Fried eggs are a classic breakfast dish and they’re relatively easy to make – but there’s one simple oil swap that can transform them from ordinary to restaurant-quality, with perfectly crispy edges and a golden runny yolk.

Few things are more satisfying than cooking a perfectly fried egg — a delicious breakfast option that pairs brilliantly with buttery toast and creamy avocado. Equally, few things are more disheartening than getting it wrong, as fried eggs have a tendency to stick and burn in the pan.

Despite being a straightforward recipe, fried eggs can go from gloriously crispy to hopelessly charred in mere seconds.

The secret to achieving the ideal fried egg, according to Chef Will Murray of Fallow restaurant, lies simply in switching up the cooking fat you use.

A flawless fried egg needn’t be complicated. Provided you use the correct quantity of oil, the right type of oil, and the appropriate temperature, you can largely leave the egg to its own devices and it’ll come out perfectly — no flipping necessary.

Will maintains that you can produce a fried egg “one minute like a chef” by deep frying in hot rapeseed oil rather than olive oil.

Rapeseed oil boasts a higher smoke point, making it the superior choice if you’re after genuinely crispy edges.

The chef described this as a “super quick” cooking tip that delivers “super crispy” results.

The goal with this technique is to achieve an outside that is “nice and crispy” while keeping the inside “nice and runny”.

To prepare the egg, the chef began by pouring a generous layer of rapeseed oil into a pan and cracking eggs into individual bowls beforehand, giving you ample time to remove any stray shell fragments.

He then carefully transferred the eggs one at a time into the pan from a short distance above it. Dropping them from too high a height risks breaking the yolk.

With the egg sizzling on a high heat, Will spooned some of the hot oil directly over the egg whites to speed up the cooking process, which also creates an appealing bubbly texture.

The eggs are ready once the whites are completely set and no longer appear translucent in any part.

Once cooked, use a spatula to lift the egg from the pan onto a plate lined with paper towels or a cloth to soak up any surplus oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and serve atop whatever you fancy.

Pink was the colour of the day as participants of all ages gathered at South Park this morning (June 7), ready to walk, jog or run either the 3k or 5k Race for Life.

Racers gathered from as early as 10am as music was pumping across the park, and handwritten dedications were pinned to the backs of t-shirts.

Darlington Race for Life 2026 in the town’s South Park. 7/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

There were tutu skirts and sequined headbands, groups of friends arm-in-arm and solo runners setting off on the route, winding along the River Skerne, through the meadows and back across the show field to the finish line, where bells were rung, and people ran in accompanied by cheers and applause.

Darlington Race for Life 2026 in the town’s South Park. 7/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

What united them all was the same quiet, resolute determination — to walk, jog or run for someone they love.

The atmosphere in the park was bittersweet. It was joyful and heartbreaking in equal measure. A reminder that cancer touches almost every family, but across the country, and in Darlington, people won’t be silent about it.

Keeping everything running smoothly on the day were the Race for Life organisers, strongly supported by dedicated volunteers from Quakers Running Club, who turned out in force to marshal the route, cheer on participants and ensure the event ran without a hitch.

The club, based at Abbey Road playing fields, has long been a pillar of the racing community, and Sunday was no different.

Darlington Race for Life 2026 in the town’s South Park. 7/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Darlington Race for Life 2026 in the town’s South Park. 7/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

The enthusiasm and encouragement, clapping, cheering and guiding runners around the route were appreciated by many and was a heartwarming sight in itself.

As participants crossed the finish line, some sprinted, some walked, some in tears, but all were met with thunderous support and applause from friends, family and volunteers.

Darlington Race for Life 2026 in the town’s South Park. 7/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Darlington Race for Life 2026 in the town’s South Park. 7/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Darlington Race for Life 2026 in the town’s South Park. 7/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo. (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Finishers embraced and posed for pictures in the sunshine as they celebrated crossing the line and ringing the bell.

Since its launch in 1994, Race for Life has raised more than £970 million for Cancer Research UK, helping to fund life-saving breakthroughs, including the development of radiotherapy, which now helps more than 130,000 people with cancer in the UK every year.

If you were inspired this morning and want to support Cancer Research UK, you can donate or sign up for a future event at raceforlife.org. Every pound raised funds vital research into more than 200 types of cancer.

Jagger Wing, from Indiana, sadly died on Saturday May 30 after becoming unresponsive while staying at a family friend’s house in Newburgh. His cause of death is not yet known

The parents of a five-year-old boy are left scrambling for answers after their young son died after falling ill at a sleepover.

Jagger Wing, from Indiana, sadly died on Saturday May 30 after becoming unresponsive while staying at a family friend’s house in Newburgh, according to his obituary. He was rushed to Gateway Hospital, but sadly despite best efforts he later died.

Jagger’s casue of death is currently unknown but doctors are specifically checking for heart conditions.

Jagger’s parents Damon, 31, and Alexandria Wing, 29, spoke to News 14 about the loss of their son and how they are searching for answers. Alexandria said: “We do have a family history of cardiac issues, and this is where I want to just express knowing family histories and genetic testing and how important that can be to prevent anything.

“We were told that there’s nothing that could have prevented this, but we also don’t even know what happened.”

The parents told the outlet that they have since had their daughters checked for any heart conditions and have not found any abnormalities.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay the medical bills, funeral costs, and everyday expenses in support of the Wing family. A message on the page reads: “Jagger was a beautiful, energetic, loving, caring, and pure soul that was taken too soon. He was an amazing brother to an older sister and a younger sister. His presence brought joy and light to everyone around him, and his memory will forever be cherished by his parents, siblings, family, and friends. The sudden loss has left Alex and Damon not only emotionally devastated but also in need of support to help them through the practical realities of this tragedy.”

The GoFundMe has raised more than $22,000 so far.

You can donate to the fundraisng page by clicking here.

“We will act against forces who are exploiting the concerns of our people about illegal immigration to further their own political, personal or criminal agendas,” he said, cautioning against social media campaigns that spread misinformation and lies about foreign nationals.

Michael Carrick could exploit a secret Manchester United weapon if he aims to secure a deal for one particular star currently away with England at World Cup 2026

Manchester United have one edge over the competition if they hope to secure the transfer of Alex Scott this summer. That being the unique factor of his step-sister, Maya Le Tissier, already captaining the women’s team at Old Trafford.

In the hunt for midfield reinforcements this summer, United have been touted to make a move for Scott. However, Chelsea could also reportedly offer competition in the race for his signature.

The 22-year-old has travelled with England’s squad to the World Cup, though he isn’t a part of Thomas Tuchel’s official squad for the tournament. Instead, he’s travelled to North America as one of five additional players to provide support for the side’s pre-tournament friendlies.

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Scott was an unused substitute as the Three Lions ground out a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Tampa on Saturday. However, he could still appear in Wednesday’s final pre-World Cup warm-up against Costa Rica on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference following his international call-up, Scott said: “We’ve grown up together, playing football together in the same teams back home, local football.

“We’re very close. We speak most days. And like I said before, obviously so proud of where she’s come from, and now where she is so successful.

“She has told me to just enjoy it and be yourself and show what you can do and do what you’ve been doing for all these years. I mean, she’s seen me grow a lot as a person, as a football player as well.

“I think back in the day when I was back home playing local football, she would have never thought that I’d have gone on to be a professional, and neither would I. So she’s obviously so pleased for me. She text (sic) me straight away as soon as she got the news.

“It’s nice to have someone around who’s experienced it and been around the Lionesses and England in general, she can help me out with advice on playing at the top level and top pressured situation.”

Given the reported interest in Scott’s signature, United could use every advantage they can get in the bid to recruit his services should they ultimately decide to make a move for the midfielder. And having a family member already at the club could prove key in that regard.

Le Tissier joined United from Brighton in the summer of 2022, the same year she earned her first caps for England. She was named in the PFA Women’s Super League Team of the Year following her debut season at Old Trafford.

The 24-year-old continued her rise at United when she was voted the club’s Player of the Season in 2024. Later that year, she was then named United’s new captain following the departure of Katie Zelem.

Having two England internationals from the same family starring for the same club could be considered a rare and tempting feat for Scott. The playmaker has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks since starring for Bristol City, who received a club-record transfer fee of £25million when the Cherries signed him in 2023.

Scott hasn’t looked out of place in the Premier League since then and played a key role as Bournemouth finished a club-record sixth in the Premier League this term. He’s now set to star in the club’s maiden European campaign as they get ready to compete in the Europa League.

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However, he may yet make his way into the continent’s premier competition given United banked a spot in the Champions League. This comes after an already transformative summer given his experience with England in the States.

All signs suggest Scott is being fast-tracked for what could be a big future with the Three Lions. And United could have two England heroes from the same family starring at the club if they manage to seal a deal for his signature this summer.

Andoni Iraola is heading into a vital pre-season with Liverpool

Following a hectic week of introductions, Andoni Iraola will be busy implementing his ideas at Liverpool. The Spaniard has been named as Liverpool’s next permanent head coach following Arne Slot’s recent dismissal.

The Basque’s three impressive seasons at Bournemouth put him in good standing to lead the Reds. However, as with any managerial switch-up, big changes lie ahead at Anfield.

Liverpool’s summer transfer business is also expected to be extensive under their new coach. However, Iraola’s comments on what he will and won’t alter about the Reds’ pre-season plans have emerged.

Elsewhere in today’s latest, Liverpool’s senior players have given their verdict on the 43-year-old’s appointment and how they view the club’s decision to part with Slot.

Iraola’s rule change

Iraola has said he will tinker with some of the plans Slot had for the Reds this summer. He insinuated that those Liverpool players at the World Cup will have their integration into training watched over carefully once they return to the club.

However, the former Cherries coach clarified that he won’t tamper with too many of the plans that were implemented ahead of his arrival but will tweak things for pre-season. “Yes, there was already a lot of work done even before we arrived, and we are trying to change as little as possible for the beginning,” he said.

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“Obviously there will be different timetables, some of them depending how far they arrive with the national teams [at the World Cup], they will incorporate later or sooner. I think everything is in place so everything is quite smooth and there are no problems.”

The Reds will have eight current first-team players at the World Cup. Iraola knows that those behind the scenes are the ones who could provide him with the most insight while the tournament is underway.

“For me right now, I think it’s more than talk to the players. Some of them will be on deserved holidays, some of them will be with their national teams,” he added. “I want to talk to the staff, to the people that were here every day, that know very well the players, to arrive as ready as possible to that first day of pre-season.

“I think especially with a lot of those young players that will do the pre-season with us, a lot of things about the organisation, about the staff, about how we can create the best atmosphere, the best environment so when they arrive [on] day one, everyone feels everything is in place and we can do this process of adaptation, that it will take some time as soon as possible.

“It’s true that it’s going to be new staff, new people coming in, but I would like also to value a lot the ones that have been here working for the club with these players, that are really the ones that will help us more at the beginning.”

Senior players make feelings clear

A source close to the Liverpool dressing room has told The Athletic that there is a sense of excitement at Iraola’s appointment. The report states that the misery of last season “dragged down the mood in the Liverpool dressing room towards the end of Slot’s reign”.

However, it states that the players will now “embrace the prospect of a fresh start” and “an injection of positivity and new ideas,” confirming that some players view the change in manager as a “clean slate”.

The reports have vindicated Robbie Fowler’s prediction that the players would welcome the news of Slot’s dismissal. The Liverpool icon told Mirror Football, ahead of Iraola getting the Anfield job, that now is a time for optimism.

Speaking via BetMGM, the former Liverpool striker said: “I think there will be a little bit of excitement [at a new manager coming in].

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not excitement about getting rid of the manager, it is excitement about the new plans, the new ideas, the training methods, the new everything.

“I think from a player’s point of view, that’s one of the first things you think of. ‘Well, how are we going to play? How is the system going to be? Are we all going to fit into this system?’ And then obviously the training regime, ‘What do we do in training?’

“For me, football is about creating an environment and a training environment where players want to come in and train all the time and want to be the very best version of themselves. So I think you look forward to it.”

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The rate of child poverty in Cambridgeshire as a whole however, is lower than the rate across the UK as a whole

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The number of children living in poverty across Cambridgeshire is on the rise, with almost half of kids in one part of Peterborough below the breadline. Over 30,000 children under the age of 16 were living in poverty in Cambridgeshire during the year ending April 2025, and that’s even before housing costs were taken into consideration.

It works out as one in every six kids in the county (17 per cent). Tackling child poverty was a manifesto pledge by Labour in the July 2024 general election, but the issue grew slightly in Cambridge in the party’s first 10 months in power.

Last year’s total was up from under 30,000 in 2023/24. Some parts of our county have far higher rates of child poverty than others.

The electoral ward of North in Peterborough had a total of 3,178 children living in poverty last year. That works out as nearly half (47 per cent) of children living in the area. That’s a higher rate than any ward in Cambridgeshire, though it only ranks 84th highest in the country.

In fact, Peterborough has all of the county’s top five wards with the highest rates of child poverty. Dogsthorpe has a rate of 40 per cent, Park has a rate of 39 per cent, Central Peterborough has one of 37 per cent as does East Peterborough and Wisbech South in Fenland.

You can check out the childhood poverty rates in your area by using our interactive map. Either enter a postcode in the search tool or select an area on the map:

The child poverty rate is lower in Cambridgeshire than it is across the UK as a whole. A total of 2.43 million children under the age of 16 were living in poverty in the year ending April 2025, according to the Department for Work & Pensions’ figures.

That’s before housing costs are even taken into account, meaning that nearly one in five children (19 per cent) are living in poverty in the UK. Pendle had the highest rates of child poverty of any council area in the country. Around two out of every five children living in the area (41 per cent of them) were below the breadline last year.

That’s followed by Birmingham with 40 per cent of children, Bradford with 39 per cent, Oldham with 38 per cent, Burnley with 37 per cent and Hyndburn also with 37 per cent.

Sophie Livingstone MBE, chair of the End Child Poverty coalition, said: “One child growing up in poverty is one child too many and the figures show the huge scale of the problem as families face renewed cost of living fears.

“Securing a true assessment of the scale of child poverty in the UK is essential and it’s something we have called on ministers to carry out for many years. We are pleased that more accurate data is now available. This is going to help ministers and community leaders tackle child poverty in the regions of the UK that need it most.

“Scrapping the two-child limit to benefits was a good start but there is still work for the UK Government to do and continued investment to be made to give children the best start in life.”

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden said: “This government is determined to turn the tide on poverty after years of rising hardship. The statistics show that effort is beginning to make a difference – household incomes have risen 5 per cent in real terms, food bank usage has fallen, and food insecurity is down.

“But we know there is more to do. That is why we are raising the National Living Wage by up to £900 a year for a full-time worker, cutting average energy bills by £150 from April, and delivering our Child Poverty Strategy which will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament.”

Chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group Alison Garnham said: “Growing up in poverty damages children’s everyday lives and future chances. Removal of the two-child limit next month is an important first step in making life better for kids. With four million children living in poverty, government will have to invest in sustained support for children and families to meet its ambition to give every child the best start.”

The government has used a new methodology for this year’s childhood poverty report. That means that figures reported in 2025 are not comparable to those reported this year. The number of children living in poverty has either increased or decreased, depending on whether you take housing costs into account or not.

With housing costs, the number of children living in poverty fell by 27,000 last year. Before housing costs, however, the number rose by 70,000 over the course of the year.

Wards with the highest rates in Cambridgeshire

National rank. Ward, council: % of children in poverty

84. North, Peterborough: 47%

185. Dogsthorpe, Peterborough: 40%

211. Park, Peterborough: 39%

282. Central, Peterborough: 37%

282. East, Peterborough: 37%

282. Wisbech South, Fenland: 37%

377. Ravensthorpe, Peterborough: 35%

503. Wisbech North, Fenland: 33%

503. Paston and Walton, Peterborough: 33%

673. Orton Longueville, Peterborough: 31%

673. Wisbech Riverside, Fenland: 31%

773. Wisbech Walsoken & Waterlees, Fenland: 30%

1013. Elm & Christchurch, Fenland: 28.%

1285. March West & Benwick, Fenland: 26%

1285. Bretton, Peterborough: 26%

1285. Fletton and Stanground, Peterborough: 26%

The streaming service debut of “Michael” and new albums from Olivia Rodrigo and Keith Urban are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: the new season of “Sweet Magnolias,” a new YA series “Every Year After” and the survival game “Solarpunk.”

New movies to stream from June 8-14

— The Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” is still moonwalking its way to $900 million in theaters, but it’s also going to be available to watch at home — for $24.99 — starting June 9 on major platforms like Apple TV, Prime Video and YouTube. Antoine Fuqua’s movie, starring Jaafar Jackson, was sanctioned by Jackson’s estate and its producers include the estate’s executors. In his review for The Associated Press, film writer Jake Coyle wrote that the movie “slides a sequin glove over the pop star’s tarnished legacy, shrouding Michael Jackson’s complications with a conventional biopic that, if you cover your ears, sounds great.”

— Kate Hudson’s Oscar-nominated performance in “Song Sung Blue” will be on Netflix starting June 13. She plays Claire Sardina, one half of a Neil Diamond tribute act from Milwaukee, opposite Hugh Jackman in a film that Mark Kennedy, in his AP review, called “big-hearted but misguided.”

— Now that Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni ended their legal feud over the acrimonious production of “It Ends With Us,” perhaps its time to give the romantic drama a rewatch? It’ll be streaming on Hulu on June 9. In his review, Kennedy called it “uneven” in its attempt to “balance the realities of domestic violence inside a rom-com and a female-empowerment movie.”

— And you can’t go wrong with Abbas Kiarostami’s “Where is the Friend’s House,” which will be available on June 12 on Kanopy. Greta Gerwig, in an interview with The Criterion Channel, said it is “a perfect film.”

— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

New music to stream from June 8-14

— First, she was “SOUR.” Then, she had “GUTS.” Now she’s abandoned four-letter words for the mouthful “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love.” Such are the musical and emotional complications of Olivia Rodrigo, a popstar for those who love depth of feeling and ’80s guitar pop. Her third album is prepped to be her best one yet, from the butterflies-in-the-stomach, The Cure-referencing “Drop Dead” to, well, “The Cure,” with its early contender for “best bridge of the year.” Run don’t walk.

— Welcome to music festival season! For those who love artists across genres and generations but aren’t big on getting off the couch, Disney+ and Hulu offer a solution. They’ll stream a few of the biggest U.S. fests this year, kicking things off with Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Thursday through Friday. Log on, settle in and enjoy The Strokes, Noah Kahan, Skrillex, RÜFÜS DU SOL and more.

— Keith Urban hath returned — and now, the four-time Grammy Award winning country music superstar is into yacht rock. “Flow State,” out Friday, is comprised of 10 covers — including a reimagination of Bread’s “The Guitar Man” with John Mayer and Walter Egan’s “Magnet and Steel” with Little Big Town. The sole original is “We Go Back,” with Michael McDonald, and it stands up to the rest of the collection. Get into that soft West Coast sound.

— Also back in the fold: Rapper Rick Ross, who releases “Set in Stone” on Friday. Little has been revealed about the 19-track release, but if it is anything like the single “Minks in Miami” — a collaboration with French Montana and Max B that features a hook interpolating Rare Earth’s 1971 hit “I Just Want to Celebrate” — listeners are in for a treat.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from June 8-14

— With “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and now “Off Campus,” Prime Video remains committed to the YA/romance space. Its newest offering is “Every Year After,” an eight-episode series based on a novel by Carley Fortune. It follows Percy (Sadie Soverall) and Sam (played by Matt Cornett), whose childhood friendship turned romantic before complications pulled them apart. A family tragedy reunites them and stirs up old feelings. All episodes drop Wednesday.

— “Sweet Magnolias” returns for its fifth season Thursday, June 11 on Netflix. JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Heather Headley and Brooke Elliott play lifelong friends living in a small town in South Carolina. Together, they navigate relationships, parenting and their careers.

— AP Writer Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play from June 8-14

— With so many steampunk and cyberpunk games out there, perhaps it’s time to move on to “Solarpunk.” The goal in this survival game from German indie studio Cyberwave is to design a new culture using renewable energy sources like sunlight, wind and water. Your home is on an island floating in the sky, and you’ll want to build an airship to travel to other islands. It’s all kind of chill compared to the dystopias you typically expect in this genre, and you can team up with friends as you try to create a pollution-free paradise. Take flight Monday, June 8, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch 2 or PC.

— While you’re waiting for the next NBA Finals game, why not hit the court with “NBA The Run,” a 3-on-3 street basketball throwdown? It’s the debut release from Play By Play Studios, and the developers are trying to recreate the vibe of arcade classics like “NBA Jam.” That means head-spinning footwork, gravity-defying dunks and balls that may burst into flame. There are 32 pros on the roster, including Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs and Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, and the courts bounce from New York to Beijing. Tipoff is Tuesday, June 9, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

— Lou Kesten

Patricia Black went missing in 1976 and her younger brother Alan Black is still looking for answers 50 years later.

The brother of a woman whose disappearance has been linked to serial killer Angus Sinclair has made a dramatic plea for help in solving the case 50 years after she went missing. Patricia Black, then 22, was last seen standing at a bus stop in the Ayrshire town of Irvine on her way home to her parents in neighbouring Saltcoats but was never seen again.

Retired bus driver Alan Black is convinced there are people still alive who know what happened to his ‘ big sister’ and has urged them to come forward and finally break their 50 year silence. In recent years Patricia’s disappearance has been linked to Sinclair who was convicted in 2014 of the World’s End murders of Helen Scott and Christine Eadie in October, 1977.

Police have always believed that Sinclair who died in prison in 2019 had other victims, particularly from around that time. However Alan is convinced that the person responsible for his sisters disappearance is a local man who she met that day in Irvine and not Sinclair.

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He added: “I would like to give my sister a decent burial, somewhere I can go and talk to her. The worst part is not knowing where she is is or what happened to her.

“I still get emotional now even when I think of it. I think of her every day.

“Someone out there knows something. If you have murdered a person you couldn’t keep that quiet. You couldn’t keep that in your head all these years without telling someone like a a partner or best mate.”

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Three weeks after Patricia’s disappearance police found her handbag in the River Irvine in an area of the town called the Moor, about five minutes walk from the bus stop where she had last been seen. Patricia, one of five siblings, left the family home, on Friday, October 8, 1976 to go to meet a friend in the Turf Hotel in Irvine and stayed overnight in the town with the pal at their home.

The factory worker phoned her mother Janet the following day to say she would be home that evening. It that was the last the family ever heard from her. Alan, who has six kids and five grandkids and now lives in nearby Stevenston, was about to turn 18 when Patricia vanished.

He had passed his driving test and was excited at the prospect of taking his sister to the hotel that evening. She invited him in for a drink but Alan declined. Something which he now regrets.

Alan, who believes his sister was murdered, added: “I am sorry about it now. I now feel as if I had gone in with her that evening everything would have changed and she would still have been here. All her movements would have been different.

“My mother and father are dead and my two brothers are dead. When I talk about them I am fine.

“For some reason when I talk about Tricia I break down down. I don’t know what happenned to her or where she is now.”

Alan’s departing words to Patricia were “goodnight” and “enjoy yourself”. It was the last time he saw her.

Alan says the local police were slow to react in the early days of the inquiry believing that she was staying with with someone or had gone away of her own free will. However the police investigation was stepped up three weeks after she went missing when the handbag was found in the River Irvine weighted down by stones. Her purse was also missing.

Alan added: “The fact that it was weighted down meant someone was trying to hide it. The police thought she had met someone or runaway but but Patricia wasn’t like that.

“She wasn’t the type of lassie that just disappears. She wouldn’t go away even for a few nights without telling her mum.

“If the police had acted had acted quicker at the time they might have found more evidence.”

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Alan believes that his sister’s body was dumped in the river, which had a strong tidal current, and she was swept out to sea. The last official sighting of Patricia was around 5pm on Saturday October 9, at the bus stop in Irvine’s Eglinton Street opposite the Turf Hotel where she had been the previous evening.

Their father John passed away aged 65 in 1979 followed by wife Janet, 76, in 1990 without knowing what had happened to their daughter. Alan added: “The family accepted Tricia was dead quite early.

“We knew something had happened to her. She was a popular lassie with lots of friends.

“All my mother and father ever wanted was for a body to be found to give her a decent burial. That’s all that I want. The truth. Answers.”

A month after her disappearance a 21 year old man from Irvine gave an interview to the Daily Record and admitted that he had walked Patricia to the bus stop before heading to a local jewellery shop to buy a Christmas present for his wife.

The man and three pals had earlier met Patricia and her friend in the local shopping centre in Irvine around 4pm.

He then continued walking with Patricia after her friend and the other three men had gone home. The 21-year-old labourer, who had a young son at the time, said: “I have not slept much since I was told she had vanished.

“That was the first day I had met her and when I walked her to the bus stop we were both in a cheery mood. The last thing she said to me was that she was going home to her parents.

“Since I heard of her mystery disappearance I have gone out of my way to help in the search.”

Six months earlier a four year old boy Sandy Davidson had vanished from outside his home in Irvine but the two cases were never linked. To this day both Sandy and Patricia remain missing. Since her disappearance Alan has never given up hope the case will be solved although he has been told that the local man he does suspect is now dead.

He added: “There are people out there still alive who know something. I have been hoping for 50 years for someone to come forward.

“It is not too late. Somebody is holding back that is for sure. Put things to rest, now is the time.”

Police Scotland were contacted for comment.

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Angus Sinclair has been linked over the years with as many as nine unsolved murders including the disappearance of Patricia Black. In 2004 Operation Trinity was launched by three Scottish police forces to investigate whether Sinclair was responsible for the specific unsolved murders of six women from 1977.

Improved DNA profiling techniques had linked Sinclair to the 1978 murder of teenager Mary Gallacher in Springburn, Glasgow for which he was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to life. At the time he was serving a life sentence imposed in 1982 for a series of sex attacks on young girls in Glasgow while working as a painter and decorator.

One of the cases which was reinvestigated was that of two teenagers Helen Scott and Christine Eadie who had gone missing in October, 1977 after spending the evening in Edinburgh’s World’s End bar. Three others were Anna Kenny, Hilda McAuley and Agnes Cooney who had been murdered that same year in a three-month period after meeting their killer on nights out in Glasgow.

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Operation Trinity also identified Sinclair as a possible suspect for the 1977 murder of Frances Barker from Maryhill, Glasgow even though another man was serving time for the killing. Sinclair was convicted of the murders of 17 year old’s Helen and Christine in 2014 at the High Court in Edinburgh and sentenced again to life.

However much of the evidence from the cases of Anna Kenny, Hilda McAuley, and Agnes Cooney was said to have been lost or damaged and Sinclair was never charged with them Sinclair has also been suspected of the murder of amateur porn movie maker Eddie Cotogno at his home in Dumbarton in 1979, 25 year old mother of four Helen Kane, 24, in Edinburgh in 1970 and the disappearance of Patricia Black in 1976.

He died in Glenochil Prison seven years ago without ever confessing to the remaining unsolved cases.

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