A van driver was quizzed by a council worker about his prostate after being spotted relieving himself in a lay-by.

Lee East, 51, said he felt ‘ridiculed’ as he was watched by a council contractor weeing after driving from Clacton in Essex on the A12 in April.

The driver, whose bladder issues and enlarged prostrate mean he has to go to the toilet more often than usual, was handed a £200 fine, or £150 if paid within 15 days, for his discrete act on the roadside.

A clip shows Mr East being confronted by a worker for private investigator Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement, who introduced herself as Anna.

She is heard chastising him and printing out a fine, remarking about how common prostate problems are in men.

The driver is warned he faces a fine of up to £2,500 and a criminal record if he is taken to court.

‘I just can’t believe how common it is with men, probably out of 10, potentially five or six, minimum, prostate problems’, the enforcement officer adds.

Anna then proceeded to question Mr East over how often he takes medication.

Mr East explained that his condition meant he could drive past service stations feeling alright one moment but needing to go the next.

The fine was overturned through an appeal, however Colchester City Council said it wouldn’t chalk off a subsequent offence.

Mr East, who has been on the road as a professional for 30 years, has since installed a potable toilet in the back of his van out of fear of being caught again.

‘It just made me feel disgusting, very very angry’, he said.

‘It was quite embarrassing for me. I’m quite a respectful law-abiding citizen, to be caught short in that situation in the first place.’

He added that being questioned by the female council officer was ‘not pleasant at all’.

He said: ‘To feel like you’re being ridiculed, it’s absolutely disgusting.’

Colchester City Council said it took public hygiene complaints seriously but insisted it did not ‘target’ specific groups, instead focusing on ‘known hotspots’ for littering an urination such as lay-bys.

The local authority had said in a statement: ‘Lay-bys can, unfortunately, become locations where this type of behaviour occurs, and our officers carry out proportionate enforcement where necessary to maintain public health and environmental standards.

‘Public urination is an offence and can pose health risks, create unpleasant conditions for other users, and damage the local environment. Our officers act where there is clear evidence of a breach.

The council added that it recognised lorry drivers needed facilities during long journeys but that it was up to National Highways to provide them on major A-roads.

It clarified: ‘Any income from Fixed Penalty Notices is strictly regulated and is not a revenue-generating exercise. It helps cover the costs of enforcement and wider environmental services, such as street cleansing and tackling fly-tipping.

‘Council enforcement officers are salaried employees and do not receive commission or incentives for issuing fines.

‘We fully understand the challenges faced by the logistics sector, particularly around rest provision, and we support constructive discussions with partners about improved facilities at a national and regional level.

‘However, a lack of facilities does not make illegal activity acceptable.

‘Our responsibility is to balance the needs of all road users with the expectations of residents and communities, who rightly expect clean, safe and well-managed public spaces.

‘We will continue to take a fair, proportionate and evidence-led approach, issuing advice where appropriate and enforcement action where necessary.’

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Specialists have warned parents that they may be relying too much on applying sunscreen to their children just once a day.

Experts have revealed that young people can still be at risk of sun damage even if they used sun cream.

While the weather is set to be slightly cooler this week, UV levels will continue to remain high.

There are lots of precautions you can take to keep safe in the sun. (Image: PA Wire)

How can I protect my children from sun damage?

Experts have said that “once-a-day sunscreens overpromise” and often do not last as long as they claim to, according to the BBC.

They added: “And even if sunscreen is described as ‘water repellent’ or ‘water resistant’, it should still be reapplied after swimming.

“Towel drying and sweat may have rubbed it off. Look for two things when buying your sunscreen: the sun protection factor or SPF, ranging from 2 to 50+, and the star rating on the bottle.”

The experts recommend parents to apply sunscreen around 30 minutes before children go outdoors and should be reapplying it every two hours.

Areas including the tops of the feet, ears, neck, and shoulders are often missed and can burn easily.

Babies that are less than six months old should be kept out of direct sunlight completely, as it is not advised to use sun cream on their skin.

Other ways of keeping children cool in the summer

The specialists also mentioned closing curtains and using electric fans to keep children’s bedrooms cool.

They continued: “A cool bath before bedtime might bring their temperature down, and help yours too. In bed, keep layers to a minimum and leave the door and window slightly open to encourage a breeze.

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“From 12 months old, try frozen lollies made from plain water or very diluted fruit juice.

“For older kids, ramp up fruit intake – particularly juicy fruit, such as watermelon and oranges. Eating salad, ice cream, jelly and soup are all good sources of water too.”

How do you stay safe in the hot weather? Let us know in the comments below.

A recent survey, conducted by Opinium, found that 34% of travellers have noticed an increase in potential scams on social media platforms over the past year.

Head of risk at emerchantpay, George Ralchev, said: “Holidaymakers are being targeted by social media scammers looking to take advantage of the peak travel season.”

The survey also revealed that:

• 70% of people are now cautious about promotional holiday emails due to fear of fraud.
• 50% prefer using online or high street travel businesses that clearly explain their consumer protection measures.

How to spot travel scams

Travel scams can include fake accommodation, non-existent flights, or fraudulent tours sold to holidaymakers while abroad.

Scammers often use copied photos from legitimate websites and may ask victims to pay via bank transfer.

Holidaymakers may also want to check if the company involved is a member of ABTA (a trade association for UK travel agents, tour operators and the wider travel industry).

People booking package deals with a flight could also check coverage under the ATOL financial protection scheme.

Lisa Webb, consumer law expert at Which?, said: “There are ways to help you spot fake holiday listings – such as using a reverse image search to check for stolen images or checking the property’s location on an online map to see that it exists.

“Always book through official, trusted channels and avoid paying by bank transfer for anything advertised on social media.

“If you think you have lost money to a holiday booking scam, contact your bank immediately and report it to Report Fraud or Police Scotland.”

Have you been the target of a travel scam? Let us know in the poll above or in the comments below.

Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur was involved in the protests at last month’s French Open but decided he did not want to take part at Wimbledon.

“I think the sense that we had at Roland Garros was everyone was on board, even though we didn’t, as a collective, achieve the numbers that we were looking for,” he said.

“I thought that Wimbledon made a big step in the right direction, and something that should be noted. So this is for me to acknowledge their big step.”

Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who claimed his first major win in Paris earlier this month, also decided to step back.

“I still want to be part of the players’ movement, but also I realised the media can’t really do anything about it, or can’t really change it,” said Zverev, who represented the players in talks with the Grand Slams at Wimbledon last year.

“It’s not good to take it [out] on someone that doesn’t have the power of control, so I’m doing half an hour [of media]. But I still hope for some change in tennis, for sure.”

This year’s Wimbledon singles champions will each take home £3.6m, up from £3m last year, while first-round losers will earn £80,000.

The incident took place when a woman was walking her dog on Sunday (June 28) and was approached and attacked by an unaccompanied Pitbull type dog.

The woman was bitten during the ordeal – and while her injuries are not believed to be serious, her dog was seriously injured and had to undergo emergency surgery.

Cleveland Police confirmed that, due to the risk posed to members of the public, it was forced to put the attacking dog down.

The force has now confirmed that two people, a man and a woman, both in their 30s, were arrested yesterday in connection.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Sutherland said: “Initial indications are that a member of the public was walking her dog when she was approached by an unaccompanied Pitbull type dog which then attacked her pet. 

“The lady sustained a dog bite during the incident and thankfully this is not believed to be of a serious nature, however sadly her own dog sustained very serious injuries and was taken to the vet by police officers, where it is currently receiving emergency treatment.

“Unfortunately, due to the serious nature of this incident and the potential risk to other people in the immediate area, our specially trained officers had to put the dog down near the scene. 

“We understand that anyone who witnessed the initial attack or the aftermath may have experienced shock or distress however the safety of the public is always paramount.

“Enquiries are ongoing, and we are appealing for anyone with information regarding this incident to contact Cleveland Police via the 101 number or via the force website. Please quote reference 125672.” 

Scalpers are selling GTA 6 on eBay at an inflated price, despite regular pre-orders being widely available everywhere. 

GTA 6 pre-orders opened last week and despite months of concern around how expensive it would be, the sequel’s price is surprisingly reasonable. 

The standard edition costs £69.99 and the Ultimate Edition is £89.99 in the UK, which is in line with other AAA games like Call Of Duty. The most controversial element is the lack of disc in physical copies, with boxed versions coming with a download code instead. 

Despite the all-digital nature of the game’s launch, scalpers are re-selling GTA 6 pre-orders on eBay at an inflated price, even though there’s absolutely no need to do so.

At time of writing, eBay listings show GTA 6 on PlayStation 5 being sold for £83.99, while an Xbox Series X/S listing is going for £95.99. Incredibly, there’s even one listing charging £156.70.

There are several pre-order listings on the US site as well. Currently, the highest is going for $168 (£127.17). 

People are actually buying these codes too, with one being sold for $120 (£90.85) last week, which is $40 higher than the standard US price. 

To hammer the point home, there’s zero reason to buy GTA 6 at these higher prices. You can pre-order the standard or Ultimate Edition digitally through the PlayStation or Microsoft stores, and even if you want a boxed copy, Amazon, Currys, and Argos have plenty of stock. 

It all begs the question of why anyone is turning to eBay to sell or buy copies of GTA 6. The practice of re-selling games before release is commonplace, but it’s usually for special editions which are more difficult to come by. As a digital game though, there’s no fear of GTA 6 selling out. 

GTA 6 is set to launch worldwide across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026. 

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More than 500 people have been killed in Venezuela following powerful back-to-back earthquakes, with many more injured. Rescue teams have also been trying to locate people trapped in collapsed buildings.

Here, Raffaele De Risi, associate professor in civil engineering at the University of Bristol, answered our questions about the role building design may have played in the disaster.

Venezuela is in an active seismic zone. Why do you think there have been so many devastating building collapses?

Indeed, Venezuela is a seismically active country. Hazard levels can easily be checked on several websites, such as the Global Seismic Hazard Map from the Global Earthquake Model Foundation.

The number of building collapses is unfortunately linked to several factors rather than a single one: these range from the age and construction type of the buildings to their level of maintenance, to local soil amplification (when seismic waves pass from hard bedrock into softer surface soils), and proximity to the source.

In addition, both events were shallow (the mainshock particularly so), which further contributes to such extensive devastation. More broadly, it is not possible to identify a single cause; it is generally a combination of factors.

How would you recommend that countries construct their buildings in a country like Venezuela with the earthquake risks that it has?

Modern seismic building codes are very effective at preventing this kind of catastrophic collapse, so for new construction, they are central to the answer. The crucial point is enforcement: a code only protects people if it is properly applied, and construction quality is controlled.

It’s also worth remembering that much of the world’s building stock predates current codes, which have evolved as scientific understanding has advanced, often incorporating lessons directly from events like this one.

For that existing building stock, seismic retrofitting and strengthening are essential, since we cannot simply rebuild everything. And for strategic buildings such as hospitals and power plants, modern solutions like base isolation can keep them not just standing but operational, and have performed extremely well in recent earthquakes.

How can buildings be retrofitted to enhance their protection against earthquakes?

Nowadays, there are many retrofitting techniques, and the right one depends on the building type, for example, reinforced concrete, steel or masonry.

Broadly, a retrofit either increases the building’s strength and stiffness or reduces the forces it has to withstand, for instance, through base isolation (an engineering technique which decouples a building from its foundations) or energy dissipation devices. What matters most is this: before any retrofitting, a bespoke assessment is essential.

The goal is to reduce the unknowns about the structure through detailed surveys and material testing, and to build models capable of diagnosing it, so that the intervention can target the building’s specific weaknesses rather than applying a generic fix.

There have been numerous ‘pancake’ building collapses as a result of the earthquakes here, how do these happen and how can they be prevented?

A “pancake” collapse occurs when the vertical elements that support a building’s weight (primarily its columns) fail. The floors then lose their support and fall one on top of another. This is one of the deadliest forms of structural failure. In older buildings, pancake collapses are often caused by brittle failure.

Columns that were not properly designed and detailed to deform and absorb energy simply break. The problem may be made worse by an open or weak ground floor, which concentrates the damage at a single level.

The engineering approach used to prevent this is known as capacity design. The principle is to determine in advance where the structure should sustain damage and to ensure that this damage occurs in a controlled, ductile manner, typically in the beams.

The columns, joints, and foundations are deliberately designed to be stronger so that they remain intact while the beams safely absorb and dissipate the earthquake’s energy. This principle is often summarised as “strong column, weak beam.” A building designed in this way can sway and dissipate energy rather than losing an entire storey and collapsing.

Combined with proper structural detailing and strong connections that prevent a local failure from spreading through the building, capacity design is a central feature of modern building codes. It is also a major reason why well designed modern buildings are far less likely to suffer pancake collapse.

It looks like there are many buildings that have been damaged but have not collapsed. Does this typically result in many other buildings having to be demolished in the aftermath of earthquakes, and how is this decided?

Yes, and this is actually a sign that the buildings performed as intended. For ordinary structures, the goal of seismic design is not to survive undamaged, but to protect life: the building is allowed to be damaged, absorbing the earthquake’s energy, provided it does not collapse, and people can evacuate safely.

A building that is badly damaged but lets everyone out has done its job, even if it must later be demolished. Afterwards, each of these buildings has to be assessed, usually in two stages.

First, rapid inspections tag buildings for immediate use (broadly, safe, restricted, or unsafe to enter) to keep people out of danger while aftershocks continue; an “unsafe” tag does not mean the building is condemned, only that it cannot be occupied until checked properly.

Then a detailed engineering assessment determines how much of the original capacity remains and whether repair is feasible. Whether a building is repaired or demolished depends on several factors: whether repair is technically possible, how much strength is left, whether the building is permanently leaning (which often makes repair uneconomic), and ultimately, the cost of repair against the cost of rebuilding.

This is why major earthquakes are frequently followed by extensive demolition (as across central Christchurch, New Zealand, after 2011), even where buildings did not collapse. Far from being a failure, it reflects the design philosophy at work: the buildings spent themselves to save the people inside.

The officer was making his way to a shop to pick up some food in Stanley, County Durham, on a rest day, when he noticed the elderly woman in distress.

On stopping to check on her, she told him she had run out of petrol and was looking for somewhere to get fuel.

Realising it would be a bit of a trek for her on foot, Sergeant Hanson took her in his car to the nearest petrol station to fill up a jerry can with fuel.

Once there, he noticed one of the staff members confronting a man inside the station store, so he went to investigate.

The man was a suspected shoplifter who was trying to leave the store with several unpaid for items.

Assisted by a member of the public, the sergeant quickly grabbed hold of the man and detained him, while shop staff called for police back-up.

The shoplifter was arrested on suspicion of theft and making threats to cause criminal damage, as, during the confrontation, he was said to have made threats to blow up the sergeant’s house.

It resulted in the 39-year-old suspect being taken into custody to spend the evening in a police cell.

Read next … more crime stories from The Northern Echo, by clicking here

Amid the incident, the elderly lady managed to fill up her jerry can.

The sergeant then took her back to her car and filled it with the fuel she had bought.

Durham Police said the events of last Monday (June 22) proved, whether on or off duty, the force’s officers are, “always there to help”.