In the run-up to Easter, vets are warning pet owners to keep all chocolate away from their pets after revealing it is the main cause of poisonings in dogs

Easter is the second busiest time of year for cases of chocolate poisoning, just behind Christmas.

Director of clinical services at Vets4Pets, Dr Huw Stacey, said: “We want to make sure that the 8.5 million dogs in the UK are safe from chocolate this Easter.

“Whether it’s caused by owners giving their pet an Easter egg as a present or chocolate is accidentally left within their reach, we see an influx of pets suffering from chocolate poisoning at this time of year.

“Chocolate is particularly toxic to dogs, as it contains caffeine and theobromine, two substances that dogs are incredibly sensitive to.”

Roasted cocoa beans contain heobromine and caffeine, and if ingested by dogs it affects the heart, central nervous system and kidneys.

“Unlike humans, dogs find it difficult to break down and excrete these substances. This means they can easily build-up in the dog’s system and lead to poisoning,” added Dr Stacey.

“The higher the level of cocoa in the chocolate, the more theobromine it contains and the more hazardous the chocolate becomes to pets.

“Therefore dark chocolate is the biggest danger to dogs, and is more likely to cause medical complications than white or regular milk chocolate.

“The level of toxicity also depends on the size of the dog, but for most dogs even small amounts of chocolate can trigger unpleasant reactions.”

Symptoms of chocolate poisoning can include include vomiting, diarrhoea, increased body temperature and heart rate, rapid breathing and can even lead to seizures and cardiac failure.

Dr Stacey added: “In order for owners and their pets to enjoy a happy Easter together, the best option is to keep all chocolate out of their reach and give them an animal-friendly treat instead, like a dental chew or even special dog friendly ‘chocolate’ treats.

“Although there aren’t as many cases of chocolate poisoning for cats, rabbits and rodents, they can all still suffer from health issues after digesting chocolate.

“If you suspect your pet has eaten chocolate, then it is always safest to take them straight to the nearest veterinary practice for a check over.”

Hundreds of miles of hard shoulder on Britain's motorways will be converted into lanes for traffic to use despite safety concerns.

All-lane running (ALR) schemes use the hard shoulder to ease the pressure on busy motorways and they have already been rolled out on dozens of miles of road.

There are currently just over 80 miles of ALR open to traffic but that figure is set to surge.

Almost 250 miles of ALR are set to be added to the road network by 2020 while almost 350 miles are due to be started but not finished up to 2020.

Meanwhile, there are also plans announced for just over 100 miles of ALR to be developed in the period between 2020 and 2025.

Shadow transport secretary Lilian Greenwood believes the Government needs to do more work to understand the implications of ALR.

"There are real concerns about the way all-lane running has been introduced on our motorways, without adequate evidence or consideration of the safety concerns raised by motoring organisations and the emergency services," she said.

"The lack of public consultation also means that many drivers will be unaware of the changes to the way the road network operates.

"The Government need to address these issues before it is too late, rather than waiting for accidents to happen."

ALR schemes can be used as part of a managed motorway or with the hard shoulder in full-time use, with refuge areas placed at regular intervals for people to use in an emergency.

The existing ALR schemes are on sections of the M25, M1 and M6, according to information published by the Department for Transport in response to written parliamentary questions from Ms Greenwood.

The Commons Transport Select Committee is currently conducting an examination of the safety of all-lane running schemes.

Louise Ellman, the chairman of the committee, told the Press Association: "We are about to start an inquiry in April. This is a major part of transport policy and we want to investigate whether all-lane running is effective and whether it is safe.

"The Government has clearly decided to do this but there is a need to look much more closely at whether it will be effective and whether it will be safe".

Both the AA and the RAC have expressed concerns about all-lane running.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: "While the RAC supports the principles of 'smart' motorways as the most cost-effective and rapid means of increasing capacity and reducing congestion, we would prefer to see the dynamic hard shoulder configuration used, where the hard shoulder is used as a running lane at busy times, as opposed to the all-lanes running one which leaves road users permanently without a hard shoulder.

"The decision to use an all-lanes running configuration as a default was taken before any trial took place, and although early signs show a cautious improvement on safety compared to a conventional three-lane and hard shoulder motorway, it is simply too early to make a judgment on doing away with almost 250 miles of motorway hard shoulder."

Mr Williams also said the RAC is concerned the distance between refuge areas is "too great".

"An RAC study showed that on the all-lanes running sections of the M25, only 42% of motorists who broke down were aware that emergency refuge areas existed, whilst only a meagre 28% could see one from where they broke down," he said.

"This compares unfavourably to the dynamic hard shoulder sections of the M42, M1 and M6, where 56% were aware of the emergency refuge areas and 40% could see one when they broke down."

Meanwhile the AA has raised its concerns about ALR with ministers and with the police.

It shares concerns with the RAC about the availability of refuge areas and the prospect of ALR creating "sitting duck" broken-down vehicles.

Edmund King, the president of the AA, believes the number of refuge areas needs to be doubled and they need to be increased in size.

He said: "The AA has consistently raised safety concerns regarding the new generation of 'smart motorways'.

"We were so concerned that the AA Trust has designed its own free course, 'Drive Motorway', to help scared drivers cope with increased anxiety over using motorways without hard shoulders."

Neil Greig, director of policy and research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: "The IAM share concerns about safety of ALR and the onus is very much now on Highways England to prove they can be operated safely.

"The IAM want to see consistent enforcement of Red X violations and consideration of a specific driver awareness course for those drivers who break all-lane running rules.

"Constant ongoing awareness campaigns are also needed designed to reach occasional users as the holiday season approaches."

A Highways England spokesman said: "Our motorways are some of the safest in the world, and there is evidence to show that where all lane running has been introduced, there have been fewer collisions and congestion has reduced.

"As we gradually roll out these upgrades on our motorways, we will continue to evaluate all lane running schemes and work closely with all the emergency services to ensure safety is maintained."

Little Shop of Horrors was performed at the start of this month – and it was an amazing four nights of outstanding performance work.

The students involved were a credit to the school and they did the community and school proud.

Mr Colley would like to thank all those students, parents and staff who were involved in this terrific event.

Reaction from the cast:

Dan Kelly – The show was such an amazing experience, the atmosphere created on the show nights was immense and I can’t think of anything I would’ve rather been doing. I have enjoyed every second of Little Shop from rehearsals all the way up to the last show.

Ruth Parker – The show was an amazing experience for me to push myself as an actor, and try a new style of acting and singing which I had never tried before. I’m so proud to have been part of something so good, to finish off my Year 11.

Kieran Haynes – The show opened my eyes to a whole new aspect of theatre. Operating the plant was a new experience for me and I really enjoyed being part of it.

Dawn Farmer – The show really gave me an insight into how amazing the school can really be. The experience allowed me to immerse myself into someone completely different from myself, which was very rewarding.

The feedback to all the students and staff has been lovely and really makes you value all the effort you’ve put in, will never forget it.

Scott Morrison – Little Shop of Horrors has to be my favourite show that I’ve done for the school.

I just loved the character of the dentist and how crazy he was. It stretched my comedic acting talents and it was such fun playing a crazy character with influences such as Jim Carrey. It was truly unforgettable.

Reaction from the audience:

Mrs B Phillips (MFL teacher) – When I come to a Driffield School performance I am never let down and last night was no exception. The quality of the acting and the singing was not your typical school play level – I felt so proud of all of the students I saw. What a talented bunch!

Timing was fab, singing and acting were outstanding and the sense of communal pride in what they were all working towards was so evident. What was also very noticeable was the professionalism from all the pupils. If something went a bit wrong, or a mic stopped working for a second, not one single student stopped or looked flustered – an incredible standard for a school production.

All staff and students involved should feel justifiably proud of what has been achieved over several long months of very hard work.

I consider myself honoured to have witnessed it yet again this year.

A big, huge thank you to you all!

Mr D Andrews, one very proud and happy Head of Sixth Form – I have seen many fantastic performances at Driffield School over the years, but last night’s performance of Little Shop of Horrors definitely ranks as one of the best.

I absolutely swell with pride and brim with joyful tears when I think of the hard work, dedication, excellence, skill and commitment of both the students and staff who have clearly given their all to produce such an amazing production. The performance had everything: humour, poignancy, stunning vocals and superb acting. It really was top drawer entertainment and not to be missed.

I particularly loved seeing the tremendous, mature performances of the older students who have given commitment to the Performing Arts department for many years. To see them have the opportunity to take on leading roles and to shine so brightly is a real source of pleasure.

Having welcomed George into the school as a Year 7, to hear his transformation into the fantastic voice of Audrey 2 was an unsurpassed highlight for me. But to also see that the future of the performing arts is in such safe hands after seeing how wonderfully the younger students contributed to the show, is also a source of great joy.

You all made me feel very proud and honoured to be a part of Driffield School and Sixth Form and I thank you for that. You reminded me why teaching is the best profession available and why this school is so special. That means a lot to me and I am very appreciative. You are all stars... Staff team included, all of whom I admire very much for your creativity, passion, talent and humanity.

Damon Jenkins, local community - The whole night from start to finish was fantastic, not just the show itself but the whole experience. We particularly appreciated how welcoming both staff and students were upon arrival.

The standard of acting and singing from everyone involved was second to none and what particularly struck us was the chemistry of the actors, it was clear to see that it was genuine and there were bonds and friendships which went much deeper than what we were witnessing on the stage.

You could see that every single person on the stage took their part extremely seriously, even for those who may have been playing what may have seemed like minor roles, and I think this is ultimately what made it such a fantastic show.

It was a team all pulling together to create something awesome for the audience.

It made us both smile to see the support team buzzing around all over the place, making sure everything was running smoothly and if we were to hear of some of these students making a career in production in the future it wouldn’t surprise us one bit.

The costumes were absolutely brilliant and after being in New York last summer it felt like we had been taken back there when listening to the accents as they sounded so authentic.It was very clear that a lot of hard work had been put in to this production, not only by those on stage but also those behind the scenes.

Everyone involved in Little Shop of Horrors, students and staff, should be extremely proud to have been a part of it - what a credit you all are to Driffield School. Keep up the good work!

A picture taken in the outskirts of a desert captured the incredible moment that dawn meets the Milky Way.

A layer of orange creeping over the horizon signals the imminent arrival of the sun, and the end of the night.

The first hints of daylight are kissed by the Milky Way, which stretches out across the entire night sky in the cosmic scene.

The picture was taken at the La Silla Observatory, in the outskirts of the Chilean Atacama Desert in the South American country.

The view of the home galaxy is covered with dark patches, formed from dust particles blocking the light behind them.

Meanwhile, on the ground are the observatory's telescopes, which face out to unravel the mysteries of the sky.

The closest in the picture is the Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope, which has a dish which measures 15 metres across.

The scene shows it pointing at an extremely bright object, which is Venus, one of Earth's neighbouring planets.

Lit up by the sun, Venus outshines all of the stars in the night sky.

The triangular white glow that reaches up from the horizon through Venus is called a zodiacal light.

Zodiacal light is sunlight scattered by dust in the ecliptic, which is the plane of Earth's orbit around the sun.

And in the background of the scene stands the ESO 3.6-metre telescope, with the Coudé Auxiliary Telescope right behind it.

IT is one of cricket’s oldest maxims that the umpire’s decision is final.

So when Yorkshire pace bowler Steve Patterson won a controversial lbw against Ben Foakes on day two of the Champion County match in Abu Dhabi, there was little the MCC batsman could do about it but take umpire Neil Mallender’s verdict on the chin.

Foakes, the 23-year-old Surrey wicketkeeper, had taken considerably more steps back to the pavilion than the 17 runs he had put up alongside his name when his doleful departure was stopped in its tracks.

Mallender and square-leg official David Millns – who had come together as all umpires do at the fall of a wicket – decided that there had, in fact, been an inside edge and called the batsman back to the crease.

The incident was an early contender for the 2017 Wisden almanack’s ‘Index of Unusual Occurrences’, and not only defined the day’s play but quite possibly the match, too.

At stumps, Foakes was unbeaten on 83 and his seventh-wicket stand of 131 with Rikki Clarke – which stood at one run when Foakes was reprieved – had helped MCC to a first innings lead.

With Clarke contributing 56, MCC had reached 282-6 in reply to Yorkshire’s 275 when Mallender and Millns took the teams off for bad light 20 minutes before the scheduled close.

Considering that the Sheikh Zayed Stadium floodlights were on full beam and that there is barely more than one man and his camel present for what is effectively a glorified friendly, it was not a day that reflected radiantly on those who make up and implement the rules.

At least the umpires were bold enough to overturn Foakes’s dismissal, for which the laws of cricket make full provision.

Law 27.9 states: “An umpire may alter his decision provided that such alteration is made promptly. This apart, an umpire’s decision, once made, is final.”

Yorkshire, who had no complaints about Foakes’s reprieve, are certainly involved in a battle in the desert.

After an unremarkable if not uncompetitive batting performance, with only Gary Ballance and Will Rhodes posting significant scores, the champions have been made to work hard with the ball.

With the second new ball still in its infancy, and with MCC’s advantage by no means decisive, the game would seem intriguingly poised.

Yorkshire started the day impressively to reduce their opponents to 14-2 inside nine overs.

Tim Bresnan persuaded Nick Browne to flick one up to Rhodes at square-leg, and Patterson had nightwatchman James Harris held at short cover by Jack Leaning.

By lunch, the scoreboard had a much healthier look from MCC’s perspective as captain Ian Bell and Rory Burns helped their team to 85-2.

That included 14 runs from the first over bowled by left-arm spinner Karl Carver, who was then launched for a straight six by Bell in a statement of intent at the start of the afternoon session.

But just when it seemed that Burns and Bell were not for budging, Yorkshire showed their battling qualities by turning the game with three quick wickets.

Bresnan had Burns caught behind for 51, made from 98 balls with eight fours and a six, and Carver responded well to the earlier punishment by having Bell taken at mid-on by Patterson.

Bell failed to emulate Ballance’s achievement on day one in scoring a hundred as he pursues his own ambitions of regaining a Test place, the Warwickshire man having to be content with 44 from 73 balls with seven fours and a six.

When Bresnan pinned Samit Patel lbw, the Yorkshireman had his 449th first-class wicket and MCC were 114-5. That became 151-6 when Patterson had Tom Westley brilliantly caught by wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd, diving one-handed to his left, from what was effectively a genuine leg-glance.

But then came Foakes’s reprieve, which would have left MCC 152-7, as the game underwent another transformation.

Foakes and Clarke were initially circumspect – only 13 runs came in the final 10 overs before tea, at which point Clarke had managed only one run from 34 balls.

But runs came a little too freely for Yorkshire’s taste after the interval, with the seventh-wicket pair adding 118 from 26.1 overs in the final session, and early breakthroughs are needed today.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Economic Development Service has revamped its web page and now has presence on social media, with the aim of supporting the growth of business.

The service’s account @ER_Business already has over 200 followers and provides information about a wide range of subjects, including employment and skills opportunities with some of the region’s big companies.

Councillor Jane Evison, cabinet portfolio holder for economic investment and tourism at the council, said: “Promoting the East Riding economy is one of the council’s top priorities.

“By ensuring that all the information a business could need is available online and that a point of contact for advice identified, we can help support new and existing businesses to flourish.”

The East Riding Business Investment & Tourism Service also has a Facebook page.

TWAS the morning after the Festival. As I dragged myself out of bed, the depressing realisation sank in that it was all over for another year.

Staring back at me in the mirror was the leathery-skinned, lived-in face that reflected a week of excitement and excess. And yet, mercifully, behind the Samsonite suitcases hanging beneath weary, reddened eyes, treasured images of another wonderful Cheltenham week remained fresh in the memory.

Images of the likes of THISTLECRACK, VAUTOUR, SPRINTER SACRE, DON COSSACK, ANNIE POWER, DOUVAN -- and in that order, I think. Not forgetting top-class youngsters such as ALTIOR, IVANOVICH GORBATOV, YORKHILL, BLACK HERCULES, BLAKLION and LIMINI.

It was quite a Festival for the record crowds of 260,579, basking in dry, if bitterly cold, weather and superb, new £45 million facilities at Prestbury Park.

It was also a Festival quite unlike the previous 31 I have been privileged to enjoy. One where the favourites danced on ten of the tables. All the short-priced ‘good things’, bar three, went in, with the exceptions (MIN, YANWORTH and UN DE SCEAUX) hardly disgracing themselves in second. Nothing left-field prevailed until SOLAR IMPULSE defied odds of 28/1 in the very last race, the Grand Annual. And an indication of how Irish raiders matched the home contingent at every turn to rack up a record-equalling tally of 14 winners was underlined by victories in four of the trickiest handicaps of the week, which is unheard of. Emerald Isle challengers pinched the Plate, courtesy of EMPIRE OF DIRT, for only the second time since 1951 and the Kim Muir, via CAUSE OF CAUSES, for only the second time in 34 years.

But while the Festival landscape appears to be changing in so many ways, its guarantee of high quality, rich drama and tear-jerking emotion remains a constant.

The tone was set within minutes of the Cheltenham Roar sending them away for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, which unravelled as the best renewal since 2011 when Al Ferof beat Sprinter Sacre and Cue Card. Min’s eclipse by Altior might have briefly threatened the widespread predictions of a Willie Mullins monopoly, but only for 80 minutes or so. Because by then, Douvan had trotted up in a weak Arkle Chase and the redoubtable Annie Power had landed the Champion Hurdle as FAUGHEEN’S able deputy under the kind of powerpacked positivity that makes Ruby Walsh the finest Festival jockey in history. The mare, racing’s new AP, made it third time lucky after getting chinned for stamina in the World Hurdle of 2014 and falling at the last with the Mares’ Hurdle at her mercy in 2015.

Mullins went on to saddle seven of the 28 winners, only one short of his record 12 months earlier, not to mention seven seconds and five thirds. And while he drew a rare blank on the final day, he still produced the second, third and fourth in the Triumph Hurdle and the second and third in the Gold Cup.

One that got away for the master of Closutton was Un De Sceaux, red-hot favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, but below par on ground too lively. Instead the Festival gods, mentored by Nicky Henderson, bestowed upon us the kind of minor miracle for which they own the template -- the glorious return to the top of the podium by Sprinter Sacre. A forlorn sight on the brink of retirement just a year earlier, the handsome ten-year-old kicked all his well-documented health problems into touch and then, floppy ears pricked, lapped up with aplomb the cheers from the crowds in winner’s enclosure scenes that left hardy Festival veterans weeping with joy.

Even the beaten Mullins had the grace to accept the result was “good for racing”. Not so good for racing was the 11th-hour decision to re-route his stable star Vautour from the Gold Cup after owner Rich Ricci had long insisted the race was his sole target. It was the right decision, based on the horse’s stamina limitations, but handled badly, and attempts to persuade us that it was based on the seven-year-old’s unconvincing homework did not tally with the imperious manner in which he dismissed the opposition in the Ryanair Chase.

Vautour’s performance gave another boost to a race that some, incredulously, still question the validity of. And yet, even more incredulously, it was surpassed only one contest later when Thistlecrack unveiled the kind of jaw-dropping, eye-popping triumph that the World Hurdle has never seen before. Not even in its guise as the Stayers’. Not even in the days of the all-conquering Big Buck’s.

Colin Tizzard’s charge opened up gaps of 30 and 40 lengths to rivals rated in the 160s. It doesn’t come better than that -- and who knows, the unlikely doyen of Dorset might well have added an even brighter feather to his cap if CUE CARD had not taken the first fall of his 29-race career at the third last in the week’s grand finale, the Gold Cup. It’s impossible to say whether or not the ten-year-old would have won, particularly as he was about to enter previously uncharted territory beyond 3m, but he would have undoubtedly enriched the finish of a Blue Riband event that, for a second successive year, was run at a brutal, no-holds-barred gallop.

Instead the spoils went to Don Cossack, whose own tumble had, ironically, presented the King George to Cue Card at Kempton over Christmas. Immaculately turned out, The Don proved what a much better horse he is on genuinely Good ground and allowed Gordon Elliott to re-ignite the kind of celebrations he’d been saving up since he sent out Silver Birch to win the 2007 Grand National in his debut season as a trainer.

Talking of the National, it’s little more than two weeks away, you know!

Hail Diamond King and Queen Victoria!

It would be remiss to complete a review of the Cheltenham Festival without regal reference to the King and Queen of the show, namely Diamond King and Victoria Pendleton.

The former was, of course, identified by this column way back in mid-January as “the horse to pay for your Festival expenses”. And although his target race had to be changed when he rose in the weights, he still bolted up in the Coral Cup at the tasty price of 12/1. I hope you were on.

Pendleton answered her critics with a polished riding performance on the fast-finishing Pacha Du Polder in the Foxhunter Chase. Those who say a better jockey would have won are missing the point. Although classy and reliable, the horse does not stay the 3m2f trip, so it was some effort to smuggle him into fifth.

Old crop feed wheat values are again unchanged this week as the UK grain market continues to lack direction. Feed wheat for spot collection is currently valued in the region of £100-£102/T ex-farm and movement further forward into the early summer months continues to offer minimal premiums. Buyer interest for the April-June period is extremely sluggish; with such a large feed wheat stock carryover forecast for the end of the season, end-users are hardly feeling the pressure to make additional commitments.

The pound as valued at the equivalent of anywhere between EUR1.265 – EUR1.300 over the last 10 days or so and the volatility is having a limited impact on the wheat market because of the ongoing uncertainty regarding the UK’s position within Europe.

We have, however, seen some significant movement in the old crop OSR market over the last week; April collection has valued anywhere between £254 -£259.00/T ex-farm. Many sellers appear to have their eyes firmly focused on the £260/T ex-farm mark at the minute, a price which is currently offered for collection in October.

As for new crop values, the London LIFFE wheat future for November 2016 has made small, although noticeable, gains over the last week, firming new crop feed wheat values for September collection at £110/T ex-farm. For those of you looking for as available collection off the combine at harvest, £107- £108.00/T ex-farm would be a realistic offer.

Providing some support for new crop values this is week are the latest estimates given by Brussels-based analyst group Cocereal for this year’s European grain harvest. They have estimated the 2016 French soft wheat crop at 38.8 million tonnes, a 1.5 million reduction to last year’s bumper crop. Closer to home, they have estimated a wheat crop of 15 million tonnes for the UK, a seven per cent reduction on last year. However, it is important to recognise that they have forecast overall European wheat production at 145.2 million tonnes, which is currently on the higher end of trade expectations.

A favourable forecast for the fortnight ahead for most of western, central and Northern Europe should enable some good progress to be made with spring fieldwork. Locally, heavier Wold land appears to have dried out significantly over the weekend, while other areas along the Vale of York are certainly looking a lot better than they did a week ago.

Elsewhere, early Russian spring grain planting is firmly ahead of last year’s progress due to a period of unusually warm weather. According to local authorities there, 440,000 hectares are now successfully drilled with spring crops.

Ukraine’s early spring plantings are also well advanced at 146,000 hectares.

Twenty-five years on from their first appearance Ladies in Pigs still garners a smile from the general public at shows, in schools and recently in the centre of Scunthorpe with their red and white uniform and mobile roadshow.

Sue Woodall, the East Riding-based chairwoman of what has become affectionately known as LIPS, believes their support for the pig sector is just as important today as it was a quarter of a century ago, particularly with the price at its lowest in eight years.

Sue and her team of ladies based around the UK concentrate on areas they can influence – those buying pig meat products from supermarkets, butcher’s shops and farm shops; educating everyone from the young to the daily meal makers; and applying pressure over correct labelling.

“Consumer buying habits have changed and today the average time spent cooking the day’s main meal is just 30 minutes,” she said. “It’s all about slow cookers, one pot and ready meals. That’s what we have to be in tune with when we are demonstrating our recipes.

“Bacon and sausages are still the number one products and the recent surge for pulled pork has certainly helped. It has made the shoulder joint much more popular, but really there is so much on a pig that can be used. We need to show just what can be done and inspire those cooking to realise the flexibility of pork products in making up so many meals.

“Our Moroccan style minced pork is amazing, but pork mince isn’t used very much. When I speak to audiences of around 50 at a time it’s only about four who have ever had it.

“That’s where education of what can be cooked is vital to pork’s future. We could do with more TV chefs getting on board. I bumped into James Martin at an event recently and asked why he didn’t use it more in his Saturday Kitchen programme.”

When the price falls, cheap imports are usually blamed and Ladies in Pigs has campaigned to ensure that consumers understand what they are purchasing. They also scrutinise individual supermarkets.

“Ladies in Pigs was started by Glenda Montgomery and Miranda Shufflebotham who were concerned about the lack of British-produced pork in their local supermarkets,” said Sue.

“Even now we’re still struggling against imported pig meat. We launched Porkwatch to monitor not just how much British and imported pork is on display in supermarkets but also where it is positioned and how it is labelled. There are many consumers who believe they are buying British when they’re not.

“The only sure way is if it has the Red Tractor logo. Some use a Union Jack on packaging but read closely and you will find that the meat has not come from British livestock, it has only been packaged here.

“In our recent Porkwatch surveys, the likes of Aldi and Lidl are coming up trumps with lots of Red Tractor pork, but Asda and Tesco are not very good. The horsegate scandal made the public far more aware of labelling.”

The UK pig industry has changed massively since 1991 when Sue attended her first meeting as the East Yorkshire branch was set up at the Bell Hotel in Driffield. Ladies in Pigs has changed too.

“The country’s pig herd has declined by a third and because of imports we are now only 55 per cent self-sufficient. Most smaller pig producers haven’t been able to survive and have either come out altogether or now have pigs on a contract-based bed and breakfast basis for the larger producers,” she said.

“Our Yorkshire and Norfolk regions, the two main pig areas being the East Riding and Norfolk, now have around 35-40 members that meet up two or three times a year.

“When we first started there were regional groups holding monthly and quarterly get-togethers aimed solely at what we could do to support and promote British pork, but email and social media has made life a lot easier and I now co-ordinate everything from our central office at home in North Cave.

“We’ve moved on massively from selling piggy pens and asking for donations towards the bacon sandwiches we served in those early days.”

Bikers are being invited to don their leathers and take part in a charity run on Sunday (27 March).

The Kilham Bikers 20th Stephen Cowton Memorial Easter Egg Run starts at the Bay Horse pub in Kilham, where riders can enjoy bacon butties and a cuppa from 9.30am onwards. The ride itself will leave at 11am for the journey to Martin House Children’s Hospice.

All funds raised from the Easter Egg Run, staged by Kilham Bikers, will go to the hospice.

The ride will be followed by a raffle and auction at the Bay Horse from 7.30pm on Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Kilham Bikers said: “We would like to thank York Motorsport Karting at Monks Cross, for their support when we had a karting night on 16 March and raised £260 for our charity Martin House Children’s Hospice.”

Kilham Bikers will hold a fish and chips supper at Harpers in Staxton on 8 April at 7pm. For more details visit www.kilhambikers.com

Local road racer James Cowton has satisfied with his start to the 2016 season, after a ‘solid’ first outing of the year.

The Kilham rider travelled to Lincolnshire at the weekend, to take part in the Auto 66 Club’s two-day Northern Clubman’s Championship round at Cadwell Park.

After a long winter break, during which time he signed a new sponsorship deal with Isle of Man-based Radcliffe Butchers, Cowton got back on the bike and pitted his wits against a strong field.

Although he headed south aiming to compete, he was also using the event as a chance to carry out a lot of testing for the new machinery and getting his bikes set up before the first big meeting of the year.

That will be the Spring Cup and Bob Smith Road Races at the Oliver’s Mount Circuit in Scarborough next month.

This season, Cowton is onboard the Racing by Radcliffes Honda CBR 600 and BMW S1000 bikes.

Last Saturday was spent setting up both bikes before racing began at 11:30am.

Cowton seemed happy with both bikes and ended up getting two second places on the Honda CBR 600 and an eighth on the BMW S1000 against some stiff opposition.

Before Sunday’s racing got underway, he said: “We had a good solid day yesterday with good track time and results.

“We are more than happy with the progress we have made with both bikes but unfortunately we had a slight issue with the Honda CBR 600 so we will be only out on the BMW S1000 today.”

Cowton, who finished top of the Duke Road Racing rankings in 2014, had two races throughout the day, starting from sixth on the grid.

He consolidated his performance from day one by collecting a second and third on the BMW S1000 to give him a good platform to work from during 2016.

The growing status of the Tour de Yorkshire was confirmed on Wednesday lunchtime when a record number of elite teams were announced as participants - while Yorkshire’s own world champion Lizzie Armitstead will ride for the biggest prize fund in women’s cycling.

Seven World Tour teams will line up on the start of the three-day race in Beverley on Friday, April 29, a rise of two on last year’s inaugural staging of the event.

And Armitstead, who won the world road race title in the USA last September, will headline the women’s event from her home town of Otley to Doncaster on Saturday, April 30, on a stage which will mirror the men’s.

Race organisers Welcome to Yorkshire and ASO have announced that the prize fund makes it the most lucrative women’s cycle race in the world, with a total of £50,000 on offer to individuals and teams.

The first prize for this one-day race will be £15,000, second will be £10,000 and third, £5,000, with prize money down to 20th place.

Otley born Armitstead, who currently tops the women’s world rankings after a series of impressive wins in the season so far, said: “The Asda Tour de Yorkshire Women’s race will be my first race in the UK in my world champion’s jersey and it’s an absolute dream to be starting in my home town.”

For the three-day men’s race - which carries a £15,000 prize fund - Team Sky and BMC Racing are back, as previously revealed, with Dimension Data for Qhubeka’s involvement also common knowledge.

But swelling the ranks of top-tier teams are newcomers Orica GreenEdge, Giant-Alpecin, and Team Katusha, while Lotto NL Jumbo return after providing a stage winner last year.

The presence of those teams could mean a visit to Yorkshire for such stellar names as Simon Gerrans, John Degenkolb and Joaquim Rodriquez.

The field will be enhanced by five UCI Pro Continental teams; One Pro Cycling, Cofidis and Direct Energie of France, Dutch team Roompot-Oranje and the Belgian outfit Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise.

Sir Bradley Wiggins’ self-branded Team Wiggins lead the British contingent, though it is unknown whether the 2012 Tour de France winner himself will return with his focus this year being on winning a medal on the track at the summer’s Olympics in Rio.

Mark Cavendish is also uncertain to participate in the Tour de Yorkshire for his team Dimension Data, given the dates are understood to clash with a British Cycling track training camp in the United States in early May.

The five remaining British teams are Yorkshire-based NFTO, Raleigh, JLT Condor, Madison Genesis and the GB national development team.

Day one of the men’s race runs from Beverley to Settle, with day two taking riders from Otley to Doncaster and the final stage on Sunday, May 1, from Middlesbrough to a finish in Scarborough.

The women’s race is set to be the first time Armitstead will have raced on British roads in her world champion’s jersey.

In total the Asda Women’s Tour de Yorkshire race will see 14 teams, including eight UCI registered, compete over 135km on exactly the same course as the men, who tackle the route later the same day.

Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “Today is a hugely significant milestone for women’s racing. We’ve come good on our promise to expand the women’s race and rather than rest at bringing parity in terms of the men’s route and broadcast coverage, we’ve gone further to offer the world’s most lucrative prize fund.

“Together with our sponsors, we’re bringing women’s racing the respect it deserves and I can think of no better way to start our race in Otley than with our very own World Champion on the start line.”

British Cycling’s technical director Shane Sutton said: “To have a British rider wearing the rainbow jersey supported by British riders in a British race is something I’ll be very proud to see. Lizzie has had an outstanding season so far and I know she’ll do the jersey justice in front of a home crowd. I’m also pleased to say that we will be entering a second women’s team into the event, Team Breeze, which will be an excellent development opportunity for the female endurance academy squad.”

After spotting herself in last week’s nostalgia photo, hairdresser Margaret ‘Mags’ Hutchings contacted us to share her memories.

The salon is the Belle, which she ran for over 20 years. The ‘client’ is Laura Hutchings, now married to Mags’ son, and pictured above with Mags’ dog Coco. The other ladies include Marianne Ringham, who owns a salon in Pocklington; Susan Pinder, who still works at Belle; Joanne Stack and Helen Gail. Mags retired to Scarborough.

For many, Easter just means that there is a bank holiday weekend coming, so an extra lie in. But there is so much history behind the season that it really is worth learning about it.

So spare a few minutes to read our Easter fact list, with a few odd pieces of information thrown in - and let us know if there's any you think we've missed.

1. Easter Sunday is also known as Pasch or Resurrection Sunday, as it celebrates the day that Jesus rose from the dead.

2. The date for Easter changes every year, as the holy dates are determined by a lunar calendar. They are known as "moveable feasts" - but many are campaigning for them to be changed and fixed.

3. In Western Christianity, Easter day always falls on a Sunday between March 22, and April 25.

4. Easter eggs are traditionally given as gifts for the holiday, but the tradition was started by members of the Christian community who stained eggs red to signify Jesus' blood after the crucifixion.

5. Before chocolate eggs were given out to children and adults as gifts, painted chicken eggs were used instead.

6. The Easter season officially begins on Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. It follows Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day.

7. According to Guinness World Records, the tallest chocolate Easter egg measured 10.39 m in height and was made by Tosca in Italy. It was measured at Le Acciaierie Shopping Centre, in Cortenuova, on April 16, 2011. The egg weighed 7,200kg.

8. An Easter egg hunt held in London in April 2012 took a Guinness World Record for having the most entrants. There were 12,773 people taking part.

9. The Easter Bunny starred in 2012 film Rise of the Guardians, along with Santa Claus, Jack Frost and the Tooth Fairy. The character was played by Hugh Jackman.

10. Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday - and folklore says that buns baked and served on this holy day will never spoil for the subsequent year.

11. The largest hot cross bun weighed 168kg and was made by the RSPB in conjunction with Greenhalghs Bakery, in Bolton, on April 5, 2012.

Charity Jacob’s Well is appealing for the people of Driffield to donate medical supplies which are now being shipped directly into war-torn Syria.

Next month Jacob’s Well will send its first consignment of medical aid into Syria, having successfully shipped 36 containers of clothes and hygiene products into the country in the past 18 months.

They have forged partnerships with large hospitals in several different cities and now have an agreement from the Government that containers of medical aid will be allowed in without hindrance.

Charity leader John Beynon said: “We have plenty of medical supplies that we can contribute, so we are asking people to please dig deep and help us to help these desperate people.

“We are also appealing to pharmacies, doctors’ surgeries and hospitals to donate any medical items that they can spare. We guarantee that all the items will go to needy hospitals within Syria.”

You can text 70070 with the message JWAS16, then specify the amount (£5, £10, £15 etc). Donations can be made on the website www.jaacobswellappeal.org and at the charity’s shops in Beverley, Bridlington or Withernsea or at its offices on Swinemoor Lane, Beverley.

On June 26, 1975, professional gambler Barney Curley pulled off one of the most famous betting coups in all of sports. With careful planning and skilful execution, Curley and his compatriots won just over £300,000 (or about £1.4 million today) on the “slow but steady” mostly unknown horse named Yellow Sam.

Curley’s father, Charlie, had been a grocer before sinking deeply into debt via gambling on dog racing.

While he was well known at this point among bookies for a small string of relatively large victories, it was nothing compared to what he had in store for them in 1975. Curley, who owned the horse in question, had him specially trained to run in an obscure National Hunt race at Bellewstown, Ireland, where the jockeys were primarily amateurs.

Bellewstown had been chosen specifically because at this time it had only two telephone lines running to the track – one public and one private, for bookies. This is significant since at this time those telephones were the only contemporaneous communication between off-course bookies, and the course bookies who determined the ‘starting price’.

In order to make the odds more favourable for Curley’s bet and lessen Yellow Sam’s handicap at the same time, allowing him to run lighter in the race, Curly ran him in several previous races in very poor conditions, where Sam never finished above eighth place. The plan worked, and Yellow Sam’s starting price was put at 20-1. Of course, the 20-1 figure can change, depending on the betting, and if the course bookies were aware that large amounts were being bet on Yellow Sam, the odds would have changed dramatically. Unfortunately for the bookmakers, on the day of the race, there was a serious communication breakdown.

Completely orchestrated by Curley, somehow the private line was disabled. The only communication between the betting houses and the course bookies was the single public telephone.

About a half-an-hour before the race began, Curley’s friend, Benny O’Hanlon, took over the phone booth, pretending to have a telephone conversation with a dying aunt. Apparently a good actor, or perhaps everyone present was just too intimidated to try to force him off the phone, they all waited sympathetically while he carried on his conversation. He continued until the race started.

Concurrently, off the course, Curley had friends, colleagues and mere acquaintances all stationed to place bets of between £50 and £300 at betting parlours across the country. Altogether, Curley had them bet just over £15,000 on Yellow Sam to win.

After making his call, he quickly headed over to Bellewstown, arriving just in time to watch the race. Yellow Sam won by two-and-a-half lengths.

The bookies had to pay-up. But to show their irritation, many paid him in single notes, resulting in 108 bags containing a total of just over IR£300,000.

Young runners from around North Yorkshire converged on Dalby Forest last Thursday for the county primary schools cross country championships.

The course, which involved a variety of up and downhill challenges, allowed participants a glimpse of the beautiful woodland area at Adderstone Field.

Runners from the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale areas locked horns with athletes from Harrogate, Richmondshire and York, among many other areas.

Courses of 1000, 1200 and 1500 metres were run by young athletes from Year Three to Year Six as well as 11-18 year olds from special schools ,The Woodlands Academy of Scarborough, and The Dales School.

The event, organised by North Yorkshire Sport, which welcomed over 600 participants, brought more than 1,000 visitors to the venue.

North Yorkshire Sport chief executive David Watson said: “The day went fantastically, the course was challenging but all the young athletes did a brilliant job. I was pleased to see so many young runners get excited for the event and get to visit Dalby.

“I would also like to congratulate all of our medal winners, as well as the staff and volunteers who helped to organise the event.”

Scarborough’s Ben Cross won the Boys Year Four race, with his Scarborough Athletic Club teammate Issy Nichols, running for Ryedale & Whitby, taking the Girls Year Six crown.

Race results

Boys Year Three: 1st Miles Watson (York), 2nd Jack Vesey (Richmondshire), 3rd Samuel Dickinson (Selby).

Girls Year Three: 1st Martha Sigsworth (Hambleton), 2nd

Chantal Levey (Selby), 3rd Elena Dickson (Harrogate).

Boys Year Four: 1st Ben Cross

(Scarborough), 2nd Isaac Breckons (York), 3rd Johannes Shaw (Harrogate).

Girls Year Four: 1st Phoebe Midgley (Craven), 2nd Kathryn Clague (York), 3rd Seren Melling (Hambleton).

Boys Year Five: 1st Campbell Darcy (Hambleton), 2nd Joshua Hammet (Richmondshire),

3rd Zachary Towse (York).

Girls Year Five: 1st Zoe Hill (Hambleton), 2nd Anya Potter-Firth (Ryedale and Whitby), 3rd Mollie Reynolds-Jones

(Harrogate).

Boys Year Six: 1st Sam Benson (Craven), 2nd Kieran Robson (Scarborough), 3rd Jack Hastings-Long (Hambleton).

Girls Year Six: 1st Issy Nichols (Ryedale& Whitby), 2nd Tierney Walsh (Ryedale & Whitby), 3rd Beth Roberts (Craven).

KS3/4 Specials 1000m: 1st Harry Richardson (Scarborough), 2nd Luke Andrews (Scarborough).

KS3/4 Specials 1200m: 1st Dale Welbourne (Scarborough), 2nd Chris Richardson (Scarborough).

Post 16 1200m: 1st Alexander Phillips (Hambleton), 2nd Laurence Stirke (Hambleton), 3rdBethany Siddal (Hambleton).

KS3/4 Specials 1500m: 1st Dylan Wilkin (Scarborough), 2nd Jack Vesey (Scarborough), 3rd Samuel Dickinson (Scarborough).

YORKSHIRE are planning to step up their efforts to persuade Geoffrey Boycott to become their first global ambassador after succeeding in their bid to keep him off the board.

Yorkshire chairman Steve Denison said the club are “desperately keen” for Boycott to take on an ambassadorial role after the club’s members heeded his request to reject Boycott’s attempt to become a board member.

Denison wrote to them ahead of Saturday’s annual meeting at Headingley, warning that Boycott was a potentially destabilising and disruptive influence whose appointment would “not be in the best interests of the club”.

Members voted against the former Yorkshire and England opening batsman by a margin of 758 to 602 in a postal ballot that Malcolm Guy, the Yorkshire member who co-ordinated Boycott’s nomination, claimed had been incorrectly conducted under club rules and potentially “interfered with”.

Guy’s claim was shot down at the meeting and described as “insulting” by Denison, who insisted it was “a fair and open vote”.

There is no love lost between the respective sides, but Denison feels that Boycott, 75, has a role to play as a global ambassador, a role that Boycott believes he performs in any case.

“We’re desperately keen for Geoffrey to be an ambassador,” said Denison. “We want everybody in the club to be playing to their strengths, and his strength is in that ambassadorial role, shouting about Yorkshire County Cricket Club around the world and bringing people into the ground at Headingley, particularly on international days.

“I’ve been talking to him about it for a long time, and I think what we haven’t done is explore the practicalities. He’s a really busy man – he’s around the world, he’s got his broadcasting commitments, so we want to sit down with him and hear from him what would work best for Geoffrey Boycott, and then we will do our best to accommodate that.”

Boycott, who attended the annual meeting and mingled with members in a packed Long Room, did not discuss Malcolm Guy’s allegations – previously voiced in The Yorkshire Post, and dismissed by the club – that the voting process was flawed.

However, he repeated that he was in the dark as to what the ambassador role entailed.

“I know nothing about it,” said Boycott. “I’ve asked him (Denison) what he means, and I’ve had no answer. I’ve never had an answer.”

Commenting on the election result, Boycott said: “I didn’t put up to win or lose. I thought I could do some good for the club.

“To all those people who voted for me, thank you, and to those that didn’t, I just want everybody to know that I love the club.

“It’s been part of my life for 60 years. I love its history, its traditions, and I know many of the members personally, and I just wanted to put some points and views across to help.”

Boycott said the result did not diminish that affection or his desire to keep watching the team.

“It’s not going to change anything,” he stressed. “I’ll be watching and supporting the team as I’ve always done. We have a very good set of players, we’ve got an excellent coach, good management behind the scenes, they’re a pleasure to watch.

“I’ll be here for the first match of the season. I’ve already booked to go to Scarborough. It falls in nicely that I’m not commentating. So disappointment (at the election result), but nothing’s changed.”

Denison denied that the board felt vindicated by Boycott’s defeat and said the matter was now closed from the club’s point of view.

“I don’t think it’s so much a vindication of the board,” he said. “I think it’s what the members want.

“Every member had the ability to vote, for or against, any of the board nominees. Forty per cent of them – which is a miles bigger turnout than probably we’ve ever had before in recent times – chose to vote, and they cast their votes in the direction they did.

“The matter is closed from the club’s point of view, and hopefully it is from Geoffrey’s point of view as well.

“He’s a legend of the club, and we want to see him at Headingley at every possible opportunity. He will always be welcome here. Let’s hope that’s what happens going forward.”

Members supported the board’s recommendation that club chief executive Mark Arthur and Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Sir Gary Verity should join the board, and that Robin Smith be re-elected.

Former Yorkshire and England batsman John Hampshire was confirmed as president in succession to Dickie Bird, with Charlotte Evers re-elected to the members’ committee and long-standing club official David Ryder made a vice-president.

The Driffield School U13 Boys Hockey Team travelled to St Peter’s School, York, to take part in the North East semi-finals.

They had previously won the East Riding and Humberside area finals to make it this far.

They played a round robin tournament against St Olave’s School, York, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield, King Ecgbert School, Sheffield and Yarm School from North Yorkshire.

After two initial defeats against the eventual winners, Yarm and QEGS, they beat hosts St Olave’s but then lost to King Ecgbert School.

They finished third due to goal difference and were a credit to the school.

Player of the tournament for Driffield School was Callum Morley, who played his first game in goal for a year and was excellent.

Driffield School’s GCSE and Sixth Form performing arts students recently took a trip down to London to enjoy a jam-packed two days of theatre and fun.

After the ride down, the group enjoyed workshops at Pineapple Studios. (No, we did not see Louis Spence!).

The students had a choice of two workshops; one being stage combat, where I believe Mr Colley received a few ‘punches’ and ‘slaps’ from Angela!

The second was a musical theatre workshop where the students got to work with a real musical theatre performer, showing off Driffield School’s performance skills by putting together some Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired scenes.

After the workshops, the students had the chance to speak with the current ‘Head Oompa Loompa’ in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the musical, where we got a real insight into the musical theatre industry.

Following some downtime in Convent Garden and a little pizza, we headed off to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Seeing this world of pure imagination really helped to open our eyes to professional theatre: the standard of performance as well as the staging and tech side of things were impressive and will hopefully help us improve our own performances both in class and in the up and coming school musical. (Also, it was just really fun to watch!)

The next day, we started off by looking around the Natural History museum. I can’t say it particularly inspired me in terms of the performing arts; however we all enjoyed learning about the natural world, from dinosaurs to dodos.

We then headed back to Covent Garden where, quite excitingly, we saw the BAFTA tent being put up (quite fitting for a group of future performers!).

After some shopping and general London-ing we headed off to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

This was definitely something a little bit different after previously watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The play followed an autistic boy on the search to find out who had killed his neighbour’s dog. Whilst being very serious at times it was also incredibly funny. The play was performed in a more contemporary style than the musical, using minimal set and techniques like physical theatre.

Seeing these techniques in action really helped us to broaden our drama knowledge.

I’d just like to put in a little thank you to our teachers Mrs Brady, Mr Colley, Mrs Bilton, Mrs Charlton and Mrs Baron for giving up their time to take us all on this trip and for getting it off the ground. It was a valuable experience, which will definitely have a positive impact on our school work and would not have been possible if it wasn’t for this amazing trip!