Earlier in the day, Victoria Beckham, 51, had shared the Beckhams’ Easter celebrations – which included personalised hampers for the Beckham family – including husband David, 50, daughter Harper, 14, sons Romeo, 23, and Cruz, 21, as well as their girlfriends Kim Turnbull, 24, and Jackie Apostel, 30.

Councillors on South Lanarkshire’s planning committee unanimously approved the application for redevelopment of the Centre West site.

East Kilbride’s town centre transformation has taken a major step forward with the granting of planning permission in principle for up to 270 homes and a new civic building in place of Centre West.

Councillors on South Lanarkshire’s planning committee this week unanimously approved the application for redevelopment of the shopping centre site into a residential area, along with accompanying retail and healthcare spaces and a building for “assembly and leisure”.

Full details and plans for the homes and other facilities will later be submitted and approved through a series of subsequent planning applications, while early-stage demolition work is underway at the vacated shopping centre site after ownership passed to the council in December.

The approved proposal states that the shopping centre site will be transformed with “between 229 [and] 270 residential units”, plus around 890 square metres commercial space for uses including food and drink, retail and healthcare, and approximately 7000 square metres for the civic building.

Accompanying site layout illustrations indicate seven design zones within the site – with the civic hub shown allocated to the Queensway side of the site, closest to the remaining shopping malls, while the rest are allocated for the residential development.

It will include affordable housing and “an informal children’s play area for residents”, and detailed property designs will form part of later detailed planning applications along with information including parking and electric vehicle charging, pedestrian connections, construction traffic, waste, landscaping and lighting.

Councillors agreed with the planning recommendation that legal agreements are put in place regarding both developer contributions to local education provision to serve the new homes, and to determine the level of on-site affordable housing provision.

The planned civic hub is described as having “the potential to incorporate a number of functions such as a public hall, theatre, community centre, library and offices”, and the later full planning application will include details of its proposed uses and operation, opening hours, accessibility and car parking.

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Centre West’s demolition and repurposing forms part of a major masterplan for redeveloping the town centre, which South Lanarkshire Council say will “enhance the physical fabric, vibrancy and feel of the town centre, delivering a high-quality urban environment”.

Planning committee members were told at their meeting: “This relates to the now-vacated Centre West; this applications is residential-led but seeks permission for a variety of uses, all of which are appropriate to a town-centre location.

READ MORE: “Business as usual” as work begins to deliver EK town centre visionREAD MORE: Next stage of masterplan to transform East Kilbride town centre is underway

“This permission in principle will establish parameters and design principles which provides a degree of certainty against which future schemes and investment proposals can be progressed; there were no objections to the application.”

Centre West is the newest part of the town centre shopping complex having been was completed in 2003, and a report for councillors noted: “The shopping centre entered administration in 2022 where administrators were appointed and earlier this year, ownership passed to South Lanarkshire Council.”

READ MORE: Comedy hit Celtic Da’s is coming to Hamilton Town HouseREAD MORE: Community spirit triumphs as Lanarkshire venue honoured

It added: “Demolition is only supported when appropriate justification can be provided.

“The shopping centre has seen a significant decline in usage over recent years due to changes in customer habits; while re-use of the existing building has been investigated, this has been shown to be economically unviable due to the costs of refurbishment to make [it] fit for purpose and meet sustainability requirements.”

Public access through Centre West ceased earlier this month, with shopping centre operators EK, East Kilbride posting on social media that this is “to allow for demolition works to progress”.

They added: “Access to the centre from Rothesay Street will now be through our new Plaza entrance.

“Access to Centre West from Plaza will remain open but will be limited to customers using Superdrug who continue to trade in Centre West until their relocation to Plaza in May.”

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READ MORE: Funding launches for Lanarkshire’s biggest climate festival

The park is situated in 80-acres of scenic land and is full of things to do

We have finally entered the beautiful spring season where flowers begin to bloom, fields fill with colour, and the sun shines more and more. This can only mean one thing – a beautiful walk – and CambridgeshireLive have just the ideal place to recommend.

Priory Park is an award-winning park in St Neots with lots to offer. Situated amongst 80-acres of 18-th century parkland, this park offers five football pitches, four mini soccer pitches, two large children’s play areas, a zip-line, basketball, and space for a relaxing picnic with friends.

The site offers free parking for approximately 40 cars as well as a pavilion with changing rooms, a kitchen and a refreshment area. So, visitors have all the facilities they need for an enjoyable day out in the fresh air but without having to splash the cash.

Ideal for dog-walkers, friends catching up, and those who seek some peace and quiet, this park offers an extensive woodlands just waiting to be explored.

This high-achieving park, situated off Huntingdon Road, received the Green Flag status in 2022 which recognises and rewards the best parks and green spaces in the country.

However, this park, offering scenic views, hasn’t just caught the eyes of the Green Flag Award scheme, it has also earned a highly reputable status online. Among over 250 reviews, the park has an average of 4.6 out of five stars on Google.

One person said they experienced a “wow moment” visiting the park especially because of the “neatly cut grass and swathes of uncut areas hosting thousands of wild flowers”.

Another visitor commented: “What a lovely hidden gem in St Neots. Nice and lovely park. Appreciate the fact that the park is always maintained well. A joyful, lush greenery routes if you go for a walk.”

Dating back to the 1700s, the land that is now Priory Park, was reportedly once used for farming by an attorney, William King. He acquired the land in the 1790s, creating a park for his new house at the top of the hill. The house was later demolished in the early 60s.

An underground ice-house was dug in the park just west of the house and local legend has it that Priory Hill was connected to the Priory (Waitrose Car Park site) by a tunnel.

The ITV stars were filling in for Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on the daytime programme

A This Morning star left presenters Rylan Clark and Emma Willis with her shocking accident story where she was rushed to hospital.

X Factor star Rylan and Love Is Blind host Emma were back fronting the ITV daytime talk show on Monday (April 6). Regular presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley got the bank holiday off.

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Rylan and Emma are no strangers to presenting This Morning together, often seen when Ben and Cat are away on their holidays. The former even refers to Emma as his ‘TV wife’ due to their close friendship.

During their return to This Morning, the pair kicked off the episode with the show’s news segment. Joining them in the studio was Gyles Brandreth and former Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp.

With many around the country enjoying a day off work, the group discussed how people come across as more ‘charming’ when they brush off an embarrassing moment by laughing at themselves. It was here that Nicola shared that she once fell while attempting the Dirty Dancing lift.

Before Nicola could reveal her story, Rylan and Emma both gasped in unison. Rylan was quick to ask if she was the one doing the lift when trying the move made famous by Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze.

“I was lifted. I broke my nose. But I was so embarrassed, I laughed it off and I had blood dripping down and I was like ‘I’m fine, I’m fine’,” Nicola recalled.

With Nicola stating that her version of the move from the classic 1980s romance film left her with a broken nose, Rylan and Emma appeared stunned as they buried their faces in their hands.

Nicola added: “And it was only later I looked in the mirror and went ‘Oh God, I need to go to A&E’.”

To which Emma replied: “See that’s different. That’s when I want attention. I need people to look after me and feel sorry for me.”

Nicola continued: “I was like ‘it’s fine’. I got some cleaning products from the person’s kitchen, it was in somebody’s house and I started cleaning it up. And they were like ‘I think you need to go to hospital’ and I was like ‘I’m fine’,” she added, gesturing to indicate blood still pouring from her nose.”

Rylan began to laugh after thinking she was putting cleaning products on her nose, saying: “Don’t put Domestos on your nose! Just get yourself a plaster’.”

Always one to remain positive, Gyles concluded the segment by noting: “Often you say, what is the definition of being British and I think being able to laugh at yourself is the definition of being British.”

Meanwhile, fans rushed to X, previously known as Twitter, to express their joy that Rylan and Emma were back on presenting duties.

@Dannyjay85 said: “Not watched @thismorning for ages randomly switch to @ITV to see @Rylan and @EmmaWillis presenting! Great choice! #thismorning.” @Speedqueenie added: “I do like Rylan & Emma.”

@daveee_r wrote: “What a joy to see Rylan & Emma presenting #thismorning.” @tvreality93 posted: “Love Emma and Rylan.”

@t_catttt commented: “#thismorning emma… and Rylan back! happy easter.” @SavanahhSmithe stated: “More emma and rylan please #thismorning.”

“Vaccines are foundational to child survival,” Rana Flowers, the Unicef representative in Bangladesh, said in a statement on Sunday, adding that the current measles outbreak was “putting thousands of children, especially the youngest and most vulnerable, at serious risk.”

After a brutal winter storm season, cities across the United States are declaring a war on potholes as local officials race to make roads safe.

The East Coast and Midwest were battered by heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures for weeks in early 2026, leaving behind tens of thousands of potholes on roads and highways.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said his city is still dealing with the aftermath of “ice-mageddon”, even in early spring. The Maryland city is used to heavy snow that then rapidly melts but low temperatures in late January and February kept ice intact for weeks.

“We had below-freezing temperatures for basically a month,” Scott told The Independent. “So it wasn’t going anywhere, and it was chunks of ice.”

Scott, who has joined road crews filling potholes, is overhauling Baltimore’s resurfacing program with a new public data dashboard and changes to city contracting. He wants to fill 25,000 potholes in the next 90 days. The city tackled 134,000 potholes last year.

The work has involved breaking up ice blocks that felt like concrete, he said. The salt put down to combat icy conditions unfortunately worsened the pothole problem. Road salt lowers the freezing temperature of water which then seeps into pavement, and helps develop potholes.

“With the amount of salt that we had to put down, that’s going to create potholes,” Scott said. “Where there is salt used, there will be potholes.”

He’s just one of hundreds of city leaders facing similar challenges after this winter and who are now in the midst of “pothole blitzes.”

As of late March, New York saw a 119 percent increase in pothole complaints to the city’s 311 system compared to the same period in 2025, the largest year-over-year increase ever, according to a New York Post analysis.

In Nashua, New Hampshire, city officials warned that a “very wet winter with very low lows, and weirdly strange high temps” were creating a “perfect storm” for potholes.

Chris Leo, a resident of nearby Manchester, recently lost a tire to a massive pothole on the way home from dinner.

“Think of a black abyss, like a black hole, and then double it, is basically the deepness of these potholes,” Leo told NHPR. “It was like the Mariana Trench.”

In Connecticut, drivers reported more potholes on state roads in the first two weeks of March than in all of March 2025.

In some jurisdictions, potholes moved from a daily annoyance to an all-out crisis.

In February, Sumpter Township in the Detroit metro area declared a public safety emergency over the state of its gravel roads.

Roads in the township had become “severely washboarded, rutted and potholed, contain standing water due to drainage failures, and significant segments of road are nearly impassable,” town supervisor Timothy Bowman wrote in a public declaration.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, however, it was business as usual, according to John Samuelson, director of public works.

“We’re doing OK,” he told The Independent. “I have not heard of any increase in potholes as a result of the rains this year.”

He said the city generally fills potholes within 24 hours of being notified.

To raise public awareness and focus city efforts, leaders in places like New York City and Baltimore have launched “pothole blitzes” to tackle the problem. The Big Apple has filled more than 66,000 potholes since January, according to the local Department of Transportation.

Scott, the Baltimore mayor, said he enjoys joining the pothole crews on the job himself. It reminds him of helping out at his family’s HVAC business. “I’m a hands-on guy,” he said.

When mayoral elbow grease fails, cities have also turned to special equipment to patch up the winter-weary roads.

“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of people calling after one of the worst winters on record — and that’s why I decided to put together a massive public facilities operation to repair the potholes, using what we like to call ‘the pothole killer,’” Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mayor Joe Ganim told News 12 last month.

The pothole killer set-up includes a truck with spray injection machines and a “hot box” asphalt recycler. Residents can also report potholes via an app, he said.

The costs of all these potholes can add up. A Manchester, NH, tire shop said this week it’s fixing a record number of damaged tires and rims as a result of the potholes.

Smaller municipalities only have so much money to patch holes. The Pittsburgh-area borough of Homestead told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette it has already blown through its full supply of 2,000 pounds of cold patch asphalt.

The holes can also be a major safety issue. A 46-year-old man in Queens, New York City, was fatally thrown from a motor scooter last month in the Ozone Park neighborhood when he hit a pothole.

Getting a handle on the pothole problem isn’t easy. Rising global temperatures, stronger storms, and unusual weather patterns as result of the climate crisis are expected to worsen potholes, while cities like Baltimore face persistent funding challenges.

The city, unlike others in Maryland, is responsible for maintaining both local and state roadways in its jurisdiction. It also lost nearly $1 billion in expected state funding thanks to years of budget cuts after the 2008 recession.

“You’re talking about thousands upon thousands of lanes of road that didn’t get surfaced that would have,” Scott said.

After securing funding increases in recent years, Scott is now lobbying state lawmakers to keep such support over the long term.

Little is certain in life, but you can always count on there being more potholes to fill.

Donald Trump has said he will not invade Canada despite repeated threats to turn it into America’s 51st state, questioning whether Canadians still recognise King Charles as head of state

Donald Trump has declared he will not be invading Canada after all, despite repeatedly threatening to eliminate the 5,525-mile border dividing the two nations and absorb Canada as America’s “51st state”.

The US president questioned whether Canadians still recognised the King as their head of state while discussing the “problem” of annexing the territory during his remaining time in office. “I suppose the Canadians have got 200 years of history and all that ‘Oh, Canada’ thing,” he said. “You can’t deal with that in three and a half years. I guess it’s not going to happen!”

Trump sat down for an interview with royal biographer Robert Hardman, who has recently released a new book about Elizabeth II. During the interview, published by the Daily Mail, Mr Hardman reportedly urged the US president to “please leave Canada alone”, warning it would “undoubtedly make the King of Canada unhappy”. “That prompted a slight pause,” Mr Hardman wrote.

“Do they still recognise the King? Or have they stopped that?” Trump asked, to which Mr Hardman confirmed that Canadians did indeed still recognise the King as head of state.

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“But they have these terrible politicians. They’re nice to my face and then they say bad things behind my back,” Trump replied, further remarking that most Canadians resided close to the US border regardless, owing to Canada’s harsh climate. “The problem is some guy drew that straight line to make a border. He should just have drawn it 50 miles further north and then there wouldn’t be a problem,” he added. This follows Trump sharing an AI-generated image depicting an Oval Office gathering with European leaders, in which the US flag was shown covering Canada, Greenland and Venezuela, reports the Mirror.

The King travelled to Ottawa in May for the state opening of Parliament, where he offered reassurance to Canadians that their nation remained “strong and free”. It is widely thought that Trump’s warm regard for the King has prompted him to temper his comments regarding a possible American annexation of the Commonwealth country.

During the interview, Trump spoke highly of the King, remarking: “He’s a great guy and he’s grown so much in the last 10 years and especially over the last couple of years as King. His fight has shown that.”

Buckingham Palace confirmed last week that the King’s scheduled state visit to the US in late April will proceed as planned.

The trip by King Charles and Queen Camilla to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence from Britain will go ahead despite mounting pressure for it to be delayed or called off owing to the continuing conflict in the Middle East.

It is understood, however, that Charles and Camilla will not be able to meet survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while UK police investigations into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Peter Mandelson remain ongoing.

Stephen Cottrell delivered his plea for “peace between warring nations” to a congregation at York Minster on Easter Sunday (April 5).

In the sermon, he likened the “thirst” of Jesus Christ on the cross, to the things people thirst for in the modern day.

Mr Cottrell said: “We thirst for peace between the warring nations of the world and on this Easter morning cry out for an end to the literally pointless conflict consuming the Middle East at the moment.

“We thirst for justice in a world where norms of international law are eroded and ignored, where basic human rights are denied.

“We thirst for unity within the church of Jesus Christ, itself so painfully divided by the conflicts of the past and an easy acceptance of a scandalous status quo in the present.”

The archbishop delivered the sermon as the war, launched by the US and Israel on Iran at the end of February, enters its sixth week.

The conflict has already killed thousands and it is unclear whether it is any closer to an end.

Outside of the region, consequences have included soaring fuel prices amid a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

Mr Cottrell referenced the “siloes and echo chambers” of social media and the need to acknowledge “our common humanity”, before turning to focus on his own congregation.

“We need this in our communities here in Yorkshire and across the north of England, where so many people feel left behind and where so many young people grow up with little hope of a better future,” he said.

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Mr Cottrell, who became the 98th Archbishop of York in 2020, ended the sermon on a lighter note of celebration.

He said: “Which is also why this Easter day we must quench other thirsts as well. Open the beer. Crack open the champagne. Make that margarita.

“Pop another olive in your martini, or if it is your thing, just do that very English thing, and put the kettle on.”

Meanwhile, the leader of Catholics in England and Wales spoke of a humanity “scarred by warfare”.

Delivering his first Easter sermon since becoming Archbishop of Westminster, Richard Moth said: “In our present times the world is so often confusing and conflicted, subject to ever-changing and often illusory demands and attractions.

“Humanity is marked, scarred, by warfare and injustice, often instigated by greed and misguided power, bringing harm and death to so many and so often the most vulnerable.”

L’Homme Presse, French Dynamite and Now Is The Hour were all taken out on Monday, while three others below the cut-off line were also scratched.

The field is again set to be dominated by Irish trainer Mullins, with the three-time winner currently having nine horses guaranteed to run.

Joining I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett are last year’s third-placed Grangeclare West, Spanish Harlem, Lecky Watson, Champ Kiely, High Class Hero, Captain Cody and Quai De Bourbon.

Gordon Elliott, who has also trained three National winners, has five entries with Gerri Colombe, Firefox and Favori De Champdou – the beaten favourite in the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival – towards the top of the weights.

Another of Elliott’s stable, Pied Piper, is currently 35th on the list and will get a run if one more horse withdraws.

The Ben Pauling-trained Twig is the final guaranteed runner, although Spillane’s Tower has maintained his entry at this stage despite his owner telling RTE on Sunday he is an intended runner in Thursday’s Aintree Bowl instead.

Firefox is also entered in Friday’s Topham over the Grand National fences.

Henry de Bromhead, who won the race in 2021 with Rachael Blackmore and Minella Times, trains Monty’s Star and Gorgeous Tom.

Gavin Cromwell trains Perceval Legallois, who was a faller last year, and Cheltenham Festival winner Final Orders.

Dan Skelton will be represented by mare Panic Attack as he closes in on the UK trainers’ championship for the first time.

The Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies-trained Beauport will carry the colours of Bryan and Philippa Burrough, whose Corbiere won in 1983 as Jenny Pitman became the first female trainer to triumph.

Nigel is a two-time winner of the race in 1998 and 2022 and the stable are also set to saddle Top of the Bill, who moved into the top 34 with Monday’s withdrawals.

Fourteen-time British champion trainer Paul Nicholls has no entries, while Nicky Henderson, who is yet to win the National, is also likely to have no runners with Hyland currently 41st on the list.

John McGall runs the I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area of the city and organised a bumper Easter event this year.

He said: “We handed out Easter eggs to the homeless teenagers, children, those attending the food bank and many other places. 

“More than 500 plus eggs were donated in total and we also had the Easter Bunny as normal for our annual Easter egg event which we have been running for the past 11 years. 

“A massive thank you to everyone involved.”

John McGall runs the I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area of the city and (Image: Supplied)

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As previously reported by The Press, Ebor Court Care Home, in Nether Poppleton, were just one of the organisations who donated this year.

They donated 168 eggs to I Am Reusable Food Bank to support families in need this year.

The collection was delivered during a visit from a representative of the food bank, who said she was “overwhelmed” by the generosity.

John and Julie McGall run the I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area

I am Reusable was initially set up in a shed to help those in need through the pandemic, including NHS staff. It has been inundated to the point that they have run out of food on several occasions.

As The Press reported previously John had to put in an application for retrospective planning permission despite spending the past 16 years dedicating his time voluntarily to helping improve the lives of the homeless, disabled and less fortunate people in York.

Crowd funding raised money to pay for the application which was granted in 2024 by City of York Council.

At the time John said: “We can continue operating in our current residential location for up to two more years.

“We then have to look for an alternative location. We have to have weekly commercial waste bin collections and waste licences.

“The JustGiving money that was kindly donated has been spent on the planning application fee, and on getting the shed in a good condition to continue operating.

“We propose to also spend this money on the new costs which will occur as a condition of us staying open. These are weekly commercial waste pick ups and the relevant paperwork and licences required.”

The Easter Bunny at I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area of the city (Image: Supplied)