Overnight news digest - Lancashire couple foster 241 youngsters, pensioner killed by car had raised concerns about traffic and football abuse hotline gets 'staggering surge' in calls

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Amazing Lancashire couple’s fostering record

Lancashire’s super fosterers Jos and George Hindle have opened their hearts and home to 241 youngsters since they stared fostering in 1979.

This amazing couple, who have two grown up children of their own, also adopted five youngsters during decades caring for youngsters in need at their home in Cromwell Road, Ribbleton.

Now they are retiring and it’s time to remember how it all started. George, 74, recalled: “We saw an advert in the paper asking if we had a spare room, our own children were growing up and Jos was working as a childminder at the time. We both loved being with children so we thought we’d give it a go. We never planned it, it just happened, but we enjoyed it so much we’ve carried on for all these years.”

Winckley Square Gardens: A £1.2m oasis of peace

THE jewel in the crown of Preston’s city centre regeneration programme is sparkling brightly again today after a £1.2m re-polish.

New-look Winckley Square Gardens have been reopened to the public in what city elders described as a “landmark” ceremony. The restoration follows the £3.4m revamp of Fishergate and forms part of Preston’s biggest improvement programme for more than half a century, with the Bus Station, the Markets Quarter, the Guild Hall, the Park Hotel and New Hall Lane all being revitalised.

Pensioner killed after being hit by a car had raised concerns about traffic

A pensioner killed after being hit by a car had raised concerns about traffic in the area just weeks before his death.

Neighbours of the man, who lived on Charles Street, have revealed that they and the victim have complained to Wigan Council and local councillors on numerous occasions about road safety in the area.

One Charles Street resident told the Evening Post that the victim had said to him just two weeks ago during a conversation about their concerns that it would take a death before anything was done.

£25m conference centre to put resort back in big league

This is the £25m vision for new conference facilities that would hold 7,000 delegates in a reborn Winter Gardens.

Developers today said the scheme will put Blackpool back in the ‘big league’ as a conference destination. Construction could start in winter 2017, with a view to welcoming conferences by spring 2019 if a multi-million pound funding bid is successful. As town hall chiefs wait to see if a multi-million pound funding bid has succeeded, detailed plans for the project to build onto the side of the Victorian landmark were revealed.

Football abuse hotline receives 'staggering surge' in calls, reveals NSPCC

Referrals from calls to a dedicated football abuse hotline more than tripled the amount made in the first three days of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the NSPCC has revealed.

Launched on November 23 to support the victims of child sex abuse within football, the charity said more than 860 calls had been made to the helpline in its first week.NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said there had been a "staggering surge" in the amount of people getting in touch.

Prostate cancer sufferer 'cured' with male hormone testosterone​

A man with advanced, treatment-resistant prostate cancer may have been "cured" by an experimental therapy that involves shocking tumours to death with testosterone.

Other seriously ill men taking part in the same trial showed responses that astounded scientists. Tumours were seen to shrink and in several patients progress of the disease was halted.

Levels of Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), a blood marker used to monitor prostate cancer, fell in the majority of the 47 participants.

Bank's supplier looking at 'potential solutions' over animal fat in £5 note

The Bank of England said the supplier of its new £5 note is looking at "potential solutions" following criticism over the use of animal fat during the production process.The Bank said it was "aware of some people's concerns" about traces of the derivative, known as tallow, in its polymer note since being introduced into circulation in September.

It said it was treating the concerns with the "utmost respect" and was in discussion with its supplier, Innovia.

A person in the UK is thought to have been infected with the Zika virus through sexual transmission, health officials have said.

Public Health England (PHE) said that one case of "likely sexual transmission" of Zika virus infection has been reported in the UK.

Meanwhile, of the 265 travel-associated cases reported in Britain, seven have been diagnosed in pregnant women, PHE said. PHE said the case of sexually transmitted Zika virus was identified in a woman whose partner had recently visited an affected region.