Details of Leicester City Council's opening hours over the Christmas and New Year holiday period are now available to view online. 

The city council's customer service centres and main switchboard will be closed or operating on slightly reduced hours over the festive season.

The centres, based in Granby Street, Saffron Lane, New Parks and Charnwood, and main switchboard will be closed on December 25, 26, 27 and January 1, 2 and 3. In addition, they will all close early, at 4.30pm, on December 24 and 31.

The following emergency numbers will be in operation throughout the period the holiday.

- For council house emergency repairs: 0116 254 9439
- For emergency road repairs, street lighting, flooding, fallen trees or dangerous buildings: 0116 254 4344
- For the social care and health emergency team: 0116 255 1606

- For Leicester city children's services: 0116 454 1004

All the above services will be operating as normal, from 6pm until 8am.

Most waste and recycling collections will be unchanged over the festive period, except ones that fall on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Arrangements for these days are as follows:

- Thursday 25 December – collections to be completed on Monday 29 December

- Friday 26 December – next collection is on Friday 2 January

- Thursday 1 January – next collection is on Thursday 8 January

Our household waste and recycling centres will be open as normal over most of the Christmas period, except on the following days:

- Christmas Eve – closes early at 2pm

- Christmas Day - closed

- Boxing Day - closed

- New Year's Eve – closes early at 2pm

- New Year's Day - closed

For online information about city council opening hours over the festive period visit www.leicester.gov.uk/christmasopeninghours

A business park featuring offices, factories, a hotel and a car showroom could be created close to East Midlands Airport.

Developers are looking to build on an unused 3.9-acre site, near to the M1 in Castle Donington, owned by motorway services operator Moto Hospitality.

It is expected the business park would be able to accommodate between 200 and 300 workers.

The site already has planning consent for new access from the Finger Farm roundabout in front of the airport. A planning application for the park is due to be submitted next year.

Richard Squire, development director at Litton Property Group, of Derbyshire, which is leading the project, said: "We could see between 200 and 300 people working at the site, but it would depend on the mix of properties. It's early days.

"We have some architects on board and we will be coming up with some designs. We are focusing on the office sector. We have already had interest from hotels and a healthcare business."

Mr Squire said a planning application was expected to be submitted to North West Leicestershire District Council by September next year.

"It's a very prominent site, so we want to do something that's iconic and memorable," he said. "This is a rare opportunity for businesses to secure new property that will be seen by passing traffic on a busy stretch of motorway and near one of the fastest growing regional airports for both freight and passengers."

Moto Hospitality, which is the UK's largest operator of motorway services, already operates the nearby Donington Park Services. Litton's retained agents are Innes England and DTZ.

A series of plans have been put forward in recent months to create or expand commercial parks across Leicestershire.

In October, proposals were revealed to expand Magna Park, in Lutterworth, by 700 acres – or one square mile – by extending it to the north and south. Developers said more than 10,000 jobs could be created by the move.

Business leaders are hoping a massive rail freight depot on the outskirts of Castle Donington, which will create up to 7,000 jobs, could be given the go-ahead in the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, approval has recently been given for a multi-million pound expansion of Watermead Business Park, in Syston, creating 3,500 jobs.

There are also plans to create a new shopping centre on the 13-acre Everards Brewery site next to Fosse Park, creating 700 new posts.

Keith Vaz's Tory election rival has questioned the MP's decision to raise parking problems near a temple in Parliament.

Leicester East's Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate Kishan Devani said it is baffling Mr Vaz intends to present a petition about the Shree Sanatan Mandir Temple to the House of Commons.

Mr Vaz said he was contacted by worshippers at the Weymouth Street temple about poor parking and lighting.

He said the petition was to put pressure on Leicester City Council to look at the issues.

However, Mr Devani said: "I don't understand why he's presenting the petition to Parliament. He should be petitioning the Labour councillors for that area.

"It is, of course, an issue but it's a local one. It's baffling."

A council spokesman said the temple's location in a residential area of terraced streets means parking spaces are limited, but the ward councillor has met with representatives of the temple to discuss concerns.

He said: "Some of their requests would require significant highway changes – which would need to be prioritised against demands for environmental works in other wards."

Bollards will be installed outside the temple to prevent people from parking on the pavements and blocking the entrance, and the "keep clear" space in front of the entrance will be widened.

New LED lighting has already been installed in Weymouth Street and Surrey Street, to be rolled out in Catherine Street.

A drug dealer caught with a £7,800 stash of M-Cat was allowed to go home for Christmas, instead of being jailed.

Judge Nicholas Dean QC said he had decided to give Michael Dennis a chance to prove he could stay out of trouble.

He deferred the sentence for six months, so that Dennis, whose partner has recently given birth to their child, can continue with his recent good progress.

Dennis (32), of Gutteridge Street, Coalville, pleaded guilty to possessing 390 grams of the class B drug, mephedrone, also known as M-Cat or meow meow.

Leicester Crown Court was told that police executed a search warrant at Dennis's home on June 3 and seized the M-Cat, which had a street value of £7,800.

They also recovered £3,969 in cash, which was confiscated by the court.

Victoria Rose, prosecuting, said: "There were also scales and a dealer list found on the premises.

"His mobile phone contained messages, including requests for £10 deals and an indication there was a buy-now-pay-later option.

"There were references to locations where various deals would take place.

"He was street dealing and it was his own business."

Miss Rose said Dennis had drug-related offences on his record, but nothing connected with supply.

In March 2014 he was given a conditional discharge for possessing cannabis.

Mark Knowles, mitigating, said the defendant was making good progress and had been in work for two months and wanted to put offending behind him.

Judge Dean said: "I've read the pre-sentence report and references and there are a number of matters he's addressing and if he continues to address them it seems to me to be a good reason to ultimately suspend the sentence.

"He has a young child with his current partner and she's put her foot down regarding drugs.

"She says in her letter she's seen improvements in the last couple of months.

The judge told Dennis: "I'm deferring the sentence and you will be back before me on June 29 next year.

"I will be asking for an up-dated pre-sentence report about whether you've resumed using, or continued dealing in, drugs.

"I've read a reference from your employer and he has confidence in your abilities, as does your partner.

"If progress continues you will not be going straight to prison.

"However, if you continue involving yourself in drugs the position will be different."

Police have named two men who died following collisions in Leicestershire.

The first happened on the A607 Melton Road, in Thurmaston, on Monday, December 8, and involved a blue Hyundai and an 89-year-old pedestrian.

The pedestrian was taken to hospital, where he died on Friday.

He has been named by police as Bhagwan Madhaw, from Leicester.

The second collision happened at about 7.10pm on Wednesday, December 17, on the southbound stretch of the A6 at Mountsorrel.

John Trevor Scott, 83, from Leicestershire, was driving a Ford Focus when the vehicle left the road and was in collision with a central reservation.

Mr Scott was taken to hospital where he died on Thursday, December 18.

Anyone who witnessed either collision is asked to call Detective Constable 1504 Seamus Burns on 101.

Nearly 400 children led by a piper paraded through the streets of Rothley from their old school to the site of their new one today.

Walking hand-in-hand and dressed in their purple jumpers and ties, the Rothley C of E Primary School pupils left their overcrowded old school to walk through the village to the sound of Scotland the Brave and other bagpipe favourites to where the new primary school is nearing completion.

Head teacher Fiona Parr said: "I thought it would be very nostalgic to have a piper leading us and it has been.

"It's just been wonderful.

"We had a fantastic morning and not too many tears - now we're in joyous mode."

On their way from the old school in Mountsorrel Lane to the new one in the new housing estate off Hallfields Lane, the pupils stopped at Rothley Parish Church where vicar Rob Gladstone said a prayer with the pupils and talked about the history of the school.

He told the Mercury: "I want the church to remain central to the school because it was first established by the vicar here in 1837.

"I told the pupils about how the school started and how it moved two or three times before this move, then I said a little prayer to thank God for our memories of the past at the school and the excitement for the future."

The new school has the capacity for 420 pupils with extra space to build extensions in the future and a separate nursery attached.

Having finished their school term yesterday - later than most county pupils - they will be starting their next term on January 12, by which time the school will be complete.

Mrs Parr said: "The new school is more than we could have ever wished for.

"It's going to be wonderful."

Annie Traynor, 39, was watching her six-year-old son, Samuel, in the parade.

She said: "We've only just moved to the village recently and I'm really impressed with the primary school.

"We all thought the idea of the parade sounded wonderful and it's a really good way of helping the children manage the transition.

"It must be emotional for some of them going to a new school and this must be a moving occasion for them.

"And we're all very lucky in this community to have such a beautiful new school.

"If the friendly, warm feeling of the old school is transferred to the new school it will be amazing."

Andrea Weston was at the parade with her four-year-old granddaughter Libby Thrower, who will be starting at the school next year.

Andrea said: "We thought it would be nice to bring Libby to have a look at her new school and it looks absolutely amazing.

"Libby and her family live just up the road from the school and it's going to be really great for her.

"I think it's a lovely idea that they had a parade."

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson confirmed he will not be appealing his FA charge and will serve his one-game touchline ban for his side's Premier League clash with Tottenham on Boxing Day.

Pearson was fined £10,000 and handed the suspension at a personal hearing for an altercation he had with a fan during the defeat to Liverpool earlier this month.

The City boss was found guilty of using "abusive and/or insulting language" towards the spectator and, after requesting a written explanation for the charge, has decided not to appeal it.

"I think it is about time we put this subject to bed now," said Pearson. "The ruling has been made on me and, as always, I will take it for what it is and move on."

Pearson confirmed that striker Chris Wood is a doubt for the Spurs game at the King Power Stadium after picking up an infection while Kasper Schmeichel and Matt Upson remain the only two long-term absentees.

Schmeichel remains out with a broken metatarsal while Pearson said Upson would not feature before the end of the year as he recovers from a foot injury.

"Chris Wood has gone home with an infection but whether he will shake that off before Boxing Day, I don't know, but apart from that it really is as we were," said Pearson.

"Upson will not be available in 2014, I don't think. Hopefully 2015 will give everyone an opportunity to see him."

A woman has been banned from owning pets for 10 years after her two cats died following "prolonged neglect."

Sarah Louise Peers (27) was also handed a 16-week suspended jail sentence at Leicester Magistrates' Court.

The bodies of cats Sylvester and Sparkle were found by police officers who broke into her home in April after receiving reports of a foul smell coming from inside.

Kevin McCole, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the court that when officers looked through the front and back windows they were greeted with the sight of swarms of flies.

He said: "They saw the flat was full of flies and when they broke down the door and gained entry there was also cat faeces throughout the property and a strong odour of decay.

"They checked the rooms and found two dead cats. One was on the sofa in the living room and the other on a bed."

RSPCA inspector Clint Davies was called to the scene and found the animals surrounded by faeces and maggots.

Peers of Chester Close, St Matthews, Leicester, was arrested.

She pleaded guilty to charges of failing to ensure the cats needs and failing to protect them from any pain, injury, suffering or disease which could lead to their deaths.

In mitigation, the court heard that Peers had left the flat in December 2014, following the break-up of a relationship with her partner, with whom she shared the home.

Her solicitor Heather Glover said Peers had moved in with her mother and was under the impression that her ex-partner had taken the pets to another home.

Ms Glover said: "She [Peers] says she had been back to the flat to feed her cats and give them water.

"But when she visited on January 21, she wrongly assumed that her cats were no longer there and that her ex-partner had taken them."

She added: "She knows that this is a very serious case.

"There are other factors in her life that have affected her and could do with being addressed."

Ms Glover said Peers had suffered with alcohol problems

Magistrates handed Peers a 16 week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and banned her from keeping any type of animal for 10 years.

Peers was also told she would have to pay £250 court costs and an £80 victim surcharge, attend the Just Woman probation programme and carry out 100 hours of community service.

The chairman of the bench said: "These animals were subjected to prolonged neglect. Starved of food and water and light.

"We know that you showed some remorse and that you have difficult home circumstances.

"But this is a very disturbing case where two innocent animals have been made to suffer very badly."

Following the hearing, Inspector Davies said he thought the punishment still was not severe enough.

He said: "It should have been a life ban - the suffering she put those animals through was despicable.

"How bad does it have to be before people are disqualified for life?"

So, Chris Uttley and other members of Hinckley Round Table think it shocking and disgraceful that he should receive a ticket for parking his car on the zig-zags of a pedestrian crossing while alighting his sleigh (Mercury, December 15).

Indeed, the bias of the Leicester Mercury article would suggest this traffic warden has not a charitable bone in her body.

Whoa, hold on a minute.

Firstly, zig-zags protect a line of sight for both vehicles and, particularly, pedestrians on the approach to a crossing. There is not a single reason, however charitable, that you can justify parking your vehicle on zig-zags, no matter how quick you may be.

Just ask yourself this. If your son or daughter was hit while on a crossing because there was a vehicle parked on the zig-zags obscuring everyone's line of sight – how would you feel about the thoughtless actions of the driver of that vehicle?

They are there to help protect pedestrians – the most vulnerable of road users. There should not be any period of observation as Mr Uttley puts it, nor leniency. In fact, especially at this time of year when we have longer hours of darkness and poorer visibility, the dangers of doing this should be emphasised even further.

Try turning the article around, the headline ought to have praised the attendant and had a go at Mr Uttley highlighting how potentially dangerous his actions were. Consider how different the content and tone of the article would have been if there was an incident.

Also, I don't believe for a minute that his back was turned for only 30 seconds, indeed it only takes one second for a vehicle to hit a child.

So to all you people who thought it disgraceful, get out your Highway Code and read up. The upshot of it is you do not park on zig-zags for any reason for any length of time.

Why am I so vexed about this? Well, I am soon to be qualified as a driving instructor and during my training I see all too often offences of this nature and have also seen several near-misses on crossings.

The thoughtless actions of drivers contribute to so many accidents on our roads and this is a prime example.

Name and address supplied.

Gardening tools and lawnmowers were destroyed when a bonfire got out of control on allotments in Sileby.

Firefighters from Birstall and Loughborough were called to Kendall Road at about 12.30am today to reports of a burning allotment building.

They arrived to find the outhouse, which measured 10mx5m, well alight and used a number of hose reel jets to extinguish the flames.

A spokesman for the fire service said everything inside the building was severely damaged and the building destroyed.

The caused is believed to be accidental.

Have you checked your tickets yet? There was an estimated £11million up for grabs in the Euromillions draw last night.

There was also one guaranteed UK Millionaire Maker winner of £1million too.

Were you a lucky one?

The winning numbers were: 8, 9, 19, 25, 49. The lucky stars were: 2 and 10.

If you won, let us know by e-mailing: newsdesk@leicestermercury.co.uk

Firefighters were called to a caravan fire in South Wigston in the early hours of this morning.

Crews from Wigston fire station arrived at Countesthorpe Road, near Crow Mills, at about 12.05am to find an abandoned motorhome well alight.

They used breathing apparatus and hose reel jets to bring the blaze under control.

It is thought the fire was started by arsonists.

As spokesman for the fire service said the caravan was completely destroyed.

Just because it's Christmas, we know you might still have an emergency.

So to make things a bit easier for you, we've put together a contacts list of helplines, in case you find yourself in a bit of a tricky situation over the festive period:

Roadline: 0116 305 0001.

Social care (out of hours) Children: 0116 305 005

Adults: 0116 255 1606.

National Grid: 0800 111 999

Western Power Distribution (electricity): 0800 6783 105

Anglian Water: 0845 714 5145

Severn Trent: 0800 763444

Samaritans: 0845 7908080

Shelter: 0808 800 444

RSPCA: 0116 2336677

Leicester's hospitals switchboard: 0300 303 1573

NHS: 111 111

Merlyn Vaz Health and Social Care Centre, Walk-in service, Spinney Hill Road, Spinney Hills, Leicester, 8am-8pm daily, 0116 242 9450.

Oadby and Wigston Walk-in Medical Centre, Parade, Oadby, 8am-8pm daily, 0116 271 1360.

Loughborough Urgent Care Centre, Loughborough Hospital, 24 hours, 01509 611600.

Melton Mowbray Hospital Minor Injury and Illness Service, Thorpe Road, open weekends and bank holidays 9.30am-1.30pm.

Market Harborough Minor Injury and Illness Unit, Coventry Road, 9am-9pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4.30pm, 01858 410500.

Rutland Memorial Hospital Minor Injury and Illness Unit, Cold Overton Road, Oakham, urgent care service 9am-9pm, 01572 722552.

GP out-of-hours 0845 045 0411

Pharmacies

Leicester:

Sheridan, 1 Spinney Hill Road: New Year's Day – 10am-5pm.

Yakub, 67 Hartington Road: New Year's Day – 10am-6pm.

Lloyds, 755 Aylestone Road: New Year's Day – 10am-4pm.

Patels, 115 Narborough Road: New Year's Day – 9am-8.30pm.

Blaby & Lutterworth

Asda, Fosse Park: New Year's Day – 10am-4pm.

Sainsbury's, Grove Farm Triangle: New Year's Day – 10am-5pm.

Boots, Fosse Park: New Year's Day – 10am-6pm.

Hinckley & Bosworth

Boots, 2 Britannia Centre, Hinckley: New Year's Day – closed.

Asda, Barwell Lane, Hinckley: New Year's Day – 10am-4pm.

Oadby & Wigston

Asda, Oadby: New Year's Day – 10am-4pm.

Sainsbury's, Oadby: New Year's Day – 10am-5pm.

South Charnwood:

Asda, Thurmaston: New Year's Day – 10am-4pm.

North Charnwood:

Curex, 24 Hermitage Road, Loughborough: New Year's Day – closed.

Sainsbury's, Greenclose Lane, Loughborough: New Year's Day – 10am-5pm.

Boots, 11-13 Market Place, Loughborough: New Year's Day – 10.30am-4.30pm

Melton, Rutland & Harborough:

Boots, 1-2 Cheapside, Melton: New Year's Day – closed.

Rutland Late Night Pharmacy, 45c High Street, Oakham: New Year's Day – 10am-4pm.

Moins, 11-15 Coventry Road, Market Harborough: New Year's Day – 10am-6pm.

Council Offices

Leicester City Hall, 16 New Walk, Town Hall, Greyfriars and Wellington House will be closed on New Year's Day and January 2.

Blaby New Year's Eve – open until 4pm; New Year's Day – closed; January 2 – closed.

Harborough New Year's Eve – 8am-2pm; New Year's Day – closed.

Hinckley and Bosworth New Year's Eve – closed from 3.30pm; Reopens 8.30am January 5. Emergency number: 01455 251137.

Melton Reopens 9am January 2.

North West Leicestershire New Year's Eve – 8.45am-5pm; New Year's Day – closed; January 2 – 8.45am-5pm.

Oadby and Wigston New Year's Eve – open; New Year's Day – closed.

Rutland Reopens January 2.

Leicestershire County Council libraries Libraries will close on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and reopen on January 2 with the following exceptions.

Barwell: Closed until 10am on January 6.

Ibstock: Closed until 2pm on January 6.

Quorn: Closed until 2pm on January 2.

South Wigston: Closed on January 3.

No mobile library service will run until January 2.

Waste Collections:

As notified by individual local authorities, or telephone:

Blaby: 0116 272 7555.

Charnwood: 01509 634 563.

Harborough: 0185 828282.

Hinckley and Bosworth: 01455 23141.

Leicester: 0116 252 7002.

Melton: 01664 502510.

North West Leicestershire:01530 454572.

Oadby and Wigston: 0116 288 8961.

It was a bad start to 2014 for Leicestershire County Council employees, who went back to work to be told about 700 more redundancies on the horizon. County Hall had been warned by the Government that its budget would shrink by £110 million by 2018 due to efforts in Whitehall to cut the deficit.

The announcement included a warning that libraries would close if the local communities failed to step up and run them.

It also saw a new commitment to cutting spending on Coalville's Snibston Discovery Museum.

Byron Rhodes, the council's deputy leader, said at the time: "We would like to protect all services but, given the huge scale of the savings required, we cannot."

Since then the level of required cuts has leapt to £120 million.

Meanwhile in sport, things could not have been going better for Nigel Pearson and Leicester City.

A 2-0 win against Middlesbrough saw them go eight points ahead at the top of the Championship table.

Another victory, this time 2-1 against Birmingham a few days later, saw the club making history by winning eight games on the trot and proving that they deserved to be in the Premier League, even if they were destined to sink to the bottom of it by the end of the year.

Criminals were as busy as ever in January, with one gang of burglars targeting charity shops around the county and a vicious revenge stabbing in East Park Road, Evington, which has recently resulted in a man being jailed for 23 years.

The attacker was a jilted man who slashed the throats of his ex-fiancée and her lover, as well as wounding a 15-year-old boy who tried to stop the attack.

In another court case two teenagers got into trouble with a judge after a photograph of them messing about in the dock was posted on Facebook.

The teens were due to stand trial for assault when someone in the public gallery at Leicester Crown Court took the photo of the grinning pair on January 6.

It was later seen online by the victim in the case, who reported it to the police.

The defendants faced an extra charge of contempt of court, but the person who took the picture was never traced.

While winter 2014 failed to deliver any snow to speak of, there was plenty of weather-induced chaos.

During January there were savage storms that took the roof off a Sikh temple and almost killed three men who were in a car.

A lightning strike blasted timber off the Ramgarhia Sikh Temple and into Meynell Road in Leicester, where an eight-foot section smashed through the windscreen of the men's car.

Temple president Indy Panesar said: "It is a miracle no-one was seriously hurt or killed."

The end of the month saw the laying to rest of Andrew Priestley, a 44-year-old dad who died rescuing his sons from the sea during a holiday in Australia.

During the funeral at Our Lady of Victories, in Market Harborough, 12-year-old Matthew Priestley read out a prayer, written by him and his brother, Daniel, 10.

Matthew said: "Thank you for giving us the best daddy anyone could ever dream of.

"When Daniel and I were in trouble, he sacrificed his life for us.

"Nothing will ever be the same again. He will always be our inspiration."

Andrew had managed to keep the boys afloat long enough for onlookers to pull them to safety, but did not survive himself.

February kicked off with road chaos as the Belgrave Flyover demolition began. On a freezing Saturday afternoon, a large crowd gathered to watch the mechanical "munchers" take their first few bites out of the huge 1970s structure.

The start of the job was preceded by Christian prayers for the demolition team and a Hindu ceremony, which involved painting red "tillaks" on the foreheads of the people involved, before blessing a hammer symbolising the demolition equipment and smashing two coconuts on the road.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby enjoyed watching the flyover come down.

He said: "It's been a white elephant for the city since it was built and people have been talking about pulling it down for a long time. Now we can get the monster out of the way."

Among the front page stories in the Mercury in February was the news that Rosemary Conley's health and fitness business was anything but healthy.

The Quorn company called in the administrators after a big drop in trade.

Rosemary had been enjoying a return to the spotlight after her recent appearance of Dancing on Ice but, behind the scenes, had been working hard to stave off the collapse.

She said: "It's a very sad day."

There were more shocks a few days later when the Mercury's front page featured an x-ray of Gareth Llewellyn's shoulder, which included a clear image of a two-inch blade that had broken off in his body when someone stabbed him.

The 46-year-old was attacked in Granby Street, Leicester, on February 1, while trying to stop two youths getting into his flat.

The youths then made their getaway on bicycles.

There was no such lucky escape for a burglar who got locked in a toilet by a pub landlord.

Vicky Townsend, owner of The Clarendon, in Clarendon Park, Leicester, gave evidence at court about finding a burglar in the pub loo.

She quickly fetched a key to lock the main toilet door and then called the police.

The burglar, who had decided to duck into the pub after stealing five laptops from a nearby primary school, was jailed for 36 weeks at Leicester Crown Court.

In one of the year's most tragic road deaths, mum-to-be Paige Jackson was hit by a car while walking to the bus stop in Saffron Lane on February 15.

A man high on drink and drugs was speeding along the road and struck her from behind. She died at the scene and an emergency caesarean section failed to save her baby.

The driver has since been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

The weather chaos returned in February and one man was knocked on the head by a large hoarding advertising NHS services.

The middle-aged man had been walking along Fosse Road North in winds of up to 60mph when he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ironically, the heavy 15ft x 30ft NHS sign was advising people to see their GP if they were feeling "under the weather".

First aider Nick Pridden said: "He had a nasty gash on his head and was treated by paramedics and taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary."

Meanwhile, a number of trains were cancelled after a fallen tree brought the Midland Mainline to a halt.

The month ended with news that a rugby club had been disciplined after three referees had their underpants ripped off by players after a game.

The officials were surrounded and had their underwear forcibly removed at the Aylestone St James RFC clubhouse, in Scraptoft.

The RFU carried out a disciplinary hearing and, finding the club guilty of misconduct, ordered it to pay £1,000 to charity and £150 to each official.

Looking to bag a bargain in the sales after Christmas? Here's a list of the shops opening times over New Year:

Highcross New Year's Eve: 9am-5pm. New Year's Day: closed.

Haymarket New Year's Day: closed.

John Lewis New Year's Eve: 9am-5pm. New Year's Day: closed.

M&S, Leicester New Year's Eve: 8am-6pm. New Year's Day: closed.

Boots, city centre New Year's Eve: 8.15am-6.30pm. New Year's Day: closed.

Fenwick New Year's Eve: 8.15am-6.30pm. New Year's Day: closed.

Fosse Park New Year's Eve: 9am-6pm. New Year's Day: 11am-5pm.

Whether it be by bus, train or plane, here are a list of contact numbers if you're thinking of travelling over the festive period:

Buses

Arriva 0344 800 4411

New Year's Eve Saturday service with last buses 6pm-7pm.

January 1 No service

Centrebus 0844 351 1120

New Year's Eve Normal service with early finishes as follows: 22A/B – 6.40pm from Leicester, 6.10 from Birstall, 6.24 from Evington; 54A – 6.45pm from Leicester General Hospital, 7.25pm from Beaumont Leys; UHL – 5.54pm from Hamilton, and 6pm from Beaumont Leys; 40 – 9.10pm from Melton and 10.05pm from Oakham will not operate. 41 – 9.05pm from Stamford and 10.15 from Oakham will not operate. 42 – 10.10pm and 0.10am from South Luffenham will not operate; 43 – 10.10pm and 0.10am from South Luffenham will not operate.

New Year's Day No service.

Normal service resumes January 2.

First Leicester 08456 020 121

New Year's Eve Saturday service with last buses about 6pm.

New Year's Day No service.

January 2 Saturday service.

Trains

East Midlands Trains 01904 383 180

New Years Eve Normal midweek service.

New Years Day A later than normal start and then a normal midweek service.

January 2 Normal midweek service.

Plane

East Midlands Airport 0330 0304.

A man is recovering in hospital after being  stabbed in a quiet residential street.

Officers, some of them armed, were called to Green Lane off Cromwell Crescent in Market Harborough shortly after 7.30pm on Tuesday.

Police said a man in his 40s was attacked in the street and suffered a single stab wound.

He was taken to hospital in Coventry where is condition is said to be stable.

A man was arrested and is still in police custody.

A neighbour, who did not wish to be named said: "It is understood the injured man was stabbed. There a blood stains on the road near where a red pick up truck has come to rest.

"We did not realise anything was happening until we saw blue lights flashing and 10 police cars arrived along with an ambulance."

Areas around a house in Green Lane were sealed off by tape. Officers have also covered a site where bloodstains are believed to have been discovered.

Residents have said the area which was cordoned off had been the location of drug dealing in the past.

Police officers conducted house to house investigations last night.

Detectives launched an for witnesses following the incident.

A police spokeswoman said: "The victim, a man in his 40s, received a single stab wound and is currently at the University Hospital in Coventry in a stable condition.

"A 58-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident and remains in police custody."

She confirmed that some of the officers involved in the incident were armed because the nature of what happened and the need to detain possible suspects. She would not confirm or deny if drugs were involved in what happened.

Detective Constable Eliot Burgess, the investigating officer, said: "We are keen to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the assault or the events leading up to it.

"If anyone has any information at all we would urge them to please contact police."

People who witnessed the incident or have any information are asked to call police on the 101 number, or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111."

Space scientists at the University of Leicester have been celebrating a milestone year for the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite.

The satellite was launched into orbit on December 10, 1999, and carried with it advanced X-ray cameras designed and built by academics at Leicester, as well as three of the largest X-ray telescopes ever flown.

Now, 15 years on, XMM-Newton is still sending back data about quasars, comets, planets and black holes.

Studies performed with XMM-Newton have already produced almost 4,000 scientific papers, making it the most productive of ESA's missions to date.

Dr Steve Sembay, of the university's Department of Physics and Astronomy, said: "XMM-Newton has been an outstanding success, exceeding all expectations in terms of the performance and longevity of its science payload.

"The University of Leicester was the lead UK institution of the consortium that provided two of the three CCD-based cameras which make up the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC), the prime instrument on XMM-Newton.

"It is a testament to the skill of the scientists and engineers within the university that EPIC continues to return near maximum scientific performance after 15 years of operations in the harsh environment of space."

Scientific highlights gleaned from XMM-Newton's 15 years of discovery include the construction of the largest catalogues of cosmic X-ray emitting objects ever.

Professor Mike Watson, who led the team that made the catalogues, said: "We are very proud to have made a significant contribution to our understanding of the Universe at X-ray wavelengths through the XMM-Newton catalogues.

"The latest "3XMM" catalogue released in 2013 contains over half a million entries and is a superb resource for exploring the high energy Universe."

The satellite has also made discoveries relating to the mysterious - and elusive - dark matter.

Leicester's Dr Andy Read said: "We have discovered potential signatures of solar axions - dark matter particle candidates - via analysis of almost the entire XMM-Newton archive.

"This signal - a slow variation in the X-ray background - has no conventional explanation, but is consistent with the idea that axions might be produced in the core of the Sun and then convert into X-rays - detectable by XMM-Newton - in the magnetic field of the Earth.

"If confirmed, this could potentially open a window to new physics, and be truly ground-breaking in helping to identify dark matter and to understand the true X-ray sky."

Scientists around the world want the XMM-Newton observatory to keep working for many more years. Its replacement, called Athena, will not be launched before 2025. Fortunately, XMM-Newton is in good shape and has plenty of manoeuvre gas to keep it observing for quite some time yet.

The high international demand for its observations will mean that Leicester's X-ray cameras have plenty more work to do.

Leicester City have made a £7.5million bid for Burnley striker Danny Ings, according to the Daily Mail.

City boss Nigel Pearson is in the market to boost his attacking options, with his side bottom of the Premier League and five points adrift safety.

Ings has scored four goals in 14 Premier League appearances for the Clarets as well as bagging 26 in all competitions last season.

Burnley manager Sean Dyche, though, says his striker is not for sale.

"The chairmen have come out and said he's going nowhere and I'm happy with that as a manager," he said. "We have open dialogue with him and his agent.

'The club have made it quite clear how much they value the players we've got and we're in a good position cash-wise because we haven't spent a lot of money."