Latest news with #NorthEastLondon
BBC News
29-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Fox 'coated in bitumen' walks after four weeks at Essex hospital
A fox cub that got covered in bitumen and then stuck to a road surface is healthy and walking again after four weeks of from South Essex Wildlife Hospital rushed to the rescue after the cub was pulled from a container of bitumen by workers on an industrial estate in north-east London last took more than 30 minutes to free each of the cub's legs after it stuck fast to the of his legs required surgery, but the hospital said the fox was now running around with no sign of a limp, and they were hoping for a full recovery soon. Bitumen is made from crude oil and is mostly used as a binder in the time of the rescue, the hospital said the fox's plight was "one of the most horrific cases we've seen in the 35-plus years of wildlife rescue".It took several days and many bottles of baby oil and WD-40 to clean the tar-like substance from its fur. However, after a great deal of care and an operation, the hospital posted on its Facebook page and said the fox was on the mend."It's been four weeks since the surgery to fix his leg (after all the work needed to remove the bitumen from his fur) and we're delighted to say that everything seems to be healing perfectly," it wrote."He is now so confident on the leg that he can run around his pen without any sign of a limp."They added that while it had taken a lot of work to nurse him back to health, "he now has a bright future ahead of him". "He still needs to recover from some muscle loss, but we are very confident that he will be 100% fixed very soon," they the cub is deemed ready, it will be released back into the wild. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Sun
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
Major DIY retailer offering free car air con checks as temperatures set to reach 34C
A MAJOR DIY retailer is offering motorists free car air con checks as temperatures are set to reach 34C. Halfords customers can get gas and refrigerant levels on their vehicle air conditioning units checked to make sure they're in working order. 1 It comes as temperatures are expected to reach as high as 34C in parts of the UK by Monday. Halfords lets shoppers book their free air con check on its website via You enter your postcode and vehicle registration and it tells you the nearest branch you can get it done. However, you may be charged based on where you live and the type of vehicle. The retailer hasn't said if the free appointments are available all the time, but we checked based on a North-East London location and there were slots until as far away as July 6. Halfords says if the check reveals you need to top up your car air conditioning unit's gas or refrigerant levels, you can buy the products to do this yourself in its stores. However, the RAC says this is usually a job for the specialists. You can also book in for an air con recharge service at Halfords from £65. Checkatrade says having this service done normally costs between £65 and £130, so Halfords is at the cheaper end of the scale. Halfords is not the only place you can have a free air con check carried out though - Kwik Fit also offers a free checking service. Urgent warning over easy nighttime driving mistake that could see you fined £5,000 - but the fix is free You can find out more via However, the cost of getting your air con unit recharged at Kwik Fit is £72.95 or more - more expensive than Halfords. Hot weather car mistakes that can cost you £1,000s Driving in the wrong footwear Swapping trainers for flip flops while driving during bouts of hot weather might seem practical, but it can land you with a big fine. Any shoes which could limit your ability to put pressure on the pedals breaks the Highway Code. If you are found to be ' driving without due care and attention ', you face a £100 fine and three points added to your licence. If the matter escalates to court, you could face fines of up to £5,000. Drinking water while driving If you get distracted and are not considered to be in proper control of your car while drinking water, you could face a fine. If you're involved in an accident as a result of a lapse in concentration, it could see you slapped with a £2,500 bill. The same rules apply to eating behind the wheel, so think again if you're considering diving into an ice cream while driving. Keeping your windows closed and A/C off It might be tempting to save some pennies by closing windows and keeping the AC off during hotter weather. But this can breach Highway Code rule 237, which states that a car must be kept 'well ventilated' in hot weather to reduce drowsiness. Not doing this and being caught could result in a £5,000 fine. How to save money on summer essentials SUNNIER days and warmer weather will leave many of us wanting to kit out gardens and outdoor areas. Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to get a great deal on summer essentials… It pays to know how to bag big savings on the likes of hot tubs paddling pools, egg chairs and outside bars. Many retailers have flash sales across entire ranges – often this ties into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends. Sign up to the mailing lists of your favourite brands and you'll be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too. Keep a close eye on the specialbuys at Aldi and middle of Lidl drops which drop a couple of times a week and usually mean great value seasonal items such as beach gear and paddling pools. If you are not in a hurry to buy an item, try adding it to the shopping cart and leaving it for a couple of days. Sometimes big brands will try to tempt you into the sale by offering you a discount. Always check if you can get cashback before paying. It's especially worth using sites such as Topcashback, Quidco and app Jamdoughnut when buying bigger ticket items such as garden furniture as you'll get a nice kickback.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Alice Figueiredo: NHS trust recorded patient ate breakfast three days after he died
An NHS mental health trust, recently found guilty of serious failings in the care of a young patient who took her own life, has had serious concerns raised over the deaths of 20 other patients over the last 10 years, the BBC has have repeatedly highlighted issues about the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT), including about the quality of risk assessments and two cases patient notes were found to have been falsified. Including one man who was recorded as eating breakfast three days after he had Old Bailey jury last week found the trust guilty of health and safety breaches in the care of 22-year-old Alice Figueiredo who was an inpatient at NELFT's Goodmayes hospital. This article contains distressing material related to suicide. Alice, who died in 2015, had attempted to harm herself on 18 occasions using plastic bags or bin liners, often taken from the same communal toilet. Despite this, the bags were not removed, and the toilet was left unlocked. On the 19th occasion Alice took her own trust was cleared of the more serious charge of corporate the trial, NELFT said it extended its "deepest sympathy for the pain and heartbreak" her family had suffered over the past 10 years, saying that it would "consider the verdict and its implications". It will be sentenced in BBC can now reveal in the decade since Alice's death, NELFT has been repeatedly criticised by coroners for failures in patient care. In the last decade, nearly 30 prevention of future deaths (PFD) reports from coroners have mentioned these, the BBC has analysed 20 which raise the most serious two cases where patients took their own lives inquests concluded records had been altered after their most common criticism found the assessment of the risk patients posed to themselves was poor or incomplete. Cases also highlighted poor record-keeping, a lack of communication between teams, staff shortages and high patients who died of overdoses were said to have been on short-term medication for 18 years and 20 years, with no record of that having been response, NELFT says it is continually improving "safety and treatment for patients, as well as the experience of families and carers". It also says it is improving record-keeping, tackling historical staff shortages and changing the way staff assess and manage risk, with all in-patient staff undergoing Charles, whose husband Winbourne's case is one of the most disturbing, said the Trust needed "to look at everything". Mr Charles was a patient at Goodmayes hospital nearly six years after Alice Figueiredo's describes him as "a beautiful man, a beautiful soul", but during the Covid-19 pandemic, the 58-year-old became increasingly in her kitchen, she is looking at videos and photos of Winbourne. His close childhood friend, Winston Andrews, is sitting alongside her as they laugh and smile at the memories."I had never known a part of my life when he wasn't in it," Winston says. "He was a brother rather than a friend."But at the end of 2020, Winbourne became so unwell he was admitted to Goodmayes says they all felt they had "tried everything", adding: "So maybe it is the right place for him to be, to try and get some help."On 10 April 2021, five months after being admitted to the hospital, Winbourne took his own life. For advice and support, visit BBC Action Line Carole and her children had spoken to him on a video call the day before. She describes her shock at the news, saying she was "absolutely devastated". She had thought "he was going in there to get better and come home".Only at his inquest did Winbourne's family and friends discover the failures in care which contributed to his death. The Prevention of Future Deaths report says a psychologist assessed Winbourne as being at high risk of harming himself. This was on his clinical record, but it was not read or discussed by the team of doctors and other clinicians overseeing his concluded there was "no risk" of him self-harming. The family says it meant the observations or checks on him made by staff were reduced from every 15 minutes to one an then, and against Trust policy, observations were stopped for all patients for an hour on the day he died. Between 16:00 and 17:00, the report says "all patients subject to general observation on the ward were ignored".Winbourne was discovered soon after 17:00, about two hours after he was last checked. Staff 'panicked' The report says "staff agreed they panicked". The alarm bell was not sounded and doctors were not called promptly. A ligature cutter was locked in a box and no one knew the combination to unlock it. It also says: "Staff could not or would not provide a clear and relevant history to paramedics."The report questions the credibility of the Trust staff who gave evidence to the inquest. It says observation records appeared to have been cut and pasted, including three entries that were made after he had died."They'd written observations of Winbourne being in the day room, sitting there eating his breakfast, and this was three days after he'd passed away," says Carole."Key to the observations is that you actually do the observations," says Winston. "You fill in the log. Clearly, they hadn't done it." Carole and Winston also say they were deeply shocked when one of the staff members who gave evidence by video link, tried to do this from his bed."He was actually in bed. My mouth dropped," says Winston. "In a microcosm that showed me what kind of care Winbourne was getting."A second staff member was on the tube heading to catch a flight. In both cases the family says the coroner, Graeme Irvine, intervened Irvine, senior coroner for east London, concluded Mr Charles had died from suicide, contributed to by neglect. He sent his PFD report to the trust and the Department of Health and Social Care to highlight what he had found. NELFT, which provides mental health services for nearly five million people living in north-east London, Essex, Medway and Kent and employs about 6,500 staff, said it "apologised unreservedly" for his added: "We accepted all the findings from the coroner in April 2023, as well as the unacceptable behaviour of staff at the inquest."Those staff were managed in line with human resources policies and disciplinary procedures, it said. The charity, Inquest, has provided support for many families around the country who believe their loved ones have been failed by the mental health system. In Ms Figueiredo's case, her family spent 10 years fighting to get director, Deborah Coles, said: "It should not be down to families to have to fight for cultural and policy change."She said she believed avoidable deaths were happening "far too often" and trusts should "move away from a culture of defensiveness and denial and cover-up" to one that is concerned about learning and improvement and protecting said she hoped plans for a new duty of candour, known as the Hillsborough Law, would change Charles, who has been a care worker for older and disabled people and says she knows what care is needed when people are vulnerable, remains sceptical about whether NELFT will learn from the deaths of patients like her husband and Alice Figueiredo."They keep saying they are going to change and they don't," she says. "These are people's lives which are taken. It leaves families devastated."
The Sun
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Broadband provider with 300,000 customers makes huge u-turn on bills and customers will pay more
A MAJOR broadband provider has made a u-turn on bills meaning customers will pay more. Hyperoptic has ditched its no mid-contract price rise pledge meaning households will have to cough up more during their contract terms. 1 The firm has spent the last few years campaigning to stop the practice which sees prices rise to keep up with inflation. In early 2023, it launched a TV ad campaign calling out the pricing tactic. However, it will now implement annual increases of £3 from April 2026 for customers joining after June 3 this year. Lutfu Kitapci, chief technology officer and managing director of ISP at Hyperoptic, said: "For years, broadband consumers have had to deal with unknown price increases in the middle of their contract and we are proud to have campaigned and supported the ban of this unfair practice. "Price changes however are not uncommon, for example after introductory pricing, discounted months and other offers." He added existing customers will not be affected by the annual increase, unless they switch to a new contract. Customers on a Fair Fibre plan, a cheaper package for those on benefits like Universal Credit and PIP, will also not see their prices rise mid-contract. The changes mean that someone on a 24-month 150MB Superfast package living in North-East London will see their price rise from £19 a month to £22 a month next April. From April 2027, this will rise a further £3 to £25 a month. Meanwhile, a household in the same area choosing a 24-month 1GB Hyperfast deal will see the price rise from £25 a month now to £28 next April, then £31 from April 2027. You can find out how much your package might rise by visiting BROADBAND PRICE RISES A host of broadband firms hiked prices for customers in March and April. This included BT and EE Mobile and broadband customers, those with Three and Tesco Mobile customers. For some customers, their contract prices rose by various measures of inflation plus a certain percentage. However, other customers saw prices rise based on a new pounds and pence method introduced by regulator Ofcom. For example, O2 customers who signed up for deals before January 9 this year saw their contracts hiked by January's RPI rate of inflation plus 3.9% on April 1. But, those who agreed to a new SIM-only deal from January 9 onwards saw their contracts rise by £1.80. Vodafone mobile phone customers who took out a new deal before July 2, 2024 saw their monthly costs go up based on the January CPI measure of inflation plus 3.9% on April 1. However, anyone who took out a deal after this date will have seen their bill rise by a flat £3. How to cut mobile and broadband costs Check whether you can save potentially hundreds of pounds a year on your broadband by switching to a different provider. Which? research found, on average, out-of-contract TV and broadband customers could save £160 by switching. Meanwhile, TV and broadband customers who haggled with their current provider rather than switching saved £117 on average. It's worth checking if you qualify for a social tariff as well, available to those on certain benefits like Universal Credit. They're usually cheaper than standard broadband packages and could save you up to £456 a year. Social tariffs are not just offered by broadband providers either - you can get them for mobile phones too. You can find out the list of providers that offer either type of tariff on the Ofcom website. If you're looking for a TV, broadband and phone deal, it can often work out cheaper buying a bundle package combining them all too. .
Daily Mail
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Love Island fans emotional after one-off 10 year anniversary special sees Caroline Flack briefly back on screens - but slam ITV for failing to include a tribute to late host
Love Island fans were left emotional after seeing Caroline Flack return to screens on Sunday night in the one-off anniversary special. But some viewers were left upset and 'disappointed' that there was no tribute to remember the late presenter at the end of the show. The TV star died at her North East London home on February 15, 2020, at the age of 40 and her death was ruled a suicide in an inquest in August of that year. Love Island: A Decade of Love saw former Islanders return to take a trip down memory lane and look back at the last 10 years of the reality show. Stars including newly-wed Dani Dyer, as well as Liam Reardon and Millie Court, Demi Jones and Shaughna Phillips made an iconic return for the special. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. But some viewers watched in disbelief and took to social media to share how they were 'disappointed' that there was no tribute at the end of the show to remember her (pictured on show in 2018) And Caroline briefly made her return on the screen, with many left moved at her brief appearance in the special 90-minute episode. She was seen in particular hugging Molly-Mae Hague at the fire pit after she returned from Casa Amor to meet Tommy Fury in series five. Taking to X, fans admitted it was bittersweet to see the presenter again, and praised her for being so important to the show. They wrote: 'Aw, Caroline. She was Love Island. She genuinely cared about everyone.'; 'Love seeing Caroline again'; 'big up Caroline'. 'The hardest part of watching back Love Island's ten years of highlights is seeing how happy Caroline was. Love Island was truly her happy place'. However, many also voiced their disappointment that there was no special tribute to Caroline, nor former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, who both also tragically took their lives after starring on the show. They took to social media to write: '@LoveIsland really disappointed there was nothing on Caroline Flack in the birthday episode'; 'I don't like that they didn't do a mini tribute to Caroline Flack, she was basically responsible for the show coming back'; 'Ten years of love island and no sign of Caroline Flack'. However, many also voiced their disappointment that there was no special tribute to Caroline, nor former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, who both also tragically took their lives after starring on the show 'I'm shocked they didn't even pay tribute to her Mike and Sophie'; 'They celebrated a decade of love island without a tribute for Caroline flack, she was love island'. 'Did anyone else thing there would be like an in memoriam thing at the end for Caroline Flack? Kind of weird there wasn't?' 'At the end of the day without Caroline there would be no #LoveIsland like they could of done a slide show or something to acknowledge her but they didn't they could of payed tribute to Mike and Sophie i'm so disappointed'. Last year, The Met has said it is making 'further enquiries' as new witness evidence 'may be available' relating to the actions of officers in appealing the initial CPS decision not to charge Caroline. Her bereft mother, Christine Flack, said she and her family had been left with 'important, unanswered questions' and vowed 'we won't 'stop until we get the truth'. At the time, the TV star's mother told the Mirror: 'We won't stop until we get the truth. Something very unusual happened to Carrie at the police station that night, but no one kept a proper record explaining why. 'I have now made a complaint to compel the officer to give the -statement we think he should have given four years ago. As a family, we have been left with important -unanswered questions.'
