Work has been ongoing since 2023 after sewers beneath the road were damaged
A major road that has been closed on and off since 2023 may finally reopen this month. Residents have been left frustrated since Barton Road in Wisbech closed, after the road’s sewers were damaged due to a new care home being built.
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Due to “complex repairs,” the road has been closed. However, Anglian Water has confirmed when it hopes to finally reopen the road. The water company says it hopes to have completed works by March 19, when the road will fully reopen.
An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “The work is to repair a sewer pipe under Barton Road. This has been a complex repair – something we foresaw from the beginning – because the pipe is more than five metres below ground in places, and the ground on Barton Road is soft, with naturally high groundwater levels which have been exacerbated by recent rainfall.
“We’ve been working hard with extra engineers and specialist teams, and we’re still planning to reopen the road on March 19. If anything changes, we’ll let local residents, the council and stakeholders know.”
Polling by YouGov suggests a surge in support for the Green party across the country following the Gorton and Denton byelection. According to the poll, Zack Polanski’s party now has a national vote share of 21%, leapfrogging the Labour party. The Greens now sit within the margin of error behind Reform’s 23%.
In light of this result, some have claimed that the Green party’s byelection victory has boosted its national polling by making it look like a party that can win in an election. This is a version of what is known among political scientists as the bandwagon effect. The idea is that voters jump on the bandwagon of parties that are very popular with other voters.
But it’s not necessarily the case that voters are now thinking of going Green just because the Greens won in the byelection. Coverage of byelection results has a longstanding tendency to focus too much on which party wins and not enough on trends in vote shares.
Hannah Spencer won the seat for the Greens on a share of the vote fully 28 percentage points higher than her predecessor managed in 2024. Changes in vote shares like this matter because they can give some insight into the scale and direction of shifts in the standing of parties across the country as a whole.
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This is true regardless of whether such trends tip a party over the threshold required to win the seat. In other words, had the Greens won Gorton and Denton by a narrow margin, as constituency polling late in the campaign suggested they might, that would not have been quite so seismic a result. What has shaken British politics is that the Greens did so much better than they did in 2024, that they did so much better than Labour – and so much better than expected.
The effects of these two related factors – the victory and the swing – cannot be teased apart. The win itself is not necessarily what has motivated voters to jump on the bandwagon in subsequent polling. It could just as plausibly be the Greens’ improving electoral performance that is doing the important work.
The striking and substantial surge in support in the byelection may be inspiring voters across the country to go Green. That surge just happened to also propel them to victory in the byelection.
Indeed, decades of research on the bandwagon effect has struggled to find any consistent evidence that voters flock to the most popular party or the “winner”. But some evidence suggests that when parties become more popular, regardless of whether that growth propels them into first place, this growth can become self-perpetuating as more voters jump on the bandwagon.
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Why this matters
This distinction matters because it can shape the story we tell about why the effect is happening. If we focus on the Greens’ victory as the most important factor driving their subsequent poll boost, we will tend to tell a story about viability: the Greens won this election, so they could win others, and that makes people want to back them.
If instead we focus on the Greens’ growth, we uncover a story about momentum: the Greens have gained ground, so they could gain more ground, and that makes people want to get involved.
Of course, viability and momentum are related. For one thing, we know from primary campaigns in the US that smaller election victories can be seen as generating a kind of momentum that boosts perceptions of viability in bigger elections. For another, my research has shown that when a party’s vote share increases, even if it doesn’t move into first place, this momentum raises expectations of its chances of winning a future election.
Focus on the swing, not just the win. Alamy
These findings suggest something important. Even if voters are now flocking to the Greens because they see the party as viable, that does not mean the byelection victory alone is driving them to jump on the bandwagon. The party’s growth, separate from the victory that growth brought about, also probably matters for these perceptions of viability – and, therefore, helps explain why people are now jumping on the bandwagon in subsequent polling.
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What also matters is the way the Green party’s victory is being covered. Voters do not learn about the election result in a vacuum; it is always presented with interpretation. And many of those interpretations are focusing on what the victory means for the Greens’ viability. This understandably superlative coverage of the byelection result contributes significantly to the perception that the party is becoming a viable electoral force.
Indeed, it has long been argued that numerical data representing parties’ performance alone is probably insufficient to produce a bandwagon effect, and that any such effect probably relies on the interpretation of what the results mean. If perceived viability drives people to vote Green, then it is largely the media’s insistence on that viability that is causing this movement.
The council’s education committee approved a proposal to increase the planned capacity for placing requests at Dalziel High School to 80 per cent rather than the current level of 75 per cent.
North Lanarkshire Council is updating its policies on school admissions, including a formal change to rules for placing requests at a secondary school in Motherwell.
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The council’s education committee approved a proposal to increase the planned capacity for placing requests at Dalziel High School to 80 per cent rather than the current level of 75 per cent.
Temporary allocation of pupils to Dalziel High School has historically operated on the basis of 75 per cent of its total capacity of 1,207 pupils, or 905. However this figure is to be increased to 80 per cent to allow more placing requests to be granted.
In fact, high demand for places at Dalziel mean the school has been operating at this level for some years, although this is now formally approved in council policy.
The committee also agreed to hold consultations on a new school admissions policy and a report on exclusion and appeal procedures is to be presented to a future meeting.
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The Hollywood star was on the BBC programme’s sofa on Wednesday (March 4) to promote her latest television project The Madison, in which she stars alongside Kurt Russell, reports Wales Online.
However, whilst she was talking to the show’s presenters Alex Jones and Clara Amfo, viewers found themselves distracted by her timeless beauty. Many took to X, which was previously known as Twitter, expressing disbelief at how young the 67-year-old actress appeared.
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One viewer wrote on the platform: “Dang Michelle Pfeiffer is still hot even at almost 70.”
“Michelle is unreal I mean look at her,” another enthused, whilst a fellow admirer noted: “I’m amazed how beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer looks on The One Show tonight x.”
“How does Michelle still look so amazing,” questioned one fan, whilst another revealed: “Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2 was my first crush oof!”
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“Michelle Pfeiffer is so great and beautiful!” gushed another fan, as one viewer noted that the star “still looks great”.
“Love her,” said someone else, as another fan posted: “I b***** adore Michelle Pfeiffer.”
Another fan wrote: “Michelle Pfeiffer looks amazing. She looks so at ease on the sofa and interviews really well. I bet she’s great to work with. A seasoned professional.”
Her new series The Madison centres on the Clyburn family, who relocate from New York to Montana following a tragedy in the family.
Hollywood star Michelle opened up about the role and the show as she appeared on The One Show, explaining: “I play Stacy Clyburn, and I am the matriarch of the family based in New York, and a tragedy fractures the family, and then actually pulls it back together in ways that were unexpected.”
The star went on: “And, you know, it’s a story about, you know, it’s tender and visceral and actually unexpectedly funny at times, and it is a story about self-discovery and the messy and profound work to rebuild everything that you knew that has fallen apart.”
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website
The warning mentioned several different sites as problematic and highlighted platforms with millions of user-created games as a place fraught with potential dangers for young people
A Northern Ireland primary school principal has been forced to send an urgent warning to parents and guardians after a disturbing incident where a pupil was targeted by an online predator.
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The alarming encounter saw the child groomed by an adult posing as a peer on Snapchat who encouraged the student to give personal information and send them inappropriate photos.
Taking swift action Terry Rodgers – principal of St Teresa’s Primary School on the Glen Road in Belfast – sent out a letter to his school community on Monday informing them of the incident and urged parents to check their child’s devices.
Mr Rodgers told Belfast Live: “A lot of children have access to a mobile phone or tablet, and some of them are quite young. Many of our children have downloaded and used several social media platforms. Children can run rings around their parents when it comes to technology.”
The principal said that some children were able to bypass parental settings, and believes the best solution was to keep them off social media altogether. He mentioned several different sites as problematic, and highlighted Roblox – a platform that is made up of millions of user-created games – as a place fraught with potential dangers for young people.
Law enforcement officials have previously spoken out about Roblox with one member of the Gardai telling Irish current affairs programme, Prime Time that they are “seeing grooming, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse as a result of children being on gaming platforms, and in some cases, moving on to other platforms”.
Mr Rodgers advised that if a child is using Roblox, they should not be using it by themselves unsupervised. He declared that it should only be being used in the home somewhere where an adult can see what is happening.
“Through a series of ‘innocent’ interactions on Snapchat, a young child was groomed by an adult posing as a peer,” added Mr Rodgers in the letter.
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“The predator used the ‘disappearing’ nature of the messages to build a secret relationship, eventually moving the conversation toward requests for personal information and inappropriate photos. This happened under the radar of well-intentioned parents who believed their child was simply chatting with school friends. We urge you to check your child’s devices today. If they have Snapchat or similar apps, we strongly recommend they be removed immediately.
“While the internet offers incredible opportunities for learning, we have seen an alarming rise in the number of primary-aged children accessing social media platforms that are neither designed for them nor safe for their use. Many parents believe that platforms like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram are harmless fun. However, for a primary school child, these apps are often gateways to environments they are emotionally and developmentally unequipped to handle.
“The most pressing concern at our school currently involves Snapchat. Despite the app’s own Terms of Service stating that users must be at least 13 years old, we are aware that several of our pupils – some as young as six – have active accounts. Snapchat’s core features, while appealing to children, create significant safeguarding loopholes.“Disappearing messages creates a false sense of security, encouraging children to share images or messages they wouldn’t otherwise. It also makes it incredibly difficult for parents or teachers to monitor for bullying or inappropriate contact.”
Mr Rodgers stated that he wants to see all children off of social media and suggested if parents want to give their child a phone, they should ensure if cannot gain online access. He believes the older style brick phones that don’t have social media are the way to go when it comes to ensuring children’s safety while still being able to keep in contact.
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He said: “Parents need to ensure no child has any social media access to any platform. Children need to be 13-years-old on a lot of platforms but I think at that age it can have a negative impact on children. We have seen issues with children ranging from anxiety to tiredness and the tone of my letter was serious because many people are apathetic on this issue.
“Avoid giving children access to a mobile phone during primary school years, the fear of missing out on social media is much less than the potential damage that can be caused to their safety. It is in everyone’s best interests that children are banned for under 16 for social media.
Flights will leave Oman tonight and this weekend (Picture: Reuters)
The first government-chartered flight to evacuate UK citizens from Oman is believed to have taken off this evening as the war in Iran continues to escalate.
Around 7pm UK time, the flight was scheduled to leave Muscat, in addition to eight commercial flights leaving the United Arab Emirates this evening.
Metro has contacted the Foreign Office to confirm that the flight is en route.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said two further Government-chartered flights will take off from the capital of Oman, Muscat, to London Heathrow on Friday and Saturday.
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The first Government rescue flight and British Airways commercial flight from Muscat depart on Wednesday night.
More than 1,000 British nationals arrived back in the UK on commercial flights from the United Arab Emirates as of Tuesday.
Eight more UK flights are scheduled to depart the UAE today. Still, there is not expected to be a widespread evacuation of the 130,000 British nationals who have registered in the Middle East.
Some commercial flights are operating from Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, but most are cancelled because of airspace restrictions caused by the conflict between Iran and the US.
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Violence in the Middle East has spilled over into neighbouring countries (Picture: AFP)
British Airways, which does not usually serve Muscat, said it remains unable to operate its scheduled flights from Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv.
Muscat has emerged as a key location for people to leave the Middle East, given the Foreign Office hasn’t advised against travel into the Oman airport – unlike the current advice for airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
Muscat can be reached by road from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi with journeys of about 300 miles.
The Foreign Office said: ‘There are a limited number of commercial options available, including by air from the UAE and from Oman.
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‘If your presence in the UAE is not essential, you may wish to consider departing – if you judge you can access these options safely.’
The Oman waterfront has seen debris from strikes wash up (Picture: Reuters)
Oman Air has continued to operate its two daily return flights between Muscat and Heathrow despite the war.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 said Muscat has ‘become a popular alternative for flying out of the region’ but warned that almost all scheduled flights from Muscat are fully booked.’
It added that private jets are being chartered to evacuate those who can afford it.
About half a million passengers per day usually use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, which are vital hubs for travel between Europe and the continents of Asia and Australia.
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Experts believe it could take weeks to clear the backlog of passengers.
Hollywood star Michelle Pfeiffer was a guest on the BBC show on Wednesday (March 4)
BBC viewers were stunned by Michelle Pfeiffer’s youthful looks as she appeared on The One Show.
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The actress was on the sofa on the BBC programme on Wednesday (March 4) to discuss her new TV series The Madison, which sees her sharing the screen with Kurt Russell.
But as she chatted to hosts Alex Jones and Clara Amfo, viewers were distracted by her ageless beauty. Many posted messages on X, formerly Twitter, saying that they could not believe how young the 67-year-old star looked.
One person commented: “Dang Michelle Pfeiffer is still hot even at almost 70.”
“Michelle is unreal I mean look at her,” said someone else, as another fan remarked: “I’m amazed how beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer looks on The One Show tonight x.”
“How does Michelle still look so amazing,” asked one fan, as someone else shared: “Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2 was my first crush oof!”
“Michelle Pfeiffer is so great and beautiful!” exclaimed another admirer, as one person said the star “still looks great”.
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Another fan posted: “Michelle Pfeiffer looks amazing. She looks so at ease on the sofa and interviews really well. I bet she’s great to work with. A seasoned professional.”
New series The Madison follows the Clyburn family, who move from New York to Montana after a tragedy in the family.
Speaking on The One Show, Hollywood star Michelle said: “I play Stacy Clyburn, and I am the matriarch of the family based in New York, and a tragedy fractures the family, and then actually pulls it back together in ways that were unexpected.”
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She went on: “”And, you know, it’s a story about, you know, it’s tender and visceral and actually unexpectedly funny at times, and it is a story about self-discovery and the messy and profound work to rebuild everything that you knew that has fallen apart.”
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website
The 20-year-old was forced off in the 70th minute of City’s 1-0 win away to Leeds United last Saturday.
In his pre-match press conference, Guardiola claimed that O’Reilly was in contention to play against Forest with a final assessment to be made after Tuesday’s training session.
But speaking before kick-off on Wednesday night when O’Reilly was not named in City’s matchday squad, Guardiola claimed the 20-year-old had not fully recovered from his ankle issue.
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Asked for a timeframe on O’Reilly’s return, Guardiola said: ‘Yesterday we had a training session, he then felt uncomfortable from the knock he got against Leeds.
‘Hopefully he can come back but at the same time it’s happened, in this part of the season everybody is massively important for our experience in the periods where we fight for competitions, everyone is massively important.’
After Wednesday’s game against Forest, City are away to Newcastle United in the FA Cup on Saturday.
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The father and step-daughter were reunited on the BBC soap in sad circumstances
EastEnders fans are saying that they’ve ‘worked out’ Nigel Bates’ fate after Clare Bates’ ‘heartbreaking’ return to the BBC soap.
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It was announced last month that actress Gemma Bissix was stepping back into the role of the daughter of Debbie Bates, and the stepdaughter of Nigel by marriage. Nigel received full custody of Clare after her mother Debbie died in a car crash in the summer of 1995.
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Gemma was last seen in EastEnders back in 2008 when she made the decision to leave following the breakdown of her relationship with the late Bradley Branning, and has not returned since.
At the time of her exit, Clare claimed that she and Nigel became estranged because he wasn’t a fan of her wild behaviour in her younger years. However, in scenes aired on Wednesday night (March 4), it turned out that this wasn’t true.
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After receiving a voicemail from Julie in the episode prior, Clare was stunned to learn that Nigel is living in dementia, with his condition deteriorating in recent months. Clare was furious that not only did she not know this, but that he was in a care home.
Julie pointed out that Clare ignored her calls for help locating him when he disappeared from their family home in Scotland after his initial diagnosis. Over at the hospital, Phil Mitchell and Julie wanted to see how Nigel was doing before bringing Clare in.
Fed up with waiting, Clare burst into the room only for Nigel not to recognise her. To make matters worse, Nigel, who is in hospital after nearly drowning in the bath, thought Phil’s grandchild Lexi Pearse was his stepdaughter.
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A confused Nigel asked Phil to bring him to the Queen Vic to have a pint with Barry Evans, in spite of the character having died over 20 years ago.
It turns out that Nigel and Clare fell out after she sold her mum Debbie’s wedding ring to a pawn shop. Nigel was planning to give the jewellery to Clare’s daughter Bella and had to pay a lot of money to get it back.
Noticing that Clare was upset, Lexi played her a message her mum Lola recorded for her prior to her death. The pair formed a bond over losing their mums at a young age.
The episode ended with a stunning cliffhanger, with Julie and Phil discovering that Nigel was missing. Putting the blame on Clare and Lexi, it remains to be seen just what happens next.
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Following the episode, EastEnders fans took to X, previously known as Twitter, to have their say on Clare’s return and explain where they think the storyline is going next.
@RyanSoapKing25 said: “The Clare & Nigel reunion scene in tonight’s #EastEnders was heartbreaking. I hope Nigel remembers Clare before he dies and they make amends especially as they didn’t leave things on the best terms first time around. Nigel thinking that Lexi is Clare was devastating.”
@jones_emma54777 wrote: “This scene with Lexi and Clare is very moving #EastEnders.” @B73Shell stated: “I know it will be a slow burner, but I do wonder if Phil & Julie will end up together? They are very suited, especially for their love over Nigel #eastenders.”
@Unhappy_Dig_8575 commented on Reddit: “I called this months ago… Julie & Phil are gonna grief get [sic] together aren’t they they have really softened towards each other especially Julie in today’s ep. It will likely happen after the funeral and then Julie will decide to fulfil Nige’s dream by going to India travelling leaving Walford behind for good.”
The Google Pixel 10a has the same 48-megapixel main camera, 13-megapixel ultra-wide and 13-megapixel front camera as the Pixel 9a. Such a lack of progress isn’t overly concerning, given that the Pixel 9a took fine photos for the money.
Camera hardware is never the main focus in a Pixel phone. Google’s image processing does a lot of the heavy lifting here, resulting in shots with an almost uncanny level of clarity and contrast, even at night.
Images taken with the Pixel 10a’s main camera are generally pin-sharp and well exposed, pulling detail out of shadow while taming brighter areas. The ultrawide is the weak link, producing grainier and less natural-looking snaps.
Google’s 13-megapixel front camera might not be the star component as found in the Pixel 10 Pro, but it does capture natural selfies with rich skin tones. Portrait shots make the subject pop, though some edge detail is lost.
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There is no dedicated telephoto camera, so you’re best advised to stop at the 2x zoom mark. These cropped-in shots still look decent, but zooming in any further will see the detail level dropping off dramatically.
No one handles AI-powered image editing better than Google. In the Pixel 10a, as with other Pixel phones, you can fire off a quick snap and be pulling off major edits within a couple of taps, all without ever having to leave the camera app. Some of the AI-powered tools found in Google’s Pixel Studio suite can carry your image into uncanny territory, allowing you to fundamentally transform it using simple language, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
New to the A-series is ‘Camera Coach’, which talks you through improving the framing of your shot in real time. ‘Auto Best Take’, meanwhile, blends similar photos to produce group shots where everyone looks their best.
The Google Pixel 10a is reasonably well equipped for a sub-£500 phone, but we’ve seen it all before. The specifications are almost identical to the Google Pixel 9a which, at the time of writing, Google is still selling as new at a steep discount.
The study, led by a University of York researcher, revealed an “unprecedented” variety of plants in human diets thousands of years ago.
People living in Britain and Europe as long ago as the sixth millennium BC used a wide range of plant, animal and seafood products to create “elaborate” meals, the researchers said.
The study was led by Dr Lara González Carretero, from the University of York, and also involved researchers from Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland, Russia and Spain.
Researchers examined organic remains found in 58 pieces of pottery uncovered at 13 archaeological sites across northern and eastern Europe dating between the sixth and third millennium BC.
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Experimental cooking with modern replica pottery vessels to recreate prehistoric recipes. Experts have found Stone Age families enjoyed a ‘surprisingly complex’ range of cuisine (Image: Lara González Carretero/SWNS)
They recovered tissue samples of a wide variety of plants – including grasses, berries, leaves, and seeds.
A common technique for interpreting the diets of ancient cultures involves analysing fatty residues in ancient pottery.
But Dr Carretero said that method is limited as it mostly provides insights only into animal remains.
For the new study, published in the journal PLOS One, the research team instead combined multiple techniques, including microscopic examination and chemical analysis, to identify the remains of plants that were eaten by ancient European hunter-gatherers.
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Dr Carretero said: “In many cases, plant remains were found alongside those of animals, most often fish and other seafood.
“The exact mixtures and ingredients varied from region to region, most likely reflecting which resources were locally available as well as local cultural practices.
“These findings emphasise the important role of plants and aquatic foods in the diets of early Europeans.
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“These results also support the idea that these communities regularly used pottery technology for food preparation and that each culture had their own complex culinary traditions.
“This study also demonstrates that combining multiple analytical techniques can yield detailed insights that are overlooked by traditional methods, particularly when it comes to the plants that ancient peoples were eating.”
Dr Carretero added: “While conventional chemical analysis tends to highlight the animal-based components of ancient meals, our combined microscopic approach has brought these prehistoric recipes back into focus.
“We found that hunter-gatherer-fishers were not living on fish alone. They were actively processing and consuming a wide variety of plants.
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“This research underscores that to truly understand ancient diets, we need to take a closer look at these food crusts, quite literally.”
