15/03/2014 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

about half hour's time, could overtake them with a large

Good afternoon. North Lincolnshire Council has been accused of sucking

the lifeblood out of Scunthorpe town centre by allowing out of town

shopping centres to be built. Today another major retailer is leaving

the town, one of several big names to close its doors in the last four

years. But the council says it's created six hundred new jobs in the

last 18 months by attracting new business. Kate Sweeting reports.

It's a familiar story in many towns across the country. But in

Scunthorpe today this major retailer will close its doors for good.

Further proof, some say, that this town is in irreversible decline. It

is a dead town. They need to open more shops. Everything is on the

outskirts now. In the last three years several major names have left.

Marks Spencer is closed its doors in 2011. Exports chain in 2012.

McDonald's in 2000 13. `` 2013. Marks and Spencers is returning to

Scunthorpe in the Autumn albeit as part of this new out of town retail

park, create 300 new jobs. But Des Comerford, who's traded in the town

for 31 years, says it'll pull shoppers away from the centre, and

should never have been approved. This council has done nothing but

sucked the lifeblood out of our town centre. Hundreds have jobs ``

hundreds of jobs have been lost. But the council insists it is committed

to the town centre. These are difficult times. But I'm pleased we

have been able to attract more business. Over the last 18 months we

have created 600 new jobs. Jobs were people earn the money to spend on

our shops. While some are fighting to keep the town centre humming,

others believe it is already a losing battle.

Firefighters and members of the public have been taking part in a

protest march in Grimsby, over plans to merge two fire stations in the

town. Cromwell Road and Peaks Lane station will merge next month as

part of budget cuts, with the loss of one fire engine. Humberside Fire

and Rescue says it will still be able to meet response standards, but

some claim the changes will put lives at risk.

Football, and Hull City are in action in under an hour's time. You

can hear coverage of their game against Manchester City on BBC Radio

Humberside from 12.45. That's on all frequencies. At 3pm you can hear

Scunthorpe United's match at Plymouth on FM. And Grimsby Town's

game with Wrexham is on AM, digital and online. And BBC Radio

Lincolnshire have Lincoln City's match with Braintree. The programme

starts at 2pm. And now the weather. Lots of cloud

as we head into the afternoon. The breeze will pick up from the West.

Temperatures, highs of 12. The ceiling and overnight the cloud will

thicken. That should keep temperatures from falling. `` this

evening. A mild start on Sunday. Sunny spells and breezy.

We were back with a full round`up this evening. Goodbye.

Following on from what has been largely dry and settled week with

high pressure in charge, the weekend weather continues on that theme,

too. Things are looking largely dry, not everywhere, but there will

be some warm sunshine on offer, particularly through the afternoons.

It will be feeling fairly breezy as well. The satellite image shows the

cloud has been thinning and breaking this morning, across Northern

Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In terms of the Six Nations

rugby matches today, it should stay dry for all the