Petrol and diesel vehicles are to be banned from a city centre in what is believed to be the world's first Zero Emissions Zone. The new zone in Oxford City Centre will see all petrol and diesel taxis, cars and buses excluded from six central streets from 2020. The area will then be expanded in 2025 and 2030 to encompass the entire city centre, and finally in 2035 HGVs will be banned from the same zone - making it what...

Jeremy Corbyn will be rubbing his hands after a new report by the International Monetary Fund backed Labour's tax strategy and discredited the Conservatives' approach. Higher income tax rates for rich would reduce inequality without impacting economic growth. The research revealed higher income tax rates for the rich would help reduce inequality without having an adverse impact on growth. The highly influential half-yearly fiscal monitor ridicules the Tories' rationale for the reductions in tax for the highest earners in recent decades. In...

A water firm has been ordered to pay almost £500,000 after supplying water infected with a parasite - leaving thousands of homeowners with unsafe tap water, a court heard. United Utilities used water from an underground rural reservoir which may have contained contamination from farm animal faeces after a heavy downpour. The reservoir had structural defects which allowed in microscopic parasite cryptosporidium and "inherent hazards" from the surrounding environment. Preston Crown Court, Lancs., heard the company's Franklaw treatment works had...

A new mapping project will combine Ordinance Survey routes with air quality data - to help cyclists avoid pollution hotspots. EarthSense are using Google Earth, along with fixed air pollution sensors, to produce the interactive maps, which will produce forecasts up to three days in advance. The air quality models highlight smoggier areas, often along busy roads, and allow users to identify cleaner air routes, such as through parks or along canal paths. A pollution map of Leicester where bike...

Porches a.k.a. Aaron Maine returns with new song 'Country'. The song features backing vocals by Dev Hynes and Bryndon Cook. The accompanying video was co-directed by Maine and Nick Harwood (producer on Blood Orange’s 'Augustine' and 'Sandra’s Smile') and shot in and around Maine’s childhood stomping grounds in upstate New York. Maine wrote this note to accompany the music: “i am happy to share this new song with you it's the last song i wrote for my new album in the context...

Horrified locals were stunned after an animal rescue charity shop revealed a gruesome Halloween display - complete with bloody severed limbs. Krzysztof Darewicz, 32, spotted the 'very violent' display at a PDSA shop - despite the charity promoting animal welfare. He says he thought the display in West Ealing, west London, was 'a bit ironic and weird' and blasted it for being 'tasteless and wrong'. Krzysztof, who lives in the area, was walking home when he spotted the horrific display....

A man went drinking then went home and stabbed his housemate to death - and chopped off the victim's PENIS, a court heard. Jeffrey Barry, 56, went to two bars and consumed a litre of rum before he stabbed Kamil Ahmed 25 times at their home. CCTV footage at the flats from the night of Ahmed's killing captured Barry leaving the Bristol flat in the early evening on July 6, 2016. He spent several hours drinking at Charlie's Bar in...

An inspirational 11-year-old boy has started a charity project to collect new socks and underwear for the homeless. Joe Cox had noticed a growing number of rough sleepers while walking around in his neighbourhood of Leith, Edinburgh. His simple idea, which he has dubbed Socks for the Street, has touched the hearts of people around the world through a Facebook appeal. Joe has even convinced his school Leith Primary to be a drop-off point for people’s donations. Joseph Cox, 11,...

Britain now has a higher tax burden than Spain after the share of GDP taken in tax rocketed. The Tories have long claimed to be the party of low taxes but that claim is unlikely to stand up for much longer. With a month to go until the budget a graph leaked by Guido Fawkes shows the tax burden is now higher than it was under Gordon Brown in 2009. If the Office for Budget Responsibility figures are correct it also shows tax...