A MAN has left his girlfriend's former partner scarred for life after biting off part of his ear.

Christopher James Kempson, 41, chewed part of Lance Behany's ear off during a pub fight.

Kempson, who has a previous conviction for biting a bouncer on the nose, straddled his victim as he lay on the ground and spat out his ear, laughing.

Recorder Graham Cook told Kempson it was a "grotesque" injury and has ordered him to pay £300 compensation to Mr Behany.

He said: "During this fight, he was beating you and you bit at his ear. It was simply you acting in self-defence at this stage.

"Where the offence occurs is when you were been pulled away and you still continued to bite the complainant's ear.

"I have seen the grotesque picture of the large chunk of ear which you, with your teeth, pulled off.

"There is no excuse whatsoever for that type of action.

"You have used your mouth as a weapon in the past.

"There is an ongoing effect on your victim, who has had part of his ear removed and he will have to live with that for the rest of his life.

"There was an element of gratuitous degradation that you straddled him and grinned at him when you had finished the job."

Kempson had been drinking in Parker's bar in Hull city centre with his girlfriend when her former partner arrived to repay her some money.

He pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm at Hull Crown Court on the basis that Mr Behany started the fight.

Kempson claimed Mr Behany was aggressive towards him and had pushed and he responded by pushing him away.

He claimed the victim then kicked him in the stomach and they started to fight.

Kempson said he was trying to get out of his attacker's grip when he bit his ear.

Prosecutor Jharna Jobes said: "He accepts biting the ear to stop the fight but claims he lost his temper and continued to bite the ear.

"He ended up biting the ear off and spitting it out and appeared to take pleasure in it."

The fight was broken up by the landlord of the bar on June 19 last year.

Mr Behany has suffered permanent injury to his ear and has a visible chunk missing.

It is not the first time Kempson has used his teeth in a fight. He has previously bitten the nose of a security guard when he was being arrested.

Kempson, of Lowther Street, west Hull, also has previous convictions for violence.

His solicitor, Ian Phillip, said: "The ear biting was to stop the fight. Initially it was self-defence to get the complainant to release his grip."

Recorder Cook has sentenced him to a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was ordered to be supervised by the Probation Service for two years and to undertake an alcohol treatment programme and to attend the Calm programme.

Recorder Cook said: "If you commit any offences in the next two years, the prison sentence will be activated and any new offence will create its own sentence."

He has also made a restraining order banning Kempson from contacting his victim.

A SCHOOL caretaker has spoken of the terrifying moment his arm was savaged by a dog.

Steve Mullenger was attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier cross as he worked at Tickton School.

He needed four stitches after the loose dog sunk its teeth into his wrist.

Police are now trying to trace the owner of the dog, which they believe could have been a stray or lost from its owner.

Mr Mullenger, 52, said: "It jumped at me with its teeth bared and a face of pure aggression.

"It was a really sharp pain when it bit me, like being slashed with a knife.

"If there had been children around when it was there, they wouldn't have stood a chance."

Mr Mullenger had arrived for work at 9am on Good Friday when he noticed the dog near the gates of the school in Main Street.

"I didn't think much of it at first, as there are often people walking their dogs around the school," he said.

"I carried on driving and parked near the school. When I got out of my car, I noticed it was near. The next thing I knew, it came straight at me and jumped up.

"It started pulling at my sleeve with its teeth and trying to pull me to the ground. I put my hand underneath its collar to try to get it off me, but it was so strong. It felt like something squeezing my wrist really tightly.

"I could feel the material on my top ripping and then it took another lunge and bit me, which is when it really hurt."

Mr Mullenger then managed to free the dog from his arm, when it jumped over a fence into Green Lane.

He was treated for his injuries at Beverley Westwood Hospital, where he was given stitches and a tetanus injection.

Mr Mullenger is still recovering after the wound became infected. He said: "The cut was really deep, I could see everything underneath.

"It was really scary. It will leave a scar but the biggest scar is I am now terrified of dogs.

"I have dreams about being attacked by them and I was shaking the first time I went back to the school gates after it happened. It really has had a psychological impact on me.

"My wrist is a lot weaker now, because of damage to the tissue, and I struggle to do things like lifting.

"What worries me is, the day before it happened, there were lots of small children on the field. If this dog had been there then, they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it."

The dog was black, about 18in tall and with a docked tail. It was also said to be muddy and unkempt.

The dog was wearing a black webbed collar with silver rings on it and a clasp fastening with the letter V, W or M on it.

Anyone with information about the dog or its owner is should call police on 101.

FORMER Hull FC star Brett Seymour is to be charged with drink-driving after a car crash that left him in hospital.

Seymour, 28, will be sent a summons to appear at Beverley Magistrates' Court in the coming weeks after being quizzed by police investigating the accident in Hessle in March.

After the crash, his wife Roseanne said her husband was depressed and had been heading to drive his car off the Humber Bridge when he crashed into two parked cars, overturning his BMW.

She later said her husband described his feelings when she visited him in hospital hours later. He suffered minor injuries.

"He was sobbing, crying in a way I have never seen him before, it was heartbreaking," she said.

"He told me he was in a daze and couldn't think rationally. He said it was terrifying not being in control of his mind and he was ashamed at wanting to leave his daughter and me."

Thousands of rugby fans sent messages of support to the Facebook group, Brett Seymour Get Well Soon, after Mrs Seymour revealed her husband's battle.

In April, he underwent three weeks of treatment for depression at the Sporting Chance rehabilitation clinic in Hampshire.

Shortly before he checked into the clinic, Seymour thanked fans for their support by posting a message on the Facebook page.

He wrote: "This is Brett here guys. I have been wanting to personally write something to thank you all for your well wishes and support.

"Every one of you has given me inspiration to get better as soon as possible.

"This has been the hardest challenge of my life but I am determined to beat this."

Last week, he joined his wife at Kinderland in west Hull to celebrate their daughter Monroe's first birthday.

Police said Seymour is also accused of failing to stop following an accident and failing to report an accident.

The half-back was told he will be facing charges at the end of his police interview last week but has yet to be formally issued with a court summons.

He was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary after the crash in Itlings Lane.

Seymour was immediately placed on compassionate leave by the club before being released from his £130,000-a-year contract last month.

A spokesman for Humberside Police said: "A 28-year-old man attended Beverley Police Station on May 13 for a voluntary interview in connection with a road traffic collision which happened in Itlings Lane in Hessle on March 3.

"The man has been reported for summons at court for driving over the prescribed alcohol limit, failure to stop following a road traffic collision and failure to report a road traffic collision.

"At this time, a date for his court appearance has not been scheduled."

AN AUTHOR has gone back his childhood roots in Hull's Hessle Road for his new book.

Ian Newton is best-known for writing an account of the amateur efforts of a group of nightshift factory workers to sell stories about the then Deputy Prime Minister and Hull East MP John Prescott to the national newspapers.

At the time, allegations over property dealings and claims of secret files being removed from a stolen dustbin outside Mr Prescott's house made front-page news.

However, nothing was ever proved and no one was ever charged, although Mr Newton voluntarily handed himself in to the police as the media frenzy reached a climax.

Now, he is back with a very different book about growing up in the heart of Hull's fishing community in the late 1950s and 1960s.

It is packed full of stories about selling junk retrieved from slum clearance properties, stealing bike parts, chicken-rustling and ambushing courting couples in Division Road cemetery with peashooters and horse muck.

Needless to say, there is plenty of fighting and swearing, too, amidst the grinding poverty.

The 56-year-old admits the autobiographical Hessle Road Scallywags was partly inspired by his evolution into a grumpy old man.

He said: "In middle age, there is a tendency to fear change and become grumpy old farts, moaning about immigration, dodgy politicians and bankers, you name it, and I think, at this moment in time, more than any before, we have very good reason to.

"I have to admit, like many of my age, I do not like the times I am living in and the way the country is changing.

"As I slide slowly towards oblivion, one of the few things that does bring a smile to my face is my childhood days in Hessle Road and I think about them more and more as time relentlessly marches on.

"I do have regrets about some of the things I did as a child and a teenager and, looking back, some of the antics may have gone too far.

"But on the whole, I think most of it was merely extremely mischievous fun and I cannot remember anybody getting physically hurt by us.

"Unlike today, the sense of right and wrong was very clear-cut when I was growing up and there was no room for confusion."

The son of a British mother and a seaman from Yemen who died before he was born, Ian says the lack of a paternal figure in his mixed-race family was never an issue because he never knew his father.

"My dad popped his clogs a few months before I was born and ended up being buried in Cuba, or so the story goes.

"I did ask my Mum why they didn't bring him home to be buried in Hull and I will never forget her reply.

"She said that the deep freeze on the shop had broken down and by the time they would have got him back to Hull, he would have stank the ship out, so they buried him in Cuba instead. I was always an inquisitive child."

Hessle Road Scallywags is published by Riverhead and available at all good bookshops for £9.95. Ian Newton will be signing copies of the book at Waterstones in Jameson Street, Hull, on Saturday, from noon to 2pm.

A HULL manufacturer is going Down Under in a bid to capitalise on a boom in the antipodean market.

Coachman Caravans has, for the first time, begun dipping its toes in the New Zealand and Australian markets following a boom in demand.

Over the past few years, New Zealand in particular has seen a stark increase in the number of people opting for caravan and motorhome holidays.

But although the younger generations is largely fuelling a boom in outback caravanning, it is the ageing population that is fuelling demand for a more British-style of caravan and motorhome.

Jim Hibbs, director at Coachman Caravans, said: "There are a lot of populated areas in Australasia, however much of Australia in particular is desert.

"The Australian market builds caravans designed for adventure in the outback, which is popular with the younger generations.

"But like all developed counties, it has an aging population, which wants lightweight European caravans that are competitively priced with a left-hand door, and these aren't supplied by the indigenous market."

Mr Hibbs said the move also coincided with pressures in Europe which were impacting on the industry as a whole.

"Touring caravan production is something of a British success story, and more than 90 per cent of all touring caravans sold in the UK are made here.

"However, there is now an over capacity in the European market as a whole.

"The industry has seen significant falling-off of caravan sales across Europe, particularly in the southern hemisphere in Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as the Netherlands.

"People are still caravanning but they are keeping their caravans for much longer than before.

"Here at Coachman our niche is quality and we work hard to supply the best caravans sold in the UK today.

"Now, we are very much geared to Australian and New Zealand specifications and are gearing up to seize those new opportunities."

Coachman has now signed importers in both countries, and is currently customising its existing models, for example modifying the chassis to a slightly higher spec than required in Europe, and changing the road lights to meet Australian regulations.

The interiors are then modified once they reach the overseas market, however, Mr Hibbs said Coachman was looking to exploit opportunities by launching models purely for new markets.

"We are now seriously looking at doing the whole job from Hull, building an entire spec, so we are able to supply to two markets – the UK and overseas," he said.

"The strength of the dollar against the pound can cover the freight costs, and on the basis we're not going to see a revival in the UK market for several years, we've started to do what I guess the Government wants us to do and grow the economy through exports."

Though Mr Hibbs said the move was an exciting time for the company, he continues to call on the Government to accept its current growth plan is failing manufacturing as a whole.

He said: "The word austerity is used far too much by the Government, particularly George Osborne and Mervyn King.

"We definitely need to see growth back on Britain's agenda and instead of austerity we need a growth theme."

Since its formation following the Second World War, East Yorkshire's caravan industry has always been subject to cyclical peaks and troughs and redundancies are unfortunately commonplace throughout the industry.

Mr Hibbs said Coachman Caravans endeavoured to protect its 150-strong workforce from redundancies with flexible working patterns where possible.

"We have a very loyal workforce who work very hard," he said. "Many of them started work here at the age of 16 and we have a lot of employees who have been here for 25 years.

"Now they have families of their own, children and a mortgage and as a family business we do everything we can to protect them.

"We are not run as a PLC so when things are difficult, our employees are very much in our utmost thoughts.

"As a result, we offer flexible working so when there is extra work, we offer our staff overtime and when there is less work we go on to short-time shifts."

FANS dreaming of seeing Hull City play in the Premier League next season camped out overnight to secure season passes when they went on general sale.

Some fans camped outside the KC Stadium for more than 12 hours to ensure they were among the first in line when season tickets went on general sale on Monday.

Staff opened up early and phone lines were jammed as hundreds of supporters snapped up passes to see the newly promoted Tigers back in the top flight.

Prices have been increased by just £10 in all stands from the early bird rate, which saw 14,500 passes sold at current season prices ahead of the club sealing promotion.

Passes are now continuing to sell steadily after Monday's initial rush.

Nick Thompson, the club's managing director, said: "There's a general state of euphoria about our promotion back to the Premier League.

"There were queues all day long on Monday.

"People had started queueing at 7.30pm on the previous night.

"The phone lines have been busy, too.

"There were probably 500 to 1,000 passes sold on Monday when the passes went on general sale."

Mr Thompson said fans were eager to guarantee their seat for the new season, when top sides including Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal will play at the KC Stadium.

He said: "Part of the benefit of the season pass is you choose your seat, so the earlier you buy your pass the better.

"We also want to open up a ticket exchange, so if season ticket-holders can't get to a game, they can sell the ticket back to the club and we will make it available to people who want to attend on a match-by- match basis."

The cheapest adult passes are £395, with concessions priced from £210 for 65-plus; £195 for 16 to 22-year-olds; £79 for 11 to 15-year-olds and £33 for children aged ten and under.

A sellout for the KC Stadium for the Premier League campaign would generate about £4.7m for the club.

Some 1,000 seats will be available for every home game to give non-pass-holders a chance to see the Premier League's elite play at the stadium.

The club has to make 10 per cent of the capacity – 2,500 tickets – available for visiting fans.

A priority scheme will reward the Tigers' travelling fans when tickets go on sale for oversubscribed away fixtures at the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.

The priority scheme is being brought in after demand outstripped supply in the Tigers' previous Premier League campaigns, when there was a ticket stampede for the top fixtures.

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PETER Gentle says he is relying on his senior players to keep his squad grounded after a big turnaround in form.

After winning just two of their opening nine games of the campaign, Hull have responded with seven victories in their last eight outings.

Only a solitary defeat to league leaders Wigan has blotted the Black and Whites' copybook.

It has seen confidence reach new levels, but eager to ensure that confidence doesn't translate into complacency Gentle is relying on the likes of captain Gareth Ellis and Hull's longest serving player Richard Horne to lead the way.

Those two gathered the side together before heading down the tunnel to celebrate on Friday at Warrington, and Gentle is confident they will keep his side's feet on the ground.

"Gareth Ellis and Richard Horne got the players together on Friday night after the game to talk to them and make sure nobody is getting carried away," explained Gentle.

"We've got a young side, and we have to keep them grounded. The senior players are very good for doing that."

Hull welcomed back Liam Watts, Joe Westerman and Gareth Ellis to full training yesterday, with the trio set to be monitored during the week before a decision is made on whether the three forwards will be selected for Saturday's derby.

AT AROUND 3pm on Saturday afternoon, as the Hull KR team coach pulls into the Etihad Stadium, Michael Dobson will afford himself a cheeky grin.

It will be a fleeting moment as the Rovers captain's focus turns immediately back to this year's derby.

But as the impressive stadium appears on the landscape, Dobson admits memories of last year's dramatic win over the old enemy will wash over him.

Maintaining their four-match unbeaten record against Hull at the Magic Weekend, Dobson's late try, followed by Dave Hodgson's 79th minute length-of-the-field score, brought a climax that will long live in the memory, and one Dobson says will be hard not to recall as he arrives in Manchester this weekend.

Following a game last year that should have carried a health warning for fans of both sides, Dobson is hoping for a more mundane derby victory this year.

But with so much at stake, he admits he'll take the two points in exactly the same circumstances, if that's what it takes.

"It doesn't matter who you are, to win a game like that against anyone in the last minute is huge and gets the blood pumping," Dobson told the Mail.

"The first 79 minutes wasn't the best last year, but we managed to get over the line.

"It was a massive win for us the way it happened.

"I'm hoping we can do it a little bit easier this year, but we know how tough it is going to be with the way Hull have been playing.

"I think if we get in the same position as last year it will help us knowing we can come back.

"Saying that, we don't want to have to be in that position.

"We'd like it for ourselves to be a bit easier, but we know it is going to be a tough game.

"Saying that, form goes out of the window in derbies.

It may be a cliché but Dobson knows better than most the form book can be tossed to one side when it comes to the Hull derby.

Not for the first time in his KR career the Aussie will go into a derby regarded by many as the underdog.

It has mattered little in the past with the maestro able to orchestrate a number of significant wins against the Black and Whites that went both against expectation and form.

Facing a Hull side that has won seven out of their last eight games in all competitions, Dobson admits it is yet another tough prospect facing the Robins, and he's singled Hull's forwards out as the men to stop if Rovers are to secure another derby success.

"Hull's forwards are very good," added Dobson.

"They have big forwards who like off-loading the ball and they play on the back of that.

"Their forwards are the key to how they play and how they go in games.

"On the back of that there's Daniel Holdsworth and Richard Horne playing really good footy.

"Stopping the forwards is key though, and we will have to be very strong up the middle."

While Hull are seen as having turned their season around, with some saying they have put themselves back in contention for honours, there has been much criticism of Rovers this season.

It is a critique seen by many at the club as far too strong, with Dobson pointing out a win on Saturday will take them level in the table with Hull and possibly just a point off fifth place.

"I don't think we are as badly off as people have made out," said Dobson.

"We are definitely not where we'd like to be, but saying that, we are only three points off fifth.

"If we string a few wins together we are right up there and that's the aim.

"If we can get in the eight and climb the ladder further and get a few bodies back for the end of the season, then we feel we are a match for anyone."

Building on last week's comfortable victory against Wakefield is key and doing that with a derby win is something Dobson believes can provide a major fillip for the Robins.

And he admits that while maintaining the bragging rights is important, in the grand scheme of the season two points on Saturday is all that really matters.

"This is another game we need to win and we always like to get one over on Hull FC," explained Dobson.

"It is massive for the fans that we win and it is massive for us in terms of where we want to finish on the Super League table.

"It is a big game for many reasons on Saturday.

"The main reason is we want to climb that ladder a bit more.

"It is not hard to get up for a derby, everyone knows what it means to people.

"You have to be disciplined and the team that does that and completes its sets will come out on top. Hopefully that's us on Saturday."

PETER Gentle insists it is 'business as usual' at Hull FC this week and says no special plans are being made ahead of facing Hull KR.

Gentle is adamant, despite all the hype that comes with a cross-city clash, his focus is purely on getting the best from his men.

While some talk of gaining revenge for last year's controversial Magic Weekend derby defeat has come out of the Hull camp, the Black and Whites' coach insists his side have not dwelled on it.

And with that in mind, he also dismissed talk of having to learn any lessons from their loss to KR at the KC earlier this season.

"We would be doing every other game an injustice if we prepared any differently for a derby," Gentle told the Mail

"It is business as usual this week, the intensity doesn't change and neither does the preparation. There were a lot of things that went against us in the last derby.

"Having to play Joe Westerman and Richard Whiting in the halves, moving Richard Horne to full-back, having a heavy injury list.

"The game lacked intensity and whether we had genuine belief or not I don't know, but for one reason or another we were not at our best."

Heading into Saturday's Magic Weekend derby, Gentle will be confident Hull can be at their best after a run of seven wins from their eight games since that 23-10 defeat on Good Friday.

Strengthened in recent weeks by the return of Daniel Holdsworth and captain Gareth Ellis, Gentle could be further boosted by being able to call upon three of his first choice forwards from earlier in the season this week with Joe Westerman, Liam Watts and Ben Galea back in training.

Admitting he is in the fortunate position of not having to change a winning team, the Aussie is keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to his final 17.

"Liam, Joe and Ben have all trained, but whether they will play or not is a decision we will make later in the week," added Gentle.

"They all want to play, but if they are not 100 per cent then they won't. We are in a position where we don't have to play anyone who isn't 100 per cent because of how well the boys are doing."

Galea has played a starring role in the past for Rovers at the Magic Weekend, helping the Robins to an unbeaten record against Hull at the event.

While admitting the manner of last season's last-gasp Magic loss still hurts, Gentle says there will be no dwelling on that result – something proved as FC bounced back to beat KR at MS3 Craven Park last year.

"Defeats like last year always hurt, you have to move on from those sorts of games though and leave them behind," he said.

HULL KR prop Mickey Paea is determined to take the battle to Hull when the two sides meet at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Paea has been one of Rovers most consistent players this season, and his impressive opening spell against Wakefield last weekend set the tone for the Robins' 44-18 success.

With experienced props Evarn Tuimavave and Ryan O'Hara sidelined because of injury, Paea knows his role in the team has taken on even greater importance.

But despite continuing uncertainty over his future, given he is yet to commit to a new deal offered by the club, Paea says he can be relied upon to take the game to the Black and Whites.

"I'm the kind of bloke who puts pressure on himself to go out and lead from the front," Paea told the Mail.

"It's a big occasion in itself, and it's big for the city, so I'm sure we'll be up for it. We won't need much to motivate us for this game."

Paea admits Rovers face a tough challenge as they look to make it a derby double over Hull this year, particularly given Hull's upturn in form.

And he says it has been no coincidence that Peter Gentle's men have found their stride as three of their big-name players have returned from injury.

"Daniel Holdsworth, Shannon McDonnell and Gareth Ellis are back in for them, and that benefits them a lot," he said,

"Ellis is massive for them. He's played on the biggest stage and he's had a great career in the NRL and Super League too.

"I caught some of Hull's game at Warrington. They have been building well as a team for a while and they had a few players out for a while.

"Now they have some of them back and from what I've seen of them, they look like they are finding their straps."

Asked who enters the contest as favourites, Paea concedes that it has to be Rovers opponents.

"If you want to base it on the last few results then Hull would be favourites," he said.

"They have been a very consistent team but that doesn't matter too much in these games."

SURROUNDED by leafy green trees, lakes and flowers you feel a million miles away from the city centre.

But one of the top cycling areas for disabled and able-bodied riders is actually in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Holderness Road.

A gathering of keen cyclists, some novice, some pro, met at East Park in Hull to mark the launch of Sky Ride 2013.

The park is one of the popular locations for family rides and disabled riders and their able-bodied friends who want to enjoy a taste of nature without venturing miles out of the city.

Among them is Tony Saxby, 55, who took up cycling a few years ago.

"I'd always done a little bit of jogging and going to the gym, but it was a bit hit and miss and I could take it or leave it," he says.

"I'd always cycled, too, and I started to become a bit more focused and saw it as an opportunity to enjoy a sort of 'free gym'.

"I love the fact you can enjoy gorgeous countryside while keeping fit."

Tony, who works in East Park and cycles to his office from his home in Sutton Park, is now a Sky Ride leader.

He completed his training in May 2011 and now regularly organises routes for the Sky Ride campaign.

"One of my favourite rides is going down the old railway line on the Trans Pennine Trail to Hornsea, then across to Withernsea and back home through the Holderness countryside," he says.

"There is very little traffic on that route and a lot of it is off-road track.

"I like getting out and getting a bit of fresh air."

Tony will be leading his first Sky Ride route of the year on Saturday. It is for disabled people, who use specially adapted bikes rented from East Park's Aiming High project.

"You get people from all walks of life on the Sky Ride routes," says Tony.

"There is a real social aspect to the rides and a real comradery between cyclists.

"As a leader, it is my job to make sure everyone is safe and we have people at the back and front to keep an eye on the traffic – that allows the people in the middle to just enjoy themselves, chat and have fun."

Last year's Sky Ride Hull – the main event in the Sky Ride calendar – attracted 8,000 people to the city centre route.

This year's Sky Ride Hull will be held on Sunday, August 18, and see cyclists of all abilities take to roads which are normally packed with traffic.

But there are lots of different routes called Sky Ride Local, which are taking place before then.

These vary from family routes and cycles for novice cyclists, to longer trails for the more established rider.

Melanie Hudson, a recreation manager for British Cycling, says: "This year we have five extra disabled-focused rides and they are a mixture of inclusive and exclusive.

"The exclusive ones are aimed at building people's confidence.

"The inclusive ones mean disabled people can ride with their able-bodied friends.

"The longest one will be up the Trans Pennine Trail to Swine and back.

"It'll be really good fun and will be an enjoyable ride."

Compared with other cities, Hull has a great deal of people who cycle as part of their daily commute.

The landscape is a big contributing factor in this.

Councillor Terry Geraghty, Hull City Council's portfolio holder for public health, says: "We used to be known as the city of trolley buses and bikes – Hull is so flat, it is ideal for cycling.

"We had about 8,000 people at last year's Sky Ride Hull event and I am sure we can beat that this year.

"We don't want kids to be sitting in houses, playing computer games all day – we want families to go out together and enjoy a bit of fresh air.

"I want to make sure more and more people get active in their particular sport – I want to encourage that as much as I can.

"The more people we have out being active and enjoying sport, the fewer there are in the doctor's surgery."

For more information on the main Sky Ride Hull event and other smaller events in the area, visit www.goskyride.com and click on Hull.

Alternatively, type in your postcode to find your nearest route.

IT IS a hotly debated issue up and down the country.

And it is of particular interest in Hull where, traditionally, more pupils than anywhere else are missing class without the consent of schools.

The authority is often criticised for what is perceived as pupils playing truant.

But officers say the statistics are misleading.

Sue Yardley, Hull City Council behaviour and attendance officer, says it is far from the case there are pupils from Hull's schools marauding the streets.

She says the bigger problem is parents allowing their children to be off school.

For the council here, the message is clear – condone your child's absence and there will be consequences.

Mrs Yardley said: "If we authorised everything, we would be in the press for having no truancy.

"But that would be creating a culture which is allowing parents to not send their children to school.

"Which is the opposite of what we want to do.

"We are very clear about that in this authority."

Mrs Yardley says looking at overall absence statistics are a much better indicator of an authority's ability to get children to school, rather than focusing on the unauthorised statistics.

She says a high authorised absence rate, like in many authorities, indicates those schools are merely masking the problem by allowing parents to keep their children from school.

It keeps the so-called truancy statistics low, and the unwanted press away.

But it does not, she says, solve the problem.

"Whether or not it is an absence which is authorised or unauthorised, it still means the child is not in school," she said.

"If we let schools authorise absence, we would make no improvement, the children still won't be in school.

"Being in school raises attainment."

If the authority had high unauthorised absence and high authorised absence, Mrs Yardley said there would be a reason to be concerned.

But she says schools in Hull are very careful about what they authorise.

She said: "They look very closely at what they will authorise.

"If they authorise an absence and it is parentally condoned, then they are not allowed to prosecute."

She said says headteachers will not automatically authorise a child's absence if they are ill.

If there are question marks over whether the child is being allowed off by a parent, then the headteacher will not authorise it.

It hits the city's so-called "truancy" figures hard. But officers are steadfast in their belief if they take a hard line with parents, it is the only way children will turn up for school.

She knows it is not the easy option, but is adamant it is the only way to improve.

"Heads know when not to authorise absences," said Mrs Yardley.

"If they are known families, they look for patterns – for example, if the child is often off Mondays or Wednesday.

"A massive amount of resources are put into this by schools.

"All kinds of people will work with the school and the young person, sometimes even picking them up to get them into school."

A parent can expect a penalty notice if their child has 20 unauthorised absences in one term, the equivalent of ten days.

It is up to the school to decide which parents to prosecute. Mrs Yardley said: "It is all about the schools knowing the families."

In the last full school year, 519 penalty notices were issued for unauthorised absence and, of those, 75 per cent of pupils improved their attendance at school.

But 149 of those parents ended up in court.

So far this year, 359 notices have been issued, 131 for unauthorised absence and 228 for holidays in term time. Of those parents, 117 have appeared in court.

Over the past six years, there has been a bigger improvement in the absence figures for Hull compared with the national picture.

It is, in part, because the city was coming from a lower starting point.

The authority is also making strides in improving the level of persistent absenteeism, which last year improved three times more than the national average.

And schools are playing their part.

Simon Witham, headteacher at Thorpepark Primary School, is one city head who has made huge strides in raising attendance.

Mr Witham has been at the school since 2007 as deputy head and was made head four years ago.

Since then, attendance has risen.

He said: "The way we do this is to engage with the parents and families and develop excellent relationships with them.

"A lot of schools are doing a lot of excellent things as well, but this works for our school.

"Our attendance team works relentlessly, they identify parents who are struggling to get their children in school and put massive support in place to help them improve their child's attendance."

Parents at the school who are condoning their child's absence will be prosecuted.

Mr Witham said: "We are relentless. The expectation is their children are in school.

"Our parents are fantastic and our children love coming to school. They run in, wanting to be there."

DOZENS of motorists have been caught in a crackdown on illegal mobile phone use.

Police in the East Riding caught 34 motorists using their phones while driving in just six days. The majority were making phone calls.

PC Simon Carlisle, casualty reduction officer for the county, said a large number of crashes have been caused by a driver using their phone.

He said: "It does appear to be a bigger problem than we realise and it is something that is seriously increasing. Several of our fatal accidents across the force area last year involved use of a mobile phone in some way.

"This is not necessarily people using the phone to call someone, but texting, use of the internet and social media. All these seem to involve the driver looking down at their phone and becoming engrossed."

The drivers were stopped during a week-long campaign by traffic officers from May 13 to May 18.

Most are likely to be offered the chance to go on a considerate driving course, which costs £95 but means they do not receive penalty points.

Others will be fined £60 and given three points.

Official statistics do not record whether a mobile phone was being used during an accident and instead describe the cause of a crash as a lack of attention or lapse in concentration.

However, after examining dozens of individual crash reports and speaking to traffic officers, PC Carlisle found many drivers were using their phones before an accident.

The officer pointed to a case in Lelley when Nikita Ainley crashed head on into another car while using her Blackberry.

The collision killed Mary Rutherford, 68.

Ainley was jailed for three-and-a-half years for causing death by dangerous driving.

Passing her sentence, Judge Stephen Ashurst, Recorder of York, said: "No message is so urgent that it requires someone to lose their life."

PC Carlisle said: "When you are using your phone, immediately part of your mind is distracted. All it takes to cause an accident is a momentary lapse of concentration to cause a collision which, as the Lelley case shows, can have terrible consequences.

"That has had a huge impact on the victim's family, has ruined the driver's life and affected her family too. The consequences can go much deeper than just one or two people."

A man recently crashed his car head-on into another on the A1079 at Barmby Moor after using the internet on his mobile while driving, breaking his leg.

PC Carlisle said: "He sailed straight into the path of an oncoming car. Straight away, he admitted that he was looking up something on the internet at the time.

"Now everybody has a smartphone, we run our lives by them. When people hear them going off, the temptation to glance over is strong, which is why I advise people keep it out of sight while they're driving.

"No phone call or text message is worth the potential consequences."

HULL'S famous cream phone boxes are being transformed into wi-fi hotspots for shoppers, workers and visitors to the city.

Communications firm KC is giving its distinctive phone boxes a new lease of life to provide high-speed internet access.

KC began deploying wi-fi in the city centre last month and has already installed access points in the area bounded by Ferensway, Freetown Way, Castle Street and the River Hull.

It means key shopping streets including Whitefriargate, Jameson Street, King Edward Street and Prospect Street all have coverage.

Business and consumer director Gary Young said: "Where we can, we're using our phone boxes as wi-fi access points.

"They're an important part of our heritage and it's great we can make them more relevant to modern life."

Free wireless internet is also available in popular leisure areas including Princes Dock Street, Silver Street and Trinity House Lane.

Mr Young said: "The growing use of smartphones and tablets means more people want access to the internet while they're on the move and the wi-fi we installed at St Stephen's last year has been extremely popular.

"Our installation of wi-fi is intended to create a more connected city beyond the home and the workplace.

"It's a significant investment in a service we know our customers and other people using the city centre will find useful."

KC will continue to roll out wi-fi across Hull and East Yorkshire this summer.

Anyone can use the service by searching for wireless networks and selecting kc-wifi.

They will need to register their details the first time they use the service. After that their device will be automatically recognised.

Councillor Steven Bayes, portfolio holder for economic regeneration and employment at Hull City Council, has welcomed the development.

He said: "The installation of wi-fi to key areas of the city centre is welcome news for our residents and visitors.

"As we continue with our City of Culture 2017 bid alongside our City Plan, which aims to rejuvenate and attract inward investment and increase visitors to Hull over the next decade, projects such as this add real value to our ambitions to become a world-class destination.

"Wi-fi hotspots will help give residents, visitors and businesses a quality experience during their time in the city centre as they will be able to access instant information about the top attractions at their fingertips."

KC is also developing a solution for businesses wanting to offer wi-fi in their premises.

Email kcbusiness@kcom.com for more information.