Cosby cyclist Grace Garner has been named in the Great Britain squad for the European junior track championships to be staged in Portugal later this month.

The 17-year-old RST racer has had a superb year so far on road and track with a string of victories after stepping up to British Cycling's Olympic Development Programme following two years with the Talent Team.

Despite being in her first year as a junior Garner, the Mercury's Young Sportswoman of 2013 has made the nine-strong squad and will feature in the endurance events in Anadia, where her older sister, Lucy, claimed two gold medals in 2012.

The squad will meet in Newport next week to continue their build up to the championships, which also feature events for under-23 riders.

Firefighters were called after the roof of a house caught fire today.

The fire service said that an occupant of the home called 999 at about 3.30pm after noticing the fire at the two-storey home in Sileby Road in Barrow upon Soar.

Crews from Loughborough, Birstall and Shepshed attended the blaze and four firefighters put on breathing tanks to enter the house and fight the flames.

The fire was mainly in the roof of the building, which measured about 10 metres by 10 metres.

The crews had the fire out by 5.30pm and are due to return to the property tomorrow to re-inspect the building.

No one was injured in the incident and the cause of the fire has not yet been established.

A company and its managing director have been cleared of responsibility for an accident at a motor racing event.

David Matthews, 56, was struck by debris thrown up by a car while watching a rally-cross event at Mallory Park four years ago.

He still has no use of his left eye and has undergone 15 operations since the incident, which happened when cars were travelling over a temporary, off-road gravel track.

At Leicester Magistrates' Court this week, Amy Doran, of Horseshoe Cottage, Dolton, Devonshire, and her company – Lydden Hill Racing Circuit Ltd – have been on trial accused of three breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

They were charged with failing to have a proper risk assessment, failing to ensure spectator safety and a third charge of jointly failing to ensure spectator safety with Mallory Park Motorsport Ltd, the owners of the track.

Mallory Park Motorsport Ltd had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing and the company is due to be sentenced later this summer.

District Judge John Temperley yesterday ruled that Miss Doran's company was not guilty because it had not been the organiser of the event, on August 10, 2010.

He said Lydden Hill Motorsport Club, of which Miss Doran is president, was the organiser of the event but that the club and company were, legally, different entities.

The judge said: "The issue is whether the activity that caused the risk was the responsibility of the company.

"The prosecution had to prove the company organised the event.

"There's certainly a close link between the club and the company, but insufficient evidence to satisfy me they are one and the same.

"The burden is on the prosecution to prove the company was responsible for organising the event at Mallory Park and it has failed to do so.

"I find the company and Miss Doran, as director of the company, not guilty on all the charges."

Originally, Lydden Hill Motorsport Club had been facing charges itself, but earlier this week the judge ruled that the club, because it was neither a person nor an employer, was not subject to the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Mr Matthews, of Stafford, said outside the court: "I went there with my family to have a nice day and didn't expect to end up in hospital in great pain.

"It's not for me to question the judge. It's a complex case.

"The main party in all this was the circuit – Mallory Park – and at least they have admitted there was a lack of concern for spectator safety."

The prosecution was brought by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.

Lawyers acting for Miss Doran, the club and the company said they intended to return to court to claim legal costs at a later date.

Ismay Mummery has pledged to try to get everyone in her street to sign up to the organ donor register in memory of her husband.

Jon, from Ashby, was 41 when he died on March 27, waiting for a transplant operation after a life-long battle with cystic fibrosis.

He and Ismay had been hoping he would be able to have a pair of new lungs to enable him to see their son Dylan, four, grow up.

Ismay, 37, said: "More than 8,000 people a year need an organ transplant, including about 70 with cystic fibrosis.

"One in three people with the condition on the transplant list dies waiting.

"I am planning to go knocking on doors to convince people to join the organ donor register.

"Even if I get only one person, it will be worth it."

Despite living with cystic fibrosis all his life, Jon won three Baftas for his work in developing the video games Perfect Dark, Kinect Sports and Brothers.

He had also won a reputation as a respected graffiti artist in Brighton.

Jon and a group of friends were known as DFM – Da Freeze Mob – and some of his work was used in publicity shots for the hit American show Breaking Bad.

Ismay said: "It was Jon's dying wish that his coffin be covered in graffiti, which his friends did.

"Jon never thought he would marry because of the cystic fibrosis, or have children.

"He was very close to Dylan."

Jon's health deteriorated in the 18 months before he died.

Ismay said: "It really began to get worse when he got flu last Easter and, by October, doctors put him on the transplant list.

"He must have been high up the list because he got a call within nine days, but he couldn't take it up because he had a severe infection.

"Jon was in and out of Glenfield Hospital all the time, although there were three months from December when he was at home.

"But then Dylan and I got a cold and I think his body was so low, Jon just couldn't take it."

He was admitted to Glenfield and died on March 27.

Ismay is also raising money for refurbishments on the cystic fibrosis wards at Glenfield Hospital.

She said: "Jon was cared for amazingly there. I stayed with him during the last week.

"The staff were just brilliant and I want to help them raise money for refurbishments on the ward.

"It began by asking people for donations rather than flowers for Jon's funeral and people have done all sorts of things since then to help."

Ismay has raised £7,500 so far.

She said: "Our situation highlighted the need to raise awareness about organ donation and I want to raise money because of the amazing care Jon received."

Maxine Walmsley, fund-raising events assistant at Leicester's hospitals, said: "We are hoping to raise more than £25,000 to buy more wardrobe and storage space, comfortable armchairs with back supports, lightweight drip stands and multimedia equipment."

To donate, go to:

www.justgiving.com/ in-memory-of-jon-mummery

Two consecutive rest days from Planet World Cup have left me bewildered and bereft. Almost every second-round game seemed to have held its own drama, from the devastation of the Chilean exit to hosts Brazil on penalties, to the Netherlands' late turnaround against Mexico, Algeria's spirited go at the Germans and the frantic late rally by the big-hearted USA side against Belgium.

But aside from the great football, we have also had a bit of spice with a worthy entry in the World Cup Hall of Shame.

Right up there with Scotland's Willie Johnston being sent home for failing a drug test, Maradona's Hand of God, Germany and Austria's contrived game in 1982, Bobby Moore being arrested, Frank Rijkaard spitting into Rudi Völler's perm and Zinedine Zidane's headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 final... is Luis Suárez gnawing at the shoulder of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini.

Although he vehemently denied what the whole world had seen in super slo-mo, he then undermined his own defence somewhat with an apology.

Although it was a weasely sort of affair: "...the truth is that my colleague Giorgio Chiellini suffered the physical result of a bite in the collision he suffered with me."

Was some sort of wicked third party involved here? Luis didn't actually bite him, but he was bitten. Due to physics. No wonder lawyers make so much money.

Although Fifa hit the Uruguayan with a fairly hefty suspension, just a week later Suárez seems to have come out ahead, engineering what looks like a £70million move to Barcelona.

For behaviour that would get a child sent home from playschool with a letter, Suárez will make more money than we could hope to earn in 10 lifetimes.

Let that be a lesson to you kids.

Possibly the two winners out of this accident were those who hid behind the maelstrom of news and social media following Bitegate.

First, England managed to get back into the country barely noticed.

And then, Cameroon left the tournament with the heavy stench of match-fixing allegations surrounding seven members of their squad.

Surely a far worse crime than biting an opponent and far more damaging to the game, but they hardly made a footnote in the news.

It was good to see Matty James, who had an excellent season for Leicester City, signing a four-year contract.

He made a huge contribution to City's title-winning season and, at only 22, he will hopefully have a big part to play in the club's future.

It looks as though we won't have to face Luis Suárez next season, but how are we going to get past record-breaking World Cup goalkeeper Tim Howard in our first game against Everton on August 16?

His 15 saves against Belgium set a new record (since people started making notes of these sort of things in 1966).

But he has yet to face Jamie Vardy in full flight...

The amount spent on running the lord mayor of Leicester's office has been halved over the past five years, according to latest figures.

The costs associated with the city's first citizen were £139,000 last year – down from £280,000 in 2009.

Leicester City Council has published the figures in response to a freedom of information request.

The post of lord mayor is a purely civic one and carries no authority, other than that which goes with overseeing full council meetings.

It has been suggested the position has been undermined since the city's Labour group decided the authority should be run by directly elected mayor from May 2011.

Alistair Jones, principal lecturer in politics at De Montfort University, said: "The scale of the cuts suggest either the office is a lot more efficient than it was or the role of the ceremonial head of the council has been sidelined. There are a lot of people who think it is the latter, as the council now has a directly-elected mayor who attends many of the events and the functions the lord mayor would have done previously."

Civic invites to the city council are now all passed to the office of elected mayor Sir Peter Soulsby first.

Mr Jones said: "People in Leicester still like to see the lord mayor at events as the position has a bit of razzmatazz.

"It increases public interest from people who want a bit of pomp and ceremony, rather than an elected politician.

"When an elected politician attends an event it can shift the focus from that event to the politician."

Sir Peter told the Mercury the spending cuts imposed on the lord mayor's office reflected the wider reduction in Government funding facing the entire authority.

"I am very careful to respect the office of lord mayor," he said.

"It is something I value highly. It's an important part of the tradition of the city.

"The costs have reduced but not in a way that undermines the office."

The appointment of the lord mayor is made by the council each year in May.

In 2009, when the post was held by Labour councillor Manjula Sood, followed by Liberal Democrat Roger Blackmore, £203,000 was spent on staffing the office and £20,000 on the council's two civic limousines.

The cost of travel overseas and in the UK was about £12,000 and nearly £24,000 was spent on food and hospitality for guests.

Last year, when councillors Abdul Osman and Mustafa Kemal were in the role, staff costs had fallen to just over £100,000. Just over £12,000 was spent on the council's single civic car and the hospitality budget had fallen to £4,523. Spending on travel fell to £245.

The lord mayor receives an allowance of £16,063, which can be used to purchase clothing for the lord mayor and his or her consort.

Lord mayor John Thomas said: "I am not supposed to be political when I am in the civic position but the facts are the Government cuts in funding have led to cuts in all departments and that is only right.

"Some lord mayors have been upset about the city mayor doing some of the stuff they thought they should, but there's no animosity between Peter and myself. We have attended some of the same events in a different capacity."

A man has been ordered to have his dog destroyed after he gave it to a friend in an attempt to save its life.

Neil Swepson (48), of Beaumont Walk, Leicester, appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court charged with "making a gift of a fighting dog" and was given an 18-week jail term, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to pay an £80 victim surcharge and banned from keeping dogs for 10 years. He must also pay £125 to have the pitbull terrier, named Spot, destroyed.

Liz Dodds, prosecuting, admitted it was an exceptional case, but said the law was clear about the ownership of animals prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

She said: "It's a rather unusual offence, but it is an offence to give away a dangerous dog."

Swepson had tattooed the animal and had had it castrated, micro-chipped and insured, as required by the Act.

However, when the opportunity arose for his three-year-old son to come back to live with him, Swepson was told by social services the animal must go and he gave it to a friend.

The only alternative was to have it destroyed.

But when the new owners decided they did not want the dog any more, they contacted the police and the officers traced Spot back to Swepson.

In mitigation, Swepson said: "I accept I gave the dog away, but it's because social services said if I wanted to get my little boy back I'd have to get rid of the dog.

"I'd have Spot back tomorrow, but my son comes first.

"I'm very sorry I gave him away and that it has come to this."

Passing sentence, magistrate Judith Wray said Swepson knew what he was doing when he handed over the pet to its new owner last October.

She said: "We are not accepting your mitigation and have come to the conclusion that this falls into the most serious category because you gave the dog away knowing it to be prohibited."

Spot has been in police kennels since it was discovered on April 1 he was living with another family. He will be put down after July 23, to give Swepson time to appeal. The police have already run up a bill of about £1,000 by keeping the dog at the undisclosed site.

Pc Hazel Fossey, who dealt with the case, was also at the hearing.

She said: "It's a unique case. We had to look at the Act to see exactly what it said about gifting a dangerous dog. But when you take responsibility for owning a dangerous dog, there are certain strict guidelines to follow and you have to understand you can't bend these rules.

"These dogs kill and those laws are there for a reason."

Under the 1991 Act, it is illegal to own any specially- controlled dogs without an exemption certificate.

It relates to four breeds – pitbulls, Japanese tosas, dogo argentinos and fila brasileiros.

The dogs must be muzzled and kept on a lead in public. They must also be registered, insured, neutered, tattooed and microchipped.

The Act also bans the breeding, sale and exchange of these dogs.

Organisers of Leicester's Race For Life need another 122 women to take part in the event at Victoria Park on Sunday.

The last-minute appeal comes as the numbers signed up to take part in the pinkest race of the year and support Cancer Research UK have fallen short.

So far more than 4,680 women have pledged to take part in either the 5km or 10km events.

Last year, the event attracted more than 5,000 entries who raised more than £335,000.

The money funds doctors, nurses and scientists who are working to combat cancer.

Sarah Southall, Race for Life's midlands marketing manager, said: "We need another 122 ladies to sign up, so that we can continue to support the work of Cancer Research UK here in the county, and also across the country.

"We are in the thick of Cancer Research UK's Race for Life series and are still doing everything we can do to recruit more ladies to take part and raise sponsorship so that we can bring forward the day when all cancers are cured."

She said the number required to take part in Victoria Park on Sunday was calculated on how much each participant was likely to raise to hit the £335,000 target.

She said people can sign still up to complete either a 5km or 10km circuit, which snake around the city.

Katie Martin, Cancer Research UK's Leicester events manager, said: "Race for Life is non-competitive. It's not about being fit or fast.

"Most women are able to walk 5km in an hour while chatting and having fun."

She stressed the event was not just for super-fit runners

In fact, walking, chatting and having a laugh are encouraged, according to the organisers. Cancer Research UK is funding more than 10 research studies into cancer at the University of Leicester and at Leicester's hospitals.

A donation of £10 covers the cost of 300 glass slides for studying cells and tumour samples.

A donation of £123 pays for one cancer information nurse for a day to help patients and families affected by cancer and £677 covers the cost of one person on a clinical trial testing chemotherapy before and after surgery.

The 5km race starts at 10.30am and the 10km circuit begins at 2pm.

Entry is £14.99 for ages 16-plus and £10 for everyone else.

Children under six can go free and no registration is needed.

Race for Life will also take place in Loughborough on Sunday, July 27, beginning at Market Place.

To enter Race for Life, call 0845 600 6050 or go to:

www.raceforlife.org

Fraizer Campbell could be the perfect fit for Leicester City, according to club legend Steve Walsh.

The former centre-half believes City are a couple of players away from having a squad that could really make an impact in the Premier League.

The former City skipper believes a move to Leicester from Cardiff would bring out the best in Campbell.

City have triggered a release clause in the 26-year-old's contract with relegated Cardiff and have held talks with the striker, and Walsh said it was a good move by City.

City have also rekindled an interest in Brighton's Leonardo Ulloa, having had three bids rejected so far for the Argentine.

"Campbell would flourish at City under Nigel (Pearson)," said Walsh, whose autobiography '50 Shades of Blue' is released in November.

"He is big, strong and has plenty of pace, and he works so hard, which is what City are all about. I wouldn't rule him out coming in. That would be a good move.

"I think City do need a striker and these two lads the club have been looking at, Campbell and Ulloa, are quality.

"A big lad who can score goals would be an ideal scenario to play alongside Jamie Vardy and David Nugent."

City have been linked with a host of other strikers, including Benfica frontman Oscar Cardoza and Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner, although those reports appear wide of the mark.

Walsh does not think Pearson will look to make a 'big-name' signing.

"I don't think he will upset the apple cart because they have the nucleus of a squad that can deal with the Premier League.

"I expect to see a couple of signings before the start of the season because there is no doubt he will have to add to the squad."

Walsh is hosting a special celebratory dinner on November 8 to launch the release of his new autobiography. For details or to book a table at the dinner, which will feature a host of celebrity guests, email:

info@kkongevents.co.uk

Katie Boulter admitted she was outclassed after her Wimbledon dream ended yesterday at the hands of one of American tennis' rising stars.

The 17-year-old from Woodhouse Eaves lost 6-1, 6-2 to No.3 seed Tornado Alicia Black in their third-round clash of the junior singles.

Black and her sister Hurricane are roaring through the US tennis scene, leading to the inevitable tag of being labelled the new Williams sisters.

They even claim their parents gave them such unusual names because they wanted them to be tennis stars.

But Boulter could not cope with the storm yesterday, making 37 unforced errors compared to her rival's eight.

Despite not dropping a set in her previous two rounds, the British junior No.1 struggled with her serve – Black ruthlessly converting five of six break point opportunities.

She completed the victory in just over an hour on Court 17.

"I just gave her too many opportunities and you can't do that against a player who is as good as her," said Boulter.

"She made the US Open final last year and I didn't really make her work hard enough.

"At this level you'll be punished for every single mistake and I made it too easy for her.

"I'm disappointed because I really felt I could go a long way into the tournament. It's my best Wimbledon yet but I was hopeful of going to a bit further and I'm disappointed."

Boulter has enjoyed a solid season to date, reaching three grade 1 ITF event finals.

Making the third round equals her best-ever performance at a junior Grand Slam event – after also reaching the last 16 at this year's Australian Open and last year's US Open in New York.

However, there was better news for Boulter and Serbian partner Ivana Jorovic in the second round of the girl's doubles.

The No.4 seeds, who reached the final of the Australian Open earlier this year, were confident 6-3, 6-1 winners over Helen Ploskina and Julia Terziyska in just 58 minutes.

They will now take on either Usue Maitane Arconada and Fanny Stollar or Viktoria Kuzmova and Kristina Schmiedlova in the quarter-finals.

As the Official Banking Partner of The Championships, HSBC is helping fans get closer to Wimbledon by giving them the chance to win a coaching clinic with Tim Henman. For further information, visit www.wimbledon.com/hsbc

Our boys were back at Belvoir Drive this week to have their fitness assessed. Seeing them all back together was a great reminder of what's to come, all having their every moved assessed and recorded to check if they had been good over the holidays.

Seeing David Nugent back in with the lads with a huge smile on his face was a joy to behold. I've read all the rumours about his contract negotiations, but looking back at last season he was a linchpin in the spine of our side, and it would be such a shame to see him playing elsewhere.

There is still no sign of our new kits. But I did notice Derby have released their newest creation, and if appears they are now sponsored by a website called Just Eat!

Muzzy Izzet and Neil Lennon, or Matty James and Danny Drinkwater? Now that James has followed Drinky's lead and signed on with us for another four years, you can't help but wonder if our superb current central pairing will go on to make this a topic of debate around the hostelries of Leicestershire come this time next summer.

Manchester United have let some cracking players go over recent seasons, and while Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison get the high-profile discussion, our two former Red Devils are quietly going about their business in a superb manner.

I think the Premier League is in for a surprise come August.

This time of year can send us City fans off daydreaming about all sorts of ifs, whats, whys, hows and maybes.

I was enjoying a quiet pint recently, and got into a chat with a fellow City supporter on the topic of who we might finish above at the end of next season.

Laying my cards straight out on the table, I'd give us a very good chance of keeping the likes of a struggling Southampton, Burnley, West Brom and the fading Swansea all beneath us.

When you look at the sides we are likely to be competing with, there is nothing to be afraid of at all. In fact, their lack of understanding of the level we can produce (from a relatively unknown squad) might well catch some of these big boys napping during the early exchanges.

My mate in the pub thought we'd struggle to find a way to finish fourth-from-bottom or better, but I have a hunch the Premier League might just suit our lads nicely.

What a cracking effort from the City faithful to sell out all of the available season tickets for the coming season. And with every single one now snapped up, the questions will turn to how the club is going about selling the few thousand left that will be on sale on a week by week basis.

I'd assume the club will be introducing a new membership scheme, that will give fans looking to buy tickets game by game a priority system to get their hands on the hottest tickets in town.

With the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United all arriving at the King Power Stadium before the leaves are off the trees, I'd get yourself sorted out as soon as possible, there won't be a spare seat in the house.

Simon Mack is the chief writer for www.100lcfc.com