TWO cars have collided on the roundabout at the junction of the M1 and the A52, at Long Eaton. Police are on scene at the accident, which happened at around 1.35pm. It involved a Ford Fusion and a Mercedes C180 saloon car. It is not known yet how serious the accident is or if anyone is hurt.

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after an 82-year-old man had cash stolen in a distraction burglary. Two men knocked at the door of the man's house, in Lee Crescent, Ilkeston, at around 3pm yesterday, saying they were from the water board. He let the pair in and while one man ran the taps in the kitchen, the other man went through the house and took a small amount of money from a handbag. Both men are white, in their 20s, of medium build and around 5ft 8ins tall. A police spokesman said: "We would appeal to anyone who might have received a similar knock at the door or saw anything at that time in the area to call us on 0345 123 333."

DETECTIVES are hoping images of a suitcase identical to one owned by a missing 24-year-old woman will prompt fresh information about her whereabouts. Sylwia 'Magda' Ciapcinska was last seen shopping in Burton town centre on July 20. It is believed that the 24-year-old qualified teacher, who had recently arrived in Burton from Poland, is dead. Her black suitcase is still missing from the home where she lived in Ash Street, Burton. Officers, assisted by Sylwia's family, have obtained an identical suitcase from Poland. The 'Ormi' zipped case has three blue wheels, a black pull-out handle, and two smaller grey handles. Chief Inspector Selwyn Burton, from Staffordshire police, said: "Detectives from our Major Investigation Department are exploring every available avenue to find Sylwia, who has now been missing for over six weeks. "It's very important that we trace Sylwia's suitcase as it may provide vital clues as to her whereabouts, and answers for her family at this very distressing time. We're hoping these images of the identical case will jog people's memories. "Anyone with information should ring us on 0300 123 4455 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."

FIVE hundred cyclists will flock to Derby to take part in the British Heart Foundation's first fund-raising bike ride in the city. The Derby Bike Ride on October 3 will start and finish at Elvaston Castle and will have two courses – a seven-mile route for families or a more strenuous 17-mile route around the city. The event has been organised by the British Heart Foundation in conjunction with Cycle Derby, national cycling organisation the CTC, and groups Active Derbyshire and Peak District and Derbyshire. Michael Flude, chairman of Derby patient support group Take Heart, which is affiliated to the British Heart Foundation, will be at the event. The group will have an information stand and will make a collection on behalf of the charity. Riders will pay an entry fee and are being encouraged to get sponsorship. Mr Flude said: "The idea of a bike ride is very good as it's very active, so it's good for the heart." The longer route, which starts at 9am, will head out from the castle grounds along the River Derwent and into Derby past Pride Park. From there, riders will take in Haslams Lane, part of Darley Park, around Markeaton Roundabout and back to Elvaston Castle. The shorter route, which begins at 9.30am, will run along the banks of the Derwent to Raynesway and back. Carl Jones, of the BHF, said: "We are really excited about this event, as it will be a first for us in the city. "We hope the people of Derby will see it as the fun day it is intended to be, with the added bonus of raising funds to help us combat heart disease, which is still the biggest single killer in the UK. There is no time scale. It's not a race and it doesn't matter how fast or slow people go." As well as both rides, there will be a Festival of Cycling at Elvaston Castle with shows, exhibitions and cycling merchandise on sale. The charity is hoping to raise £25,000 and entry is £10, with under-14s going free. Mr Jones said: "Cycle Derby will be promoting the event in 100 schools in Derby once term time starts and we hope the kids will take the leaflets home and their parents or guardians will want to get involved as a family." Ruth Sadler, promotions officer for Derby City Council-run Cycle Derby, said she hoped people would rush to for the ride. She said: "The routes the rides will take are almost entirely away from roads on dedicated cycle tracks which I don't think many people realise are there." To register, or for more information, call 0800 085 2280, visit bhf.org.uk/derby or e-mail northevents@ bhf.org.uk.

WHEN little Jasmine Abbott wants to talk to her baby brother, she looks up at the sky. Sometimes she throws sweets up in the air and at others she asks "are you up there, Joe?" And often the three-year-old just gazes at the stars. That is why mum Michelle had a picture of a little boy and girl looking up at the night sky together engraved on the side of her son's baby blue coffin. She and husband Paul had just eight-and-a-half months with Joe and only three months of those were spent outside hospital. Their son had a whole host of life-threatening illnesses, including multiple bouts of pneumonia and meningitis and severe epilepsy. His heart stopped on numerous occasions and his lungs collapsed. With so much suffering in such a short life, mum Michelle says she knew she had to let him go. The 24-year-old, of Millbank, Heanor, said: "I wake up in the night and hear his monitor beeping. But we had to let him go for him to be happy. "Jasmine thinks about him. She'll say 'can I look at the stars? Can I look at baby Joe?' Or she'll have sweets and pretend to throw one up to him. "When we visit the cemetery she'll look up and say 'Are you up there Joe? I know he's up there Mummy'." The first warning sign of what was to come was frequent bleeding during Michelle's pregnancy. She was given a scan at 20 weeks at Royal Derby Hospital which showed that Joe was not developing properly. At first, his progress was monitored with weekly scans and then at 37 weeks, medics decided to induce Michelle. She said: "They broke my waters and within an hour, his heart rate plummeted and they didn't know why. "I had an emergency Caesarean section and they found the umbilical cord had been wrapped around his neck twice and was halfway over his face." After Joe was born, weighing just 4lb 12oz, Michelle was given him to hold and noticed how quiet he was. But she thought it was probably due to the anaesthetic which she was given during his birth. She said: "Eight hours after his birth, it came to breast-feeding him. "Babies normally go straight for it but he didn't move. "So the nurse started feeding him out of a tiny cup and suddenly she stood up and walked off. "I asked where she was going and she said she had to get someone to look at him and the next thing I knew all the alarms were going. "So I got out of bed eight hours after having a Caesarean section and they told me he'd stopped breathing." Joe was resuscitated and taken to the neonatal intensive care unit, where he spent the next three weeks. Medics were at a loss to the cause of his continuing breathing problems and his inability to suck on a bottle so carried out a series of tests. But these failed to show anything and so eventually, once he appeared to be more stable, he was sent home. Yet within days, Michelle returned to the hospital. She said: "He kept going very pale and he never cried and never moved." When she got into the hospital, he was diagnosed with meningitis, which he suffered with three times. And so began the pattern of going in and out of hospital which was to characterise Joe's short life. The longest stretch of time he spent out of hospital was just 10 days. In total, he had 13 or 14 bouts of pneumonia, seven lung collapses, and was ventilated three times to help with his breathing. He also had a throat operation to help him breathe and was diagnosed with severe epilepsy, which on one occasion was so bad it caused him to fit for two hours. Yet despite all his suffering, he was virtually mute. His parents heard him make noise only twice. Michelle said: "We were thinking, 'why is he having so many problems when he looks perfect?' He looked like a normal baby, he was putting on weight. "But he would be fine one hour and then the next he would stop breathing. Dad Paul, 36, added: "It was a constant battle." And finally, when Joe was four months old, the endless succession of medical tests provided an answer. He had two chromosome problems which were each very rare and both led to developmental problems. The family say a leading geneticist who got involved in Joe's diagnosis said he had never before seen both conditions in the same person. Paul said: "He did develop but it was slow. "After a few months, I noticed that his eyes had started following me as I crossed the room." Soon after Joe was diagnosed, the couple were told it was not clear how long he might live for but if he reached two years he would stabilise. Then, about six weeks before he died, hospital staff said he was getting worse. Paul said: "They said they didn't think he was going to last long. I've got to admit, I never really accepted it was going to happen." So Michelle sat down with the medics to decide at what point they should withdraw treatment. She said: "They said we had to work out what was best for Joe. We decided we didn't want to see heart compressions, we didn't want that to be our last memory of him." A week before he died, Joe's heart stopped nine times in just three days. Michelle said: "All the time, no matter what, his eyes sparkled and I always said, if his eyes stop twinkling, he's telling me he's had enough. And when his heart stopped, they did." By that point, Joe had fallen into a coma, but Michelle was determined to take him home as she did not want him to die in hospital. Within hours of getting home, she had resuscitated him three times because he had stopped breathing. Michelle said: "We were going to give him and Jasmine a nice bath together but as I undressed him, I saw he was purple from the neck down. "I said, 'I can't do this any more' and phoned for an ambulance. "I got to A&E and the consultant came and sat down with me and said, 'I'm sorry but it's going to be days, it's not going to be long'. "He said, 'I think it's the best thing if we let him go' and I hugged him and thanked him and I knew it was the right thing for Joe because his eyes had stopped twinkling. " I relive that day every day." Paul came the following day and the couple sat for hours with Joe as his oxygen levels continued to fall, causing him to turn blue, and his heart rate increased. Michelle said: "Then I noticed this stuff coming out of his nose and it was blood dripping out. " The nurse took his oxygen mask off for just a few seconds to clean him up and I saw that he had stopped breathing." Joe's struggle had come to an end. He died on February 9 this year.

TWO men were arrested after police raided a pawn shop in Allenton yesterday. Officers swooped on Pawn-It in Osmaston Road at around 10am. They also raided an empty shop in the same street and a house in Chaddesden. The men were arrested at the pawnbrokers. Police say the raids were part of an operation to recover stolen property and were carried out by CID officers from Cotton Lane police station and Derby's Robbery Squad. Detective Constable Adam Suett, from Derbyshire police, said: "We have raided two properties in Allenton and a address in Chaddesden. Two males have been arrested. It is part of an ongoing inquiry into stolen property." Yesterday afternoon, searches were continuing at the addresses. DC Suett said the raids were part of an operation called Alport to recover property stolen in burglaries and robberies in Derby. The store's website, www.pawn-it.co.uk, says it is the "home of Derby's premier Pawnbrokerage". It says that it has a "large selection" of refurbished jewellery, games consoles, games, laptops, tools and digital cameras". In the shop window, there are posters stating: "We don't buy stolen goods here." A spokesman for the store said: "This is the second time in the last few weeks we have been raided. The case fell down last time. We take photographic evidence of everything sold to us, we have done everything that they have asked us to do but they still keep targeting us." The two men, aged 29 and 31, were taken to St Mary's Wharf police station where they remained in police custody last night. On Friday, the Derby Telegraph reported that Derbyshire police had been given a £35,000 Home Office grant for an operation called Lurcher, which aims to cut crime by reducing the demand for stolen items. Witnesses or anyone with information should call Derbyshire police on 0345 123 3333 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Derbyshire yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur is to create an educational foundation to promote sustainability.

Residents of a Derbyshire town will find out which areas will next benefit from regeneration.

The latest proposals for the redevelopment of a former Derby hospital site go on display to the public.

A Peak District mountain rescue team is called out more than 100 times in the past 12 months.

Two boys, aged 12 and 15, are arrested following two street robberies which were carried out in Derby.

A two-year-old boy falls into an eight-foot deep hole which opens up in the garden of a Derbyshire home.

Before Didy Erb and Lindsey Ryan came to Belper last week they had no idea of the impact their family – the Strutts – had had on the town.

Denby pottery may be best known for its tableware, but the weekend saw the iconic firm showcasing food to put on its classic crockery.

Concerned residents in two Belper roads are waiting anxiously to discover the outcome of a planning inquiry into a controversial development near their homes.

A BELPER care home could be facing the axe after Derbyshire County Council announced cuts in social care for older people.

A man has been killed in a smash on the A38 at Kilburn.

Just two days after their victory on TV show Don't Stop Believing, Derbyshire harmony group DaleDiva's members have already been asked for their autographs.