Officers are appealing for information following a burglary at business premises in Leicester. It happened at a plumbers merchant in Parker Drive shortly before 5.30am on Saturday 5 December. A quantity of cash was taken from inside. PC Matt Alder, the investigating officer, said: “I would like to speak to anyone who was in the area of Parker Drive early that Saturday morning. “Please cast your mind back – did you see anyone acting in a manner that aroused your suspicion? “There are a number of other businesses in the area, as well as houses. I would particularly like to speak to anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage. “Any information you have could help my investigation.” Call 101 quoting reference 20*643899. #LeicsPolice #ParkerDrive

Includes new cafe and nature reserve The Snibston Colliery Park has officially reopened following an ambitious £3m regeneration scheme carried out by Leicestershire County Council. Building work for the project started in February 2020, incorporating a range of developments that reconnect the heritage of the site with the local community. By opening up access to the area around the colliery buildings visitors can learn more about the story of Coalville. There’s also a host of new features including the Colliery Café, Snibston Heritage Trail, a play area and Grange Nature Reserve. Nick Rushton, Leader of Leicestershire County Council said; "This has been an ambitious but carefully considered regeneration project. Not only does the site honour its mining heritage roots, but it’s also a commitment to the future, securing long term benefits for the local area. The redevelopment of this site intended to make the park more attractive for families, dog walkers and cyclists to explore. Visiting the site now, and seeing all the new facilities, including the cycleway which reconnects the former colliery with the town, there are lots of different things to discover with something for everyone. We are delighted it is now open and we look forward to seeing visitors enjoying everything it has to offer for years to come." Working closely with Snibston Heritage Trust and North West Leicestershire District Council, care has been taken at every stage on the site to respect its rich ecology and mining history. Important artefacts have been preserved and a new home has also been found for the old railway track, which is now being cared for by Great Central Railway. Councillor Richard Blunt, Leader of North West Leicestershire District Council, said: “This is a big day for Coalville, for the first time in 40 years the front gates of the former Snibston pit are open and people are pouring in to use the new cycle tracks, play equipment and café. Adding the new pedestrian and cycleway link to the town centre for all the residents on that side of town is also a big plus. We’re on a journey of regeneration in Coalville and this excellent county council project is another welcome step towards this goal. “I’m pleased that people will now get to see the world class heritage at Snibston, which is considered as important as Stonehenge. It’s also great news that the new car park is to be linked to the football pitches which will take the pressure off Owen Street. “With Newmarket nearing completion, the Belvoir Centre set for a major revamp and a multi-million pound Future High Street Fund bid being considered by Government – potentially opening the door to lots more regeneration opportunities – the future is looking bright for Coalville.” Mick Williamson, managing director at Fortem, said “We are extremely pleased that Snibston Colliery Park is now open to the public. It has been a pleasure working with Leicestershire County Council to deliver this landmark project at a site with such rich history. It is clear that the regenerated park will play an important role in the community, helping to tell the story of Coalville while providing new and exciting amenities.” “I would like to thank everyone involved in the project for their hard work and commitment, in particular our committed and dedicated supply chain partners. It has been a partnership between all parties and we hope that visitors from the local community and beyond enjoy the new park.” Outdoor activities are an important feature of the development including a new play area, a cycleway connecting Coalville town centre to the Colliery Park and a 4km mountain bike trail (opening Spring 2021) which, it’s anticipated, will attract cyclists from across the UK. www.leicscountryparks.org.uk/snibston-country-park/ Leicestershire Country Council Press relased Monday, 14 December, 2020

Covid vaccination gets the go ahead in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland NHS partners have confirmed that a hospital vaccination hub at Leicester General Hospital will start vaccinating from Saturday, 12 December. Andy Williams, chief executive for the three LLR CCGs said: “This is fantastic news as we know that many people throughout our communities will be pleased we can start delivering this ground-breaking programme. “We anticipate that vaccinations will begin this weekend, subject to final details being confirmed, and be delivered from a hospital-hub at the Leicester General Hospital. “As per the national guidelines, priority groups people aged 80 and over as well as care home workers will be first to receive the jab, along with NHS workers who are at higher risk. We have already begun inviting eligible people for the vaccine and all those vaccinated will need a booster jab 21 days later.” “Given the extended restrictions Leicester and parts of Leicestershire have been under the vaccine is welcome news. The team here are getting ready to deliver the vaccinations, and looking forward to doing so. “It’s important to appreciate it will take time to be rolled out across the local population and, in the meantime, it is essential that people do not become complacent and continue to follow any local restrictions as well as public health advice. It is, to borrow a phrase, a marathon not a sprint. And the NHS will contact you when we need you to come forward for your vaccination.” “We would like to thank all those involved for their hard work in getting us to this point. It has required detailed planning, managing the complexities and logistical challenges of this new vaccine with its unique storage and transportation requirements. Staff across our system are ready for this historic moment.” The Leicester General Hospital vaccination hub is the first of what will be a range of sites across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland as further supplies of the vaccine become available. People do not need to take any action at this stage. The NHS will contact you if you are eligible for a vaccine and are being invited to attend an appointment. Read the news on the first person to get the COVID vaccine in Leicester. Click Here

Leicestershire Country Council announes that Community testing in Leicestershire is due to start in the New Year. Plans are being finalised that will see lateral flow test pop-up testing deployed in communities across Leicestershire with the highest rates. Mike Sandy, council's director of public health said; "Our plans are progressing quickly and in parallel with the Government’s community testing programme. Our plan will see new-style kits deployed where we are seeing the very highest rates, helping to break the chain of infection. As you can imagine, this requires a lot of planning and we’re in the process of finalising the approach and logistics. We’re already ready to use the kits on a small-scale to help control outbreaks and in early January, we aim to be able to deploy tests and teams to communities that need it most, and scale up the operation if required." Nick Rushton, council leader said; "Rates have dropped significantly over the past month – and I’d like to thank people for heeding our call. But we can’t let our guard down. And especially with Christmas approaching and a potential third wave. We remain at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus. As one of the first in the country to localise test and trace, and with the successful drop in rates in Oadby and Wigston over the summer, we have the expertise to make this work. When we need the community testing most, after Christmas, we’ll be ready to roll." The Government has today (Saturday) announced a list of 67 tier three areas where it will roll out community testing. Although Leicestershire is not on the list, the council has worked up its own plan without the need for Government support. Leicestershire Country Council News Release dated Saturday, 12 December, 2020

A Glenfield grandfather has become the first patient in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to receive the groundbreaking new PfizerBioNTech vaccination against Covid-19. David Brindley, 87, a father of three and proud granddad of nine who has lived in Leicestershire for 26 years, described himself as being honoured to be the first person to get the vaccine locally. He said he hoped it would mean that he could soon hug his grandchildren who he hasn’t been able to see during the pandemic. The vaccine was given to David at the Leicester General Hospital this morning - the first of almost 1,000 doses that are expected to be administered over the next few days. Immediate priority is being given to patients aged over 80 who are already attending hospital as an outpatient or being discharged home after a hospital stay, along with NHS and care home staff considered to be at the greatest risk from the disease. A keen camper and yachtsman, David is also the founder and chair of New Dawn Family Support Service - a charity supporting carers, individuals, families and young people with life limiting and serious illnesses. He said: “I’m chuffed to be honest. I wasn’t expecting it but the vaccine is really great news for everyone. Like most older people I’ve spent a lot of time self-isolating and have really missed spending time with my family. I’m just hoping that this means I will soon be able to give each of my grandchildren a really big hug. I’ve missed that.” The life-saving vaccine, which is typically injected into the patient’s upper arm, was given by Senior Occupational Health Nurse, Cathy Brough who has worked for the local NHS for over 20 years. Cathy said it was a proud moment that she would remember for the rest of her career. Rebecca Brown, acting chief executive of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, gave her thanks to staff from across the local NHS. She said: “It has been a remarkable effort by everyone to get our hospital hub up and running and we are so grateful to them. It has been wonderful to be here today and see and feel the hope and optimism as we take these next steps against the virus. Meeting David, the first patient to receive the vaccine locally and seeing the first jab administered was an honour. “While this is a momentous moment we also know it is only the beginning. Over the coming weeks the local vaccination programme will ramp up significantly, first through this hospital hub and soon from GP-led community vaccine centres. Together they will mean that we will be in a position to deliver thousands of vaccinations every week to people across the area.” However, despite the inevitable excitement at the launch, Rebecca warned that the battle against the virus is far from over. She added: “Covid-19 remains a real threat and we must all remain vigilant. We still have toomany people in our hospitals who have tested positive for the disease. “It will take a number of months to complete the programme as more vaccine becomes available. In the meantime it is essential we don’t let our guard down and that we all continue to do everything we can to follow any local Covid restrictions. That includes adhering tosocial distancing guidance, washing hands regularly, and wearing a face covering.” People will be contacted by the NHS when they become eligible and are being invited for vaccination. Because of the complexity of the programme this will take some time, and people should not be concerned if they are eligible but not invited immediately. They do not need to contact the hospital or their GP practice, and it is important that they do not attend any NHS location speculatively in the hope of being vaccinated.

Phoenix cinema and art centre has been awarded a ‘Capital Kickstart’ grant of £645,586 in support of the charity’s Phoenix 2020 expansion plans. The award was announced today by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England from its £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund: £58.9 million has been awarded through the fund’s Capital Kickstart grants programme, and over £165 million has been offered through the Repayable Finance programme. The Capital Kickstart award is designed to support cultural organisations which have already been awarded capital grants by Arts Council, but whose projects have been delayed by Covid-19. Phoenix was awarded £4 million of National Lottery money towards the project by Arts Council in April 2019. Originally planned for completion this year, the Phoenix 2020 project aims to double participation in arts, cinema and creativity over five years by expanding the charity’s city centre venue. It is expected to make a valuable contribution to the local economy through increased visitor spending and enhanced support for local artists and creative businesses. Like most cultural venues, Phoenix has been badly hit by Covid-19. Since 17 March the venue has been open only 29 days which has had a big impact on the many people who visit Phoenix, as well as artists, filmmakers and the many small local businesses that supply the charity. Phoenix has continued to pursue funding for Phoenix 2020 whilst closed. In October, it was awarded a further £400,000 as one of a number of economic priorities announced by the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership. John Rance, CEO of Phoenix, said: “We are currently working with our architects and construction partners to develop the final plans and costings for Phoenix 2020, whilst continuing our fundraising efforts. Covid-19 has caused delays and disruptions to the project, but we remain committed to making Phoenix 2020 happen and have the continued support of our stakeholders and funders. The award of the Kickstart funding means the project is much more likely to go ahead. “We have been heartened by the many hundreds of individual donations we have received from our customers, as well as public funding from Arts Council England, and our other stakeholders.” Peter Knott, Area Director, Arts Council England said: "Arts and culture play a vital role in making Leicester a great place to live, work, study and visit, so we’re pleased to be supporting the Phoenix as it continues an ambitious project to expand its space, add new cinema screens and create a more prominent digital art gallery. “Our Capital Grants programme provides organisations with vital funding to ensure they have the right buildings and equipment to help them become more sustainable and innovative places, as they deliver exciting work to the public. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to increasing costs and time delays to many projects, so we’re delighted to offer additional funding to make sure these projects are completed, re-opened and of benefit to all.” Leicester City Council’s deputy city mayor for culture, leisure and sport, Cllr Piara Singh Clair, said: “This is great news for Phoenix, an organisation we are proud to support. This has been a tremendously difficult year for arts venues, so I’m sure this valuable support from Arts Council England will be of great benefit to Phoenix as it continues with its ambitious and exciting expansion plans.” Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said: “This government promised it would be here for culture and today’s announcement is proof we’ve kept our word. “The £1 billion invested so far through the Culture Recovery Fund has protected tens of thousands of jobs at cultural organisations across the UK, with more support still to come through a second round of applications. “Today we’re extending a huge helping hand to the crown jewels of UK culture - so that they can continue to inspire future generations all around the world.” Today’s announcement follows several previous rounds of investment from the Culture Recovery Fund, which saw £428 million distributed to over 2000 cultural organisations though the Grants programme, alongside the £3.36 million Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund. The financing announced today takes the total allocated from the Culture Recovery Fund over £1 billion, delivering on the government’s commitment to be here for culture in every corner of the country during this pandemic. The Repayable Finance programme will provide loans of £3 million and above to some of England’s largest and most prestigious cultural organisations, helping them to weather the effects of the pandemic and reopen when it is safe to do so. For more information visit the web site www.phoenix.org.uk/

Measures to keep dangerous weapons off the streets are a step closer today with the opening of a surrender scheme, under prohibitions introduced in the Offensive Weapons Act. The surrender scheme marks an important development in the government’s commitment to tackling serious violence and strengthening police powers to take action against it. Under the scheme, offensive weapons that will soon be prohibited as well as rapid firing rifles, which fire at a rate closer to semi-automatic rifles, can be surrendered to the police. Lawful owners will be able to claim compensation for the items in most cases. This follows the Offensive Weapons Act which bans possession of dangerous and offensive weapons in private. The list of weapons includes zombie knives, cyclone knives, knuckledusters, death star knives, flick knives, gravity knives, batons, disguised knives, push daggers and other offensive weapons. It was already illegal to possess a knife or offensive weapon in public. Crime and Policing Minister, Kit Malthouse, said: I am committed to ensuring our streets are safe from the scourge of violent crime. We are prohibiting ownership of dangerous weapons which have a high potential for causing harm - every item surrendered is one which can no longer fall into the hands of criminals. The government’s top priority will always be keeping the public safe and we are ensuring that our laws and police powers deliver on these commitments. The scheme will run for 3 months from 10 December 2020 to 9 March 2021. Lawful owners will be able to claim compensation if the total value of the claim is more than £30. Claims can be submitted to the police using a form. This scheme is in addition to knife amnesties that are routinely conducted by police forces. National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on knife crime, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Graham McNulty, said: Tackling knife crime and reducing violence is a top priority for policing. The surrender scheme will enable us to remove dangerous weapons off the streets and assist in keeping our communities safe. Every weapon removed is possibly a life saved and I urge people to please help us make our streets safer. The Offensive Weapons Act is part of wider a government commitment to reducing serious violent crime, providing safer streets and neighbourhoods for everyone. This includes: introducing Knife Crime Prevention Orders which are intended to be preventative, helping young people at risk of being drawn into knife crime to change their behaviour making it unlawful to dispatch bladed products sold online without measures in place to ensure they are not delivered into the hands of a person under 18 changing the legal definition for threatening someone with an offensive weapon to make prosecutions easier banning the sale and delivery of corrosive products to under 18s and making it an offence to possess a corrosive substance in a public place The government is also boosting police numbers with 20,000 additional officers, almost 6,000 of which have already been recruited. New laws will also make it easier for police to use stop and search powers for those previously convicted of knife crime. The full surrender scheme applies in England and Wales which relates to certain knives and other offensive weapons, as well as rapid firing rifles, their ancillary equipment and bump stocks. The scheme extends to Scotland and Northern Ireland only with respect to firearms, their ancillary equipment and bump stocks. Guidance is available providing a list of items covered, guidance on how to travel with and surrender weapons safely, and compensation levels.

Leicester City Council will be making changes to its regular waste and recycling collection days due to the Christmas and New Year bank holidays. All weekly collections will be a day earlier than normal during the two-weeks from Monday 21 December. This means that over the holiday period regular Tuesday collections will move to Monday 21 December and Monday 28 December. Homes that normally have their wate collected on Wednesdays will receive their collections on Tuesday 22 December and Tuesday 29 December. Thursday collections will move to Wednesday 23 December and Wednesday 30 December, and Friday collections will be made on Christmas Eve (Thurs 24 Dec) and New Year’s Eve (Thurs 31 Dec). All waste and recycling collections will return to normal from Tuesday 5 January 2021. Deputy City Mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on environment and transportation, said: “We’ve worked closely with Biffa to keep this year’s changes as simple as we can to help ensure that nobody has to miss a weekly collection. “There’s no doubt this has been a challenging year for everyone, but it should be recognised that the city’s refuse teams have been on duty throughout the pandemic keeping our weekly collections going. We are very grateful for their continued and valued efforts.” All bins and orange bags should be put out for collection by 7am on the correct day. Households can put out as many orange recycling bags as they need for their recyclable waste. Festive items like sweet and biscuit tins and tubs, glass bottles and jars, cardboard boxes, and non-metallic wrapping paper and greetings cards can all be bagged for collection as recycling. Real Christmas trees can be composted and artificial trees disposed of at either of the city council’s recycling centres. There will also be some changes to the opening hours at the city’s two waste and recycling centres over the holiday period. Both the Gypsum Close and Freemen’s Common sites will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. The centres will be open from 8am until 2pm on Christmas Eve (24 Dec) and New Year's Eve (31 Dec), and from 8am until 6pm at all other times. Details of opening times for the Gypsum Close trade recycling centre will be available on the council’s website. For more information visit www.leicester.gov.uk/recycling

Leicester City Council has published its draft budget plans for next year. The council has prepared a stop-gap budget covering the next 12 months only and will review its finances when there is more certainty. City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “The budget for 2021 follows 10 years of austerity, in which we have lost over £100million of Government funding. Our difficulties have been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. We have worked hard to support businesses and vulnerable residents during this time, and do not know how much we will still need to spend. Nor do we know what spending cuts the Government will make in future to repay the extra debt it has incurred. When this is all over, I greatly fear a damaging new round of austerity. Sir Peter added: “We set out to make minimal changes this year. We are only able to do this because of the firm action we have taken to make savings in the past. This is enabling us to weather the covid storm without crisis cuts.” The budget makes few changes to money available for services, although an extra £10million will need to be found to meet the rising costs of adult social care. The Government is expected to provide an additional £2million and has allowed councils to increase council tax by up to 5%, with 3% ringfenced to help meet the shortfall in the social care budget. It is proposed that council tax in Leicester increases by the full 5% in 2021/22. Leicester City Council’s annual Government grant funding has been slashed from £289million in 2010, to £179million in 2020. The annual cost for social care has risen from £128million to £197million over the same period. Sir Peter said: “We obviously want to provide properly for the growing numbers of older people needing social care. The Government should be fully funding these extra costs, not passing the buck to local taxpayers. “Even when the extra 3% tax is taken into account, we are still well short of £10million. I hope that we will now start to see progress on the long-delayed reform of social care funding which the Government has promised for next year” Alison Greenhill, Leicester City Council director of finance, added: “The legacy of the pandemic will have a major impact on what the council needs to provide in the future, and how we provide it. It is too soon to look at this sensibly while we are still subject to restrictions and uncertainty, and the budget is a temporary measure until we can properly plan for 2022. “We are fortunate in having savings from earlier years that we can use to balance the budget, and give us time to review what we need to do. My expectation is that we will also face a number of years of spending cuts which we will need to plan for.” Leicester is the only city in England which has been subject to continuous covid restrictions since March. The annual budget proposals will be formally considered at a meeting of full council on 17 February 2021. Details of the draft budget are available to view on the City Mayor’s webpages at www.leicester.gov.uk/citymayor

A Pilot study will get under way in Leicester this week that will give the city council responsibility for tracing people who test positive for coronavirus but who prove to be difficult to contact. From (Monday 7 December), the city council will be empowered to trace anyone in Leicester who tests positive for the virus, if they fail to respond to an automated message within eight hours. Leicester City Council is the first local authority in the country to be given access to this data by Public Health England in what could be a significant breakthrough in the city’s bid to prevent the transmission of the virus. Previously, cases would only be referred to the council after the national NHS Test & Trace service had spent up to four days trying to locate them – a time delay that increases the risk of the virus being passed on. The pilot scheme is expected to demonstrate that the most effective way to trace hard-to-reach people who test positive – and stop them from spreading the virus – is to use local teams equipped with local knowledge. City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “Since we set up our contact tracing team in July, we’ve consistently tracked down around 88% of the people that the national Test & Trace service was unable to find – and that’s despite the number of cases rising. “Of the 2,235 cases referred to us, we’ve been able to contact 1,976 people – and that means we’ve been able to ask them to self-isolate, make them aware of the support that’s available to them while they’re isolating, and try to gather important information about the people they’ve been in contact with, before and since their symptoms started. “I’m confident that we will be able to demonstrate beyond any doubt that councils are best placed to deliver this important tracing service. “We know our communities, we have a wealth of local data and we have staff who can talk to people in their own language. And, importantly, we have a ground team that can go out to visit those we’re not able to get hold of remotely. “We have been asking the Government to give us this responsibility for some time, so I am pleased that we now have the opportunity to take charge of tracking those people who may inadvertently be spreading the virus in the city because they don’t know that they’ve had a positive test.” While the council’s knowledge of the city and its communities plays a key role in the process, a number of other factors are contributing to Leicester’s success in tracing local people. Leicester’s tracing team manager Edd Quick said: “We face the same challenges as the national track and trace teams, but we’re a little bit better placed to tackle the local cases. “The number that appears on people’s phones when we call is a local number, and we feel this is more likely to be answered than an 0300 number that the national team need to use, but which is also favoured by unsolicited cold callers. “Being able to visit people at their address is an important advantage and allows us to get hold of those who aren’t able to respond remotely. “There are, of course, key bits of information we need to get from people when we contact them, but the team aren’t stuck to a rigid script, and we have a diverse range of language skills on board, as well as excellent support from the council’s community languages team. “The team here are committed to getting the right message out to those in the city who have tested positive. We want them and their families to be safe, and we want to do what we can to try to reduce transmission.” People prove difficult to contact for a variety of reasons, including: a phone number provided is incorrect the infected person is a child, and its parent must be informed requests for information about contacts have not been responded to a whole family has been tested, but only one member has responded to the contact tracers. Leicester City Council’s tracing team will attempt to contact individuals remotely – by phone or by email – over a period of 24-48 hours. If this is unsuccessful, members of the ground team, in full PPE, will call at their home address. The city council’s contact tracers are all council employees who work in customer-facing roles. Currently there are 22 desk-based staff, with six more in the ground team. The team works closely with the local PHE health protection team, who provide expert advice and follow up any issues related to workplaces or other venues where the virus might have spread. The success of the scheme in Leicester could see other local authorities around the country adopting a similar approach. Leicester City Council Press Release Published on Monday, December 7, 2020

The great-great-great grandson of Leicestershire’s most famous policeman is following in family footsteps more than 100 years after his ancestor first took up the role. Continuing the family’s policing legacy for the first time since 4 April 1908, PC Dan Challis, part of cohort PCDA (3), joined as a Leicestershire Police officer after taking his oath to the Queen last month. Dan said, “I was destined for a career change and always had policing in the back of my head as something I wanted to do. When my mum had told me more about our ancestry after applying to the force, I couldn’t believe he was such a well-known face. “My great-great-great grandfather was part of Leicestershire Police for twenty two years following his stint in Cape Verde fighting in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. He served as a veteran in the war over-seas and received a campaign medal for his service. The medal has been passed down the family and I was proud to hold it being sworn into duty.” While his name was PC John William Stephens, he gained the nickname PC Tubby because he was the heaviest serving police officer in English history. “At twenty-five stone, he became a public figure whilst patrolling the clock tower in Leicester City Centre. He was seen on postcards, in newspapers and people travelling to Leicester to watch the football would seek him out to say they’d met him. When he died, thousands of people lined the streets of Leicester for his funeral.” Chief Constable, Simon Cole said, “PC Tubby Stephens certainly made his mark within Leicestershire Police history. People knew him from far and wide for his community spirit and cheerful personality, undeniably the qualities we see in our officers on the streets today. “In 2017, we ensured his grave was marked through funding from the Leicestershire Police Federation (LPF) trust after hearing PC Tubby Stephens had been buried at Welford road cemetery in an unmarked grave. At the time, we were unable to trace his family, so are now thrilled to welcome Dan into policing at Leicestershire and have Tubby’s policing legacy live on.” Everards of Leicestershire added, “It’s really fascinating to hear that PC Tubby Stephen’s great-great-great grandson has joined Leicestershire Police. “As part of our charitable work we do here at Everards, we donate 5p for every pint sold of our limited edition ale in memory of PC Tubby to Care of Police Survivors (COPS). Since its launch in 2017, we’ve donated £1800 to help their tremendous work in supporting the families of police officers and staff who have lost their lives on duty.” Whilst PC Challis, 24, of Melton, has some big boots to fill, he’s excited to be taking on a new career path like his great-great-great grandfather after working in IT for six years. Dan added: “I’m most looking forward to trying new things as I progress through the force and seek out opportunities to learn new skills in various departments. “I remember when I was younger taking Tubby’s medal to show and tell in primary school, perhaps not realising at the time that he was such a big deal. Never did I think that one day I’d be following in his footsteps and holding that same medal on the day of my attestation. “I’m the first in our family since him to join Leicestershire Police so I hope I live up to the bar he’s set, although I don’t want to adopt his size!” If you are interested in a career with Leicestershire Police please visit our recruitment pages. For more information about supporting COPS through Everards of Leicestershire please visit the Everards of Leicestershire website.

From today Wednesday (2 December), Leicester will join other areas of the country in Tier 3 – the category for areas with the highest levels of infection and where the most stringent restrictions are in place. Despite Leicester’s infection rate falling from 530 per 100,000 in mid November to 415 per 100,000 in the seven days to 20 November, the prevalence of coronavirus in the city is still high – and Leicester’s Tier 3 status was therefore largely expected. “Although Leicester’s figures are slowly moving in the right direction, the infection rate here is still far too high,” said Leicester’s director of public health, Professor Ivan Browne. “Overall numbers are coming down, but we remain very concerned about the infection rate in Leicester – particularly the level of infections in people aged 60 and over, who are more likely to have a serious disease than younger people. “This is no time for complacency – and no one must think that the development of a vaccine means they can be less vigilant. “I’d like to thank all of those who have respected these restrictions for so long, but we simply have to continue to follow the rules, if we are to succeed in reducing the spread of this highly contagious virus over the winter months.” Under the new restrictions, people in Leicester will no longer be able to meet up with other households in a private garden. Meetings in parks or other public outdoor places are permitted, as long as no more than six people are present and social distancing is observed. But mixing in any indoor setting with people you don’t live with – unless you are in a support bubble with them – is still not permitted. People can continue to travel to venues or amenities that are open, but all pubs, cafes and restaurants will remain closed while Leicester is in Tier 3, and museums, cinemas, theatres and hotels – with some exceptions – are amongst the facilities that must also remain closed. Take-away services, however, can continue. Non-essential shops, hairdressers, beauty salons, gyms and leisure centres are amongst the facilities that can re-open from Wednesday (2 December), although indoor group exercise classes will not be permitted. City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “While Tier 3 was sadly inevitable, we have been hampered in driving the figures down by the time it takes NHS Test & Trace to pass us the names of those they’ve been unable to contact. “We’re also still waiting for all the kit we need to start rolling out the new, quicker, lateral flow testing programme. “But we’re making progress and our numbers are now heading in the right direction. “People in Leicester have lived with these restrictions for so long, and I thank them for it, but I would urge everyone in the city to stay strong and keep going during the difficult weeks ahead. “The Government has said that it will review Leicester’s position on 16 December, so if we are able to get the rate down in the next fortnight, we could move out of Tier 3 before Christmas – and that would be good news for all of us.” As the prevalence of coronavirus in Leicester remains high, people who are clinically extremely vulnerable are advised to take extra care. Everyone in Leicester should continue to: wear a face covering when required wash or sanitise their hands frequently follow social distancing rules work from home, if possible refrain from visiting anyone else’s home or garden, unless they’re in a support bubble with them walk or cycle if possible – and avoid travelling on buses at peak times if possible follow the Rule of Six limit their contact with other people stay at home and get a test at the first sign of coronavirus by calling 119 Since 28 September, anyone who receives a positive Covid-19 test or is told to self-isolate by the NHS Test & Trace Service must self-isolate by law, with anyone failing to self-isolate when they are required to do so facing a fine of between £1,000 and £10,000. A support payment of £500 can be claimed by employed or self-employed people on low incomes who are told to self-isolate, but whose income would be hit by staying at home. Anyone who tests positive for coronavirus, or who has symptoms, must self-isolate for 10 days, while anyone living in the same household must self-isolate for 14 days. The latest figures for Leicester show that 1,469 people tested positive for coronavirus in the seven days to 20 November. The rate of infection per 100,000 in Leicester now stands at 415 (seven days to 20 November). This compares with the national rate of infection of 218 per 100,000. More information can be found at leicester.gov.uk/coronavirus or at gov.uk/coronavirus More information on the Tier 3 restrictions can be found on the Government’s website at www.gov.uk Leicester City Council news release