I read with much interest the article about the plans drawn up by Leicester City Council to spruce up Town Hall Square to the tune of £100,000 (Mercury, January 27).

As the mayor Sir Peter Soulsby described it, we will all have noticed that the benches are worn out, the shrubs are tired, there's too much mud about and a lack of TLC which, as every landscaper will tell you, should have always been part of the council's parks department policy, anyway.

As a proud citizen of Leicester for 70-plus years, it's hard not to agree with the improvements.

However, the biggest eyesore right in front of stately-looking Town Hall has been ignored for the past 12 months – namely the layabouts and beggars converging with cans and bottles making a general anti-social nuisance of themselves, only a few yards from the beautiful stepped entrance to the Town Hall Register Office, spoiling so many lovely photos of newly-wedded couples.

When this problem was highlighted in the Mercury some months ago, all we read was Sir Peter Soulsby saying it was a matter for the police and the police spokesman saying it's a council matter.

In the meantime, I can imagine the undesirables licking their lips at the thought of expensive improvements to their daily meeting place.

How about providing them with picnic tables and music ?

Rodney Posnett, Leicester.

A total of 19 schools in Leicestershire and two in the city were closed yesterday because of the snow.

In the city, it was hardly a whiteout. There may have been an inch of snow – if that. There was more in the county, up to four inches in some parts of Leicestershire.

Should this really be enough to deprive children in 21 schools of a day's education?

The problem is that head teachers have to make an early call on whether to open their school or not.

The biggest issue they face is whether their staff, who in many case live many miles from the school, can make it into work in good time.

It was a difficult journey for some in the city and the majority of roads were perfectly clear.

In the county, drivers – and therefore these teachers – faced major problems.

Schools need enough teachers and staff to be able to look after their pupils safely.

Every parent wants their child at school, but they most certainly want their child to be safe at that school.

Schools always face plenty of scepticism when closing in these conditions. Many believe it is a decision taken too easily.

But education authorities have tightened the rules over the past few years to stop premature closures.

All head teachers will have to justify their closures to the relevant authorities – as well as parents. It would be harsh to condemn the closures without examining each individual case in detail.

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson visibly grimaced when reporters wanted to talk about his team's thrilling 5-3 victory over Manchester United in September.

It's not that Pearson is being miserable or trying to diminish his team's achievements, but he knows the win counts for nothing in the return fixture at Old Trafford this afternoon.

We agree with him. The focus is now on the rest of the season, City fans don't want that enthralling game to be the highlight and defining moment of the season.

A disgraced former magistrate who lived a life of luxury on the proceeds of tax fraud and money laundering has been jailed.

Zaher Somani, a former magistrate in Loughborough, built up a huge property portfolio, sent his children to private schools and frequented casinos on the back of his crimes.

However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators unmasked him as a tax evader and he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday to be jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Four co-conspirators, including his wife, appeared alongside the 58-year-old and were all given suspended prison sentences.

The court heard Somani, of White Street, Quorn, committed the offences while he was the owner of two Loughborough taxi companies, A1 and Charnwood Taxis, which operated 30 private hire vehicles.

HMRC investigators found between 2004 and 2011, he concealed his true income on self-assessment tax returns.

The scale of the fraud was estimated at £250,000.

Family members helped hide his firms' earnings by using bank accounts and assets in Jersey, Canada, India, Turkey and Morocco.

Somani's wife Ashraf (43), brother Pyarali (61), sister-in-law Shabina (50) and officer manager Darren Green (44) were also sentenced for their part in the conspiracy.

Sentencing, Judge Sampson said: "Zaher Somani lied to the bitter end and has been shamed and disgraced.

"The offending spanned many years while sitting as a magistrate, pretending to be a man of integrity and honesty. The hypocrisy could not have been greater."

Stuart Taylor, assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC, said: "Zaher Somani was a serving magistrate at the time of these offences, a man supposed to uphold the law.

"Instead, he was stealing from the taxpayer.

"This man and his family lived well beyond their legitimate means, until HMRC uncovered their extensive tax evasion, associated money laundering and benefit fraud.

"Somani and his family failed to pay their full taxes, at the expense of honest taxpayers."

Zaher's wife, Ashraf Somani, 44, also of White Street, Quorn, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work. Along with her husband, she admitted tax evasion totalling £250,000 for self assessment income tax fraud, unpaid VAT and tax credits fraud.

Zaher's brother, Pyarali Somani, (61), of Mayo Close, Loughborough, worked as a taxi driver for both companies. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work. He admitted self assessment income tax fraud and tax credits fraud totalling £60,000.

Pyarali's wife, Shabina Somani, (51), also of Mayo Close, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months. She was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work. She admitted tax credits fraud jointly with her husband totalling £16,049.

Taxi driver Darren Green, (43), of Beaumanor Road, Leicester, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and given a nine-month supervision order. He admitted income tax fraud and fraudulently claiming tax credits worth £11,229 and involvement in tax evasion totalling £250,000.

Icy showers are set to continue throughout this morning with the weather turning dry but cold in the afternoon.

The temperatures are expected to get to almost freezing tonight with more snow expected in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Temperatures are not likely to rise above 3C (37F) on Sunday and another big freeze is expected on Sunday night and into Monday morning.

Leicester City are set to sign Stoke City defender Robert Huth on loan for the rest of the season after productive talks with his representatives yesterday.

However, Huth will not be available to make his City debut until the trip to Arsenal on February 10 after being hit with a two-game ban by the FA over comments he made on social media earlier this month.

The 30-year-old German international was at City's training ground for most of yesterday to finalise the details after being given permission by Stoke manager Mark Hughes.

City and Huth's representatives were finalising the details before his loan switch is formally announced and Hughes said yesterday at a press conference that he didn't expect any hitches.

""The likelihood of him playing for us in the coming weeks was low and he accepted that," said Hughes.

"Not surprisingly there was a lot of interest in him. We see it as an opportunity to get games and get back to the level he was before his injury (14 months ago).

"The reason he's gone out on loan is because we have got almost 18 months of his contract to run."

City want Huth to bolster their defensive options during the vital relegation run-in, while Stoke want Huth to get some match action after making just three appearances this season after recovering from a knee injury he picked up in November 2013.

The injury required two surgeries and he returned to action in August but has made just one start and three substitute appearances, only one of which was in the Premier League.

However, Huth will have to wait a little longer to shake off the rustiness after the FA announced their decision yesterday after Huth was charged for breaching FA rules over comments he made on social media.

Huth posted a series of Tweets earlier this month responding to explicit photographs challenging users to guess the gender of people posted by another Twitter account. These were then revealed to be either male or female.
In a statement, the FA said: "The Stoke City defender was charged in relation to comments which were indecent and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, contrary to FA Rule E3(1).

"Further to this, it was considered an "Aggravated Breach" as defined in Rule E3(2), as it included a reference to gender and/or gender reassignment.

"Huth was also fined £15,000 and ordered to complete a mandatory education course."

Even though Huth is not registered for City in time for today's trip to face Manchester United, he is registered still for Stoke so their home clash with Queens Park Rangers will serve as the first of the two games.

Should he complete his move he will also miss City's home clash with Crystal Palace next Saturday.

Trains to and from London will be terminating at Hampstead Thameslink instead of St Pancras today and tomorrow.

Engineering work has closed the London Station and passengers arriving in the capital will be informed of how to get to St Pancras using the Underground.

Next week there will be no trains stopping at Loughborough. A bus service will take passengers between the station and Leicester and East Midlands Parkway.

For more information visit www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk

A faulty electric blanket caused a fire at a home in Stonesby.

Fire crews from Melton were called to Chapel Lane in the village, which is in the Vale of Belvoir, at 7pm on Friday night.

The fire service said the blaze caused "moderate" damage to the bedroom and that no one was injured in the incident.

Fire crews were called after arsonists set alight a pile of wooden pallets.

The blaze happened in St Bartholomews Way, just outside Melton. Crews from the town were called at 9.45pm on Friday night.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the police on 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

There are 12 restaurants and food businesses in Leicester which currently have a zero rating for food hygiene - including premises in Narborough Road, Braunstone Gate, Evington Road and Belgrave Road.

And 220 across the city only have a rating of one, the second-worst category, following food hygiene inspections.

The Food Standards Agency says that businesses which are given zero or one must make urgent or major improvements to hygiene standards.

But in better news, some 1,241 venues in the city have been given top marks by environmental health officers and received a rating of five.

Businesses are inspected on how how hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored; the condition of the structure of the buildings such as the cleanliness, layout, lighting and ventilation; and how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.

Find out which restaurants got which grade by clicking on the link here

Things are still horribly wrong in East Street.

Having left the Dover Street car park after another excellent performance at the Little Theatre (Last of the Red Hot Lovers), we encountered total chaos in East Street!

Cars ignoring that the upper part of the street is two-way and making two lanes of traffic down to the London Road junction; cars ignoring the hatch markings that show it is only one lane on to London Road and squeezing down in two lanes; wheels up on the pavement and risking collisions; and cars still turning left even though there is now a big sign to say "no left turn"!

V M Stewart, Narborough.

A new mini Morrisons opened its doors in Market Street in the city centre today.

The store has taken the place of the former Clintons cards shop, which closed its doors in July 2012 when the business went into administration.

The new Morrisons Local, which has created about 20 new jobs, includes a hot food counter, a salad bar, a cashpoint, a bakery and a coffee bar, as well as other normal supermarket products.

Dominic Gomersall, managing director of jewellery shop Lumbers in Market Street and a member of the local traders group, said the store was welcome but that he would have preferred a more "upmarket" retailer.

He said: "I think it's great for the street to have a full shop there again.

"It's been a very quick shop fit that's revived a tired-looking building and I've been in there to wish them all well and I think it looks great inside.

"But it's sad the street will not be reverting to the level quality it use to have.

"It used to be the Bond Street of the Midlands and I don't think that's going to be revisited."

Dean Newman of Newmans Restaurant, which has been in the street for more than 25 years, said: "It's going to help the street.

"It's a positive change and it shows things are moving forward."

Shoppers at the store were pleased to have somewhere new.

John-Paul Smith, 38, of Aylestone, Leicester, was impressed.

He said: "I shop at the Morrisons in Freemen's Common but to have a shop here in the city centre is fantastic.

"They've got a nice hot food section in the middle and I really didn't expect that.

"It's very bright inside - not just a dingy corner shop."

Michelle Clark, 35, of Blaby, who works in the street, said: "It's nice to have something there again.

"I missed Clintons when it went but it's handy to have a Morrisons.

"It's also nice to see something different to a Tesco!"

Cases heard before Leicester Magistrates' Court include:

Scott Irvine (20), of Martival, New Humberstone, Leicester, pleaded guilty to using a vehicle without third party insurance at Deepdale, Leicester, on October 19. He was fined £140 with £85 costs, a £20 victim surcharge and was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 12 months.

Tatenda Leonard Kandi (27), of The Maltings, Hamilton, pleaded guilty to using a vehicle without third party insurance in Hinckley Road, Leicester, on August 9. He was fined £275 with £85 costs, a £28 victim surcharge and six penalty points were put on his driving licence.

Daljeet Kullar (35), of Chestnut Drive, Oadby, was proven guilty in absence of failing to give information relating to the identification of a driver alleged to have committed an offence at Leicester on June 13. She was fined £600 with £85 costs, a £60 victim surcharge and six points were put on her driving licence.

Benjamin James Bailey McMillan (19), of Sandy Rise, Wigston, was proven guilty in absence of exceeding 30mph on the A5199 Leicester Road, Wigston, on April 30. He was fined £200 with £85 costs, a £20 victim surcharge and three points were put on his driving licence.

Peter Moon (44), of Alexander Avenue, Earl Shilton, was proven guilty in absence of using a vehicle without third party insurance in Hinckley Road, Leicester, on July 22. He was fined £600 with £85 costs, a £20 victim surcharge and six penalty points were put on his driving licence. Moon was also fined £50 for using a vehicle without a valid test certificate.

Lauren Park (24), of Noel Street, Leicester, was proven guilty in absence of driving without due care and attention in Derby Road, Loughborough, on May 21. She was fined £600 with £85 costs, a £60 victim surcharge and nine points were put on her licence.

Abdul Hamid Dakri (65), of Thurncourt Road, Thurnby Lodge, pleaded guilty to exceeding 30mph in Uppingham Road, Leicester, on May 8. He was fined £80 with £20 victim surcharge and three penalty points on his driving licence.

A new search has been launched for a lottery player who has not claimed a £1 million prize.

De Montfort University student and National Lottery winner Kat Mountain was at the National Space Centre on Saturday to launched the campaign to find the winner.

The National Lottery has made a giant cheque of the £1 million prize and Kat, who scooped £70,000 on a scratchcard in October last year, was photographed with it.

The winning ticket, drawn on Tuesday, December 23, was number CHB485448 in the EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker.

The ticket-holder has until Sunday, June, 21, to claim their prize.

A National Lottery spokesperson said: "We're desperate to find this mystery ticket-holder and unite them with their winnings.

"This amazing prize could really make a huge difference to somebody's life.

"Try checking in the pockets of clothing, in wallets, bags and down the back of the sofa. We have the champagne on ice and our fingers crossed that the lucky winner comes forward to claim their win."

Kat said: "I won £70,000 and it has made a huge difference to me, my family and my friends.

"I still intend to finish my studies debt-free and I've kept my promise to buy the DeMontfort University Fencing Club equipment for new members.

"£1 million is an amazing amount and will do so much good. I hope someone comes forward very soon."

Anyone who believes they have the winning ticket should call the National Lottery Line on 0845 910 0000. 

A former restaurant manager has been fined after inspectors found rat droppings, a live mouse and other food safety breaches at his business.

Mustac Abdulkadir, who used to run Blue Peters Spice, in Law Street, Belgrave, Leicester, admitted nine offences at Leicester Magistrates' Court.

The restaurant, now running under different management, was given a zero hygiene rating by Leicester City Council - the lowest possible - following an environmental health inspection in August.

Inspectors Alison Cadmore and Andrew Woods found rat droppings and a live mouse in a store room and a fly-catcher full of dead insects.

The court heard they also discovered dirty, cracked floor tiling patched with old cardboard and a tandoori oven containing pieces of cracked cardboard which could contaminate food cooked in it.

A microwave's control knob and plate and a fridge door were all held together with tape.

The court was told that Abdulkadir was the only person in the kitchen with any sort of protective clothing - a hair-net - while one woman, peeling garlic, wore a lot of jewellery

The officers' other findings included raw meat and fish found next to cooked and ready-to-eat food in fridges, rodent-nibbled bags of refuse with flies and rat droppings in the yard.

Hannah Price, for the council, said Abdulkadir was interviewed on September 3 and said the business had been taken over from August 5.

"He said it was difficult to say how the rats got into the storeroom.

"He blamed the waiter and partner, the lack of space and the staff for not cleaning up properly and said that the reason why the workers had no protective clothing was because it was all being laundered when the officers inspected and claimed the jewellery-wearer was on her first day there and had since left."

When health inspectors visited the restaurant on September 8 they met the new owner with Abdulkadir.

Ms Price said: "A number of improvements had been made and the defendant was part of the staff as a waiter."

Abdulkadir admitted nine counts of exposing for sale for human consumption food which fails to comply with food safety requirement.

Each count was dated August 5 last year.

He was fined £250 for each of the nine charges - £2,250 in total - and also ordered to pay £450 costs and £25 victim surcharge.

Through a Gujarati interpreter Abdulkadir (53) of Haddon Street, Spinney Hills, Leicester, said: "I am guilty - there is nothing to say. I had some people as staff who were not very helpful. I am working there part time and have no partnership in the business."

Leicester City were unable to repeat their heroics of earlier this season as they suffered a convincing 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

A poor first-half performance left Nigel Pearson's side with far too much to do, as strikes from Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao and an own goal from City captain Wes Morgan have United a three-goal lead at the break.

City were right to feel pretty aggrieved on 26 minutes when Van Persie, who was a yard offside, latched on to Daley Blind's ball to fire past Mark Schwarzer.

But they could have no complaints about the second, five minutes later, as Angel Di Maria was afforded too much space and his shot was bundled home by Falcao after Schwarzer's initial save.

Morgan then compounded his side's misery a minute before half-time when he headed the ball into his net from a United corner.

City were much-improved in the second half and, while a comeback never seemed likely, they did grab a late consolation as Marcin Wasilewski scored his first goal for the club, heading home Marc Albrighton's cross.

Pearson had clearly seen enough from the side that started in the FA Cup victory at Tottenham, with Liam Moore, who limped out after 20 miserable minutes at White Hart Lane, the only player not to start at Old Trafford.

That meant a first Premier League start for the club for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, chosen ahead of Ben Hamer, and for Andrej Kramaric.

United quickly imposed their authority on the game but, despite an almost total dominance of possession, they struggled to break City down.

But the visitors were their own worst enemy, seemingly unable to string a handful of passes together before giving it away and inviting pressure back on themselves.

The initial warning signs came on 16 minutes when Van Persie playing in Falcao into the box, only for the danger to be averted by the sliding frame of Wasilewski.

Those warnings were left unheeded, though, as Blind's long ball over the top found Van Persie, in behind City's defence, and the Dutchman fired right-footed into the far corner.

City's defenders pointed in desperation to the linesman but their complaints were ignored despite replays showing Van Persie was a clear yard offside.

The goal seemed to shake City, who found themselves two goals down just five minutes later.

Van Persie turned provider, feeding Di Maria down the left in acres of space. Schwarzer did well to get down to his left to beat away the initial shot, but could only parry it back into the six-yard box and, despite the efforts of Danny Simpson and Wasilewski, Falcao was on hand to bundle the ball home.

What began as injustice, turned quickly into a procession and City's dismal half was encapsulated when Morgan headed past his own goalkeeper on the stroke of half-time.

Esteban Cambiasso replaced Jamie Vardy at the break as Pearson rearranged his pack into a 4-1-4-1 formation.

And to their credit, City improved greatly in the second half. How much of that was down to United taking their foot off the pedal is open to debate, but the response was certainly admirable.

Kramaric and Leonardo Ulloa were replaced by David Nugent and Marc Albrighton on the hour as it looked like Pearson was content to get out of Manchester just the three goals down.

But both substitutes had an attacking impact as Nugent pounced on a poor back pass from Phil Jones but was denied by an alert De Gea, before Albrighton played a key part in City's consolation.

His superb cross was met by Wasilewski at the back post, who nodded home for his first goal in a City shirt.

Not only did it add a semblance of respectability to the scoreline, it also kept City's record of not being defeated by more than two goals this season intact.

Teams:

Manchester United: (4-4-2) De Gea, Valencia (Mata - 77'), Jones, Rojo, Shaw, Blind, Januzaj, Di Maria, Rooney, van Persie (McNair - 68'), Falcao (Wilson - 80')

Subs not used: Valdes, Smalling, Fellaini, Herrera

Leicester City: (4-2-3-1) Schwarzer, Simpson, Wasilewski, Morgan, De Laet, Drinkwater, King, Vardy (Cambiasso - 45'), Kramarić (Albrighton - 62'), Schlupp, Ulloa (Nugent - 62')

Subs not used: Hamer, Konchesky, Upson, Hammond

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Attendance: 75,329

Leicester Tigers re-gained local bragging rights from their bitter rivals to stay on target for the LV= Cup semi-finals.

Tries from Seb De Chaves and Laurence Pearce in the first half, helped Tigers make it three from three in the competition with a 17-8 victory to stay top of Pool 3.

Saints lost their unbeaten record in the competition and spent most of the day defending resolutely to stay in the game.

Leicester's poor handling helped the visitors' cause but the home side could not shake the Saints off and Howard Packman's 64^th-minute score made for a nervous finish.

Tigers got off to the sort of start they would have been hoping for and scored the game's opening try after just five minutes.

Owen Williams turned down the chance of a kick at goal and went to the corner. Tigers caught the line-out and drove to within a metre of the Saints' line and recycled ball was finished by lock Seb De Chaves.

Williams converted to make it 7-0 and the home side stayed just about on top as few sides took any risks and kicks dominated procedings.

The visitors got on the board on 19 minutes after a penalty at a scrum and fly-half Will Hooley struck the ball over from 25 metres out.

Tigers looked dangerous with ball in hand but kept killing themselves with poor handling as knock-ons ruined good possession.

Meanwhile, Saints half-backs Joel Hodgson and Hooley impressed with good game-management and execution.

Tigers broke a midfield deadlock with one of their tries of the season.

Youngster Jack Roberts ran a fantastic line out of his own half and Williams put him through a gap. The former Rotherham man took the ball down to near the Saints line, from where Williams delivered another perfect pass to put No.8 Pearce in for a try.

Williams' kick made it 14-3 to the hosts.

Northampton finished the half on top and spent five minutes of injury time camped on the Tigers line with a number of scrums on their put in.

But Leicester held firm, forced the ball into the Saints' back division and they knocked-on to end the half.

Leicester got the momentum back in the second half and controlled things for the whole of the third quarter. But their inability to hold onto the ball killed them time and time again in attack.

Saints had their fair share of luck at times as two Jamie Gibson blocks of Hodgson box-kicks fell right back into the scrum-half's hands, enabling him to clear his lines.

The visitors continued to defend well though under pressure. Tigers' backs had good depth to them and were hitting the gainline at pace – something their attack has lacked for large parts of the season.

Then, on one of their only attacks of the half, Saints got right back into it. Substitute Sam Olver sent a lovely grubber kick behind the Tigers backs and Howard Packman collected and dotted down.

Having been victim of two Saints comebacks in their last two meetings, there was suddenly a nervous disposition among the 24,000 sell-out crowd – the biggest ever crowd for an LV= Cup pool game.

Yet, Tigers maintained their dominance and despite a few more ill-timed ball-spills, Williams' 76^th-minute penalty calmed the nerves and Tigers won 17-8.

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson admitted his side's poor first-half display cost them dearly as they fell to a convincing 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Pearson's men found themselves 3-0 down at half-time, courtesy of strikes from Robin van Persie, Radamal Falcao and an own goal from City captain Wes Morgan.

Van Persie gave United the lead on 26 minutes, despite being yard offside, before Falcao doubled the hosts' lead from close range five minutes later.

Morgan rounded off his side's dismal first-half display when he headed into his own net just before the break.

City improved greatly after the break, and grabbed a late consolation through Marcin Wasilewski, but the visitors had simply given themselves too much to do.

"We don't feel like we have given ourselves the best chance of getting something out the game today. We didn't do enough with the ball," said Pearson.

"We performed better in the second half but we didn't really manage the ball well enough in the first half.

"They are a side with a lot of very good players and managed the ball very well today.

"It was tough. The first goal was offside and we didn't do great for the second one."

City have still not been beaten by more than two goals this season but that record looked severely in doubt going into the second half.

But the visitors improved, as United began to coast, and Pearson said his side can take heart from that going into a crucial home clash with Crystal Palace next Saturday.

"You can take encouragement from it, just from the pure maths of the situation," said Pearson. "Three down, I am sure people can smell a bit of a heavy defeat coming on.

"To get a goal back, these sorts of details are important."

Pearson had started with the same side that had come from a goal down to beat Tottenham in the FA Cup last weekend, with the exception of Liam Moore who had limped off injured at White Hart Lane.

Esteban Cambiasso came on at half-time in place of Jamie Vardy as Pearson switched from 4-2-3-1 to 4-1-4-1 before strikers Leonardo Ulloa and Andrej Kramaric were withdrawn on the hour.

"I think it was important to get an extra man in midfield, which we did with Esteban going on," said Pearson.

"What that does is ask one of your forwards to play as a wide striker, but it was as much about getting fresh legs on.

Leo played up top in the first half, and with the three behind, Andrej had to do more work out of possession. We had to because we didn't do enough with the ball.

"It was important to get some fresh legs on, which we did. They had a positive impact."

The Met Office has issued a cold weather warning but is not predicting any snow for the next few days.

Its current forecast is anticipating temperatures getting no higher than 4C (39F), with the wind chill factor making it feel less than zero.

It is expected to drop below zero tonight and on Monday and Tuesday nights. There is a chance of snow for Leicester on Wednesday evening.

People will be able to attend a wider range of productions in a 170-year old former Victorian chapel in the heart of the city from today.

A £300,000 revamp of the Hansom Hall and its surroundings will open it up for a wide range of entertainment.

The hall, designed by celebrated architect Joseph Hansom, will start by hosting around 50 shows as part of this year's Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival, including the opening night and preview show on Wednesday February 4.

On Thursday, City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby officially opened the project which includes a new entrance through the old lending library in Belvoir Street.

Sir Peter said: "Our desire to make Joseph Hansom's stunning Victorian hall more accessible to the public also gave us an opportunity to improve facilities at the Adult Education College."

It also includes a new reception area on the first floor of the former library which will serve as a ticket office for events at the hall.

It will also provide a smart new front-of-house and enrolment area for the Adult Education College.

Sir Peter added: "Both the hall and the college needed a proper reception area, new toilets and an attractive café – and this scheme allows all these essential facilities to be shared.

"I'm delighted that we've been able to find a way to open up one of Leicester's architectural gems and I'm proud that the investment we've made in Hansom Hall will secure its long-term future as a unique and accessible performance venue."

The hall will also continue to be the venue for the Leicester Theatre Group's productions.

Theatre group spokesman Jeremy Waterfield said from March 16 they would be staging Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods.

He said: "The whole of the hall will be transformed into a fairytale wood. The whole production will be one of local people volunteering their time to help bring the magic of the arts to young people in their community."

A shoplifter lied to the police by assuming a friend's identity when arrested.

It resulted in proceedings being taken against an innocent man, who has since forgiven him, Leicester Crown Court was told.

Taha Mohammed Aziz (32) admitted perverting the course of justice, by giving false details, on April 15.

He was jailed for 18 months.

Aziz also pleaded guilty to stealing £258 worth of perfume from Debenhams store, in Leicester's Highcross shopping centre, on the same date.

Philip Gibbs, prosecuting, said that Aziz, a father of two, of Elgar Gardens, Nottingham, adopted a friend's identity after being caught red-handed by security staff.

The friend protested his innocence when summonsed to attend court. The original arresting officer went to the friend's address, in Nottingham, and confirmed he was not the shoplifter.

Police later identified Aziz from his custody picture.

He appeared in court yesterday via a live video link from jail.

Aziz, in a letter read out, said he lost both parents in Iraq when he was 16.

He committed the shoplifting due to uncertainty about his immigration status in the UK, which was under review.

He said: "I'm ashamed of my behaviour and due to my actions an innocent man was brought before the court."

Nicola Hornby, mitigating, said: "The defendant's friend, albeit not close, who was wrongly accused has attended court today to support him and holds no grudge."

Judge Nicholas Dean, QC, said the friend's compassion towards Aziz was considerate, "but not very relevant" because of the seriousness of the offence.

He told the defendant: "When arrested you gave details of a friend and he was at some risk of being convicted of something he hadn't done.

"Perverting the course of justice and exposing someone to such a risk overshadows the offence of stealing the perfume – and you're a prolific shoplifter."

"It may be your immigration status has contributed to your continuing to shoplift, but it's no excuse."