A widower has hailed the “life-changing” impact of community groups for helping him emerge from years of loneliness and solitude to find his voice as a singer in one of Leeds’s best-known choirs.

A brand-new food festival will arrive on Millennium Square this weekend bringing foods from around the world to the heart of the city centre.

This Friday to Sunday (July 24-26) Leeds Street Feast will see street food vendors, local independent traders, live music and DJs on the square for a three-day celebration of food and culture.

Road closures will be introduced at Temple Newsam estate starting Thursday 23 July to combat nuisance driving and anti-social behaviour.

The fossilised remains of a fascinating 320-million-year-old fish once thought to be extinct have been unearthed at a popular Leeds beauty spot.

The well-preserved, prehistoric skull bone of a coelacanth was discovered by a geologist at Roundhay Park earlier this year after being frozen in time aeons ago, during an era when the park was submerged under a vast tropical lagoon.

Two vans suspected of being used in fly-tipping offences have been seized by Leeds City Council as part of ongoing efforts to tackle environmental crime across the city.

The vehicles were confiscated this week following separate investigations led by the council’s specialist serious environmental crime team.

Both operations were carried out in the Harehills area with support from West Yorkshire Police, highlighting the strong partnership approach being taken to crack down on illegal waste dumping.