By ELIZABETH HAIGH, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Published: 17:12 BST, 28 August 2026 | Updated: 21:00 BST, 28 August 2026

At least six people have been injured after a sign fell onto a crowd of revellers at a Christian festival.

Emergency services were called to Big Church Festival in Wiston Park, Steyning, West Sussex, at 3.38pm, with critical care medics also deployed.

Paramedics have so far confirmed six patients, although their status is unclear.

The remainder of today’s show has been cancelled and attendees have been told to leave the site. 

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One festivalgoer previously said the area was on ‘lockdown’ with people not allowed to get in or out. 

Flight radar suggests an air ambulance was scrambled to the scene but it has since departed. 

Ticketholders for the annual event received an email urging all campers to immediately return to their accommodation due to a ‘serious incident’.

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An aerial view of Big Church Festival where six people have been injured after a sign fell onto a crowd

Emergency services are pictured at the scene of the incident on Friday evening 

Paramedics have so far confirmed six patients, although their status is unclear

In an update this afternoon, Big Church Festival said: ‘We are very sorry to inform you that today’s show has been cancelled due to a serious incident.

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‘All day visitors, must leave the site now. If you are camping with us, please return to your campsite and await further updates.’

Big Church Festival is an annual Christian music and worship non-profit event. 

It has been running since 2009 and was being held this year from August 28 to August 30. Around 40,000 people were expected to attend. 

A spokesperson for South East Coast Ambulance Service said: ‘South East Coast Ambulance Service was called to reports of multiple people in need of medical attention at Wiston Park, Steyning shortly after 15.30hrs today (Friday, 28 August 2026). 

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‘Ambulance crews, critical care paramedics and specialist response teams are currently on scene with six patients confirmed so far. We have no further information to share at this time but will provide updates as soon as possible.’

An aerial view of campers at the festival, which was due to be attended by around 40,000 people 

A number of police cars and ambulances can be seen at the festival where a sign collapsed 

Ticketholders for the annual event received an email urging all campers to immediately return to their accommodation due to a ‘serious incident’

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A statement from Sussex Police said: ‘Emergency services are currently responding to an incident at an event near Steyning.

‘It follows reports of a sign having fallen and injured a number of people at the site in Washington Road.

‘Police were called at around 3.38pm and remain at the scene, assisting other emergency services, at this time.

‘As a result, there is likely to be some traffic disruption in the local area, and we would urge the public to seek alternative routes if possible.

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‘We have no further information at this time, but will provide any updates as soon as we are in a position to do so.’

Police attended the scene after receiving reports of a ‘suspicious device’ being found

A treasure hunter discovered a First World War explosive hidden in a Cambridge river. Not long ago, treasure hunter Harvinii Richards discovered a World War One medal in the River Cam near Jesus Green.

While out on another treasure hunt on Thursday (August 27), Harvinii was searching the same part of the river where he found the medal, when he came across what he thought was a spray can.

“It was this really big thing. When I took it out and I realised its shape, I realised it was an artillery shell and I panicked,” said Harvinii. He added: “I was careful. I disconnected the shell and put it in a bucket of water, then I called the police.”

Cambridgeshire Police attended the scene at around 4.50pm after receiving reports of a “suspicious device” being found in the River Cam. A police spokesperson said: “Officers attended and the device, believed to be a howitzer shell, was found not to be viable.”

Once an officer confirmed to Harvinii it was a howitzer shell, he said it “blew my mind”. He added: “I’ve found grenades, guns and knives, but I’ve never found anything like an artillery.

“It was around a foot long and very heavy. When the police told me it was a howitzer I did some Googling and found out they were crucial to winning the war. To me, it’s a piece of Cambridge history.”

As it was not viable, Harvinii was allowed to take it home. He is now working on de-rusting the shell and trying to get it back to its original state.

He said: “This is a piece of Cambridge heritage. We all know people fought and died in World War One. It feels like a responsibility to do the honourable thing.”

Harvinii also hopes to eventually get in touch with Cambridge Heritage to see if the shell could be displayed in a museum.

I can’t think of anyone who wasn’t saddened to hear of the death of Dolly Parton this week, such was her natural ability to charm all kinds of people. Sharp, funny, warm and with a huge heart – much like her character Doralee in 9 to 5 – she constantly wrong-footed people with the way she looked and who she really was.

There’s a lovely photograph of (pre-artifice) Dolly being endlessly posted on social media, showing her possibly in her thirties, smiling as she looks straight into the lens, all dimples, mischief and eyelashes. It’s a delight to see her caught in the moment so naturally, doubtless cracking a joke. She is truly luminous in this image.

Later, evolving into what seemed like a cartoon version of herself, she once quipped: “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap!” But Dolly Parton was a savvy woman, who had grown up in a post-war America of rural poverty in the backwoods of Tennessee. Her music spoke to all kinds of people, with her sweet, timbrous voice and lyrics that nailed emotions and lodged themselves in your heart.

“I’ve always believed that a part of my magic, if there was any, was that I look so artificial, but I am so totally real. I think when you hear these kinds of songs, you know that has to come from the heart,” she once said.

Music researcher Wendy Hargreaves sums up the genius of this heartfelt songwriting in three top Dolly Parton tunes. From the unvarnished ache of a vulnerable woman appealing to her younger rival in Jolene, to the foot-stomping feminist anthem of 9 to 5, and the original unshowy version of I Will Always Love You, these three songs point to the breadth and depth of Dolly’s artistry, revealing her profound ability to connect with others through bittersweet melodies, affecting lyrics and that extraordinary voice.

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Jolene, I Will Always Love You and 9 to 5: the genius of Dolly Parton in three songs

Fragile states

Late Fame is a wry, tender meditation on ageing, artistic ambition and the possibility of a second act. Willem Dafoe plays Ed Saxberger, a once-promising poet on the periphery of the 1960s Beat generation, now a humble postal worker in the Lower East Side of New York. Out of the blue, his one slim volume of poetry is discovered by a group of slumming-it rich kids who urge him to return to his brilliant work.

Flattered by their attention, Ed is drawn back into a world he thought he had left behind, attempting to write again but finding the page remaining stubbornly blank.

The film also features a gorgeous performance by the very watchable Greta Lee as Grace, someone who has also been adopted by the wannabe boho group with literary pretensions.

Grace, whose sophisticated facade belies a much sadder reality, seduces Ed into taking a last-chance shot at literary ambition, but will he fall for the attractions of late-blooming fame?

Late Fame is in cinemas now

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Given the extreme temperatures in the south of England this summer, Between Land and Tide is a timely and startling work of outdoor performance art inspired by the sea, the shoreline and Portsmouth’s coastal landscape. Featuring a wearable starfish sculpture inhabited by five “seaborn guardian” women, each forming a limb of the sea creature, the performance draws attention to the fragility of our environment and our deep-seated relationship with the sea as islanders.

Between Light and Tide runs till September 27 at various locations around Portsmouth

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Humans and aliens

This year marks the anniversaries of two culturally significant sci-fi dramas: James Cameron’s Aliens (the better-than-the-original sequel to 1979’s Alien) marks 40 years, while groundbreaking spaceship series Star Trek, which first aired the month after I was born, celebrates 60 years. If you’ve never seen them before, you’re in for a treat, especially if you are a sci-fi fan.

Anyone who sat quivering in a darkened cinema in 1986, adrenaline pumping as they watched luckless spacestation personnel being gruesomely picked off one by one, will never forget that encounter with Aliens.

The huge black acid-dripping creature with cavernous jaws heralded a new era of special effects and slick, mesmerising monsters. But even more formidable was Sigourney Weaver’s statuesque, no-bullshit Ripley who instantly became the new gold standard in kick-ass heroines – uttering the memorable and much-imitated line: “Get away from her you bitch!” Essentially though, this was a tale of two females fighting to protect their young, so maybe there was a little more common ground than they imagined as they fought unflinchingly to the death.

Aliens can be streamed on Disney+

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Star Trek meanwhile may have aged less well, and at times feels comical with its studio sets of 1960s-imagined alien landscapes and a scenery-chewing William Shatner as Captain Kirk.

But as history and culture expert Stephen McVeigh points out, Star Trek remains important because it used the subject of space exploration (when the US-Russian space race was at its height) to examine what it means to be human. Its lasting legacy, he maintains, is not technological prophecy, “but in recognising that the most fascinating and vexing mystery remains humanity itself”.

The original Star Trek series can be streamed on Paramount+

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Star Trek at 60: the secret of this pioneering series was its exploration of humanity, not aliens

Right-wing influencer Milo Yiannopoulos, who used to be Kanye West‘s chief of staff and is now his publicist, has reportedly been detained by ICE.

Sources claim the British firebrand was taken into custody at an airport in Louisiana, with inmate records indicating he is now at a detention center in the state, via TMZ.

Yiannopoulos, who was allegedly seized in the New Orleans area, now faces a final order of removal, per US officials and government records obtained by CBS.

His reasons for traveling to Louisiana remain unconfirmed, although West is scheduled to perform at the Superdome in New Orleans on Friday.

Since his rise to fame as a political commentator, Yiannopoulos has been a staunch advocate of immigration restriction and mass deportations.

He said in 2017 that he was in America on an O-1 nonimmigrant visa, which is granted to aliens with an ‘extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics,’ according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services policy manual.

The Daily Mail has contacted Yiannopoulos and ICE for comment. 

West is pictured with Yiannopoulos in Beverly Hills in November 2022, the same month they visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago with Nick fuentes in tow

O-1 visas, which require sponsorship by an ‘agent’ or employer, can also be given to individuals of ‘extraordinary achievement’ in movies and TV.

Yiannopoulos enjoys a longstanding association with West and acted as director of political operations on his 2024 US presidential campaign.

In 2022, during his time as West’s political honcho, he helped arrange the rapper’s explosively controversial Mar-a-Lago summit with Donald Trump and the self-described ‘white identitarian’ streaming star Nick Fuentes.

Yiannopoulous has since dramatically fallen out with Fuentes, whom he now relentlessly derides on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

In 2017, he exchanged vows in Hawaii with a black man whom he publicly referred to only as ‘John,’ otherwise carefully concealing his identity.

As such, it remains unconfirmed whether Yiannopoulos became eligible to obtain American citizenship or a green card via marriage to a US national.

Yiannopoulos has characterized himself as ‘ex-gay’ since 2021, and has commenced divorce proceedings with his husband.

His reported ICE woes come after his client, West, was banned from Yiannopoulos’ native Britain over the antisemitic diatribes that torpedoed his career, including praise for Hitler and a vow to go ‘death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.’

Sources claim the British firebrand was taken into custody at an airport in Louisiana, with inmate records indicating he is now at a detention center there, via TMZ; pictured 2017

West took out a full-page ad apologizing for the comments in the Wall Street Journal this January, three months before he was prohibited from entering the UK.

He had been scheduled to a headline a music festival at Finsbury Park in London that was called off altogether after his appearance there became impossible.

West has also seen planned concerts canceled in Poland and France this year as a result of the continuing backlash to his tirades about Jews, as well as to a past embrace of Nazi iconography so extravagant that he released a single called Heil Hitler and sold merchandise splashed with swastikas.

He was set to perform at the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg in October, which would have made him the highest-profile western artist to play Russia since the outbreak of the Ukraine War, but those shows were also scrapped amid blowback.

However he has been able to stage concerts in America, as well as in Mexico, Turkey and such post-Soviet countries as Georgia and Kazakhstan.

In his Wall Street Journal ad, West blamed his antisemitic remarks on his infamous 2002 car crash, which he claimed left him with brain damage that went ‘unnoticed’ and led to the development of his subsequently diagnosed bipolar disorder.

The closure of the award-winning Queen O’ T’owd Thatch in South Milford, between Leeds and Selby, was announced yesterday (Thursday) on social media.

The statement said the closure was with ‘a heavy heart’ but added there were many factors behind it.

It explained: “Running a pub takes a huge amount of time, effort and commitment, and it also relies on having the right support around it.

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“We have done our very best to keep the doors open and to provide somewhere for people to come together and enjoy. However, over recent months, the challenges have unfortunately become too much to continue as things stand.

“We have been trying since February to employ a new management couple or a chef but the industry is on a decline, we have been unsuccessful due both management couples & chefs are leaving the industry to do other jobs. High overheads are also adding to the hospitality industry decline.”

The statement thanked those who had supported the pub, calling it “incredibly sad” to close the pub until a “suitable tenant can be found.”

The closure, which began today, comes despite the pub earning good reviews on social media.

Google awards the venue 4.9 stars out of five based on 31 reviews.

Tripadvisor awards 4.1 stars out of five based on 56 reviews, ranking it 488th out of 1,979 restaurants in Leeds.

However, the Press has reported the gastropub has previously faced challenges due to higher rents and other costs leading former managers to leave the pub in 2023.

Last month, the pub commented on Facebook that business seemed quitter than usual, which might have been due to the holidays, or festivals.

The post continued: “Well, pubs don’t stay open on good memories and Facebook likes. They stay open because folk walk through t’door, have a pint and put the world to rights and keep the lights on.

“Your local isn’t just somewhere that sells beer. It’s where birthdays are celebrated, friendships are made, darts are argued over, politics get serious, and someone always knows someone who knows your dad!

“So instead of saying, “We really should go,” just go!!

“One pint. One visit. It all helps.

“Because once your local’s gone, all that’s left is everyone saying, “It were a cracking pub, that.”

It added: “We’re open to any suggestions of things you’d like to see other than what we already offer!”

The nine photos from The Bolton News archive were taken in 1974, when flares were very much in fashion and Mud, The Rubettes and Paper Lace released some of the best-selling singles of the year.

Perhaps you were at school in Bolton at this time. You might even be in one of the photographs.

Hopefully they will bring back fond memories for some Looking Back readers who are probably wondering how those five decades have flown by.

To share your memories of schooldays in Bolton, email bygones@nqnw.co.uk and don’t forget to include some photos, as we’d love to see them.

Officers for South Wales Police have released a description of the pensioner and what she was last seen wearing

Police are appealing for help to find a missing 90-year-old woman last seen in Swansea Market. Margaret Gleeson went last seen at the market at around 3pm on Friday.

Officers for South Wales Police have released a description of the pensioner and what she was last seen wearing in the hope that anyone with information will come forward to help with their search. They have encouraged anyone who has spotted her to get in touch.

A spokesperson for South Wales Police said: “Margaret, 90, has been reported as missing. She was last seen in Swansea Market, Oxford Street, around 3pm today.

“She is described as around 5’4, wearing a beige overcoat, jeans, and a peak hat. Anyone who may have seen Margaret, or who has information which will help us find her, is asked to contact us by one of the below means quoting occurrence number 2600283142.”

Police can by contacted online or by calling 101.

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If it’s on your to-visit list, you’ll probably be thinking about what you can do there and where you can grab a bite to eat.

A restaurant in the village (Stydd Restaurant) was described as the “cutest little lunch spot in the world” by a customer, making it a great spot to try out if you fancy it.

From its history to the must-visit spots, here’s what the village has to offer.

History of Ribchester

Ribchester Village Hall’s website explains: “The Village of Ribchester with the outlying hamlet of Stydd is situated in the picturesque Ribble Valley in the heart of rural Lancashire.

“Ribchester grew out of the ruins of the Roman fort of Bremetennacum Veteranorum, which comprised a fort and civilian settlement.

“The earliest Roman fort in Ribchester was established in the early 70s AD as part of a network of defensive forts across northern Britannia.

“The Parish Church of Saint Wilfrid, and the Village Hall itself, stand where the principal buildings of the fort would have been.

“The church, for the most part, dates from the 13th Century.

“Always a farming community the Village grew significantly in the 17th and 18th Centuries through the expansion of the Lancashire cotton industry.

“Around the village can still be found many of the cottages used by the handloom weavers in the early part of the 17th Century – particularly in Church Street – but the weaving industry has all but gone.

“Ribchester is still a busy place although most of its population work in the nearby city of Preston or the town of Blackburn.”

Amenities in Ribchester

Ribchester, located alongside the River Ribble, is home to eateries, including a cafe and a pub.

You can also visit Roman Baths Ribchester or Ribchester Roman Museum to learn more about the village’s history.

Food and drink in Ribchester

There are a few places you can stop for food and drink in Ribchester, including Potters Barn Cafe and the Ribchester Arms.

Potters Barn has a 4.5-star rating on Tripadvisor from 203 reviews, with one customer saying: “Glad I booked a table as it was getting pretty busy even at 10am.

“Delicious brunch and wished that I could have stayed for lunch as specials menu looked delicious.”

This customer enjoyed breakfast at the cafe: “Treated myself to breakfast and this cafe was well worth the visit great value and delicious.

“Dog friendly as well. Going back again for lunch as menu looked appetising.

“Staff extremely friendly and great customer service.

“Open at 9.30am and it was getting busy with customers coming in for hot drinks and cake”.

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Another shared that you can combine a stop at the cafe with pottery painting: “We enjoyed a lovely homemade lunch here, sat out in the garden.

“Great service, tasty food and good coffee.

“The pot painting area looked great and fancy booking when we are in the area again. Lovely gift shop.

“The cakes looked delicious too but we were full!! Next time.”

Have you been to Ribchester? Share your favourite spots with us in the comments below.

By HARRY BAMFORTH, LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE REPORTER

Updated: 19:53 BST, 28 August 2026