Canterbury city councillor Martin Fisher has been remanded in prison over serious sex charges against children, after appearing at Dover magistrates’ court on Saturday. Conservative councillor Fisher has held the Tankerton ward since 1995. He is charged with "indecent assault, sexual touching and making and possessing indecent images of children". He denies all charges.

Manchester City Council has written to the parents of a 29-year-old telling them their son had been skating illegally. Semi-professional Tony Da Silva was stopped by police in February, and gave them his name, address and date of birth. His parents received a letter saying: “The parent is usually best placed to decide the appropriate course of action.”

Councillors at Nottingham city have stepped up their campaign against plans to build a new Tesco on the site of a former pub. Councillors David Mellen, Ken Williams and Gul Nawaz surveyed 400 Dales ward householders, 67 per cent of whom said ‘no’ to the scheme. Planning rules now allow pubs to be turned into stores without planning permission being necessary.

York Outer councillor James Alexander claims the University of York missed chances to stop homes being turned into student lets during its latest expansion. Recent figures have shown areas of York dominated by student housing, leading to complaints that traditional communities are being eroded. Councillor Alexander said: “If my advice had been followed, I believe we would have seen less of a loss of much-needed family housing and more positive mixed communities around the university.”