BBC Local Live: York and North Yorkshire

Sutton Bank is to be closed for at least one week in September for maintenance work.

A programme of essential annual maintenance is to be carried out on the A170 there - which, as anybody who's driven up or down there will agree - is an extreme gradient.

North Yorkshire County CouncilCopyright: North Yorkshire County Council

North Yorkshire County Council says because Sutton Bank is so steep, annual maintenance is needed to ensure the road stays in good condition.

September's chosen for the annual maintenance "so the work can be done outside the school summer holidays and be completed well before winter", the council says.

Traffic will be diverted along the caravan route through Coxwold and Ampleforth.

Quote Message: Ensuring Sutton Bank remains in good order is essential. It is not possible to do this work without closing the road, but everything will be done to complete the operation as quickly as possible." from Don Mackenzie North Yorkshire County Council

Ensuring Sutton Bank remains in good order is essential. It is not possible to do this work without closing the road, but everything will be done to complete the operation as quickly as possible."

BBC Weather Watchers have been quick to catch the blue skies of of summer on camera today.

Liane sent in the seascape of Robin Hood's Bay, Callaghan provided us with the glory of Riveaulx Abbey and Nick Rainbow sent in the statuesque sun of Scarborough's North Bay.

BBCCopyright: BBC

And here's proof that at least half of that statement is correct...

A new motorcycle safety campaign to raise awareness among so-called "born-again bikers" has been launched by North Yorkshire Police.

Police say over the last 10 years, 141 motorcyclists have died and 1,328 have been seriously injured on North Yorkshire’s roads - and that in the last year alone, 60% of motorcyclists killed on North Yorkshire roads were men aged between 40 and 49.

The month-long campaign aims to raise self-awareness about "riders’ physical capabilities and increase understanding of the heightened risk to this group of middle-aged men".

Older riders have often purchased their high-powered "dream ride" after a long gap out of the saddle, the force adds.

News from elsewhere in Yorkshire:

Detectives leading a criminal investigation into the Hillsborough disaster are appealing for 19 people seen in CCTV footage to come forward. 

A total of 96 fans were killed as a result of the crush at the football ground in Sheffield in April 1989.  

Operation ResolveCopyright: Operation Resolve

The images have been released as part of Operation Resolve, looking into the events leading up to the disaster.

This afternoon will be fine and mostly dry with a little more cloud than yesterday but some good sunny spells.

We may start to see a few showers begin to develop by early evening in the east.

The top temperature will be about 23C (73F).

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Drivers in North Yorkshire are being warned part of the A64 will be closed to all through traffic travelling eastbound near the site of Leeds Festival from midnight tonight until early on Friday.

The affected stretch of road will be between the Fox and Grapes pub to the junction with the A1(M) at Bramham, to allow people to drive towards the festival site from the motorway.

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Increased traffic is also expected near the festival site at Bramham Park on Monday 29 August as people leave the event, Highways England warns.

Festival traffic will use the A1(M) to Junction 44 (A1(M)/A64 Bramham Interchange) where traffic will exit and continue on the A64 westbound towards Leeds.

Traffic will use both lanes on a one-way system on the A64 and turn right into the festival car parks.

As a result, the A64 will be closed to all through traffic travelling eastbound from midnight tonight until about 05:00 on Friday.

Thanks to Fiona Laybourn for sending in this spectacular shot of Scarborough's North Bay which she took just after 06:00 this morning.

Fiona LaybournCopyright: Fiona Laybourn

We always love to feature the best pictures you've taken of North Yorkshire. Why not email or tweet your photographs to us?

Communities in North Yorkshire are being encouraged to work together to combat what's being described as the county's rural housing crisis. 

The Rural Action Yorkshire charity wants people to group together to buy land and build their own affordable homes.

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It's hoped a total of five communities in North Yorkshire will come forward to take part in the scheme. 

Hudswell, on the edge of the Dales, already has three affordable "community homes", and has just been given permission to build three more.

Martin Booth, who's from the village's charity, says it would be great for other areas to do the same and says people just need to "believe that they can".

Quote Message: It takes work, but if you find people with experience, you'll be providing something much needed and we can help. We're happy to pass on our knowledge to other people." from Martin Booth

It takes work, but if you find people with experience, you'll be providing something much needed and we can help. We're happy to pass on our knowledge to other people."

Normally, when people in York refer to the "Micklegate Run" they mean the weekend tradition of attempting to down an alcoholic beverage at every pub along Micklegate's steep, Medieval, cobbled street.

It's a challenge often undertaken by stag nights or hen nights taking place in the city.  

GoogleCopyright: Google

But on Sunday, a run down Micklegate of a very different and much quicker kind is due to take place - one which involves rigid wheels, not wobbly legs, and possibly nerves of steel!

The Micklegate Run Soapbox Challenge will see 50 teams from all over Britain racing their homemade soapbox carts down the steep cobbles from the Bar to the River Ouse.  

Simon Melton is one of those planning to taking part:

A York ukulele band will be seen on thousands of computer screens from this month, as the new face of a major advertising campaign.

Members of The Grand Old Uke Of York were approached by Toyota to film an advert for a new social media campaign and recorded new music for the film.

The PressCopyright: The Press

A couple of problems on the roads around Scarborough are currently being reported:

There's queuing traffic on the A165 Filey Road in both directions in Scarborough between the Deepdale Avenue junction and the A64 Westborough junction in the roadworks area.  

Meanwhile, very slow traffic's being reported on the A64 coastbound in Eastfield between the Meads Lane junction and the B1427 Queen Margaret's Road junction in Scarborough.

The highlight of the 130th Scarborough Cricket Festival which is currently under way at North Marine Road is Yorkshire's County Championship match against Nottinghamshire. 

It's day two today and Notts need to win in order to stay up in the Premiership division while Yorkshire are chasing a third championship win, not seen since the 1960s.

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You can listen to every ball bowled by Yorkshire's Ryan Sidebottom (pictured) and follow live ball-by-ball BBC commentary by simply clicking here

Ripon's gold and silver medal-winning Olympic diving champion Jack Laugher has admitted that thinking about all the support back in North Yorkshire while standing on a 45cm diving board in Rio made him "even more nervous".

Jack and diving partner Chris Mears won gold in the synchronised diving and he's been telling me what the support back home meant to him - and the strange affect it can have:

Calls are being made for urgent repairs to plug eroding holes in Whitby's East and West Piers as residents and businesses worry about the risk of flooding.

Scarborough Council admits there's a shortfall of £3.5m to finish the scheme, but says it's still on track with the repairs.

The Fight 4 Whitby group is calling for repair work to be finished as soon as possible:

Drivers on the A1 southbound are being warned of debris on the road in Melsonby between Scotch Corner and Catterick North in the roadworks area.  

The Scarborough Cricket Festival - which has been held at the town's North Marine Road ground every year since 1876  - continues today.

Yorkshire will once again be in action from about 11:00 as they battle with Nottinghamshire in the County Championship.

Last week, City of York Council announced plans to ban advertising A-boards from the city centre – except on Micklegate, where businesses would have to apply for a licence.

The council say A-boards are hazardous to blind or partially sighted pedestrians and wheelchair users, and contribute to the negative visual impact of "street clutter".

The reaction from local independent businesses has been immediate, loud, and clear, with a petition established asking for the proposed ban to be dropped.

YorkMixCopyright: YorkMix

We're off to a dry start to the day across Yorkshire, with a few thick patches of mist and fog.

It'll be cloudy this morning with a few sunny spells developing, thicker cloud reaching us by the end of the morning. 

Watch my full forecast here: