
Blackwall Tunnel closed for more than five hours following crash on A102
The Blackwall Tunnel on the A102 has been closed for more than five hours following a crash.
The road is closed northbound and only one lane southbound is open due to a collision at 1.30am on Wednesday, however, no further information on the incident has been confirmed.
Drivers have been warned of long delays and told to use an alternative route.
Transport for London (TfL) said: 'Northbound traffic is tailing back to Falconwood and southbound is down to one lane with tailbacks to Woolwich flyover.'
The tunnel is closed from the A2, Sun In The Sands Roundabout, Blackheath, to the A206, Woolwich Road Flyover, Greenwich.
London bus routes 132 and SL4 are being diverted, with TfL stating route SL4 is on diversion in both directions while the 132 is being diverted northbound.
Passengers are being urged to allow extra time for their journeys.

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BBC News
27 minutes ago
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Second boy dies after M4 slip road minibus crash near Reading
An 11-year-old boy has become the second child to die after a minibus overturned on a motorway slip Adoma, from Bracknell, Berkshire, died on Thursday, more than three weeks after the single-vehicle crash, said police.A white Ford Transit minibus overturned on the link road at junction 10 of the M4 to the A329(M) near Reading, Berkshire, at about 14:25 BST on 11 May.A six-year-old boy was also killed in the crash. Five other children injured in the incident have since been discharged from hospital, Thames Valley Police said. The force said its serious collision investigation unit was investigating the crash and confirmed no arrests had been Sgt Lyndsey Blackaby said: "My thoughts, and the thoughts of everyone at Thames Valley Police, are with the family and friends of Othniel Adoma."Othniel's family has released these beautiful pictures of Othniel in his memory." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.


The Guardian
36 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘A wonderful mystery to be solved': Search begins in Dorset for ‘the Mother of all tanks'
At the height of the second world war, while British authorities were calling on citizens to donate metal to be recycled into weapons and warships, attention at the army base of Bovington Camp in Dorset turned to a collection of historic vehicles dating from the first war – among them a legendary tank that had been nicknamed 'Mother'. Mother was the prototype for the world's first battlefield tank, the Mark 1, which had been developed by Britain in 1915-6 to break the deadlock of the trenches. The vehicles were a huge technological leap forward that caused a sensation when rolled out on the battlefields ('astonishing our soldiers no less than they frightened the enemy', as the Manchester Guardian put it) and helped tip the scales in favour of the allies' eventual victory. Mother was a unique and hugely important piece of military and technological history. But with people across Britain donating their railings, saucepans and even keys for the war effort, there was no room for sentiment. Mother was surrendered to the scrappers to be melted down and recycled. Or was she? For decades, rumours persisted at Bovington Camp that to save it from being scrapped, 'the Mother of all tanks' had instead been secretly buried somewhere in the military base. Now, an army officer is planning an archaeological survey to search for the mythical tank after finding a historical letter that suggests the rumours are true. Staff Sgt Anthony Sherritt, a tank commander with the Royal Armoured Corps, came across the mystery of what happened to Mother several years ago when listening to a podcast; intrigued by the rumours, he began scouring military records in his free time for evidence of what really happened. He traced the source of the rumours to a former foreman at the British army's Tank Museum, which is based at Bovington Camp, who would frequently tell visitors that his father had been part of the team that hid the prototype. But still, there was no proof. Then, last summer, Sherritt came across a letter written by an officer called Lt Col NM Dillon about the wartime activities of a friend who had been based at Bovington, Maj Bill Brannon. One day, wrote Dillon, Brannon had 'found the scrap metal staff beginning to demolish some of the old tanks'. After waiting for the scrappers to stop at midday for lunch, 'Bill organised a towing tank and pulled four of the oldest tanks and buried them in the driving area. These four included Mother.' It was a eureka moment for Sherrett, who called a small group of fellow enthusiasts, buzzing with the news. 'I was super-excited, calling everyone – [saying] 'Look, I found this,'' he says. 'And they couldn't believe it.' Burying a tank in your lunch break may seem no small feat, but the expansive driver training area would have been full of enormous pre-dug holes, says Sherritt, to allow trainees to practice driving the vehicles in rough terrain. But even if Mother was buried, the next challenge is finding her. Bovington Camp stretches to 404 hectares (1,000 acres), and even the section Sherrett has identified as the wartime training area, not in the same spot as today, is enormous. 'It's a kilometre squared, and that's a huge piece of land,' Sherrett says. Now a patch of restricted heathland, it's not as if he can just wander around with a metal detector. 'It was used for driver training for 100 years so it's covered in metal. Back in the day, they probably didn't really care about any environmental issues and were just littering everywhere' – potentially including unexploded ammunition. Undeterred, Sherrett has spent a year petitioning defence authorities to be allowed survey the area; with that permission secured, he is crowdfunding to commission archaeologists to start the search later this autumn. Lidar (light detection and ranging) scans have already identified five spots that hint at a large object buried underground. According to Chris Price, the director of the Tank Museum, finding Mother 'would be a mic drop moment in the tank world. Jaws hitting the floors everywhere. 'There's every possibility that it won't be found – but it would be a wonderful thing to find, a wonderful mystery to be solved and given to everyone around the world.' 'It would be insane,' agrees Sherrett. 'Because it's not just a tank. It's everything else that she [led] to, the machine that broke the stalemate in world war one. There were no [battlefield] tanks before her. 'I joke with the Tank Museum all the time, saying 'You'll have to make space to put her in there,' because currently, all they have for her is a drawing.'


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The 'lawless' UK estate where residents claim they have been 'left to rot' and are terrorised by 'balaclava-clad wannabe gangsters causing carnage'
It is early evening on Bradford's notorious Holme Wood estate - and it feels like the frontline of a battlefield. The streets echo with the whine of revving mopeds and the screech of teenage yobs hurling foul-mouthed threats. Balaclava-clad gangs tear through the roads on scooters, pulling reckless wheelies and shouting abuse at terrified passers-by. Others - barely in their teens with acne-pocked faces - loiter on corners with hammers in hand and pockets full of eggs, ready to smash car windows or pelt shops just for the thrill of it. What was once a tight-knit, working-class community has become a lawless wasteland - where decent families say they've been left to fend for themselves against a new wave of 'wannabe gangsters'. Tracy Litherland, 42, has lived in Holme Wood for most of her life. She told MailOnline: 'The older lot are all right. It's the younger ones - the wannabe gangsters - that are causing carnage. It's like a new generation of troublemakers. 'They think nothing of smashing up a taxi or hanging around shops intimidating people or causing trouble. 'They just roam around, causing chaos and there's nothing really to stop them. 'A lot of it comes down to parenting. People are having kids, who shouldn't. They don't know how to raise them or discipline them.' She added: 'When we were kids, we had stuff to do. We had a youth centre where for 20p, you could get in, play pool, football, do art - it kept us off the streets. 'Now there's nothing. No youth clubs, no support. The funding's all been cut. The estate's just been forgotten about - just left to rot. There's no hope for a lot of the kids. 'I've lived here 30 years. No one's ever started on me, but I keep to myself. If you carry yourself right, you're usually okay. But it's intimidating for newcomers.' When MailOnline visited the estate at dusk, the chaos was already in full swing. Teenagers raced scooters across the estate, popping wheelies with their faces covered. One boy wielded a lump hammer, smashing it against the shutters of a local corner shop - before turning his attention to a nearby bin. The streets are strewn with fly-tipped rubbish - scorched mattresses, broken fridges, car parts and smashed glass. Burnt-out containers and graffitied shopfronts, near to where a 20-year-old man was stabbed in a suspected attempted murder, paint a bleak picture. Even CCTV hasn't deterred the criminals. In May, three cameras were installed by a housing association to crack down on antisocial behaviour. They didn't even last a day before all three were ripped down. One previous security camera, installed by the council, was cut down just 12 hours after being put up - after a thug used an angle grinder to bring the entire pole crashing into the road. One lifelong resident, in his 60s, told MailOnline: 'I've lived here all my life and it's got so much worse. 'You can't have anything nice around here, it just disappears.' His daughter, who grew up on the estate but was 'thankful' to have since moved away, added: 'The good news is burglaries and car thefts have come down. 'The bad news is you're more likely to be stabbed or murdered.' A building which appears to have been left abandoned projects the idea that the estate has been left to rot When MailOnline visited the area a smashed window was spotted with a seemingly broken chair left dumped on top of a building Myles Duffy, 57, has lived in Holme Wood all his life. He said: 'There's always something going on. 'It's mainly based around the shops. It's all the young ones - they've not grown up and there's nowt for them. 'I don't really get bothered but you still hear about a lot of carry-on. 'I feel a bit sorry for them because they've got nothing to do. 'That's when they turn to crime, or drugs, or whatever else. It's not right, but that's the reality. 'Loads of young girls end up getting pregnant just so they can get a flat and some benefits. It's not even about wanting a baby. 'That's a sad state of affairs.' Mr Duffy, with his friend Jack Miles, 64, blamed successive governments for failing the youth. He added: 'Back in the day, we had community programmes - government schemes that gave you opportunities. 'They paid you proper wages for 12-month work placements. If you didn't get a job after that, you could go again. 'That's how I got my first job - working with a housing caretaker. It gave me a start. 'But now, there's nothing. You need that first step on the ladder. If you can't even get that, how do you move forward?' In February, West Yorkshire Police revealed the results of a two-year crackdown on Holme Wood: nearly 400 arrests, 73 cannabis farms shut down and 151 vehicles seized. Eviction notices were handed to nearly 30 households linked to crime and antisocial behaviour. Yet despite the blitz, many say little has changed on the ground. One woman, in her 50s, said on condition of anonymity: ''It's not just antisocial – it's terrifying. 'You step outside and don't know if you'll get caught in some madness. 'Kids running around with knives, smashing up shops, setting bins on fire - it's like a jungle. 'I don't open my door after dark. You hear screaming, sirens, engines revving, and you just pray it's not outside your house.' Newcomer Sarah Dobson, 41, who moved to the estate last week from Scotland, admitted the area felt 'intimidating' — but insisted she wasn't fazed. 'First day I got here, I saw a couple chasing a lad down the street,' she said. 'People can find it intimidating, but I don't. 'I'm from somewhere rougher than this. I'm born and bred in Willenhall, Coventry - so this is nothing to me, mate.' A West Yorkshire Police Spokesperson said: 'We continue to work closely alongside our partner agencies to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in Holme Wood and to increase trust and confidence in the community. 'There have been significant positive results from the Operation Sweetgill team in the last 12 months. 166 people have been arrested and 129 of them have been dealt with positively. 'We know crime and anti-social behaviour is a concern for residents and I hope these results show we are committed to tacking them. 'We will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to tackle the problem and make Holme Wood a safer place to live.'