For some years there has been concern

Local residents described the bid for the council tax increase as "disgusting" and said they were "not very happy about it". Others said they think it needed to increase, but that there should be people who were exempt from it.One woman asked where people who are struggling with their bills will get the additional money from.

"I've just had my hours cut at work. We're all trying to live within our means, and we've all cut out on the luxuries, so what do we cut out on now?," she said."Ten percent might be nothing to them, but it's an awful lot to me when gas, electric, water, food, everything is going up."The council will be signing off its budget at a meeting in February.

In Armthorpe, a large village to the east of Doncaster, dozens of volunteers are busy packing food parcels for struggling households.Each year the Armthorpe Food Support Group go the extra mile, filling the packages with festive treats and gifts on top of the usual household staples.

The community centre has been turned into a hive of activity, with long trestle tables piled high with everything from stocking fillers to joints of gammon.

The group have even roped in players from the Doncaster Knights rugby league side for extra help.The Bishop Auckland-born artist was one of the Bevin Boys conscripted to work in coal mines during World War Two and went on to have a 60-year career as a painter.

His daughter, Corinne Aspel, said the range of work on display at the new exhibition was "very special"."Dad was always learning and was keen to try different techniques," she said.

"It will be lovely to see a really good range of his work at the exhibition from different stages of his life and for there to be pieces people won’t have seen before."The exhibition will include images of McGuinness's life as well as his sketchbooks, etchings, lithographs and paintings.