Culprit Sean McKinley, 26, was jailed for 17 months on two counts of wilful fireraising, in one case to danger of life.

A traumatised mum who was the victim of four separate car fire attacks says her children are lucky to be alive.

The brave single parent dragged youngsters aged four and seven to safety after one blaze spread from a vehicle to the front of their house as they slept.

The mum, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke out after Sean McKinley, 26, was jailed for 17 months on two counts of wilful fireraising, in one case to danger of life.

He admitted torching cars outside the woman’s home in Chapelhall in March 2024 and February last year.

Two similar charges relating to vehicle fires in September and October 2024 were dropped.

The 36-year-old mum-of-four welcomed McKinley’s jail sentence but said it should have been longer.

She said: “This has been a terrifying time for us. Life hasn’t been the same since and never will be.

“To have this happen once is scary, but four times is going too far.”

Airdrie Sheriff Court heard the woman was targeted for “personal” reasons and McKinley carried out the attacks on behalf of another individual to fund his drug habit.

The mum went on: “If someone has a vendetta against me, fair enough, but don’t bring my babies into it.

“I’ll never forget the look of terror on their faces during the first fire when I managed to get them out of the back door to a neighbour.

“The flames incinerated the front door of the house and badly damaged my oldest child’s bedroom. Luckily he wasn’t at home that night.

“Thinking about what could have happened is the worst part of it.”

Annette Ward, prosecuting, said the mum and two of her children were asleep in their home when the car alarm went off at 2.45am.

Ms Ward told the court: “She saw her black Audi was on fire in the driveway. She called 999 and evacuated the house along with her children.

“A neighbour saw a hooded male running from the burning vehicle which was extensively damaged.”

The attack in February last year also happened in the early hours of the morning.

This time all four children were at home with their mum but the flames from a Range Rover in the driveway didn’t spread to the house.

Ms Ward said: “By this stage the woman had her own ring doorbell camera. This showed a hooded man pouring liquid over the bonnet of the car and setting it alight.

“Firefighters extinguished the flames but again there was extensive damage to the vehicle.”

Police linked McKinley, of Greenwood Crescent, Coatbridge, to a flat bed van that was seen in the street and at a filling station in Coatbridge.

McKinley’s own CCTV footage showed him leaving his home at 3.11am and returning at 3.48am. He was wearing a jacket similar to that worn by the hooded male in the victim’s doorbell footage.

Defence lawyer Tony Linden said McKinley was immature at the time and had used payment for the attacks “to fund his cocaine and alcohol habits”.

The solicitor added: “He is in a very different position now. He is in full -time employment and is in a strong relationship with a child due early next year.”

Jailing McKinley, Sheriff Tony McGlennan said: “These are extremely serious offences. Setting fire to vehicles carries an inherent risk, particularly when in close proximity to houses.

“Matters are aggravated because this was clearly a calculated choice by you. It might have been underpinned by an addiction to drugs, but you had every opportunity to step away.

“You chose to engage with an organised enterprise and, to make matters worse, did it not once but twice.”

The sheriff said the prison sentence would have been longer but for McKinley’s youth, guilty pleas and limited criminal record.

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Hayden Panettiere spoke about giving up custody of her daughter while struggling with addiction in her memoir, released just three months before her death aged 36.

The Hollywood actress, best known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, was pronounced dead yesterday at an apartment block in Greenville, South Carolina.

Her raw and candid memoir ‘This Is Me: A Reckoning’ was released in the UK and US on May 19 and featured a series of details about being separated from her only child.

In it she discussed her depression after giving birth to her daughter Kaya, 11, and the eventual decision to give up custody to her ex-fiance Wladimir Klitschko, 50.

Panettiere, who began acting as a child, also wrote about being put into bed with a British singer and the moment an Oscar-winning actor exposed himself to her.

Put into bed with British singer

Panettiere described a troubling incident at the age of 19, when a friend told her to have sex with an unnamed British singer aged in his 30s.

The friend invited Panettiere to the south of France in 2009, where she boarded a ‘super yacht’ which the friend had hired for a week.

One day her friend told her to go downstairs with her. They entered a cabin, where she ‘saw a famous thirtysomething British singer songwriter lying in a bed’. She described him as shirtless and ‘from the waist down, he was covered by bedsheets’.

The friend then ‘leaned down and whispered in my ear: ‘I want you to get in bed with him. He has a huge d***.’ Panettiere did as she was told, before her friend left.

But before anything happened, the actress soon felt her heart pounding and told the man: ‘Look… I don’t know what she said to you, but this is not going to happen.’

She then jumped out of the bed and towards the door, running into the hall and toward her room. She booked a hotel and started packing her bags before leaving.

Panettiere said of her friend: ‘She’d confided in me, pampered me and treated me like her best friend – then turned around and treated me like a call girl.’

Hayden Panettiere in New York in July 2009, soon after the incident on the yacht that spring

Oscar winner exposed himself

Panettiere also explained the distressing moment an ‘Oscar winning actor and director’ exposed himself to her months earlier, when she was still aged 19.

The actress said the ‘actor and director’ showed his genitals to her at a private party – organised by the same friend who invited her to the yacht.

Panettiere was chatting with a group of men ‘in their forties and fifties’ at the party, when she ‘sensed these men’s eyes on me and it made me uncomfortable.’

She felt like a ‘young commodity ripe for the picking in that moment and decided to leave – when one of the men approached her as she was putting on her coat.

Panettiere said the man – whom she did not identify – claimed to have a ‘big wad of gum on his pants’. But she wrote: ‘I looked down and recoiled. This well-respected, award-winning actor’s testicles were hanging out from his unzipped fly.’

She did not tell her friend about the incident because she believed ‘the moment had passed’ and ‘assumed some older men had just grown up with no manners.’

Struggling with depression

After giving birth to her daughter Kaya, Panettiere began haemorrhaging before she underwent seven blood transfusions and surgery to repair vessels that began to fail.

And in the months following the birth in 2014, Panettiere faced a significant struggle with depression, explaining in her book how they did not bond as she had hoped.

The actress, who was aged 25 at the time, wrote: ‘I’d always heard that mothers feel an instant rush of love the moment they lay their eyes on their baby, but I felt nothing.’

Panettiere said she was finding it difficult to soothe her daughter and understand what she was experiencing, admitting her ‘natural optimism and pep’ had vanished.

In one incident, she worried that she had accidentally hurt Kaya while taking her out of the bath, but explained: ‘It wasn’t panic that was sitting in my chest.

‘It was nothing. A total blackout of emotion, like my soul was dead. I wasn’t myself, yet the problem was I didn’t know what I was supposed to be.’

Hayden Panettiere hugs her daughter Kaya in a photo she posted to Instagram in March 2017

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Medication causing problems

Panettiere was diagnosed with postpartum depression and began having treatment when Kaya was four months old – but her medication caused further issues.

She explained how this kept her from ‘cracking’, adding: ‘To help me with my insomnia I had meds, the really powerful kind they’d prescribed me in treatment.’

However, Panettiere said this left her feeling like a ‘zombie’ – explaining: ‘They had a catch: if I didn’t take them, I couldn’t sleep. If I did, I slept too much.’

She also wrote: ‘I walked into rehab addicted to one substance, and I walked out, completely dependent on something else.’

The actress further explained how ‘anxiety buzzed inside me like a fluorescent light’, which she said was ‘keeping me reactive, on edge and full of dread’.

Alcohol addiction

Panettiere began turning to alcohol to cope with her depression after giving birth, and said she once poured so much wine into her glass that it ‘almost overflowed.’

The problem worsened when she returned to acting in TV drama Nashville, needing a drink just to get out of bed. She wrote: ‘It’s 6am and I’m trying to get drunk.’

Panettiere added: ‘The first thing I’d thought of when I woke up was alcohol. Not my child, not my job, and not the rest of my life.’

‘I needed a drink to function – at 6am – and that was f***ed. If I didn’t get some help as soon as possible, I was f***ed.’

She also said: ‘I’ve always strived to be a positive person, but I grieve all the hours I lose to addiction, my broken relationships and my loved ones who are no longer here.’

Giving up custody of Kaya

Panettiere discussed her heartbreaking decision in 2018 to give up custody of her daughter Kaya, now 11, to her ex-fiancé, Ukrainian former boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

Kaya had lived with her father full-time from a young age amid the actress’s struggles with substance addiction and mental health.

As these battles continued, the actress decided to sign over custody of her daughter to Klitschko who was not living in the same country as Panettiere at the time.

She said: ‘I remember every second of that day. Every f**ing second. No mother could forget a single thing about the day she signed her child away.’

Panettiere believes she had enough money to fight a custody battle but feared this would have destroyed her, given she was still in recovery at that point.

She decided not to celebrate the series finale of TV series Nashville, saying: ‘I couldn’t pretend that this chapter of my life was something to memorialise.’

After selling her home in Nashville, Panettiere said she now had ‘no work, no plan for work anytime soon, no boyfriend, and no Kaya to care for.’

Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko with their daughter Kaya, now 11, in July 2016

Living without her daughter

Panettiere wrote movingly about the eight years of trying to be a mother having given up custody of her child Kaya, who was just three at the time.

The actress said: ‘Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life, and it’s hard to describe the layers of emotion – including sadness, resentment, and anger – I’ve felt because of it.

‘I grieve that I’m not the mother I thought I’d be and definitely not the mother I want to be (trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime), and although I miss Kaya so much my heart aches, I know how blessed I am to be her mom.

‘She is the greatest gift of my life, with all the best parts of her father and me, and, today, I believe I have the opportunity to be a different kind of parent than most.’

Taking full responsibility

Panettiere explained how she takes full responsibility for her shortcomings to her daughter – insisting she does not blame her former partner Klitschko.

The actress also described the Ukrainian former boxer, who competed from 1996 to 2017, as ‘one of the most courageous people I’ve ever met’.

She wrote: ‘She didn’t ask to be born into the limelight or my chaos, and she didn’t get to choose her parents. I want her to have every choice that I didn’t, including the ability to live a private life.

‘So out of respect for her right to normalcy, my stories of motherhood will be through my eyes only, and I’ll keep personal details of her life to a minimum.

‘I also want to make clear that I don’t blame Wlad for any of my wrongs; I take full responsibility for my part in our relationship and my shortcomings as a mom. Wlad is one of the most courageous people I’ve ever met and a true hero in so many ways.’

Panettiere has said she takes full responsibility for her shortcomings to her daughter Kaya 

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Hopes for the future

Despite her struggles with addiction and depression, Panettiere spoke positively about the latest stage of her personal journey and how experiences had affected her.

She said: ‘Life can shake you up and tear you down, but even when you’re at your worst, there’s hope and you have an opportunity to rebuild.’

Speaking about her ‘years in treatment’, Panettiere also insisted she had ‘concluded that the only thing I can change is myself and the person I want to be’.

She also referred to ‘lifequakes’, which are defined as a big and often-unexpected shift or crisis in life, popularised in author Bruce Feiler’s book Life Is in the Transitions.

And Panettiere said: ‘I’m far from perfect, but my life quakes and moments of struggle are little miracles that have helped me grow.’

‘This Is Me: A Reckoning’ by Hayden Panettiere is available in hardback for £22

“One of Scotland’s most unique fish and chip restaurants.”

A one-of-a-kind ‘sail-thru’ fish and chip shop in Scotland has been crowned among the top “hidden gems” in the UK. The waterside eatery, which has recently gone viral on social media, was named one of the best food destinations that can be reached via boat or paddle board.

On Friday, August 14, Paddle UK shared a list of the UK’s best hidden pubs and coffee shops that can be accessed on a paddle board. According to the experts, ‘paddle boarding to the pub’ has exploded in popularity in recent months. Various viral social media videos have inspired people to swap busy roads for rivers and canals.

One of the locations that was named as part of Paddle UK’s roundup of the best “hidden gems” you can reach by paddle board is McMonagles Fish and Chips in Clydebank. The fish and chip shop and tourist attraction is housed within a boat that is located in the Fourth and Clyde Canal.

READ MORE: The huge Edinburgh fish and chip restaurant perfect for Fringe bite to eat

READ MORE: This 100 year old chippy near Glasgow has ‘delicious fish and chips’ and £6 breakfast

The restaurant and takeaway is unique in that customers can pick up their order by boat from its window that faces the water. This has earned McMonagles Fish and Chips a significant following on social media, with one recent video on Instagram receiving more than 530,000 views.

McMonagles Fish and Chips was recently named as the Daily Record’s Chippy of the Week, and was praised for being a top destination for both formal dining and a casual meals. In addition to its sail-thru window, it has an indoor eating space in its upstairs and casual seating outside.

Paddle UK described McMonagles Fish and Chips as one of Scotland’s “most unique fish and chip restaurants” and praised its “freshly cooked fish and chips”. The eatery sources high-quality and sustainably caught fish, and its chips are hand-cut every day and fried until golden and crispy.

A spokesperson for Paddle UK stated: “One of Scotland’s most unique fish and chip restaurants is going viral on social media, with an Instagram reel gaining over 530k views. Many are feeling inspired to partake in watersports with the incentive of fish and chips along their route, with users commenting: ‘Time to dust off my kayak. That’s epic!’

“McMonagles is located on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Clydebank. Paddlers can travel along the canal and can pull up outside the window for freshly cooked fish and chips. Known as the world’s first ‘Sail-Thru’ restaurant, it’s become a popular stop for canal users.”

Elsewhere, another destination that was named one of the top hidden gems in the UK for paddle boarders is The Hidden Tap in Hampshire. The riverside brewery taproom allows paddlers to pull a bell rope from the water’s edge and place their order, before drinks are lowered down using a wooden pulley system.

Head of Recreation at Paddle UK Rich Ramsdale commented: “Paddle boarding is more than just exercise. Whether it’s paddleboarding with friends, or trying out SUP yoga paddling gives people the chance to slow down, switch off and reconnect with nature. It’s great that we’re seeing more people explore their local waterways, discover independent cafes and pubs, and experience places they simply wouldn’t see from the road.”

The full list of the best hidden pubs and coffee shops in the UK that can be reached via paddle board can be found below.

The hidden UK gems you can access by paddle board

• The Hidden Tap, Hampshire
• Riverbank Coffee, Manchester
• McMonagles Fish and Chips, Clydebank
• The Anglers, London
• The Wateredge Inn, Ambleside
• Elsie’s Riverside Coffee Shop, Newcastle

Here’s when you can start playing Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 later this week.

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 is almost upon us with the next era of the Battle Royale shooter set to begin later this week. After months of rumours, Epic Games has finally revealed some of what we can expect in the latest season, which is themed around a massive collaboration between legacy gaming franchises.

So far, we’ve seen the likes of Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon and Mega-Man appear in promotional artwork for the new season. If you want to jump into Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 as soon as it starts, here’s when it all kicks off.

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Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 release date

Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 is set to start on Thursday, August 20 2026 .

This is the date that the current season – Season 3 – is due to end with a few hours of maintenance usually scheduled while Epic Games swaps out the old content for the new. This doesn’t usually take a while, with the new content normally available by around lunchtime here in the UK.

What’s new in Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 ‘Override’?

As mentioned above, Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4 is all about a big gaming crossover with some of the industry’s biggest stars. So far, these are all the characters we’ve spotted in the reveal trailer:

• Sonic
• Shadow
• Knuckles
• Eggman
• Tails
• Crash Bandicoot
• Spyro the Dragon
• Joker (Persona 5)
• Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
• Tetris
• Mega Man
• Rush (Mega Man)
• V (Cyberpunk 2077)
• Pac-Man and Ghosts

As you can see from above, this season is set to be a real ‘Ready Player One’ style era.

Not all of these crossovers will be getting skins, with their references manifesting in other ways. For example, the Pac-Man ghosts will appear as clouds in the sky above the island, while the Green Hill Zone from Sonic will appear as a landmark in the game.

Certain characters will also get a ‘Tetris’ variant to their skin, which will make them appear a bit more ‘blocky’ than normal.

We’ll no doubt find out more about what will be included in the Override event when it launches later this week on August 20.

Foreign nationals would be excluded from most benefits under a Reform UK government, the party has said.

The ban, part of a proposed overhaul of Britain’s benefits system, would include European Union (EU) nationals with settled status in the UK.

It would require renegotiating the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU, potentially meaning that British expatriates living in the EU could lose equivalent rights.

Reform claims the policy would save £21bn a year by its fifth year, but Labour insists the “vast majority” of migrants have no access to benefits and the Conservatives have dismissed the plans as “cobbled together”.

Robert Jenrick, Reform’s economy spokesman, said there has to be a change of approach to “restore fairness” to the welfare system.

In a speech on Monday to unveil the plans, Jenrick said one-in-six Universal Credit claimants are not a British or Irish citizen and suggested the money should instead be used to “make the lives of British people better”.

He added: “The British taxpayer is acting as the welfare state for the world. That’s unfair, we all know it.”

This year the government expects, external to spend a total of £322bn on welfare in Great Britain, or 10.6% of GDP, just over half of which goes to pensioners.

Reform says it has spent six months drawing up a 50-page plan that it claims will save a total of £50bn a year.

Jenrick said the proposals also include a “welfare to work” scheme which will require people who have claimed benefits for more than 12 months to provide 20 hours-a-week of work for their community.

This would apply to those deemed fit to work and will be organised by their local council, the MP said.

Those who fail to take part or poorly perform will face sanctions, including potential cuts to their benefits, according to Reform’s policy document.

Jenrick said: “They’ll work to clean up high streets and parks, to beautify neglected places, to carry out minor repairs to staff libraries and community centres, to perform many other tasks from the list that we’ve published today.”

New Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli says the passionate nature of Scottish football was a key factor in him taking the job.

Pocognoli, 39, was confirmed as Steve Clarke’s successor on Sunday and introduced himself to the media on Monday.

Clarke ended his seven-year reign earlier this summer after Scotland failed to progress from the World Cup group stage after a victory over Haiti was followed by defeats to Morocco and Brazil.

Former Belgium defender Pocognoli left Monaco at the end of last season and previously led Union Saint-Gilloise to their first league title in 90 years in 2024-25.

He becomes just the second foreign boss of the Scotland men’s team, after the German Berti Vogts, and believes he has what it takes to build on Clarke’s “strong foundation”.

“I’m very proud to be here,” Pocognoli said, flanked by Scottish FA chiefs Ian Maxwell and Craig Mulholland at his introduction.

“It’s a very strong challenge, with a project to develop the future of Scottish football. There are the metrics, but the human aspect was also very important. I never go to a challenge where I can’t feel the connection.

“Scotland is a passionate country and I think also, regarding the strong foundation that Steve Clarke and his staff laid, that I can use this heritage to put the next accent on the style of play while also developing players for the future.

“That’s why I’m here.”

By JADA BAS, REPORTER and NATALIA PENZA

Published: 11:14 BST, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 12:25 BST, 17 August 2026

A pregnant woman and her child have been killed in a triple shooting after a pair of men opened fire at a Spanish holiday resort.

The two masked men stormed in on motorbikes last night aiming at several members of the same family, who were staying in the Costa de la Luz region near Spain‘s southern border with Portugal.

The mother, her young son and the child’s maternal grandmother all died at the horrific scene, which took place at the El Rocio resort.

Local police confirmed two more people were caught in the crossfire, with one of them rushed to hospital ‘in serious condition’. 

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The victims’ bodies were left lying on the street until a judge arrived to authorise their transfer to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the provincial capital Huelva so autopsies can take place.

Police have said early investigations suggest the shooting could have been ‘a settling of scores’ between members of two different gangs.

Grisly photos said to have been taken by locals and holidaymakers before they were removed have started to appear on social media. 

No arrests have yet taken place but the fatal incident has been linked to a previous shooting that took place in Huelva in September 2024 which left one person dead and two injured.

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A pregnant woman and her child have been killed in a triple shooting after a pair of men opened fire at a Spanish holiday resort

The mother, her young son and his maternal grandmother all died at the horrific scene

The three people killed last night are the sister, mother and nephew of the man arrested over the 2024 shooting, according to local reports.

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He was held in Gijon in northern Spain after going on the run and remanded in custody pending a trial.

Several relatives of the suspect, thought to include those killed last night, are said to have moved to Isla Cristina from the provincial capital following the earlier crime.

The Civil Guard is leading the ongoing investigation into the fatal shootings. 

Isla Cristina, one of southern Spain’s most important fishing ports, is known for its fine sand beaches. The nearest airports are Faro on the Portuguese Algarve which is just 40 miles away and Seville which is 80 miles away.

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A Civil Guard spokesman said: ‘Around 10pm yesterday in the town of Isla Cristina, the occupants of a motorcycle opened fire on several people who were in a public area, resulting in three people dead and two injured, one of them in serious condition.

‘The initial lines of investigation indicate that it could be a settling of scores between members of different clans, although no hypothesis has been ruled out.

‘The Guardia Civil has activated a large-scale security and search operation to locate the alleged perpetrators. Any information can be provided confidentially.’

Police confirmed a secrecy order had been placed over the case by a judge.

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A secrecy order is a tool commonly used in Spain to protect judicial probes especially in their infancy, and limits the amount of information civil servants can give out.

Firefighters were called to a forest at Gurney Valley, near Close House at Coundon Grange, just before midday on Saturday (August 15). 

The County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) sent three engines to the scene, alongside a bulk water tanker from Spennymoor Fire Station. 

An image taken by the fire service, which said the blaze was large but not a wildfire, showed the scorched aftermath of the incident, which left the woodland floor smouldering.

Crews used main hose jets to extinguish the flames before leaving the scene shortly after 2pm.

A CDDFRS spokesperson has confirmed that, while the cause of the fire is not yet known, it is not currently under investigation. 

A statement said: “We were called at 11.58am on Saturday (August 15) to a large fire in the woodland at Gurney Valley, Close House, in Bishop Auckland.

“Three fire engines from Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe and Peterlee Fire Stations attended, along with the bulk water tanker from Spennymoor Fire Station.

“Crews used main hose jets to extinguish the fire before leaving the scene shortly after 2pm.”

The incident was one of a spate of fires across County Durham last week. 

The region’s firefighters dealt with more than 1,000 calls amid the scorching temperatures, including battles to save homes from blazes. 

Today (August 17), the Irish actor and comedian told fans of the schedule changes as a result of immediate surgery for fractures in his jaw.

Along with the TV specials, O’Carroll has also cancelled live shows.

Brendan O’Carroll cancels Mrs Brown’s Boys’ TV specials

Announcing the cancellation of the shows, O’Carroll shared a statement.

The comedian said: “It is with sincere regret I must announce that due to an unexpected medical issue I will have to cancel the recordings of the 2026 Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas and New Year’s Specials.

“Following a CT Scan, it was found that I had two fractures in my mandible (jaw) which requires immediate surgery and a few months recovery.”

“This decision has not been taken lightly and has been made on medical advice from my consultant,” he said.

He continued: “To say I am heartbroken is an absolute understatement.

“I would like to sincerely apologise to all our fans who were looking forward to seeing the shows and for any disappointment caused.”

The comedian and actor said he and MCD Productions were currently working to reschedule the shows for next year.

Brendan O’Carroll hopes to return to screens next year

O’Carroll said he had also been speaking with the BBC about getting his TV series “back on the screen” in 2027.

He then thanked MCD and the BBC for their “support and understanding at this difficult time”.

O’Carroll said he was now focused on getting himself “back to full health”, adding: “I genuinely cannot wait to see you all again in 2027.

“Our fans mean the world to us, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support and trust me Agnes Brown and her family will be back.”

Will you miss watching new Mrs Brown’s Boys specials this festive season? Tell us in the comments below.

A long-lost battlefield where Anglo-Saxon forces delivered a devastating defeat to a Viking army could finally have been found.

Researchers believe Castle Hill, a former Iron Age hillfort near Beaford in North Devon, matches ancient descriptions of the legendary Battle of Cynuit, fought in 878.

The clash came at a pivotal moment in English history, when Alfred the Great’s kingdom of Wessex was on the brink of being overwhelmed by the Vikings.

More than 800 Viking Northmen are said to have been killed in the battle, while another account puts the death toll at around 1,200.

The site – which features a large mound – could also be where the ashes of notorious Viking leader Ubbe Ragnarsson were buried.

Historian Paul Harper, who has written a new book detailing the findings, said: ‘People have been searching for the battle site in Devon for centuries but Castle Hill has the most compelling claims and could finally solve this age–old mystery.

‘It is fascinating that this infamous Viking Ubbe probably met his demise in this quiet corner of Devon. 

‘What is a very remote and rural part of Britain once played centre stage to a battle that had huge ramifications for the future of the island.’

Castle Hill appears to fit the description remarkably closely, with ancient earth and stone ramparts and no obvious water source within the fort itself

Mr Harper’s book showcases research by Nick Arnold, who identified Castle Hill as the most likely location after examining historic records, maps and ancient forts across Devon and Dartmoor.

The site appears to fit descriptions written by Alfred’s biographer Asser, who said the battlefield was in Devon, had no nearby water supply and was particularly vulnerable from the east.

A later chronicler, Geoffrey Gaimar, described the location as ‘Penwood’ – a name meaning a headland next to woods.

Castle Hill fits the description remarkably closely, with ancient earth and stone ramparts and no obvious water source within the fort itself.

Crucially, an ancient trackway is also believed to have passed directly beside the hillfort, linking Bideford and Exeter along a route now largely followed by the A3124.

Such roads would have been vital for medieval armies moving through the region.

‘This study demonstrated that Castle Hill is the only location in Devon that fits the description of a headland fort with comparatively weak defences, secure from all directions except the east,’ Mr Arnold said.

But perhaps the most tantalising clue lies just a short distance from the fort – a huge mound measuring around 39ft (12m) across and more than 8ft (2.5m) high.

The site – which features a large mound (pictured) – could also be where the ashes of notorious Viking leader Ubbe Ragnarsson were buried

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Ubbe was one of the sons of the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok, whose supposed death in a snake pit inspired the TV series Vikings. Pictured: Jordan Patrick Smith playing Ubbe in the hit series

Nineteenth-century maps describe the mound as a ‘tumulus’, while geophysical surveys suggest it contains a pile of stones sitting on top of a rocky outcrop.

The experts believe this could be the final resting place of Ubbe Ragnarsson, the feared Viking commander who is said to have been killed at Cynuit.

According to later medieval accounts, Ubbe’s surviving followers placed him beneath a huge burial mound after his death, naming it ‘Ubbelawe’ – meaning Ubba’s mound.

Ubbe was one of the sons of the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok, whose supposed death in a snake pit inspired the popular TV series Vikings.

While Ragnar himself is generally regarded as a legendary figure, Ubbe and his brothers, including Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan, are recorded as leaders of the Great Heathen Army which invaded England in 865.

The Vikings had already seized much of the country when they were confronted by forces loyal to Wessex at Cynuit.

According to the research, the Northmen may have sailed up the River Taw before targeting royal estates near Bishops Tawton, only to encounter Devon troops led by Odda, the region’s chief officer.

The Anglo-Saxon forces are thought to have launched a dawn attack on the Viking camp, killing hundreds and capturing their famous raven war banner.

The discovery has been published in Mr Harper’s book, Sons of Ragnar, which showcases research by historian Nick Arnold

Weeks later, Alfred emerged from hiding in the Somerset marshes and went on to defeat the Vikings at the Battle of Edington – a victory that helped shape the England we know today.

The discovery has been published in Mr Harper’s book, Sons of Ragnar.

‘If the Vikings had won at the Battle of Cynuit, King Alfred would have been dead in weeks,’ he said.

‘There would have been no fight–back and England would have become a patchwork of Danish states. Our language, culture and history would be drastically different.’