A date has been set for a referendum to decide if Plymouth should have a directly-elected mayor paid in the region of £75,000 a year.

Plymouth City Council has to hold a referendum after a campaign, led by Angus Forbes, former banker and husband of celebrity dancer Darcey Bussell, gathered more than 10,000 signatures in favour of the process.

Opponents said the campaign was based on false promises and hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on it would be a waste of money.

Campaigners for the referendum, due to be held on Thursday 17 July, claimed it was a chance to change how the city was run.

If Plymouth residents vote in favour of a directly-elected mayor, the first elections will be held in May 2026.

At a heated meeting at Plymouth City Council, members expressed their frustration with the process that the council said would cost about £410,000.

Several councillors spoke about other areas such as Bristol, Liverpool and Torbay which have had directly elected mayors but then abolished the posts.

The leader of the Labour-led council, Tudor Evans, said there was a great difference between a possible mayor for Plymouth and the directly-elected mayors in London and Greater Manchester who have greater powers.

Evans also pointed to the current reorganisation of local government taking place, in which the government has indicated it wants to scrap directly-elected mayors for single authorities such as Plymouth in favour of mayors for combined authorities.

The city council's chief executive, Tracey Lee, acknowledged the reorganisation as a potential risk and said talks were ongoing with the government.

Forbes claimed the cost of the referendum was "the best money a Plymouth taxpayer could ever spend to change to a successful system of direct democracy".

He said the current system had "failed to grow the economy".

Forbes said: "Our greatest opportunity is to have a place-based leader to galvanise us, to unify us with a vision for Plymouth, and to be an ambassador, to attract private capital and private citizens to come to Plymouth."

People living in Immingham are being asked about their views on the future of the town.

The town council is drawing up a new town plan which will outline future developments.

It said it was a chance for residents, businesses and other local organisations to tell planners "what they would like to see".

An online survey will run for four weeks and responses will be used to develop further feedback sessions, the council said.

Results of the research will be used to develop the Immingham Forward plan.

Karen Swinburn, chair of the town council and Lady Mayor of Immingham, said: "This is your chance to tell us what you like about Immingham and where you would like to see improvements.

"We want to know what you think as your views are vital to shaping the future of the town going forward.

"The survey will take just a few minutes to complete but may have an impact on the shape of Immingham to come."

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.

A teacher from Australia was reunited with an opal gifted by his class to the children's author Roald Dahl more than 30 years ago.

Mark Taylor, 57, made a special trip to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, to see the precious gem while on a visit to the UK.

The world-renowned author had kept it on the desk in his writing hut at his home, Gipsy House.

He was given it by the class at Mintabie Area School in central Australia after doing a telephone link-up when he visited the country as part of his book tour promoting the recently published Matilda in 1989.

The children had been reading his books and were fascinated by the author, Mr Taylor said.

"He had a way of saying the most extraordinary and hilarious things, while remaining perfectly calm and teaching us at the same time," he added.

Mintabie, which is now an abandoned mining town, is more than 1,000km from Adelaide and a long way from facilities that other children would take for granted.

Mr Taylor said his students' faces transformed when Dahl told them how lucky they were to live in a place where treasures were dug up from the ground.

He recalled that Dahl told the class: "There could be treasures all around you, waiting to be found, and you might never know it. In fact, you could be sitting or standing on an incredible treasure now."

Mr Taylor said the author had asked if the students had ever found opal stones, to which the class responded they had.

An opal stone was duly sent to Roald Dahl via his publisher, Penguin.

Steve Gardam, director of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, said: "The opal stone has been on the writing desk of Roald Dahl since he received it in 1989 and has remained there ever since.

"In 2011, Dahl's writing hut was transferred to the Museum and is one of the key exhibits here in Great Missenden."