The family of a mother and three children who died in a house fire have said they are experiencing an “unimaginable” loss.

Elisha Brabin, 36, and her children, Leo, 16, Ellis, 8, and Prudence, 7, died after a blaze “spread rapidly” inside a house on Stone Square in Bootle, Merseyside, in the early hours of Tuesday.

Paying tribute, their relatives said they had been left “heartbroken” and the loss would be “felt forever”.

The statement added that “Elisha was a devoted and loving mother” and “our beautiful babies, Leo, Ellis and Prudence, were loved beyond measure”.

The family said they were “devastated by the loss of Elisha, Leo, Ellis and Prudence”.

“Elisha was our beloved daughter, wife, mother, sister, auntie, niece and cousin,” they said.

“She was a devoted and loving mother who lived for her children. They were her whole world, and she meant everything to us.”

Elsewhere, a heat network development in London’s Bexley and Greenwich areas, serving up to 100,000 homes when fully built, will receive £11.5 million, and £11.4 million will go towards a system in London’s Marble Arch area that will use water-source heat pumps to take energy from the London chalk aquifer to heat offices, homes, hotels and businesses around Oxford Street.

Flaming debris from an RAF fighter jet that crashed in Wales this morning fell just yards from holiday caravans and a family home, the local farmer has revealed.

Richard Owen, 88, owner of Afallon Caravan Park near Rhosneigr, Anglesey, described his dramatic near miss with the wrecked plane, which remains scattered across his field.

The Hawk T2, reportedly on its first test flight after repairs, plummeted to the ground moments after taking off from RAF Valley, with witnesses reporting a ‘big bang’ and trailing flames.

The two pilots, forced to eject and seen parachuting to the ground in spectacular footage, were still being treated for injuries this evening.

Meanwhile, the RAF has halted all flights involving its Hawk T1 and T2 models while it investigates the crash.

Mr Owen said he was in the kitchen when the initial bang rang out, but at first he ‘didn’t think much about it’.

He said: ‘We are on the flight path and there are planes overhead every day. We’re just a couple of miles from the runway.

‘But then I heard a second bang and I saw the fire and flames. It landed just on the other side of the park.

A large pile of twisted metal was still burning when locals went to inspect it

An enormous fireball erupted as the jet crashed near the village of Rhosneigr on Anglesey

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‘I went out to take a look. There were little bits of wreckage all around the site. The tail section must have blown off and landed next to one of the caravans.

‘There was lots of smoke, thick black smoke. I didn’t dare to go too close. I was worried about it exploding.’

Mr Owen said he was thankful that most of his 30 caravans were empty, and that the vehicles were largely unscathed. 

While it took the RAF police around 15 minutes to arrive, the farmer reported that a helicopter was with the ejected pilots within ‘a minute or two’.

Both crew, understood to be studying at the No 4 Flying Training School that runs out of RAF Valley, were being treated for minor injuries this afternoon.

A local source claimed the plane had ‘just been repaired after a faulty component’.

They said: ‘This was a test flight and they realised pretty quickly that something was wrong. It was a very lucky escape for all involved.’

The Ministry of Defence refused to comment on whether the plane was on a test flight.

A RAF spokesperson said: ‘An incident involving an RAF T2 Hawk aircraft, flying out of RAF Valley, occurred near Anglesey. An investigation is underway and we will not comment further at this time.’

The force added around 7pm: ‘Following an incident involving an RAF Hawk T2 aircraft today, both pilots are receiving medical treatment. Their families are being supported.

‘The RAF has decided to temporarily pause Hawk T1 and T2 operations, as a precautionary measure, whilst investigations are ongoing.’ 

Both pilots ejected safely after the Hawk T2 training aircraft crashed moments after taking off

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Spectacular footage shows the moment both pilots made their escape from the aircraft

Footage shows the jet jerking violently as it careers through the air before the two servicemen eject simultaneously. Seconds later, the Hawk begins a steady plunge before crashing in a fireball, leaving a huge plume of smoke.

Farming influencer Gareth Wyn Jones posted a picture on social media appearing to show two ejected crew members parachuting to the ground.

‘Hope everyone is ok,’ he wrote. ‘Rhosneigr, big bang, jet on fire out of control and two parachutes??’

Aviation security expert Julian Bray told the Daily Mail it was too soon to know the cause of the crash, but said it ‘had to be pretty serious because both of them bailed out’.

‘Something has gone wrong by the angle of the aircraft in the stalled position,’ he added.

‘It might have flamed out, the engine might have given up. It’s less likely, but it’s possible it was a bird strike. Or a malfunction somewhere – but these aircrafts are looked after like babies.’

One witness said they had watched the jet take off and told his wife ‘it’s in trouble as I could see flames’.

He wrote: ‘We watched it climb then as it was parallel with us, it started to pitch up violently twice… then both pilots ejected and the Hawk crashed about a mile away.’

Another, Pete Bennett, told North Wales Live: ‘I knew straight away that it was in trouble – right on take-off there was an orange flame and as it accelerated it was basically on fire.

‘As it gained altitude the flame disappeared but it was clearly in trouble.

‘It climbed at an aggressive pitch. It pitched twice violently in the air and then there were two clear loud bangs.

‘The pilots ejected and both parachutes opened.’

North Wales Police has warned people to avoid the area ‘until further notice’.

It added: ‘Local officers are in attendance to reports of an incident involving an aircraft in the Pencarnisiog area of Anglesey, alongside colleagues from North Wales Fire and Rescue Services, Welsh Ambulance Service University Health Trust and Helimed.

‘Two pilots are being treated for what are thought to be minor injuries, and at this stage there are no reports of any wider damage or injuries.

‘Please avoid the area until further notice. Updates will be issued when appropriate.’ 

Witnesses described seeing flames coming from the Hawk T2 training aircraft after it took off from RAF Valley

The pilots were located shortly after the crash and are being treated for minor injuries

The Hawk T2 plummeted to the ground moments after taking off, with witnesses reporting a ‘big bang’ and flames coming from the jet

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The aircraft jerked violently before careering vertically towards the ground

A separate video posted on Facebook shows a Wales Air Ambulance helicopter landing in a field close to the incident.

A Royal Air Force spokesman said: ‘An incident involving an RAF T2 Hawk aircraft, flying out of RAF Valley, occurred near Anglesey. An investigation is under way and we will not comment further at this time.’

Mr Bray told us the initial white flash seen in the video as the plane descends is the initiation of the Martin Baker ejector seats, fitted as standard in all Hawk T2s.

‘You can see the aircraft is definitely not right and so the two pilots decided to eject.

‘So what they do is they pull a lever and the rest of it is automatic. There’s a rocket under the seat and the rocket explodes, fires them up into the air as the plane is going quite fast. They have to eject very, very quickly or they will get sliced by the tail fin.’

The Baker seats, made by a British firm, have saved the lives of more than 7,800 service personnel across the globe since development.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting posted on X and said: ‘An investigation is underway. My thoughts are first and foremost with the pilots. We will provide further updates in due course.’ 

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service issued an update on Wednesday afternoon and said the blaze is now ‘under control’. 

A spokesperson said: ‘North Wales Fire and Rescue Service crews and officers attended at an incident involving an aircraft in the Pencarnisiog area of Anglesey, working alongside colleagues from Royal Air Force, North Wales Police, Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Wales Air Ambulance.

‘The fire is now under control.

‘Members of the public are asked to avoid the area while emergency services continue their work safely.’

RAF Valley, where Prince William was once stationed as a search-and-rescue pilot flying Sea King helicopters, is home to the RAF’s No4 Flying Training School and is responsible for training Britain’s next generation of fighter pilots.

The Hawk T2 is built by BAE Systems and has been used to train British pilots since 1976. 

It is described by the RAF as a ‘high-performance, two-seat training jet’ designed to ‘simulate front-line combat aircraft like the Typhoon’.

It is used in training to prepare pilots for complex tactical environments.

The entire fleet was briefly grounded in January 2023 amid concerns after a blade failed during an incident on the runway at RAF Valley.

They were allowed to resume operating the following month. 

What does it all mean?

Huge changes could see a four-Test series in 2029, with one of the matches played in Australia

The 2029 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand could involve a four-Test series – with one of those Tests potentially being played in Australia.

Leaked documents from New Zealand Rugby last week revealed the country’s governing body is projected to lose £28m over the next five years – even if the next visit of the Lions is likely to bring in record revenues. Major changes have now been promised in order to improve the financial crisis.

And that could affect the next Lions tour, which is seen as a huge a money-spinner for New Zealand.

According to The Australian, Melbourne Cricket Ground is being considered as a possible venue for a Lions Test in 2029.

Manchester council met in the chamber of the historic town hall for their latest meeting, with a huge array of items on the agenda

Celebrating women, ridding the area of unclean air and ousting Palantir from the NHS were all discussed at the latest town hall meeting in Manchester, alongside some swipes at Reform UK.

There was tension in the historic town hall building as the Labour group took direct aim at the seven Reform UK councillors in the chamber. Coun Tim Whiston tabled a motion that called to reject the ‘divisive politics of Reform UK’.

The Sharston councillor highlighted Reform-run councils in other parts of the UK scrapping net zero goals, closing care homes for the elderly and removing Pride flags from public buildings.

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Coun Whiston reaffirmed that Manchester is a city ‘where everyone is welcome’, whilst Coun John Flanagan asked ‘why Reform are so resistant to a rainbow flag’. Manchester’s Reform leader Sian Astley called the motion ‘a word salad of woke’.

Coun Astley refuted claims they were against Pride or pushed divisive politics. She felt this motion was ‘disrespectful’ to the 21,455 people who voted for Reform in Manchester.

Despite Reform, the Greens and Lib Dems suggesting this motion didn’t really do anything but highlight Labour’s dislike of Reform politics, the motion was carried by the Labour majority.

This fierce debate came just after the council unanimously voted in favour of supporting the celebration of women in the build up to the 2028 centenary of women securing the vote on equal terms with men. The town hall agreed to support a government petition for a fund to celebrate the century.

Coun Andrew Simcock explained that the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in the city centre was part-funded by the £5m created to celebrate the centenary of women first securing the vote in 2018. He wants another government fund worth £10m.

Highlighting why this celebration is needed, Coun Simcock pointed out: “There are more statues of men called John than there are of women. There are more statues of animals than women.

“Up until the installation of the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in 2018 there was only a single other female statue in our city and that was of Queen Victoria.”

If funding could be secured the Council would suggest a number of Mancunian women who have left their mark on the city. The list includes Louise da-Cacodia, the anti-racism campaigner from Moss Side; Ellen Wilkinson, from Ardwick, the former city councillor and leader of the 1936 Jarrow March; and Emily Williamson, who founded what is now the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at her home in Didsbury.

The matter of unclean air in the city-region was later raised in the town hall. This came in the wake of the heatwaves and wildfires that left a haze of smoke over the Greater Manchester area during the summer.

Coun Ross Steven recalled his ‘eyes burning’ and many councillors having to leave the chamber because of smoke-induced coughs. His Green Party colleague Coun Ati Zafar spoke of being fearful of smoke in the air, due to his cystic fibrosis.

The council agreed to develop an Air Quality and Extreme Heat Emergency Response Plan, to be better prepared for a similar event in the future.

Councillors also agreed to write to health bosses at the government to break the contract with technology company Palantir and the NHS; welcomed the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine and called for support for a ‘just and lasting peace’; and agreed to include new guidance to help protect vulnerable children who arrive in the country without their family.

Also at the meeting, Coun Thomas Robinson was officially appointed as the new co-deputy leader of the council.

Harry Kane has suggested he sees his sporting future in the United States as he hinted he will end his footballing career in Major League Soccer – and could also then look to fulfil his ambition of becoming a placekicker in NFL.

The England captain, who is likely to extend his contract with Bayern Munich, had also wondered about trying to become a professional golfer.

But he has decided he won’t be good enough to tee off for a living, explaining: “I toy with that in my head. I watch golf and think, ‘I could be there’. Then I go out and play and I am like, ‘no, there’s no way’. I play off two. But I am a member at Wentworth and I shoot 10 over. Then I watch the pros, who played there last week, and 20 under wins it. I think I’ll stick to football.”

However, Kane, a friend and admirer of former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, thinks a potential move to the United States could allow him to combine two sports.

“It all depends on what happens in my career over the next five or six years, the motivation and what I want to do. The NFL is a lot more realistic than the golf one, let’s put it that way,” he added.

“I think it is something I am used to kicking more than using my hands. I see that one. I take penalties and it is a very similar pressure, technique. If I did that, in terms of training, I would be closer to that more than any other sport.

“But as I know, with all elite sports, when you watch it on TV, people make it look easy and you think it is possible but that is not always the case. If I was to do it, it is something I would take seriously. I would take six months to a year to try and practice before.”

Kane is yet to be approached by an NFL franchise but feels that being in America might help that happen.

“That might come later on,” he said. “If people know I am still on the top of my game here with football it is not a conversation that would be had.

“Maybe if I am in the MLS in the future or somewhere like that, it might be a thing where you could connect the two maybe with the seasons but again, it is in the back of my mind because right now, I am feeling that I want to play as long as I can here.

“I think sometimes it is easy to get to my age, 33, you start thinking about retirement or the future but I am trying to extract everything I can from the last two, five or 10 years, I will keep going.”

Kacey Ainsworth has revealed how money once forced her to make a difficult choice between two acting jobs.

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A Grantchester star has spoken candidly about the financial uncertainty that can come with working as an actor, recalling a role she was unable to accept despite being thrilled to have been offered it.

Kacey Ainsworth, who plays Cathy Keating in the popular drama, has described how financial pressures shaped some of the decisions she made during the earlier stages of her career.

The actress was once offered a small part in a Channel 4 programme she regarded as particularly exciting. However, the three-day filming commitment clashed with another production that would have kept her working for 12 weeks.

Although the Channel 4 opportunity was the one she really wanted, Ainsworth said the reality of paying her bills meant she had to choose the longer job.

Her experience highlights one of the less visible challenges of working in television. Actors can face long periods between jobs, while auditions, training and travel can all bring costs of their own.

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Ainsworth has previously spoken about how difficult it can be for performers without financial support from their families to establish themselves in the industry.

She has argued that having enough money to survive between jobs can make a significant difference, particularly when an actor is trying to build relationships with agents and secure better opportunities.

For Ainsworth, taking regular work was essential rather than being able to wait for the perfect part, she said she needed to consider the financial security that each job could provide.

The actress’s career has nevertheless gone from strength to strength. She first became widely known to television audiences through her role as Little Mo Slater in EastEnders.

Her performance in the BBC soap established her as a recognisable figure on British television before she moved into a variety of other acting roles.

She later joined the cast of Grantchester, the period crime drama filmed in and around the Cambridgeshire village that gives the series its name.

Ainsworth plays Cathy Keating, the wife of detective Geordie Keating. Her character has remained an important part of the show’s wider story as the series has explored marriage, family life and the personal pressures faced by its central characters.

She previously revealed the secret to working with Robson Green. During an appearance on The One Show, the actress told hosts Lauren Laverne and Roman Kemp that the Grantchester cast have to be careful around Robson until he has had his first cup of coffee of the day.

At the time, she said: “It was you have to laugh at all of his jokes like you’ve heard them the first time — act surprise, surprise. I would say just make sure that Robson’s had a nice cup of coffee in the morning, that would help.”

Laverne quipped: “Robson’s sounding quite high maintenance…” Ainsworth interrupted: “No, he’s definitely not high maintenance! He’s absolutely brilliant.

“I mean he’s one of the executive producers and was really, supportive of me doing this, doing the writing of the episode, So yeah, I mean, he’s fantastic… After a coffee.”

You can stream Grantchester on ITVX

The relatives of a mother and her three children killed in a house fire have described them as “loved beyond measure”.

Elisha Brabin, 36, and her children Leo Brabin, 16, Ellis Brabin, eight, and seven-year-old Prudence Brabin, died in the Bootle, Merseyside incident early on Tuesday, Merseyside Police confirmed.

In a statement released as a tribute, their family said they are “devastated” by the loss.

They said: “Elisha was our beloved daughter, wife, mother, sister, auntie, niece and cousin. She was a devoted and loving mother who lived for her children. They were her whole world, and she meant everything to us.

“Our beautiful babies, Leo, Ellis and Prudence, were loved beyond measure and brought so much joy, happiness and love to our family. They filled our lives with laughter and precious memories that we will cherish forever.

“The tragic loss of Elisha and our three precious children has left us heartbroken. They have all been taken from us far too soon. The loss we are experiencing is unimaginable, and the impact on our family will be felt forever.”

On Wednesday, flowers had been left at the scene in tribute to the family.

A number of soft toys, including Minecraft and Star Wars characters, were laid on the pavement next to a police cordon, along with candles, pink and blue star-shaped balloons and photo frames showing images of the family.

One card had the message: “God bless you all. Heartbroken to hear about the devastating fire.”

Another said: “Sleep tight. Forever in our hearts.”

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said the four victims were found in an upstairs bedroom of the semi-detached home, on Stone Square, by crews who went in to tackle the fire.

A fifth casualty was taken to hospital suffering from burns, the fire service said.

A joint investigation with Merseyside Police is under way to establish the cause of the fire.

More to follow…

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In Happy Days, one of Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s best-known plays, the body of the protagonist Winnie is embedded in a mound of sand or dirt. During the first act, she is buried to above her waist and in the second, she is buried up to her neck.

In the stage directions, Beckett specifies the staging should feature an “expanse of scorched grass rising centre to low mound”, as well as “blazing light”. This is suggestive of a post-human landscape which has been affected by ecological disaster.

Beckett’s works have been labelled absurd, existentialist, modern and postmodern by critics. Yet the setting presented in Happy Days (first performed in 1961) feels uniquely contemporary in our age of ongoing climate crisis.

Born in Dublin in 1906, some of Beckett’s earliest interactions with nature took place on local walks. Often joining his father William on lengthy excursions around the Dublin hills to avoid the religious obligation of Sunday church, these early ambles helped to imprint the landscape on his artistic consciousness. Images from these walks subsequently found their way into a number of his literary works.

Yet it was much later, after Beckett had abandoned a promising academic career to move to Paris and become a writer, that he encountered serious ecological and human destruction.

With the outbreak of the second world war, he joined the French resistance before becoming a member of the ambulance corps, based in the Normandy town of Saint-Lô. As biographer James Knowlson recalls in Damned To Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (1996), it was here that:

Beckett witnessed real devastation and misery … Possessions blown to pieces; a ward full of patients ill with tuberculosis … People in desperate need of food and clothing, yet clinging desperately onto life; a hospital created out of nothing on fields that became churned into a sea of mud.

My PhD research at the University of Liverpool explores Beckett’s work. The university hosts a biennial festival dedicated to his life and works. The current iteration, Beckett: Lieben 2026, features stagings, musical interpretations, photography, visual art and talks related to Beckett’s experiences in Germany.

Staging Happy Days

First performed 16 years after the end of the war, Happy Days features little sign of human civilisation in the near-empty, barren landscape that the two protagonists Winnie and Willie inhabit.

Winnie shows a desperation to cling on to life despite the constrictions of the mound, shown through her incessant activity. She frequently rummages through her bag, for example, because it is one of her only remaining means of autonomy.

Within the earth that constricts her body, Winnie’s only remaining signs of life are her physical movements and, in the second act, her words. In a contemporary sense, action and communication are vital tools for engaging effectively with our ecological crisis, before the situation worsens and the fiction of Winnie’s environmental collapse becomes a reality.

This article is part of Rethinking the Classics. The stories in this series offer insightful new ways to think about and interpret classic books and artworks. This is the canon – with a twist.

During rehearsals of Happy Days at the Royal Court Theatre in 1979, Beckett insisted to the scholar Martha Fehsenfeld that Winnie is “like a bird with oil on its feathers”.

Such an image feels damning in today’s world, where oil spills occur frequently and animals often bear the marks of human ecological irresponsibility. The comment underlines that Winnie’s paralysis is symbolic of how environmental damage affects animals as well as humans.

Rather than placing her in a mound, Katie Mitchell’s 2015 production of the play in Hamburg, Germany situated Winnie in a kitchen, with rising water threatening to engulf her body.

Beckett’s ambiguous setting, in which the rising mound gradually envelops Winnie’s body, echoes other ecological issues – be it the rising water levels which threaten to erode our coastlines, or the rising flames of forest fires which threaten to enclose our trees and kill our biodiversity.

Seeing or reading Happy Days in the light of frequent ecological disasters, audiences are reminded that Winnie’s body is inextricable from the earth in which it is buried – just as human bodies are inseparable from the Earth we inhabit.

Thus, Happy Days serves as a necessary reminder to look after our planet while we still can – if we are to avoid our bodies becoming engulfed by disaster, like Winnie’s.

Beyond the canon

As part of the Rethinking the Classics series, we’re asking our experts to recommend a book or artwork that tackles similar themes to the canonical work in question, but isn’t (yet) considered a classic itself. Here is Fraser Cattini’s suggestion:

For fans of Happy Days, I would recommend the art of Ana Mendieta (1948-1985). As a Cuban multimedia artist, Mendieta created performances, videos, sculptures and photographs with a particular focus on the relationship between body and landscape. Her works incorporate a range of natural materials such as blood, dirt, moss and feathers.

Her 1974 work Burial Pyramid draws remarkable similarities with Beckett’s aesthetics. In this 3½-minute video, Mendieta is buried beneath a pile of rocks – recalling the pre-Columbian, Indigenous Cuban tradition of honouring and protecting the dead by burying them beneath stones. As the video progresses, the rocks begin to fall away, revealing Mendieta’s naked body enshrouded in dirt.

Mendieta’s performance draws attention to the colonial past of her native Cuba, as well as the mistreatment of women by colonial powers. The relationship between her body and the land in which she is buried becomes an important signifier of heritage, and a vital marker of identity.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.