The planning application details the relocation of the shelter on Bolton Road due to required roadworks.

The project includes moving one shelter equipped with an internally illuminated double-sided paper advertisement unit.

The shelter, located on a section of public highway, and the relocation has been requested by TfGM.

The new shelter will be designed using steel, aluminium, and toughened glass and will have an advertised space measuring 1065mm x 1895mm.

The proposed design of the bus shelter (Image: JCDecaux via planning documents)

The advertisement will be illuminated internally with a light level of 600 cd/m², and will remain static.

It will also project over a public highway.

The applicant is Stephen Herraghty, operating out of JCDecaux UK’s base on Great West Road in Brentford.

Consent for the repositioned bus shelter has been initially requested for a period from April 20, 2026, to April 20, 2031.

No prior consultation has been sought by JCDecaux UK with neighbours or the local community regarding the proposal.

If the planning authority needs to conduct a site visit, the applicant himself, Stephen Herraghty, is noted down as the point of contact.

No prior advice or assistance from the local authority has been sought concerning this application.

The planning application’s reference number is A/26/100476/ADV, should the public need to inquire specifically about it.

Residents and the local community can view the official proposal and plans on the authority’s website.

Actor Jonathan Howard has discussed what the future could look like for Carl Webster if he survives the upcoming murder

Coronation Street star Jonathan Howard has discussed what the future could look like for Carl Webster if he survives the upcoming murder.

As fans of the ITV soap already know, Carl is among the possible victims of a murder set to rock the cobbles, with the victim, which could also be Theo Silverton, Jodie Ramsey, Megan Walsh or Maggie Driscoll, set to be revealed following a week of dramatic episodes.

Following his first-ever appearance in Weatherfield last year, the character hasn’t made his life, or the lives of his loved ones, very easy. But none more so than Debbie, after he recently discovered that the fabulous hotel owner isn’t his half-sister, like he has spent his whole life believing, but his biological mother.

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The truth came out as Debbie took the blame for him following a horror multi-vehicle crash in January that caused the death of Weatherfield vicar, Billy Mayhew, during which a drunk Carl coldly pulled her from the passenger side into the driver’s seat to make it seem like she was behind the wheel.

After thinking Debbie, who was diagnosed with dementia last year, was taking the blame because she had forgotten what had happened, Carl didn’t take the news of his parentage very well and took pleasure in seeing Debbie take the wrap for the crash, before she was sentenced to time behind bars.

Eventually, with her health suffering, Debbie was freed following a successful appeal, and while she was led to believe that Carl wanted to make amends and work on a relationship, he soon showed his true colours and has repeatedly tried to get money out of her since.

However, in scenes aired during last week’s Corrie, the hotel owner was seen sending her son on his way for the last time, having given him some cash to leave Weatherfield once and for all. But Debbie’s goodbye could end up being permanent because, as Corrie fans also know, Carl is among the five possible victims of a murder which is set to rock the cobbles this week, after a flashforward episode back in February confirmed who could be killed, and that it’s Betsy Swain who finds the dead body.

Speaking about Carl’s motives, Jonathan told the Manchester Evening News and other press: “With Carl, everything that drives him is he feels like he’s owed something. Before he found out Debbie was his mum, he felt like he had this family in England that never visited him and he’d been neglected, so he’s always had a chip on his shoulder.

” Now he’s got the news Debbie’s his mum, and then to be attacked by Ronnie, he uses that to his advantage. Wherever he is in life, he’s going to try to take advantage of the situation. He knows his mum loves him unconditionally, and he’s going to take advantage of that because he doesn’t quite know how to accept that love at the moment.”

When it was suggested that it was quite a sad place for the character to be in, the soap star replied: “It’s very sad. I feel for him. Obviously, I play him, so I feel something for him.” He added: “I’ve got to have empathy and compassion and find the humanity in him. Especially if I’m being paid to play this guy, I’ve got to find the empathy and compassion there.

“If I’d grown up my whole life not really knowing who my family was and feeling like I was left on the side, how would that impact me? How would I react? I’ve got to play what’s on the page, but I’ve got to try and find the humanity in that and the reason behind it.

Asked whether Carl does have love for his mother, and has a heart when it comes to their situation, the actor shared: “Absolutely he’s got feelings for his mum, yes. Does he know how to express them? No. I don’t really think so. Does he know how to love? I don’t really think so. I think it’s sex and what can I get from life, from this situation? [Carl’s] a bit of a chancer like that.“

But if Carl were to survive this week’s murder, Jonathan admits he’d quite like to see more dodgy antics from his character. “I’m really intrigued to see, if he survives, if he’s going to have a redemptive arc because I’ve had a wonderful, fun time for the 12 months I’ve been here, you know, being a mosquito and annoying the hell out of people, doing the dodgy dealings, the hit and runs, the car stealing, the teenage robberies, the blackmailing – I’ve really enjoyed all that.

“If Carl survives, how far are we going to push the envelope? And I love playing the mosquito and I really hope he continues to have some of that in him if he survives. But, yeah, I try and find moments of kindness in him and moments of wanting to be loved.”

Birds sing the most around an hour before dawn, when the air is at its stillest. Theoretically, this enables sounds to travel further, making song up to 20 times more effective than if sung at midday.

With International Dawn Chorus day approaching, it’s time to take a moment to soak in the spring birdsong and notice the individual harmonies blending together.

International Dawn Chorus Day brings casual bird appreciators, ornithological experts and dedicated twitchers together in a celebration of birdsong. In our series, experts give their insights on nature’s chorus.

The dawn chorus is beautiful anywhere, but your local birdsong may sound rather different to nearby areas. Even in the same neighbourhood, birds of the same species don’t always sound exactly alike. I was recently teaching undergraduates about bird song, and they recorded blue tits singing around campus. The students found plenty of differences between individual birds. Some blue tits sang their classic song, which sounds a bit like they are saying “he-llo, I’m a little blue tit”. Some sang a more elaborate “he-llo, I’m a little blue tit, blue tit”, and some only bothered with “he-llo”.

Alongside individual differences, birds have regional differences in song. For example, the birdsong that sounds a bit like “my toe bleeds Be-tty”, commonly sung by the woodpigeon is, in some parts of the UK, “my toe bleeds Ju-li-a”, with an extra syllable to the final section of the song. These sorts of regional dialects have been reported in several British bird species including blackbirds and great tits.

However, one of the most interesting accents comes from farmland bird the yellowhammer, who typically sings birdsong that sounds like “a little bit of bread and no cheese please”. In the UK, the yellowhammer largely has two distinct dialects, differing in the final “cheese please” part of the song. In the east of England, “cheese” has a lower pitch than “please”, and this is reversed in south and west England.

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Why do birds sing?

The yellowhammer was introduced to New Zealand from the UK in the 1860s and 70s. But, unlike the UK, the New Zealand yellowhammers have around seven dialects, despite originating from the south of England. These five extra dialects have also been detected in birds across Europe, indicating that the New Zealand birds still sing the 19th century British dialects that have since disappeared in the UK. This is likely due to the large decline in the number of yellowhammers in the UK which caused some populations to go extinct. An ongoing project allows you to view a map of yellowhammer dialects or help with citizen science research on their song.

Most birds only sing one dialect, learned from parents or neighbours, resulting in a geographical mosaic of regional accents. Dialects often overlap but can dominate certain areas, essentially producing geordie, brummie, cockney and scouse birds.

Although some bird species have an innate ability to sing the song of their species (the cuckoo, for example), species with more elaborate song must learn to sing. Young birds inherit a template which they add to from listening to songs around them.

For example, chaffinches that have been hand-reared in isolation produce simple songs, whereas wild chaffinches learn complexities from their parents or immediate neighbours in their first weeks of life. Finer details of their song are acquired the following breeding season when they come into contact with neighbouring territory owners. Interestingly, corn buntings, a farmland bird, sing the same song as their nearest neighbour rather than their parents, seeming to learn most after dispersing from their nest.

Birds are also adapting to humans. In urban areas, wildlife is subjected to human-made noise such as cars and machinery. Consequently, urban birds now sing at a higher pitch than rural birds as higher-pitched songs carry better over low-pitch urban noise. And it’s not just the pitch of the song that has been altered.

Great tits sing shorter and faster songs in cities compared to forests, and blackbirds sing louder in urban areas. However, even when cities are quiet, like in the early hours, urban birds maintain these song features, which suggests that sounds echo off large buildings and don’t travel as far in urban areas.

Birds are singing earlier in response to traffic noise, with city blackbirds starting their dawn chorus up to five hours earlier than rural birds. The effect of artificial light also leads to an earlier start of dawn singing, with song thrushes starting ten minutes earlier, and robins and great tits 20 minutes earlier than in areas without street lighting. And, artificial light causes blackbirds to sing around an hour earlier than those exposed to natural light.

Scientists still have much to learn about the differences in birdsong within a species. When you hear birdsong, it’s easy to assume that it’s a male. And it is more usually males that sing. Females choose males with the best song so that his high quality genes will be inherited by her offspring. But female birds have been massively under-represented in archives and scientific studies. A 2016 analysis found that for 3,500 out of 4,814 species we don’t even have enough data to know whether or not the females of the species sing. As researchers take a closer look at female birdsong, we may learn of even more differences.

Next time you listen to a bird singing, see if you can hear the nuances in the dialect, or spot the difference between urban and rural birds.

Greater Manchester Police said officers were called to Chorley New Road at around 7:40am after concerns were raised about a possible firearm in the area.

A spokesperson for the force said: “Officers responded to Chorley New Road, Bolton at around 7.40am following reports of a potential firearm sighting in the area.

“Our officers have carried out extensive enquiries and have deemed there to be no viable threat and no wider risk to the public.”

St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School and Devonshire Road Primary School were both reportedly placed into lockdown as a precaution while officers carried out enquiries.

The lockdowns have since been lifted, and police have confirmed there is no ongoing risk to the public.

Enquiries into the incident have been completed.

Middlethorpe Hall in York will be offering spa treatments between 10am and 12.30pm on Thursday mornings during May at St Leonard’s Hospice’s Wellbeing Hub for residents, out-patients, carers and people who have been recently bereaved.

Middlethorpe Hall Hotel teams up with St Leonard’s Hospice – pictured, the spa cottage at Middlethorpe Hall in York. (Image: Submitted)

Middlethorpe Spa therapists will offer the complimentary treatments during the drop-in sessions which provide a safe, relaxed environment for advice, peer support and access to local groups, free of charge.

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Middlethorpe Hall’s kitchen will also prepare homemade biscuits for these sessions.

Throughout May, the hotel will also donate up to £15 when selected GAIA Skincare treatments are booked at its spa which is popular among hotel guests and York residents alike. The Spa Membership Club is designed for locals, allowing daily access to facilities including a large indoor pool, steam room, spa bath, sauna, gym and club room.

Margaret Webster, complementary therapy lead at St Leonard’s Hospice, said: “We’re incredibly grateful that Middlethorpe Hall will be supporting us in this way.

“Complementary therapies are so important for people’s wellbeing, providing many benefits, including relief from emotional stress and anxiety, improved mood restful sleep and, depending on the treatment, reduced muscle aches and pains.

“The therapists’ weekly visits to our Wellbeing Drop-in during May will be a welcome treat for our attendees, supporting our wider complementary therapy programme at the hospice for patients and carers.

“We can only do what we do at St Leonard’s thanks to the generous support of our community and local businesses like Middlethorpe Hall. Thank you for helping us be there when people need us most.”

The head of Queensberry Promotions, which represents 37-year-old Fury, said the ‘Gypsy King’ will earn a career-high payday against Joshua, surpassing the reported £80m he earned against Oleksandr Usyk in 2024.

But Warren said Fury does not want too much time out of the ring and may fight before facing Joshua in “late October” at the earliest.

Fury returned from a 15-month lay-off with a points win over Arslanbek Makhmudov in London on 11 April.

“Tyson wants to keep busy. That’s the mentality he has. When he’s in the gym, he goes to the gym for his mental wellbeing, as well as physically,” Warren said.

“He needs focus, a date when he’s going to fight, and at the moment we don’t have that date.”

Warren said he expects the loser of a Fury-Joshua bout to retire, or both may hang up the gloves after the one-fight deal.

“Tyson has made it very plain he’d like to fight [undisputed champion Oleksandr] Usyk again, so maybe that could be an option,” Warren said.

Warren did not rule out the Fury-Joshua bout being held in Saudi Arabia, which is funding the fight, but he wants it to take place at Wembley Stadium.

“That’s where everybody would like to see the fight,” Warren said.

“It’s the national stadium – that is where it belongs. We’ve had some great nights there in the past and that makes a lot of sense.”

That’s the food for thought a PETA supporter dished out today in Whitby – recently named the fish and chips capital of the UK – along with ‘freshly caught Siamese & chips’ at the bargain price of £6.

The provocative display, Peta says, challenged people’s speciesism – the misguided belief that some species are superior to others and more deserving of respect and kindness – and highlighted that cats and fish are the same in all the ways that matter.

PETA Senior Campaigns Manager Kate Werner said: “Fish and other marine animals feel pain and terror just as cats and dogs do. PETA urges any Whitby locals horrified by the thought of tucking into a Siamese to extend that compassion to all animals and please, go vegan.”

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Peta says fish share knowledge, have long memories, and maintain cultural traditions. Yet they’re impaled, crushed, suffocated, or cut open and gutted by the billion – often while they’re completely conscious.

‘Kitten and Chips’ on offer in Whitby (Image: Pic supplied)

In addition, 38 million tonnes of other aquatic animals are unintentionally caught each year as the fishing industry seeks to meet consumer demand. Every person who goes vegan saves the lives of nearly 200 animals each year, the group added.

PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help anyone thinking of making the switch.

‘Losing Mandy has deeply affected us all, especially because she was taken in such a tragic way’

Tributes have been paid to a Derby woman described as “beautiful inside and out” following the sentencing of the man responsible for her death.

Mandy Riley was murdered in her home at Harriet Tubman House, in the Normanton area, in June 2025. Thomas Turner, who was found responsible for her killing, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years at Lincoln Crown Court on Tuesday (28 April).

In the wake of the sentencing, Ms. Riley’s family has spoken publicly about their loss, describing her as a woman with a “warm soul” and a “gentle smile”.

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Her daughter, Tinisha, expressed relief that the lengthy legal proceedings have come to an end.

“I am glad my mum has now got the justice she truly deserves,” she said. “She was a lovely and kind woman who did not deserve what happened to her. She was beautiful inside and out with a gentle soul and a warm smile.”

Tinisha continued: “Mum was a family person at heart. Even when she spent a lot of time on her own, she still loved and cared about her family deeply.

“No matter how badly people treated her, she never treated them the same and always tried to be nice and respectful. She was a strong woman who had been through a lot of hell in her life but just kept going the best she could.

“I want people to remember her for her kindness, strength and love – not for her struggles. Her life mattered and she will never be forgotten by those who loved her.”

Ms. Riley’s sister, Wendy, described the profound impact of the tragedy on their family.

“Losing Mandy has deeply affected us all, especially because she was taken in such a tragic way,” she said. “None of us will ever come to terms with this, we just need closure.

“She will always be so missed by her daughters, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, son in law, lots of close friends and people who knew her. She was one of a kind with a big heart and lots of love to give.”

Wendy added: “Mandy might not be with us anymore in person but she will be in our hearts forever.”

As reported by Derbyshire Live, Mandy’s killer was a homeless 64-year-old who stabbed her in the neck 11 times before taking her cash and leaving her for dead.

A two-week trial at Derby Crown Court heard how Thomas Turner had only been out of prison a matter of days when he fatally wounded Ms Riley.

Jailing Turner for life, Judge James House KC, said: “You knew Mandy had cash in her purse, you had opened the purse to remove the cash. The killing was in every respect what amounts to robbery.

“You either asked her for money and when she refused you stabbed her or she left the room briefly and when she returned she caught you taking the cash or realised you had and you stabbed her,” he added. “Your age and your poor physical health means it is highly likely you will die in prison.”

Turner has a long criminal history of 33 previous convictions dating back to when he was 18 and which includes a large number of assaults, robbery, rape and attempted rape.

Education officers told councillors that the department continued to work to provide tailored packages to improve the opportunities for looked after children and students with additional support needs.

More than 95% of West Lothian’s school leavers this year have gone on to positive destinations.

And councillors heard that five high schools showed positive destinations for their leavers higher than the Scottish average.

Education officers told councillors that the department continued to work to provide tailored packages to improve the opportunities for looked after children and students with additional support needs.

Of this year’s leavers 21.6% moved into employment, which is consistent with the previous year.

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There was an increase of 1.55% in the number of young people going into Further Education, rising to 27.3% which was above the Virtual Comparator, the National Average and the highest in the last 5 years.

The bulk of school leavers (39.66%) entered Higher Education, which was a 0.5% improvement on the previous year and an improving picture over the last 3 years.

In other fields 2.49% of young people entered training, which is a 0.09% increase on in 2023/24. 1.38% of young people moved into voluntary work, consistent with performance in 2023/24. 3.11% of young people entered Personal Skills Development programmes.

This was a 0.01% increase from 2023/24, and the highest level in the past six years. The percentage of young people recorded as unemployed not seeking was 1.29% which has continued to improve over the last 3 years and was lower than our Virtual Comparator and the National Average.

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A meeting of the Education PDSP heard that there were 2,249 school leavers this year. A report to committee by Beverley Akinlami, the Youth Services Manager said: “There was an increase of 43 leavers compared to last year and 95.6% of school leavers went into a positive destination as recorded in October 2025.

The report added: “This was a 0.2% drop from 2023/24, and was 0.1% below the Virtual Comparator and the Scottish Average. Five schools achieved SLDR above the Virtual Comparator and the Scottish Average.

“In addition 93.1% of young people identified as having additional support needs (ASN) moved into a positive destination, which was a 0.8% increase compared to 92.3% in 2023/24. Of the students in the 20% most deprived households (SIMD Quintile 1) 92.6% went into a positive destination, which was a slight increase compared to 92.5% in 2023/24.”

Councillor Pauline Orr said: “Gaps still exist. What plans are there to improve opportunities for those school leavers who are looked after or those who have additional support needs?

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Ms Akinlami said: “We do have approaches across a range of partners to understand what needs are and remove barriers and find appropriate interventions to support these leavers.”

The report outlined that 80% of young people looked after by the local authority (LAC) moved into a positive destination, compared with 89.2% in 2023/24. This decrease was primarily the result of the much smaller cohort among this year’s leavers. In 2024/25, there were 20 LAC leavers, of whom 4 moved into a negative destination.

This contrasts with 37 LAC leavers in 2023/24, meaning that small changes in individual outcomes now have a proportionally greater impact on the overall percentage.

Kristyna MacSween, the council’s ASN Manager told the meeting education officers continued to monitor the data. She added that interventions were made as early as possible to “work on enhanced pathways to secure positive destinations” for ASN leavers.

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