A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving

A pedestrian has died after a crash on a main road in Chorley.

The collision happened on Preston Road in the Coppull area of the town early this morning (April 30). Emergency services were called at around 5.30am to reports of a collision.

Police and paramedics arrived to find that a Tesla car had been in collision with a pedestrian in the carriageway. Officers said the pedestrian, a man in his 50s, suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A force spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are very much with his family at this distressing time, and they are being supported by specially trained officers.”

A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and remains in custody for questioning. The road remains closed in both directions between Spendmore Lane and Town Lane while investigation work is carried out.

Lancashire Police is urging anyone who witnessed the collision, or has dashcam/CCTV/doorbell footage from the area, to get in contact.

You can call 101, quoting log 0170 of April 30, or email the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at SCIU@lancashire.police.uk

Multiple crews are currently in attendance tackling the fire

Firefighters were called to a road in a Cambridgeshire town after receiving reports of a fire breaking out on Wednesday, April 29. Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service were called at 11.27am to reports of a house fire on Rowan Close in Wisbech.

Crews from Wisbech, March and Kings Lynn are currently in attendance tackling the fire. The incident is ongoing.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called at 11.27am to reports of a house fire on Rowan Close in Wisbech. Crews from Wisbech and March, along with crews from Kings Lynn in Norfolk, are in attendance. The incident is still ongoing.”

A Race Across The World duo sparked reaction from viewers just moments into the race

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Race Across The World viewers have pointed out a significant concern.

Fans of the BBC hit show are convinced that the real reason Margo, 59, and brother-in-law Mark, 66, may lose the race is because Margo is treating the competition like a “holiday”.

The pair are among several teams taking on the challenge of racing one another across more than 12,000km through Europe and Asia. They must complete the gruelling journey on a tight budget, with the hope of winning £20,000.

During Thursday’s (April 30) instalment, the teams reached the halfway point of the race and now face the longest leg of their journey, travelling through Kazakhstan — the world’s largest landlocked country — and into Uzbekistan.

Margo and Mark got off to a promising start, securing a free lift to the train station from a local resident, however time was against them with only a few hours to spare before their train departed, reports the Mirror.

It became apparent that Margo wasn’t about to let the time pressure prevent her from taking in the sights, as she agreed to make a detour to the Caspian Sea along the way.

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Covering an area comparable in size to Japan, the Caspian Sea is the world’s largest lake, with five nations — Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran and Kazakhstan — sharing its vast shoreline.

Their driver suggested: “Should we go Caspian Sea before the train station?” Mark was unenthusiastic, responding: “No, we want the station.”

Margo interjected: “I think he wants to show us the Caspian Sea. We’re getting a bit of a tour here.” Mark appeared unimpressed as he responded: “I’m not sure about this, Margo.” Eager to visit the local landmark, Margo retorted: “This is what we like – adventure. The adventure of a lifetime. Kazakhstan.”

They chose to pause and admire the scenery but it had its repercussions as they missed their train and had to wait until morning for the subsequent one. After their detour, the pair managed to reach their 8.30am train and Margo wasted no time mingling with the locals.

Despite the early hour, Margo opted to sample some vodka with her newfound travelling companions. Addressing Mark, Margo remarked: “Blokes over there are having a vodka with their breakfast. Do you think we should get some Vodka with our breakfast?”

Mark answered: “I am not having vodka with my breakfast…” Margo interjected: “It must be tradition, a Kazakhstan tradition Mark. Oh let’s have vodka.” Margo departed from Mark and joined the gentlemen at their table, consuming several shots.

Viewers watching from home claimed that Margo is approaching the race as though it were a holiday as they suggested she deserves her own programme.

One audience member stated: “#raceacrosstheworld they still don’t realise ITS A RACE.” Another commented: “They should’ve come back and looked at the Caspian Sea on a separate holiday. You’re there to race not to sightsee #raceacrosstheworld.”

A third remarked: “Margo is a vodka drinker – things are about to get chaotic #RaceAcrossTheWorld.” While another quipped: “I’d say Margo getting p***** on vodka would screw up their race. But 29 hours on the train is long enough to sober up.”

One devoted viewer gushed: “Honestly Margo’s confidence and positivity is amazing! #RaceAcrossTheWorld.” Meanwhile, another enthusiastic fan declared: “Margot needs her own travel show after this, she’s brilliant.”

Race Across the World is available to stream on BBC iPlayer

Two months into the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz is still mostly shut. Vessel traffic is running at a fraction of pre-war levels, with the patchwork of ceasefires, blockades and re-closures since February 28 not restoring confidence on the bridge of any tanker.

Hormuz has long been understood as one of the world’s central trade chokepoints. It normally carries around 20 million barrels of crude and oil products each day, as well as roughly a fifth of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. A third of the world’s helium and a similar amount of the urea that ends up as fertiliser also pass through the strait.

Plans and projects to diversify away from Hormuz have been on drawing boards for decades, and those workarounds are now being stress-tested as never before. The bypass infrastructure is doing roughly what architects had hoped, providing around 3.5 million barrels to 5.5 million barrels a day of crude capacity.

But this is still nowhere near enough.

Hormuz workarounds

The most important pipeline on the planet right now runs across Saudi Arabia. The East-West Pipeline – also known as Petroline – was built in the 1980s during the original Tanker war, when Iran and Iraq attacked merchant vessels in the Gulf as part of their wider conflict.

The pipeline’s capacity was expanded to a 7 million barrel emergency ceiling in 2019. However, the loading terminals in the city of Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast were never designed to carry this much oil this fast, and analysts tracking tanker traffic estimate that less oil is currently flowing through the pipeline than its theoretical ceiling.

From Yanbu, oil bound for Europe still has to cross Egypt via the Sumed pipeline, which has a capacity of just 2.5 million barrels per day. Although oil flows through this pipeline have surged by 150% since the start of the war, its comparatively small capacity remains a binding constraint on European supply.

Iran noticed the geoeconomic importance of Petroline and has targeted it accordingly. An Iranian drone strike on a pumping station in April knocked 700,000 barrels a day offline. Saudi Aramco, the operator, had the line back at full capacity within three days. While the repair time is reassuring, the fact of the strike is not.

The other half of the Gulf bypass story runs through the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (Adcop) goes from Habshan to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman side of the country. With a capacity of just under 2 million barrels per day, Adcop is the only major bypass that exits the Gulf directly into the Indian Ocean.

But as with Petroline, it has been targeted during the war. Iranian drone strikes on Fujairah on March 3, 14 and 16 set storage tanks on fire and suspended loadings. While Adcop offers some diversification for the UAE, it does not solve the targeting problem.

The situation is worse for the Gulf region’s other big oil producers. Iraq’s 3.4 million barrels per day of pre-war crude exports went almost entirely through the southern port city of Basra and the Strait of Hormuz.

There is one northern pipeline, connecting oil fields in Kirkuk to Ceyhan in Turkey. This pipeline was reopened in September 2025 after a two-and-a-half-year halt, with flows ramped up to 250,000 barrels a day in March. But this volume pales in comparison to what Iraq has lost.

Kuwait has it worse still. Pre-war crude exports ran at around 2 million barrels per day, with every barrel exiting through Hormuz. Kuwait has no pipeline alternative. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation declared force majeure in March, temporarily allowing it to suspend its obligations to meet delivery contracts.

This was extended on April 20, with the oil company saying it could not meet contractual obligations even if Hormuz reopened. Overcoming the damage that has been inflicted on Kuwait’s production base – and then ramping up production – will take months.

Qatar’s vulnerability is a different shape. Its pre-war crude exports were smaller than its Gulf neigbours, at around 0.6 million barrels per day. These exports all left Qatar via the strait. For Qatar, the story is gas. Its 77 million tonne LNG capacity at Ras Laffan is the largest in the world, supplying about 19% of global LNG trade. There is no alternative to shipping this gas through Hormuz.

Iran itself has built a Hormuz bypass: a 1,000-kilometre pipeline from Goreh at the head of the Gulf to a terminal at Jask on the Gulf of Oman. It is designed for 1 million barrels per day. But in practice, sanctions and unfinished terminal infrastructure have kept actual throughput at a fraction of design.

The US Energy Information Administration estimated that, in summer 2024, under 70,000 barrels per day were flowing through the pipeline. Loadings stopped altogether that September. According to Kpler, which provides real-time data on global shipping movements, only a single tanker – around two million barrels – has loaded at Jask in the war so far.

A call for more pipes in the Gulf, as there have been since the war began, is understandable. But it is no answer. Replicating Hormuz in pipelines would cost hundreds of billions of US dollars and a decade of construction. And at the end of it, new pipelines and terminals at Yanbu, Fujairah and wherever else would be no harder to reach with a drone than the old ones.

After two trials, the former Spandau Ballet singer was remanded in custody, with Judge John Dodd KC ordering a report in February to assess the danger Davidson would pose in the future, setting his sentencing date as Thursday, April 30.

This morning, the 37-year-old appeared at Wood Green Crown Court in London, where he received his sentence.

In a statement shared with Metro, Shikha Verma, senior Crown prosecutor in CPS London, said: “Ross Davidson is a predatory sex offender who targeted multiple victims over a number of years.

A former frontman of Spandau Ballet who carried out a string of rapes and sexual assaults has been jailed for 14 years. Ross Davidson from Aberdeen – who was part of the 80s group in 2018 and 2019 – attacked six women over several years.

— LBC News Scotland (@LBCNewsScot) April 30, 2026

“Several of these offences were committed against women while they were asleep.

“I want to pay tribute to the victims for their immense courage in supporting the prosecution, and Davidson has now been held accountable for his horrific crimes.

“We understand the courage it takes for victims to come forward and would like to reassure any victims that the CPS will continue to work tirelessly with partners across the criminal justice system to ensure sexual abusers face the full extent of the law.”

Davidston insisted that his contact with the women, whom he met on the Tinder dating app, was always consensual and described himself as ‘sex positive’.

He told the court earlier this year that this was about “open dialogue, open-mindedness about people’s predilections, just an openness to trying different sexual appetites”.

This could include bondage, restraint, and group sex, and he had “once or twice” attended a sex party.

In contrast, the court heard that he carried out the assaults because he felt he could get “sex on demand” if he wasn’t “given what he thought he deserved”.

Prosecutor Richard Hearnden said Davidson had been thought of as “a bit of a sex symbol”.

Two of the victims said he had a “much darker side”.

One woman told the jury that Davidson attacked her while she was asleep in his bed and recalled feeling “helpless” and “scared to react”.

Before assaulting her, Davidson “mentioned he liked the idea of having sex with a mannequin, a person in a helpless state, someone not moving”.