A series of new mental health centres are set to open in local libraries, banks and other high street locations across England to ensure people receive “support earlier closer to home”, the government has announced.

Under the plans, officials confirmed that individuals experiencing a mental health crisis will receive specialist care inside dedicated mental health emergency departments instead of waiting in overcrowded general A&Es.

Prime minister Andy Burnham said the new centres will serve as a “lifeline” for the thousands of patients who are currently waiting “months” to access help.

The Department of Health and Social Care stated that 100 new community mental health centres and 59 dedicated emergency departments will be created as part of the “biggest redesign of mental health services in a generation”.

These community centres are set to offer walk-in support where members of the public can attend without needing a medical referral.

While some of the community hubs will be newly built facilities, others will operate inside banks, libraries and additional high street premises, the Department said.

In addition, extra mental health emergency departments will deliver same-day support for people undergoing a crisis who remain medically fit and do not require treatment in general A&E.

Situated within emergency departments, these specialist facilities will provide a “calm, therapeutic environment where people can be assessed quickly”, expanding England’s total to 82.

Mr Burnham said: “Nobody should be left to struggle with their mental health alone. But every day, thousands of people are waiting months for help, then finding the only door open to them is a busy A&E.

“These new centres will be a lifeline for so many. They will bring NHS services closer to home, making it easier to get support before problems get worse, and ensuring those in crisis get the right care in the right place.

“On the steps of Downing Street, I said we would build a country that acts sooner when people need help. Today is just the start of making that a reality.”

The Department said that the initiative is backed by £343 million and the first sites will open in autumn this year, with “further facilities following from March 2027”.

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Too many people are only getting mental health support when they reach crisis point, after struggling for far too long to get the help they need.

“These new community mental health centres will help people get support earlier and closer to home, making it easier to get the right care before problems escalate. And when someone does need urgent help, new mental health emergency departments will be able to make sure they are seen quickly by specialist teams in the right setting.

“This is how we can turn the tide on mental ill health – preventing more people from reaching crisis, cutting waits for care, and building an NHS which is there for everyone when they need it.”

The announcement forms part of the forthcoming Mental Health Strategy, which is expected to be published later this year.

The strategy will be informed by the independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism, which is expected in the autumn.

According to NHS figures, 2.36 million people in England had an open referral with mental health services at the end of May 2026, up from 2.10 million a year earlier and 1.95 million in May 2024.

Brian Dow, deputy chief executive at the charity Rethink Mental Illness, said: “The expansion of neighbourhood mental health centres is a vital step towards making this a reality, building on the promising results of existing pilot sites.

“By bringing together treatment and wider support services under one roof, these centres can transform experiences of care, helping people to access support earlier and preventing them from reaching crisis point.”

Tom Pollard from the charity Mind added: “This is a promising step towards more people getting the mental health support they need, when they need it. Too often, we hear from people struggling to access overstretched services whose mental health worsens because of this.”

Tragedy struck a 39-year-old man unexpectedly after he tried to retrieve his phone that had fallen inside a statue

Police in Catalonia were faced with one of the strangest cases of accidental deaths in recent years when they got a report from a father and son back in 2021.

The duo were walking on a Saturday afternoon when they passed a papier-mache stegosaurus statue placed outside a building in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a suburb of Barcelona.

They soon noticed a foul smell coming from the piece and went to take a closer look, only to find a body through a crack in the statue’s hollow leg.

Those were the mortal remains of a 39-year-old man, discovered by the regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, who recovered the body from inside the statue.

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A spokesperson for the authorities explained the man appeared to have climbed into the dinosaur’s leg – entering headfirst – while trying to retrieve a mobile phone he’d dropped, and had then become trapped, unable to work his way back out.

“It’s an accidental death; there was no violence,” she said at the time.

“This person got inside the statue’s leg and got trapped. It looks as though he was trying to retrieve a mobile phone, which he’d dropped. It looks like he entered the statue headfirst and couldn’t get out.”

The inside of the statue was such a tight fit that three fire brigade teams were called to the scene and were forced to cut open the leg of the stegosaurus replica.

According to local reports at the time, the man had been reported missing by his family only hours before his body was discovered, but police believed he had likely been trapped for a couple of days, and had not been able to confirm precisely how he’d ended up stuck upside down in the first place.

Several Spanish news outlets, including El País and La Vanguardia, reported on the case at the time, noting that the incident was widely discussed in the local community and covered by both regional and national media because of its unusual nature.

The statue was displayed outside the city’s Cubic Building, installed as decorative signage advertising an old cinema. Santa Coloma de Gramenet’s city council confirmed the statue’s removal in official statements following the discovery.

The large red steel frame at the junction between Manchester Road, High Street, Bolton Road, Bridgewater Road, and Memorial Road was going to be turned into an over-55s housing retreat.

But the contractor that property manager Housing 21 employed to complete the work, Alderley Group, has gone bust, according to the National Fraud Helpline, leading to concerns over who will finish the project.

The red steel frame (Image: Dan Dougherty)

A Housing 21 Spokesperson said: “We are unable to comment on behalf of other organisations. However, we can confirm work on the site has been temporarily paused whilst we source a replacement contractor to deliver the scheme.

We are keeping all interested parties updated with progress and would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding.

“Our priority remains to deliver quality Retirement Living properties for older people and we look forward to completing the development and welcoming the first residents as soon as possible.”

Initially, there were concerns amongst residents that the building had stalled due to a planning infraction, but this soon turned out to be false.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

The building ceased in June because Alderley, the group responsible for bringing the project to life, went into administration.

Housing 21 are now looking for new contractors to deliver on the Walkden scheme, leading to delays in the building process.

The Alderley Group was a social housing investment group involved in numerous affordable property development schemes around the North West.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

But the housing giant went into administration in June of this year, leaving many of its development projects, including the Walkden retirement centre, unfinished.

The website for the Alderley Group no longer exists, and it is no longer possible to contact them via email or phone.

The National Fraud Helpline is urging affected Alderley investors to come forward to reclaim potential losses.

When a box containing my first pack of Wegovy pills arrived I was excited – until, that is, I spotted the stash of extra medication to help with side-effects tucked in beside them.

After 18 months of weekly Mounjaro jabs I was looking forward to swapping all the druggy paraphernalia (refrigerated syringe pen, spare needles, alcohol wipes, sharps bin) for the simplicity of swallowing a tiny tablet once a day.

I’d put my name on a waiting list and was one of the first in the UK to get my hands on the new pills when stocks were shipped out early last month.

So, it was rather a shock to receive four separate packs of tablets for diarrhoea, bloating, constipation and heartburn.

I’d happily lost 2st on Mounjaro (dropping from 13st 5lb to 11st 5lb) barely troubled by any of those ailments, so this got me wondering what hell I might be letting myself in for.

It turns out the stash was very much needed. Here’s my diary of my tumultuous first month on the new skinny pill.

Week one

UK pharmacies start shipping out their first packs of Wegovy pills on July 7. Only the two lowest doses have so far been supplied by manufacturer, Novo Nordisk – 1.5mg for complete beginners and 4mg for people like me moving over from a low dose of Wegovy or Mounjaro injections.

The pills are not likely to be available via the NHS for months (pending NICE approval) but all the online pharmacies are selling them privately, pitching their prices in line with the Wegovy jab (around £100 for a one month supply of the lowest dose) rather than more expensive Mounjaro (£150). Like the jabs, the cost goes up with the dose.

I go through a strict screening process with online provider shemed.co.uk, showing proof that I reached the criteria (BMI of 30 or, in my case, 27 with health concerns) at the start of my GLP-1 journey and convincing them of my commitment to continue on a low dose to maintain my weight loss and hopefully shift the last stubborn half stone that would take my weight into the ‘healthy’ category (BMI of 25 and under).

These tablets contain the same GLP-1 drug – semaglutide – as you find in the Wegovy syringe but the active ingredient is encased in a special coating which protects the peptides from stomach acids and digestive enzymes just long enough so it can dissolve and pass through the stomach lining to enter the bloodstream. There’s been a huge buzz of excitement surrounding the pills which many believe will revolutionise the medicated weight-loss market, driving costs down and opening up the GLP-1 world to a new needlephobic clientele and beyond.

Why am I switching? I am committed to being on a low dose of GLP-1 forever to keep my weight steady, my brain free from food noise and to reap the many emerging long-term health benefits (protecting me against heart disease, cancers and dementia), and I’m intrigued by the relative ‘normality’ of taking a pill each morning. My health is so much better already (blood pressure and cholesterol back in normal ranges), that my hope is this daily pill will take the place of the blood pressure tablet and statin I no longer need.

The active ingredient in the pill works just like the injection with the same impact on the body and brain, and the same potential side effect warnings (nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation). Studies for both show more than 70 per cent of users are affected by these ‘gastric issues’ but the pills were expected to hit the gut harder because it passes through the digestive tract every single day.

My ‘day one’ is timed exactly seven days after my last Mounjaro injection and I go to bed with the box by my pillow ready to take my first pill the moment I wake.

Your stomach must be empty (ideally after an eight-hour overnight fast), you can’t use more than 120ml of water (equivalent to a small glass of wine) to swallow it down and you absolutely must not eat or drink anything else or take any other tablets for at least 30 minutes so it has the perfect conditions in your stomach to dissolve and disseminate. It’s a hot and sweaty night and I wake up desperate for a large glass of water but that would over-dilute the pill and render it ineffectual so I ration myself to a few sips which barely disguise the bitter taste.

My second night is blighted by stress dreams in which I’m accidentally eating. Waking at intervals throughout the night I’m constantly checking the time and wondering if I should take my pill. Plus I really miss the early morning cup of tea that my husband Jon usually brings me in bed.

I’m eating healthily during the day but each evening I am hit by a strong drive to search out something sweet to eat. The sugar cravings are so strong I have to make a batch of biscuits because I want to lick the bowl so badly.

I’m concerned this 4mg dose is not going to be powerful enough to keep my evil eating demons in check. I needn’t have worried.

UK pharmacies started shipping out their first packs of Wegovy pills on July 7

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On day four a wave of nausea hits. It’s not debilitating or vomit-inducing but more like the ‘yuk’ feeling you get if you try to read your phone when you’re a passenger in a car. It passes but I have to force myself to eat lunch with Jon. He has zero tolerance for nausea and is struggling to understand why I’m doing this to myself.

Rachael Joy, chief clinical officer at SheMed (and a registered nurse) tells me the semaglutide in my daily pill has been accumulating over the last four days. ‘Although you take the tablet every day, semaglutide has a long half-life [the time it takes to reduce to half its original quantity] of around seven days, so it is not flushed out of your system after 24 hours,’ she says.

‘Each daily tablet adds to the semaglutide that’s already in your body, gradually increasing the overall amount in your circulation until you reach steady state, which takes around four to five weeks of daily dosing.’

She reassures me that serious complications such as pancreatitis and gallbladder disease are uncommon and normally associated with rapid weight loss. ‘As oral Wegovy may produce more gradual weight loss, these complications are less likely on the pills, although more real world evidence is needed to understand this fully,’ she says.

The bowel perforation which led to the untimely death of a 73-year-old woman from Norfolk recently is so rare, she adds, that it is not even listed as a recognised side- effect of GLP-1 medicines.

But the next night my tummy pain keeps waking me up. I check the clock at 4am, then 5.30am worrying – now – whether the drug is too strong for me.

Week two

Louise suffered from feelings of nausea after beginning to take Wegovy pills. She is seen at the start of her weight loss journey prior to taking Mounjaro jabs

The scales tell me I’m 11st 6lb and I’m infuriated to see my weight slightly higher than when I started but I twisted my knee playing padel a few weeks ago which means I can’t walk the dog or do spin classes and my daily step count has plummeted.

And although I have all the self-control required to eat small, healthy meals during the day, I seem unable to resist nibbling and picking at food (or succumbing to a glass of wine) in the evening.

Mounjaro used to be strongest for the first days after the injection, before tailing off and the Wegovy pill seems to follow a similar but daily curve: waves of nausea in the morning which subside, then an infuriating ‘all bets are off’ blast of food noise in the evening.

Rachael Joy explains that peak blood concentrations are typically reached an hour after taking the tablet. ‘The concentration then gradually falls over the rest of the day,’ she says, ‘but the half-life means it won’t fall to zero and each day’s dose simply tops up the background level that’s already there.’

Levels of semaglutide in my system are clearly building but the daily dosage curve means it’s now far too easy to say ‘yes’ to a proffered glass of wine in the evening and the chemical cocktail seems to be ramping up a hangover.

After one ill-advised (but fun!) evening my body feels totally toxic and, bizarrely, I develop an itchy hives-like rash on the back of my neck/upper shoulders. I’m not a rashy person and I can’t work out what might have caused it. Possibly the Wegovy?

A series of bad nights follows with gastro discomfort and the itching rash keeping me awake. It means my days are spent feeling shattered with strong sensations of nausea interspersed with intermittent trips to the loo with diarrhoea.

I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth it.

On the Facebook support groups I follow, pill-takers are starting to bail.

‘It’s been hard work living with this horrible yukky feeling all the time,’ says one, with another agreeing: ‘I can’t take any more of the sickness, headache, fatigue and generally feeling lousy.’

I could safely switch back to the Mounjaro jab 24 hours after taking my last pill but decide I need to push through with this. The expense of Mounjaro is so much more difficult to justify when you’re maintaining rather than losing weight and, despite the side- effects, as my body gets used to the drugs, I’m finding I need to deploy far less willpower to stay in ‘diet mode’.

The Wegovy pill might be hard work right now but the suppression I feel is impressive (like the first few months on Mounjaro) and steady every day. I’ve just got to hope the gastric side-effects diminish.

Week three

I’m relieved to find I’m 11st 5lb – just one pound down but I’m back on track.

Finally! No hunger all day, side-effects are less strong, no food noise, just measured healthy eating. Antihistamines clear the rash and the evening munchies (and wine craving) have disappeared.

I’ve stopped sleep-stressing about taking the tablet and it turns out it’s really not that hard to use up the required 30 minutes waiting time in the shower and getting dressed before the normal routines of daily life can resume. I still do get occasional waves of nausea but I find it strangely reassuring that the pill is working.

I’m eating so much less than I was before I started taking this pill. If only I wasn’t so sedentary I reckon the weight would be falling off now.

New week, new problem: constipation. I glug a fibre drink and spend the evening snacking on prunes (to me in this sugar-deprived state, they taste as delicious as Lindt balls). Disaster averted and I don’t need to dip into the constipation capsules in my ‘care’ package from SheMed.

Fatigue is also still bothersome. Mounjaro made me feel spritely and light but some days now I feel as if I could curl up and sleep, particularly during the afternoon.

I’m putting extra focus

on the quality of my nutrition but I wonder whether my poor microbiome (the population of good bacteria in my gut which influences digestion, mood and immunity) is having a tough time adjusting to swimming around in my GLP-1-infused intestinal soup.

Week four

On week four, Louise found that her weight began to drop more substantially, and side effects had subsided altogether

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I’m 11st 4lb. Finally, after a 12-month plateau, the scales are moving down and I feel optimistic that I might reach my original weight-loss goal and get my BMI into the ‘healthy’ category for the first time in 30 years.

The side-effects have completely disappeared now my body has got used to the new GLP-1 regime and I’m falling into an easy rhythm of taking the pill each morning and being ‘good’ about what I eat and drink.

It’s so much easier to pop the pills in my wash bag for a big girlie weekend away – no more worrying about trying to micromanage the timing of a weekly jab – and the strong steady suppression really helps me resist the cocktails and pastries on offer.

Bonus: all the girls had hideous hangovers apart from me.

I celebrate by ordering my next month’s supply of pills. The predicted shortages haven’t happened – perhaps because the claimed loss (17 per cent of body weight) is less than Wegovy jabs (20 per cent) and Mounjaro (22.5 per cent) and the pills aren’t as cheap as expected – yet.

The protocol for those starting out on the Wegovy pill is to move up a dose each month if symptoms allow and the bigger doses (9mg and even 25mg) are now available but I definitely couldn’t handle a higher dose. This is plenty.

In fact, if I can get down to my goal weight I think I’ll drop to the 1.5mg ‘starter’ dose pill which should be just enough to keep that trickle of GLP-1 in my system long-term.

The second box of 4mg pills arrive without the side-effects care package which Rachael Joy tells me is sent out as a gesture of support to all SheMed GLP-1 users in their first delivery, regardless of pill or jab. Not just because they were expecting me to be blighted by symptoms.

I’m keen to keep going and I’m hoping the cost of the tablets will soon come down so they can be more widely available to everyone.

Maybe when the next GLP-1 pill – Foundayo – is approved for the UK market later this year, a price war might work in our favour.

But right now I figure I’m saving so much money on food, wine, the taxis we no longer need because I volunteer to drive, my daily magic skinny pill is virtually cost free.

Homeless Aid UK, based on Orlando Street in Bolton, has warned that supplies are running dangerously low after the closure of another local food bank forced more people to turn to the charity for help.

It is now asking the community for donations of essential food items, including tinned vegetables, tinned meals such as macaroni cheese, cereal, Cup a Soup, sugar, tea bags, cooking oil, and rice.

Although grateful for the ongoing support, the group warns that stocks are extremely low and further donations are necessary.

“Our food bank is under immense pressure right now, and with demand higher than ever, we urgently need your support.

“Every tin, every box and every bag helps us support local individuals and families who are struggling.”

Homeless Aid UK provides its food parcels completely free of charge to people facing hardship across the borough.

Billa Ahmed, from Homeless Aid UK, said they had seen a dramatic increase in demand following the closure of another food bank in the area.

“There’s a local food bank, unfortunately, which is now closed down, and because of that, we’ve got a lot of pressure with the thousands and thousands of people that we are helping with free food hampers.

“Now we’ve got so many people coming from them who are now coming over to us.

“We urgently, urgently need your help.”

Mr Ahmed said the CIC focuses on providing practical ingredients that mean families can prepare nutritious meals without spending so much money on cooking costs.

He said: “People need to make a meal so we give them essentials that they can actually make a meal with.

“With the cost-of-living crisis and utilities being so high, gas and electric, we can’t give them something that is going to take a long time to cook.”

The appeal comes as many families continue to feel the strain of rising household bills during the summer holidays, with children not receiving free school meals and parents spending more on childcare as they continue to work.

Mr Ahmed said: “With the summer holidays and rising living costs, increased financial pressure, a lot of the local families are now struggling, even people who are working.”

At the same time, he explains how donations have fallen sharply as supporters face financial difficulties of their own.

“There’s been a massive, significant drop in donations because many people who used to regularly donate to us are now facing financial pressure themselves.”

They are now calling on anyone who can help to donate even a single item and reminding the community that every contribution could make a difference to a family in crisis.

Donations can be dropped off at Homeless Aid UK, Superstore Storage, Orlando Street, Bolton, and for more information, call 0800 124 4641.

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower and South Korea’s Kospi dropped more than 4% on Thursday following declines for some Big Tech giants including memory chipmaker SK Hynix.

Oil prices held steady, with Brent crude trading near $79 a barrel. Uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. war with Iran is still overhanging markets despite hopes for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Markets will get an update Friday on U.S. jobs with the monthly employment report for July, and analysts say investors appear to be bracing for its potential impact.

“Asia’s chip selloff looks like a combination of profit-taking and risk reduction ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payroll report,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Strong corporate profits and expectations for more growth ahead generally have been steering U.S. stocks higher. But Asian benchmarks have been hit by bouts of selling of computer chipmakers and other companies related to the boom in artificial intelligence.

SK Hynix was down 9.7% after dropping ahead of the open in Seoul, while its larger rival Samsung Electronics lost 6.1% in the latest rout for shares linked to the AI boom.

The Kospi lost 4.5% to 6,306.40.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.2% to 65,538.44.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng declined 1.8% to 25,463.51, while the Shanghai Composite index was nearly unchanged at 3,878.92.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5%.

U.S. President Donald Trump said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was coming soon. But there have been many stops and starts during the five-month-old conflict that has stifled the global supply of oil and rattled energy markets.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.3% to $79.24 a barrel. Oil prices have been swinging for months and were as high as $102 per barrel at one point during the conflict, jolting already stubbornly high inflation. Higher oil prices pushed gasoline prices higher and increased shipping costs for a wide range of products.

U.S. benchmark crude oil declined 0.4% to $74.93 a barrel.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% from an all-time high to close at 7,723.55. The Dow industrials rose 0.5% to 54,349.12. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.8% to 26,363.44.

The Walt Disney Co. rose 3.6% after easily beating Wall Street’s profit forecasts, helped by a $1 billion box office haul from “Toy Story 5” and theme park revenue.

Booking Holdings jumped 6.6% after reporting that strong travel demand drove profit and revenue growth during its most recent quarter.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX fell 13.6% following the release late Tuesday of its first quarterly report as a public company, which showed that it sharply boosted spending on artificial intelligence. The company did help give semiconductor giant Nvidia a 3.4% boost after announcing it would exclusively use that company’s chips for its artificial intelligence technology.

Musk had said earlier he would use chips from both Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices for SpaceX and his electric vehicle company, Tesla.

Inflation concerns have been hanging over markets and the Federal Reserve. The central bank has been holding its key benchmark rate steady as it monitors the costs and the impact on the economy.

In other dealings early Thursday, the dollar flipped to 157.73 Japanese yen from 157.77 yen. The euro fell to $1.1549 from $1.1555.

___

Associated Press writer Damian J. Troise contributed.

The UK can expect to be hit by another heatwave at the end of this week as a scorching 37C is forecast as six days of sweltering heat are have been forecasted

Another heatwave is expected to kick off on Sunday, hitting a scorching 37C high next week.

Netweather maps suggest that temperatures will begin to climb on Sunday, soaring above 30C, with the hot conditions expected to stay for six days.

On Sunday, August 9 there will be highs of 34C, with much of the south reach 32C or higher.

Elsewhere, highs of above 30C are also expected. With the East and West Midlands both sitting at around 32C.

In Suffolk, there will also be highs of 32C. Despite being slightly cooler, northern England will also see warm conditions, with Greater Manchester having the chance of reaching 29C.

On Monday, these sweltering conditions are set to remain, with it only getting hotter.

Highs of 37C are forecast in Berkshire, nearing the record 38C that was recorded at Lingwood, Norfolk on June, 26.

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In London, Cambridgeshire, and certain parts of the south west, temperatures are also expected to skyrocket to 35C.

Hertfordshire is forecast to reach 36C alongside Suffolk.

These highs do not stop there, as on Tuesday much of the UK will be battered by the heat with the warmth travelling further north.

Many areas in the Midlands and the south will comfortably remain in the mid thirties as Greater Manchester and Cheshire are also expected to reach 34C and 35C.

On Wednesday, the weather maps are still a volcanic red, with some areas of Yorkshire also reaching 30C.

Areas in Wales and Scotland, although cooler, are also predicted to climb to the mid to late twenties.

Then, on Thursday, this prolonged spell of heat does not leave, with highs of 35C as much of London and the surrounding areas stays at 34C.

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The whole week will be boiling as Friday is also expected to reach 35C in certain areas, including Sussex and Norfolk.

In Lincolnshire there are also expected to be highs of 33C, with Birmingham reaching 32C.

The Met Office says: “A heatwave is an extended period of hot weather relative to the expected conditions of the area at that time of year, which may be accompanied by high humidity.”

The UK’s threshold is met when a part of the country records a period of at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding the heatwave temperature threshold – which varies by county.

According to these Netweather maps a heatwave is certainly on the cards for next week, as the warmth with smother much of England for a six day period.

The Met Office forecast says that it will be dry for most on Monday with temperatures on the very warm to hot side.

The longer range forecast then continues adding: “For the most part, temperatures look to remain above average, especially in the south, and perhaps turning very warm or hot.”

Food critic Giles Coren previously came out in support of the restaurant, claiming Michelin-starred restaurants should not have to abide by normal health and safety rules and the guidelines should “probably be modernised”.

“It is not little kitchens and pots boiling away, mimsy little things being placed on plates. He is cooking with fire… he stands there in his leather apron and it’s roaring like fireworks,” Coren said.

Ward, who has recently announced he will be bringing fine dining to Aberystwyth Town Football Club, previously said his restaurant was working “at the highest standard in the world” and doing “something different” with how it approached raw ingredients and techniques.

He said he had faced “persistent challenges” with Ceredigion council’s environmental health department, “primarily relating to documentation and a lack of understanding of our specialised procedures”.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the BBC revealed the one-star rating was based on factors including a dirty floor, inadequate hand-washing facilities in some areas, broken equipment and “an accumulation of dead flies”.

Ceredigion council said inspections were carried out in line with national standards set by the Food Standards Agency and, between April and December 2025, 90% of inspected premises in Ceredigion achieved a food hygiene rating of between three and five out of five.

Ceuta, a small Spanish enclave on the Moroccan mainland, was unprepared for the arrival of more than 70,000 undocumented migrants on July 30. They arrived mostly by sea, from Morocco via the Tarajal breakwaters and its shoreline.

The minuscule city of just seven square miles had few provisions for food, shelter or support for the unexpected arrivals. This was a shocking exposure of the apparent porosity of the city’s heavily fortified borders.

More than 95% of the migrants have since returned via the land border, following emergency negotiations between the governments of Spain and Morocco. Those who remain have overwhelmed the city’s migrant reception centres.

According to the latest figures from Spain, at least 88 people are known to have lost their lives while attempting to cross into Ceuta.

The mass influx, however temporary, has fuelled some far-right and nationalist political reactions, as well as protests by those resisting Europe’s rising populism and anti-immigrant sentiments.

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How the Ceuta border crossing incident immediately played into the hands of Spain’s far right

It has also led to the swift installation of yet another border separating Spain, and Europe, from Morocco by way of a sea barrier at the Tarajal.

Ceuta, like its even smaller sister city of Melilla, also an enclave on the Moroccan mainland, is a border flashpoint. These cities occasionally spark intense debates on undocumented migration to Spain, and hence to the EU.

The fortification of the border at Ceuta and Melilla resonates with the history of Spanish control over this part of north Africa, as well as with Spain’s role as a southern guardian of the European Union.

History of movement

There is a long history of colonialism and migration behind this latest incident. First known as Phoenician settlements and then as Roman ones, Ceuta and Melilla became part of the 8th-century Islamic conquest of the Mediterranean region. Their locations by the sea turned them into key ports and trading points for commerce across the Mediterranean.

As the Portuguese empire expanded in the 15th century, Ceuta was captured and, shortly thereafter, the Spanish and Portuguese crowns were united. When Portugal regained its independence in 1640, Ceuta remained under Spanish control. Melilla, on the other hand, was captured by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1497 and has been under the Spanish crown ever since.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Spain’s control over northern Morocco expanded, while France controlled the rest of the country. As European powers agreed a division of protectorates in the region in 1912, Ceuta and Melilla did not fall under this agreement, since they were historically Spanish-administered towns. The Rif war of 1921-26 was a time of bitter defeat for Spain in the Maghreb, turning Spain’s continued control over Ceuta and Melilla into a symbol of Spanish might in the region.

General Francisco Franco launched the Spanish civil war from Spanish Morocco in July 1936, paving the way for 36 years of dictatorship. The transition to democracy in the 1970s coincided with the start of substantial migration to Spain from Morocco. This increased with Spain’s entry into the European Community in 1986, provoking anxieties about diversity and nationhood that remain unresolved.

The cities became guardians of Spain’s frontiers in the Maghreb. When Spain joined the Schengen area in 1991, this role extended into a Europe-wide duty. The EU has since invested hundreds of millions of euros over the years into fortifying these border towns, including with surveillance and fences. Ceuta and Melilla, small though they are, uphold this history, and have often been accused of doing so in serious contravention of human rights.

Fortress Europe

The notion of Europe as a gated “fortress” has long shaped the continent’s migration policies.

The borders with Ceuta and Melilla turn more brutal in this context. Moroccans, sub-Saharan Africans and many others attempt to brave razor wire, deep water and other perils to claim a foothold in Spain. They are driven by climate change, global inequality and the dream of a better life in Europe, among other factors.

Meanwhile, colonial legacies continue to shape the geopolitics of this region in complex ways.

Morocco does not recognise Ceuta and Melilla as Spanish, and seeks to claim them as Moroccan in diplomatic exchanges with Spain. But it maintains its own colonial exploits, having invaded the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara to its south in the 1970s, sending in 350,000 citizens to settle in Western Sahara.

Another mass crossing of the border at Ceuta occurred in 2021 – though not at the scale of the latest one – amid a diplomatic row, as Spain allowed the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement to be treated for COVID in Spain.

Ceuta’s local government has blamed the Moroccan government for this latest mass influx, by allegedly loosening border controls.

Migration is a repeated theme in the political tensions between Spain and Morocco, which remain unresolved. This incident adds yet another layer to Ceuta’s chequered history as a Spanish town on north African soil. In discussing the politics present in this incident, it is also worth recalling that Ceuta and Melilla’s roles as European borders in north Africa can at times be deadly.