A stolen car involved in a police pursuit damaged the wall of a house in Melton after the driver fled the scene early this morning. 

The Audi A4, which was stolen from Eastfield Avenue in the town on Tuesday, crashed into the wall of a house in Granville Road. 

The car had been picked up on a police Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera in Nottingham Road in the town at 12.17am.

A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: "The vehicle failed to stop when requested by officers and a short, authorised pursuit commenced. 

"The vehicle stopped in Granville Road when the occupant made off on foot. After the driver made off the vehicle rolled into a residential property, damaging a wall.

"No-one was injured in the incident and enquiries to locate the driver are continuing."

Leicester Tigers will begin their 2014-15 Aviva Premiership campaign with a home game against Newcastle Falcons.

The game will take place on Saturday, September 6 and will not be shown on television.

The fixture means Tigers will welcome back former coaching duo of Dean Richards and John Wells.

There is also the mouth-watering prospect of Newcastle's new signing Alesana Tuilagi going up against his brother, Manu, in a clash that could threaten the ground's foundations.

Tigers then go to Exeter Chiefs to face former back-rower Thomas Waldrom, and they continue on their travels with a trip to face George Ford and his Bath team that narrowly missed out on the top four last year.

Tigers return to Welford Road to finish off the month by welcoming London Irish.

The two games that every Tigers fan will be looking out for against local rivals Northampton Saints take place just before Christmas and then again on the final day of the regular season.

Richard Cockerill's side return to the scene of their semi-final defeat on December 20 before Saints make the trip up the A6 for round 22 on May 16 next year.

Tigers travel to newly-promoted London Welsh on November 22 during the autumn internationals and make their way north to Sale for the Christmas fixture on December 27.

Bath are the visitors to Welford Road for the New Year holiday fixture on January 3.

Tigers also host Saracens during the autumn internationals and then travel to Allianz Park in April.

In a change to the season structure, the new European competition, the Champions Cup, will hold its final earlier than usual with a date of Saturday, May 2.

The six pool-stage games take place at the same stage of the season as usual with two in October, two in December and two in January.

Tigers have been drawn against Llanelli Scarlets, Ulster and champions Toulon. The details of those pool games will be announced in a fortnight.

Tigers' LV= Cup campaign will also be announced soon.

Fixtures 2014-15

September

Sat 6, Newcastle (AP) H

Sat 13, Exeter (AP) A

Sat 20, Bath (AP) A

Sat 27, London Irish (AP) H

October

Sat 4, Gloucester (AP) A

Sat 11, Harlequins (AP) H

Sat 18, European Rugby 1

Sat 25, European Rugby 2

November

Sat 1, Anglo-Welsh

Sat 8, Anglo-Welsh

Sat 15, Saracens (AP) H

Sat 22, London Welsh (AP) A

Sat 29, Wasps (AP) H

December

Sat 6, European

Sat 13, European

Sat 20, Northampton (AP) A

Sat 27, Sale (AP) A

January

Sat 3, Bath (AP) H

Sat 10, Harlequins (AP) A

Sat 17, European

Sat 24, European

Sat 31, Anglo-Welsh

February

Sat 7, Anglo-Welsh

Sat 14, Gloucester (AP) H

Sat 21, London Irish (AP) A

Sat 28, Sale (AP) H

March

Sat 7, Newcastle (AP) A

Sat 14, Anglo-Welsh Semi-final

Sat 21, Anglo-Welsh Final

Sat 28, Exeter (AP) H

April

Sat 4, European Quarter-final

Sat 11, Saracens (AP) A

Sat 18, European Semi-final

Sat 25, London Welsh (AP) H

May

Sat 2, European Final

Sat 9, Wasps (AP) A

Sat 16, Northampton (AP) H

Sat 23, AP Semi-final

Sat 30, AP Final

Two men have been arrested in connection with a spate of burglaries in Melton. Police in the town are investigating 13 burglaries on the north side of the town over a 14-day period. Jewellery, phones, lap-tops, sat navs and two cars were stolen. A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said a 35-year-old man has been arrested in connection with some of the burglaries and remains in custody. A 25-year-old man has been charged with one offence, in Scalford Road, between June 26 and 29 and was due to appear before magistrates today.

A documentary showing what students really get up to after leaving home sparked a huge reaction from viewers watching across the country.

The The Secret Life of Students was one of the most talked about topics on Twitter when it aired for the first time last night.

The four-part Channel 4 series follows 12 University of Leicester freshers during the first few months of student life.

The first episode painted a picture of one-night stands, STI checks, binge-drinking and homesickness.

Following the show, viewers took to social networks to voice their opinions.

While some were horrified by the students' antics, many thought the programme gave an accurate portrayal of university life.

Twitter user Alex Irvine posted: "So glad I decided not to go Leicester in the end so I avoided The Secret Life of Students. No Regrets."

Fellow user Kate said: "Such accurate representations of the majority of Leicester students... ha ha, not."

Aidan Rylatt said: "Cheers to the Secret Life of Students for making Leicester Uni look like the home of complete and utter morons."

On the other hand, Holly Thompson said: "Leicester fresher's pub crawl looks amazing on The Secret Life of Students, so glad it's one of my university options."

Mel Smiley said: "Secret Life of Students is making me want to do this year again, well sad it's over."

Another poster, Becca, said: "The Secret Life of Students is great - getting excited to be a University of Leicester fresher in a few months."

University of Leicester registrar and secretary Dave Hall has defended the programme. "There were obviously moments that might make you wince," he said. "However, it was reassuring to see that after the students behaved 'badly,' they were self-reflective on the situation and made the choice to act responsibly."

With the students' phones completely monitored at all times, their texts, phone calls, Facebook statuses and tweets were exposed to viewers.

"I've seen worse," said Mr Hall. "The students are maturing as young people."

During last night's episode, viewers saw one of the students, Aiden, getting involed in the Neknomination drinking craze which hit the headlines earlier this year.

He was seen guzzling down a concoction of beer, vodka, and menopause tablets before biting the head off a raw fish.

Later in the episode, following a number of one-night-stands, Aiden, 18, decided to visit the health clinic.

After discovering he had chlamydia, the teenager broke the news to Josie, 19, one of the girls he had slept with.

Mr Hall said that while he did not necessarily condone all of the behaviour, the students were all adults and had not done anything wrong.

"I'm not going to defend everything the students did," he said. "But they're adults, they are free to make decisions and they didn't do anything illegal.

"I don't think it has damaged the reputation of the university at all and we don't regret agreeing to do it.

"There will be some people who don't like what they see but I think there will be plenty of respect for the university for letting the cameras in."

Alongside Aiden and Josie's antics, the viewers watched as their fellow student, Lauren, 18, struggled with university life.

The shy teenager Lauren went from posting endless emotional tweets to running for first year student officer of the Law Society.

In next week's episode, viewers will see three different students, Jack, Gemma and Helen, coping with love and long-distance relationships.

Mr Hall said he would encourage viewers to watch all four episodes before making up their minds about the show and the university.

"I would urge people to watch the rest of the series," he said.

Did you watch The Secret Life of Students?

Let us know what you thought by tweeting us: @Leicester_Merc

So glad I decided not to go Leicester in the end so I avoided The Secret Life of Students #noregrets

— Alex Irvine (@irvinium) July 3, 2014

Such accurate representations of the majority of Leicester students...haha not. #SecretLifeOfStudents

— Kate (@KateWithNoI) July 3, 2014

Cheers to the Secret Life of Students for making Leicester Uni look like the home of complete and utter morons

— Aidan Rylatt (@aidanrylatt) July 3, 2014

Watching the secret life of students is making me so keen to start at Leicester uni!

— Andy Moth (@andy_moth) July 3, 2014

Leicester freshers pub crawl looks amazing on the secret life of students @Channel4 so glad it's one of my uni options ��

— Holly Thompson (@hol_thompson) July 3, 2014

About 400 workers at a high street chain's national warehouse have gone on strike today over changes to terms and conditions. Staff at the Argos National Distribution Centre in Magna Park, Lutterworth, began a 24-hour walk-out at 6am. Union leaders claim the action will cause "substantial disruption" to Argos customers. Workers are angry about proposed changes to contracts, which will mean all staff have to work Saturdays. They are also unhappy about plans by managers to monitor the time it takes employees to carry out tasks. The strike action involved members of the Unite union, with another 600 workers walking out at Argos distribution sites in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. Matt Draper, Unite national officer for road transport and logistics, said: "The crux to the dispute is Argos' determination to push through a new 24/7 shift pattern, without offering our members a decent compensation package to offset the severe disruption to their personal and family lives at weekends. "In many cases, it is going to cause havoc with childcare arrangements and mean spouses and partners will see much less of each other. The company's plans will seriously undermine the 'work/life' balance. "Some of our members already work weekends, but that was agreed with Unite. The new proposals impact much more on family life. The management has offered a one-off payment of £2,400, which, quite frankly, is woefully inadequate, given the massive changes in shift patterns that are being proposed for the years ahead. "The proposals also include a new measuring system for their work which, we believe, could be used as a tool to dismiss workers. "We urge the employer to return to the negotiating table and relax the new strict criteria." "We predict that Friday's strike will cause substantial disruption to the deliveries to customers." The distribution centre employs 1,000 people and dispatches almost 30 million items every year. An Argos spokeswoman said: "We have proposed changes to our distribution employees' terms and conditions. "Ninety-eight per cent of our distribution colleagues have already accepted the changes to their contract, and we are working hard to understand and address any outstanding queries or issues. "When we were notified of the strike, we activated contingency plans to ensure a normal service for our customers."

Full of fresh young talent Honk! brings the much-loved tale of The Ugly Duckling to Leicester Curve's stage.

With each of the characters being farmyard animals, the cast cleverly show the journey of an outcast odd-looking duckling called Ugly and his quest to find his mother.

While it has an underlying serious story line, the musical, which is performed by The Curve Young Company, gets the audience laughing throughout.

Meanwhile, the character of Ugly played by Keir Barradell - although a little annoying - managed to tug on our heart strings as we watched him being shunned by his family and friends.

When Ugly gets lost, we descend on a journey with him, as he attempts to make his way back home to his mother.

His mother, Ida, who was played by Lola McKinnon, deserves to be mentioned for her believable acting as a heartbroken parent, desperately searching for her lost child.

Like in all performances, we meet an array of characters, including the villain, which in this case is a devilish Tomcat, with a hungry appetite for ducklings.

The whole cast deserve a huge pat on the back for their animal acting, which initially could seem a bit of a challenge.

An extra special mention to Albert Hart, the youngster who plays the rooster - he had everyone 'aaawwwhing' and giggling with his adorable acting.

It is a fun and entertaining performance and a great watch for the whole family.

The show will be running until Saturday, July 5. For tickets or more information visit: www.curveonline.co.uk

A road has been closed after a one-vehicle crash. 

The A6 Leicester Road, in Loughborough, is closed between Shelthorpe Road and Beeches Road after a car crashed into a tree. 

Drivers have been warned of delays and the road is expected to re-open within an hour and diversions are via Epinal Way.

The air ambulance was called to the scene of the crash. 

Hinckley & Bosworth were crowned county champions when more than 1,000 youngsters took part in the Leicester-Shire & Rutland School Games Summer Championships.

Uppingham School Sports Centre in Rutland played host to the school sport finale and welcomed talented primary school children from 90 schools around the county, who represented one of 10 Leicestershire regions in 16 events across 10 different sports.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms failed to dampen the spirits of the five to 11 year-olds, who competed for four hours in search of a gold medal and an accompanying victory torch.

North Charnwood headed into the Championships topping the scoring charts, but Hinckley & Bosworth claimed two gold, three silver and two bronze medals to take the overall title with 369 points, ahead of North Charnwood on 356.

Blaby & Harborough, last year's winners, finished third on 353.

Part of National School Sport Week, the event was officially opened by Paralympic sprinter Sam Ruddock and Team GB cyclist Grace Garner, and kicked off with an opening ceremony compered by Gaynor Nash, the county's Olympic legacy officer.

Nash spoke about the Games' values of determination, honesty, passion, respect, self-belief and team-work, and the team that embodied these best in each event was awarded with a Spirit of the Games accolade. Rutland won six on the day to finish with the most, 10, one more than South Charnwood.

Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport development manager Geoff Maltby praised the display of sporting talent by the county's schoolchildren.

He said: "This year's School Games Summer Championships saw a record number of schools and young people competing, and it was as good as ever. Despite the Great British weather threatening to dampen this year's event, it was another huge success, seeing our most talented young athletes compete against their peers to become county champions."

For more information on the School Games, visit:

www.lrsport.org/schoolgames

Professional football referee Kevin Friend visited youngsters at a city school last week to talk to them about playing fair.

Kevin, who comes from Leicester, dropped into Hope Hamilton Primary, in Hamilton, to give a presentation about the Football Association's "Respect" campaign.

His visit coincided with the first day of the World Cup and he also refereed a friendly match between Hope Hamilton and Abbey Primary, in Belgrave.

A spokesman for the school said: "The whole school was brimming with excitement for the visit and the prospect of someone they look up to coming in and spending time with them.

"The football match itself was watched by all of the school's sports clubs, as well as other children and parents.

"It generated a real buzz around the school, especially with the World Cup kicking off.

"Kevin's visit formed part of a continued momentum in the school where we've actively been promoting sport among the children.

"We recently ran a girls festival, which had seven different sports taking place solely by female members of staff. More than 70 girls took part."

Hinckley-based rider David Johnson narrowly missed out on a podium finish at the Isle of Man TT.

The Australian finished fourth in the Superstock TT on the prestigious Mountain Course circuit, 17 seconds behind third-placed New Zealander Bruce Anstey.

Johnson, on board a Kawasaki ZX10 for Lloyd & Jones PR, also raced the Senior TT Superbike, finishing 10th.

He said: "We worked hard getting all of my bikes set up for me, so I was confident enough to ride the bikes as hard as I could. The Superstock TT was the highlight.

"I found the Superbike hard to ride fast, so I struggled to get up there with the front of the pack. But, I'm still mega happy to be in the top 10."

Mallory Park hosts the fourth round of the EMRA Club Motorcycle Championships tomorrow.

Allied Racing biker Leon Jeacock leads the way in both the Buildbase Superbike and the Bitubo UK/Hawk Racing Superstock 1000cc championships, while team-mate Dan Stamper is on top in the Revolution 600cc standings.

Jeacock holds a 15-point lead over Lee Jackson in the Buildbase Championship, after finishing a close second to him in both races in the third round last month.

Former champion Mark Littler and Mark Smith shared third and fourth respectively last time out and hold fourth and fifth places overall ahead of Stamper.

Jeacock is well clear of rival Sean Everett in the Superstock 1000 series, while Stamper has won all of his six races in the 600 Superstock championship.

Meanwhile, the Real Motorsport Allcomers series brings together Mark Littler, on the Laser BMW, with Matt Smith, on his ZX10, the two having shared the victories at the May meeting.

Last year's Superstock 600 champion, John Lea, has moved up to the Supersport class this year, and a double victory in round three has lifted him to within six points of championship leader Jason Brown.

Brown will not only be defending his lead against Lea but also current third-placed rider Richard Wardle.

GP125 champion of 2013 Mark Tyrrell returned to his usual place at the head of the field in May after ending a run of fourteen consecutive wins at Cadwell in April.

Practice starts at 9.30am, with the first race scheduled for 11.15am.

Leicester Lions welcome back Mads Korneliussen, Jason Doyle and Nicolai Klindt for their Elite League fixture against Belle Vue Aces at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium tonight.

All three missed the home defeat to Swindon last time out, which coincided with a qualifying round of the Grand Prix competition in Poland.

It will be the first occasion since Leicester faced Lakeside Hammers on April 12 that the club has not had to rely on guest riders for a home fixture, while Klindt makes his home debut after signing for the Rapid Solicitors Lions last month.

Although Lions promoter David Hemsley was looking forward to a settled period following a spate of injuries, it has been an uncertain few days after Wednesday's match at Birmingham was cancelled.

The West Midlands club were due to race in tonight's return fixture at Leicester, but Hemsley made sure of a contingency plan should the Brummies, as it turned out, be unable to fulfil their commitment.

"Having read reports that Birmingham were struggling this season to make ends meet, we were not surprised to receive confirmation that our fixture at Perry Barr on Wednesday had been cancelled and that did cast a large doubt over the return fixture at our stadium," said Hemsley.

"We had to have some sort of contingency plan should the worse come to the worse, while we awaited official news from the British Speedway Promoters Association as to the situation.

"Knowing that Belle Vue wanted to re-arrange the fixture scheduled for August 14 at Leicester, we began a dialogue with them and the outcome was an agreement for the Aces to replace Birmingham tonight."

Although Leicester are back to full strength, the switch of dates has left Belle Vue without Matej Zagar, who is committed to riding for Slovenia in a qualifying round of the World Team Cup.

In his place, the Aces have recruited Coventry's Chris Harris as a replacement. The Grand Prix rider has already ridden twice at Leicester, and both times he finished on the winning side.

At reserve, the visitors have been forced into two further changes as Stefan Nielsen is unfit following a crash three weeks ago, and Lee Payne is required by his National League club, Stoke Potters.

In their place, Belle Vue have included two of the Lion Cubs team members, Dan Greenwood and Tom Perry, who lost his place in the senior side last month but has continued to captain the juniors.

When the clubs last met at Leicester in May, the Lions came out on top 50-43.

Belle Vue currently sit eighth in the Elite League and, while their home form is impressive, having won five matches by the maximum three points, the Aces have yet to win away from home.

Leicester: 1 Jason Doyle, 2 Simon Stead, 3 Mads Korneliussen, 4 Nicolai Klindt, 5 Krzysztof Buczkowski, 6 Josh Bates, 7 Max Clegg

Belle Vue: 1 Chris Harris, 2 Richie Worrall, 3 Scott Nicholls, 4 Michael Palm Toft, 5 Craig Cook, 6 Dan Greenwood, 7 Tom Perry.

More than 1,700 people have signed a petition opposing County Hall's plans to get volunteers to run village libraries.

Campaigners in Rothley and Mountsorrel are fighting Leicestershire County Council's cost-cutting proposals.

The council is seeking to offload 36 libraries to parish councils or community groups and has warned they could close if nobody comes forward to take them on.

Thousands of people have signed petitions against the idea.

The petition collected in Rothley and Mountsorrel was handed in to county council officials at a meeting at Mountsorrel library this week, ahead of the end of the consultation process, on Monday.

Labour Charnwood borough councillor and Rothley resident Sarah Maynard-Smith, who is leading the campaign, said: "People are very angry about this.

"There is very little appetite in the villages for volunteers or the parish council to take the libraries on.

"It would be too much of a commitment both in terms of finance and time.

"The county council is trying to get out of its responsibility to run libraries by saying it offered to let villagers run them. They know that is not what people want.

"They are absolving themselves of responsibility for this and will blame residents for not stepping forward."

The county council's cabinet member for libraries, Councillor Richard Blunt, said: "We are still very keen to hear from people before Monday's deadline on what they think about our proposals for the future of their libraries.

"I know people value their libraries and want them to continue as community hubs.

"A number of groups are already looking into how they could manage libraries and we are keen to work with them."

The council said it wanted to save £800,000 a year from its £5.6 million libraries budget.

It is proposing to reduce opening hours at the 16 most-used libraries.

In total, 2,000 people have responded to the consultation, with 1,400 people attending a series of public meetings at the affected libraries.

The consultation results will be considered by the cabinet in September.

To take part in the consultation, visit:

www.leics.gov.uk/haveyoursay/ futurelibraries

A village school celebrated the arrival of superfast broadband by wishing children in the United States a happy Independence Day.

All homes in Cossington, to the north of Leicester, are now on the fibre optic cable network, thanks to investment by Leicestershire County Council and BT Openreach.

Yesterday, year five pupils at Cossington Primary had a Skype conversation with the Madel-Toner family in Carolina Beach, North Carolina to test out the new cables.

As well as learning about Independence Day, which is celebrated on July 4 each year, they found out about school life for the American youngsters, the perils of the ocean and the hurricane that struck the east coast of the USA on Thursday.

The conversation started with the English youngsters shouting "Happy Independence Day" before the US children turned down a challenge to sing the American national anthem.

Nine-year-old Theo then told the children in Cossington about the recent hurricane.

He said: "Well it was very, very windy and very, very, very rainy. It was really hard rain but it was only a category one hurricane and it can go up to five so it's the least strong kind.

"We had to stay in the house, though."

The American youngsters said they were following the World Cup and showed off their sticker album before talking about the pelicans, turtles, sharks, crabs and jellyfish in the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

The children in Cossington also asked their American counterparts about their school holidays, the American flag and the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

As well as having a transatlantic Skype conversation, the youngsters at the school had a talk from Andrew Cook, of BT Openreach, who told them about what the company had been doing, laying fibre optic cables alongside the existing copper wires to give everyone in the village between 15 and 80 megabits per second download speeds, whichever network they rent their phone lines from.

The new lines are part of the £18.6 million Superfast Leicestershire project, led by the county council.

Heather Sewell, Cossington Primary School headteacher, said: "The children have been really excited about talking to the children in America.

"They're all pretty competent with computers and ICT. It's the way of the future and the more they know about this the better."

Other celebrations in Cossington yesterday included a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new cable junction cabinet in Main Street and an information event for residents and businesses at the Royal Oak pub, in the village.

www.superfast leicestershire.org.uk

A teenager, who kept a stash of weapons in his home but denied he was planning a repeat of the Columbine school massacre, has been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Michael Piggin, 18, of Beaumont Road, Loughborough, admitted possessing petrol bombs and component parts of pipe bombs for use as explosive devices.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing the component parts for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Police discovered a hoard of petrol bombs and air rifles, when they were called to investigate an alleged public order offence from six days earlier, at his home in February last year.

Piggin, who has Asperger's syndrome, denied he was going to attack his old school in a re-run of the Columbine massacre.

In sentencing at the Old Bailey, Recorder of London Brian Barker QC told Piggin he should be held "under the Mental Health Act, which will provide you with appropriate treatment for as long as is deemed necessary".

The judge said: "Cases of this type are fortunately rare but of great concern to the public and normally would attract long sentences.

"Given your personal condition, this is not a case of a determinate sentence.

"It is clear from reports you need treatment."

The judge said the potential danger to the public was "uppermost" in his mind.

The Columbine High School massacre of 1999 was one of America's worst mass shootings. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and a teacher at the school, in Colorado, before both committing suicide.

Officers who unearthed a cache of weapons when they searched Piggin's bedroom also found material to do with military matters and the Third Reich.

The judge told Piggin: "Numerous entries in your notebook and on Facebook, plus internet searches, all indicate a fascination with guns and the perpetrators of the Columbine massacre."

He also noted talks with people who knew him had painted "a picture of friction, difficulties, intransigent views and outright racism".

Piggin had pleaded not guilty to two charges under the Terrorism Act.

He denied possessing items for the purpose, preparation and instigation of an act of terrorism and possessing a document or record containing information likely to be useful for a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

He has faced two trials but both juries were discharged after failing to reach a verdict on the terror charges. The judge directed not guilty verdicts on terror charges.

A third monitoring inspection at a school has found it is making "reasonable progress" towards the removal of special measures.

Longslade Community College, in Birstall, was placed in the failing category by Ofsted in June 2013 – despite 60 per cent of pupils gaining five or more GCSEs at grades A to C, including English and maths, last summer, up 21 per cent on the previous year.

Acting head Jason Smith said: "It's very positive news and I'm pleased with the report. It shows the progress that's been made including the quality of teaching and reflects the commitment and dedication that's taking place.

"It was particularly pleasing to see students here felt safe and plans are in place for further improvements.

"I'm incredibly proud of the talent and commitment of staff and students to improve standards."

Inspectors visited the college last month and their report has just been published by the education watchdog. It said that students' achievements, including the sixth form, were improving and students in year 11 were on track to attain better exam results than the previous year.

They said that as a result of raised aspirations more GCSE students were also on track to achieve A* and A grades in particular subjects.

In addition, they said more good teaching was emerging because senior leaders were making careful checks and ensuring that effective training was provided to remove weaknesses.

Inspectors praised the leadership team for its "determination to improve teaching and to raise standards". The report also said leaders' expectation that students should achieve higher and in line with their capabilities, was seen as "non-negotiable".

Tony Stott, chair of governors at the school, said: "I'm very happy with the outcome of the report. It shows how much progress the school has made and we continue to build on this. There is still work to be done but we're moving in the right direction and would hope that in the next academic year to be lifted into a better Ofsted category.

"We are far from complacent and are hoping that GCSE results this year are on a par with last year's cohort."

Longslade, which takes pupils aged 14 to 18, is hoping to become part of a multi-academy trust led by Beauchamp College, in Oadby.

The move could pave the way for all-through education – with children staying at the same school from the age of 11 to 18 – in Birstall, as long-term plans include merging Longslade and Stonehill High.

Stonehill High, which takes pupils aged 11 to 14, shares the same site as Longslade.

A teenager fighting for his life after being stabbed while on holiday in Turkey is being monitored round the clock by medics.

Declan McNulty, 18, suffered liver damage in the attack and is being treated in intensive care.

The stabbing is said to have followed a row between two groups of British tourists in a bar in the resort of Marmaris.

The teenager was the second British tourist to be stabbed at the resort in the past two weeks.

Declan, a former construction student at Leicester College's Freemen's Park campus, was taken to the private Ahu hospital, where doctors, battled for 10 hours to save him.

Two doctors and two nurses are monitoring Declan round the clock while he remains in a critical condition.

Dr Ozgur Basaran, who operated on Declan in the early hours of Monday, has been talking about his treatment.

He said: "Declan arrived at the hospital shortly before 4am on Monday.

"We had to operate immediately as he had sustained severe knife injuries to his liver, pancreas and stomach."

He confirmed that Declan had come through the surgery but said: "Doctors and nurses are monitoring him for the next 72 hours as he remains in a critical condition."

After the stabbing, Declan and his friend, Brett, stumbled towards the seafront, where locals called emergency services.

His parents, David and Helen, of Chevin Avenue, Braunstone Frith, are holding a vigil at the hospital.

Dr Basaran also operated on another British tourist, Scot Callum Copson, 19, after a stabbing incident two weeks earlier.

The two teens are now recovering at the same hospital.

A teenager has been arrested in connection with the knife attack on Declan.

Josh Stevenson (19) appeared before a judge on Monday and was remanded in custody, charged with wounding with intent.

Callum's alleged attacker, a 14-year-old local boy, was remanded in custody by a judge, pending psychiatric reports.

Leicester Tigers will welcome three popular former players when they begin their 2014-15 Aviva Premiership campaign at home on Saturday, September 6.

Newcastle Falcons will be Leicester's first opponents in a game that will not be shown on television.

That means Tigers' former management team of Dean Richards and John Wells will be back at Welford Road.

There is also the mouth-watering prospect of Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi going up against his brother and former Tigers winger, Alesana.

Newcastle signed Alesana after his two-year stint in Japan, along with another Tuilgai brother, Andy.

Tigers then go to Exeter Chiefs to face former back-rower Thomas Waldrom, and they continue on their travels with a trip to face George Ford and his Bath team that narrowly missed out on the top four last year.

Tigers return to Welford Road to finish off the month by welcoming London Irish.

The two games that every Tigers fan will be looking out for against local rivals Northampton Saints take place just before Christmas and then again on the final day of the regular season.

Richard Cockerill's side return to the scene of their semi-final defeat on December 20 before Saints make the trip up the A6 for round 22 on May 16.

Tigers travel to newly-promoted London Welsh on November 22 during the autumn internationals and make their way to Sale for the Christmas fixture on December 27.

Bath are the visitors to Welford Road for the New Year holiday fixture on January 3.

Tigers also host Saracens during the autumn internationals and then travel to Allianz Park in April.

In a change to the season structure, the new European competition, the Champions Cup, will hold its final earlier than usual with a date of Saturday, May 2.

The six pool-stage games take place at the usual time of the season, with two in October, two in December and two in January.

Tigers have been drawn against Llanelli Scarlets, Ulster and champions Toulon. The details of those pool games will be announced in a fortnight.

Tigers' LV= Cup campaign will also be announced soon.