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A survivor of a rowing accident on the River Thames in which an experienced rower died said he had never seen conditions like it.

On 11 October, 68-year-old Peter Lawson was swept down the Little Grey Weir near Sunbury Lock in Surrey after his boat capsized and broke in two – his body was found nine days later.

Peter Gray told Woking Coroner's Court on Thursday that the water near the weir was "incredibly fast-flowing" and they were "being sucked down the river".

Another crew member, Ashley Tilling, said you would not expect the weir to be open and described how he was "fully immersed" and "quaking" after their boat capsized.

Mr Tilling said both rowers "would err on the side of caution", but the group of four still got into difficulty on their return trip from Weybridge Rowing Club towards Walton.

He said he became aware the boat was drifting towards the weir and that when the boat capsized the four-man crew grabbed the ropes of posts.

He said a cruiser, which he later discovered had sunk two weeks before, had appeared.

Mr Tilling added: "It was quite spooky to see this cruiser emerging. I think it may have affected the [water] flow that end."

In a statement, the crew's coach Alice Leake described how she shouted a warning when she saw the boat drift towards the weir.

She tried to rescue the four men but her own boat became submerged and she went down the weir and was knocked unconscious.

Mr Gray said another boat had gone out earlier and did not report any problems.

The crew also assessed the water flow and their club's risk assessment was at yellow.

The Environment Agency's "red board" for the stretch was at red, but Mr Tilling said experienced crews could go out in those conditions.

The Environment Agency is also expected to give evidence at the inquest.

The inquest is scheduled to continue on Friday.

A council has let its allotment holders down the chair of a committee has claimed, after a report found a quarter of sites were "unusable".

A report into Bradford Council's allotment plots found 286 of the 1,186 it owns were unusable and some had been left empty for decades.

Councillor Nazam Azam questioned how the authority had let the situation get as bad as it was.

The council said it had invested £300,000 in seven allotment sites and would work with users to improve the service.

According to a council report, one allotment site – Legrams Lane – has 39 plots of which 25 are classed as unusable.

Estimates show it could cost around £2,500 to bring each unusable allotment up to standards.

Azam, who chairs the authority's corporate scrutiny committee, said: "The burning question is how have we allowed it to get to this stage?

"We haven't kept on top of this. We have let the users of the allotment service down. We've let this go on for too long."

Allotment holders have petitioned Bradford Council to improve its allotment service, claiming some plots had been left empty for decades.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the council earlier this month, and it was discussed by the authority's corporate scrutiny committee on Thursday evening.

Mary Kershaw, an allotment holder behind the petition, told members she had spoken to multiple holders who were unhappy with the service.

Funding improvements

The waiting list for allotments in Bradford is currently 708. However, members heard this had fallen from 1,462 in February 2024.

Tom Harte, senior surveyor on the council, whose remit includes allotments, said: "The same issues seem to come up again every five to 10 years. We need to break that cycle.

"The only way we can do that is by working with plot holders across the district."

Referring to claims the council was not supporting the service, he said the authority had recently awarded £300,000 funding to improve seven allotment sites: Haworth Road, Bowling Park, Bulroyd, Cecil Avenue, Derby Road, Harewood Street, and Stanacre.

The fund could bring about 100 plots back into use.

A report to the committee said: "The Allotment Service has estimated that clearance work alone to a single plot will cost approximately £2,500 to return it to tenantable use."

The committee agreed to work with allotment holders to help shape the future of the service, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds

The owner of a bridge described as an "eyesore" has been urged to repair and reopen it.

Titanic Bridge in Lincoln, which connects Stamp End and Waterside South, has been closed for safety reasons since March last year.

Roger Smith and Melanie Bliss, who live near the bridge, said it was a lifeline for many people, connecting the residential areas to the north with businesses to the south.

The BBC has contacted owner London & Scottish Property Investment Management for comment.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the closure has left residents facing a 20-minute detour on foot, with not all the roads suitable for walkers.

Mr Smith said: "It isn't a big deal for motorists, but having it reopened would be really crucial for pedestrians and cyclists."

Ms Bliss said many pedestrians used it to get to work or to go shopping.

"There is another pedestrian bridge, but the steps are very steep and it's definitely not suitable for many people," she said.

"Sadly, the Titanic Bridge is a bit of an eyesore at the moment, and would look really lovely if it was repainted and reopened."

Mr Smith said they had tried to contact the owner for an update but added: "There's a lot of mystery surrounding it."

Temporary fencing was placed across the bridge last year, which Mr Smith said was frequently ignored, and permanent gates were added later.

A new sign warning of a "health and safety risk" has appeared recently.

A public meeting is being held to discuss the bridge's future on Monday at 18:00 BST at the Monks Road Methodist Church.

A bridge was first built over the River Witham there in 1912, and was replaced with the current bridge in the 1990s.

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.

The engine of a Spitfire that crashed in a field in East Sussex during World War Two is set to go on display in a museum.

How it got there has been called a "fascinating" story.

When Phil Wooller was a boy he saw the aircraft come down in a field near his family's farm in Arlington on a spring morning in 1942.

His daughter-in-law Jane Wooller told the BBC the Australian pilot Ted Hall – who Mr Wooller later met – parachuted out of the plane after its windscreen became coated in oil due to a fault.

Three decades later aviation archaeologists came looking for the Spitfire.

Ms Wooller said they asked Mr Wooller – then the only person alive who knew where it was – if he could help them recover the plane.

He agreed, but cheekily only if he got to keep the engine, she said.

They recovered the 0.75 tonne hunk of metal, buried 24ft (7.3m) underground, where it spent the next decade sitting on a farmyard.

Ms Wooller said it was eventually flown by helicopter to the Redoubt Museum in Eastbourne after they "somehow" found out about the historical artefact. Here it was displayed until the museum closed in 2022.

Her husband Ashley had been left the engine in his father's will after he passed away in 2019, which meant the family had to find it a new home.

• 'Extraordinary' WW2 veteran dies aged 100

After a lot of hard work, involving several family members, she said they gave the engine to Tangmere Military Aviation Museum in West Sussex, where it is set to go on display in May.

Ms Wooller said it was worth the effort: "The engine is a unique piece of aviation history.

"To see something that's been absolutely trashed and put on display with the history behind it is amazing," she said, detailing that people from "nine to 90 were fascinated" by it.

Ms Wooller told the BBC the family originally planned to turn the engine – which she described as a "bit bent" – into a coffee table.

"This is almost dedicated to Phil because he's the one who started all of this."

"If it wasn't for him. We wouldn't be doing what we're doing today," she said.

A man has appeared in court after posting threatening messages with racist sentiments on social media.

Richard Britton, 31, from Wombourne in Staffordshire, pleaded guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday to two charges dating back to February and March 2023.

Britton displayed anti-Islamic, racist and anti-immigration sentiments and used threatening language on his social media account, police said. He also shared images of weapons online and encouraged others to do the same.

He will be sentenced on 25 July.

He was charged with one count of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred as well as one count of publishing threatening written material intended to stir up religious or sexual orientation hatred.

Officers said they arrested Britton during a pre-planned operation on 26 April 2023.

When they searched his address, they recovered weapons, fireworks and terrorism material that matched those in his social media posts.

Det Supt Annie Miller, said: "We work hard to stop terrorism. Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety and security of the people who live, work and visit the West Midlands area."

Patients who cannot afford to pay for medical procedures upfront are going to suffer under a new reimbursement scheme, a senior medic has said.

The scheme was announced on Tuesday as part of a £215m plan outlined by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt to tackle spiralling hospital waiting lists.

From next month, patients waiting more than two years for an operation will be able to claim back money if they pay for a procedure in the Republic of Ireland.

But the deputy chair of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, Dr Clodagh Corrigan, said that is going to make current problems worse.

"We know there is an enormous gap in health access and in poverty in Northern Ireland," she told BBC's Sunday Politics programme.

"If we are now in a position where we are providing a better health service to those who can afford it, we are going to see that disparity become even greater and people who cannot afford to pay for their healthcare upfront really suffering."

Full details of the plan have yet to be outlined and the full range of eligible procedures covered by the cross-border scheme are not yet known.

The Department of Health said patients would require prior approval before accessing the scheme.

Other measures include using NI's private healthcare providers to target anyone waiting longer than four years on a hip or knee replacement, colonoscopy, hernia or gallbladder surgery.

'What are we going to lose?

Nesbitt said initially £10m will be invested in the waiting list reimbursement scheme, which will begin in June 2025.

Dr Corrigan also questioned where Nesbitt will find the money that is needed.

"We are already in a situation in our health service where we are being propped up by staff good will, by and large," she said.

"They money has to be saved from somewhere so what are we going to lose and what services are we going to have to cut?

"How much worse is the care that we are providing our patients on a day to day basis going to have to get to fund these savings that the minister is looking for to invest in the waiting lists?"

'Two-tier system'

Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister said Northern Ireland is now "lawing in the phase of a two-tier health system".

"There has to be some equity in [the health service] if it is going to relieve the pressure elsewhere.

"If it is not going to relieve the pressure then we need to look again at other options.

"We need to use all levers and that is just the reality of it."

Following the announcement, the People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the reimbursement scheme was "nothing more than stealth privatisation".

"The for-profit healthcare sector has the Department over a barrel," he said in a statement.

"The more the Minister depends on private healthcare to solve this crisis, the weaker our NHS becomes."

The long-awaited Hereford bypass scheme can now begin in earnest, a Herefordshire leader has said.

The council is due to approve next month what it calls "the procurement route to enable the Hereford Western Bypass to move to it's construction stage".

The route will link the A465 and A49 southwest of the city with a second proposed phase across the River Wye and up the west side of the city.

Cabinet member for finance, councillor Pete Stoddart said diverting traffic out of the city will "let Hereford breathe again" and enable a more diverse transport mix within it.

"Currently lorries come up the A465 into Hereford and out to Rotherwas," he said. "This will take 15% of traffic out of the city."

Phase two, the bypass "proper" will then be "a growth corridor for employment as well as housing" – the case for which is only strengthened by the government's higher demands on the county to build more new homes, he said.

"We will meet that demand, but they have to help us provide the road and the infrastructure" – while the developers of all these new homes "will assist us in paying for the road", he added.

Up to £30m has been earmarked this year alone on phase one with the council previously saying it hoped work would start by 2026.

Stoddart dismissed opposition parties' preferred option of an eastern crossing over the Wye as "a road to nowhere", adding: "From Rotherwas, most traffic wants to go north, not east."

Councillor Terry James, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the county and supporter of the bypass, said he believed there was "a strong chance the government will fund the first phase", but added: "We have to show we are keen to do it anyway."

Hereford Civic Society chairman Jeremy Milln, also a Hereford city councillor, said that aside from the cost, there remained "an awful lot of bureaucratic bridges to cross" before the bypass can happen.

Given the long timescales involved, there was a "lively possibility" that a different administration in the county following elections in 2027 could "rethink" the whole plan, as had previously happened.

The current Green and Independents for Herefordshire groups were asked for comment.

Northern Ireland's first women-only temporary crisis accommodation has opened near Belfast city centre.

Known as a crash facility, and aimed towards people in urgent need of a place to stay, the centre is the only one in Northern Ireland exclusively for women.

Homelessness charity the Welcome Organisation, which manages the facility, said it was vital.

Figures collected by the charity indicate the number of women sleeping rough on the streets of Belfast had more than tripled in five years – from 17 in 2019/20 to 65 in 2024/25.

A facility user described it as "a lifeline".

Maria, which is not her real name, said that she has been homeless for 10 years and that sleeping rough on the streets of Belfast was "horrifying".

She said that while on the streets she had turned to drugs "to block out being homeless".

"I would be lost without the people who work here," she added. "I have never met better people. They want me to do well. They are rooting for me to be well and be better.

"It's the best thing for me because if I was left to my own devices I would end up doing stuff I shouldn't do. But the people here help me do well and I wouldn't let them down or disappoint them."

How does the Belfast crash facility work?

The facility, which is funded by the Housing Executive, currently helps 10 women, but Susan Duncan, from the Welcome Organisation, told BBC News NI there are plans to expand to 26 spaces by next year with more permanent accommodation.

The centre has 24-hour support and allows women to be in the bedrooms from 18:00.

Ms Duncan said the figures on women sleeping rough in Belfast are "very concerning" and that the people the facility helps "have nowhere else to go".

"We're talking about women with more complex needs. We have women turn up to our doors who are maybe experiencing domestic violence, that maybe have mental health issues or addiction issues."

Every woman that uses the service needs a referral to the Housing Executive to get a bed for the night.

Elma Newberry, the Housing Executive's director of strategic housing authority, underlined the importance for women to have access to women-only spaces.

"The complexities and the trauma that some of these women have been through is huge. They need a safe space," she added.

"Residents do need to move on because obviously a crash facility is an emergency facility, and it is very short-term. So, it is making sure they can continue with the support that they need to take them along into a permanent tenancy."

Ms Duncan said the facility is "excellent".

"People have their own space, it's friendly and homely and it is safe. And that is the most important part.

"You can't expect people to start rebuilding their lives without that feeling of security."

A man has been jailed for 18 years for raping and sexually abusing a number of young children.

James Laing, 39, of Ripon, was found guilty at trial of two counts of raping a child under 13 and six counts of sexual assault of a child, as well as causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and attempted sexual assault of a child under 13.

He was sentenced at York Crown Court on Friday to 18 years in prison and was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Police staff investigator for North Yorkshire Police, Lorraine Whipp, said: "Laing denied the offences throughout the whole investigation, therefore making his victims face the trauma of giving evidence against him in court."

She added: "Laing has taken away the childhood of his victims, abusing them in the worst way possible.

"In their own words, he has ruined their lives, and although they are glad they are now safe and no-one can hurt them, it has also affected their trust in men."

Ms Whipp said the victims had been "incredibly brave" in reporting what had happened to them, and had found the court process "extremely difficult".

"I sincerely hope that the children can put this horrendous abuse and the experience behind them with the help of the agencies who are supporting them and live happy lives knowing that their abuser can no longer harm them," she said.

She said she hoped this outcome would encourage other victims of abuse to come forward knowing that "they will be believed, listened to and supported".

A driver is being treated for serious injuries in hospital after his car was found down an embankment on the A82 in the Highlands.

Police were alerted to the crash near Dunain, three miles (5km) south of Inverness, at about 06:00 on Sunday.

The 18-year-old man was the only occupant of a silver Volkswagen Golf GTI.

Police Scotland has appealed for information about a grey Mercedes A180 seen headed towards the crash site before returning to Inverness a short time later.