Tech

A peregrine falcon chick has successfully hatched after its parents' first set of eggs – known as a clutch – was destroyed by a vandal.

The chick is the first to hatch this year at St Albans Cathedral, with the new baby seen on a live webcam.

Eggs belonging to the birds of prey were deliberately smashed in April, but the pair of falcons were not deterred and laid a second clutch.

"We're delighted to see the wonderful comeback these birds have made, demonstrating just how resilient they are," said Lea Ellis, engagement manager at Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.

The peregrine is a species of large crow-sized falcon and can travel at more than 200mph (320 km/h), making it the fastest diving bird in the world.

The falcon pair – who were named Alban and Boudica after local historical figures – captured the public's interest since producing chicks every year since 2022.

The new chick emerged on Monday from one of three eggs, with onlookers waiting to see if any brothers or sisters would hatch.

Ms Ellis said: "The hatching of their first chick this year signifies hope, and I am optimistic that we will see more chicks on the nest tray in the very near future.

"It is not unusual for the eggs to hatch hours or days apart and sometimes eggs do not hatch, as they can be infertile."

She added: "For those watching the webcam, there will be times when the parents will be out of sight, but I'd urge people not to worry about this, as they will be close by to protect the chick or chicks."

Hertfordshire Police opened an investigation into the vandalised clutch in April and previously said inquiries were "ongoing".

An NHS hospital trust that runs mental health services across Lancashire has failed to improve after struggling with staff shortages, inspectors have found.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust was rated "good" overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), but the regulator found safety and effectiveness of care needed to change.

Inspectors found there were high levels of vacancies in the understaffed psychiatric intensive care units and acute wards for adults of working age, which put patient safety at risk.

A spokesman for the trust said efforts were under way to address the shortfall in workers, which was "a concern across the NHS".

Inspectors visited 21 of the trust's adult mental health wards across eight locations including Chorley, which was specifically named.

Their visit was prompted after concerns were received about serious incidents within the service, a CQC spokesman said.

'Increased risk' of harm

Each service was judged to have "an increased risk that people could be harmed" as wards were often understaffed, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

But inspectors found the trust had made improvements to monitoring patients' physical health and conducting risk assessments.

They also found that not all patients had access to a psychologist.

However, the services were found to have made sufficient improvements to no longer be in breach of the regulations it had fallen foul of at the previous inspection in January 2024.

But the trust was told it must ensure it has sufficient numbers of staff and was ordered to produce an "action plan" in response to all the concerns raised.

A trust spokesman said the "safe and effective care of our patients is of utmost importance to us and we acknowledge how staffing levels, as raised in the CQC's report, does have an impact".

He said changes were under way, including the recruitment of more than 90 registered nurses throughout the past year within inpatient wards.

Thousands of islanders are set to walk across Guernsey next month, to mark 10 years of a breast cancer charity's sunset walks.

The Pink Ladies said it hoped 2,000 people would attend its event on 28 June to raise awareness and support those who had been affected by breast cancer.

It said the walk, which happens every two years, first launched in 2007 and typically attracted about 1,500 islanders, all dressed in pink.

The charity's chair, Naomi Leach, said: "As the Pink Ladies Guernsey approaches its 25th year, we are so looking forward to celebrating with friends and supporters of the charity… which is always a wonderful opportunity to celebrate life and living."

'Life turned upside down'

The event will be a first for Gemma Ainger, who was 42 when she diagnosed with an aggressive form of stage three breast cancer.

"Last year my life was turned upside down," she said.

"The hardest part of all that's happened to me is moving on from the fact that if I'd been paying attention to my body, its highly likely I would have caught my breast cancer earlier.

"I'll be walking the 10th sunset walk, a year after I discovered a lump, with so many of my biggest supporters, and I can't wait, it's going to be very emotional for me, that's for sure."

A 99-year-old D-Day veteran has told BBC Radio Sussex he lied to enlist in the army during World War Two.

Bob Piper, from Southwater, joined the Home Guard at the outbreak of fighting when he was just 14 years old.

He later enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment when he was underage after being told by a recruitment officer to say he was 18.

Mr Piper – soon to celebrate his 100th birthday – then transferred to the Royal Signal Regiment and arrived on mainland Europe one week after D-Day.

In the Home Guard, he said he spent time patrolling beaches, guarding airfields and looking after the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk at Arundel Castle as there was a fear at the time the Germans might try to "snatch" members of the royals.

Mr Piper's stories from Europe were among those the Ministry of Defence shared when it highlighted the exploits of the D-Day veterans on the 80th anniversary of the landings last year.

When Victory in Europe was declared, Mr Piper said he was still deployed in war-torn Germany.

"There was no jollification," he told BBC Radio Sussex. "We were inundated with German POWs."

The 99-year-old said people who had been sent by the Germans to work in the country were trying to get home, while German civilians were also attempting to flee the advancing Russian army.

"There were thousands and thousands of people that had to be looked after," he said.

"It ended up instead of fighting everybody, you were trying to organise and feed them."

Mr Piper, who sat behind the King at VE Day celebrations in London on Monday, said he will go to a service at Westminster Abbey to mark the occasion on Thursday.

"I think about the boys that never came home," he told the BBC.

"I often say that the children today should go out and stand in the middle of a cemetery. This is the price of the freedom that we have today. It's not money, but look around at those headstones."

A beloved working men's club is to close after 122 years in operation, despite its members' efforts to keep it alive.

Ryhope Working Men's Club – known locally as Ryhope Top Club – opened in the Sunderland village in 1903, and was especially popular among its mining community.

Club members have enjoyed summer trips, Christmas parties, ballroom dancing and leek-growing contests over the decades.

But this month, the club announced it would close its doors for the final time on 1 June, citing lower custom in recent years.

"The bar is the heartbeat of any workmen's club. Unfortunately, it's died a death," said Ronnie Bates, who became a member of the club when he was 19.

Mr Bates followed in the footsteps of his father, who joined in 1926 while working at Ryhope Colliery.

The pit's closure in 1966 was the first challenge the club faced.

"It affected Ryhope in a big way – the pubs and clubs suffered," Mr Bates said.

But Ryhope Top Club survived, and remained a big part of the community.

"In the good days, in the '70s and '80s, we used to have a trip away for the kids, the families."

There used to be 12 coaches lined up, he said.

"We didn't go far – Whitley Bay, Seaton Carew, Redcar, places like that. It was a great day."

Mr Bates remembers the club often being "packed".

Monday nights saw film showings, while on Tuesdays people came "from all over" for ballroom dancing, and at weekends, "every room was full upstairs".

But customers began to dwindle after the indoor smoking ban was introduced in 2007, and the club had to compete with "cheap alcohol" available in supermarkets, Mr Bates said.

"Then Covid struck, and that really hit everybody hard, obviously. And we've just never recovered from it," he added.

Nora Whitfield, 72, started working as a barmaid at the club when she was 18.

She no longer works for the club, but has spent the last 14 years organising charity fundraisers at the venue, helping to raise money for a local maternity unit, Macmillan Cancer Support, the RNLI, and several other charities.

As well as charity fundraising, Mrs Whitfield tried to bring money into the club by hosting bingo, functions and Christmas parties.

"I've done as much as I can," she said. "It's just so sad the way things are turning out."

Mrs Whitfield and Mr Bates praised the club's steward, bar staff, and committee members, who they say "tried really hard" to keep the club going.

The site of a former factory that was burnt down by arsonists could be redeveloped into a self-storage facility.

The vacant printworks in Crewe, Cheshire, was destroyed by a fire on 9 August that caused the evacuation of dozens of nearby homes.

In court in February, two men admitted arson, with a third found not guilty of the same charge.

A planning application for the vacant site, on the corner of Catherine Street and Frances Street, proposes the installation of self-storage containers.

The development, put forward by Lock Stock Self Storage Ltd, would also include CCTV surveillance and a 6m-high electric gate.

A report submitted with the application, which has been lodged with Cheshire East Council, said the proposal represented a "practical and beneficial use of the site" and would have minimal impact on the community.

More than 350 people were evacuated from their homes as a result of the fire which damaged some of the properties.

Det Con Mike Edwards, of Cheshire Police, said the incident "ripped residents out of the comfort of their own homes" and caused "substantial strain" on emergency services.

"The fire also left officers with considerable health issues and caused them to have time off work," he said.

James Evans, 19, of Welles Street, Sandbach, and 18-year-old Justin Keeling, of Catherine Street, Crewe, are due to be sentenced on 24 April after pleading guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

A controversial plan to bring an electricity cable from an offshore wind farm onshore at a Devon beauty spot has been recommended for approval by council officers.

White Cross offshore windfarm has applied to put seven floating turbines about 30 miles (52km) off the north Devon coast and wants to bring the power cable to shore at Saunton Sands.

More than 1,800 people have objected to the plans, which will be discussed by North Devon Council's planning committee at a meeting being held at Barnstaple Rugby Club at 10:00 BST on Wednesday.

White Cross said the project would create jobs in north Devon and provide thousands of homes with renewable energy.

The cable would make landfall at the north end of the beach at Saunton Sands, go through the car park, through Braunton Burrows and Braunton Marsh, across the Taw Estuary and then along the Tarka Trail to connect to a proposed new substation at Yelland.

Natural England initially said it had "fundamental concerns" about the application.

The planning report now says "a substantial number of the issues… have been resolved" but Natural England "still has concerns about some issues".

North Devon Council planning officers have recommended the scheme for approval with conditions attached regarding issues such as noise, drainage, working hours and the reinstatement of areas such as Saunton Sands car park.

Plans adapted

Helen Cooper, from the Save Our Sands group which has campaigned against the electricity cable plans, said: "We are disappointed but not surprised about the planning officers' recommendation to approve the application, particularly as it comes with 39 conditions attached."

Ms Cooper also raised concerns about there being enough space for all interested members of the public to attend the meeting given the high level of interest.

White Cross said: "White Cross will spark the development of a specialised local supply chain and create jobs within north Devon whilst providing 135,000 homes with renewable energy.

"We are grateful to everyone who has engaged with the project during the various stages of consultation. In response to feedback, we have adapted our plans to minimise environmental and social impacts."

Vintage bicycles will be on display as part of an annual celebration honouring the legacy of Danish engineer Mikael Pedersen.

The Veteran Cycle Club is marking its 70th anniversary with a full day of events in Dursley, Gloucestershire.

Mikael Pedersen, born around 1860 in Morkov, Denmark. He was working for an agricultural engineer when he helped design the separator, which drew the attention of industrialist Sir Robert Ashton Lister.

Mr Lister invited him to Dursley, where Pedersen would go on to create the bicycle that now bears his name.

A highlight of the day will see members ride into Dursley Market from 11:00 BST, paying tribute to the town's deep connection to the Pedersen bicycle.

The club was originally founded on the 50th anniversary of Pedersen's death and has since become a cherished tradition among vintage cycling enthusiasts.

In addition to designing the distinctive Pedersen bicycle, he also invented Denmark's first cream separator.

A colony of breeding seahorses is delaying work to repair a crumbling harbour wall.

Work to replace the walls around Weymouth Peninsula, Dorset, was due to begin in the winter but was halted due to "factors beyond the council's control".

Now contractors must wait until the protected seahorses, which breed and raise their young in the nearby seagrass, move back into deeper water.

Construction is expected to take 10 to 12 months, with completion expected in "mid-2026".

Inspections found the walls on the north east and north west side of the peninsula, which were built in 1977, were in "critical condition" and "at risk of failure".

Dorset Council place services councillor Jon Andrews said: "Balancing economic progress with protecting what makes Dorset special isn't always easy, but it's a challenge we are determined to meet.

"Seahorses are special creatures and it's right that we do what we can to avoid disturbing them during their breeding season."

X

Edinburgh councillors have approved emergency measures to tackle the city's worsening homelessness crisis.

The local authority confirmed new council lets will be suspended in all but a few exceptions.

People who have spent years on the housing waiting list say they are worried the new plans will reduce their chances of getting a suitable home.

But the council said it needs to take urgent action to meet unprecedented demand and fulfil its legal responsibilities.