It has been quite a year for Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The Dane was crowned City's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year after an excellent season which saw him keep 17 clean sheets, and his performances earned him a call-up to the Denmark squad for Euro 2012.

An ever-present between the posts, Schmeichel finished 2012 with a further 10 clean sheets as City moved into a position to challenge for automatic promotion.

To top off the year, 2012 also saw him welcome a new addition to his family as his Danish girlfriend, Stine Gyldenbrand, mother to his son Max, gave birth to their second child, daughter Isabella.

Grounded, understated, fully focused and hungry for even more success, Schmeichel admits it was a good year for him, but he is targeting an even better 2013, with promotion to the Premier League top of his wish-list.

"Just playing week in and week out was the highlight for me in 2012," said the 26-year-old.

"I have been through periods in my younger days when I haven't played and that has been very frustrating.

"I am very proud of the fact I am playing every week. It keeps me going, keeping your standards up and keeping your place in the team. That has been the big highlight for me.

"The awards meant the world to me. It was fantastic. It is always great to get a personal accolade, especially from the fans and your team-mates. I would gladly have swapped all that for promotion, but it is always great to get that recognition.

"It was also great to get the call-up and represent your country. I have made no secret of the fact it is something I have wanted to do for some time. I am just trying to plug away and get into the team now."

After spending the early part of his career moving from club to club on loan, Schmeichel says he finally feels settled at Leicester.

"I moved about a lot early on and that has been my own choosing," he said. "When I was at Manchester City, I wanted to play so I pushed to go out on loan. I was out at quite a few places to broaden my football education.

"It is a great club here and I have been made to feel welcome from day one. I think any new player will tell you it is a very welcoming club and gives you a great platform. The facilities are great and the focus is on football and performing.

"I am at a point now where I must have played between 280 and 300 games. It is a period now where no-one can call me a rookie anymore.

"The only league I haven't played in is League One. I have played in Wales and Scotland.

"I have, frankly, experienced a lot.

"It is always nice to play well and, for me, goalkeeping is about consistency and your defenders having confidence in you. I feel they have that."

But when he is not standing firm as City's last line of defence, Schmeichel says he is just as devoted a father as he is a professional goalkeeper. "It has been a great year as well with the arrival of my daughter," added Schmeichel.

"I have been very lucky in that I have a boy and a girl now. I have a nice family.

"I have a great girlfriend who takes care of everything so I can concentrate on football. I love being a father."

A social club customer suffered a cut cheek needing five stitches after being struck in the face with a pool cue.

The unprovoked attack was carried out by Eamonn Connolly (48), after he downed 10 pints of beer and several shorts.

It happened at the Glassy Club, Green Lane Road, Leicester, on the night of Saturday October 20 last year.

Connolly, of Mornington Street, Leicester, admitted causing actual bodily harm.

He was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with one year's supervision and a requirement to attend a six-month alcohol treatment course.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said the defendant and victim knew each other.

Both attended the Glassy Club, also known as Club 87, where customers play cards, darts and pool.

Connolly earlier argued with somebody else about money owed to him.

The victim was not party to the discussion, but was suddenly confronted by Connolly, who said: "Come on, I'll have you."

The victim told him to calm down, but they ended up pushing and shoving before grappling on the floor.

The incident then appeared to end, but Connolly later beckoned the victim over and offered his hand, as if to make up.

Mr Murphy said: "As he went over to shake hands he was struck in the face, on his left cheek, by a pool cue brandished by the defendant.

Connolly, a self-employed plasterer, was ordered to pay £200 costs and a £100 victim surcharge.

Richard Holloway, mitigating, said: "Alcohol is the root and branch of it."

Here are Rob Tanner's top five Leicester City games of 2012.

Four members of a family were forced to flee their home and a fifth was rescued by firefighters when a blaze broke out yesterday.

All five suffered the effects of smoke inhalation and two received minor burns in the blaze, which engulfed the family's end-of-terrace home in Longcliffe Road, off Humberstone Road, Leicester, in the early hours.

Neighbours, including at least four young children, fled in their nightclothes and were taken in by others further along the cul-de-sac.

Two crews from Leicester's Eastern station arrived at 12.23am and called for back-up appliances.

When the firefighters arrived, four members of the family were standing outside their burning home.

A fifth, believed to be a son in his 20s, was still inside.

Omar Ghanchi, 30, who lives opposite, said: "The family was very worried because their son was not to be seen.

"I think he must have been injured because I saw him with a bandage round his forehead.

"I know him, he's a lovely lad.

"Everybody was out in the street and we were taking drinks and biscuits to the fire brigade and the police. People really came together."

Natalie Maull, 25, partner Shawn Jackson, 26 and daughter Talia, two, fled their home two doors away.

Natalie said: "We heard some shouting and saw smoke coming across the house. We saw a young man with a bandage round his head wearing an oxygen mask walk past us to an ambulance car.

"We were all a bit shocked and, thankfully, a neighbour took us in."

Another neighbour, a mother of three young children, who asked not to be named, said: "Someone banged on the door telling us to get out.

"I panicked a bit when I saw the flames.

"I got the children up. They were a bit frightened. It was cold and they were only in their pyjamas and barefoot, but the next-door neighbour put us up."

Amar Zoubir, 44, who took the family in, said: "They were very scared and distressed.

"The house went up in 10 minutes.There was a lot of shouting and smoke and some glass broke.

"The police and firefighters were here very quickly."

Melvina Pemberton, 67, who has lived in the street for 28 years, said: "It's the first fire we've had. They had a lucky escape, by the look of it."

Detective Superintendent Andy Lee said yesterday: "Scenes of crime officers and fire service investigators are at the scene, but there is no further update on the cause."

A Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "The cause of the incident remains under investigation and our fire investigation officers are working with the scene of crime officers from the police."

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill hailed his side's spirit after a last-minute win against Worcester at Sixways.

Tigers looked a beaten side at 14-0 after just 22 minutes of last night's game.

But they stole a memorable 19-14 win to go top of the Aviva Premiership table with a second penalty try with the final action of the game.

Cockerill praised his team's belief to bag a third consecutive win during the festive period.

"For the guys to hang in there and keep going and believe in themselves right up to the final play was commendable," he said.

"We were completely outplayed for the opening 38 minutes and, if we had lost that game, I would have had no complaints.

"But we kept our heads at half-time and said that if we kept playing at them, we would create opportunities.

"Bringing two more quality props on after 50 minutes obviously helps and we stayed straight in the scrum, pushed hard and got our reward in the end.

"We are a side that plays until the final seconds and we showed good character."

The win took Leicester to the top of the Premiership table going into the weekend's games.

Cockerill had taken a gamble by making 12 changes going into the contest and that looked like it might have backfired after a dreadful start.

But Tigers showed real character to bounce back and snatch it at the death with a second penalty try after Scott Hamilton's 37th minute touchdown had got them on the board.

Worcester director of rugby Richard Hill said he had no complaints with the match-winning penalty try.

"I have no issues with that. We were going backwards," he said. "They went the length of the field and it was always going to be a tight game.

"Leicester have an extremely powerful scrum but the key moment was Andy Goode's sin-binning.

"For them to score a try and us lose our fly-half to the sin-bin was a huge blow."

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has resolved a bitter dispute over the future of a disused Scout hut.

Demonstrations – some involving hundreds of people and a heavy police presence – have been taking place in Thurnby Lodge, Leicester, for the past six months over plans by a Muslim charity to turn the hut into a community centre.

But yesterday, Sir Peter announced a plan which appears to have satisfied both sides in the dispute. The protesters, who have formed a group called the Forgotten Estates Committee, will be given the lease on the Scout hut for two and a half years rent-free.

The group has told Leicester City Council it will develop it as a community centre.

The Muslim charity, the As-Salaam Trust, has been told it can have the lease to another city council-owned building, the Raven Centre, which is next to the Thurnby Lodge Community Centre, where the charity has been meeting for prayers for the past three years.

Sir Peter said a "small number" of groups which use the Raven Centre will transfer to Thurnby Lodge Community Centre, or other local council buildings.

Mohamed Lockhat, As-Salaam Trust's imam, said: "We are happy a solution has been found. Some people have felt very passionately about the Scout hut, but everyone will be able to work together for the good of the community."

Maxine Williams, licensee of the estate's Stirrup Cup pub and a founding member of the Forgotten Estates Committee, said: "Everybody I have spoken to so far about Peter Soulsby's decision has been ecstatic.

"When we first heard that As-Salaam wanted the Scout hut we knew it was the wrong place because of problems with traffic and noise.

"The Raven Centre is in the community centre complex, so car parking is available for As-Salaam's members."

The Forgotten Estates Committee has collected thousands of pounds for its plan to turn the Scout hut into a community centre.

It followed a public consultation in which questionnaires were sent to 7,000 households in Thurnby Lodge and neighbouring Netherhall.

Some 1,400 responses were returned to the council – a turnout of about 20 per cent.

Most backed the plan unveiled by Sir Peter yesterday, which was one of two options on the questionnaire.

"This option meets everyone's needs, and I am therefore offering both groups the opportunity to make this happen," said Sir Peter. "I think both groups recognise we have worked very hard with them to find a solution which meets everyone's hopes and needs. Both recognise there is a need to move forward in a constructive way and I've been encouraged by the responses both have given.''

The protests began in August and were held outside Thurnby Lodge Community Centre when As-Salaam members met for prayers.

A police operation was launched to make sure the protests remained peaceful after complaints that worshippers felt intimidated.

Two months after the protests started, the Mercury reported the cost of policing them had reached £200,000.

The final total is unknown.

On Boxing Day, a pig's head was found outside the centre.

A 23-year-old man has been charged in connection with the incident and is due to appear in court later this month.

Nigel Pearson is tired of speculation linking some of his players with moves away from the King Power Stadium, and he believes the rumour-mill is getting worse.

The Leicester City boss said third parties who trigger speculation about his players can be unsettling.

French winger Anthony Knockaert has been linked with both Arsenal and QPR, while striker Jamie Vardy has also been the subject of media speculation linking him to a loan move during the current January transfer window.

However, Pearson said the vast majority of speculation has no foundation.

"I think one of the irritating things of this transfer window is that, all of a sudden, there seems to be a lot of talk about your own players and whether we are trying to move players on," he said.

"Quite honestly, most of it has absolutely no foundation.

"I tend not to listen too much because we are quite clear in our own mind what we are trying to achieve.

"Apart from a couple of exceptions, no-one in my squad is available.

"Unfortunately, there will always be lots of people out there, third parties, who have a vested interest in trying to unsettle players. That is the nature of the business we work in these days.

"It is getting increasingly worse. Those third parties make their money when players move, so it is in their interest to generate some interest.

"More often than not, there is no foundation to it.

"That is the business we work in, and you have to put up with having to answer the same questions repeatedly.

"The media get sick of asking the same questions. But I understand that they have the questions to ask, and my job is to try to fend them off when they come."

Pearson, below, did say that he is set to hold talks with midfielder Neil Danns about his future at the club.

Danns has returned to City after a two-month loan spell with Bristol City.

Robins boss Derek McInnes has said he is interested in taking Danns again for a further spell, but Pearson said there were several factors that had to be assessed.

"He is back and we will probably discuss at some point where we go from here," said Pearson. "Whether Bristol City want to take him or not is one element of it, but then it has to be decided whether we think it is appropriate and whether the player wants to go back there.

"There are a number of variables that we have to consider before any further action is taken."

City youngsters Tom Hopper and Steven Smith have extended their loans at Bury and Ilkeston respectively.

Hopper will stay with the League One side for the rest of the season, while Smith remains with Ilkeston until the end of this month.

City have also rejected an offer from Bristol Rovers for centre-back Cian Bolger.

The deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council faces a two-month suspension from the Conservative Group after a pornographic DVD was found in his council laptop.

Tory Group whips yesterday published a report of an investigation into the conduct of Councillor David Sprason, saying he showed a serious lack of judgement.

Coun Sprason temporarily stood down in November from his roles as deputy leader and cabinet member for adults and communities after a letter was leaked to the Leicester Mercury about the DVD, entitled She Likes It Rough, discovered in his computer by a council technician in 2007.

The letter from the then county solicitor to Coun Sprason said no illegal activity had occurred, but told him not to view any such material on a council computer again.

Tory whips say Coun Sprason broke two party rules after giving an interview to the Mercury which resulted in a story that led to widespread coverage in the national media.

Coun Sprason told the Mercury he and his wife Sue, a Conservative councillor on Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, had watched the DVD in their bedroom but that he had forgotten to remove it before returning the laptop for repairs.

He told the Mercury: "Me and the wife use things to help our relationship.

"It's one of those situations that shouldn't have happened.

"I'm not embarrassed. There was nothing dodgy about it.

"It's the kind of thing that can easily be bought in an adult shop."

Coun Sprason declined to comment yesterday.

He was interviewed for 90 minutes by the whips as part of their investigation and was asked if, as a senior politician experienced in dealing with the media, he should have known better than to make the comments he did.

He replied: "I defy anyone to find anything in that article (the Mercury's) that's embarrassing."

He told the panel the Mercury had written the story "in such a way to be salacious and to cause maximum embarrassment to him and his family", but disputed it had caused embarrassment to his family.

He was told he should have known his comments would cause severe embarrassment to the council, but he said he had shown good judgement by being open and honest.

He argued it was the decision of the anonymous person who leaked the letter that caused embarrassment – not his decision to be interviewed by the Mercury.

He said he was subsequently advised he should not have stepped down from the cabinet and as deputy leader as it added "fuel to the fire".

He said he would like to see the source of the leak investigated.

The investigation concluded Coun Sprason had allowed his private life to cause embarrassment to the party and that he had failed to uphold "the highest standards of leadership and integrity''.

The whips have recommended a two month suspension from the Tory group which will be reduced to a month if Coun Sprason issues a written public apology.

Their report also says Coun Sprason "should not hold any executive role, other office or representative role on behalf of the Conservative Group".

It adds: "If the leadership of the group wished to reconsider that position, a considerable period of time should be allowed to pass before doing so.

Council leader Nick Rushton said he would urge party members to support the recommendations when they meet to discuss it on January 10.

Coun Rushton said: "He has been unwise in his comments and they have caused the council and the party embarrassment.

"I have said I will be tough in dealing with disciplinary matters.

"I can't let him off. He has already paid a high price.

"I would like to say that David Sprason has been an excellent councillor representing people in his division and in his cabinet role but this has damaged his political career."

Neither council officials nor the Conservative group are to take any further action to discover the source of the leak.

After a painful divorce, Glennice Sprigg was facing the prospect of spending her retirement years alone. So she sold her house and bought a one-way ticket to San Diego, California. Gemma Peplow hears about the life she made – and why she eventually had to come home

Friends in Leicester will often ask Glennice Sprigg how she did it. How, at the age of 60, she was brave enough to leave everything in the UK behind and start a new life for herself on the other side of the world; a new life that saw her sharing a hostel bedroom, living out of a suitcase, befriending travellers half her age and basically experiencing the teenage years she never got to enjoy when she was younger.

Turn the clocks back a few years and it's a question Glennice would have been asking herself.

Back in the 90s, Glennice was a happily married mother-of-two, living in Knighton and working as a careers adviser. Never in a million years, she says, could she have imagined then how her life would pan out.

It started with her divorce in 2001, following almost 20 years of marriage. Glennice was 58 at the time, and her sons, Matt and Pete, were travelling the world.

"Pete was working at a hostel in San Diego and he asked me to go out and visit him," she says. "It was November, the weather was awful, so I just thought: 'I'm going.'

"I got two weeks off work, bought the ticket and went. It was the first time I'd ever been to America and I absolutely loved it.

"I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for 70 people at the hostel and just had such a great time."

After returning to the UK, Glennice started to think about her future.

"I thought about getting to 60 and rattling around in this big four-bedroom house in Knighton," she says. "I didn't want to be a lonely old woman."

Glennice retired on her 60th birthday. She had already made up her mind.

"I'd talked it over with the boys and asked if it was okay to sell the house and they said it was.

"We'd lived in that house for nearly 20 years and it was absolutely full, it took me ages to clear it all out.

"It was hard. I had to make myself look at things and tell myself: 'that's just a piece of wood, you don't need it.'

"I sold a lot of stuff on eBay. I packed the bits I was keeping – about five boxes of personal items – and put them into storage.

"The day I walked out of the house, closed the door and pushed the keys through the letterbox was just gut-wrenching. I remember thinking: 'What have you done?'

"But I did it. I packed my suitcase, got on the plane and went back."

It was February, 2004. Glennice spent three weeks in San Diego before travelling to Mexico and Cuba, "to see a bit of the world," but returned to the Banana Bungalow hostel to help out. She soon became known as "mum" to everyone who passed through.

"Pete had introduced me as his mum and it became my name. I remember once, taking a phone call from a guy who said: 'Is mum still there?' When I said who I was, he asked if I remembered him. He'd come for Spring Break and was really, really drunk one night. He was really cold so I put him in the shower and then put him to bed.

"I used to end up putting lots of people to bed.

"And people would ring up at Thanksgiving and ask if mum was cooking. I became a surrogate mum to everyone."

But although she was hostel mum, Glennice still found time to party with the best of the younger travellers.

"On the weekends we'd make Jungle Juice, which was lots of vodka and sprits and orange and fruit. I'm sure you could probably strip paint with it, but everyone loved it.

"I felt like I was living my teenage years again, and this time like a normal teenager.

"I was the oldest of five in my family and left school at 14 to work as a receptionist in a hosiery factory on Walnut Street, because I had to – we had no money. I never got to go out and do the things that teenagers do.

"In San Diego, I was doing all the crazy stuff and getting drunk and having a great time."

Glennice stayed at Banana Bungalow until she was about 65. "Until I got fed up of living in a hostel. It was the not having any privacy that got me. Sometimes I'd go and check into a hotel just to be on my own.

"I shared a room with three female members of staff, and when it was busy they'd put in extra bunk beds. For the first two or three years it was fun, but I moved into an apartment with Michelle, who ran Banana Bungalow, in 2007.

"It was in the ghetto area of San Diego, but it was great. We had all the drug lords and gangs around us, and there were drive-by shootings, but no-one ever bothered us. We had Mexican neighbours on both sides, and they were all so nice.

"I moved in in the July and that New Year's Eve, I just wanted to have some time to myself. So at midnight, I was sitting with a glass of champagne, with the countdown on TV, when suddenly all these doors opened outside and all the Mexicans came out and started shooting their guns in the air. It was crazy."

By this time, Michelle had left Banana Bungalow to open her own hostel, Lucky D's. So Glennice worked at both.

Life couldn't have been better.

"I could get up and swim with dolphins in the sea, if I wanted. In the mornings, I'd get up, get my coffee and sit out on the deck, look at the ocean and watch all the surfer guys – that, actually, was the best bit."

But in 2009, Glennice had a health scare. "I had a nosebleed that just wouldn't stop. It was pouring out for two days and it got to the point where I couldn't stand, I was so weak.

"I spent two days in hospital and they stopped the bleeding and gave me transfusions. I found out I had arthritis and osteoporosis."

After being discharged from hospital, she was presented with a bill for $119,000.

"For two days," she says. "Two days in hospital. I didn't have health insurance.

"Everything was itemised – every pill I took, every bit of food I ate and every drink. The whole thing was 25 pages."

Glennice was able to pay the bill thanks to the savings she had from the sale of her home. But it left her with just £2,000 in the bank.

"I just realised that if I got sick again I would not be able to afford it. I thought about it and thought about it, for nearly a year. I thought about getting health insurance, but with a pre-existing condition, it would have cost about $700 a month.

"I couldn't do it. But I knew that if I got sick, I would have been stuffed."

Glennice moved back to the UK in July 2010, and is now settled in a bungalow in New Parks.

Her illness is advanced, but she copes well. "The cold got to me when I first came back, and I was on crutches. The doctors told me I wouldn't get any better, but I did some research and found that something called Boron could help. I found some tablets on the internet and ordered them. Within two days I felt like I'd got new knees.

"I know there will come a day when they stop being that effective, but for now I'm just so pleased that I'm back here and I can get treatment."

There's no bitterness, no regrets, says Glennice. She had six years in America, and that was her time.

"I miss the weather in San Diego, and the people. People are so miserable over here. In America, people will smile and talk to you at the bus stop as if they've known you for years. If you smile at a stranger here, they think there's something wrong with you.

"And I miss going out for breakfast. You could get up early in the morning and the sun would be shining and you could sit by the beach and have Eggs Benedict and a Mimosa.

"I miss it on days like today, when the sky is grey. But it's just one of those things. I was never stupid enough to think that I would be able to carry on doing everything I was doing until I was old.

"I am so glad I did it. I have so many memories and so many friends. I could probably travel the world and never have to stay in a hotel because I know so many people.

"But I'm happy here. This is the first time in my life I've ever lived on my own, and I love it. I can do what I want, when I want. If I don't want to get dressed, I don't. Some mornings, if I wake up at 3am, I'll get up and watch TV, and I'll always have someone to chat to on Facebook, somewhere in the world.

"I wouldn't swap it for anything. Even if Brad Pitt came to my door, I'd have to turn him down.

"My travelling's not over, though. I want to go to Brazil, to see Christ the Redeemer, and I want to see the Taj Mahal. It's my 70th next year and they are my aims.

"I never imagined I would end up doing what I did. But it was the best thing I could have done.

"I think too many people are too scared to get up and go."

Fitness fanatic Lynton Dell is muscling in on the strongman scene with an unusual attraction at his gym.

The 26-year-old former soldier has won over an army of fans with a "dungeon" room at his fitness centre, the Warehouse Gym, in Leicester.

The 4,000 sq ft area recreates some of the Herculean tasks seen on the televised competition The World's Strongest Man, such as lifting vehicles and flipping huge tyres.

Lynton, a veteran of three active tours of Afghanistan, opened the dungeon at the gym, in Parker Drive, off Blackbird Road, Leicester, in August.

"The response has been amazing," he said. "I have 1,000 members and many are having a go in the room – which is affectionately known as the world of pain.

"What has surprised and pleased me is the number of women who are having a go.

"It's not a place just for giant men with bulging biceps, it's for everyone.

"I'd always loved the strongman stuff and was fascinated by just how much a person could push their body, so I researched where I could get some of the specialised equipment, such as the car dead lift, and got on with stocking an area of the gym with it."

Lynton, of the West End, Leicester, opened the gym a year ago and has already won a national award – the best newcomer title in the National Fitness Awards 2012.

"It was the realisation of a long-held dream when I opened my own gym," he said.

"From my late teens, when I started going to the gym and taking a particular interest in keeping fit, I wanted to run my own place.

"I joined the Army straight from school and loved it and keeping fit was a big part of my life. I had the vision from the start and had been saving as much money as I could while I was away on tours in Afghanistan with the Army.

"I've used all my savings – £35,000 – to open this gym, and hit the credit card hard to make the dream a reality."

Lynton, who is 6ft 1in and 17 stone, still keeps in shape and is often to be found in the strongman dungeon himself.

He said: "I love it in there and so it seems do lots of other people. It's something different and always a challenge to see if you can beat your last effort."

Lynton warned that lifting very heavy weights can be extremely dangerous unless properly supervised by a trained professional.

Strongman Jay Pateman, who holds the Great Britain Powerlifting Federation bench press record after pushing up 235kg, is a member. The 33-year-old, of Knighton, Leicester, said: "The dungeon is a great place for me to train. Lynton has done a brilliant job in recreating the strongman tasks. It is both challenging and fun.

"After watching the guys in the World's Strongest Man on TV, the other week you can appreciate just how hard the tasks are."

At the grand old age of 90, Doug Taylor could be forgiven for celebrating his milestone birthday with a quiet night in at home.

Instead, the flexible pensioner was saluting the sun, embracing the downward dog and testing his strength with some shoulder stands.

Doug, who lives in Braunstone Frith, Leicester, has been practising yoga for about eight years, so it was the perfect way to celebrate turning the big "Nine-O".

He attended a special class at St Ann's Church Hall in Letchworth Road, Western Park, on Saturday evening, ahead of a party with family, friends and yoga classmates.

Doug, who turned 90 on December 30, said he was determined to keep himself active. "It's no good sitting at home watching telly until your belly gets in the way of it," he said.

"It's no good just sitting in that armchair and getting square-eyed.

"You want to keep your body supple and your joints moving."

Doug attends classes with yoga teacher Nerissa Fields twice a week, but also practises at home and swims regularly.

"I used to work making tyres for Dunlop and then, when I was made redundant, I bought a window cleaning round, so I've always been active.

"When you've worked for years and then you retire, your body's not used to it if you just stop. You've got to do something.

"I like yoga because it's easy movements and it's not too strenuous for me, and you feel better after a class.

"I really enjoy it – I come to classes twice a week if I can, and I even do it at home."

While his knees aren't what they once were, and he has had two hernia operations, Doug is determined to keep up with his yoga.

"I wouldn't say any of the positions are my favourite," he said. "The hardest is salute to the sun, because I have to be careful with my knee, but I still have a go.

"It's not hard. I think everyone should do it."

Nerissa, who runs Yoga with Nerissa classes in the city, said she always enjoyed teaching her oldest student.

"Doug is an inspiration to us all," she said. "He's warm and loving and kind, as well as being great at yoga.

"Anyone who's new to the class, he always welcomes them. His yoga is excellent. He can do the half shoulder stand, he can do absolutely everything.

"He's a great person to have in the class.

"He's my oldest student and for a couple of years now, I've been saying that we'd do some yoga for his 90th birthday, because yoga's a big part of his life."

Doug's daughter, Teresa Sloan, who is also a yoga convert, was among the party-goers on Saturday night.

Teresa, of Market Bosworth, said she enjoyed seeing her dad taking part in his class.

"He's always been a very optimistic person, and yoga is keeping him flexible and his body moving," she said. "He's living proof that you're never too old to start."

The organisers of a race meeting have pulled out of a venue where a car left the track and injured three spectators.

Two of the spectators were seriously injured when a racing car lost control and crashed through a safety barrier at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, near Lutterworth.

One man suffered head and pelvic injuries and another suspected spinal injuries.

Two of the spectators are pursuing claims for compensation.

The incident happened at the end of the two-day GTI International race meeting at the former airfield last June.

Two cars were racing on a quarter-mile sprint track when the driver of one lost control.

The car, thought to have been travelling at between 60mph and 70mph, crashed through a heavy, water-filled plastic barrier before hitting a metal barrier in front of spectators.

A statement on GTI International's website said: "For the past eight years, GTI International has been held at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground.

"Although one of the most successful of the series, last year's event was marred by an accident on the sprint which resulted in three spectators being injured.

"We don't want anything like this to happen again, so we are moving GTI International 2013 to the Shakespeare County Raceway, near Stratford on Avon, one of Britain's top drag racing venues.

"With full Motor Sports Association accreditation, full-time medical centre, extremely experienced staff and a wonderful smooth and level surface, sprinting at GTI International will be faster, and much safer than ever before."

Martyn Salt, 23, who was at the Bruntingthorpe race meeting with partner Shelley Burton, 23, suffered head and pelvic injuries and was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary on a spinal board. His partner was also taken to hospital.

Mr Salt, of Cheadle, Staffordshire, said: "Shelley is still having quite a bit of pain in her leg and I'm still suffering a bit as well.

"I've got a solicitor working for me. It's not something I've ever done before, but after we were injured through no fault of our own there was no other action we could take."

A Harborough District Council spokesman said: "The organiser has agreed to completely review the health and safety arrangements. We have written to the organiser detailing which areas we want them to improve and have asked that they submit full details in advance of any future event."

Bruntingthorpe owner David Walton said: "Prior to 2012, GTI were considering other venues.

"We rented them an empty site, costs were going up and they decided they wanted to go somewhere where all the facilities were already in place.

"It was an incredibly unfortunate incident and their first in more than 20 years of running the event. The steering wheel came off in the driver's hands.

"Prior to the event, the track and barriers had been approved by the council's health and safety inspectors, as well as the police and emergency services.

"It was considered after the event that the barriers, which were hired in by GTI, were not strong enough to withstand the impact and more substantial barriers need to be put in place for future events.

"We have started the process of acquiring concrete barriers for future events."

A GTI International spokesman said: "Following a health and safety investigation, clearly bigger and better barriers would be advantageous.

"Everything for the race, including the barriers, had to be shipped into Bruntingthorpe at vast expense, which was crippling our event.

"We would have had to spend even more this year on improved barriers. Regardless of the incident we were looking to move to a track with its own facilities, including safety barriers anyway.

"Health and safety had no issues with the barriers until this freak accident."

Police are still searching for a man who was last seen more than a month ago.

Donald Balding, of High Street, Measham, north west Leicestershire, was reported missing on Monday, December 3.

Leicestershire Police issued an appeal for information on the whereabouts of the 48-year-old on December 18. It is believed there was a sighting of Mr Balding at the Queens Medical Centre, in Nottingham, on Monday, December 10.

In a fresh appeal, officers said Mr Balding was "known" to visit caravan parks in the Lincolnshire and Devon and Cornwall areas.

Sergeant Gavin Drummond, from the county's missing persons' team, said: "We have been carrying out extensive enquiries to establish Mr Balding's current whereabouts and have issued a number of appeals.

"Mr Balding is known to visit caravan parks in the Lincolnshire and Devon and Cornwall areas.

"We would ask the public to take a look at the photograph and contact us if they know where Mr Balding is."

Mr Balding is described as white, about 6ft tall, of stocky build, with a receding hairline closely shaved at the sides. Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101.

Nearly £205,000 has been paid in compensation by the city and county councils in the past five years because of school accidents.

The majority of payouts are to children and young people who have slipped and injured themselves while on school premises.

Other accidents include trapped fingers, being struck by falling objects and burns.

The figures have been released under a Freedom of Information request by the Leicester Mercury.

Leicestershire County Council has paid the largest amount in the past five years, some £129,244, compared to £75,600 by Leicester City Council. Among the biggest payouts was £17,647 by the county council for a pupil's fall.

A spokeswoman for the county council said: "We give health and safety advice to local authority-maintained schools and to academies that buy back our services.

"There have been incidents which have occurred over the past five years which have required compensation to be paid.

"However, we do offer value for money for taxpayers by robustly defending claims and only paying out compensation where legally liable.

"Given there are more than 90,000 pupils in Leicestershire, this equates to about 30p per pupil per year.

"Heath and safety is included in Ofsted's report criteria.

"We pay compensation from insurance funds. When a school converts into an academy it becomes a separate legal entity.

"A claim for compensation as a result of personal injury where the incident occurred post conversion would be brought against the academy itself.

"Due to the number of schools converting, we'd expect to see a reduction in claims against the local authority for incidents of this nature."

Although the county council has not had to make any compensation payments so far this academic year, Leicester City Council has already paid £12,500 to a pupil who tripped during a lesson.

It, too, has an insurance policy to cover the compensation.

A spokesman for the city council, said: "To put these figures into context, about 48,000 children attend school in Leicester every day – which equates to more than 45 million pupil days in a five-year period.

"Unfortunately, sometimes things do go wrong in spite of everyone's best efforts and results in pupils being injured.

"The compensation rate is very small indeed compared to the benefit to every pupil of being exposed to managed risks."

A controversial £5 million transport scheme for one of the busiest roads in Leicester is to set to get final approval tomorrow.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby is set to sign off a scheme that will see bus lanes introduced along the A426 from Glen Parva into the city centre.

The project is a partnership between the city council and Leicestershire County Council, intended to ease congestion and speed up bus journey times.

It has been approved by County Hall's cabinet despite more than 4,000 people signing a petition opposing it. There have also been numerous demonstrations by residents.

Sir Peter, who is in charge of the city council's transport policy, said: "I have had to weigh up the benefits of the scheme with the concerns that have been raised.

"I have listened carefully to what the objectors had to say but I think it will be a good scheme.

"There will be a further chance for people to raise their concerns, should they want to, when there are consultations on traffic regulation orders."

The protestors have promised to fight on to prevent the project, claiming it is a waste of cash that will not deliver significantly shorter bus journey times.

They said the narrowing of pavements to make room for the bus lanes will put pedestrians at risk and there is no evidence the scheme will convince people to swap their cars for buses.

Richard Johnson, head of Glen Parva and Aylestone Action Group, said: "To be honest, as soon as the county council approved it, we knew the mayor would go a long with it.

"He thinks it will be good for the city.

"We are looking at writing to the local government ombudsman about the decision.

"We can't see how the councils can just ignore so many people."

The scheme, which also includes junction improvements and speed limit reductions, has been altered to remove a section of bus lane on Soar Valley Way.

Mr Johnson, who met Sir Peter to discuss the matter on Thursday, said: "We agree with a lot of what is being proposed but not the bus lanes.

"We are hoping there may still be some changes that can be made because it is, as it stands, a bad scheme."

The city council has set aside £1.5 million for the project. County Hall is putting £600,000 into the project, with bus firm Arriva adding £300,000 and the Government £2.5 million .

Leicester City fielded a stronger side than expected and manager Nigel Pearson made just three changes to the team that had hammered Huddersfield 6-1 five days earlier.

Andy King and Lloyd Dyer returned to the midfield as Danny Drinkwater was rested, and Anthony Knockaert moved to the substitutes' bench.

Striker Marko Futacs was also given a start, with David Nugent on the bench after his hectic festive period.

3 min: GOAL 1-0 Paul Konchesky hits a diagonal ball into Chris Wood. He produces great chest control under pressure and stabs the ball past the keeper. City get the vital early breakthrough.

5 min: John McGrath's effort from edge of the box is just over the bar. It is a reminder to City.

14 min: Futacs' volley from a Dyer cross is gathered by Dean Lyness. City are going more direct than usual to try to exploit Burton's inexperienced centre-backs. It has worked so far.

21 min: GOAL 2-0 Ritchie De Laet's second in two games. Futacs and Dyer have shots blocked and the ball runs free for De Laet to finish.

23 min: King is teed up on the edge of the box by Woods and his shot flashes just over the bar.

30 min: Great save from Kasper Schmeichel at full stretch to push away Robbie Weir's curling half volley which was heading inside the far post. Burton's brightest moment so far.

36 min: Futacs hits the bar from close range with a side-foot volley from Ben Marshall's cross. The big striker should have scored.

HT: City 2 Burton 0

47 min: Futacs misses a sitter from close range when the Brewers fail to deal with a ball into the box. He chests the ball down at the back post but fires over the bar.

51 min: Great control and turn from Wood who plays in Dyer, who shoots from an acute angle but it is wide of the far post.

55 min: Calvin Zola's overhead kick looks spectacular but is straight at Schmeichel.

56 min: Michael Keane's header is cleared off the line by McGrath at the back post. A goal would have capped a superb display by the teenager.

72 min: A patient build-up from City and King shoots but it hits the outside of the post.

82 min: Matty James' great first-time pass plays in Nugent clean through but he is tripped from behind. The ball falls for De Laet so the ref plays advantage but his shot is saved.

88 min: Martyn Waghorn's cross almost sets up Nugent but for a great saving header from Damien McCrory.

F-t: City 2 Burton 0

Burton Albion boss Gary Rowett admitted he feared his side were in for an FA Cup thrashing when they went behind after just three minutes at the King Power Stadium.

Rowett said he knew his League Two side were probably facing the toughest tie of the third round because City would be seeking revenge for their shock Capital One Cup defeat in August.

When Chris Wood put City ahead early on, Rowett was anxious that his side would succumb to a buoyant side that had scored six goals against Huddersfield on Tuesday.

"If there was ever a cup tie this weekend that was the hardest to win, I would say it was ours, just because we had beaten them already," said Rowett, pictured, a former City defender.

"We were hopeful coming here, but the early goal made it very difficult. You look at Leicester's team and they have such an armoury that you are thinking they could go and get five or six. That's the problem when you play a quality side.

"They are flying high in the Championship and I hope they can get promotion this season. They have more than one way of causing you a problem.

"I don't suppose many managers would say it but, after three minutes, I was thinking 'please don't score seven or eight'."

Rowett said his side had adopted the same tactics as their Capital One victory, but the plan soon went out the window.

"It was not the greatest start in the world," he said. "We needed to be solid and start the game well.

"We knew they would come at us early on. It was important we weathered that early storm and tried to hit them on the counter.

"But we conceded after three minutes and you know you then have an absolute mountain to climb."

A businessman who caused "carnage" in a four-vehicle crash while using a mobile phone has been jailed.

Michael Bradshaw's BMW drifted on to the wrong side of the road when he was text messaging.

He narrowly missed two on-coming cars before colliding with a Subaru, a moped and a Toyota.

The 16-year-old schoolboy moped rider suffered a fractured skull, a punctured lung, a cracked sternum and a cracked eye-socket.

The Toyota driver suffered injuries including whiplash and soft tissue damage.

The crash happened on the A6, as Bradshaw was approaching a roundabout near Market Harborough, travelling from Leicester, at 4.45pm, on January 12 last year.

The 40-year-old married father, who is global contacts director for a construction company, admitted driving dangerously.

Bradshaw, who was due to have surgery to remove a brain tumour this week, was jailed for four months.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said Bradshaw had no previous convictions and a clean driving licence.

He told the police a "sudden flash of light" caused him to swerve, although no-one else at the scene saw it.

Bradshaw, of Barford Close, Westbrook, Warrington, initially denied using his phone but analysis of his mobile activity proved otherwise.

Bradshaw was banned from driving for 18 months.

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill has defended the tackle which threatens fly-half Toby Flood's participation in this weekend's crucial Heineken Cup clash at the Ospreys.

Flood has been cited for an alleged tip-tackle on Worcester's Andy Goode during Tigers' 19-14 Aviva Premiership win at Sixways on Friday.

He will face an RFU disciplinary hearing in London tomorrow and, if found guilty, is almost certain to miss his side's biggest game of the season.

The incident happened in the second half when Flood tackled Goode near the halfway line. The former Leicester man fell on his shoulder when Tigers hooker Rob Hawkins joined in to finish off the tackle.

Cockerill believed that although Goode fell awkwardly, he insisted there was no malice in the tackle.

"I think it was a genuine attempt at a good-quality tackle," said Cockerill.

"Clearly, Andy Goode ended up in an awkward position. But with Rob Hawkins joining the tackle and pulling Andy to the ground with his collar, it made it look worse than it was.

"If you take the views of the commentators out of the way and look at it in the cold light of day, it was just unfortunate.

"It is not a tip-tackle or a spear tackle. It was just a tackle which left Andy in an awkward position.

"There was no malice. Toby Flood is not that type of player."