Last week’s branch closures will leave it with 244 full branches

Santander UK has revealed a hike in annual profits despite putting by another £183 million to cover costs of the motor finance mis-selling scandal and warned over further cost-cutting over the year ahead. The Spanish-owned lending giant reported a 14% rise in pre-tax profits to £1.51 billion for 2025.

It added the additional provision for motor finance compensation and costs, on top of £295 million for the saga in 2024, having earlier cancelled third quarter results to assess the impact of the Financial Conduct Authority’s redress scheme. But it cautioned “there continue to be significant uncertainties as to the nature, extent and timing of redress payments”.

“The ultimate financial impact could be materially higher or lower than the amount provided,” the bank said. In full-year results it also set the scene for more cost-cutting in 2026, less than a week after it revealed plans to shut another 44 branches, putting nearly 300 jobs at risk.

Santander said it expects further cost efficiencies in 2026 “driven by simplification and automation of our business”.

Last week’s branch closures will leave it with 244 full branches, although it will add more through the deal to take over smaller rival TSB. It said it expects to complete the £2.65 billion TSB deal in the first half of 2026.

The UK bank results came after its Spanish owner banco Santander announced a 12.2 billion US dollar (£8.9 billion) deal to buy American rival Webster Bank. Banco Santander reported a better-than-expected net income of 3.76 billion euro (£3.24 billon) for the fourth quarter, having brought the results forward by a day due to the announcement of the deal.

The incident occurred in Kilkeel earlier today

An 11-year-old boy has tragically died following a road traffic collision earlier today, the PSNI have confirmed this evening.

The accident happened on the Corcreaghan Road in Kilkeel, Co Down, during early morning commuter traffic in the area.

Detective Inspector Stewart from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Collision Investigation Unit said: “Police received a report at approximately 8am of a collision involving a car and a child on the Corcreaghan Road.

“Officers attended, alongside our colleagues from partner emergency services. Tragically, the young boy was pronounced deceased a short time later in hospital.

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“Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the collision, and would like to hear from witnesses or anyone who may have captured dash-cam or other footage which could assist with our enquiries.

“Please call us on 101, quoting reference 242 03/02/26, or submit information online.”

SDLP South Down MLA Colin McGrath described the death as a heartbreaking tragedy. Mr McGrath said: “This is an absolutely heartbreaking tragedy and my thoughts are with the family, friends and everyone who knew this young boy. Losing a loved one is never easy, but the loss of a young life in these circumstances is unimaginable.

“I know that the local community is shocked and deeply saddened, but I trust they will do everything they can to support the family at the centre of this as they come to terms with such a devastating loss.

“The police have appealed for witnesses or anyone with dash-cam footage to come forward and I would ask people to help in any way they can.”

Paying her respects, South Down DUP MLA Diane Forsythe said: “I am absolutely heartbroken as is the entire community at this tragic news today. My deepest condolences are with the entire family circle as well as many friends, the school family and wider community who are firmly in my thoughts and prayers.

“The devastating loss of a child is beyond measure and this one was one of the loveliest there are. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4.”

The Corcreaghan Road reopened just after 9pm on Tuesday night.

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I AM unlucky enough in frequently needing to use the U1702 Moxby Lane from Sheriff Hutton to Easingwold.

By writing this letter, I’m hoping to warn other motorists that if not spotted in time their car’s wheels, tyres and even axels may be significantly damaged.

Pothole on Moxby Lane from Sheriff Hutton to Easingwold. Image supplied

I fully appreciate that North Yorkshire has many hundreds of miles of roads to maintain, but feel that my local area has been overlooked for repair!

Ralph Magee,

Broadacres,

Lilling,

York

… WITH the terrible state of our roads, I was thinking of something that would make the potholes more visible.

Perhaps some sort of “radar” but with the amounts of heavy rain we’ve been having lately, perhaps a “sonar” gadget measuring the depth of the water would be more appropriate.

D M Deamer,

Penleys Grove Street,

Monkgate,

York

What do you think?

Feel strongly about an issue? Write us a letter. Please write no more than 250 words and you must provide your full name, address and mobile number. Send your views by email to: letters@thepress.co.uk

NHS still ‘top loaded with pen pushers’

THE NHS is apparently top loaded with bureaucrats which begs the question what do they do all day?

When appointed health secretary Wes Streeting said his first priority was to reduce the number of unnecessary pen pushers.

Like all ministers, he is full of hot air – 18 months into office I have just received a hospital appointment confirmed three times.

Peter Rickaby,

Moat Way,

Brayton

—

Why Kemi is music to my ears!

HAVING just listened to BBC4’s latest programme of Desert Island Discs with Kemi Badenoch I have come to the following conclusion: Kemi has more common sense, intelligence, communication skills and political ability in her little finger than the whole of the current front branch put together.

Mary Morton,

Hob Moor Drive,

Holgate,

York

—

Apt name – bar none!

THE irony of a wine bar called Plonkers refusing entry to Labour councillors is wonderful. Joanne Ellis,

Charlton Street,

York

Send us your local pothole photos

Have you seen worse? Please be safe, but if you can, take a photo of potholes near you and send them to our newsroom, with the location and the date you took the photo. Send them to us via the link below…

The Treasury announced that every pub in England would get 15 per cent off its new business rates bill from April 1.

This support package was a U-turn from November’s Budget, which would have ended financial relief first introduced during the pandemic.

Bolton Council had voted to oppose the end of rate relief on January 20, with the figures for one pub showing monthly bills rising by more than 70 per cent.

But critics have argued the new support doesn’t go far enough to support pubs, which are already struggling to open.

‘A lot of them are gone already’

Nick Howcroft, owner of Henighans Bar and Grill in Little Lever, said the relief doesn’t go far enough.

He said: “We need to be more radical than 15 per cent – it’s not going to do anything, and it’s not going to save pubs – a lot of them are gone already.”

He added that he only owns one pub now, after putting Henighan’s Eat and Drink on Bury Road in Breightmet up for sale a year ago.

At the time, Nick said he was selling the pub as it had just got “quieter and quieter and quieter” and it was time to move on 14 years after buying it.

Nick Howcroft, owner of Henighans Bar and Grill in Little Lever (Image: Newsquest)

He added that the government hasn’t given “any clarity” to the plans, and he said: “It’s hard to comment, they don’t have a clue.”

‘Business rates are out of control’

Danny Loynd, manager of The Balmoral, also said he does not think it’s enough, and the relief should have been left where it was.

He said: “I don’t think it’s enough – I think they should have left it where it was.

“I think we’re going to see a lot more closures this year and also next year.

“Bolton’s a difficult town as it is, so any support we can get is helpful but at the minute we’re not really getting anything.”

Chris Howgate, landlord of Elephant and Castle and The Jolly Carter in Little Lever, said that “business rates are out of control at the minute”.

He said: “They’re through the roof and that’s why businesses are closing.

“I don’t think it’s enough to be honest, especially with rates as they are.”

A NI charity has backed grieving parents call for answers after their 23-year-old son fell to his death from a fifth-floor apartment after the railing ‘gave way’

A Northern Irish charity has backed two grieving parents’ call for answers following the tragic death of their son in London.

Joshua Robbins from Claudy died suddenly on Thursday, January 29, at Thurston Dwellings on Newton Street in the city, breaking the hearts of his family and friends. It has been alleged that the 23-year-old fell from the fifth floor of the apartment block after a “railing gave way” as he looked over a ledge to see if a pizza delivery had arrived.

His heartbroken parents Fiona Garrett and Will Robbins have called for “truth and accountability” in the wake of Joshua’s tragic death due to alleged safety failings and have now been backed by The Katie Trust. The charity has said it has been “shocked” by its research into similar incidents and that it has “serious and legitimate questions about building safety standards, inspection regimes and accountability” in the UK capital.

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A spokesperson for the charity said: “The Katie Trust is deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of Joshua Robbins, aged 23, who fell from a balcony at a residential property in London last Thursday, as reported in the media.

“Joshua was the beloved son of Fifi Garrett, a valued member of The Katie Trust team, and the father of Will Robbins. Our thoughts, love and solidarity are firmly with Fifi, Will, and the wider Robbins family at this devastating time. No parent should ever have to endure such a loss, and no child should grow up without their father.

“While the full circumstances surrounding Joshua’s death will be a matter for the relevant authorities to establish, we are profoundly concerned by reports that the balcony railing failed, leading to his fatal fall. The prospect that a basic structural safety feature in a residential building could collapse so easily is deeply troubling.

“As a Trust, we have been further shocked by our own research into similar incidents and by the number of deaths in London linked to balcony failures and concerns about structural integrity. That such incidents continue to occur in the capital city of a G7 nation—often described as a global leader in housing, construction and regulation—raises serious and legitimate questions about building safety standards, inspection regimes and accountability.

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“This is not the kind of scenario one would expect in a modern European capital. It is an issue that demands urgent attention at both local and national level. The building in question falls within the constituency of the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and we believe it is reasonable to ask what action is being taken to address wider concerns about residential building safety and to prevent further tragedies.

“At this time, we also wish to acknowledge and thank the emergency services, who responded swiftly and professionally, and to recognise the trauma experienced by neighbours and witnesses who were confronted with this distressing incident.

“Above all, our focus remains with Fifi and Will. The Katie Trust will continue to support the family in any way we can, and we stand with all families who have lost loved ones in circumstances that raise serious questions about safety, oversight and preventability.

“Joshua’s death must not be treated as an isolated tragedy. If lessons are to be learned, they must be learned fully and transparently—so that no other family has to suffer a loss like this.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor moved out of the Royal Lodge, a grand royal residence on the Windsor estate, on Monday night.

The disgraced former duke now lives on a property on the slightly smaller Sandringham Estate, a royal compound that the king personally owns.

The former Duke of York will call the Marsh Farm his permanent home and will pay the cost, according to the BBC.

Mountbatten-Windsor will briefly return to Windsor to collect the remaining of his belongings.

In October, the ex-prince was stripped of his royal titles and ordered to vacate the Royal Lodge.

A look at Royal Lodge in Windsor

The Royal Lodge is a Grade II listed building in Windsor that has 30 rooms, including seven bedrooms.

The lavish mansion is made up of a central section standing at three storeys tall, with two-storey wings.

The current building structure dates back to the 19th century and was later expanded in the 1930s by the then Duke of York, also the future King George VI.

The residence was previously occupied by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1952 until she died in 2002, aged 101.

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Mountbatten-Windsor has lived in the 30-room Georgian mansion, which sits on 98 acres of land west of London, since 2003.

Marsh Farm, once described by royal insiders as ‘modest’, has a kitchen, two reception rooms, and various outbuildings and stables. Sarah Ferguson will not be joining her ex-husband.

The move comes after new disclosures showed the extent of his closeness with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing.

Among the three million files released on Friday by the US Department of Justice was a 2010 email exchange between ‘A’ and Epstein.

The businessman asks: ‘What time would you like me and [redacted]?

‘We will also need/have private time.’

In a response, an email signed off by ‘A’ suggested: ‘Alternatively, we should have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy.’

Photographs also show Mountbatten-Windsor in compromising positions, including kneeling over a woman lying on the ground.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Mountbatten-Windsor to testify before a congressional committee in the US over his dealings with Epstein.

He said: ‘Anybody who has got information should be prepared to share that information in whatever form they are asked to do that.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Paul Ellison was found dead within HMP Frankland’s healthcare facility on December 19.

The 54-year-old was one of five inmates at the prison to be found dead over a period of eight days, including on Christmas.

An inquest into his death was today (February 3) opened in Spennymoor, and heard his cause of death is “unascertained”.

Coroners’ officer Sue Rooney told the hearing: “I understand the circumstances to be that Paul was found slumped on his bed, at the healthcare facility, within HMP Frankland.

“On December 21, 2025, Dr Louise Mulcahy conducted a Post-Mortem Examination at Newcastle RVI Mortuary and gave the cause of death as unascertained.”

The hearing was adjourned and will be mentioned on May 12.

As reported, investigations into the deaths of five inmates are underway, with Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) Adrian Usher saying he will look at any “themes or any correlation among the deaths”.

It is understood they are not directly linked.

Among the men who died were a Latvian man who raped and murdered a teenager days before her 18th birthday, and a man who killed his neighbour in Barnard Castle just three years ago.

Why do some people live to 100 while their sibling dies decades earlier? Is it luck, lifestyle, or something written into their DNA?

Relative to many other species, humans are particularly long lived, but there is an ongoing argument about how much of our long lifespan is shaped by our genes and how much to our environment. It’s the old “nature versus nurture” debate.

Researchers have repeatedly used large population studies to estimate how much genetics influences longevity. Historically, these studies have found relatively modest effects, typically around 25% to 33%, with some estimates as low as 6-16%.

A recent study published in Science challenged this trend, revising the estimate upward to about 50% by accounting for changes in external causes of death – such as accidents and infectious diseases – and separating the effects of genetics and environment in large historical cohorts of twins.

We know that individual genes affect lifespans in different species. A single mutation in the gene coding for the insulin sensor of worms would cause them to double their lifespan. Since that 1993 discovery, scientists have experimentally extended the lifespans of flies and mice, and even found hints of similar effects in long-lived humans.

However, the effect of this single gene variation seems to be lessened as the species becomes more long lived, so don’t expect a single gene mutation to suddenly cause 200-year human life expectancies. Also, these were gene mutations affecting the sensitivity of insulin and insulin-like growth factor hormones – in other words, the mutations seem to mimic the metabolic effects of a healthy diet and regular exercise.

Perhaps an obvious statement to make, but many of our body’s traits, including longevity, are the sum of all our inherited genes, not just a single gene. But how much is genetics and how much is lifestyle is the open question.

This amount is more than an interesting number. If genetics mostly controls how long we live, then new anti-ageing treatments and lifestyle changes won’t help much. But if genetics plays a smaller role, then what we do and the treatments we use could make a bigger difference in how long we live.

Nature’s perfect experiment

To tackle this question, the authors of the Science paper used data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Ageing. Because it includes a rare set of twins raised apart, the data makes it easier to tease apart the effects of genes and environment, creating something close to a natural experiment in humans.

By studying monozygotic (“identical”) twins, or people with identical genomes born between 1900 and 1935 and attempting to correct for rapidly changing external influences of health and mortality during this period, the authors conclude that the inherited influence of lifespan is about 50%.

Put another way, about 50% of your potential lifespan is given to you by your parents, and the other 50% is the environment you live in. Things such as exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress, pollution and infectious disease exposure all fall into this external category.

The researchers then validated their models using data from populations in Denmark and the US. However, this also means the study populations were largely white, wealthy and European. Including more diverse populations will be important for determining how well these findings apply to humanity as a whole.

The reason that the authors put forward for their number being so much higher than others is their accounting for the effects of changing external influences on longevity, things such as improving sanitation and medication.

Indeed, if they don’t correct for external causes of death, their model finds numbers in the 20-30% range, or much closer to prior estimates. As the authors note, many health traits seem to be about 50% heritable, so there’s an internal logic of longevity as a trait following this trend.

These estimates could still change. Longevity studies in humans are time consuming, relying on historical records or following populations over roughly 100 years as people live their normal lives. As the authors note: “Heritability is a statistic that applies to a particular population in a particular environment at a particular time.”

This doesn’t mean that your personal actions aren’t helping you – this debate probably isn’t over yet. This is the largest estimate of the effect of genetics on longevity to emerge recently in the scientific literature, but even if genes account for about half our lifespan’s story, the other half is still being written every day.

North Yorkshire Police said electric vehicle cables in the Clifton Moor Industrial Estate were stolen around 8.30pm yesterday evening (February 3).

A force spokesperson said: “A male made off on a pedal cycle carrying a large axe and multiple EV charging cables.

“We are appealing for the public’s help and asking for anyone who noticed anyone acting suspiciously, or saw or heard anything, or has dashcam or CCTV footage to get in touch.

“If you can assist, please contact us on 101, quoting reference NYP-030220260490.

“You can also email tom.birkingshaw@northyorkshire.police.uk”

Plans have been put forward to North Yorkshire Council for outline permission for six home on the site between Springfield Garth, St Peter’s Street and Lakeside Way.

It proposes access to the new properties via St Peter’s Street. The application follows previous applications for 18, 23 and 8 houses on the site, all of which were rejected.

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Di Keal, Mayor of Norton on Derwent said: “It is disappointing to see yet another attempt to gain permission for housing on this totally unsuitable site near Lakeside. Earlier applications have been quite rightly repeatedly refused and the town council has again recommended refusal to North Yorkshire Council planners and urge them to reject this latest application.

Almost 40 local people attended a recent town council meeting to object to the application and there are numerous grounds on which it should be rejected.

Cllr Keal added: “The land is a saturated much of the time and water already encroaches onto the public footpath that runs alongside the plot, which sits in Environment Agency Flood Zone 3. Any development of this land would adversely impact surrounding property by removing a vital holding area for water and would have added impact on nearby homes from the run-off of water from the creation of hard surfaces that the development would create.

“The development would cut right across a heavily used public footpath, part of a network of safe shortcuts away from traffic that are used by dozens of people daily, including children going to local schools.

“But perhaps the most shocking aspect of the application is proposing accessing the site via the already congested St Peter’s Street, which would be a further hazard to pedestrians and motorists and make it virtually impossible for emergency services vehicles to use the street.

“The town council has asked that the application be brought before the Thirsk & Malton Planning Committee rather than be a decision made by a council officer.

“Given the weight of resident objections, the vulnerability of the land to flooding, and the damaging impact development would have on the area, I hope the application will be firmly rejected.”

North Yorkshire Councillor for Norton Cllr Keane Duncan, said: “Residents are rightly concerned about this application, with more than 40 objections already submitted, alongside Norton Town Council’s response.

“Key issues include the proposed access via St Peter’s Street, the impact on the well‑used snicket to Lakeside, and unresolved flooding and drainage risks.

“I am working with residents to ensure these serious matters are fully examined and properly addressed.”