There are very few downsides to exercise. But a recent viral story highlighted one of the more embarrassing – and potentially dangerous – issues that can occur when your body reaches it limit with exercise.

Joanna Wietrzyk, the winner of the recent women’s pro Hyrox race in Beijing (a challenging fitness race that blends running and strength), found herself in the spotlight not for her performance – but because she soiled herself during the event.

While there has been plenty of commentary about what happened – and discussions over whether she should have been allowed to continue competing – one thing that hasn’t been said is that such occurrences are not uncommon in athletes.

Those who watched the 2005 London Marathon will remember Paula Radcliffe stopping at the 22-mile mark to “do her business” on the side of the road. Triathlete Taylor Knibb also suffered a similar incident during 2024’s Dubai T100.

Gastrointestinal problems, including diarrhoea, are up to three times more common in professional athletes than in recreational athletes. The impact it has on runners is so common it has even has its own term: runner’s diarrhoea. It’s estimated that up to 90% of runners experience this issue at some point.

But diarrhoea isn’t the only symptom people undertaking strenuous exercise for a prolonged period will suffer from. Abdominal pain, heartburn, nausea, vomiting and even gastrointestinal bleeding may all occur.

There are a few key reasons why intense exercise can have such a detrimental effect on our gastrointestinal system.

The first has to do with the digestive tract itself. The human digestive tract is approximately three times our height. This means it contains a lot of material. It also means our digestive tracts are rarely ever empty. This is particularly true when people are doing long or intense forms of exercise, where they may need to consume pre-workout snacks or drinks to give them energy, alongside fluid or gels during exercise to keep going.

If any problems occur with food when it’s in the stomach, it usually goes back out the way it came in. But if any issues occur with food once it leaves the stomach, it’s a one-way ticket “downwards”.

The small and large intestines hold approximately 300ml and 600ml of liquid content at a time – although this varies from person to person. So you can perhaps see why it can be difficult to stop problems when they arise during exercise.

The second factor relates to blood flow. Our body has a limited amount of blood – around five litres on average, which is circulated around the body. Whatever activity we’re doing changes the distribution of blood around the body. When we exercise, nervous and hormonal signals tell the blood vessels in the muscles and lungs to dilate, increasing the amount of blood flowing to them.

The same signals that cause those vessels to dilate also tell vessels to the gastrointestinal system to constrict. This temporarily reduces blood flow to these organs.

A reduction in blood flow to the intestines during endurance exercise can cause bowel ischaemia. This is where the blood supply to the organ is reduced so much that it can no longer function properly due to insufficient oxygen and nutrients. Standard exercise doesn’t usually cause this, but prolonged and intense exercise increases the risk.

This reduction in blood flow has been shown to cause symptoms such as diarrhoea in athletes. In rare cases, it can also result in bowel blockages.

A prolonged reduction in blood flow, oxygen and nutrients to the intestines can also damage the cells that line the gut. These cells are responsible for absorbing nutrients and water into the blood stream, meaning performance is impaired and dehydration may occur.

The physical effects of intense exercise also cause problems. Our gastrointestinal contents are repeatedly sloshing around with the impact of every step, jump or lunge. This not only places additional force on our gastrointestinal system, it also causes physical microtrauma to the tract’s lining, which can sometimes result in intestinal bleeding.

Thankfully the lining of the intestines has a good capacity for regeneration, so longer term issues are rare. But if microtrauma and intestinal bleeding do occur frequently, it can lead to a “leaky gut”, where the contents of the gastrointestinal tract (including partially digested food, pathogens and bacterial toxins) can leak into the bloodstream. This can lead to a systemic immune response, resulting in pain, cramping and diarrhoea – a condition referred to as exercise induced gastrointestinal syndrome (EIGS).

Once the body decides that it doesn’t want the contents in the intestines any more, it has limited power to stop what comes next. This is despite the fact that the body has two anal sphincters – an internal one and an external one – which work in tandem to stop the gastrointestinal tract from emptying when we’re not ready.

Once enough pressure has built in the gastrointestinal tract, you will experience an urge to “go”. And in the context of Hyrox, the running, pushing, lunging and lifting competitors perform exacerbates the pressure that may already naturally be happening in the gastrointestinal tract.

Wietrzyk’s “accident” isn’t as uncommon as what people may think. As four-time Boston and New York marathon winner Bill Rodgers put it: “More marathons are won or lost in the porta-toilets than at the dinner table.” Wietrzyk’s story is just the latest example of the toll competing at an elite level can have on your body.

It is in the running for an award

Up and down the country there are pizza parlous and restaurants serving up their finest crispy bases and golden stringy cheese. Everyone has their favourite topping combinations, but the UK’s National Pizza Awards is setting out to crown the best.

Sixteen pizzas will go head-to-head in a bid to claim the prestigious National Pizza of the Year title. And this year, there’s a Cambridge pizza in the running. Scott’s All Day’s pizzas have often been described as “insane and delicious”, and now their Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches pizza is in the running to be named the best.

This pizza consists of a mozzarella base, peaches, prosciutto, mango habanero hot sauce, parmesan and basil. It costs £17.45, according to the restaurant’s menu. The restaurant, on Mill Road offers other Neapolitan style and Detroit style pizzas such as the traditional margarita, vodka sausage and pepperoni, mushroom and truffle and vegan spicy pineapple Detroit.

Alongside pizza, they have a variety of other options on their menu including pasta, salads, sides, and brunch options such as a bacon and egg sandwich.

The live final for the awards will take place on November 3 at Big Penny Social in London where the winner will be crowned. The pizzas are judged on how the base is made; the flavour profile; how well the pizza is cooked; aesthetic and presentation; texture, quality and consistency; choice and use of ingredients.

Several other finalists also have locations in Cambridge, including Zizzi, Franco Manca and Pizza Pilgrims.

The House of the Dragon star will be taking to the ballroom for the latest series of the BBC show.

Here is everything to know about the actress as she prepares to step onto the dance floor.

Who is Bethany Antonia?

Antonia was born in Quinton, Birmingham, on December 25, 1997, and spent part of her childhood in France before returning to the UK.

She attended Perryfields High School and later studied musical theatre at Birmingham Ormiston Academy.

At age 14, she began training at First Act Workshop and with the British Youth Music Theatre.

Her first professional acting role came the same year in a short film adaptation of The Tempest, produced by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

In 2016, she made her television debut on BBC One’s Doctors.

Antonia’s breakout role was as Margot Rivers in the BBC/Netflix series Get Even.

She has since appeared in Nolly, Stay Close, Stath Lets Flats, and Doctor Who.

Since 2022, she has played Lady Baela Targaryen in the HBO series House of the Dragon.

She has also performed on stage, most recently as Eurydice in Hadestown at London’s Lyric Theatre in 2026.

Get the latest Strictly news and updates for the 2026 series in our guide

What has Bethany Antonia said about being on Strictly Come Dancing?

Antonia was the ninth celebrity confirmed for the 2026 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

She said: “I can’t quite believe that I will be heading to the Strictly ballroom this September.

Bethany Antonia is known for her role as Lady Baela Targaryen in House of the Dragon (Image: BBC/Ray Burmiston/BBC Creatuve)

“I have grown up watching Strictly, and I am so excited to take the challenge on and (hopefully!) learn a new skill.

“See you on the dancefloor.”

Recommended reading:

Does Bethany Antonia have dancing experience?

Antonia attended BOA Creative, Digital and Performing Arts Academy in Birmingham, where she studied musical theatre until 2016.

Therefore, it is possible she may have done some dance training.

Will you be watching the new Strictly series? Let us know in the comments below.

The Resolution Foundation warns more than 1.1million are facing a ‘cost-of-housing crunch’ as the gap between local rents and benefit support people can claim is set to reach a record high this autumn

Chancellor John Healey is being urged to end a freeze on housing benefit at next month’s Budget to help struggling low-income private renters.

The Resolution Foundation think-tank warns today more than 1.1million are facing a ‘cost-of-housing crunch’ as the gap between local rents and benefit support people can claim is set to reach a record high this autumn. The research shows the gap in London is the widest, with a low-income family renting a two-bedroom home in inner-east London facing a typical shortfall of £324-per-month.

Across the rest of the capital, the shortfall is at least £200, and exceeds £100 each month in more than half of all areas in England, the Resolution Foundation adds. Local housing allowance (LHA) rates, which control the maximum amount of rental support people on Universal Credit can get, have been frozen for most of the past decade.

Unfreezing the rates and linking them to local rents would cost an estimated £2billion by 2029-30. But charities have previously argued the freeze on LHA rates has pushed cash-strapped families – already struggling with the cost of energy and food – into homelessness.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham also criticised the freeze – first introduced by the Tories – in a major speech before he replaced Keir Starmer in Downing Street. Mr Burnham, who has promised a massive expansion in council homes, said in June the country was in a housing trap where “we are forced to chase rents in the private-rented sector through the benefits system”.

He added: “When governments try to control these costs by freezing Local Housing Allowance, it makes families homeless and places unfunded pressures on councils when they have to pay for temporary accommodation.”

Economist at the Resolution Foundation Stephen Hunsaker said: “The gap between average rents and Local Housing Allowance levels is set to reach a record high this October, and failing to re-peg LHA to actual rents in next month’s Budget could lock in a freeze for another year, and see the gap reach 30 per cent by March 2028.

“Rather than primarily benefitting landlords, our new analysis shows that the last time LHA was re-pegged to local rents in April 2024 it was tenants that benefited, with the fraction of LHA recipients facing a shortfall between their rents and the amount they could claim dropping significantly.”

He added: “With many tenants receiving housing support already going without essentials to pay their rent today, the Government should restore the automatic annual linking of LHA to relieve the pressure on low-income families in the private rented sector.”

Mairi MacRae, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Shelter, also told The Mirror : “Caught between an escalating cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing private rents, families should be able to rely on housing benefit as a safety net to help cover costs. Yet with the freeze on housing allowance, thousands are left desperately grappling to plug the gap between their income and rent.

“Families are being forced to make impossible choices daily between feeding their family or paying their rent. Tens of thousands are stuck homeless in grim temporary accommodation for months or even years on end because there’s nowhere affordable for them to move to.

“The government must prevent more families from becoming homeless and help those already in temporary accommodation move into a home by unfreezing local housing allowance in the Autumn Budget, so it covers at least bottom third of local rents. The only long-term solution to provide families with a safe and secure home is for the government to deliver the social rent homes we desperately need.”

A Government spokesperson said: “Local Housing Allowance rates are reviewed annually,and future decisions will be taken in the context of the Government’s welfare priorities, and the fiscal context.

“We know there is more to do. That is why we have launched the £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund, are raising the National Living Wage by up to £900 a year for a full-time worker, investing more than £1 billion in homelessness services, and are investing a record £39 billion in affordable and social housing.”

You may already have this item in your kitchen cupboard

Spider season is officially upon us as homes are invaded by eight-legged friends throughout the autumn-winter months. To help keep spiders at bay this spider season, Emily Green, home maintenance expert at Howarth Timber, has shared four simple solutions to make your home less inviting for the creepy crawlies including one item you may find already in your kitchen cupboard.

Households have been warned that large male spiders will descend on UK homes in search of mates as the temperature drops and the rain begins.

There are plenty of reasons your home may be overrun with spiders as September is the most common time of year for these house guests. But for many they are certainly unwanted.

Spiders like to settle in quiet areas where they won’t be disturbed, so are often found in window frames, on ceilings or in dark corners.

Here are four ways expert Emily Green recommends to prevent spiders from entering your home. Love dreamy Welsh homes? Sign up to our newsletter here

Wipe window frames and corners with diluted lemon juice

Citrus is a highly effective spider repellent, so consider wiping window frames and corners with diluted lemon juice, paying particular attention to potential entry points, as this will discourage spiders from venturing inside your home.

Create a chalk barrier around entry points

Another straightforward approach is to draw a thick, unbroken chalk barrier around areas where spiders might gain access. Spiders are reluctant to cross powdery, alkaline surfaces, meaning chalk can be applied around likely entry points such as windows and doors.

Vacuum corners and hidden spaces regularly

Regular hoovering is one of the most effective ways to stay on top of spiders throughout your home. Running the vacuum over corners, behind furniture and along ceilings helps eliminate webs and egg sacs before they have the chance to develop further.

Seal gaps around your home

Spiders possess small, flexible bodies that allow them to squeeze through the tiniest of gaps, so it is worth sealing any small openings around windows, doors and vents to block their route indoors. This will also prevent other insects, such as flies and ants, that spiders pursue inside for food, from entering.

Silicon caulk can be applied around window frames and doors, while rubber or silicon weatherstripping can be fitted beneath doors to close off any remaining gaps.

Around 3,700 visitors were evacuated from the British Museum in London on 18 September after a fire alarm was triggered by an overheating light, leaving many Bayeux Tapestry ticketholders disappointed after waiting hours in lengthy queues.

Thousands of visitors queuing to view the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum in London were left disheartened after the major attraction was evacuated.

The London Fire Brigade reported that a suspected fire prompted the evacuation following reports of smoke at approximately 7.27pm this evening (September 18).

The smoke originated from one of the galleries, not thought to contain the Bayeux Tapestry, but triggered fire alarms and led to the site being cleared, reports the Daily Star.

Fire Brigade officials believe the smoke came from an “overheating light” as roughly 3,700 people were required to exit the premises. The all-clear was issued an hour afterwards once fire crews had examined the building.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman stated: “Crews carried out a systematic search of the building to identify the source of the smoke, which is believed to have been caused by an overheating light.

“Around 3,700 people evacuated the building before firefighters arrived.

“The incident was over for firefighters at 19.27pm, when responsibility for the site was handed back to the building’s management team.”

Numerous visitors had allegedly queued for two hours to gain entry to the British Museum today, with the Bayeux Tapestry drawing larger crowds than normal.

Many turned to social media to express their frustration at the unfortunate episode. One visitor wrote: “Hope everyone’s ok @britishmuseum after the evacuation for a fire alarm. Disappointing for those of who spent an hour and forty minutes after our ticketed time queuing to see the Bayeux Tapestry to get to reach it, and then were told to leave”.

A second frustrated visitor added: “1.5hrs in a queue and now just evacuated from Bayeux Tapestry and British Museum. Soo upset! !”.

While a third recalled: “I was at the British Museum when they started shouting “Emergency!” and “Fire!” and hustled us all outside…! !”

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She is known for her roles in numerous TV shows and films and will now be taking to the ballroom for the latest series of the BBC show.

Here is everything to know about the actress as she prepares to step onto the dance floor.

Who is Jaime Winstone?

Winstone is the daughter of actor Ray Winstone and his wife, Elaine McCausland.

She attended Burnt Mill School in Harlow before studying for a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts at the performing arts department of Harlow College.

Winstone began her acting career in 2004 with a role in the film Bullet Boy.

Her early credits include Daddy’s Girl, Donkey Punch, and TV appearances in Murder Investigation Team, Vincent, Totally Frank, Goldplated, and Dead Set.

She made her stage debut in 2009 in The Fastest Clock in the Universe at Hampstead Theatre.

Other film credits include Made in Dagenham, Anuvahood, Wild Bill, Elfie Hopkins, Powder Room, Tomb Raider, Farming, and Knuckledust.

She has also portrayed Barbara Windsor in the BBC biopic Babs, played a young Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders flashbacks, and appeared in Four Lives and Count Abdulla.

What has Jaime Winstone said about being on Strictly Come Dancing?

Winstone was the eighth celebrity announced for the 2026 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

She said: “I am so excited to announce that I will be joining the Strictly Come Dancing cast this year.

“I am no stranger to a dance floor, but the ballroom is a whole new world for me.

“I love a challenge though, so can’t wait to enter my showgirl era and get super sparkly.

“Let’s get physical – see you on the dance floor.”

Get the latest Strictly news and updates for the 2026 series in our guide

Does Jaime Winstone have dancing experience?

Although Winstone is new to ballroom dancing, she does have some dance training.

Her BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts at Harlow College includes acting, dancing, musical theatre and production skills.

Will you be watching the new Strictly series? Let us know in the comments below.

President Donald Trump has announced an agreement with Greenland, in which the U.S. will take permanent control of the Arctic island’s security.

“I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has entered into an Agreement with The Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland, that gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday evening.

The president has eyed Greenland since before he returned to the White House in January 2025, arguing that the U.S. needed to control the semi-autonomous Danish territory for national security purposes.

Trump said that the agreement means the U.S. “will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America.”

It’s unclear what exactly is in the agreement Trump claims to have struck with Denmark and Greenland, but he did highlight one major point — U.S. adversaries such as Russia and China will need his approval to work with Greenland militarily and economically.

“From now on, no U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval,” Trump said.

The president had warned Russia and China would take Greenland if he didn’t step in.

“It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump claimed during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One in January. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security — and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Trump boasted about his role in the new agreement with Greenland that he said would be “cherished by the American People.”

“For over 100 years, Presidents have known the strategic importance of Greenland, but NONE of them were able to do anything about it. I am proud to be the President that permanently and conclusively addressed this very important situation,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many. We will work with the people of Greenland in its development and construction,” he added.

Since Trump began pushing to acquire Greenland, he has been met with opposition, not just from the people of the Arctic island and Denmark, but also from America’s European allies.

“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” a joint statement from seven European leaders read.

In the January 6 statement, leaders from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and other U.S. allies said, “We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries.”

They said that since Denmark is a part of NATO, “security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively…by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders.”

Days later, Trump threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on imports from European allies, several of which were part of the earlier joint statement, “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”

Trump quickly backed down from his tariff threats, claiming to have “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” with NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Even with the new agreement between government officials, it is doubtful that Trump will sway those in Greenland opposed to American intervention.

The day Trump threatened tariffs against European nations if he did not strike a deal to acquire Greenland, protesters in Nuuk held Greenlandic flags and a banner that read “Make America Go Away” and “We Are Not Property!”

“I think he should mind his own business,” Greenlander Lars Vintner, a heating engineer, told the Associated Press in January.

“What’s he going to do with Greenland? He speaks of Russians and Chinese and everything in Greenlandic waters or in our country,” he said. “Every summer we go sailing and we go hunting and I never saw Russian or Chinese ships here in Greenland.”

A majority of Americans are also not sold on the idea of gaining control of Greenland.

Fifty-eight percent of Americans oppose a U.S. takeover of the Arctic island while 21 percent favor it and 20 percent are unsure, according to a Pew Research Center poll from January.

After a long and thorough investigation, experts believe they know what happened to the boy known only as ‘Baby Auckland’

During the summer of 2024 a builder working to renovate flats above a takeaway in Bishop Auckland lifted an upstairs floorboard to reveal a haunting secret. Sealed in the dark, untouched for decades, was a tiny, skeletal body.

The baby boy was carefully wrapped in sheets from The Umpire, a long-defunct newspaper dated June 1910, while a piece of brown twine remained knotted around his small throat.

At an inquest area coroner for County Durham and Darlington Crispin Oliver, delivered a devastating verdict: the child, aged between 38 and 40 weeks old, was “garrotted with twine” shortly after his birth, reports the Mirror.

“The conclusion that I am driven to, on the balance of probabilities, is that the twine was applied to Baby Auckland’s neck after he was born and while he was still alive,” Oliver stated, ruling the death was a homicide.

“The most likely explanation for this is that a person in a position to care for him… took the decision to end his life by means of strangulation using the twine as a garrote. As such, this was a homicide.”

“I find that Baby Auckland died in or around 1910, having been garrotted by an unknown third party shortly after the baby was born”, he concluded.

Very little is known about ‘Baby Auckland’, as he is fondly known to locals, and the exact tragic circumstances which led to his short life ending so quickly after it began may never be known.

What is known, is for decades on end at least, Baby Auckland lay undisturbed and unclaimed in an upstairs room, on Fore Bondgate, a bustling historic street with quaint pubs dating back to the Tudor era.

The building where he was placed is now a pizza takeaway, while the flat above has been completely renovated.

Recalling the moment he found the body, builder Peter Moody told the inquest he’d found the “small skeleton of a baby under the floorboards”, and the child had been “about 50 to 60 inches long.”

A statement read aloud by Mr Oliver read: “I took up the floorboards and found the skeleton with some newspapers. The newspapers were very old under the floorboards. I picked up what appeared to be a ball and thought, ‘This is a baby’. I called the council, and they recommended that I call the police.”

Fore Bondgate was a bustling hub of working-class life in 1910, teeming with pubs, shops and some homes, a historic street where, as historian Tom Hutchinson put it, “everybody knew everybody”.

Dating back to Medieval times, it is located in one of the most historically significant places in the town of Bishop Auckland, close to where, in the 14th Century, the Bishop of Auckland built a bridge across the River Weir to reach his hunting estates.

Back then, Bishop Auckland was a wealthy place for the working classes to live, where streets such as Fore Bondgate would have been “well paved and lighted by gas by a company, supplied with water from works”.

At the weekends, the pubs would have been filled with off-shift miners. Many of those living nearby would have been employed in the then-booming coal and iron industries, a number of which had closed down by the depression era of the 1930s. tthen, the sense of community had stuck.

Number 27 operated as a ground-floor shop with a popular cafe, which Tom believes would have been situated on the first floor, catering to working-class people stopping by for a refreshment.

According to the 1911 census, three people lived in the spacious eight-room dwelling upstairs: 53-year-old café owner Elizabeth Adamson, listed as married and head of the household, presumably by that point widowed or with a husband working elsewhere.

She lived with her son, 14-year-old apprentice Earnest Adamson, and a 22-year-old domestic servant named Mary Walker.

Mary, who hailed from around four miles north of Bishop Auckland, had been a single woman at that time, and it was her name that stood out to Tom as he considered the sad death of Baby Auckland.

As the eldest of 14 children from a coal miner’s family, Mary had grown up in a four-bedroom home, where she would have faced the precarious realities of needing an income to survive.

As noted by Tom, when coal miners living in the late 19th and 20th centuries lost their jobs, they also lost their homes, given that these were often owned by the colliery companies. Similarly, unless one of his sons worked at the same pit, even if a miner sadly died, his widow and children could well be thrown out of their own homes.

This made mining life a “very precarious existence”, with pressure put on older children in case disaster struck. As Tom put it: “Get a job – keep it if at all possible. No reason to think that females wouldn’t have the same mindset. That mindset didn’t really start changing until the later part of the 20th century.”

For young women living outside of the family home, there were additional challenges to face, particularly among those potentially left to face pregnancies alone without support. Tom reflected: “Presumably, it would be very shameful, putting it mildly. There aren’t any statistics, so you don’t really know whether other occasions, similar to this, did occur at times.”

Census records showed Mary remained at Number 27 for decades, working as a servant and cook through multiple changes of management until after World War Two. She never married, spent her entire life in Bishop Auckland, and passed away in 1975 at the age of 87.

“You could argue that if Mary Jane was the mother, that she hid them, and maybe, for whatever reasons, she stayed there to make sure it wasn’t discovered,” said Tom.

While Mary didn’t have any known children, the Walker family was a large one, and Tom believes it is likely that she may well have nephews and nieces still living in the area.

He pondered: “Bearing in mind that she lived to 1975, it could well be that there are a few siblings around in the Bishop Auckland area who knew her before she died. If she knew anything about it, she could have mentioned this in passing; their suspicions might have been aroused.”

Though two women claiming to be related to a servant at the address came forward during the investigation, DNA testing didn’t provide a match with the long-dead baby.

With the inquest determining that death took place in 1910, the sheer size of the property explains how it might not have been too difficult to conceal a secret right beneath the feet of those living there.

“You can assume if the premises had eight rooms that there would be rooms that weren’t even used,” Tom said. “The top floor may have been a storeroom, and also possibly where Mary Jane Walker had her room. It would be comparatively easy to hide something.”

Whether the infant belonged to Mary or another resident, the truth remains buried with the past.

But Durham Constabulary ensured the child was not left forgotten, with officers treating Baby Auckland with the respect you would expect for any child of our modern era, giving him the funeral he had been denied.

Speaking at the service in April, Celebrant Gemma Dobson said: “Though we do not know the details of their days, we stand here knowing something simple— this child was here, and this child is worthy of love, dignity, and rest.

“Today, Baby Auckland is not alone. As we gather here to say farewell today, we recognise that Baby Auckland will be part of this place— this quiet, beautiful place— for all time.”

Speaking after the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Mel Sutherland of Durham Police, who led the investigation, stated: “There were no modern checks available, such as CCTV. We had to think laterally and explore all available techniques, such as forensic evidence and carbon dating.

“Baby Auckland was killed shortly after he was born. He never got the chance to experience anything in life. But there was a heart-warming end to his life at the funeral and the compassion he received.”

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World number one Luke Littler survived a first-round scare in the World Series of Darts Finals before recovering from 3-1 down to beat Dutchman Danny Nopport 6-4.

Faced with a partisan crowd in Amsterdam, the 19-year-old reigning world champion lost three legs in succession but the turning point came after his opponent made a mess of a 44 checkout, allowing the Englishman to level things up at 3-3.

Littler let out a huge roar and put his hands to his ears as he was booed and repeated that reaction when, with the score at 4-4, he produced a 95 checkout to edge ahead again to put him within sight of victory.

He now faces compatriot Nathan Aspinall, a 6-4 winner against Raymond Smith, while former World Series Final winner Gerwyn Price, who almost blew a 5-0 lead before eventually winning 6-4 against Brody Klinge, will take on Jim Long after his a last-leg victory over Adam Leek.

Motomu Sakai beat Callan Rydz by the same score as did James Wade against Damon Heta.