Leicester

A MAJOR supermarket chain is set to close one of its branches soon, with another 34 also on the way out.

The food store announced the “difficult decision” it has made to close the store next month.

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Co-op in Leicestershire’s Derby Road in Ashby-de-la-Zouch will permanently close its doors on Saturday, November 22.

A statement from a Co-op spokesperson read: ” ‘Our store in Ashby-de-la-Zouch will close next month.

“Our priority is to fully support colleagues, who have been informed.

“We would like to thank the community for its support of this store.”

The supermarket giant has come under some fire for some time now for having two of its stores in close proximity with the Ashby Town Centre.

This came after the Central Co-op moved from the top of Market Street to near the existing Co-op.

The spokesperson added: “We carry-out reviews of our existing store locations, and, sometimes, only after very careful consideration, we take the difficult decision to close a store.”

The Central Co-op will remain open, with the next nearest one approximately three miles away in Moira, Swadlincote, Derbyshire.

It comes as the supermarket could shutter another 34 of its stores due to financial struggles.

The Sun previously reported that stores in Braintree, Chelmsford, Basildon, Thurrock and Southend are among other locations that are at risk.

Chelmsford Star Co-op said it is “struggling financially” and needs to merge with the larger Central Co-op society.

Issues are also said to have been “exacerbated” by increases in National Insurance contributions and the living wage.

Late last year, Co-op announced plans for a “portfolio reshape” which included relocation of stores.

The Co-operative has over 7,000 registered branches owned by 17 million members, and is reported to contribute around £35 billion annually to the British economy.

Co-op as an organisation organisation has, like most companies, been hit by the cost of living.

In December last year it was announced 19 Co-operative stores would be shut down across the UK due to “financial sustainability issues”.

The locations, based in various areas around Central England, include Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Norfolk and the West Midlands.

B&M bought three of the 19 stores, while Samy Ltd, a convenience retailer, snapped up 16.

OTHER CO-OP NEWS

This comes as Co-op is rolling out a major change to stores across the country.

The supermarket giant is replacing paper product tags with electronic labels throughout its whole estate over the coming months.

The retailer has already made the change in 340 branches but will roll out the tags more widely.

The chain said 1,500 stores will have the labels by the end of the year and will be rolled out across all its nearly 2,400 by the end of 2026.

The electronic labels are designed and created by VusionGroup, which also works with Asda.

Steven Logue, Co-op’s head of operations, said: “With convenience at the heart of everything we do Co-op is committed to continually exploring innovative technology that can improve how we operate.”

Co-op said the new electronic labels will show allergen and nutritional information and products’ country of origin, as well as deals and savings.

COPS have released CCTV footage as part of an urgent hunt to help find a missing 18-year-old girl.

Concerns are growing for Lily Higgins, who was last seen leaving her home in Leicester, Leicestershire, yesterday afternoon.

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Video taken from her doorbell camera shows the teenager leaving her address in Torridon Close at around 2.30pm.

She was reported missing by her concerned family just before 8pm.

Drones have been deployed in the area as officers urgently search for the missing teen.

The youngster is described as being 5ft 2in, of a slim build with long blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a black puffer coat, black jogging bottoms, a checked scarf and black trainers.

Leicestershire Police confirmed specialist teams were hunting for Lily.

The force said: “Police have released an image take from the home doorbell camera that shows Lily leaving the home address.

“A specialist search team are currently out looking for Lily.

“The police drone has also been used to assist with searching.

“Anyone who has seen her or has information that could assist in the police search, call 101, quoting incident number 621 of 17 September.”

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COPS have arrested a teenager after an alleged “serious” sexual assault.

A probe has been launched into the alleged attack, with forensic teams pictured at an address in Leicester’s West End on Saturday.

Leicestershire Police confirmed an investigation was ongoing into the alleged sex attack.

A spokesperson for the force said: “Enquiries are being carried out in a report of a serious sexual assault.

“The report was made to police [on] Friday, September 5 and the incident is reported to have happened last month.

“A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident and has since been released on police bail as enquiries continue.”

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West Ham have signed Leicester City goalkeeper Mads Hermansen for around £20m.

The Denmark international has agreed a five-year deal with the Hammers with a one-year option, after a fee was agreed on Thursday following several weeks of talks between the clubs.

The 25-year-old impressed for Leicester last season, despite their relegation from the Premier League.

West Ham were looking for a new goalkeeper after Poland’s Lukasz Fabianski left at the end of last season and Hermansen will compete with Alphonse Areola, 32, who played 26 times in the Premier League in 2024-25.

Casper Ankergren, who worked with Hermansen at Brondby, is West Ham’s goalkeeping coach under manager Graham Potter.

Hermansen made 72 appearances for Leicester, winning the Championship title in 2024.

He follows Wilfred Ndidi in leaving the Foxes after the midfielder joined Turkish side Besiktas on Friday having spent eight-and-a-half years at the King Power Stadium.

Ndidi had a relegation release clause of £9m.

Wrexham are set to sign centre-back Conor Coady from Championship rivals Leicester City.

The two clubs have agreed a fee – believed to be around £2m – for the 32-year-old England defender, who passed his medical on Friday morning.

Signing Coady would be another major statement of intent from Wrexham, who are preparing for their first season back in the second tier for 43 years.

They have already broken their club transfer record twice this summer, first for Empoli left-back Liberato Cacace and then for Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O’Brien.

Wrexham are likely to smash it again as they are in talks over an ambitious £7.5m move for Wales and Ipswich Town forward Nathan Broadhead.

They also hope to complete the signing of another Wales international, striker Kieffer Moore, from Sheffield United.

Leicester City have named former Queens Park Rangers head coach Marti Cifuentes as their new manager on a three-year deal.

The 43-year-old Spaniard replaces Ruud van Nistelrooy at the Foxes’ helm with less than a month until the season starts.

Cifuentes takes charge of a Leicester side that finds itself in the Championship for the second time in three years, having been immediately relegated from the Premier League after going up as second-tier title winners under Enzo Maresca in 2024.

Cifuentes now joins Maresca, who left Leicester after promotion to take the job at Chelsea, as one of the six permanent managers the Foxes have had in just over two years.

Just as the Italian was tasked with returning the East Midlands club to the top flight during his tenure, promotion will also be expected of Cifuentes.

In his time at QPR, the Spaniard oversaw 18th and 15th-placed finishes.

Leicester say they feel the Spaniard will bring “a modern, progressive footballing philosophy” to the club, while chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha says that Cifuentes “is an excellent fit”.

“We felt strongly that bringing him to the club would help us to create the success we all want in the years ahead,” Srivaddhanaprabha added.

Cifuentes took charge of QPR when they were second-from-bottom in the Championship in October 2023 and escaping relegation was first asked of him at Loftus Road.

His latest campaign ended with him on gardening leave after the Hoops suffered a 5-0 defeat by already-promoted Burnley in April.

Former world youth champion Bradley Brooks won his maiden PDC ProTour title at the Players Championship 21 in Leicester.

The 25-year-old won the £15,000 top prize after beating Chris Dobey and James Wade on his way to a final against former world champion Gerwyn Price.

Brooks secured an early break of throw with a 13-dart leg and went on to win 8-5 to seal a spot in December’s World Darts Championship.

“I’m lost for words,” he said. “This week I felt so comfortable in my own game and everything clicked, so I’m over the moon.

“I treated the final like I had nothing to lose. I can’t put into words how much it means to me.

“I struggled a couple of times this year and I still have that bad game in me, but I think when I do get it right, I can mix it with the best in the room.”

Michael Smith, the 2023 world champion, was beaten in the first round which means he will miss the World Matchplay in Blackpool for the first time since 2013.

The 34-year-old needed to make at least the semi-finals to qualify, but lost 6-4 to Frenchman Thibault Tricole.

Tuesday’s Players Championship 20 was won by Australian Damon Heta, who beat crowd favourite Stephen Bunting 8-7, and both men will be in Blackpool., external

BBC Radio Leicester’s Foxes commentator Owynn Palmer-Atkin:

The agreement between Leicester City and Ruud van Nistelrooy to terminate his deal at the club should not come as a surprise to many.

This always felt like a case of when, not if.

Relegation from the Premier League, five wins from 27 games in all competitions and record runs without a goal at home – it doesn’t scream success for the Dutchman.

However, the timing and behaviour around the decision have to be questioned at the very highest level.

It’s been over a month since the end of the season and double that since relegation back to the Championship was confirmed. In every press conference, Van Nistelrooy told the media that no conversations about his future had started. I think he knew his fate.

But that does not make it acceptable.

Fans have a right to question the timing, too. Leicester City are clearly grappling with financial issues; they may well have been waiting for the new Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) financial year on July 1.

But the agreement underpinning this agreement can always have a date in July. Which begs the question, why was this decision not made earlier? The fans deserve an explanation for that.

This is another critical moment for the club. The search for a fourth manager in 12 months, the pre-season beginning on Monday and the Championship opener six weeks from this weekend.

They have to get the next appointment right.

Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit; Roux, Ewels, Hill, Pepper, Reid.

Replacements: Annett, Van Wyk, Stuart, Molony, Bayliss, Carr-Smith, Donoghue, Barbeary.

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya (c), Heyes; Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Cole, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Volavola, Perese.

Sin bin: Montoya (28 mins), Cole (69 mins)

Referee: Karl Dickson

Bath’s head of rugby Johann van Graan has previously said the Somerset club are “comfortable with being favourites”.

Equally, Cheika says the role Leicester have been cast in and the widely predicted script suits his side.

“I can understand the predictions and why they make them, whether they are done from data or delivered by experts,” the Tigers boss said.

“Come Saturday, we are going to be playing against a team that will be well fancied, who have dominated the season so far.

“We have strong self-belief internally and that will be something that will be really important. That is something we have built up over the season.

“But this is a good opportunity for us to use that belief in ourselves, because what that gives you is a hand in knowing what you will have to do.

“You will see in your mind when you close your eyes, what do I have to do in this game to get to where I want to go? It’s not actually the end, where you have got the prize, but seeing what you need to do in order to get it.”

The weeks leading up to Tigers’ attempt to secure a record-extending 12th Premiership title have been dominated by the impending mass exodus of star figures.

Living Leicester legends Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, as well as decorated former England team-mate Mike Brown, will retire at full-time on Saturday.

Cheika’s one-year stint at the helm will end too, in what is also a farewell match for captain Julian Montoya and two-time World Cup-winning South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard.

While the head coach is flying his wife and children over for the Twickenham decider, and playfully grimaces at the cost of doing so, he insists romanticising about leaving Leicester with the Premiership trophy in hand will not help their cause this week.

“We want to win for everyone,” Cheika said.

“That title is no more important to them [the departing players] than it is for the other guys, or the guys that don’t play, or the support team, or the crowd.

“It’s a club, mate, and we are all part of the club.

“I don’t think they would be upset with me for saying that. It’s not about that, it’s about us together.”

THE BRITISH cities with the worst availability and speed of electric vehicle charging have been revealed in new research.

More and more people are making the switch to EVs each passing year, but access to charging infrastructure continues to be a key concern for motorists.

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Cost, speed and access to EV chargers can vary vastly from region to region across the country.

But new data from Available Car has shed light on exactly which cities are the best and worst to drive an electric vehicle.

Researchers looked at the number of charging points per 10,000 people within a five mile radius of city centres.

They also noted the average cost and time it takes to charge half an EV battery.

The data examines 53 major cities across the UK, excluding London.

Liverpool was found to be the city with the lowest number of chargers, with just two chargers per 100,000 people within a five mile radius of the city centre.

Newcastle barely did better at 2.4 chargers per 100,000, while Bradford and Leeds followed up with 2.6 each.

Smaller cities boasted far better numbers in the EV charging accessibility ranking.

Ripon was the city with the highest number of chargers per 100,000 at 63.1 – far ahead of second placed Salisbury at 43.7.

But simply finding a charger isn’t the only issue EV owners face.

Available Car’s data also highlighted a major regional disparity in the time it takes to charge half a battery.

Leicester is the city found to have the slowest EV charging times – taking an average of 8.25 hours to get to half charge.

Available Car’s report reads: “The city’s slower charging infrastructure highlights the need for investment in faster chargers to support the growing demand for electric vehicles.

“Without quicker charging options, Leicester may face challenges in encouraging more drivers to switch to electric.”

But Leicester EV drivers have some solace – as the survey also found it to cheapest city to charge your car, where a half full battery would cost an average of £12.60.

Brighton & Hove and Portsmouth followed Leicester as the next slowest for charging, 6.24 and 5.67 hours respectively.

Wakefield recorded the speediest charge of the cities surveyed, taking an average of just 0.8 hours.

The researchers used a Tesla Model Y as the benchmark vehicle when gathering the data.

Their report adds: “Making the switch to an electric vehicle (EV) should be an exciting step towards greener, more sustainable driving.

“However, one of the biggest barriers preventing drivers from switching from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles is having to rely on their local charging infrastructure, particularly the time it takes to charge and the cost involved.

“Unlike petrol and diesel drivers, EV owners must navigate the UK’s charging network, where charging speeds and costs vary significantly based on location and charger type.”

England and Leicester Tigers prop Dan Cole will retire at the end of season.

The 38-year-old is the second most capped men’s player in England history, having made 118 appearances for his country.

Cole, who also twice toured with the British and Irish Lions, came through Leicester’s academy and has played 340 senior games and won four Premiership titles with his boyhood club.

Cole said his decision to retire had been influenced by Ben Youngs, his long-time team-mate for club and country, who recently announced he would be hanging up his boots.

“As you get older, physically, it’s definitely harder to carry on and, looking around the changing room, I am 10 years older than most of the guys in there with me and that’s challenging as well,” Cole said.

“I don’t want to be the old guy, just sat around and hanging on to something for too long.”

Match of the Day 2 celebrates a perfect final game in a Leicester shirt for the “inspirational” Jamie Vardy as he scores his 200th goal for the club in his 500th appearance as the Foxes beat Ipswich 2-0 in the Premier League.

READ MORE: Vardy says goodbye to the ‘club I love’

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NOTTINGHAM FOREST’S Taiwo Awoniyi needed emergency surgery on an abdominal injury after smashing into a post against Leicester.

The striker had several minutes of treatment and even tried to carry on.

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And it was only later that medical staff discovered the full extend of his problem.

The Nigerian, 27, was then taken to hospital for surgery.

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Leicester Tigers have named former England and British and Irish Lions lock Geoff Parling as their new head coach from next season.

The 41-year-old has signed a long-term deal and replaces former Australia coach Michael Cheika, who leaves after just one season at Welford Road.

Parling, who won two Premiership titles as a Tigers player, is currently an assistant coach with Australia and will take over in August after working with the Wallabies for the series against British and Irish Lions.

“I was lucky enough to have some incredible moments in the Leicester Tigers jersey, made through hard work by good people, and so I am extremely proud to be coming back to lead the club,” Parling told the club’s website., external

“There are not many opportunities that would make myself and my family think about leaving Australia, the place we’ve called home for the past seven years, but coming back to Leicester Tigers is one that we are really looking forward to.”

More to follow.