It was a good month for gastronomes and ale lovers with the biggest ever York Beer and Cider Festival held at Knavesmire followed by York Food and Drink Festival.

Young Oliver Groove had an even better month when he walked away from a lifetime of crippling pain after new exercise routine helped him overcome a spine condition.

Commuters also received good news as weekly, monthly and annual bus tickets were cut by First in conjunction with a string of changes to the operator’s network, following a summer consultation and review.

But Yorkshire MEP Godfrey Bloom’s luck finally ran out when he quit his membership of UKIP after being suspended for calling a group of female activists ‘sluts’. Mr Bloom claimed it had been a misinterpreted joke.

York was awarded £2 million to help prevent flooding on the A19 at Fulford and pioneered new sensors that alert lorry drivers to the presence of cyclists in their blind spots at busy junctions.

Natural England confirmed that Rawcliffe Meadows and Clifton Ings have been recommended for Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The final decision, which would secure extra protection for the sites, will be made next year.

Paramedics warned of proposals to reduce the number of ambulances working in Selby and York. At the same time it was revealed that ‘ghost’ patients are costing the NHS more than £1 million a year in York. Apparently 16,000 more patients are registered with GPs than live in the city.

The bust of York’s Emperor Constantine returned home to the Yorkshire Museum after his Roman holiday helping to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, a law Constantine passed which made Christianity lawful.


In national and international news...

...Police apologised to the Duke of York after challenging him and asking him to identify himself in the gardens of Buckingham palace less than 48 hours after a break-in at the Queen’s home.

The crippled cruise liner Costa Concordia was pulled upright after a 19-hour operation off the coast of Tuscany; and controversial UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, Godfrey Bloom, had his party whip withdrawn after calling women attending a party event ‘sluts’. He insisted it had been a joke.

Labour leader Ed Miliband pledged that if Labour came to power following the next general election, gas and electricity prices would be frozen for 20 months; and Russia charged Greenpeace activists who tried to board an offshore drilling platform in the Arctic with piracy.

At least 67 people died when suspected Al-Shabab militants stormed Nairobi’s Westgate shopping centre. And Chinese politician Bo Xilai was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement, accepting bribes and abuses of power.

Coronation Street star Michael Le Vell celebrated being cleared of sex abuse charges and said it was ‘a big weight off everyone’s shoulders.’


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