Three-year-old Leeds sister saved her baby brother’s life

Three-year-old Leeds sister saved her baby brother’s life

A LEEDS mother is appealing for more Asian people to sign up as potential stem cell donors after her baby son’s life was saved by a stem cell transplant from his three-year-old sister.

Zahra Hussain, 29, of Morley, is calling for more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to join the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan’s register of people willing to be stem cell donors.

The pharmacist’s one-year-old son, Dawud Raza, was saved by a stem cell transplant after he was diagnosed with a very rare genetic condition that causes immunodeficiency when he was just five- months-old.

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Leeds is best city in England....but you knew that already

Leeds is best city in England....but you knew that already

YORKSHIRE Evening Post readers have welcomed new research which placed Leeds as the best large city in England for standard of life.

Leeds beat six other major English cities including Manchester and Birmingham in MoneySuperMarket’s 2015 quality of living index.

It scored highly in a number of categories with Leeds residents enjoying an average annual salary of £22,419 compared to £19,801 in Bradford and £20,382 in Sheffield.

House price affordability in Leeds was favourable, working out at an income multiple of 6.6 compared to 7.7 in Birmingham and 9.2 in Bristol.

The unemployment rate is listed as eight per cent in Leeds compared to 10.3 per cent in Birmingham and 10.6 per cent in Liverpool.

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Leeds school worker had indecent images of children

Leeds school worker had indecent images of children

A PRIMARY school lunchtime supervisor quit his job after being arrested for downloading pornographic images of children.

A court heard Michael Earnshaw, 70, resigned from his job at Featherbank Primary School, in Horsforth, Leeds, soon after being released by police.

West Yorkshire Police officers went to Earnshaw’s home on May 13 this year and seized a computer after receiving information that indecent images had been accessed from the property.

Bashir Ahmed, prosecuting, said: “It is important to note that, a day or so after being released from the police station, the defendant resigned from the part time job of lunchtime supervisor at Featherbank primary school.”

A total of 136 indecent images and videos were found on the computer. Mr Ahmed said 40 images were at Category A - the most serious level of offending. A further 900 partially deleted images were found.

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Pledge to help Leeds’ oldest street rise from the ashes

Pledge to help Leeds’ oldest street rise from the ashes

A major regeneration project on one of Leeds’ oldest streets will still go ahead - despite a devastating fire that left one of its shops gutted earlier this month,

The fire at Hills Furniture Shop, on Lower Kirkgate, caused serious structural damage to the building, which was subsequently demolished. There were doubts as to whether the council’s Lower Kirkgate Townscape Heritage Initiative project could continue.

But chiefs have today insisted the project will go ahead - and the fire will not impact on plans to restore the street to its former glory.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member for regeneration, transport and planning, said: “The fire was obviously unfortunate and caused a significant amount of damage and disruption while the site was made safe.

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Christmas is ‘looking tough’ for retailer

ASDA said it expects Christmas to be very tough​ after 90 per cent of its customers said they would spend the same amount or less money on festive treats this year.

The news came as the Leeds-based grocer reported another sizeable fall in quarterly sales as shoppers decamped to cheaper rivals Aldi and Lidl.

Asda’s CEO Andy Clarke said the group hopes to narrow the price difference between Asda and the discounters to just five per cent. At the moment it believes it is 10 per cent more expensive than Aldi and Lidl after being 20 per cent more expensive four years ago.

​Asda said like-for-like sales fell 4.5 per cent in the 13 weeks to September 30, which comes after a 4.7 per cent fall in the second quarter – its worst ever quarterly sales slide, described at the time by Mr Clarke as the group’s “nadir”.

Explaining why sales had not picked up, Mr Clarke said: “The market continues to be hugely challenging. We have seen a marginal improvement.

“We are not the only business to talk about non-food having a very challenging quarter. It was unseasonably warm year on year,” he added, referring to the warm weather which hit autumn clothing sales.

“It will be a very challenging Christmas for all of us.”

Asda said that while customers have £18 a week more to spend than last year, 68 per cent said they plan to spend the same amount on Christmas as last year and 21 per cent said they would spend less.

Despite this, Mr Clarke said that the group won’t be distracted by “short term gimmicks” such as vouchering or complex price matching schemes. ​Asda recently said it will abandon its Black Friday sale following the mayhem of previous years when fights broke out​.

Mr Clarke said customers would prefer lower prices in the run-up to Christmas than big discounts on just one day. So far this year the group has spent £300m on price cuts.

Source: Yorkshire Evening Post

Cinema and ‘boutique brewery’ for £80m Tower Works revival in Leeds

The proposed Tower Works redevelopment

PLANS went in today for one of Leeds’s biggest regeneration projects - the £80m revival of the historic Tower Works in Holbeck.

The proposals by construction firm Carillion will see the old industrial site, long earmarked for rebuilding, brought back to life with a mix of homes, commercial office space and retail units.

The Grade II listed former engine house will be brought back to life with a cinema and “boutique brewery”, facing on to a new public square.

The developers say the will connect Holbeck to the canal, the new entrance to Leeds station and the city centre. More than half the development will be pedestrian and public space, framing views of the famed Italianate Towers which give the site its name.

The towers and Engine House building are owned by Leeds City Council.

Restoration set to start for Leeds Tower Works

Holbeck: Signs of revival

The site will also include 90,000sq ft of commercial office space alongside a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments and four-bedroom town houses.

Gareth Jackson, development director for Carillion said: “This planning application is the culmination of our work with the HCA, Leeds City Council and local stakeholders to ensure that Tower Works is a fitting and successful addition to the Leeds South Bank regeneration area.

“With iconic buildings, canalside living, great transport links and proximity to the City’s prime civic locations, it’s emerging as Leeds’ most exciting place to live and work.”

Tower Works is being designed by architects Jestico + Whiles and landscape architects Oobe and engineers WSP.

Ben Marston, director at Jestico + Whiles said: “Holbeck is one of the most exciting regeneration projects currently under way in the UK. The team has worked hard to respond to Holbeck’s special character while making the site a permeable place people will want to live and work in, as well as visit.”

Today’s planning submission for the site follows a development deal last month between Carillion and the Homes and Communities Agency, which took over responsibility for Tower Works after the winding up of the development agency Yorkshire Forward. Construction work is expected to begin next Spring.

Built in the 1860s, the original Tower Works factory ceased operations in 1981.

Source: Yorkshire Evening Post

Concern for welfare of man missing in Leeds

Timothy Cox.

Police today issued an urgent appeal for information about a man who has gone missing in Leeds.

Timothy Cox, 39, was reported missing from his home in the Ireland Wood area at 11.45pm yesterday.

Leeds District CID’s Det Insp John Dexter said: “Timothy’s family are very concerned for his welfare and we urgently need to establish his whereabouts and check that he is okay.

“We would like to hear from anyone who has seen him or who has any information that could assist in tracing him.

“Officers have been searching a number of areas throughout the night as part of our efforts to find him and those searches are continuing today.”

Mr Cox is described as white, 6ft 3in tall, bald and of broad build.

He was last seen wearing a long brown coat with a hood, black jeans and grey and black Nike trainers and carrying a red Ralph Lauren Polo sport gym bag.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the special operations room at Elland Road police station via the 101 number, quoting log reference 1815 of November 16.

Source: Yorkshire Evening Post