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Northern trains disrupted as staff test positive for Covid and isolate
Northern said a number of its public-facing employees have tested positive for Covid-19, and others are being forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with them.
Passengers on Northern trains should expect travel disruptions on services this weekend after a number of frontline staff have tested positive for Covid-19.
Passengers are being warned that some services will be interrupted this weekend as the train company becomes the latest to be struck by high rates of infection.
Northern said a number of its public-facing employees have tested positive for Covid-19, and others are being forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with them.
This means that some services this weekend may not be running, with the worst affected areas expected to be North Lancashire and Cumbria.
“A high proportion of staff based at Barrow and Workington have been instructed to self-isolate. This has exacerbated issues we were already experiencing in the region following an increase in the number of employees who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or have had to enter a period of self-isolation," said Chris Jackson regional director at Northern.
“Many of these colleagues are drivers and conductors and, as such, we are left with no option but to cancel some services this week in Cumbria and north Lancashire.
“We are doing all we can to provide the best possible service for customers in extremely difficult circumstances and, where we are not able to run rail services, we will have replacement buses on standby to get our customers where they need to be.”
Warnings are also being issued ahead of England's game on Saturday that services are expected to be busier than usual, with Northern asking people to not take the last train home in order to help them stop this last service from being too busy.
“Of course, many people will want to support England and will be travelling to pubs and bars to watch the match," added Mr Jackson.
“With kick off at 8pm, that only leaves a handful of trains on our key routes after the match to get people home and we’re asking our customers to plan ahead and to use all available services. We’ll have buses on standby in many places to assist, but customers can help by staggering their journeys and not all waiting for the last train home.”
Leeds Bradford Airport is set for a standstill as almost 130 workers are set to take industrial action over pay.
If you're planning on catching a flight from Leeds Bradford Airport, then you may want to double check the date.
The Unite members planning on going on strike are a mixture of air traffic control workers, customer experience staff, security staff and cleaners.
The workers involved in the dispute have recently come out of a four-year pay deal, with some of the departments having fallen behind other airports in equivalent roles.
Pay talks have been happening since December 2025, with the airport's formal offer not going far enough to address the lack of pay parity.
Strikes will take place from 03:00 Friday 16 October to 06:00 Sunday 18 October for hourly paid staff and from 06:00 Friday 16 October to 06:00 Sunday 18 October for air traffic control workers.
Strike will mean the entire airport will shut down.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Leeds Bradford Airport is very profitable and can more than afford to come back to the table with an offer that doesn't fall short of our members' expectations.
"Our hardworking members should not be paid less than those doing the same jobs at other airports. Workers taking action at Leeds Bradford Airport have Unite's full support in their fight for fairer pay."
Unite regional officer Neil Whitaker said: "We know people who have flights planned to and from Leeds Bradford Airport will be concerned to hear of industrial action, however our members have no choice but to strike.
"The airport is profitable, passenger numbers are growing and our members are a major part of its success. They deserve a fair pay rise, and management must come back to the table to deliver this."
Leeds pizza shop hailed ‘exceptional’ and ‘best in the UK’ by major reviewer
Clementine Hall
A Leeds pizza takeaway has received a glowing review from popular review duo.
Edges Pizza opened up their first permanent spot in Leeds back in June this year, after making a name for themselves slinging out pizzas at multiple pop-ups across the city.
Owners Grace and Edge from Harrogate opened Edges Pizza two years ago, taking inspiration from trips to New York over the years.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Their pizzas are a love letter to the class New York slice, think thin and crispy rather than chewy and floppy. But above all else, think absolutely delicious.
And now, they've caught the attention of a major review page, with Bite Twice Food Reviews (a page with almost 300k followers) paying Edges a visit.
The food review duo of Gerry del Guercio and Paul Delany popped up in Holbeck beneath the arches to get their hands on a pizza, and the outcome is brilliant.
In the video, Bite Twice said that the pizza is 'f**cking exceptional' and up there with 'one of the best pizzas in the UK'.
Before even taking a bite, they said: "On aesthetic, I don't think anywhere in the UK is doing pizza like this".
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Then after the first bite, they go on to say: "There are very few pizzas in the UK that create this, I’m a little bit blown away".
As Londoners themselves, they go on to say that Edges is 'easily hitting with the best that we’ve got down south'.
And if that's not high praise enough, they sign off the video saying: "Leeds has got an absolute gem. I give this a stamp so hard my foot went through the pizza. Edges. Don Level."
Georgina Pellant -
2nd July 2021 
