000 home, while the owners were at a funeral in Wales on December 27.

It is believed the front of the boat got caught on the bank and, instead of floating on the rising water, was trapped and filled with water.

It has not been the only problem on the canals during the Christmas period, with wet weather causing an embankment to collapse into the Grand Union Canal, north of Foxton.

Officers from the Canal and River Trust said a 60-metre stretch of land above the canal slipped into the waterway between Christmas Day and December 27, making it too narrow to pass. Yesterday, water levels dropped enough to allow an expert to drop a pump into the front hatch of the Formans' boat and pump out tons of water.

Carolann, 56, said: "It was such a relief to see her up and out of the water – it was like seeing a loved one being rescued.

"We will have to wait until she is in a special bay before we can get inside, but I looked through the window.

"Everything is covered in mud and it looks like it has been tipped upside down and shaken about – there were even a few dead fish floating around."

Carolann and husband have divided their time between the boat and a cottage in Wales since he retired from the police force more than four years ago.

She said: "Now the real fun and games start, as we work with the insurance company to sort it out. Of course, I also want to try to salvage whatever I can once we get inside."

Officers at the Canal and River Trust closed the section of the waterway, north of Foxton, following the embankment collapse last month.

They are moving a floating digger to the site to dredge the canal, removing fallen sediment from the side and bottom.

Jeff Whyatt, senior manager for the Canal and River Trust, said: "We are planning a temporary solution as we can't remove all the dislodged material from the canal while the land above remains so wet. To do so could destabilise the embankment further and cause more slippage into the canal.

"By dredging the centre section and the towpath side of the canal, we will be creating enough space for boaters to navigate this stretch and, at the same time, working out the best permanent repair for the embankment."

It is thought the digger will arrive on Monday. Work will begin the following day and the canal stretch will reopen on Monday, January 16.

The trust has to work with Natural England to clear any reeds from the towpath and any small trees that have moved with the slipped embankment. The towpath will remain open to walkers and cyclists.

Mr Whyatt said: "It is too early to predict how much the repairs are going to cost the charity to repair."

Mary Matts, who runs Foxton Boat Services, said because the closure was about a mile north of Foxton, it had not caused too much trouble for boaters.

"There is very little traffic on the canal at this time of year," she said.