Appeal after rock thrown from bridge damages car near Oakthorpe
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BBC News
38 minutes ago
- BBC News
Oswestry bike track 'would stop kids digging up woodland'
The man behind a petition to have a bike track built in Oswestry has said it would stop young people from digging up nearby woodland to build Merchant said that not having a dedicated track meant children and young people were building their own and "getting a lot of backlash from locals".A resident living near Llwyn Coppice, north of the town, said up to 100 children and young people were regularly using the area for cycling, which was "unknowingly destroying ancient woodland".The nearby Iron Age hill fort has also been targeted, with the nationally important archaeological site vandalised in March by people digging jumps. Former Oswestry town mayor Olly Rose told Shropshire Council that Mr Merchant's life "was saved" at the age of 14 by a skatepark near his childhood home, in Council has been asked to hand over land next to Oswestry leisure centre to the town council so a specialist track for bikes, scooters and skateboards can be Merchant, who works in one of the town's bike shops, said cycling was very popular with children in the area, but it lacked somewhere safe for them to ride."How has Oswestry not got a pump track when Shrewsbury has got six and other smaller towns in the local area have better facilities?" he asked."Local kids need somewhere to ride, they need somewhere safe to congregate and build their confidence and social skills." His petition, which has been signed by 423 people, was discussed by a Shropshire Council committee last week.A local resident spoke during the meeting about "thousands of bluebells being killed off" by young people digging or riding their bikes through Llwyn said: "They're doing this because they've got nowhere else to go. They're continuing to expand [the tracks] and new kids keep turning up so it really would be sensible to give them a place [to ride]."The committee generally supported plans for a pump track and recommended that the councillor in charge of assets at the Liberal Democrat run Shropshire Council explores options so a land transfer could take two-hectare site was retained by Shropshire Council after the adjacent leisure centre was built in permission was granted the following year for a BMX track, picnic area and multi-use games area but nothing materialised. The renewed campaign has the support of Oswestry-born elite downhill mountain bike racer and cycling coach James runs a mountain bike club at The Marches School, which he said was oversubscribed."It's limited to 10 pupils but there is demand from nearly 50 kids," he said."There are so many kids riding in Oswestry, but facilities haven't kept up with the pace."They need something based here locally so they don't have to travel to access it."It is estimated the track would cost at least £100,000, which the town council plans to fund through the sale of the former Smithfield market site more than a decade ago. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
38 minutes ago
- BBC News
Manchester dad's trauma after 'losing £2,000 in house rent scam'
A father who was only days away from moving into his new house has described his horror at discovering other people were already living Achianu, 43, said he thought he had found the perfect three-bedroomed place on Gumtree to rent for himself and his three children in the Cheetham Hill area of mental health nurse said he went for a viewing on 19 June with a woman who claimed to be the property's owner, signed a tenancy agreement to move in on 1 July and paid a £1,000 deposit and the same again in advance Achianu told the BBC he had reported the scam to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and then Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud reporting centre. 'Really panicking' He said he had been looking for a new place so that his children could stay Achianu said he had been slightly suspicious during the viewing because the white sheets and towels on the bed reminded him of a short-term let, and he was told council tax was included in the those misgivings he said he agreed to rent the house."When you are desperate you don't really think properly," he told BBC Radio the scammer claiming others were interested in the house, Mr Achianu said he paid her £2,000 and arranged to do an inventory checklist a couple of days she stopped replying to his texts and calls, though, he said he felt concerned and decided to visit the house."Lo and behold I saw people in the property," said the father-of-three. "I was really panicking at that point."He said one of the residents told him she had booked the property through Achianu said he again tried in vain to contact the "owner".When he later received a text to say the inventory check was still on, though, he said it "was like a sigh of relief".But that meeting was cancelled at the last minute by the woman, he prospective tenant headed back to the house and saw it was still told him its owners had started letting the house out on various websites after they moved out. 'Trauma' He checked online and found the house being advertised."I knew then it was scam," said Mr Achianu, who added that "the trauma has put [me] off looking for somewhere else - I don't trust anyone anymore".Mr Achianu said he was still in the same accommodation where his children are unable to stay over.A spokesperson for Gumtree UK said: "The safety of our users is our absolute priority, and we do not tolerate fraudulent activity on our platform. "We require that property ads on our site comply with government regulations for property advertising, and we list prominent safety advice for prospective tenants on our website, which recommends that all potential tenants check the relevant paperwork, ask to see proof of ownership, and ensure a tenancy agreement is in place before paying deposits or holding fees."We strongly urge anyone who thinks they may have come across a scam or experiences suspicious behaviour to report it to us immediately via the Report button. "Our dedicated trust and safety team will investigate and take necessary action, such as removing adverts and blocking offending users, and supporting law enforcement in their investigations."Airbnb said: "While to our best knowledge this was not reported to us at the time, as part of our investigation we have removed an individual from the platform."GMP confirmed it had received a report of fraud, with the alleged victim being referred to Action Webb, acting director of Action Fraud, said the report was being assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) at the City of London Police. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
39 minutes ago
- BBC News
Sycamore Gap: Who are the tree fellers and why did they do it?
Who are Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham, the men due to be sentenced later for cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland? And, given they have never admitted causing the destruction that shocked the world, what might have possessed them to do it? Many people who knew the pair spoke to the BBC, but most requested them were neighbours in the quiet street in Carlisle where 39-year-old Daniel Graham grew up. They remember him as an "average kid" before his parents' separation - describing that as an event which "sent him off the rails."His dad Michael took his own life in 2021, something Graham spoke about while giving evidence in court in relation to his struggles with poor mental health. He was estranged from many members of his family, with one saying he would "fly off the handle at anything". For the last decade Graham lived and worked on a patch of land on the outskirts of Kirkandrews-upon-Eden, just outside called it Millbeck Stables and ran his company, DM Graham Groundworks, from the site on a secluded lane, nestled among large country homes. Journalist Kevin Donald described the plot as "a strange little shanty"."It's got a caravan, horses on the land and pillars at the entrance with lions on the top," he said. 'An odd-bod' Graham erected a series of buildings, a stable block, horse shelter and storage unit, gaining planning permission for some of them. He lived on site in a static caravan, largely hidden behind big metal gates which included his Bowron, chairman of the village's Parish Hall Committee, said Graham was "a man of mystery, a bit of an odd-bod"."There were these black gates and then a tall fence all round the site with black plastic sheeting so you couldn't see in, but there were lights on all night."His lorry is still there. You can see in now because all the plastic has come down." A planning application for Graham to be allowed to live on the site was rejected in April 2023, five months before the Sycamore Gap tree was cut had not been paying council tax and among the comments on the application was a claim he had displayed "dominant and oppressive" behaviour. "When news came out he'd been arrested, we weren't surprised," Mr Bowron said."Everyone was saying 'oh yes that strange bloke'."In court, the jury heard that tree felling was part of Graham's business and he owned three or four chainsaws. Adam Carruthers helped him with that work, and the court was told the pair were close friends. Carruthers grew up in Wigton, a market town in Cumbria with a history stretching back to medieval times. His parents still live there and town councillor Chris Scott described it as a place where families put down roots and stay for generations. Scott did not know Carruthers personally, but runs a social media site for the town and remembers a "curious silence" when he was arrested. "People weren't discussing it all, which surprised me because it was such a big story at the time." A childhood friend of Carruthers said he was "a bit of an outcast" but also the last person he would expect to have been involved in the felling of the arrest was "the talk" of their school friendship group."Growing up we were the good kids," the friend said. "We couldn't get our heads around it. You would never ever think he would do something like that."Carruthers went to Nelson Thomlinson School where another fellow pupil described him as a "bit of a loner"."He always kept to himself and in classes he wouldn't talk. Teachers would try and get him to talk, and fail."At the time of his arrest in October 2023, Carruthers had recently become a father for the second time and was living in a caravan with his partner at Kirkbride Airfield. Graham and Carruthers met in 2021 when the latter, who was a mechanic, repaired a Land Rover belonging to Graham's father so it could be used for his funeral. Graham called Carruthers his "best pal" and paid him to help him on jobs, splitting the cash their friendship splintered as the trial unfolded, with Graham blaming Carruthers who, in turn, said he had no idea who did it. In the absence of any declared motive, could interactions between the pair hold clues to what drove them to take a chainsaw to one of the most beloved trees in the UK?After the felling, they exchanged messages talking about the scale of the reporting of the story. In one voicenote, Daniel Graham exclaimed: "It's gone viral, it is worldwide."Newcastle University's Bethany Usher, who specialises in crime journalism, is among those who believe the pair were craving attention. "Social media has completely changed the way we view ourselves, taking video of ourselves doing things is so part of our lived experience," she said. "What became clear from the trial is that they enjoyed the attention they got worldwide."It's like they were saying 'I'm someone, I have got the attention of people', and they forgot that what they were doing was providing evidence for the police."The truth is they knew the tree was special, but they were trying to show they counted more." 'Pleasure in grief' Dr Philip Stone from the University of Lancashire, who studies dark tourism where visitors travel to sites of death, brutality and terror, said the pair may have "enjoyed watching the distress they had caused from such spiteful, wanton ecological vandalism"."To use the German psychology phrase schadenfreude, some people take a pleasure in other's people's misfortune and getting a sense of perverted pleasure from the response from that. "It is as though they are thinking 'Yeh, I'm going to get my 15 minutes of fame, but I'm also going to get pleasure in seeing other people's grief'." Among those hurt by the loss of something both very public and personal was Hayley got engaged at the Sycamore Gap tree and, after her wedding, she and her husband Lee posed for their photographs there."Strong, resilient always there, the tree symbolised what we wanted our marriage to be," she said. The couple had hoped there had been more to the felling than Carruthers and Daniel having "a bit of a laugh" and it "stung" to find out that seemed to be their only motive."They sent messages to each other about someone not having the 'minerals' to do what they did," she said."I'd like to say to them, 'you guys haven't got the minerals to own up to what you did and I hope that sticks with you in prison'." Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.
