South Leicester made it nine National Three Midlands league wins in a row with a six-try 40-24 victory at Broadstreet.

South were slow out of the blocks as the home side scored 17 points in the opening half-hour with two penalties, two tries and a conversion.

It was only when South threatened the Broadstreet line consistently that they started to look dangerous. Their opening score was posted by centre Andy Gates, who burst through the middle to go over under the posts for fly-half Joe Glover to convert.

South went over again as lock Will Ward charged off a ruck to touch down. Glover was unable to convert and the home side led 17-12 at the break.

The visitors were revitalised after the interval and tore into Broadstreet. The dynamic rolling maul made an appearance and captain Luke Coltman was on hand to go over. Glover added a fine conversion for South to take the lead.

Leading scorer Sam Greasley finished off a flowing move to extend the lead, while Glover kicked the conversion.

South lost No.8 Chris Bale to injury but Aaron Langan came on and scored almost immediately. Glover again slotted the extras.

Broadstreet grabbed a converted try before Gates added South's sixth try after more confusion in defence, with Glover hitting the conversion.

Hinckley and Syston put in battling performances but suffered defeats to leaders Ampthill and Bournville respectively.

Josh Smith kicked two penalties for Hinckley in their 21-6 loss, while Syston went agonisingly close to a vital win before losing 33-29.

Aylestone Athletic ended the year in style as they beat Corby 45-5 in Midlands Four East (South).

James Bennett was their hat-trick hero while Joe Harris, Guillaume Altmeyer, Mark Corley and Phil Edwards also scored to ensure Athletic ended 2012 in sixth place.

Heavy rain put paid to the majority of league fixtures involving Leicestershire sides.

The highest-profile game to go was Leicester Lions' trip to Birmingham and Solihull as half of the National Two North fixture list bit the dust.

Market Bosworth and Loughborough suffered postponements in Midlands One East at Ilkeston and at home to Towcestrians respectively.

The Melton versus Coalville Midlands Two East (North) derby also went.

All fixtures in Midlands Two East (South) will have to be rearranged, including the derby between Vipers and Oadby Wyggs.

Most of those matches will be pencilled in for January 19.

Aussie flanker Julian Salvi has revealed the "drive to succeed" at Leicester Tigers was one of the main reasons he agreed to extend his stay at the club.

The 27-year-old agreed a new deal last week, which will keep him at Tigers until at least the summer of 2015.

With the former Brumbie one of the first names on the teamsheet each week, news of his decision has been warmly greeted by Tigers fans on social networking sites.

Salvi, who also admitted that he was subject of offers from other clubs before committing to Leicester, said there was no reason to go anywhere else.

"I have agreed terms for the next few years and that is great news for my family," he said.

"I am just happy that we have come to terms with everything. What more could you want?

"When you are going through negotiations there are a few other teams that pop-up but, at the end of the day, why would you want to move if you are playing rugby at a great club?

"It was an easy decision in the end.

"The culture here encouraged me to stay. You are driven to succeed and you are driven to win.

"We have the best coaches and the best support staff and, as a player, that is all you can ask for.

"If you are in an environment where you have the best of the best, and you are enjoying your rugby, you can only continue to improve and develop as a player.

"It's only good for your rugby. I have really enjoyed the last few years and I am looking ahead now."

Salvi is now be looking ahead to the visit of Gloucester on Saturday as Tigers seek revenge for the narrow defeat at Kingsholm a few weeks ago.

With Gloucester just behind Leicester in the Aviva Premiership table, Tigers would put some serious distance between themselves and the Cherry & Whites with victory at Welford Road.

Salvi says his team need to learn the lessons of the 31-9 win at the Madejski Stadium last weekend, when they allowed the home side back into the game having taken control of the match.

"We made it tougher for ourselves than we would have liked," he said. "We tried to force passes when we shouldn't have and we needed to tighten up our game a bit.

"I wish I could say why these things happen. We just try and force things a bit at times and we need to do the easy things first instead of trying to score off first and second phase all the time.

"It should be a cracking atmosphere at Welford Road."

Steve Beaton's Ladbrokes World Championship campaign ended at the second-round stage when he lost to no.3 seed James Wade.

Wade led the match twice only for the Earl Shilton thrower to hit back on both occasions to leave matters finely balanced after the first four sets.

However, Wade managed to edge the fifth set with a 130 check-out before taking out a 120 finish to end Beaton's hopes in a dramatic decider to the sixth.

Wade held throw with a 78 finish to win the opening leg before breaking Beaton's throw at the first opportunity by taking out a 121 check-out.

He continued the good finishing as he took out 72 to win the set in the next and establish an early lead.

Beaton won his first leg of the match at the start of the second set by converting a 64 finish before Wade held throw in the next to level.

The 1996 Lakeside Champion then hit double 16 to win the third leg and put together an excellent 14-darter, against the throw, to level the match.

Wade hit back at the start of the third set as he took out an 80 finish before breaking throw on double 10 in the next, and followed a 180 with tops in leg three to take the set and move 2-1 up.

Beaton won the opening leg of the fourth set before breaking throw, as he landed double 16 to complete a 68 finish, to move two legs up. He then took out 84 to win the set without reply and square the game.

Wade held throw to win the opening leg of the fifth set before Beaton took out a 78 finish, on double 18, to level, and the next two were shared before the left-hander pinned a superb 130 check-out to edge the set.

The beginning of the sixth set saw Beaton miss four darts at doubles, but Wade was unable to capitalise as he missed two attempts at double 10, allowing his opponent back in.

Wade hit tops at the first time of asking to win the second leg, and then won the third with a showpiece 100 check-out.

That put Wade a leg away from a place in the last 16, but Beaton showed his class as he won the fourth leg against the throw with a fabulous 12-darter.

Beaton kicked off the deciding leg with back-to-back 140s and left 122 after nine darts – but burst his score with his next visit and then failed to take out the finish to allow Wade in to take out 120 for the triumph

A cat's first Christmas, festive candles and a Santa signpost are among the latest entries to our Festive Fun photo competition.

Readers have been sending yuletide snaps to the Mercury's picture desk – and there is still time to get your entries in for the chance of winning £100 of Jessops vouchers.

We are looking for new and exciting ways of interpreting the theme – and photographers have until January 6 to get creative.

The latest entries include two pictures from Julian Barr, of Broughton Astley, who submitted one photo of his "favourite Christmas deccy" and another of his cat, Jasper.

Mr Barr said the picture showed "young Jasper's first sight and feel of snow, along with his first Christmas".

Jeff Wharton's artistic shots feature a diamond-shaped candle display and a view of Christmas lights from inside Leicester's Town Hall.

Staff at The Lawns residential home, Oadby, got into the festive spirit during a visit to nearby Palmers Garden Centre. Resident Bill Hayes posed with a Santa signpost for the entry, taken by Lawns manager Shannon Newham on her BlackBerry.

Entrants can submit up to six photos and must include a short caption explaining each picture, along with their name, address and phone number.

Put "Festive Fun photo competition" in the subject box and e-mail your pictures to:

picturedesk@leicestermercury.co.uk

Full terms and conditions at: www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/ termsandconditions.html

Leicester City defender Zak Whitbread believes his side are still well in with a chance of automatic promotion despite their recent run of results.

Their 1-0 defeat to Cardiff on Saturday saw them fall 10 points behind the league leaders and seven points behind second-place Hull. But City have the chance to make inroads on the gap between them and the Tigers today.

Whitbread is no stranger to this situation, having achieved back-to-back promotions with Norwich. While in League One, Norwich were more than 10 points behind league leaders Leeds at the end of December before going on to win the division.

"I've been in a lot worse positions half-way through the season than we are now, and we've gone on to win the league by 15 points," said Whitbread. "We are still in there massively, you look at teams like Reading last year and they went on a great run.

"It's not going our way at the minute and we will work at the things we can affect and we will kick on.

"It helps knowing personally in situations like this that it is never over. At Norwich when we went up (to the Premier League), we were never running away with it in the top two spaces. Around this stage, I think we were not too far off."

Two sports teams and a builder were victims in a break-in at a pavilion.

The Glenfield Sports Ground pavilion, in Gynsill Lane, Glenfield, is being rebuilt and builders, as well as the teams based there, keep their equipment in large metal containers.

Thieves first smashed open the gates to the sports field before ripping padlocks off all four containers and helping themselves to the valuables.

Builder Keith Beesley, who has been contracted to rebuild the pavilion, lost up to £4,000 worth of tools in the raid.

"They took a few nail guns and saws and the things they could sell on easily," he said.

"It's between £3,000 and £4,000 worth, probably.

"If I claim on my insurance it will only drive my premium up, though, so it's just a cost I have to absorb.

"I have experienced this sort of thing about three times a year for the past 20 years.

"We had a break-in at the same site earlier this year and you just get used to it."

Glenfield Town Football Club had its container broken into, but it is not known if anything was taken.

Anstey and Glenfield Cricket Club also had the lock smashed off its container, but nothing was taken.

Club chairman John Sutherington said he was annoyed that thieves would target a sports pavilion.

He said: "You flog your guts out all year and then this happens.

"We've not got much money and it's just a huge annoyance.

"They broke open the padlocked container and that will be about £30 to get fixed, but they didn't take any of our equipment.

"With all the builder's stuff they probably thought they had enough.

"The football club container still had some stuff in it, but I don't know if they lost anything yet."

Tony Robotham, clerk of Glenfield Parish Council, which is responsible for the site, said: "It's really very annoying that when you're trying to do things for the community you become the target for people who want to just make an easy living.

"The pavilion is currently being rebuilt and the builders lost a substantial amount of equipment to these thieves.

"They cut the front gate open to get their vehicle in and that's had to be replaced.

"Luckily, we can do our own welding, so the financial cost to us isn't too much."

The incident happened at some time on Thursday night of last week.

The site of a former brewery could be used as a temporary car park.

The 19th century All Saints Brewery, next to Highcross shopping centre, in Leicester, was demolished this year after repeated arson attacks left the building badly damaged.

Plans have now been lodged to create a 71-space car park on the land, off Vaughan Way.

Applicant Tansuk Patel originally hoped the car park would be used by John Lewis staff and wanted to make a deal with the Highcross shopping centre's flagship store.

The deal would have released a number of spaces in the nearby multi-storey used by employees, but the company decided it could not formally back the scheme.

However, Mr Patel's agent, John Rickman, said the car park could replace about 50 spaces that are set to be removed from St Nicholas Place with the creation of the £4 million Jubilee Square.

Leicester City Council's planners are considering the scheme, but city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said he was not convinced.

He said: "As a council, we have a policy of turning down this kind of car park.

"I would encourage the owner to try to find some more permanent development for that site rather than a car park.

"As for it replacing spaces from Jubilee Square, I think there are alternatives that are much nearer and that would be much more suitable."

The mayor has said he has a specific idea about replacement car parks in that area, but has declined to reveal what they are.

Mr Rickman said: "It is just round the corner from Jubilee Square and it would be ideal for that purpose. The loss of parking spaces has been a very big issue and here is a chance to provide some more.

"Although John Lewis eventually decided not to get involved, its staff could still use the spaces.

"The alternative would be for it to remain as an area of wasteland until long-term development comes along, and that is no use to anyone.

"It would be for a couple of years. If the car park opened, it would generate an income for the council through rates."

Leicester Civic Society chairman Stuart Bailey is also unconvinced.

"There is a detailed council document on parking needs and it shows that there is enough provision in that part of the city," he said.

"It would not be necessary and I would hope for some other kind of sympathetic development on that site."

Former Leicestershire County Council leader David Parsons has been named a runner-up for the national title of Pinhead of the Year.

The award was set up by the TaxPayers' Alliance, which ran a public vote to find the politician who has shown the most disregard for the public's cash.

Coun Parsons was nominated after it emerged he could have saved more than £24,000 of public money had he taken the train on more than 200 trips to London rather than County Hall's chauffeur-driven car.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey took the title after receiving 42.4 per cent of the votes cast.

Lord Patten of Barnes, the chairman of the BBC Trust, and I'm a Celebrity MP Nadine Dorries were also runners-up.

Votes were cast online in the 10 days to Christmas Eve.

The TaxPayers' Alliance also ran a pin up of the year contest for those deemed to have saved public money.

The winner was Tory backbench MP Mark Reckless, who successfully tabled the amendment to a parliamentary motion which saw the House of Commons demand a cut in the European Union budget.

Jonathan Isaby, political director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, a right-of-centre campaign group, said: "We have always believed that as well as making examples of those who have shown a disregard for public money, it is important to recognise those who have sought to do the right thing by taxpayers.

"Our winners and the runners-up for these two awards all either acted in the best interests of taxpayers or showed a disregard for taxpayers' cash over the past 12 months.

The Mercury was unable to contact Councillor Parsons for comment.

Councillor Parsons was also named expenses fiddler of the year in Private Eye magazine's Rotten Borough Awards 2012.

A top restaurant opened its doors yesterday to provide a slap-up Christmas meal for people who might otherwise go without.

For seven years, David Hartshorn, owner of The Case, in Leicester, has opened his restaurant so people who are less fortunate can enjoy turkey and trimmings – and a bit of company.

Yesterday, 85 people took the opportunity to have a meal and share the Christmas Day celebration at the Hotel Street restaurant.

Among them were newlyweds Melissa and Ian Drinkwater, who live off Uppingham Road, Leicester.

Melissa, 28, said: "We got married on Saturday and we don't have much.

"We live on benefits. There is no way we could afford a Christmas dinner, so this has been wonderful."

Ian, 42, said: "We heard about the meal from the drop-in centre where we pick up our food parcels.

"This meal was fantastic. I had all three courses.

"I can't praise the people who did this enough."

On the menu was leek and potato soup, followed by turkey and trimmings, rounded off by Christmas pud or chocolate pudding.

Andrew Mayers, 46, who lives in a hostel in Leicester, said: "There is not much out there for us. But this has been tremendous."

Colin Bancroft, 44, who lives off Highfield Street, in the city centre, has recently been made redundant.

He said: "This is the third time I have come here and it's great. The food is lovely and you get to have a chat."

Neighbour Lucy Pillin, 44, who relies on benefits, said: "You can't fault it. It's marvellous."

John Paul Simons, 48, of Braunstone Lane, said: "I live on benefits and this is a life line for me.

"I don't know what I would have done for a meal if it was not for this restaurant."

Restaurant staff gave up part of their day and worked alongside volunteers from The Bridge, a charity which helps homeless people by providing thousands of food parcels and meals each year.

Restaurant owner David said: "We had a really great time serving 85 meals.

"Many of the people who come here have very chaotic lives which have been affected by drink and drugs and this is a chance for them to relax and get a good meal.

"We started this because there was no other place in Leicester where these vulnerable people could get a hot free meal on Christmas Day.

"I would like to thank all the suppliers the staff and the volunteers for helping to create such a special few hours."

Martin Crowson looks back at five key points from the weekend's rugby action.

1 Tigers No.8 Jordan Crane has picked up too much unnecessary flak since battling back from a year out of the game.

It was always going to take him time to adjust to playing again after such a serious injury. But Crane is a warrior, loves the club and would be at the front of the queue when they sent the soldiers out of the trenches if the guys behind him had a Tigers badge on their chests.

Saturday was his best performance since he started playing again. He was combative, aggressive and worked his socks off with plenty of reward. Long may it continue.

2 It is the season to be jolly, apparently. But London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith was not in the festive spirit in the post-game press conference on Saturday night.

He blamed the referee and the touch judge for not seeing a "hands in the ruck" offence which led to Tigers' second penalty try. Then he blamed all referees for siding with Leicester at the scrum and then said Tom Youngs should have been red-carded for a shoulder barge. Merry Christmas to you too Brian.

3 The half-back pairing of Ben Youngs and Toby Flood is there to be shot at as they are the country's No.1 players in their respective positions. But, over the past two weeks, their value to Leicester has been blatantly obvious.

Youngs' vision near his own line to start the move which ended with the opening try in Treviso was superb and Flood pulled the strings with assured control at London Irish on Saturday having not played for his club for eight weeks.

4 Upcoming referee Luke Pearce may have missed a few things at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday but top marks for penalising and yellow-carding Ben Youngs for not retreating 10 metres from a tap penalty before making a tackle.

This has been a bugbear of mine all season as players get away with early tackles left, right and centre, thus negating the advantage and ability to surprise. Other refs, please take note.

5 If anyone needed reminding that Saracens and Harlequins are the biggest threats to Leicester this season, their results this weekend proved that beyond doubt.

Saracens' defence was an episode in dogged resistance against Bath at The Rec and their 22-0 win was tremendous. Meanwhile, Quins showed once again that they can go to difficult places and win with a hard-fought victory at a fired-up Northampton.

He might have won over millions of television viewers, but just a small group of mourners turned out to pay their respects to break-dancing pensioner Fred Bowers, who appeared on Britain's Got Talent.

Just over a dozen people attended the funeral of Fred, who shot to fame after amazing TV viewers with his moves in 2009.

His funeral was held on Thursday at the Wilford Hill crematorium in Nottingham.

Fred, of Sutton Bonington, near Loughborough, died in hospital aged 77 last month after being unwell for several months.

His best friend Billy Johnson, 38, of Zouch, Nottinghamshire, said: "It was a bit sad really. Here was a man who entertained millions of people, being mourned by just a few.

"I think the reason more people were not there was that the service was in Nottingham, and Fred was a Loughborough lad.

"The service was lovely and we all went back to the Rose and Crown in Zouch, which was Fred's local.

"The landlady put a few sandwiches on and we raised a glass to the old lad."

Fred, a former soldier and gardener, was already a cult figure on the dance floors of Loughborough before he made it to the semi-final of Britain's Got Talent.

A would-be burglar caught after trying to break into a house was found to have an incriminating text message on his phone.

Stuart John Gibbs sent a message to someone earlier that day, saying: "I've told you 20 times, don't ring me when I'm out robbing."

Leicester Crown Court was told a vigilant neighbour in Rosedale Avenue in the city, alerted the police after seeing two men acting suspiciously in her neighbour's garden, at 8.45pm on March 20.

The occupant, in his 70s, was away on holiday.

The police arrived to find a window in a backdoor was smashed, causing £400 damage, but nothing had been taken.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said: "The police found the defendant hiding in a shed nearby. Glass fragments on his gloves matched those from the broken window."

When officers checked his mobile, they saw the incriminating text message he had sent two hours earlier.

Gibbs, a 24-year-old father-of-two, of Folville Rise, Braunstone, Leicester, admitted attempted burglary.

He also admitted failing to answer his bail, by turning up late at court.

Gibbs further admitted dangerously driving a Mazda, driving when disqualified and handling a stolen laptop and iPod.

Mr Murphy said those offences, committed on June 9, arose when the defendant failed to stop for the police.

He was travelling towards the city on the A50 and sped through several red lights during a police pursuit.

Gibbs veered onto the wrong side of the road and drove over the limit in Fosse Road North and eventually abandoned the vehicle in St Dunstan's Road.

An off-duty police community support officer saw the defendant discard a bag under a nearby bush, containing a laptop, as well as an iPod with his fingerprints on.

They had been stolen, by persons unknown, the night before in a house burglary in Narborough Road South.

Gibbs further admitted driving a motorcycle when disqualified and without insurance on June 17 and possessing a small amount of cannabis on September 30.

He was jailed for a total of 18 months and banned from driving for 18 months.

Judge Simon Hammond said the elderly victim of the attempted break-in had been left feeling "vulnerable".

He said: "There's also huge public concern when there's a police chase because someone could be injured or killed."

Judge Hammond said he appreciated that a prison sentence would cause "hurt" to Gibbs' partner and two children, "especially at Christmas time".

Gibbs' previous convictions include seven thefts, two offences of dangerous driving, five of driving when disqualified and two of handling stolen goods.

James Varley, mitigating, said: "He doesn't have any previous convictions for burglary.

"He can't explain the text message and it doesn't reflect the situation or his antecedent history."

Gibbs was several hours late attending court for sentence, because he was saying "farewell" to his partner and children, aged five months and two years.

"It's particularly hard for him going into custody at this time of year," said Mr Varley.

Cases dealt with at Leicester Magistrates' Court include:

Matthew Goodwin (42), of Manor Brook Close, Donington Le Heath, pleaded guilty to being in charge of a vehicle while having 129 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath on October 11. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

He was given a 12-month supervised community order and 10 penalty points were imposed on his driving licence.

Craig Anthony Dalby (36), of Blackbird Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty to damaging a window pane worth £150 on October 19.

He was given a 24-month community order, including six months of alcohol-dependency treatment and 27 days on a programme designed to address abusive behaviour.

He was also ordered to pay £150 compensation.

Thomas George Patrick O'Flynn (35), of Bassett Street, South Wigston, pleaded guilty to damaging a window worth £70 in Oadby on November 5.

He was fined £60 and ordered to pay £70 compensation.

Yakub Makda (50), of Windrush Drive, Oadby, was given six penalty points for driving without third party insurance. He pleaded guilty to the offence committed in The Fairway, Oadby, on August 18. He was also ordered to pay a £110 fine.

Ammar Makda (17), of Windrush Drive, Oadby, was given six penalty points for driving without third party insurance and without displaying L plates.

He pleaded guilty to driving without L plates in The Fairway, Oadby, on August 18.

He also admitted driving without the proper insurance on the same date and in the same place. He was also fined £110 and ordered to pay £60 costs to police.

Since the turn of the century, Leicester City's Boxing Day record is not one likely to fill the fans with much festive cheer.

Out of the 12 games played, City have won just three, with five draws and four losses along the way.

Ipswich are City's most encountered side in the Christmas fixture – the sides having met on four different occasions in 2001, 2002, 2007 and last year in 2011.

This year, City travel to Nigel Pearson's former side Hull. It will be the second time City have faced the Tigers in the Boxing Day fixture. City picked up an away win there on Boxing Day 2006 so history, in this case, is on their side.

Here is a look back at some of the fixtures:

Date: December 26, 2000

Game: Premier League

City's first Boxing Day fixture of the new millennium was not one to remember thanks to a thumping defeat at the hands of Arsenal at Highbury.

At the time, City had the best away defensive record in the division but it was ripped apart largely by the quality of Thierry Henry, who bagged his first hat-trick for the club.

Ade Akinbiyi was City's scorer, to make it 2-1. But there was to be no comeback as Arsene Wenger's men gave City their biggest defeat since returning to the top flight in 1996.

Date: December 26, 2006

Game: Championship

It took City until 2006 to pick up their first win on Boxing Day since the turn of the century and it was against today's opponents, Hull.

City started well but it was the home side who took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Craig Fagan.

However, City got a deserved equaliser just before the hour mark when Gareth Williams' corner was met by the head of Patrick Kisnorbo. It was then Williams who became the hero when his thunderous right-footed strike.

Date: December 26, 2007

Game: Championship

As Boxing Day arrived in 2007, City, now under Ian Holloway, were having some serious Christmas blues, having gone seven games without a win.

But Richard Stearman glanced in a Stephen Clemence free-kick after just 12 minutes before Kisnorbo used his head to full advantage to score the second on the half-hour mark.

Happy Christmas indeed. Better not mention what happened in May.

Date: December 26, 2011

Game: Championship

Last season saw City face Ipswich for the fourth time since the year 2000.

After just 24 seconds, City conceded a penalty, but Kasper Schmeichel saved his team-mate's blushes.

Ipswich took the lead on four minutes when Lee Bowyer grabbed his second goal of the season.

Nigel Pearson looked set to lose his unbeaten home record since retaking charge at the club until Paul Gallagher's spot-kick saved a point.