News

Rail bosses are investigating after a group of residents apparently chopped down trees on an embankment - to give them a better view. The wooded area above a train line has disappeared after years of locals in large townhouses asking Newtwork Rail to remove them. Locals say their repeated requests to have them chopped down have been declined by officials because the trees stop landslides and are home to bats and badgers. It is thought a group of around ten...

Following a brief rallying call from her frontbenchers, Theresa May is now odds-on to resign in 2018. The beleaguered PM enjoyed momentary support from colleagues last week, but she has come under fire today from her own side as one of her MPs said the “window is closing” on her leadership and her former chief of staff laid into the government’s lack of purpose. A string of Conservatives voiced fresh criticism, casting further doubts on the stability of the prime minister’s...

German car manufacturers have been testing the impact of diesel fumes on monkeys by getting them to inhale them in lab conditions. Health impact research done by EUGT, a body funded by Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW, has today been denounced by the German government as "abominable" after reports emerged that animals were used to carry out exhaust fumes experiments. In one of the tests monkeys were forced to inhale exhaust fumes from a Volkswagen Beetle car and an older pickup truck...

Wannabe David Attenboroughs of the world are in with a chance of living out the Blue Planet II lifestyle after the show's exploration vessel was listed on Airbnb. OceanX's iconic ship, Alucia, played a pivotal role in what is regarded as one of the greatest ever natural world shows. Airbnb and BBC Worldwide have now teamed up to let three ocean lovers experience what it's like to journey 1,000 metres beneath the waves off one of the most beautiful places...

The Labour leader pledged to confiscate luxury properties that have been left vacant for substantial length of time. He told BBC’s Andrew Marr show: “We would give local authorities the power to take over deliberately left vacant properties. “When you have in the middle a lot of housing stress, you get some luxury, glossy, glistening block built, sold off plan to long distance overseas investors who may buy and sell it before it’s even built…well hang on. Let’s look at...

A tempest was brewing in Shakespeare's home town yesterday when residents held a protest outside the office of under-fire MP Nadhim Zahawi demanding answers about him attending the scandal-hit Presidents Club dinner. The 50-year-old Tory MP, who represents Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks., has not been seen in his constituency since it emerged he was a guest at the sleazy charity bash. On Sunday more than 30 constituents held a demonstration outside his office - which is just 300ft from Shakespeare's grave at...

Traffic momentarily ground to a halt this morning as anti-pollution demonstrators took to the streets of London. Protesters brandished signs with "Stop Killing Londoners" and "This is a Protest Against Air Pollution" as they staged a sit-down protest in the middle of London's busy roads. The demonstration took place following new research that revealed three quarters of the UK’s worst pollution hotspots are in London. Hyde Park Corner and Marylebone Road in central London have the most polluted postcodes in...

The UK has witnessed a remarkable rise in crime as police officer numbers hit a record low, according to new figures. Overall crime is up by 14 per cent in the year to September, with a surge in knife and gun attacks recorded. Robbery is up by 29 per cent, vehicle theft by 18 per cent and domestic burglary is up by 32 per cent. The figures have been revealed as the number of police officers fell to 121,929, the...

This afternoon in the most unlikely of international arenas Yorkshire International Football Association will take on the Isle of Man in a first-of-its-kind Conifa league fixture. The 1,000-capacity Hemsworth Miners Welfare FC Community Club based in Fitzwilliam, just outside Pontefract, will be the venue for Yorkshire’s first game against Ellan Vannin, the Manx name for the Isle of Man team, who are ranked fourth in a world league for “repressed minorities, independent nations and stateless peoples”. That Yorkshire counts itself...