BBC Local Live: York and North Yorkshire

The Small Business Saturday tour bus is visiting Helmsley and Boroughbridge today, ahead of Small Business Saturday in December. 

The campaign encourages us to "shop local". 

Emma Wood of Duncombe Sawmill, Tony Webster of Scotts Fish And Chips, Christine Garnett from Hunters of Helmsley, and Carolyn Frank from Libby Butler Jewellers took part in this morning's event in Helmsley.

I've been to speak to them:

Not surprisingly, Scott Lincoln, from Northallerton, seems quite happy about his inclusion in the British Athletics World Class Performance Programme:

A pub in Scarborough was left with "significant damage" after a brick was thrown through its window earlier this week, police say.

An entire window was smashed at the Albert Pub on North Marine Road at about 18:10 on Sunday evening  No-one was injured.

Police have now issued a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to in connection with the incident:

North Yorkshire PoliceCopyright: North Yorkshire Police

I've been to Pateley Bridge today to give my support to one of the most picturesque places in North Yorkshire as it attempts to be crowned British High Street of the year. 

It's a competition we in North Yorkshire have a good track record in - last year both Helmsley and Bishopthorpe Road were winners. 

Pictured below are Keith Tordoff and Kirsty Sheppard from Nidderdale Chamber of Trade. 

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If you have the time they'd love you to vote for them - you'll find Pateley Bridge under the "village" category.

It'll stay mostly dry this afternoon across Yorkshire, with variable amounts of cloud but plenty of sunny spells for most. 

Thicker cloud is likely along eastern shores, where we could catch a few showers.

Light winds and temperatures reaching about 10C (50F). 

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The top stories from our York newsroom this lunchtime include:

• Villagers in Pannal say their community Speed Watch project, whose volunteers are the first in the county to be trained by police to use speed guns, is proving a success
• Campaigners who're trying to save Scarborough's Futurist Theatre from demolition are due to hold a public meeting in the town later
• York City have taken former Norwich midfielder Simon Lappin on trial. The 33-year-old trained with the club for the first time yesterday

The families of six Britons - including one man from North Yorkshire - jailed in India are "begging" Prime Minister Theresa May to help with their case.

AFP/Getty ImagesCopyright: AFP/Getty Images

Nicholas Simpson, from Catterick, is one of the former British soldiers who were jailed in India for firearms offences.

The men worked on an anti-piracy ship (pictured) and were arrested in October 2013. They were jailed at a court hearing in January for five years.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said Mrs May would raise the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit next week.

This year's illuminating York Festival was "a huge success", its organisers say.

Make It York put together the displays over four evenings last week when the streets of York were packed with thousands of visitors and residents who saw the city in a different light.

Some of the city's most popular visitor attractions took part this year including the Shambles, York Minster and the National Railway Museum.

Make It YorkCopyright: Make It York

Quote Message: The variety of installations right across the city has been fantastic." from Kate McMullen Head of tourism, Make It York

The variety of installations right across the city has been fantastic."

About 24,000 people, including viewers from Brazil to Australia, watched the very first live Facebook stream from the festival on BBC Look North’s Facebook Page.

Some great news now for one of our most promising athletes.

Scott Lincoln, from Northallerton, a shot-putter with City of York Athletics Club, has been named in the British Athletics World Class Performance Programme for 2016–17.

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He's one of 29 athletes in the Podium Potential category, which means the governing body believe he has the potential to claim a medal at the Toyko 2020 Olympics or even the Olympics in 2024.

Well done Scott!

The co-founder of a national campaign group trying to reduce the number of accidents on the UK's roads tells me she's completely against a scheme aimed at reducing the speed of drivers passing through a North Yorkshire village.

As you may have seen earlier, Pannal near Harrogate has become the first place in North Yorkshire to receive speed guns for a new Community Speed Watch scheme.

Villagers can't fine people, but they do supply the police with information who can then issue letters asking people to slow down.

But Claire Armstrong, from Safe Speed, says a similar scheme elsewhere actually ended with someone being killed because his attention was diverted when he saw someone with a sensor.

Here's what she told me:

Quote Message: We're very concerned. Schemes like this have negative benefits and make roads more dangerous." from Claire Armstrong Safe Speed

We're very concerned. Schemes like this have negative benefits and make roads more dangerous."

An escaped snake had to be rescued by the RSPCA after it got stuck in a North Yorkshire couple's vacuum cleaner.

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The corn snake was first found in the pair's airing cupboard at their house in The Chase in Boroughbridge last Friday afternoon.

But as they waited for RSPCA officers to come and help, it slithered into the nearby cleaning appliance and couldn't get out.

Lucy Green, from the RSPCA, says: "The man who called us initially thought his wife was playing a prank on him when he saw the snake's  head popping out from the airing cupboard. He said it looked like a realistic toy."

"Luckily, they weren't using the vacuum cleaner at the time and he snuck inside just before I got there. It was quite a surprise to flip the head of the cleaner over and see the snake's little orange head poking out."

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The 2ft-long non-venomous orange snake wasn't injured during the rescue operation and the RSPCA believes it had escaped from a "loving home" nearby.

"Perhaps he got out and decided to do some trick or treating for Halloween, or go and frighten some neighbours," Lucy adds.

The snake is now being looked after by an exotics specialist and, if not reclaimed within seven days, will be rehomed.

If you joined us yesterday, you'll have seen that Scarborough Athletic had the chance to go top of Division One North of the Evo-Stik league last night.

Unfortunately they fluffed their lines and fell to a 4-2 defeat at Ossett Town, so they stay in second place.

Afterwards, manager Steve Kittrick spoke to BBC Radio York's Barry Parker:

A new animated video which details the lives of real victims of child sexual exploitation has been launched by the University of York and the charity Basis Yorkshire.

In a crime survey from the Office of National Statistics, a total of 11% of women and 3% of men aged 16 to 59 said they had been sexually abused as child.

The objective of the new video is to help those who've experienced sexual abuse, and to show them victims who have managed to move on from what happened to them.

The Today programme's Sima Kotecha has spoken to two 17-year-old girls who were groomed by older men over the past couple of years. This is their experience:

Another update on the accident that forced the A63 to close between Selby and Leeds.

We're being told the road has now re-opened after the accident that resulted in the air ambulance being called.

Traffic in the area is beginning to ease now that all debris from the road has been removed and mopped up after an oil spillage.

Campaigners hoping to save a landmark North Yorkshire theatre are due to meet councillors later to discuss its fate.

The Save the Futurist group has invited borough councillors to Scarborough's YMCA ahead of a report that's due to be published soon looking at plans to demolish the venue. 

The group says the seafront building could still be saved and doesn't need to be replaced and turned into a new tourist attraction.

A quick update on the situation on the A63. 

We're now told the road is currently closed following an accident at Hambleton. 

The air ambulance is at the scene and there is queuing traffic in both directions as people try to make their way to and from Selby.

GoogleCopyright: Google

We'll let you know when the road re-opens.

People in a North Yorkshire village have become the first in the county to help police reduce speeding. 

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Volunteers in Pannal, near Harrogate, now have their own Speed Watch group and use speed guns to catch drivers who are going too fast.  

It started a few weeks ago, after trials in several parts of the county and I've been to Pannal to see how it's working:

Yesterday, they signed former Leeds youth team striker Robbie McDaid.

Now, it seems we could be on the verge of seeing another new face at Bootham Crescent:

Any frost and fog will clear, leaving us with plenty of sunny spells this morning.

It's going to be cold, though, as we're hanging on to that cold northerly breeze.

Watch my full forecast here: