Welcome to the Huddersfield Examiner's breaking news service.
Stay with us throughout the day to be the first to know everything that's happening across Huddersfield and the rest of West Yorkshire.
We'll also be bringing you updates on crime, health, sport, politics, education and more live from the Examiner team.
And remember to check back before you travel as during peak times we'll provide you with all of the latest traffic updates on the M62 and roads around the region.
You can also download our app to get news on the go and push notifications for the latest breaking stories here .
If there's something you've noticed and want us to check out then please feel free to get in touch - you can call us on 01484 437712, email editorial@examiner.co.uk or tweet @Examiner. You can also find us on social media here .
Traffic updates for rush-hour
Here are the latest traffic updates for this evening’s rush hour.
* Very slow traffic and traffic heavier than normal on M62 Westbound between J28 A650 / A653 (Tingley) and J27 M621 / A650 / A62 (Gildersome).
* Queueing traffic on A629 Salterhebble Hill and Huddersfield Road at the roadworks near the Halifax hospital by A646 Dryclough Lane. Travel time is eight minutes.
Study reveals scale of sex abuse aimed at women online
A Huddersfield academic has found that almost half of women on social media have experienced sexually abusive behaviour online.
Megan Kenny is carrying out a PhD analysing the levels of abuse received by women on sites like Twitter and Facebook and studied men and women aged from their early teens to early 70s. Out of 370 anonymous participants in the online survey that she conducted, 261 were women and 46 per cent of them reported sexual victimisation.
The most frequent experience was being asked to share sexual images of themselves, followed by unsolicited sexual images and requests to talk about sex. Some 41 per cent had experienced threatening behaviour online – mostly offensive messages.
Megan said: “It is important to stop distinguishing between online and real life. We live in a world in which online and offline are increasingly merging. So it is all real life and it all has an impact.”
Police website down
West Yorkshire Police’s website is down this afternoon for maintenance.
The Force have advised that anyone wishing to use it to report minor crimes should call 101 instead.
All gritters now out on the roads
Kirklees Council say all 31 gritters are currently out on the roads as Huddersfield braces itself for snow later this afternoon.
You can see the hour-by-hour forecast for later today here.
Appeal over stolen car used in armed robbery
Detectives investigating an armed robbery are appealing for information on a car stolen in the Calderdale area which was used in the offence.
The dark blue Citroen hatchback is believed to have been used in the robbery at a bookmakers in Bradford on Monday last week, in which £2,000 cash was taken by three men with hammers. Police say the car was taken in a burglary in Halifax earlier this month and found abandoned in another part of Bradford after the robbery. Further enquiries revealed it was on false plates at the time it was found.
Detective Inspector Ryan Bragg, of Bradford District CID, said: “We would like to speak to anyone who may have seen this vehicle in the Bradford area recently, or anyone who may have further information about its use since it was stolen.” Anyone with information is asked to contact Bradford District CID on 101, quoting crime reference 13170542266.
CCTV images of the suspects have also been released. They are described as Asian males and were believed to be carrying hammers. No one was injured in the robbery.
MP demands answers for constituents over Trump state visit
Paula Sherriff has asked the Home Secretary to respond to concerns from local constituents about hosting US President Donald Trump on a state visit.
It comes after the President yesterday retweeted three tweets by far-right group Britain First to his 43m followers. The tweets contained unverified videos of violent attacks allegedly perpetrated by Muslim people.
The Dewsbury MP asked Amber Rudd in the House of Commons today on guidance on “how should I respond to the residents in my incredibly diverse constituency when they ask me why our government is affording someone with such abhorrent, vile, fascist, bigoted views the luxury of a state visit, and if we don’t take action today, when will we?”
Ms Rudd has reiterated that the President’s tweets were “wrong”, while Downing Street has hit back at claims he made that Theresa May is not taking the threat of Islamic Extremism seriously.
Council make U-turn over gritting
Calderdale Council have vowed to step up efforts in gritting roads following our report earlier this week.
A spokesperson said they have been listening to concerns from residents and will be covering smaller secondary roads, particularly those with doctors’ surgeries, council buildings and shopping areas.
Cllr Barry Collins said: “We want to listen and respond as fast as we can. We are proposing some immediate changes to the pilot policy to restore secondary roads on the network to the list of roads to be gritted. This will have financial implications and will not be immediate, as it means we will need to obtain additional gritters for our new in-house team, however these will be put into service as soon as they arrive. We have also ordered 200 grit bins, which will arrive by the end of next week.”
National news
Here’s what’s happening in the rest of the world today *cue slow and nervous intake of breath*
DOWNING STREET HITS BACK AFTER TRUMP TELLS MAY TO FOCUS ON TERRORISM
Downing Street has hit back at Donald Trump, after the US President told Theresa May to spend more time focusing on terrorism. Asked about Mr Trump’s Twitter rebuke to Mrs May, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “Over her time as home secretary and as Prime Minister - and obviously in the wake of the tragic events over the summer - the Prime Minister is fully focused on dealing with extremism.”
JUDGE WARNS CONOR MCGREGOR: APPEAR IN COURT OR FACE ARREST OVER SPEEDING CHARGE
UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been ordered to appear in court or face arrest over a speeding offence. At a hearing in Blanchardstown District Court in Dublin, Judge Miriam Walsh told the star’s solicitor he would have to attend in person if he wanted evidence given in the case. Lawyer Graham Kenny told the court McGregor wanted to plead guilty after being clocked driving at more than 100kph on the N7 Naas Road at Rathcoole, Co Dublin, on March 31.
SHARPEST DECREASE ON RECORD FOR NET MIGRATION AFTER EU REFERENDUM
Net migration to the UK recorded the steepest fall on record in the year after the Brexit vote, official figures reveal. The measure - the difference between the numbers arriving and leaving the country for at least a year - was estimated at 230,000 in the 12 months to the end of June 2017. This was a drop of 106,000, or around a third, compared with the 336,000 registered in July 2015 to June 2016. It is largest decrease in net long-term migration in any 12-month period since records began in 1964, although it remains well above the Government’s target of less than 100,000.
999 calls answered twice as fast, police reveal
The time taken to answer 999 calls has almost halved in four years, police have revealed this morning.
New figures show the average time taken by West Yorkshire Police to answer an emergency call has dropped from 7.9 seconds to 4.4 since 2014. In recent days, the average time is down to around 3 seconds.
Tom Donohoe, who runs the WYP call centre at its headquarters in Wakefield, said: “In four years we have greatly improved the average time it takes us to get to those vital calls – to improve by 3.5 seconds in four years is remarkable – it might not seem like a long time– but to the caller literally every second counts and this at a time when call volumes have actually increased nationally.
“We handle over 1000 calls to the 999 number every single day of year but we have maintained a consistent and strong improvement in what we do and I am very proud to lead the team.”
Dangerous ice on the roads this morning
Take care if you’re on the Woodhead Pass this morning - a lorry has been involved in an accident due to the snow and ice.
Details are scant but it looks like the HGV has been involved in a collision after skidding on ice near to the Flouch roundabout so take extra care. We also captured this video out on the roads in Marsden this morning - this shows thick and dangerous ice on Mount Road.
Bookings explode for new cat café
West Yorkshire’s first ever cat café is already fully booked for the next TWO MONTHS - and it hasn’t even opened yet.
Bosses behind the Kitty Café in Leeds which opens next month say they’re almost full up for the months of December and January. Just hours after it started taking bookings online, owner Kate Charles Richards said they were flooded with requests, reports Leeds Live.
Search for person who was with hit and run victim
Officers investigating a fatal road collision are appealing for a person thought to be with the deceased when he was hit by a car.
The man in his 30s was pronounced dead after being found in a road in Bradford shortly before midnight on Tuesday. A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
Sgt Mat Tunney, of the Major Collision Enquiry Team, said: “Our enquiries into this collision are still at an early stage but we believe that the deceased was with another person either at the time of, or immediately before it.
“This person has not yet come forward and we are asking them to do so and speak with our officers, as we believe they may have vital information on what happened. We are also keen to trace a dark coloured vehicle which was travelling along the Shipley Airedale Road towards Barkerend Road at the time of the collision, as we believe the occupants may also have information which could be crucial.”
Today is going to be freezing!
Just in case you thought scraping ice off your car windows this morning would be the worst of it...
Temperatures will be very cold today with highs of just 3 degrees, so wrap up!
Other than the freezing cold, today will be mainly dry and clear this morning, before becoming overcast later in the day. Weather reports are predicting snow for the east coast and North Yorkshire today, and there’s a chance we may even see a little sprinkling ourselves at around rush hour time so be prepared for this.
Police can only find "CCTV of lone woman" in Batley racist attack
Police have issued another statement following an alleged racist attack in Batley.
The attack was reported on October 31st after 32-year-old Nikki Hurst said she was the victim of an unprovoked assault on Lady Ann Road at 7am. It’s claimed she was pushed to the floor and had racist abuse shouted at her by a group of three Asian males.
Police issued another statement on the incident last night to say the investigation was ongoing.
A spokesperson said: “Kirklees CID have been conducting enquiries into this incident since it was reported. Extensive CCTV enquiries have been made, which has confirmed the presence of a lone female, believed to be the victim, just prior to 7am. We know that just after this time, a member of the public located the victim close to the location of the assault and contacted the police.”
Detective Chief Inspector Tony Nicholson, of Kirklees CID, said: “Detectives from Kirklees CID have been carrying out an extensive investigation into this racially aggravated assault last month.
“At this time we have exhausted all obvious lines of enquiry and I would urge, anyone who was in the area at the time to come forward with any information about the incident, no matter how insignificant it may seem.
“Staff from Kirklees CID will continue to support the victim throughout the investigation and will continue to seek out the persons responsible.
Video shows officers trying to get horse off the motorway
This was taken on the M606 southbound near to junction 26 of the M62 last night.
Needless to say, after a while in the cold trying to chase it down, officers were feeling a little horse.
Today's Examiner
Here is today’s front page.
Our lead story today is about Sarah Beaumont, who was jogging near Thurstonland when she was hit by a car which failed to stop. The accident left Sarah unconscious and with a serious back injury and police are now appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the collision.
Separate live updates
We’re now running separate live updates on the incident on the M62 which you can see here.
Heavy traffic on the M62
Very busy heading east towards Leeds this morning if you’re on the M62.
Two lanes are blocked due to an earlier accident between junctions 23 and 24 at Ainley Top. This accident reportedly involved two vans and a car. Traffic is also clogged up between junctions 25 and 26 so allow extra time for your journey.
Good morning, Huddersfield
Welcome to the Huddersfield Examiner’s breaking news service.
Stay with us throughout the day to be the first to know everything that’s happening across Huddersfield and the rest of West Yorkshire.
We’ll also be bringing you updates on crime, health, sport, politics, education and more live from the Examiner team.
And remember to check back before you travel as during peak times we’ll provide you with all of the latest traffic updates on the M62 and roads around the region.
You can also download our app to get news on the go and push notifications for the latest breaking stories here .
If there’s something you’ve noticed and want us to check out then please feel free to get in touch - you can call us on 01484 437712, email editorial@examiner.co.uk or tweet @Examiner. You can also find us on social media here .
