16/04/2017 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

Plans to close down parts of a leisure centre in Lincoln

will have a damaging impact on the surrounding community.

That's according to experts, who say changes to leisure services are part

The City of Lincoln council wants to spend more than ?1 million

revamping the Birchwood centre - but it would mean closing

down its sports hall, squash courts and social club.

The sports hall at Birchwood Leisure Centre is used by 20 different

But it could soon be lost altogether.

The City of Lincoln council wants to spend ?1.4 million

Those plans would see the sports hall, squash courts and social club

closed and replaced with this - a soft play area, cafe and climbing

wall, which the council says would attract more paying customers.

Some of the spaces here, such as the sports hall,

just simply don't generate enough income to make the centre viable

The harsh economic realities are, yes, we do need to change

The plans have been criticised by many who use the sports hall.

Children's soft play, a climbing wall, toning

beds, they are targeted at a very specific individuals.

I think those facilities are already well catered for in the city.

The hall is used by a Chinese community group that faces

A lot of those Chinese are in the catering trade,

as you know, they've got takeaways, restaurants.

Being able to find a facility available the afternoon

They're not able to join clubs that are going on in the evenings.

Across the region, councils are having to make difficult choices.

Grimsby Ice Rink is run by North East Lincolnshire Council,

at a cost of more than ?80,000 a year.

It's due to close in August, unless a community group can

Experts say it's part of a national trend,

with budget cuts forcing councils to either close or reorganise

And there's a danger that communities could be badly affected.

There's a lot of networks, friendships and socialising that

goes on within these leisure centres.

They provide a really key public service and a really key support

network for communities and families, especially

In Lincoln the council says it's working to find alternative venues

for all the clubs that use Birchwood.

But many here feel that their interests are taking second place.

Jake Zuckerman, BBC Look North, Lincoln.

Police are continuing to investigate after the body

of a man was recovered from the water off

Emergency services were called to the beach at Withernsea just

after 9 o'clock yesterday morning, after a dog-walker saw the body

Work is under way to establish the identity of the man.

The Bishop of Lincoln says churches shouldn't be

kept under lock and key just because of vandalism.

It comes after St Mary's in Hogsthorpe near Skegness suffered

thousands of pounds worth of damage last week.

The Right Reverend Christopher Lowson says buildings are safer

Police are continuing to question a man, following a suspected

Two men were injured in an attack on Church Lane

in Horncastle on Thursday night, with one believed to have

A 21-year-old man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of causing

A 26-year-old man arrested earlier was released on police bail.

The Hull City boss Marco Silva says a slow start cost his side

The Tigers lost 3-1 away from home, with Stoke getting their first goal

Hull equalised in the second half with a Harry Maguire goal,

The result leaves them one place clear of the drop zone,

It's important, we have five more games.

The next game is one more chance to win and to take points,

It's strong, it's hard work until the end of the season.

And finally, Hull's first Sikh Parade has been held today.

More than 100 people turned out to take part in the procession along

It's time for everybody to get together and enjoy.

As part of City of Culture, we thought it was very important,

Now the weather with Owain Wyn Evans.

Hope you had a good Easter weekend so far.

You know, the weather hasn't been too bad.

Let's have a look at how things are looking tomorrow.

It's going to be a fairly cloudy one, you know.

We are going to see some showers in the mix as well.

Back to the here and now, we lose that weather front that

brought that persistent and heavy rain for some of us today.

So, if you are out and about tomorrow morning,

it's not a bad story across parts of East Yorkshire, coastal

I think what we'll see is cloud building from the north throughout

Looking at the pressure chart, to get technical for a second,

high pressure builds over the next few days.

That's really going to help draw down cold air from the North,

To sum up the next couple of days, a few showers,

yes it is going to be cloudy, you're going to notice this one.

We'll have some cold, frosty nights, I think especially tomorrow

Good evening if you spend Easter under cloudy skies with rain