Innovation

A teacher who admitted making indecent photographs of a child has been banned from the profession indefinitely.

Simon Wood, 45, from Mirfield, West Yorkshire, was a teacher at Wetherby High School when he was arrested in November 2022 and his devices were seized.

He admitted two counts of making indecent photographs of a child and was given a community order at Leeds Crown Court in June 2024. The offences were not connected to the school, a spokesperson for Wetherby High School said.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) ruled last month that he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England.

Wood was not present at the virtual meeting of the professional conduct panel, which took place on 27 March, the TRA said.

The panel concluded that although the offences took place outside the school, his actions were clearly relevant to his teaching role.

Wood was sentenced on 3 June 2024 to a community order for 18 months, the panel heard, with rehabilitation activity requirements, forfeiture of seized devices and payment of a victim surcharge of £114.

He was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

A spokesperson for Wetherby High School said Wood was suspended at the time of his arrest and was no longer employed by the school.

"All appropriate safeguarding processes and procedures have been followed," they said.

A report from the TRA said that while Wood's actions did not lead to a prison sentence, his conviction "would be likely to significantly affect the public confidence in the teaching profession if the teacher were allowed to continue teaching".

The energy firm EDF has revealed it has spent £5.3bn using South West companies to build the new Hinkley Point C power station in Somerset.

This is one of a number of benefits outlined in the company's annual socio-economic report.

Hinkley Point C Head of Social Impact, Andrew Cockcroft said Hinkley was "providing really significant benefits, long-term opportunities for people and businesses here in Somerset, and across the South West region as a whole".

But as construction reaches its peak, with up to 15,000 workers expected on site, concerns have also been raised that more needs to be done to mitigate the impact of living near the biggest building site in Europe.

The billions spent in the area range from local firms providing food to advanced engineering companies.

But concerns have centred around the difficulty of other firms finding apprentices, parts for construction and problems on the roads in that part of Somerset.

One councillor has also described the local rental market as "broken".

But at Hinkley Point C (HPC), the new report shows some 5,000 people, a third of the people working on site, are from Somerset or the wider region.

That is also the case for 70% of the 1,500 apprentices that are working at there.

Grants totalling £17m have been awarded to local community projects like Bridgwater Carnival and Burnham BMX club.

Marine Scotland is investigating reports of a potential pollution incident at a scenic loch in the west Highlands.

Prawn fishermen at Loch Hourn have reported creels full of dead shellfish which smell strongly of bleach.

A trawler has also reported pulling up a net of dead marine life from the sea loch which looks out towards the Isle of Skye.

A Scottish government spokesperson said the Marine Directorate was investigating potential offences under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

Situated between the remote Knoydart Peninsula and Glenelg, Loch Hourn stretches for approximately 14 miles (20km).

The pollution concerns were raised on 22 April when campaign group Friends of Loch Hourn were contacted by a local prawn fisherman.

He said his catch had comprised only small prawns not normally found in the creels, along with worms and the entire catch was dead and smelling of bleach.

Two days later a similar incident was reported by the skipper of a trawler.

A spokesman for group said: "For us, the first, largest, and most important is the tragic damage done to a huge swathe of the loch.

"And make no mistake, this is not some minor incident but in reality, something closer to an oil spill.

"Just because it is all on the seabed, maybe 100 metres down, with nothing to actually see from the surface does not alter the fact that this is an ecological catastrophe."

Ongoing investigation

Friends of Loch Hourn is a community group which initially came together in 2020 in response to the planned expansion of a large open-pen salmon farm.

It now claims to have over 100 members made up of residents, regular visitors, landowners, fishermen and others who are concerned about the long-term future of the loch.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "We have been made aware of reports of a potential environmental incident at Loch Hourn.

"This is an ongoing investigation, and we are liaising with partners

"Given this is still a live investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment."

A growing population of peacocks are "creating serious problems" for residents in a village, says the council.

Tutbury Parish Council in Staffordshire is asking everyone in the village to stop feeding the birds after residents have complained that they are becoming an "invasion of privacy".

The council said feeding the peacocks leads to them roosting and making loud, early-morning calls near homes; droppings left on driveways and vehicles; and some have even been spotted on residents' roofs.

Council chair Francis Crossley said: "We want to encourage the peacocks to find their food elsewhere, instead of coming to people's homes."

'Number is the problem'

He believed there were 26 peacocks during the council's last count but said there could now be up to 40.

The council said the peacocks were becoming more confident and "harder to deter", especially around homes where food is being provided for them.

"Residents are becoming distressed by the number of peacocks and the noises they are making; there are definitely more peacocks than there used to be," said Mr Crossley.

"They aren't aggressive to residents or attacking anybody; the number of them is the problem."

He added that he would "hate" to see anybody get rid of any of the peacocks.

"They don't belong to anybody; they just roam around the village, so there is nobody to deal with them," said Mr Crossley.

"They are beautiful animals, so I can see why people like to have them around. We would just like them to find their food elsewhere and not around people's homes."

In a statement, the parish council said they would be "exploring responsible and humane solutions, including working with local wildlife organisations".

There's nothing like playing in front of a home crowd – but for Dudley Football Club, it hasn't happened for 40 years.

Club directors say finding a permanent home in the borough is "vital", while Dudley Council leader Patrick Harley said a potential site for the club has been identified.

The team last played in the borough in 1985 but had to move out when a crater appeared on the pitch at Dudley Sports Centre. They now play seven miles (11.2km) away at Sporting Khalsa's ground in Willenhall.

Dudley FC, a non-league team also known as the Robbins, was founded in 1888 and plays in the Midland Premier League.

'We could easily give up'

Stephen Austin, one of the club's directors, said there have been many failed attempts over the years to move the club back to Dudley.

"A return to Dudley is something we all want and need," he said.

"We've been in discussions for 40 years. We've been close on a number of occasions and not managed to get over the line so cautious is where we are.

"We have to remain optimistic because if not, we could easily give up."

Dudley's connection to the sport is strong with footballer Duncan Edwards represented with a statue in the town centre.

Edwards was from Dudley and went on to play for Manchester United and England before his death in the Munich air disaster, aged just 21.

Harley, leader of the Conservative-run council, said its officers were in talks with the club – and a potential site for the team has been identified.

"I think we're way closer now than we have been for many years," he said.

"There are lots of hurdles to overcome and we have to make sure that the council is not financially threatened by any proposed deal.

"It'll bring a sense of purpose to the area, it would bring a good morale boost."

Former Dudley MP Marco Longhi raised the campaign in the House of Commons last year where it got the backing of the then Conservative culture secretary Lucy Frazer.

Now, Sonia Kumar, the town's Labour MP, has started a petition to bring Dudley FC home.

"I'm very positive, we've got some things coming up in the pipeline and hopefully there is a place for Dudley to come back to," she said.

"It's not just about going to see the game for it's spirit, but what it will do for the economy."

The club finished sixth place in the Midland Football League and is currently gearing up for the JW hunt charity cup on 5 June.

Matty Lovatt, first team manager, said being back in Dudley would help with extra funding for the club's youth development.

"Having been here seven years, I feel like an adopted Dudley man," he said.

"I feel attached to the club and I feel their pain. It's only right for the people that they've got a ground back in their own town."

Work to replace cladding on flats in a Surrey town may take "several years" to complete.

Lakeview estate residents were told Woking Borough Council would install new insulation on their flats in April after old cladding was removed over fire safety concerns in 2024.

Resident Mike Paternoster told BBC Radio Surrey his property was "a lot colder and we had the heating on far more than normal" over the winter due to the missing cladding.

Ian Johnson, council cabinet member for housing, said the project now involved "a full exterior refurbishment of each block" and "complex projects such as this take time to plan and implement".

"It could take several years for all blocks to be refurbished," he added.

'Something out of a space station'

The council removed cladding from the 14 blocks of flats in May 2024.

Residents of the 250 flats have now been told the work to install new cladding is not due to begin until April 2026, but it will involve more extensive renovations.

Temporary insulation was put in place, but Mr Paternoster said it was "not properly finished".

"It looks like something out of a space station at the moment," he added.

Johnson said the previous cladding was removed "to protect people's means of escape in the event of a fire".

"Having had the opportunity to inspect the buildings in more detail, we are now planning to undertake a full exterior refurbishment of each block," he added.

The changes could include new windows and doors. The council says its current plans require planning permission and it is required to consult on the work with around a third of the flats' leaseholder residents.

Mr Paternoster said he was concerned plans to reorganise local government – which would see district and borough councils replaced by new, single-tier local authorities – could delay the work further.

"If the reorganisation goes ahead, will the work actually get done? Because it will be different people in charge," he said.

Johnson said the council was "carrying on as normal for now" and would "make appropriate decisions to support the completion of the refurbishment programme" once the new council structure was decided.

Plans to turn part of a former department store into flats have been approved after a successful appeal.

Developers want to convert the first and second floors of the old Peter Crisp building on the High Street in Rushden into 14 flats.

North Northamptonshire Council refused the application in July over concerns that some of the flats were too small and that it was too close to a nearby protected wildlife area.

However, the government's planning inspectorate overturned that rejection.

The upper floors of the building have been vacant since the family-run department store closed in 2009.

The ground floor has since been occupied by businesses including Tesco Express, an estate agency, and a gym.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the applicant made changes to the plans, including changing the layout in two of the flats to reduce the number of people living there.

The developer also showed evidence it had paid out money to mitigate the impact on the special protection conservation area, the inspectorate said.

The flats will include four one-bedroom and ten two-bedroom homes, each with an open-plan kitchen and living area.

No parking spaces are included.

The planning inspector said the new plans fixed the original problems and published its decision on 16 May.

The new chief executive of Leeds City Council has warned the city is facing one of its "most challenging years" financially for "a long time".

Ed Whiting was appointed in January after Tom Riordan stepped down following 14 years at the helm.

Four months into the role he said the council needed to "live within our means" and faced "tough choices" as it looks to save almost £104m by the end of 2025/26.

Despite the challenge he said he was "excited" about the opportunities ahead and said the chance to be a part of "what comes next for the city was "amazing".

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Whiting said notwithstanding the financial difficulties faced by the council he believed there was "light at the end of the tunnel" for local authorities.

He said he was hopeful that the government's Spending Review in June would deliver a multi-year settlement for the council.

While he said it would not "dramatically transform the amount of money we can spent as a council" it would provide stability.

"Pain as Spain mainly off the mains" reads the headline of the Metro.

The paper's front page shows a picture of travellers in Madrid, stranded as a result of the power blackout.

A picture of disgruntled travellers also features on the front of the Guardian.

The i Paper says Spain and Portugal were "thrown into chaos".

The Financial Times talks of people flowing on to the streets when metro stations were taken offline.

A different focus is taken by the Sun, which focuses on the impact on British tourists with its headline, "no beer in Benidorm".

The Daily Mail says the government is facing a "summer of discontent" after the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, ruled out extra money for public sector pay rises.

Independent pay review bodies are expected to suggest above inflation pay rises for teachers and nurses.

The paper says Reeves is now on a collision course with unions after warning the increases would have to be funded by cuts to services.

It notes that Sir Keir Starmer insists no decision has been made.

The Daily Telegraph reports on the proposed new law blocking sex offenders from gaining asylum in the UK.

The paper quotes the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, who said sex offenders that pose a risk to the community should not benefit from refugee protections. The new powers will be introduced through amendments to Labour's Asylum Bill, according to the report.

The Times says resident doctors at the British Medical Association have condemned the Supreme Court's ruling that the definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

It quotes the union as saying the conclusion is "scientifically illiterate" and "biologically nonsensical".

The paper suggests the BMA's stance could raise the prospect of health leaders seeking to block new NHS guidance on transgender patients being drawn up after the ruling.

And the Daily Express leads with a quote from the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, who has criticised the government's inheritance tax on farmers.

"I will not let Labour destroy rural way of life" reads its headline. Writing in the paper, Badenoch described Labour's plans as "cruel", warning it would crush families and destroy businesses. A Labour source said the party was delivering for working people.

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