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More police officers will be in Hull city centre this weekend as pubs and restaurants begin to reopen after many closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Hull City Council and Humberside Police are urging visitors to the city centre to act responsibly and adhere to social distancing rules.

Public health messages are also being put up across the city.

Many shops, pubs and restaurants closed in March as restrictions were placed on people because of the pandemic.

But now, as lockdown restrictions are eased, some pubs and bars are reopening from Saturday with social distancing measures in place.

Ch Supt Darren Downs said: "We will have additional officers out in the city centre to help keep everyone safe and make sure that as the restrictions are eased and more people head out to socialise together it’s an enjoyable occasion for all.

"The vast majority of people in this area have been really good at adhering to the guidelines that have been put in place to limit the spread of Covid-19 and I believe that people will continue to behave responsibly as the restrictions are eased."

Leicester city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has questioned the effectiveness of a local lockdown on the city amid talks pubs and restaurants may have to stay closed for two more weeks following a surge in Covid-19 cases.

On extending the current restrictions, he told PA news agency: "What we still don't have - whether it's lockdown or restrictions - is any explanation as to why on Earth you would do it and why you would do it here in Leicester."

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Asked to outline the businesses that would not be able to reopen on Saturday if the recommendations were implemented, Sir Peter said: "I think it's very unclear as to what difference it would make if they continue the regulations in Leicester and why you would do it.

"How can it possibly make any difference? If the virus is out of control and spreading in Leicester with the restrictions, I can't understand how extending them for a further two weeks would make any difference to that.

"Frankly, we need to have an explanation - but more importantly we need some collaboration with the government so that we don't hear about these proposals either through announcements briefed to the media over the weekend or emails that come in at one o'clock in the morning."

Government housing agency Homes England is moving into Newcastle city centre’s new building, The Lumen.

The agency is expected to re-locate from Gateshead later this year.

Homes England has several developments underway in the area.

East Quayside will see almost 300 build-to-rent apartments on the banks of the River Tyne, and plans are being submitted for 1,250 homes at Newburn Riverside, later this year.

Homes England is also working in partnership with Newcastle City Council and Places for People Igloo on the continued development of the Ouseburn scheme, where work is currently on site for the next phase of 28 new homes at Lower Steenberg Yard.

Health officials in Lincolnshire say coronavirus “hasn’t gone away”, despite low numbers across the county continuing.

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Derek Ward, Lincolnshire County Council’s director of public health, pointed to Leicester potentially facing a “local lockdown” after a rise of 900 cases in just two weeks.

Lincolnshire has recorded 38 so far this month.

This weekend saw one Covid-19-related death in the county and one further case confirmed, bringing the totals to 144 deaths and 1,149 cases.

Mr Ward said: “Obviously, it’s a tragedy that people are still dying from Covid, but the numbers are low, and have certainly gone lower over the past month, so that’s great.

“But the disease hasn’t gone away, and we need to keep that message in the forefront of people’s minds, because we’ve seen spikes all over the world – in some places where they thought they'd got on top of it.”

Mr Ward added it was unlikely Lincolnshire would see a spike similar to Leicester, adding that currently the county was “definitely seeing specific complex cases” such as children or teachers at school or those in care homes.

However, he said health bosses would need to see what happened with the sunny weather and everyone “flocking to the coast”.

An academic fears prolonging the lockdown in Leicester could result in more coronavirus cases on the outskirts of the city.

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Dr Duncan Robertson, from the School of Business and Economics in Loughborough, said: "Pubs might not open in Leicester but if you're desperate to go to the pub, what do you do? You just go to 'not-Leicester' just on the boundary.

"Of course that raises the prospect of it potentially spreading even further."

Litter pickers removed over four tonnes of rubbish every day from around a popular Sheffield park after people flocked to it during the recent heatwave, it's been revealed.

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Sheffield Council and its contractors Amey and Veolia cleared the litter from Endcliffe Park and the Porter Valley.

Local residents complained after hundreds of people visited the park during last week’s hot weather and left mounds of rubbish.

The council said its teams had cleared bins every few hours, but photos on social media showed huge amounts of litter being left by revellers.

Extra police patrols were called in to help deal with the littering and anti-social behaviour at the park.