BBC News England

Businesses can apply to receive a one off cash payment of up to £18,000 as part of a "restart grant" announced by the chancellor.

Rishi Sunak said those in hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses can apply through the new UK-wide Recovery Loan Scheme to help businesses of all sizes through the next stage of recovery.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

More than 25 people with East Yorkshire accents have responded to an appeal for voice donors to help a man with cerebral palsy sound less "American".

Richie CottinghamCopyright: Richie Cottingham

Richie Cottingham, from Howden, uses a speaking aid which has a generic voice, however he said that does not represent his identity.

The 26-year-old appealed for voice donors as he wants to blend recordings of two local men, of similar age to him, to create a new voice, which would then be installed on his electronic speech aid.

His speech and language therapist, Jennifer Benson, said: "It's absolutely brilliant.

"We've had lots of responses. We've asked them to send recordings of themselves and then we'll make a shortlist of all the ones we've received and Richie will vote for the ones he likes best."

Tonight will be cloudy with the risk of a few scattered showers.

However, it should stay largely dry.

A cold night with light winds, and some mist or fog patches:

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Two nurses, one recovering from Covid-19, are walking 100 laps around a park in memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore.

Health care assistant, Vikki Morris, 44, from Bushbury, said after contracting coronavirus she wanted to set herself a personal challenge to help raise funds for the emergency department at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, where she is based.

Also taking par is Sally Williamson, 56, also from Bushbury, who works as a senior sister in the department.

Royal Wolverhampton NHS TrustCopyright: Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

They are aiming to complete 10 laps per day, having so far completed 60 laps. Each lap is around one mile. They have raised £190 so far.

Ms Morris said: "This is also in memory of Captain Tom. He has inspired me, I thought if he can do it then I can too.”

Students in Yorkshire have been complaining about the value of their university courses after the majority went online, a student officer has said.

PA MediaCopyright: PA Media

Jian Feng, International Student Officer at the University of Leeds, said officers at other universities had come together to petition the government to compensate students.

He said the impact had left many students very unhappy.

"The government has not taken enough responsibility and kept pointing out that the universities should decide by themselves whether or not they want to offer any refunds," he said.

"It is disappointing to see the government is not doing enough to support our generation of young people in higher education."

The government said the Office for Students was monitoring online teaching to ensure the quality of tuition remained high and it was working to protect the education and wellbeing of all students.

In a joint statement, the universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield, said: "It's been a challenging year for all our students and we know the pandemic has impacted their experience in many different ways, but we've all adapted and invested in the online experience and seen some truly impressive innovations"

A house fire which led to five people being taken to hospital was started accidentally by "careless disposal of smoking materials", Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

Three children and two adults were treated for smoke inhalation after the fire at the property in Standersfoot Place in Chell Heath on 16 February.

GoogleCopyright: Google

Multiple schools in the East Midlands have suspended online learning today following what's been described as a "cyber attack".

The schools, which include The Suthers School in Newark, Kirk Hallam Community Academy, Birklands Primary School in Market Warsop and The Garibaldi School in Mansfield, are all run by the Nova Education Trust.

GoogleCopyright: Google

The trust told the Nottingham Post it had been subject to a "sophisticated cyber attack which has resulted in unauthorised access to the trust's IT infrastructure".

It said they had reported the attack to the Department for Education, the Information Commissioner's Office and the National Cyber Security Centre.

How to "do the right thing" and increase the amount of waste recycled in York will be discussed at a council meeting later.

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Recycling rates have stayed at about 44% for four years, according to the council, which says "the aim is to really increase it, to drop our impact on the environment and do the right thing."

Councillor Paula Widdowson, who has responsibility for the environment in the city, said: "If you add in everything that goes to the tip, over half of our rubbish is recycled.

"We're also at the stage where the bin lorries which do the recycling need replacing, so it's an ideal time to look at the whole way in which we collect stuff.

"Councils don't have a lot of money and have even less due to the coronavirus pandemic, so we're looking for a solution which doesn't cost any more money, which is easier to use and which makes use of the best technology."

Ms Widdowson said ideas include increasing the range of items currently recycled and said it could mean a change to collection routines and providing residents with larger domestic recycling containers.

A report by officers will be considered by Ms Widdowson tonight.