A millionaire businessman who crashed at 244mph while attempting to set a speed record in a Porsche 911 Turbo had taken one hand off the wheel to deploy a parachute, an inquest heard.

More from Latest News

• A bid to grant protected status to a York music venue has succeeded following news of its closure and sale to a property developer.

  The bid from York’s Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) branch to list Victoria Vaults, in Nunnery Lane, as an asset of community value was approved on Thursday, December 12.

• York Central should not be an oasis of privilege, one of the developers overseeing the development has said as updates on timescales and plans for commercial space were revealed.

  A planning application for some of the 2,500 homes is set to be lodged at the end of June as part of the first phase of the development, councillors heard.

• Almost 1,000 additional patients with suspected autism in North Yorkshire and the Humber are waiting for a diagnosis this year, new figures show.

  It comes as the manager of a York healthcare watchdog warns that “nothing has changed” since The Press reported how thousands of people were facing lengthy waits for an autism diagnosis at the end of last year.

• Plans to demolish a York garage and build an apartment block have been submitted - but a historic part of the building will be retained.

  The plans lodged with York Council, from Blenheim Estates, would see the building housing a Kwik Fit garage in The Mount torn down to make way for 14 apartments.

• BREAKING : RAIL passengers are being warned of major cancellations on the trains between York and Leeds this morning.

  Transpennine Express services between Leeds and York and Leeds and Hull LNER services are cancelled between York and Doncaster in both directions.

• THE results of major ongoing work to help transform rail travel between York, Leeds and Manchester have been published.

  The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) has released its first Sustainable Development Report, showcasing significant achievements in sustainability from April 2019 to March 2024.

• Administrators have appointed a new company to sell on a 40-home site in York, after its developers fell into administration.

  As The Press previously reported, the Leeds-based developers Camstead Homes - which was behind Blackberry Walk in Derwenthorpe - went into administration.

• YORK residents' fears of being cut off by a new building at the National Railway Museum have been eased after a ‘breakthrough in negotiations’.

  The museum has agreed to additional hours of pedestrian access through Central Hall, its new welcome building, which forms part of the new York Central development.