Leicester City eye first summer signing
Service remembers soldiers killed in Korean War
"Would you pay more council tax to ease the cuts?" - asks Tory-run Leicestershire County Council
Micky Adams relishing visit of old club Leicester City
Port Vale manager Micky Adams is relishing the challenge of facing his former club.
The Valiants welcome Leicester City to Vale Park this evening for a pre-season friendly (7.30) ahead of the start of the new season on August 3.
Adams, the last man to take City to the Premier League, in 2003, also showed his worth last season as he sealed promotion with Vale to League One in the third automatic spot.
The 51-year-old, who made the shortlist of managers in the Mercury's search for the greatest-ever City side, due to his success during extremely turbulent times, believes Nigel Pearson's men will provide a good test for his players.
"I'd like to thank Nigel and the club for making this happen," said Adams.
"It's great for me with my connections to the club to be able to welcome them here.
"We won't be facing players of the calibre that Leicester have in League One, but it will be a good test for them.
"We can't go giving the ball away too much, otherwise we may well have a difficult job on our hands because Leicester have got players of real quality in the side.
"I want my players to relax, I want them to use it as a fitness exercise and I'm sure Leicester will be the same."
Adams said that despite everything that went on off the field, he still has fond memories of his time at City.
"I was fortunate enough to have a promotion with Leicester and probably at some of the worst times," he said.
"We went into administration, they were certainly dark days, but moving from Filbert Street into the then-Walkers Stadium was a big plus for us.
"My time there will always be clouded by the La Manga affair but, all in all, I was delighted with my achievements.
"I still live in Market Harborough so I see a lot of Leicester fans and still get a nice welcome from everybody.
"I think I can look back at my time there with a lot of happiness," added Adams, pictured above, who is hoping City get back to where he took them 10 years ago.
"They have got the players to do so, and I think they have got the manager to do so," he said.
"The infrastructure, the stadium, the supporters, it's all there for them to be successful.
"I want Leicester City to get back where they should be, and that's in the Premier League."
Adams has enjoyed four promotions during his managerial career, with Fulham, in 1997, and Brighton in 2001, as well as those at City and Vale.
"I'm not sure there is a secret," he said.
"It's about having good players enjoying their football, being organised and having a bit of luck along the way.
"It doesn't always go right for you, you've got to battle your way through the bad times and enjoy the good times.
"They have all been special ones and none more so than the one at Leicester, when we were in administration.
"I thought that was a great achievement."
VIDEO: 'Gallons of water being wasted'
A restaurant owner is angry that gallons of water are going to waste outside his premises.
A leak was discovered a week ago when an electricity cable to the Jungle Paprika takeaway, in Evington Road, Leicester, exploded.
Engineers from Western Power repaired the damage quickly but said there was also a water mains leak that needed to be fixed.
Restaurateur Aslam Moti said: "I called Severn Trent and they sent two people over on Wednesday.
"They commented saying it was only a 20-minute job and left without coming back to repair it.
"They promised they would be back the next day to carry out the work but they did not arrive."
Mr Moti, 29, said he had rung the water company on a number of occasions to find out what was happening but nobody had returned to repair the leak.
He said: "They told me they needed permission to dig up the pipe.
"But they do not need to get permission as there is a hole there already.
"The Western Power engineers said they could not fill in the hole while there was still a leak.
"I cannot understand why they have not repaired the leak and restored the pavement outside my restaurant.
"Severn Trent is urging people to save water during this heatwave as there is pressure on our reservoirs, but it is allowing all this water to run to waste.
"I don't know when the leak first happened and yet the water is still pouring into the ground."
Mr Moti said he was also losing business because he could not put chairs outside for customers who visit him in the evening after breaking their daily Ramadan fast.
"If my customers cannot sit down they are going elsewhere," he said
A Severn Trent spokeswoman added: "We would like to apologise to our customer for any inconvenience the water leak in Evington Road may be causing.
"Following our visit, we have scheduled repair work and we are speaking with the council and other utilities companies to make sure we keep disruption to a minimum."
Houses struck by lightning as storms hit Leicestershire
Sex assault on bus in Leicester
VIDEO: Man in hospital with stab wounds
Jack Adcock inquest: Little boy died at hospital after mix-up
Leicestershire family who own London Hippodrome
A father and son from Leicestershire have turned one of London's most iconic buildings into a glamorous casino. They spoke to Business Editor Ian Griffin. Includes video. See bottom of page.
It is one of those stories which is likely to have been embellished over the years, but you cannot help forgive the showmanship. An ambitious businessman goes to see a show in one of the most famous venues in London and has such a good time, he vows one day he will buy it. The building in question is the Hippodrome in Leicester Square, right at the heart of the world-famous West End, and the businessman is Jimmy Thomas, who half a century later does indeed own it. The Leicester-born gambling entrepreneur and his son Simon – who went to Uppingham School – spent £45 million turning what had become a tired grade II listed building into an opulent casino after acquiring it in 2007. The venue reopened a year ago this month. I went to talk to them there. "I came here to see the Andrews Sisters in the 1960s," said Jimmy, 79. "It was a fabulous show, but I couldn't afford to eat here. "So I went across the road for a bacon sandwich. A friend asked what I thought about the show. I said it was all right, but I didn't like the building and I would buy it one day and do it up." The redevelopment project was an enormous undertaking mainly because of issues over planning consent, licensing and a determination to restore the 113-year-old building back to its former glory. "The first thing we did was to reduce the building down to its shell," said Jimmy. "We also took the cellar floor down by 6ft, which was a very big thing to do to a building in the centre of London." The family are best known in Leicestershire for running a string of amusement arcades such as the Showboat chain and bingo halls, including Beacon Bingo in Loughborough. They realised things were about to change radically thanks to the twin impact of new gambling laws and the smoking ban. They sold their Leicestershire business Thomas Holdings for a reported £80 million in 2006 – although Jimmy still has a house in Nanpantan. "We knew the Gambling Act would change things and the second thing was the smoking ban," explained Simon. "Bingo was particularly affected because you make most of your money in the intervals and people were outside smoking instead of buying food and drink at the bar." Looking around for another project, they realised the Hippodrome, which at that stage was a slightly grubby nightclub previously owned by strip club boss Peter Stringfellow, was a potential gold mine, particularly with the introduction of more liberal gambling rules which meant punters could now walk in off the street and into a casino. "The footpath outside is the busiest in Europe," said Jimmy. "Around 250,000 people walk past the building every day." Simon, 48, said: "The building is known about by 60 per cent of people in London. "It's one of the most iconic buildings in the West End. "It's almost as if the DNA of the West End goes through it. It's always been world class." However, gaining planning consent and a gambling licence took two years, partly because of historical anti-social issues relating to the venue and partly because of objections from rival casino owners. "We had to prove we were going to use it for something different," said Jimmy. "We had to prove there was the demand." "This is a game-changer for casinos," pointed out Simon. "Up until the 2005 Gambling Act you couldn't do anything. The act has changed the regulation. Most of the other casinos are stuck in basements because they couldn't put on entertainment." The 90,000 sq ft of floorspace – 25 per cent of which came from a decision to knock through into an adjacent building – certainly provides enough room for quality entertainment, with capacity for up to 2,000 people. The stage has also been restored so that the venue can put on shows, taking it back to its heyday of the first half of the 20th century, when Charlie Chaplin and Harry Houdini performed there and Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake made its UK debut. Since its reopening, the venue has already hosted a number of glamorous events, including the after-party for the premiere of The Expendables 2, where the guests included Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone and Jason, right. "We were projecting 2,000 admissions a day," said Simon. "Last week we got 29,800, which is over 4,000 a day on average. People have such a strong pre-conception of a casino based on the 1970s. "We want to provide the best food, the best gaming, the best entertainment and the most bars. It's about going back to the showmanship days."Live: Traffic and travel updates
Culture Secretary "immensely impressed" with Leicester's City of Culture bid
PICTURES: Storms light up the night skies in Leicestershire
The dramatic weather was caught on camera by readers including Nathan Skeemer who snapped a great shot of the lightning over Braunstone. Photographer Glen Tillyard took this photo (below) and several others at about midnight last Monday in Smeeton Westerby, Leicestershire. And @HamzahWaraich uploaded these lightning pictures via Twitter...
Lightning strike, take 1... @Leicester_Mercpic.twitter.com/QQsKlUFwcW
— Wolverine (@HamzahWaraich) July 23, 2013
RELATED ARTICLES: House hit by lightning Storms follow heatwaveLightning strike, take 2... @Leicester_Mercpic.twitter.com/iIzC1nB8yE
— Wolverine (@HamzahWaraich) July 23, 2013
Gushing water main leak fixed after a week
Roadworks on the rise in Leicester
Highways chiefs have explained why there are more than a dozen sets of roadworks taking place across Leicester over the next few weeks.
Work starting yesterday included a £2.7 million road safety project at the Fosse Park Asda roundabout, a lane closure at Southgates underpass, in the city, and overnight closures of a section of the A6 in Oadby.
These are in addition to the closure of the A426 Lutterworth Road, in Aylestone, for a bus lane project, which started last week.
Managers at Leicester City Council's highways department said one of the main reasons work was taking place now was that there is up to 30 per cent less traffic on the roads during the school holidays.
Nick Weston, operations manager, spoke out as drivers in the city faced 10 sets of roadworks, plus eight more due to start yesterday.
Mr Weston said: "We generally try to carry out roadworks on the major city routes during the school holidays because of the drop-off in traffic.
"There is such a drop-off the rush-hours are shortened.
"What this means is we cause less disruption by using these weeks to carry out roadworks.
"The daylight hours are longer, too, so that extends our working days.
"Moreover, the warmer weather allows to us get better finish results with the materials we use, as opposed to trying to use them in colder, freezing conditions at other times of the year."
The work at the Asda Fosse Park roundabout includes adding traffic lights to make the area safer.
Forty-two people have been injured in road accidents there in the past three years. Work will continue until early next year but will pause from late November to early January to avoid disrupting Christmas trade.
Councillor Peter Osborne, Leicestershire County Council transport spokesman, said: "These roadworks and road closure have been planned to take place when traffic volumes are traditionally lighter.
"The immediate diversion route for the A426 work is via Saffron Lane, Pork Pie roundabout and Glenhills Way, although we appreciate an amount of traffic will be using the Fosse Park roundabout as this is an alternative route for traffic travelling from further afield.
"We are doing all we can to keep any disruption on the Fosse Park roundabout to a minimum.
"For the first few weeks the contractor will be setting up and preliminary work will take place, with some construction beginning in the vicinity.
"However, we will endeavour to keep two lanes on every approach to the roundabout open during peak times."
Motorists have been suffering since last Saturday, when workers shut Lutterworth Road, through Aylestone, Leicester, to begin six weeks of work to install a bus lane on the busy commuter route.
Engineers are also demolishing a 12-metre section of wall near the Southgates underpass, in the city centre, which will require one eastbound lane to be shut for up to five days. Work began at 9.30am yesterday.
Jane McClaren, 41, of Clarendon Park, Leicester, said: "It seems you can't drive very far without hitting roadworks."
Charlie Pickering, 19, of Scraptoft, said: "I have just learned how to drive but am not getting very far in the roadworks. There seem to be many more in the holidays."