GRAMMY-winning music star Rod Stewart will open his next UK tour at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena on Saturday June 1.

"I cannot wait to get back on the road again especially in the UK, where the fans always make it a very special occasion for me," he says.

Tickets are priced from £60 to £70, on sale Friday.

BOY band JLS today announced details of a UK tour that will open at the Capital FM Arena.

But fans of Aston, Marvin,

Oritsé and JB will have to be patient because they won't be here until next December.

The show, on Wednesday December 4, will mark the beginning of their third arena tour since they were runners-up on The X Factor in 2008.

"The past four years have been incredible for us and we can't wait to headline our third arena tour," says Aston Merrygold, whose dad is a supply teacher in Nottingham.

"Our fans are amazing and it's been wonderful to share this journey with them," adds JB Gill.

The quartet's latest album, Evolution, went straight into the chart on Sunday at No 3.

Marvin Humes says : "We're really excited to perform tracks off Evolution, as well as fan favourites."

JLS have had five No. 1 singles and sold more than six million records. This month, they picked up two Brit Awards and took home their fifth MOBO Award, matching Kanye West's record.

Evolution sees the group move in a more urban direction. The album was produced by the likes of The Runners (Rihanna, Chris Brown, Rick Ross) and Rodney Jerkins (TLC, Kanye West, Beyoncé).

A second single from the album, Give Me Life, is released on December 23.

Tickets will be available from 10am on Friday from the venue box office in Bolero Square, by calling 0843 373 3000 and online at www.gigsandtours.com and www.capitalfmarena.com.

A NOTTS woman is getting back in the saddle, 16 months after breaking her back in a riding accident.

Lucy Hunt, 25, from Stapleford, was crushed by her horse when attempting a jump in July last year.

She broke her sacrum – a bone at the base of her spine – and was temporarily paralysed from the waist down.

Doctors said she would walk again but that it would take time.

The Post reported in July this year how, after months of hard work and physiotherapy, Lucy was taking on the Great Notts Bike Ride.

Now, after having X-rays on her back, she is finally riding a horse again.

She said: "Throughout my recovery I focused on the fact that I wanted to get back on a horse again. Riding has always been such a big part of my life and I didn't want to give it up.

"To get the all-clear to get back on a horse 16 months on is fantastic and I feel I'm myself again; it's a big step."

She has also met up with East Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic Wayne Foster – who was the first paramedic to reach Lucy following her accident – and his colleague Mark McConnell, who was in the back-up ambulance crew.

Lucy managed to track down Wayne, 49, who lives in Risley where her new horse is stabled, through mutual friends.

Lucy said: "I always felt I owed the paramedics a thank-you and I'm happy I've been able to finally do that.

"Their care gave me the best chance of making a good recovery. The way I'd fallen was difficult as I was on my front but they had to get me on my back, so much could have gone wrong but they were so careful and reassured me all the time."

Wayne, who has been a paramedic for 25 years this month, said: "Lucy is a very brave and determined young woman and an inspiration to others. I've attended many riding accidents over the years but hers was the worst and her injuries very serious.

"It's wonderful to hear she's doing so well as it's the nature of the job that you don't always find out what happened to people. We never expect a thank you but it really means a lot when someone says it."

Lucy and her horse Spider tumbled as they attempted a jump. She underwent an eight-hour operation to fix the bone and release the trapped nerves. After six weeks of bed rest, Lucy then spent six weeks in a wheelchair and a month on crutches before she could try walking again in November last year.

Spider died following the accident but she now has a new horse, called Geoffrey.

Lucy said: "I think part of the reason I fell in love with Geoffrey was his name. He's only five, a bit of a cheeky monster but he's also laid back and takes things in his stride – a bit like me!"

A RECORD number of entries were received for this year's Newark Vintage Tractor and Heritage Show.

Held last weekend, a total of 1,030 exhibitors entered the annual show. Among the 40 winners were four from Notts.

James Hardstaff from Linby won the Notts National Vintage Tractor & Engine Club's Cup as Best Member's Tractor with his Fordson County FT E27N. Paul and Eileen Ducksbury, from Newark, took home the Tractor & Farming Heritage Magazine Trophy for Best Unrestored Tractor with their 1923 Austin R.

Two more Newark contestants also took home awards.

Bryan Slater was presented with the Swindells Trophy for having the Best Ferguson TE20 Continental and Vivienne Green was awarded the Scarborough Tankard for her display of historical fuel cans.

A MAN accused of murdering a pensioner was not going to claim under a will that left everything to him, a court heard.

Peter Smith had bought a will kit and had filled out all the details for his neighbour Hilda Owen – but told a jury he was not going to do anything with it.

Smith, 48, is alleged to have murdered Mrs Owen, 71, and used money from her will to solve his financial troubles.

Yesterday, he was questioned by prosecuting barrister Peter Joyce about the will, which he said was completed in the presence of Mrs Owen, his neighbour in West Hill, Skegby.

Mr Joyce asked: "Would you ever have claimed under the will?"

Smith, wearing a grey suit, white shirt and a patterned tie, replied: "No. She decided that she wanted to do it."

Mr Joyce said: "Why didn't you say, 'Hilda, look I'm not going to claim under this when you die. There's no point in having a will'."

Smith told him: "Once Hilda's mind was set on something...she wanted it doing."

Mrs Owen, who had lived alone since her husband died in August, 2005, was attacked as she sat in a chair in her home, Nottingham Crown Court has heard.

Her body was found on the floor in the living room and her injuries were consistent with the use of a claw hammer and a screwdriver.

She also had a broken bone in her neck, indicating she had been strangled. Injuries to her hands suggested she had tried to defend herself.

Blows to her head caused brain injuries that led to her death, but the pattern of injuries showed she was alive after the attack for 15 to 24 hours.

Analysis indicated she had been attacked from behind while sitting in a chair, then moved or been moved on to her back on the floor and attacked again.

Smith denies murdering her between February 26 and March 1, 2007.

Smith gave police a copy of Mrs Owen's will. But Mr Joyce said to Smith that there were items in the document that suggested she was not there when it was completed.

"It was filled in by you? On your own? Without Hilda there?" he asked.

Smith replied: "Not at all. She was with me."

Mr Joyce said: "You dealt with all her claims for this and that. All Hilda had to do was sign?"

Smith said: "She was signing it. She always read things she was signing."

"What did she think she was signing?" said Mr Joyce.

"A will", replied Smith.

The case continues.

A CITY cinema is to open a new Imax screen – in time for one of 2012's biggest Christmas films.

Work at Cineworld in the Cornerhouse for the enormous new screen starts today.

Cineworld Nottingham general manager Katherine Ogden said: " We can't wait to open this screen in style with Peter Jackson's film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on December 14."

Cornerhouse centre manager Suzanne Green said: "We're very excited to have the only cinema in the East Midlands with an Imax screen.

"The work to install it is creating a real buzz at the venue and we can't wait for cinemagoers to come to Cineworld Nottingham and experience it."

For more information about the new screen visit www.cineworld.co.uk.

A MAN who claimed he had been kidnapped to extort £3,000 from his two brothers had been seen looking "chilled out" that night in a bedroom with his alleged captors, a jury heard.

Tamjeed Ali was smoking cannabis in Cromwell Road, Radford, in January.

Detectives found him there, apparently kidnapped, in January.

Perry Mason and Kieron Martt have admitted their guilt in relation to the blackmail, jurors at Tamjeed's trial heard.

He denies having a role in the blackmail of his brothers, Forhad and Tanveer Ali, or perverting the course of justice.

Prosecutors alleged that all three tried to extort money out of Tamjeed's brothers.

Tamjeed, 19, of Cromwell Road, told police he had been kidnapped in an alleyway between Cromwell Road and Portland Street before being taken to the house.

He alleged the men contacted his brothers and threatened him with a knife.

But the court heard that during the investigation it became clear to police that Tamjeed was complicit in the blackmail of his brothers.

Perry Mason's grandmother Valerie Mason said she saw all three men in her grandson's bedroom. Mason was on his phone, while Martt and Tamjeed were using an XBox. She saw Tamjeed with "a spliff" in his mouth.

Stephen Kemp, prosecuting, asked Mrs Mason: "How did Tamjeed seem to you, when you saw him?"

"Chilled... chilled out," she told Nottingham Crown Court.

Forhad Ali said on Monday that he received a telephone call from a man saying they had his brother.

The mystery caller said they would hurt his brother unless he came up with £3,000.

Forhad Ali was told he only had five to ten minutes to raise the cash and to leave it on a children's slide. He even heard his brother's voice – sounding like he was in pain.

The alleged incident ended when police went to Cromwell Road.

Mrs Mason said her grandson came into her bedroom to say police were at the door.

The case continues.

EIGHT 25ft Christmas trees will be put up in city suburbs this year. They are all being paid for, erected and decorated by Nottingham City Council – but it as part of a PFI contract with electricity company SSE to replace streetlights across the city.See where your nearest tree is on our map
View Christmas trees in Nottingham in a larger map

The council is paying the company back over 25 years for the work – including the Christmas trees and says it does not know the cost – although it would expect to pay £5,000 for a 60ft tree and £800 per 25ft tree.

Trees will be at Bulwell Market, Sherwood, Bramcote Lane shopping area, Sneinton Dale Police Station, Clifton shops, Aspley Lane shops, St Ann's Police Station and Sneinton Market Square.

PARENTS have expressed mixed feelings over planned changes to school holidays.

Nottingham City Council, which was previously looking at introducing a five-term year, is now planning to stick to the three-term year – but reducing the six-week summer holiday by a week.

The new school year would also have a two-week break in October and a fixed spring break.

As the Post reported earlier this month, National Union of Teachers members in the city will be balloted about whether to strike over the proposals.

The council is set to decide whether to adopt the latest proposals or the five-term year as originally proposed on Tuesday, November 20.

Diane Pastore, 43, of Wollaton, has a nine-year-old daughter at Fernwood Federation and a son in Year 7 at Fernwood School.

Her children would have different school holidays because Fernwood Federation is council-run but Fernwood School is an academy.

Mrs Pastore said: "Nadia may not go to the same school as her brother because of her special needs so it may cause a problem. We all had six weeks holiday off when we were kids and it's something you looked forward to. You've got other countries that have much longer off."

However, Nicola Warden, of Snape Wood, who has children aged four and six at Cantrell Primary School in Bulwell, said: "I've got no personal problem with it. I know most kids are bored by the end of the six weeks' holiday and start to misbehave – although I do enjoy them being off for a big chunk of the summer."

The council says the plans are only opposed by three of the eight teaching unions – the NUT, the NASUWT and the ALT.

Bernie Pardon, Nottingham national executive member of NASUWT, said the union could not "rule anything out" when asked if would also strike.

He added: "Our position is we don't consider that the council, or the authority, has produced any evidence to demonstrate that the current pattern of school year terms doesn't work.

"Equally we don't feel there's been any evidence presented to demonstrate that the proposals for change will benefit children and young people's education."

However, Councillor David Mellen, portfolio holder for children's services, said that 70 per cent of parents that responded to initial plans for a five-term year were supportive.

He added: "I think we've demonstrated as a council that we're prepared to listen to our customers, the parents, and our workforce and so that five of the eight unions say this is reasonable."

What do you think about the new proposal? E-mail Education Correspondent Marcus Boocock at marcus.boocock@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk.

A MAN who regularly travelled to Nottingham to beg has been jailed.

Darren Walker, 36, has had numerous convictions for begging across the UK.

Derbyshire magistrates handed him a five-year anti-social behaviour order on June 25, 2010, prohibiting him from making an unsolicited request for money or for goods or any other item without payment in England and Wales.

But since then Walker has regularly travelled to Nottingham to beg, often sleeping rough over night.

Walker, of Drury Court, Derby, has now been jailed for nine months.

At the sentencing on October 22, Community Protection also presented a case for a further amendment to the Asbo, which prohibited Walker from causing or encouraging others to cause harassment, alarm or distress to anyone in Nottingham and Derby.

Councillor Alex Norris, city portfolio holder for community safety, said: "We work closely with support agencies to help people exit chaotic lifestyles but sometimes the only option left is enforcement. If he breaches his Asbo, he'll find himself back before the courts."

A NINE-YEAR-OLD leukaemia patient proudly handed over a cheque for £12,470 to a hospital which has helped him on the road to recovery.

Archie Andrews and his friends and family raised the money to help revamp children's oncology ward E38 at the Queen's Medical Centre, where he has been receiving treatment.

The money has been raised by a number of events including raffles, head shaves, runs, busking, a poker night, curry night and cake sales.

Archie, of Botany Close, Compton Acres, was diagnosed with the illness when he was nearly four. He received intensive treatment and his family thought he had beaten it, but in May this year it returned.

Since then, people in West Bridgford have come together to raise money.

Archie's mum, Nicki, 43, said: "Archie has been really impressed with the fundraising. He was really chuffed when he presented the cheque on Monday."

Archie, who goes to Heymann Primary School, is about to start a week-long course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy at Sheffield Children's Hospital. He will then have a stem-cell transplant there, using cells from his three-year-old brother Harvey's hip bone.

Nicki, a mum of three, said she hoped he will then finally be able to fully recover.

She said: "He's been very unwell. He's had intensive chemotherapy at the QMC since 2006. He's also had numerous operations because of the side-effects. The doctors said the best chance of a cure is to have a stem-cell transplant."

She added she was delighted with everyone's fundraising efforts, which started after her friend Deirdre Bencsik set up a Just Giving charity website.

"We are very grateful to everybody that has been involved. We initially set a target of £5,000 and thought that was fairly ambitious but we have exceeded all expectations."

Boots Athletic football club has donated nearly £2,000, Heymann Primary School collected £850 from teachers who took park in the Ikano Robin Hood Half Marathon, and Notts Fire and Rescue Service held a bucket collection at Wheatcroft Garden Centre, Edwalton, on Saturday.

A charity golf day at Cotgrave Golf Club on October 7 raised £700 and other donations have come from Archie's former football club West Bridgford Colts and the Tracey Quaife Theatre School.

Cat Wills, staff nurse at the children's oncology day care unit, said: "We are all so happy with the money that Archie, his family and his community have raised for the ward.

"It will go a long way in helping us with our renovations to help improve patient care. I would like to thank them for the fantastic job they have done."

To donate to the Andrews' family's fundraising efforts, go to the website at www.justgiving.com/deirdre-bencsik.

THE victim of a city centre stabbing over the weekend is beginning to show signs of improvement.

Police are investigating the assault after the 27-year-old man was found near the Primark store in Long Row at around 1.45am on Sunday.

He was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre, where he remains in a critical but stable condition. Police initially described him as "gravely ill".

After searching the area and examining hours of CCTV footage, detectives now believe the man was stabbed following an altercation near the Brian Clough statue not long before he was found. It is also possible that there were a number of people involved.

Notts Police are still keen to speak to anyone who believes they may have seen something that could help the investigation. A spokesman said: "The area would have been busy at the time of the incident, with revellers leaving pubs and clubs. Did you see anything that you think might help us?

"If you saw the attack, or know who is responsible, please contact us. Your call will be treated in the strictest confidence."

Witnesses, or anyone with any information, should contact Notts Police on 101, quoting incident 119 on Sunday 11 November 2012.

Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

NOTTINGHAM'S third and hopefully last Christmas tree for the year has now been put up in Old Market Square.

The first tree, which was merely inches tall, was placed on the large stand on Monday morning as a joke while crane operators waited for the real thing to turn up.Want to know where your nearest public Christmas tree is? Take a look at our map here

By 9.10am the real tree had arrived all the way from Scotland – but as it was hoisted into position they realised it was 15 feet too small. It was sent straight back.

Then yesterday afternoon, as people walked through the square, the third tree – all 60ft of it – was lowered into its stand to mark the beginning of the festive period.

Pete Trayling, 66, of Porchester Road in Bingham, who saw the tree being put into place on Monday, returned yesterday after it had been removed.

He said: "I just came past and said that's funny, there was definitely a tree there yesterday!"

He added he was looking forward to the transformation of Old Market Square into the Winter Wonderland, which is already under way. It will have stalls selling craft gifts, different foods, a bar and rides.

His wife Linda, 58, said: "They really do make a good effort in the square. There's always something going on."

Pete Aindow, 50, of Woodland Grove in Colwick, was in the square yesterday.

"I don't think I'd have noticed 15ft difference," he said.

Meanwhile brother and sister Kevin and Wendy Sheldon, who live in Havenwood Rise in Clifton, joked they had thought about whether the tree had really gone up on Monday.

Wendy, 48, who saw the Nottingham Post video of the 45ft tree going up, said: "I was saying to him, 'It's on the video', but we started arguing.

"Kev was saying 'I can't see no tree' so I went into town and saw there was definitely no tree so I had to apologise."

With the tree finally in place, the lights will be switched on by Paralympic gold medallist Richard Whitehead at an event on Wednesday, November 21, which will also mark the opening of the Winter Wonderland.

Councillor Dave Trimble, Nottingham City Council's portfolio holder for leisure, culture and tourism, said: "Nottingham's Christmas tree in the Old Market Square is always an impressive 60ft but when this year's arrived yesterday the suppliers had sent a 45ft one by mistake.

"Once they realised their mistake they took it back and have replaced it with a 60ft one which arrived in the Old Market Square yesterday afternoon.

"Nottingham's Christmas trees are enjoyed by up to a million people. They are the centrepiece for Christmas celebrations across the city."

Entertainment will begin at 5.30pm on November 21 with street theatre performances and music from Nottingham Music School. The official switch-on is at 6.25pm. For further details. see www.mynottingham.gov.uk/christmas

Have you started putting up your Christmas decorations? Call our newsdesk on 0115 9482000 or e-mail newsdesk@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk

ONE of the largest fashion brands in China has moved into the UK market for the first time – with clothes created by two Nottingham designers.

The new upmarket menswear collection for Bosideng has been designed by Hucknall-based fashion designers Nick Holland and Ash Gangotra, who previously worked together on former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher's brand Pretty Green.

Bosideng is a household name in China, with more than 8,000 stores. But it was largely unknown outside the country – until now, with the opening of its £35m flagship store in the affluent west London shopping area of South Molton Street.

It is being hailed as the first major Chinese entry into the European fashion market – and the work of friends Holland and Gangotra has been recognised and praised all over the world.

The pair were asked to design an entire 500-item wardrobe which looked European but also reflected Chinese influences.

"They wanted to produce a high-level European brand – that's what our brief was," says Gangotra. "And they wanted a full wardrobe – two-piece suits, three-piece suits, jackets, shirts, shoes, belts, scarves, knitwear – and place it within that English, European look, but with Chinese influence.

"But it's very subtle. You can't go round putting dragon designs on the linings. It's more about silhouettes, mandarin collars and a signature red lining throughout.

"It gets a bit tricky as you go through the seasons because you're trying to find ways of keeping that link in. So when I go to China I'm always trying to find and research areas of design I can include.

"Here at Nottingham Castle there's also a Chinese silk collection from the state museum that I looked at."

The designs have attracted celebrity buyers such as Jahmene Douglas, who was recently seen wearing a Bosideng polo shirt on the X-Factor.

He was also wearing Bosideng London – along with pop stars JLS – when they posed for the cameras at the recent premiere of James Bond movie Skyfall in London.

A Holland and Gangotra-designed polo shirt of the kind worn by Jahmene costs £95 while a double-breasted suit will set you back £500.

Holland and Gangotra remain modest about their achievements.

The pair first met nearly 25 years ago when Gangotra was doing a work placement at the Cormans clothing factory in Hucknall where Holland's father was production manager.

Gangotra first went on to set up his own street and clubwear label called Chameleon while Holland, well known as a tailor, set up his own classic English clothing label Holland Esquire 12 years ago.

The two now work together at their fashion consultancy titled 28bpm, in Bolsover Street, Hucknall.

In 2009 the duo became founder directors of Liam Gallagher's new fashion label Pretty Green and designed its award-winning range for the next two years.

It was after leaving Pretty Green last year that the call came through from Bosideng, where founder and chairman Dekang Gao was looking to appoint a team to design a range for the company's first store outside China.

"A Bosideng retail director's wife worked in a clothes shop and when they were looking for a brand or a design to bring them into the UK she saw Nick's stuff in the store and said, 'We like this look, we like this style'," says Gangotra.

"So they basically traced him. It wasn't until the phone call came that they realised that we were two of the original founders of Pretty Green."

That was in June 2011. After winning the contract, the pair spent several months designing a full wardrobe and shuttling back and forth between Nottingham and China.

With the Bosideng store in London now open, the company is said to be already looking for new premises in Milan and New York. And ironically Holland and Gangotra's designs, largely made in Europe, are set to be exported to China.

Meanwhile, despite the global press about their Bosideng work, the two designers intend to remain in Nottingham. The Bosideng contract is up for renewal in February. In the meantime Holland will keep running his label Holland Esquire while Gangotra has aspirations to set up his own brand called 28.

"I'm happy to keep a low profile and keep my head down in Nottingham," says Holland.

Gangotra adds: "We can get our names in newspapers all over the world but when we walk down the street in Nottingham nobody knows who we are."