@DerbyTelegraph fireworks were set off from toton area that were very loud and rattled windows. Could it be them?

— Neil Cuthbertson (@neilcphotograph) November 30, 2014

@DerbyTelegraph loud bangs probably caused by space junk burning up in atmosphere causing sonic booms http://t.co/lyOxIKHo3n@theJeremyVine

— Paul Strickland (@merlinonline) November 30, 2014

Meanwhile, the experts this year say there's nothing like gold, silver and bronze to make a home feel festively warm and cosy - with glittery metallics bang on trend for December.

With Christmas just around the corner, they're the stylish colours of the festive season, stepping away from gaudy reds and greens.

"Of all the precious metals, gold is undoubtedly the most glam," says Alicia Kaper, head of curation at Joss & Main. "Warm and luxurious, a few gleaming gold accents can instantly refresh an interior, adding that all-important oomph to a tired scheme.

"The trick with gold is not to overdo it – integrating just a few precious finds will help you stay on the chic side of the trend."

Claire Harris, managing director of Talking Tables, agreed: "After years in the design wilderness, gold is back with a vengeance. If you're not keen on gold cutlery or glassware, paper tableware is an easy way to dip into the look."

"To set a warm colour palette, try gold and brown," advises Laura Comfort, Christmas buyer at Wyevale Garden Centres. "Glass compote jars and candy dishes look great filled with small pine cones, topped with rich gold and deep brown ornaments."

Silver is a sophisticated choice, says Alicia Kaper.

"Cool and crisp, silver has a fresh and timeless finish. Paired with blues and whites, this precious metal is a shimmering snow queen. Lookout for silver mirrors and lamps, which can really open up a dark or narrow space, bouncing light into the room. Nickel, chrome, aluminium and stainless steel have similar reflective qualities, bringing a highly polished sparkle to any home."

"Don't restrict magnificent baubles and sparkly snowflakes to the tree," advises Laura Comfort. "Accentuate overhead lighting with a fresh winter palette of shimmery silver and pale blue decorations, gently dangling from the chandelier on elegant silver satin ribbon."

Sainsbury's head of home design, Emma Mann, is a fan of copper.

"It's a bold but sophisticated metallic, suitable to use in all rooms of the house," she says. "For Christmas, copper complements forest green and berry reds for a rustic look, but it also looks stunning among other warm metallics, like gold and pewter, for ultimate glamour."

For a traditional look, try adding earthy bronze accents to a foliage-rich pine cone garland on the mantel, suggests Laura Comfort. "The metallic colour will elegantly pop against the wood and natural green. Fill garden glass cloches with vintage bronze ornaments and display it among the lush greenery, or create a chic indoor/outdoor decoration by adding copper and gold embellishments to a standard evergreen wreath."

DERBY County's long unbeaten run against Leeds United was ended by a 2-0 defeat at Elland Road.

The Rams had not lost in 12 meetings against their Yorkshire rivals but two goals from Mirco Antenucci gave the hosts all three points from Saturday's Championship clash.

Despite the result, Derby remain top of the table, thanks to Millwall holding Bournemouth to a 2-2 draw.

Steve McClaren's side are at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday in their next Championship game.

View highlights of the game at Elland Road below.

Leg raises are a simple exercise that work your inner thigh, outer thigh, hips and bottom. Sam Miller, of Choices Health Club, in Raynesway, Derby, demonstrates how:

1. Lie on your side and have one arm bent and resting underneath your head with the other arm in front of your body resting your palm on the mat. Your legs should be on top of one another and the leg touching the mat should be bent.

2. Pull in your stomach as you raise your top leg about 1ft above the bottom leg. Hold for a second then lower.

3. Repeat 15 to 20 times then swap legs. Rest then repeat again.

A DERBY junior school where 24 different languages are spoken by pupils has been told it is "improving rapidly" and removed from special measures by inspectors.

Pear Tree Community Junior School was told it was "inadequate" in December 2012 and since then has been working to improve and also to head off becoming an academy, which had been suggested by the Government as a solution to its poor performance.

During the latest inspection this month, the team from the Office for Standards in Education decided the school had made progress but that it still requires further improvement to be "good".

In the newly-published report, the inspectors praise the "strong, very determined focus on achievement" by the head teacher Kudsia Batool, "well supported by senior leaders".

Ms Batool took up her position in September 2013 and eight new teachers have been appointed since then.

An interim board was set up to drive through change headed by Christopher Hassall, who is also head of an "outstanding" school in Leicestershire.

He said: "This is a very good report. The school has made exceptional progress in the past 15 months since the new head teacher was appointed.

"School improvement is all about team work, hard work and more work. We have an excellent team of teachers and support staff who are totally committed to the children and their families. I have every confidence that the school, with Mrs Batool at its helm, will go from strength to strength."

The school, in Pear Tree Street, has 93% of its pupils from minority ethnic groups, including 53% white gypsy Roma heritage and 28% Pakistani heritage and for 75% of the pupils English is not their first language.

Mrs Batool said she was delighted by the inspection report. She said: "We still have a long way to go but this gives us a firm foundation to build on.

"It means we won't be under the threat of becoming an academy, which will give us more stability to move forward."

Inspectors were pleased with the improvement in the quality of teaching and also the way in which the interim executive board and Derby City Council had supported the head and senior management.

They observed parts of 19 lessons, received five responses from parents online, spoke to other parents at the start of the school day and studied 45 responses to a staff questionnaire.

Ms Batool said: "Since I took up my post, I introduced rapid, radical and much-needed changes.

"They have had a very positive impact on the standards of children's work, the quality of teaching, pupil behaviour and the school's leadership.

"Parents, their children and the Pear Tree community all tell me how happy they are with the work which is going on in the school."

In 1998, the school was praised for the work it did with the pupils, which at that time came from 19 different cultures.

It was first placed in special measures in May 2006 but came out again in March 2008 before being placed in them again almost two years ago.

IAN Walley goes into the final round in Turkey tomorrow needing to produce his best golf.

After two days of the Titleist PGA Play-Offs, the Kedleston Park professional still has a good chance of a top-10 finish, though the biggest prizes in the end-of-season event for the highest-ranked PGA pros in the country are surely beyond him.

Walley got off to a good start in the competition, played on the PGA Sultan course at Antalya Golf Club, with a two-under-par score of 69, which included a bogey-free back nine with two birdies.

That left him in seventh place overnight but he could not maintain that standard and three bogeys dropped him down the leaderboard before his first birdie of the second round, on the 16th, left him with a 73 and even par for the tournament.

Walley heads into the third and final round in a share of 12th place but only two shots adrift of eighth.

Ireland has dominated the tournament so far, with Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin) leading the way just ahead of countryman Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance).

Kearney had a flawless 67, doing all of his scoring on the front nine before coming home in 11 consecutive pars to ease to 10-under for the £15,000 tournament, ahead by two shots.

The top three eligible players will qualify to represent Great Britain and Ireland in the PGA Cup team to face America in CordeValle, California, next September.

There are also a range of invites for European Tour and Challenge Tour events, including 10 spots to play in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth for the leading finishers.

DERBY County remain the bookmakers' favourites to win the Sky Bet Championship despite suffering their first defeat at Elland Road since September 2005.

Draws for Middlesbrough and Bournemouth elsewhere meant the Rams retained their position at the top of the table, with their title odds shifting from 13/8 to 7/4.

Having lost 10 of the previous 12 meetings between the clubs, Leeds upset odds of 14/5 by beating Steve McClaren's men, while they were a massive 20/1 to win via a 2-0 scoreline.

It was a bad result for Football League sponsor Sky Bet, who attracted a surge of bets on Leeds due to their large price of almost 3/1, putting too much faith in Derby, who were 10/11 pre-game favourites.

The defeat also saw Derby's price for promotion shift slightly from 4/7 to 8/13 but the Rams are 5/6 to bounce back with a win over Brighton (11/4) next weekend, while a first draw in nine league games is a 5/2.

Meanwhile, in League Two, Burton Albion were forced out of the automatic promotion spots after losing 1-0 to Shrewsbury Town, the 5/2 favourites to win the division.

It was Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's first defeat as Burton boss but the Brewers remain third favourites for promotion at 11/10, behind only Shrewsbury (4/11) and second-placed Luton (4/6).

Burton are back in action on Saturday as a trip to Exeter awaits but Sky Bet can't separate the sides, going 6/4 apiece for a win and 12/5 for a draw. 

DERBYSHIRE'S comeback king Nigel Bond performed an astonishing escape act to make it through to the third round of the UK Snooker Championship on Saturday evening.

The 49-year-old looked out of the tournament at the York Barbican at 5-0 down to world number five Barry Hawkins.

But Bond pulled off the unthinkable to win 6-5 after Hawkins twitched on a simple green in the sixth frame, recording a superb 116 in the ninth along the way.

The world number 60 once pulled off a famous comeback at the Crucible to snatch victory from Cliff Thorburn from 9-2 down and admitted the win felt like rolling back the years.

"Apart from the Thorburn match, that is probably the best comeback I have ever made in my career," he said.

"When you're not winning matches the conditions are completely different out there. But the conditions were beautiful and I was just trying to get a foothold in the game. Just one frame.

"At 5-0 down you are just playing for a bit of pride. It's unbelievable.

"Up until the 116 I was only biting and bobbing. I could not score.

"After that, I got a bit of rhythm and he started missing some balls.

"He's not a Ronnie O'Sullivan, where he is bashing in centuries, but he is such a solid match player it was surprising to see him miss one or two.

"All the way through I was thinking, just one ball at a time, one frame at a time.

"I knew if I could get back to 5-3 I had a little bit of a sniff.

"It shows my tenacity; I could have easily laid down and died but I dug in.

"He missed a few and I got a rhythm, which was nice."

Bond hit the top five in the 1990s and was runner up to Stephen Hendry in the 1995 World Championship.

But he has struggled on the Tour this season, only making it past the second round once before this week, and faces up-and-coming Scot Anthony McGill in round three today.

And after performing well on the senior circuit, reaching the World Championship final for the last two years, Bond is relieved he still has a bit of fire in his belly.

He added: "You can't describe it. To win 6-5 from 5-0 down is just unbelievable.

"The past couple of seasons, I've been struggling for wins and in danger of dropping off the tour, so this is important and proves to people that I still can play.

"Maybe I am not so consistent but on my day I think I am capable of winning

"If I was not, I would not be playing.

"It's been a while since I beat a top 16 player at a major ranking event so I am over the moon and look forward to my next game.

"It will take me a while to wind down from this and I think probably two or three beers will help."

l British Eurosport is the Home of Snooker, showing 19 tournaments per season including the World Championship, UK Championship the Masters and all other ranking events. Available on Sky, Virgin Media & BT TV or online/mobile via eurosportplayer.com #eurosportsnooker

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A Derby woman is becoming an internet sensation thanks to her festive plea for a man.

Fed up of living the single life for the last two years, 30-year-old Kelly Lucey has posted a video of herself on YouTube in a bid to find a man, reports a national newspaper.

In the video the mum-of-one, who lives in Derby, is featured singing a humorous festive parody to the tune of the Christmas classic 'Santa Baby'.

In the song she says she wants a 'handsome guy' with a 'big heart' in some 'tight Calvins' who is a 'loyal man' to arrive in time for Christmas this year. So she's not asking for much.

The video has been viewed by almost 1,500 people.

WHEN it comes to slimming through the festive party season, many people assume you have to say a sad goodbye to all social events if you want to lose, manage or even maintain your weight.

The great news is, however, that whether you're looking forward to a winter ball, festive drinks, a Christmas meal out or a big office party, you definitely don't have to decline your invitation because you're trying to slim.

I'm a Slimming World team developer and consultant in South Derbyshire, and as a former slimmer, I know exactly how it feels to be watching your weight and looking forward to a season full of festivities. And I know that, with Slimming World, you don't have to put life on hold and miss out on the fun like you might with other weight-loss plans.

Instead of telling members what to eat and what to avoid, at Slimming World we empower slimmers to make healthier choices about the way they shop, cook and eat and show them how they can fit these choices into their everyday lifestyle whatever that entails. Members also learn to plan ahead for potential pitfalls – like Christmas events – so they can achieve long-term weight loss success, which means worrying about staying on track really is a thing of the past.

So if the idea of protecting your weight loss this festive season fills you with dread, read on for my tips on how to tackle your party worries so nothing holds you back from having a cracker of a Christmas without piling on the pounds.

AT HOME

With Slimming World it's possible to still cook and enjoy all of your favourite Christmas meals. Our fabulous Food Optimising healthy eating plan is based on the science of energy density and satiety, meaning slimmers can fill up on healthy foods – like fruit and veg, pasta, rice, potatoes, pulses, fish, lean meat and eggs – that are low in calories yet deliciously satisfying.

Lots of these foods are the staples of Christmas meals, from turkey with all the trimmings to a traditional ham for a family feast, meaning you'll be able to enjoy all your festive favourites and won't feel like you're going without a thing. Adopting simple practices like removing the skin from your turkey, dry-roasting your potatoes and parsnips and enjoying lots of vegetables – including delicious sprouts – on the side can make Christmas dinner much healthier and equally as delicious as years gone by.

BEFORE AND AFTER THE PARTY

If you're going out drinking, make sure you have a substantial, filling meal before you leave the house, so you're not tempted by late-night snacks after a few beverages. You could even keep some lovely homemade leftovers on standby ready to be heated up quickly in the oven or microwave when you arrive home, just in case you arrive home with the munchies – it's like having your own homemade ready meals!

The next morning, create a brilliant big brekkie by combining eggs with grilled bacon (don't forget to remove the visible fat), mushrooms and tomatoes, and baked beans. Any tiredness from the night before will get a big injection of energy, without an ounce of guilt.

AT THE BAR

Research conducted by Slimming World and YouGov earlier this year found that when drinking alcohol, most of us have a tipping point after which we go on to eat and drink much more than we intended — leading us to consume an average of 6,300 extra calories in food and alcohol over two days.

There's no need to worry though, 86% of our members surveyed as part of the research told us that they still enjoy a drink in moderation and lose weight beautifully. Ninety-two per cent of members also said that, since joining Slimming World, they've discovered ways to cut down on their booze without cutting down on the fun. Simple swaps like choosing diet mixers or switching to wine spritzers by adding soda water or diet lemonade for a longer drink are great starting points. Alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks is another great strategy – it's cheaper too and you'll probably thank yourself in the morning! To find your "tipping point" or for more tips on choosing the best options at the bar, visit www.slimmingworld.com/alcohol.

AT THE RESTAURANT

If you're going for a meal, check out the menu beforehand so you can plan what you're having – making healthy choices is much easier when you know what lies ahead and lots of menus are available online nowadays. Menu items described as grilled, steamed, griddled, roasted, baked or boiled are often the healthier choices. Watch out for items described as deep-fried or battered, pan-fried, breaded, creamy, Alfredo, au gratin and those that come with creamy or cheesy sauces as they tend to be oily and packed with fat.

If a roast dinner takes your fancy, satisfy your appetite with lots of lean roast meat, boiled or baked potatoes and steamed, grilled or boiled vegetables. Grilled steak, gammon steak and chicken breast are also great options. Instead of chips, ask for vegetables or a side salad, and rice or jacket/boiled potatoes. Don't be afraid to ask for your vegetables without butter and with sauces on the side, that way you can choose how much to enjoy.

OUT AND ABOUT

When it's freezing cold and dark outside, it's so easy for your usual activity routine to take a back seat. While you don't have to embrace exercise to lose weight, more often than not we find increasing activity not only helps boost weight loss, it also helps stick to new healthy lifestyle habits.

Being active doesn't have to mean joining the gym or enduring rigorous exercise regimes, though. Increasing your activity levels could be as simple as walking the kids to school instead of driving, taking the stairs instead of the lift or parking the car further from work and walking the extra distance. Walking is a great way to keep active, and helps to boost your health and mood too. Cycling, joining the kids in a kicking a ball around, or taking up dancing are all fun ways to get more active, more often.

REST AND RELAXATION

When it comes to slimming through the festive season, it's not just the temptation to indulge that gets in the way, it's also stress, fatigue and keeping up with everything that's going on. Tiredness can zap your energy and send healthy intentions off track, so remember to get plenty of sleep. Don't put too much pressure on yourself either and remember to relax and enjoy the festivities rather than getting too hung up on planning for them.

To conclude, if you're not 100% happy with your size right now it definitely doesn't mean you can't live your life to the full. By adopting a few clever weight-loss confidence-boosting strategies like the ones above, you can really enjoy yourself throughout the Christmas festivities. The biggest challenge many of us face is keeping on track and when there is so much going on it's easy to lose sight of our best intentions. Making a commitment and getting support from others by sharing ideas and experiences at this key time of year is one way to ensure that you stay in charge of your weight throughout the party season.

LATE afternoon, a few years ago, at the renowned Niepoort winery in the Douro region of northern Portugal, I was casually asked if I'd like a Portonic.

At the time, I'd no idea what a Portonic was but, without hesitation, I nodded my assent because, well because, I'm such a pro and because – surely – no good ever comes from refusing a drink!

Anyway, it was clearly the right decision and I was rewarded with uplifting floral flavours and a concentrated but dazzlingly, refreshing spirit finish. Ridiculously easy to make, a Portonic is comprised of 1/3 Niepoort Dry White Port to 2/3 tonic water, lots of ice, a lemon zest garnish and, if you want to get fancy, a couple of cherries or cranberries.

Chilled, a Portonic makes for a great, far less alcoholic, alternative to G&T and can be drunk all year round. That's right – Port needn't be confined to Christmas! That said, Port sales hit a peak at this time of year and so, what better time for a quick guide to the other key styles of Port?

Vintage Port is the pinnacle of the Port pyramid and it is only produced in years when the grape growing season has been outstanding (usually 3 or 4 a decade). The decision to 'declare' a vintage is made independently by each individual Port house but, in the past decade, 2011, 2007 and 2003, were declared by nearly all.

After bottling, Vintage Port needs to develop slowly over a period of at least 15 to 20 years before it can even be considered for drinking. Most are at their peak between 20 to 40 years and the very finest can last 80 years or more.

For those with the patience and/or youth on their side, 2011 is the vintage to buy as it's been universally acclaimed as one of the very best vintages. Particularly excellent is the Niepoort Vintage 2011 which has huge flavours of crushed raspberries and dark chocolate with chewy, peppery undertones and will be drinking from 2030 to 2070.

Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) was originally wine that had been destined for bottling as vintage port, but because of lack of demand, was left in the barrel for longer than had been planned. Over time it has become two distinct styles of wine, both of them bottled between four and six years after the vintage, but one style is fined and filtered before bottling, while the other is not.

Aged Tawny is stylistically very different to Vintage Port but, it too, occupies Port's upper echelons Indeed, it's often said that Vintage is the 'king' of Ports and Tawny the 'queen.'

Unlike predominantly bottle aged Vintage Port, the maturing of Tawny Port takes place in small wooden casks where the wines undergo a steady process of controlled oxidisation and the colour fades from deep ruby to tawny, hence the name. Tawnies may be bottled with an indication of age: 10, 20, 30 and 40 or more than 40 years old being the permitted categories.

Softer, nuttier, more restrained and elegant than Vintage, Tawny Port will last for a couple of weeks after opening due to it having already been slightly oxidised. Traditionally, the Port houses would serve it gently chilled after lunch in the heat of the summer months.

Colheita, my favourite port style, is a tawny port from a single vintage. Currently, I've got a bottle of the Colheita 2001 Wiese & Krohn on the go. It's ridiculously moreish with irresistible soft toffee, caramelised berry fruit and dry fig flavours. It's amazing on its own but is even better with semi-soft cheeses, cured ham or crème brulée.

BUILDING a business from scratch is never easy.

But when you have a 450-year-old former sweet shop and limited funds you have to draw on every bit of knowledge and guile you can.

Fortunately for Andre Collins he is a man who seems to be able to turn his hand to many things.

There are certainly not many people who could make their own till to keep costs down.

But then not everyone who runs a delicatessen has a former profession as a heating engineer.

Andre explained how he went from driving thousands of miles every month to commuting just a few feet from his new home just off Wirksworth Market Place.

"I was working all over the place, from Sheffield down to Northampton and across from Crewe to Skegness," the 50-year-old said. "I spent my entire career as an engineer and I would be driving a minimum of 1,000 miles every single week. However work was starting to get quiet and in the service industry you can't ever be sure how secure your position is.

"My partner, Netty Waterhouse, has a bakery in Wirksworth and she was told by the woman who used to own the sweet shop that she was going to give up her business."

The building was positioned in just the right place for a deli and after checking they were not stepping on anyone else's toes in the town they struck a deal and decided to open Waterhouse Delights.

Andre said: "The banks might be saying they are lending but in reality it is incredibly difficult.

"We didn't take a loan and I used my savings and a huge amount of my own hard work to get the shop open. We sourced things like second-hand chiller cabinets for the shop but we had to do absolutely everything to the interior, like plumbing and wiring, to get the shop open."

It was a big job but the couple managed to open in April 2013.

Andre said: "I was nervous about opening the shop but I knew that Netty would be there to help, given her experience running Homemade Delights.

"One of the major things that we had a difficulty with was the amount of stock we had at the start. If we had been in a different situation, and had a bank loan, we would have been able to go out and buy an entire shop's worth of stock from day one."

But that slow build-up of stock had other advantages, such as working out exactly what people in the town wanted from the store.

Andre said: "We have a good range now, including gluten free and wheat free. We had decided on some of the products but others came about due to customers asking for them."

But no matter what the dietary requirements, one thing that Andre always tries to promise is that the products are all as local as possible.

He said: "Some places say they have local produce but in reality that means 70 miles away.

"I believe that we have about 50% of the stock that is local. For instance we have chocolate that is made right here in Wirksworth and more than 60 varieties of cheeses."

One of the major things that has allowed Andre and Netty to build contacts with food producers are the multitude of food fairs that have sprung in and around Derbyshire in recent years.

Andre said: "There are so many great producers in the county now and we have met lots of them through food fairs like the one over at Belper which we have done a few times and there was one recently at the Roundhouse in Derby which had some really high quality businesses there as well.

"The business really does become part of you. When it is yours you never really stop so when we are on our day off we will end up going into other delis and speaking to the owners to see what they are doing. It doesn't feel like work though when you are doing things like that."

And those days off are few and far between as Andre is the only full-time member of staff at the business.

He said: "There are a couple of people who come in when we have particularly busy times, if there is something in the town for instance, but otherwise it is me on my own.

"I want to be able to build the business to the point where it can sustain another person, someone from the local area, but that is something for the future."

And there is a very good chance that those plans could come to fruition given how well the business is doing.

Andre said: "The people in Wirksworth have been absolutely fantastic with their support.

"We really could not ask for more from them. We are really aware of the fact that we have to be competitively priced as there is a Co-op just up the road and over in Matlock there is a Sainsbury's.

"I think people are actually changing their shopping habits as well though. Whereas people were doing a whole month's shopping in one day, now they are much more likely to do bits and pieces.

"I do a lot of single items, like one chilli for 5p, that people can get rather than having to buy 20 from the supermarkets and wasting them. People are also much more aware of the amount they are spending on fuel and if they are having to drive a distance to get to a large supermarket they could actually be saving money coming to local shops like ours."

Through its 450 years in the town, the building that houses Waterhouse Delights will have seen many businesses come and go.

But in Andre it seems it has a tenant that is set to be a staple in the town for many years to come.

HE has seen it hundreds of times but watching poorly children meet Santa in Lapland always brings a tear to Dr Trevor Mills' eye.

"It's magical," said Dr Mills, who accompanies the charity When You Wish Upon a Star every year on its annual trip to Lapland.

"You can tell it is a very special moment for the children and their parents," he said.

When You Wish Upon a Star organises the Lapland trip every December for poorly children from Derbyshire and the East Midlands.

This year, the day trip is taking place on Thursday, December 4. Every year it costs £90,000 to organise – and the charity is calling on Derby Telegraph readers to help fund the magical trip.

GP Dr Mills has been to Lapland every December for 20 years. He is joined by a team of paramedics and provides medical support for the children and their parents.

"We've had children whose peg tubes have come out but, on the whole, there aren't too many problems," said Dr Mills, who lives in Nottingham.

"We are there to reassure the children and their parents.

"We tend to give more medical advice to the adults. If the child is not well, then they will not be able to go but, if a parent feels ill, they will go anyway because they don't want to disappoint the children.

"One year, a parent had to be hospitalised in Lapland because they had a heart attack but, mainly, we get adults with headaches and migraines – it is a long day.

"We start at the crack of dawn and they may have to drive from far away to get to the airport in the first place. So, the parents are often very tired – but they still have a wonderful day."

During the day, children will get the chance to play in the snow, go on a sleigh pulled by huskies, see reindeers and take a ride on a snowmobile before the magical moment of meeting Santa Claus.

"That always brings a tear to my eye," said Dr Mills.

"Seeing the excitement on the children's faces is fabulous. It's a positive memory for the parents to have of their children because some of the children do succumb to their illnesses. Being able to have those positive memories are so valuable."

As well as helping out on the Lapland trips, Dr Mills has volunteered as a medical adviser for When You Wish Upon a Star.

He said: "It's a great day and it is as much for the parents as it is for the children. We look after the children while the parents have a go on the quad bikes or the snowmobiles.

"It's fantastic seeing the children having the time of their lives. The children who are very ill are limited by what they can do and you need to make sure that what they do is safe and secure."

IT costs When You Wish Upon a Star £90,000 to organise the magical Lapland trip.

You can help send a child from Derbyshire to Lapland this Christmas by making a donation. Please send cheques made payable to "When You Wish Upon a Star" to When You Wish Upon a Star Head Office, Futurist House, Valley Road, Nottingham, NG5 1JE. Please include a cover note with your name and address. To donate by credit or debit card call 0115 9791 720. You can also make a donation at the charity's web page at www.justgiving.com/whenyouwish.

Liz Credgington, East Midlands regional fund-raiser, said: "It's incredible to see the children smile all day long and it is not only the children who deserve a break – the parents do, too.

"They get the opportunity to spend some quality time together away from their treatments and the hospital. When the children meet Santa it's just amazing. They really deserve such a magical experience."

A DERBY shoe repair shop that has been destroyed by cars crashing into it twice in the past decade is still waiting for protective barriers to be erected outside.

John G and Co, in Uttoxeter New Road, needed £48,000 of repairs after an accident in April.

The front of the shop was destroyed when a black VW Golf ploughed into it, smashing almost everything inside.

The same thing happened ten years ago and, just months after reopening after the April accident, the store had a near miss when there was another crash outside.

Business development manager Sue Lloyd-Stone said: "We've been told that, if the car hadn't hit the traffic lights, then it would have come through the shop again.

"We've been asking Derby City Council for months for bollards or barriers to be put up in front of the shop but nothing's been done."

The most recent accident occurred on Wednesday night. A Vauxhall Zafira hit the traffic lights near the shop and came to rest just feet from the front of the business.

The male driver was taken to hospital but was only thought to have suffered minor injuries. Police are still carrying out investigations into the cause of the crash.

Sue said: "When we came in on Thursday, we heard about what had happened and I got in touch with the council again.

"I feel we have been totally let down by it. It hasn't done anything about the situation we're in.

"It has cost nearly £50,000 to get the shop back up and running and, during that time, it has been incredibly hard to keep going.

"We're in a good position here with people coming in and out of the city but, because we've been boarded up for so long, they've had to find other places to go."

Following the accident, the firm still continued to trade, with shop manager Garry Tidmas carrying out repairs on a makeshift workbench, while some customers were directed to the firm's shoe business in Allenton.

Sue said: "Some customers have stayed, but it's hard.

"We're doing lots of advertising and deals to try to get people back through the door.

"I think, if we were to move, the landlord would struggle to find someone else to come in because of the dangers here.

"Bollards should be put in, and maybe a speed camera on the road as well. With people getting points on their licences, I think it would stop them."

A spokesman for the city council said: "We're currently looking into this matter and will respond as soon as possible."

MARCO Silvestri was probably the most surprised person inside Elland Road on the final whistle.

The Leeds United goalkeeper would have expected a busy afternoon against the Championship leaders, joint top scorers and favourites for promotion, Derby County.

Not so.

He completed the 90-plus minutes without being forced to make a save.

Derby lacked a cutting edge – not a statement you hear very often.

They were top scorers in the Championship last season with an average close on two goals per game and had failed to score in only two of 22 matches this season.

Finding the net is not usually a problem for this team but the man from Tremoli, Italy, showed them the way to goal on this occasion.

Striker Mirco Antenucci struck twice either side of half-time to give Leeds a 2-0 win. It was their first victory over the Rams in 13 attempts since 2005, when Rob Hulse scored a hat-trick against the club he would play for later in his career.

That was a bad night for Derby, I recall, and Saturday was not their day.

They worked some very promising positions and had chances.

The best fell to substitute Kwame Thomas on his debut but the 19-year-old striker blazed his shot over with 10 minutes of normal time left.

A goal then would have tested Leeds' nerve but take nothing away from the home team.

They put in a real shift for their head coach Neil Redfearn and did not allow Derby to breathe.

If you cannot breathe, you cannot be fluent. Leeds' tempo and strength appeared to shock and jolt Derby from their normal smooth stride.

Rams head coach Steve McClaren had warned the players they would need to play above their normal level but they dropped below it in too many areas of the pitch.

This was only Leeds' second win in 11 outings and it was deserved.

Derby started well but became stifled by Leeds' determination and purposeful approach.

The opening half an hour was fiercely contested. There was a foul in almost every passage of play and the number of yellow cards outweighed efforts on target.

Leeds got on top in midfield and Alex Mowatt tested Lee Grant, back in Derby's goal after injury.

Grant pushed the shot away, although he could do nothing to prevent Antenucci scoring two minutes before the break.

Mowatt won a tussle with Will Hughes.

The Rams midfielder stopped, wanting a free kick, but Mowatt played on and was able to squeeze a low centre into the area where Antenucci, unmarked, side-footed home from eight yards.

Antenucci was offered similar freedom to score his second five minutes into the second half.

Stephen Warnock's overlap opened up Derby's right side and his cross picked out the striker, again unmarked, and he took a touch before beating Grant from 12 yards.

Smart finishes, both, but not smart defending.

Grant denied Sam Byram and then Antenucci, hungry for a hat-trick, but generally it was Derby who forced their hosts back in the final 20 minutes or so.

They appeared to have won a penalty when Cyrus Christie's slalom run was brought to an end, only for referee Mick Russell to award a free kick a fraction outside the area.

A big call, that, because a goal for the Rams would have left them with plenty of time to rescue something form the game.

Substitutes Craig Bryson and Simon Dawkins boosted Derby's threat in the final third.

They were the Rams' two best players, arguably, despite featuring for only a quarter of the game.

Bryson is willing to run off the ball and beyond it, at times, and this troubles defences.

He hit the winner at Watford coming off the bench in the previous game and is pushing for a recall.

Will he start the next game? It is an interesting selection dilemma for McClaren.

Bryson set up Derby's best chance of the afternoon when he laid the ball invitingly into the path of Thomas and he rather snatched at the opportunity.

Thomas was part of a triple substitution made by McClaren in the 66th minute, a typically positive move by the head coach, and Derby finished the game with three graduates of the club's Academy on the pitch. Four, if you count Grant who came through the youth system 12 years ago.

Defeat was disappointing, as were parts of the performance, but there will be setbacks along the way.

One view is that they are a point up from consecutive tough away fixtures at Watford and Leeds. Many might have taken two draws and two points. Derby emerged from the double with three.

They are a prized scalp and this was evident on Saturday. Everybody wants to beat the leaders.

Derby remain top by one point following late slip-ups by Bournemouth and Middlesbrough, who both conceded last-gasp equalisers at home to Millwall and Blackburn Rovers.

The ups and downs of the Championship.

DERBY County allowed themselves to be drawn into a battle and came off second best.

We saw it against Millwall earlier this season and in the second half at Brentford early last month.

And we saw it again at Elland Road on Saturday.

Derby will compete when called on, no problem, but such "scraps" do not really suit them.

They went untroubled in the opening 15 to 20 minutes against Leeds United and enjoyed some control before the shape of the contest changed.

Leeds started to get about Derby and they knocked the Rams out of their usual stride.

A few tackles went in first half, from both teams, and this cranked up the tempo and the atmosphere.

Leeds handled the situation far better and ran out 2-0 winners – deservedly.

Steve McClaren was understandably disappointed.

"Credit to Leeds. After 20 minutes they realised they had to do something because we were controlling the game," said the Rams head coach.

"They frustrated us and we lost our heads a little bit and you cannot do that.

"We joined in when we should have carried on playing our football.

"That created the atmosphere and we didn't deal with it very well."

Derby need to display greater patience and calmness in such contests.

Not easy, I know, but the key is to stay in the game and work yourself back on to the front foot.

Unfortunately, Mirco Antenucci took advantage of loose defending to strike twice for Leeds and leave Derby chasing the game.

They regrouped and pressed in the final 20 minutes. They had good opportunities to score although Leeds did appear content to concede some ground with the intention of counter-attacking.

Derby had John Eustace and Craig Bryson among their substitutes and an injection of experience at half-time might have helped the Rams' cause.

McClaren has never been shy of making substitutions and so it was a surprise not to see at least one change at the break.

Derby's young midfield trio of Omar Mascarell, Will Hughes and Jeff Hendrick – average age 20 – was finding it tough, although two of the Leeds' midfielders, Alex Mowatt and Lewis Cook, are only 19 and 17.

Bryson made a difference when he came on in the 66th minute, as did Simon Dawkins.

Elland Road can be an intimidating venue.

Was this a game for Eustace to start in the holding role rather than Mascarell, who is still new to English football?

That is not a question asked with the benefit of hindsight but a subject discussed before kick-off along with a shout for Dawkins to start ahead of 18-year-old Jordon Ibe.

Ibe was excellent for 70 minutes at Watford in the previous game and Mascarell had played well against both Watford and Wolves.

It would have been harsh to leave out the young Spaniard but Eustace's know-how in certain games, whether starting or coming on, is an option.

We have not seen Eustace since the disappointing home defeat by Wigan Athletic, a game in which everybody had an off-day.

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