Mushy peas. Warm bitter. Beans on toast. Tutting. Saying sorry to someone who's going the other way on the stairs. Nodding your approval in the salon for a haircut you hate. Using a word you'd save for your worst enemy as a term of endearment for your best friend. Drinking until you're sick the very minute you get abroad. Marmite. Toasted tea cakes. Boiled eggs and soldiers. Calling your mother's friends auntie. Flashing your headlights to warn oncoming motorists of lurking police speed traps. Feeling uneasy at displays of earnestness. Whispering arguments in public places. Dunking biscuits. Queuing at the bar without even forming a queue . Telling someone Bob's their uncle. Spending a penny. Seeing a man about a dog. Going for a ruby. General consternation when the bus stops at the wrong end of the queue. Thanking the driver when you get off, all the same. Wellies.

We could fill this entire supplement with things that make us British, but here's one more: Panto, that weird mix of fairy tale plots, audience participation, slapstick, men in frocks and end-of-the-pier jokes which gives pleasure to families across the land and paydays to former soap stars.

Time was when Leicester kids were starved of professional panto, as the two biggest venues turned their noses up at such frivolity. Not any more.

This year's panto at De Mont is Cinderella and it kicks off tonight with a cast including CBeebies presenter Alex Winters and Goodness Gracious Me's Kulvinder Ghir, who delivered one of the finest lines in British comedy when he told the waiter to bring "the blandest thing on the menu" in the celebrated Going For An English sketch.

Cinderella, which runs until January 4, is written and directed by Leicester's Susie McKenna, artistic director of the Hackney Empire and, accordingly, will be more Leicestery than a samosa cob washed down with a pint of Tiger on the Saff by a man with a fox tattoo who calls other men duck and promises to do things "straight the way".

Meanwhile, over at the Little Theatre, keeper of Leicester's panto flame for many, many years, Puss in Boots opened last night. It runs until January 4.

And Sleeping Beauty is in full swing at Loughborough Town Hall. It's also on until January 4, too. January 4 is the day panto dies, it seems.

Let's resist the temptation to cast the dismal form of Leicester City as a pantomime and think of it more as an ongoing tragedy, mixed with a wee bit of farce.

The club go into this weekend still propping up the Premier League, on the back of a thoroughly miserable run which has secured just two points from the last 30, and must have given promotion-chasing teams in the Championship a small existential crisis.

Today's opponents at the King Power Stadium are Manchester City, which feels a little like sending a slap-happy rookie fighter to face Mike Tyson in his prime. Still: Something's got to change soon... hasn't it? It kicks off at 3pm.

A reminder: The annual Bottle Rocket Christmas special is staged at the Y Theatre tonight.

It's headlined stand-up/ magician Pete Firman, who you may have caught on The Sarah Millican Television Programme.

Support comes from Joel Dommett (of BBC Three's Impractical Jokers), Andrew Bird and Tom Toal.

Motorists in Leicester were given more than £1.4 million in parking fines last year, according to latest figures.

The penalties were issued by the city's traffic wardens to drivers using on-street parking spaces.

The sum, for 2013/14, represents a  near 40 per cent increase in fines income on the previous year when it was just over £1 million.

The figure has come to light after a study by the RAC Foundation claimed the council had tripled its fine income last year to £3.2 million.

The authority is disputing the figure and says it thinks the motoring organisation has got its sums wrong and added the money placed in pay-and-display machines for parking charges to the fines income.

It said the RAC produced inaccurate figures last year when it did a similar study into data submitted to the Department of Communities and Local Government.

A council spokesman told the Mercury: "The RAC have got their figures wrong again, as the income from penalty notices in 2013/14 was actually £1,445,753 and not £3.2 million as they have reported."

The council says there was actually a rise of about £350,000 in its income compared to the previous year.

The spokesman said: "This could be accounted for in a number of ways including the fact that we brought parking enforcement in-house in February 2013, resulting in a much more effective service. "We have also become more efficient in pursuing people who don't pay their fines.

"The introduction of the Westcotes residents parking scheme in November – for which we started issuing tickets in February 2013 may have also contributed.

"Any surplus that we make from parking fines once the cost of the enforcement service is covered, is invested back into travel concessions and bus subsidies."

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said it was a frustration that the RAC had produced another set of misleading statistics.

He said: "They are notoriously bad at collecting and analysing this information.

"It doesn't do their credibility any good and council's up and down the land say they are misrepresenting the figures.

"Every penny of income we do get from parking fines goes back into investment that directly benefits road users such as funding repairs to potholes and subsidising bus travel.

"We are not in it to make money."

David Leibling, the author of the RAC report, admitted the city council were "probably right" about the discrepancy.

However he said he thought the a member of city council staff had inputted the wrong figure when sending the information to the Government.  

Were you a lucky winner last night? The lottery draw for Friday, December 12, was held with an estimated jackpot of £25.5 million.

That would be a nice treat before Christmas eh?

So it's time to check your numbers, good luck!

The EuroMillions draw winning numbers were:

2, 15, 28, 31, 37 and Lucky Stars 4 and 6

One lucky UK player could also win £1 million from last night's Millionaire Maker.

If you've not done so already make sure you check your raffle code to see if it matches tonight's code exactly.

It is: YGC813215

Ticket holders hoping for an eight-figure windfall will need to wait until next Tuesday, however, as no player could match all seven numbers drawn to win the top prize.

A drunken driver punched a woman paramedic in the chest, fracturing her sternum, as she tried to help him after he had overturned his car in a crash.

The victim was off work for 12 weeks and left emotionally traumatised by the attack, Leicester Crown Court was told.

Dharmesh Patel, 41, was also violent and abusive when the police and the driver of a car he had crashed into tried to stop him from fleeing.

Patel, of Cricketers Close, Scraptoft, Leicester, was jailed for a total of 22 months and banned from driving for three years.

He pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to the paramedic, on December 10 last year.

She was in court to see him jailed.

Patel also admitted a public order offence and driving after consuming excess alcohol, on the same night.

Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: "To describe your behaviour as disgraceful is being generous.

"As a paramedic attempted to help you she was rewarded by you striking her so forcefully you fractured her sternum.

"She was doing a job in which she deserves protection and respect – and you gave her neither.

"You continued to behave badly at the scene and tried to get away and, in hospital, you behaved disgracefully, no doubt in part due to drink and also shock."

Hal Ewing, prosecuting, said the defendant was driving a Mercedes, with a woman passenger, along Catherine Street, Belgrave, at about 11pm.

He collided with a BMW, carrying a family with three children, which he attempted to overtake in a 30 mph area.

The Mercedes ended up on its' roof.

The paramedic arrived and tried to calm him down as he scrambled out, clearly the worse for drink, with difficulty standing.

Mr Ewing said: "She held him to steady him and said she wanted to check he was all right."

He swore at her and and hit her a hard punch to her chest, causing her to stumble."

She later described it as "terrifying" and "extremely painful."

Patel's female passenger got out and the defendant then ran off, chased by the BMW driver and also police.

Mr Ewing said: "He was aggressive and violent towards them throwing punches and struggling."

He had to be restrained by incapacitant spray and handcuffed.

A breath test revealed he had 61 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Mr Ewing said the paramedic was off work for three months and later took a fortnight off with post-traumatic stress.

Despite being prescribed morphine, she initially had difficulty sleeping due to intense pain and had difficulty breathing.

She has suffered loss of self-confidence and when she first returned to work was apprehensive about dealing with intoxicated patients.

In a victim impact statement, read out, she said: "Before this I was so passionate about the work I do.

"It feels like he's ruined my career."

The court heard that in 1995 Patel was jailed for seven years for inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, but since his release had turned his life around and was well thought of as a diligent painter and decorator.

James Varley, mitigating, said: "He now recognises the paramedic was there to help him and she was performing a public duty.

"His response was inexcusable.

"It was an attempt to get away because he knew he was going to be done for driving when drunk.

"He says he was also in shock."

Afterwards, Det Con Sukhvinder Obhi, who investigated the incident, said: "We're pleased that Patel has pleaded guilty to these offences, his actions that evening were unacceptable, and no one should be subjected to such violence especially when they are carrying out their duties.

Sean Keown, EMAS Security Management Specialists said: "We do not tolerate verbal or physical abuse and encourage our colleagues to report all incidents so we can take action.

"Mr Patel assaulted our paramedic whilst she was trying to provide him with medical help.

"It was a serious attack resulting in our paramedic suffering a fractured sternum (breastbone), which medical experts said took some considerable force.

"We're pleased that he has been punished for his unprovoked behaviour."

An investigation is underway after a fire broke out at a builder's yard.

Crews from Leicester were called to Wenlock Way, off Thurmaston Lane, Thurmaston, shortly after midnight.

A fire service spokeswoman said: "We were called to reports of building materials on fire in a yard.

"On arrival, the crew discovered an area of 30mx10m containing building materials, timber and plastic.

"Assistance was requested and a further three pumps were dispatched to the scene, where there was a danger of fire spreading to an adjacent building."

Firefighters trained covering jets on the building, which was heavily smoke logged.

The blaze was under control by about 2.43am when the "damping down" process got underway.

Crews remained on the scene overnight and an inspection will be made later this morning.

No-one is thought to have been injured in the incident, which the fire service spokeswoman said was "under investigation".

The extent of the damage has not yet been assessed.  

9.35am: The M1 is now clear following earlier accident close to junction 22 for the A50 at Markfield.

9.14am: Area Traffic Control is warning motorists to expect delays in Thurmaston as Severn Trent Water engineers deal with a water leak in Melton Road, near to Roundhill School.

8.45am: There is congestion on the A607 Melton Road, in Waltham on the Wolds, after an accident at the High Street junction.

8.42am: The M1 northbound is blocked due to a multi-vehicle accident between junction 21a for the A46 and junction 22 for the A50 at Markfield.

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

MOTORWAY UPDATES: For traffic updates on UK motorways and other key roads - http://www.highways.gov.uk/traffic-information/" target="_blank">CLICK HERE.

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FLIGHT INFORMATION: For East Midlands Airport visit: http://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/flightinformati... target="_blank"> CLICK HERE.

WEATHER: See the latest http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk.co.uk/weather" target="_blank">five-day weather report for Leicester and Leicestershire

CONTACT NEWSDESK: Send us your news and pictures. Tweet us http://twitter.com/Leicester_Merc" target="_blank">@Leicester_Merc or email newsdesk@leicestermercury.co.uk

Two people were taken to hospital after being injured in separate accidents in Blaby.

Firefighters were called to Hospital Lane just after midday, yesterday, where they freed a casualty from a car that had left the road and ended up in a ditch.

A fire service spokeswoman said: "An ambulance was called and the person was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary."

She said the crew came across the second accident, in Leicester Road, as they were returning from the scene, at 12.38pm.

She said: "They freed one casualty and requested a second ambulance.

"The person was also taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary for treatment."

The extent of the injuries sustained in both accidents is not yet known.

The occupants of a car involved in a crash on the M1 managed to escaped shortly before it caught fire.

Emergency services, including the air ambulance, were called to the scene of a collision involving four vehicles on the northbound carriageway, between junction 21a for the A47, and junction 22 for Markfield, at about 8.20am today.

A fire service spokesman said: "The incident happened just prior to junction 22 where a car was on fire having been involved in a collision.

"The vehicle was well alight but the fire was quickly brought under control. Fortunately, the occupants of the vehicle had managed to free themselves."

A stop message was received by fire control at 8.44am.

Police closed the northbound carriageway whilst the fire service tackled the car blaze, causing queues back to junction 21 and the M69.

A spokeswoman said: "No-one was injured in the incident. It probably looked worse than it actually was."  

The motorway was fully reopened by 9am. 

A grateful mugger, who hugged and thanked his terrified victim after robbing him in the street, had his sentence halved by judges.

James Woollastone, 31, of Hartopp Road, Melton, threatened to "mess up" his 18-year-old victim if he didn't hand over £3, London's Appeal Court heard.

However, he was then overwhelmed by emotion after he managed to grab £10 from the youth's wallet.

"Somewhat unusually he thanked him and hugged him twice", said Mr Justice Foskett.

He began chatting to his shaken victim - holding forth about his personal problems - before finally walking off with the cash.

Woollastone staged the robbery in the town centre in June.

And he was jailed for 24 months at Leicester Crown Court in September after admitting robbery.

However, his case reached the Appeal Court as his lawyers challenged the sentence, claiming it was too harsh.

Mr Justice Foskett, sitting with Judge Jeremy Carey, rejected claims that Woollastone should have received a suspended term, noting the "seriousness" of his crime,

However, whilst "not wishing to under-estimate the impact of this offence on the victim", the appeal judge said two years was too long.

Woollastone had received glowing reports inside prison, said Mr Justice Foskett, halving his sentence to 12 months.

"We hope that, when he is released, he will take active steps to put himself on the right track," the judge concluded.

Woollastone said "thank you" to the judge as he was led back to the cells.

Mel B is to miss the final of X Factor tonight due to illness.

It has been confirmed that former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos will take her place.

An X Factor spokesperson said she would not be taking part following doctors' advice.

Mel B's act, Italian Andrea Faustini, faces Ben Haenow and Fleur East in the final.

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson believes his side deserved at least a point from their 1-0 defeat to Premier League champions Manchester City.

However, the City boss admitted his side had not been dominant enough in either box as they failed to pick up any points for the ninth time in their last 11 games.

City had the reigning champions under pressure for large parts but, as has happened so frequently this season, they were made to pay for a glaring lapse in concentration, which allowed Frank Lampard to score the winner.

The result leaves City rock bottom of the Premier League, five points off safety, meaning they will definitely be in the relegation zone at Christmas.

"It was another disappointing result for us," said Pearson. "It was one I don't think we necessarily deserved, but we have got to deal with it.

"I was very pleased with the performance but, of course, we are looking for results at the moment so that remains a frustration for us.

"The thing missing is goals. I thought we had some pretty good performances out there today.

"We didn't really allow them to have a great deal of dominance. To do that against a side with the types of players they have who, on a regular basis, would out-pass another side by a considerable amount, is pretty good.

"But the bottom line is it is about being dominant in both boxes and we have not delivered that again today. That's where our problems lie at the moment."

Despite having the better of much of the first half, City gifted the visitors the winner just before the break when Lampard was left completely unmarked in the six-yard area to tap in Samir Nasri's pass.

"It was a soft goal, in some ways," said Pearson. "Lampard has built a career on scoring goals from midfield. His timing of his movements is exceptionally good."

Pearson confirmed that the operation on Kasper Schmeichel's broken metatarsal yesterday went well and maintained that the four-to-six week estimate was still an "optimistic" one.

But the City boss praised the performance of Ben Hamer, who started in goal for the hosts in his absence.

"I thought he played very well," said Pearson. "The two games he has played for us so far (today and the 1-0 victory at Stoke), he has looked very competent.

"I have to say he didn't have a great deal to do, but he dealt with it very well. Good for him."

Leicester Tigers' Champions Cup hopes were left hanging by a thread after a 23-8 defeat to Toulon.

Leicester were far too inaccurate in open play to repeat last week's heroics at Welford Road.

A try in each half from Ali Williams and Mathieu Bastareaud did the majority of the damage and the visitors were always up against it after a dreadful start to the game which saw them 16-0 down in just 24 minutes.

Blaine Scully's try got Leicester back into it but it was too much to do against a smarting Toulon side who had the bit between their teeth.

Tigers now need to beat Scarlets at home and Ulster away to have a chance of finishing as a best-placed runner-up.

Toulon should have scored the opening try of the day within 30 seconds. Leicester failed to deal with a bouncing ball, Bryan Habana picked it up and fed Chris Masoe but his pass to Guirado Guilhem was poor and he could only kick it into touch.

Leicester cleared the immediate danger but were creating problems for themselves as Ben Youngs' kicked a box-kick straight into touch and Owen Williams booted a kick-off straight out after Leigh Halfpenny had opened the scoring.

Tigers couldn't get any ball but Toulon were looking dangerous, clearly fired-up by last week's 25-21 defeat.

Kiwi Williams barged over from close range and when Halfpenny added the conversion and a penalty soon afterwards, Tigers were 13-0 down after just 14 minutes.

Leicester still struggled to get any possession and when Halfpenny made it 16-0, the visitors' woes were added to when influential lock Brad Thorn hobbled off to be replaced by Seb De Chaves.

Leicester simply had to score next – and they did just that when Scully ran in on 28 minutes to give the away fans something to cheer about.

Williams made the initial break through the line and Youngs, Julian Salvi and Jamie Gibson were involved in getting the ball out to Scully in space, who dived in the corner.

Williams just missed a tough conversion, he has already pulled a penalty wide from just the same spot.

The final ten minutes of the half were open and end to end but with no futher score. Bakkies Botha was a casualty though as he collided with his own hooker in a tackle and looked to have broken his nose.

Halfpenny could have extended the hosts' lead but he missed an early penalty and then Tigers butchered a great chance to get right back into it.

Mat Tait ran a gorgeous line to get the ball from Ghiraldini and break clean through the Toulon defence but he passed to Niki Goneva too early and the Fijian fell over as he tried to cut inside.

Leicester mixed it well and, with the game remaining open, they still had a chance of getting back into it if they scored next.

Any chance they had evaporated on 55 minutes though as Toulon scored a lovely second try. Fly-half Nicolas Sanchez was heavily involved in the initial break and when the ball was popped out to Bastareaud, he scopped it up off his laces and dived under the posts.

Halfpenny extended the lead to 23-5 and it was game over.

Williams kicked his first penalty of the day soon after but Tigers could not get any possession or territory to drag themselves back in the game, especially with Toulon's tails up.

A raft of substitutions made for a scrappy final 20 minutes and knock-ons from Goneva and Jordan Crane late on was indicative of a Leicester team that were full of guts but lacking in execution.

Were you a lucky winner last night? The lottery draw for Saturday, December 13, was held with an estimated £11,200,000 triple rollover, plus 50 lotto raffle winner of £20,000.

That would be a nice treat before Christmas eh?

So it's time to check your numbers, good luck!

The Lotto draw numbers were: 18, 30, 33, 34, 38 and 48. And the bonus ball was 36.

In the Thunderball draw, the top prize was £500,000 and the winning balls were 2, 16, 19,23 and 25. The Thunderball was 5.

The next Lotto draw will be on Wednesday, December 17, 2014.

Outlook: Broken cloud, mainly dry, bright or sunny spells.

Today: 

Early ground frost, then generally cloudy with occasional rain or drizzle, mainly over the Derbyshire hills. Occasionally bright in places further south and east. Brisk or strong southwesterly winds. Maximum Temperature 8C.

Tonight:

Outbreaks of rain will spread southwards across all parts this evening, perhaps heavy for a brief time. Skies will clear later with a touch of ground frost forming in places. Minimum Temperature 3C.

Tomorrow:

A colder feeling day with sunny spells and isolated showers, these wintry over Derbyshire hills. Fresh westerly winds. Then a widespread frost Monday night. Maximum Temperature 6C.

12.24pm: Christmas shopping congestion in Leicester city centre: heavy traffic in Vaughan Way at the A50 Highcross Street junction. 

10.30am: No major incidents or congestion to report on city and county roads.

8.50am: Slash Lane, Sileby, is just passable between the Sileby Road and Mountsorrel Lane junctions due to flooding.  

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

MOTORWAY UPDATES: For traffic updates on UK motorways and other key roads - http://www.highways.gov.uk/traffic-information/" target="_blank">CLICK HERE.

LIVE CAMERAS: Check the M1 through Leicestershire with our live traffic cameras - http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/traffic.html... target="_blank">CLICK HERE.

NATIONAL RAIL: For live UK train updates - http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/... target="_blank">CLICK HERE.

FLIGHT INFORMATION: For East Midlands Airport visit: http://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/flightinformati... target="_blank"> CLICK HERE.

WEATHER: See the latest http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk.co.uk/weather" target="_blank">five-day weather report for Leicester and Leicestershire

CONTACT NEWSDESK: Send us your news and pictures. Tweet us http://twitter.com/Leicester_Merc" target="_blank">@Leicester_Merc or email newsdesk@leicestermercury.co.uk

Campaigners against an 88-home development in Kirby Muxloe were left angry and disappointed after district councillors voted to approve the scheme.

Around 100 protesters against the Taylor Wimpey application gathered at Blaby District Council.

They saw the authority's development control committee approve the plan to build the homes near Maytree Close by a single vote among the remaining seven councillors after one woman committee member was forced to leave the room suffering from a coughing fit, without returning to vote.

An identical application was rejected by Blaby District Council earlier this year, after 400 residents objected.

Despite 690 letters of objection to the latest scheme and protests by hundreds of residents in Barry Close, one of the roads which will be affected by development traffic, the scheme was voted through 5-4.

The objectors said 88 more homes would increase traffic congestion and be a strain on school places and GP surgery waiting times.

Protester Peter Aspinall said: "Everyone was very unhappy about it. The application they voted to approve was almost identical to the one they rejected.

"It seems wrong that such a major decision when there were so few people on the planning committee, it just didn't seem fair.

"There have been no significant changes to the previous application they rejected, it doesn't make sense.People are losing their faith in local democracy."

He added:"Councillors who came on the site visit earlier in the day never looked at the dangers the development would create .

"Eight-wheel, 20-ton lorries laden with soil, bricks and building material would need to make up to 40 access visits along Barry Close during the construction period.

"It is inevitable there will be a serious accident here."

Villager Liz Fleming said: "There were three or four apologies for absence from committee members.

"What is the point of people protesting when it's a done deal anyway?Unless peolple are going to attend every single meeting, they shouldn't be there.

There were only very slight changes to the previous application which was rejected.

"It's just a real crying shame, it's so important because this is green land going to housing, I just hope we can muster an appeal."

Rachel Aspinall, whose home overlooks the development site, said: "I back onto it, it's the only little bit of countryside we have left.

"It just seemed like it was being forced through. There were 600-odd letters objecting to it.

"They just didn't seem to listen to what people want.I back onto it, it's the only little bit of countryside we have left."

Council deputy leader and cabinet portfolio holder for planning and economic development Tony Greenwood who attended the meeting as an observer, said: "Dozens of people have told me they are writing official complaints over procedure. These matters will be investigated."

Two brothers who lost their mum to cancer two months before Christmas are raising vital funds for the hospice that cared for her.

James Duell,(c) aged 12, and brother Dylan, nine, of Exton, in Rutland, have already raised more than £650 for the Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall hospice in Peterborough where mum, Michelle Beniston died, aged 33, on October 8.

James, a Year 8 pupil at Casterton Business and Enterprise College, said: "I chose to help Thorpe Hall as they helped to look after mum and they were there for us when we needed them."

Mum of four, Michelle spent her last few weeks being cared for at the hospice which supported James and Dylan and siblings Megan, six, and Martha, four months, during their mum's illness.

James added: "After mum passed away, the ladies at Thorpe Hall did different activities with us each week. We made a salt memory jar with each layer representing mum and we also made memory boxes which I decorated with a picture of me and mum in the middle."

The children filled their memory boxes with different things that reminded them of their mum, including a dove which she gave them, photos, a poster and memories.

The young brothers have set themselves the target of raising £1,000 for Thorpe Hall by organising a number of fundraising activities at school.

On Wednesday James' school held a tinsel day, with all of the pupils and teachers wearing tinsel and donating to Thorpe Hall, so far raising £300.

Dylan also held a tinsel day at St Nicholas Primary School in Cottesmore, which he attends.

James added: "Everyone at school has supported me, especially Mrs Goddard and my close friends from primary and nursery, who are helping."

A Lights of Love tree takes pride of place in the school corridor, with lots of baubles carrying messages of support, so far raising £35.

James also held a Christmas card sale with his friends raising over £50, with all of the cards selling out on the night.

Dad Paul Duall, 35, said; "What they've done is absolutely amazing, I couldn't be more proud to see what they are doing.

"To lose their mum at that young age is horrendous, there isn't a day goes by that I don't shed a tear for them.

"We sat down as a family and they feel it is important to raise as much money for the hospice as possible."

Liz Goddard, James' tutor at the school, said: "It's such a horrible thing that he's had to go through, but everyone at the school has been here to support him.

"He's a real inspiration to us all, and it's something that touches everyone to see how well he is dealing with it.

"James has been brilliant and the fundraising has helped to be a real focus."

James added: "I think my mum would think it's awesome, she would be proud."

Hospice fundraiser Kirsty Clipston said:"He's been in to visit us a couple of times and his enthusiasm for fundraising in memory of his mum is just wonderful to see."

Other fund raising plans next year include a disco and sponsored cycle ride round Rutland Water."

To donate to James' appeal visit http://michelle.beniston.muchloved.com/

New photographs of Prince George have been released in time for Christmas by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

They show a beaming little boy in his Sunday best posing for the cameras in a courtyard at Kensington Palace.

According to the BBC, the shots were taken last month in a courtyard at Kensington Palace by Prince Harry's private secretary Ed Lane Fox, who has also worked as a freelance photographer. 

The third-in-line to the throne celebrated his first birthday in July, and is now almost 17 months old.

It is understood that Prince William and his wife Catherine have released the pictures as a thank you to the medial for refusing to publish paparazzi images taken of the prince.

BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the couple are grateful that their request for their son to grow up without intrusion continues to be honoured.

The Duke and Duchess have recently returned from a three-day tour of the east coast of the United States during which they visited the 9/11 memorial and museum, met President Obama and watched a basketball game.

The couple announced in September that the Duchess was pregnant with a second child.

A campaign has been launched to raise £4.5million in less than a month to buy a therapy and spa centre for the children of service men and women.

The non-profit organisation, 'Kids of Heroes' has set out to raise the cash to buy a property in Woodhouse, Leicestershire.

The organisation, which is based in Loughborough, provides tailor-made counselling and therapy for the children of former and current service personnel.

If the money has been raised by January 19, the building will be made into a spa and therapy centre for children to use.

Co-director of the organisation, Dave Johnson said: "Raising the money is completely do-able.

"We're asking people to donate and as it's a large amount we're looking for some large investments from businesses.

"These mums and dads have put their lives on the line and that impacts their children.

"I think we'll do it."

Dave and his friend Andy Tinley, both of Loughborough, came up with the idea to create the organisation around a year ago.

In July of this year, it was launched as an official non-profit organisation.

With a background in education, Dave, 44, has previously worked with children and Andy, 46, is a former serviceman.

Dave said: "We have both had personal issues around mental health and we both have children ourselves.

"We are a completely self-funded and non-profit organisation, we have both completely dedicated our lives to this.

"We're hoping that one day, we can turn this into a charity."

Kids of Heroes works with children from across the country, from the moment they are born, to the age of 21.

They also aim to help ex-servicemen and women who may be found themselves on the wrong tracks after leaving the military.

Dave said: "We want to help people who might have become separated from their children, to find accommodation.

"That way, they can re-build their lives and hopefully re-connect with their children.

"We are completely about the children."

The property that Dave and Andy hope to buy has eight bedrooms and an indoor leisure complex.

"It will be somewhere that children and their families can go to relax and get away from home," said Dave.

"And it's at the centre of the country, so everyone will be able to get to it."

The property will also become the organisation's head office as well.

Dave said: "If we did this, it would be massive for us.

"It's the dream, it would bring a tear to my eye."

If they do not manage to buy this particular property, Dave said they will look to purchase one of the "same standard".

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