A pensioner was forced to have both his legs amputated after it took 29 medical appointments and four years to diagnose a common medical condition.

Nic Olsen, 80, visited his GP in 2020 after he began to experience foot and leg pain.

Believing it was linked to the back problems Mr Olsen had suffered with for years, he was referred to an orthopaedic specialist. 

What followed was years of appointments with consultants, specialists and GPs, as well as endless scans and tests while his pain continued to worsen.

Each time he was sent away with new remedies, including being told to ‘walk more’, put insoles in his shoes or take cholesterol tablets. 

The semi-retired financial adviser from Tugby, Leicestershire, even collapsed and saw his big toes ‘burst open’ before a blockage was finally spotted in the arteries in his lower legs. 

He was diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), which causes arteries to narrow due to the build-up of fatty deposits in the walls, leading to blockages.

The common condition affects one in five people over the age of 60 and can be diagnosed with a simple Doppler test, which uses ultrasound to measure blood flow.

However, by the time Mr Olsen was diagnosed, it was already too late and his condition was so advanced that treatment was unlikely to succeed. 

Mr Olsen visited his GP in 2020 after he began to experience foot and leg pain

Advertisement

He was given an angioplasty followed by two bypass surgeries to reopen the arteries, but after that didn’t work he was forced to have a double amputation.

Both legs may have been saved had he been diagnosed earlier.

His ongoing treatment is also estimated to have cost the NHS £1million. But the figure would have been a fraction of this had his condition been properly diagnosed earlier.

Mr Olsen’s initial symptoms included pain, swollen feet and the loss of the hair on his lower legs – all recognised signs of PAD.

His wife Fiona said the Doppler test would have quickly identified a circulation problem in his legs.

Instead, he had a spectrum of tests including MRI scans, X-rays and blood tests over the next four years.

The mother-of-one, a retired travel and tourism teacher, said: ‘A Doppler is a simple test – you’d be able to hear from that if there is a circulatory problem. But nobody did one for years.’

‘All Nic ever talked about was the pain,’ she added.

‘He would say it was like someone was stabbing him with a carving knife.

‘He had all kinds of examinations and saw all kinds of doctors, surgeons and specialists.

‘Finally, after four years, someone looked at his ultrasound and said, “Oh my God, this is serious”.

‘They tried everything, but we were left with no option but amputation.

‘Nic’s care from start to finish has cost the NHS over £1million – if this condition had been found at the start, it could have been a fraction of that.

‘He could have had an angioplasty there and then, when it was still early, which costs the NHS about £1,000 – and would have saved his legs.

‘He had 29 different appointments before he got a diagnosis, it’s disgraceful. Lessons have to be learnt.’

Mr Olsen, pictured with his wife Fiona and daughter Emma after his double amputation

Advertisement

For months after his first appointment, Mr Olsen continued trying to find answers to what was causing his pain, as it turned to agony and he became less mobile.

During a holiday to Tenerife in January 2024, one of his toenails burst open and began gushing blood.

However it wasn’t until nine months later that a different podiatrist asked about whether he’d had a Doppler test. 

Mrs Olsen, who is now her husband’s full-time carer, said: ‘She did the Doppler finally and there were no sounds of circulation. We knew then that it was bad.’

He was sent for an electrocardiogram (ECG) – a test to record the electrical activity of the heart.

He was also referred to a vascular hospital where a consultant revealed that he had chronic PAD.

Despite the diagnosis, he was just told to walk 10,000 steps a day and was prescribed cholesterol tablets, she said.

In January, 2025, Mr Olsen collapsed from the pain and was unable to walk.

After three further trips to the hospital, a different consultant looked at his ultrasound scan and raised the alarm.

Mr Olsen was sent for an angioplasty – a procedure to unblock arteries – but the procedure didn’t work.

He then underwent an arterial bypass – a large and risky 13-hour surgery, again to no avail

She said: ‘By this point the pain was phenomenal for Nic, so the next option was amputation.’

He had his right leg – the worse of the two – amputated below the knee in April 2025.

Within two weeks of returning home from his amputation, his second foot became ulcerated and he needed a second amputation in July 2025.

Mr Olsen, who also has two sons from a previous relationship, went through months of gruelling rehab using prosthetic legs to walk again.

In June 2026, he was strong enough to walk daughter Emma Olsen, 30, down the aisle on her wedding day.

Mr Olsen went through months of gruelling rehab using prosthetic legs to learn to walk again

Fiona said: ‘Nic is very brave and doesn’t say a lot, but every now and then he’ll gasp from phantom limb pain.

‘I know he has some dark thoughts, but my husband is so strong.

‘Nic is doing so well because of his massive strength and stamina.’

Mr Olsen said: ‘I don’t think any of the people I spoke to knew what PAD was. All the symptoms were ignored.

‘After amputation, it’s two or three weeks after you get home is when reality hits, and you reach your darkest mental state.

‘I slipped through the net. But early diagnosis saves lives, and it’s totally preventable if it’s diagnosed early enough.

‘I wouldn’t be anywhere without Fiona there behind me.’

Mrs Olsen is now campaigning to make more people aware of the PAD symptoms her husband had – including resting leg and foot pain, swollen toes and no hair on his lower legs.

She said: ‘The whole thing was shambolic. The only way I can let my anger out is to help people in the future.

‘Even the specialists say we need to keep banging the drum – PAD can easily be put right if you spot the signs early.’

Around 631,000 years ago — a geological blink of an eye — catastrophe unfolded in what is now north-western Wyoming, US. During what is thought to have been a series of immense volcanic eruptions, life within hundreds of kilometres of the blasts was shattered. Ash was dispersed across much of North America and the effects were felt worldwide. This was a super-eruption of the massive volcanic system located in what is now the Yellowstone National Park.

Despite the scale, no known human witnessed the cataclysm. As far as we know, early humans had not yet reached the continent. Across oceans, perhaps early humans did wonder at the hazier skies and unusually vivid sunsets. Volcanic particles circulating in the sky cooled their climate and likely affected their weather patterns and lives. Whether they noted these changes – or connected them to any distant event – is unknowable.

Today, humanity would certainly notice. We already know that a super-eruption on this scale would be a threat civilisation as we know it. So what exactly would we experience if Yellowstone erupted? We are experts in disasters and volcanoes and what follows is a thought experiment into what might happen in the worst case scenario. We’ve based our hypothesis on research and by examining how countries have dealt with disasters in recent years.

T-2 months

Shortly after 6am, an analyst at the University of Utah Seismograph Stations sees a series of sharp spikes interrupting the usually quiet wavy lines recorded by Yellowstone’s earthquake monitors. The measurements represent earthquakes detected beneath Yellowstone overnight. The scientist raises an eyebrow and takes a deep breath – these observations don’t fit with Yellowstone’s usual behaviour.

The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.

People often imagine Yellowstone as a sleeping “supervolcano”. It may sleep, but its geological processes never do. An array of instruments monitors its activity – and any changes in it. A dense network of seismometers records earthquakes in the region. Around the clock, data feeds in from GPS stations, strainmeters (instruments which measure deformations and changes in the shape of the Earth’s crust) and sensors positioned within its active geyser areas. Satellite observations, gas sampling and field surveys add plenty more information.

Advertisement

Scientists look at the number of earthquakes along with their location, depth and size. Earthquake “swarms” warrant particular attention, especially when they appear to be migrating through the crust (Earth’s solid, outermost rocky shell) or becoming progressively shallower. Such patterns can indicate that magma or pressurised hydrothermal fluids (hot, mineral-rich water) is moving upwards.

Our scientist is relieved to discover that most of the unusual tremors are tiny — too weak to have been felt. But together, they form an unusually concentrated swarm. The analyst checks the signals against neighbouring seismometers and, more out of curiosity than concern, contacts colleagues at several partner organisations comprising the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) in order to follow YVO’s response plan.

They deduce that, overnight, instruments have recorded a tightening cluster of earthquakes beneath Yellowstone’s vast caldera, which is roughly 55–70 kilometres across. Yellowstone experiences thousands of earthquakes each year, and swarms are not unusual. But this one appears to be migrating ever so slightly upwards. Still, an earthquake swarm by itself doesn’t mean Yellowstone is preparing to erupt, nor does ground deformation, changing temperatures or gas emissions. Scientists are more concerned about several such changes happening together.

The team of scientists decides to wait and see what happens next.

T−1 month

Four weeks later, the swarm has continued to migrate upwards. New events are also appearing along a narrow zone beneath the caldera, notes the analyst, who has now lost their appetite for both food and caution and is writing reports designed to be alarming. GPS stations above the swarm have begun moving apart. Measurements of strain have increased and satellite radar reveals the cause: there’s a broad area of accelerating uplift of the ground.

Together, the observations are consistent with magma forcing its way into the crust – as seen in places like Hawai’i prior to eruptions. Reassuringly for YVO staff, Yellowstone has produced similarly alarming combinations of signals before with no subsequent eruptions. Between 2013 and 2014, parts of the caldera began rising at rates of more than 15 centimetres a year and earthquake activity increased.

This culminated in a magnitude 4.8 earthquake, the largest recorded at Yellowstone since 1975. Shortly after, the uplift changed to subsidence (the ground moving downward) and scientists concluded that the episode was associated with hydrothermal fluid movements rather than magma.

Mindful of the need to keep the public informed without causing unnecessary alarm, YVO responds cautiously. A duty scientist assumes responsibility for assessing the incoming data. Additional, temporary seismometers and GPS units are deployed to provide more precise data, and gas and water are sampled more frequently.

YVO begins closer coordination with the National Park Service and emergency management authorities, reviewing road closures, public communications and evacuation plans. Perhaps ominously, but to err on the side of caution, Yellowstone’s Volcano Alert Level is raised from “normal” to “advisory”, indicating that unrest is above its established background level.

These developments are worrisome enough that scientists start speculating about a major eruption’s impacts. The media take an interest, but the volcanologists have learned how damaging it can be when volcanic uncertainties morph into a full-blown dispute, played out in public.

Scientists privately discuss differences in interpretations, agreeing on regular updates for the public via media briefings and social media postings. As the volcano’s activity continues to ramp up, high-level decision-makers are alerted that this situation could become a major catastrophe. The probability of it happening within three months increases from 6-9% to 21-27%.

Due to the uncertainties, the politicians make no specific declaration. The US’s Federal Emergency Management Agency nevertheless starts drawing up plans for a large-scale evacuation. They express confidence in public while perhaps fearing in private that a worst-case scenario could make it hopeless to try to save everyone.

Over the following fortnight, the unrest escalates dramatically. Earthquakes become more frequent and shallower. Long-period seismicity (much gentler earthquakes, usually caused by fluid movement rather than faults shifting and known to occur at Yellowstone) and sustained volcanic tremors suggest magma and pressurised fluids are forcing open fractures in the ground.

The uplift accelerates and GPS stations move centimetres in days. Geyser activity becomes increasingly erratic. Even the Old Faithful geyser becomes less faithful: its usually regular eruptions become harder to predict. Meanwhile, gas measurements and changes in spring water chemistry indicate an increased input of carbon dioxide and sulphurous gases into Yellowstone’s hydrothermal system. Taken together with the shallow earthquakes and rapid uplift, the concern is that magma may be moving upwards.

T-2 weeks: ‘It’s gonna blow!’

These new observations lead to a press conference describing an 85-92% probability of a cataclysmic eruption within three weeks. At this point, the YVO raises Yellowstone warning to “watch”, and the USGS raises the Aviation Colour Code to orange, with aircraft rerouted around the region.

An evacuation zone extending 100 kilometres beyond Yellowstone National Park is announced, affecting roughly 200,000 residents, as well as thousands of visitors in the region. The topic now dominates both traditional and social media. The attention likely spawns detractors as well as conspiracists. The former claim that nothing will happen. The latter spread the disinformation that YVO is being paid by foreign shadow billionaires to bring down the US so that other countries can control the world’s economy.

Advertisement

Now that a super-eruption appears imminent with high confidence, world leaders swing into action. They must make a choice: help each other as a global village or repeat COVID-19 style global shuttering.

If they choose collaboration, then they start evacuations, moving people as far as needed – including across international borders. This would involve supporting them with adequate homes, water, food, electricity and community through schools, jobs, transport and safety. Achieving all this seems unlikely, since most of the world’s population has always lacked it. Nonetheless, the US has the money, skills and goods to evacuate and resettle the huge numbers, if leaders cooperate and use everything available.

More likely, many countries could be reticent to accept “volcano refugees”, making excuses – perhaps legitimate ones – that they don’t have the money, resources or space to safely settle so many people so swiftly. They are further stretched by those who self-evacuate through having more than one passport, along with the wealth or the social network to start afresh.

Charities step in to help some people leave on chartered planes, as well as via long, excruciating journeys on overcrowded trains and buses. The most marginalised and poorest may have no option but to stay behind. Some might join the minorities who do not believe the eruption will happen, who think their well-stocked underground bunkers will protect them (an overly optimistic belief), or who would rather die at home than live in a foreign land with a devastated world.

T=0

In an instant, seismic instruments are overwhelmed by an intense burst of shallow earthquakes. Expanding clouds of steam rise from newly opened cracks. The YVO and USGS have no choice but to raise the warning level and Aviation Colour Codes to red: a dangerous eruption is imminent.

The eruption does not begin with the entire caldera exploding at once. Instead, rising magma intrudes into Yellowstone’s shallow hydrothermal system, rapidly vaporising immense volumes of water. At atmospheric pressure, water can expand in volume around 1,700 times when converted to steam. Trapped beneath the surface, this rapid expansion triggers violent so-called phreatomagmatic explosions that send superheated steam, mud and shattered blocks of rock kilometres into the air.

There are no human casualties yet, thanks to the wide exclusion zones on land and in the air. Wildlife, livestock and vegetation are not as fortunate. Within roughly 4–6 kilometres of the initial eruption sites, the landscape is battered by falling rock, ash and mud. Beyond the exclusion zone, people watch an impressive two kilometre-high plume rise into the sky – but it rapidly grows larger, and any sense of relief is short-lived.

A few hours later, gas-rich magma, 650-800°C in temperature – well above the melting points of lead and zinc – breaks through the fractured surface. As the confining pressure falls, dissolved gases separate into distinct components from the melt and expand violently. The magma fragments into pumice (porous rock) and ash while tearing away huge fragments of the surrounding rock from the walls of the erupting vent.

Expanding gases and intense heat drive this material upwards, creating a vast eruption column rising 30–50 kilometres into the atmosphere – far above commercial passenger aircraft, which usually cruise at up to about 13 kilometres. On this clear morning, its upper reaches are visible from Denver, some 800 kilometres away.

As the eruption continues and the volume of material expelled mounts, scientists realise it might be the opening stages of a VEI 8 super-eruption (magnitude 8 or greater) – the highest formal notch on a scale used to measure the size of explosive volcanic eruptions. It was 74,000 years ago that humanity last witnessed this scale of eruption with Toba in Indonesia.

The immense umbrella cloud that forms does not behave like a normal ash plume that simply drifts with the prevailing wind. Its momentum initially drives ash outwards in every direction – spreading hundreds of kilometres before high-altitude winds take over and carry fine ash thousands of kilometres downwind within a day.

After a few hours of continuous eruption, parts of the column collapse, generating scorching pyroclastic density currents (extremely hot, fast-moving mixtures of gas, ash and rock fragments). These surge for tens of kilometres, splintering trees, igniting forests and burying the remnants beneath hot ash and pumice.

Anyone within this zone is pulverised by the blasts, crisped by the heat, or asphyxiated by the ash. There may be up to 1,000 immediate human deaths, including people who refused to move. It is too dangerous to recover most bodies. And even if it were possible, many bodies no longer exist to be recovered.

Outside the main pyroclastic density current zone, casualties mount from vehicle crashes as drivers lose visibility or skid due to ash, from heart and breathing difficulties and from suicide. Vegetation fires spreading beyond the immediate burn zone add perhaps hundreds of fatalities from burning, smoke inhalation and vehicle crashes.

As the magma continues to escape, sections of the unsupported ground subside, opening new fractures and vents while feeding further eruptive columns and pyroclastic density currents. Hundreds of kilometres away – in Denver and along the Canadian border – heavy ashfall darkens the sky, obstructs roads and disrupts power, water supplies and communications. This ash devastates farmland across at least eight states.

Further immediate deaths could result from loss of power disrupting traffic and street lights; curtailing health services including surgery and obtaining prescriptions; and electrocution, fire and carbon monoxide poisoning from trying to set up and operate home electricity generators. Looting and increasing crime during disasters is typically rare, but it could happen in a more desperate worst-case scenario, adding to the casualty toll.

Over the coming days, the eruption continues in pulses as sections of the caldera collapse and new vents open. Successive column collapses generate pyroclastic density currents with the resulting deposits reaching several hundred metres in thickness, as they did in the last super-eruption.

Nearby infrastructure is shattered and entombed beneath the deposits. Airports close because ash interferes with aircraft and other transport networks falter. Communities across all states bordering Wyoming face darkness, breathing difficulties and roofs collapsing under accumulated ash. As the eruption eventually begins to weaken, sulphur dioxide high in the atmosphere forms sunlight-reflecting sulphate aerosols that spread around the northern hemisphere to influence the world’s climate for several years.

T+3 days

Three days into the eruption, much of North America is living in the shadow of Yellowstone. Each successive powerful eruptive pulse sends another column tens of kilometres upwards, from where it spreads into a new umbrella cloud.

Within Wyoming and neighbouring states, conditions are catastrophic. Billings, Montana, the nearest large city, is disappearing beneath what will eventually exceed a metre of ash (one published model of a Yellowstone supereruption predicts the city as receiving up to 1.8 metres of ash). Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boise, Idaho, receive tens of centimetres. For southern Canada, much of the US and northern Mexico, day becomes twilight and breathing outdoors without masks becomes increasingly difficult. People on other continents watch in trepidation under vivid, red-orange sunrises and sunsets.

Back in the US, electricity networks begin failing. Warnings had not been heeded that damp ash conducts electricity, short circuiting power lines and substations. Ash clogs machinery and generator intakes. Its weight damages cables and weaker structures.

As electricity fails, so do water pumps, sewage treatment, heating systems, fuel stations and mobile phone and internet networks. People are scared and supermarket shelves empty nationwide as regional and national supply chains begin to break down.

T+2 weeks

Over the following weeks, the crisis becomes one of survival. Repeated ashfall blocks roads, overwhelms drainage systems and damages roofs. During rain, dry ash turns into a dense slurry that makes clearance work harder. Airports remain closed or severely disrupted across much of North America, while railways, freight depots and farms struggle to operate. Livestock and crops die where pasture and water supplies are buried or contaminated by ash.

Large areas close to Yellowstone remain evacuated, while across the US, shelter, fuel, food and clean water become increasingly scarce. Some countries airlift or airdrop humanitarian relief supplies, but are also concerned about stockpiling for themselves. Losses to agriculture, transport and insurance – with many other businesses and services closed – could lead Canada, Mexico and most Caribbean and Central American countries to declare states of emergency. This is partly due to direct impacts on those countries and partly due disruption across the USA and people fleeing from it.

T+4 months

Several months later, eruptions have weakened to intermittent explosions, but the threat of renewed activity remains. For millions, the disaster is far from over. Dry, windy days lift ash back into the air, while rain and snow turn it into a heavy deposit blocking drains and damaging infrastructure. Eye and throat irritation are widespread. People with asthma and other respiratory conditions face serious health risks under reduced and overworked health services.

Water treatment and power plants struggle with ash contamination, equipment failures, lack of spare parts and overwhelming demand, disrupting essential medical and industrial processes. Crops across the most heavily affected regions have been buried. The loss of American and Canadian grain, maize and soya exports drives global food prices upwards.

Flights gradually resume in less affected areas, but airports across North America repeatedly close whenever winds remobilise the ash. The unreliable airspace and transport networks – coupled with agricultural losses, business disruption and reconstruction costs – trigger banking and insurance crises, producing a global recession.

Meanwhile, the atmospheric effects become global. Most volcanic ash has fallen out, but sulphur dioxide injected into the stratosphere produces sulphate aerosols which reflect a significant proportion of the Sun’s energy. Scientists call it a “volcanic cooling episode”, avoiding the term “a new ice age”. Modelling suggests it’s unlikely to cool the global average by more than about 1.5°C, although particular regions and seasons could experience much larger changes. Notably, central North America remains far cooler than before the eruption.

T+10 years

In the years following the eruption, the world moves into long-term recovery and rebuilding. People across the world adapt to a more agrarian lifestyle, learning to fill the land with root vegetables, grains and legumes. With far less leisure time and diminished income, recreational facilities are turned over to food production, notably small-scale greenhouses and vertical farming for producing varied fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.

Livestock decreases due to lack of land and feed, opening up more space for crops. People still eating meat typically either hunt big game or trap smaller birds and mammals. Insect farming tends to dominate the re-establishment of bird or mammal farms. People living near coasts, rivers and lakes ramp up fishing, depleting stocks rapidly until controls are enacted in some locations, along with increased farming for seaweed. Where rules are not agreed or enforced, starvation and migration are rampant.

Freshwater availability varies. The world’s climate has changed, providing ample rainfall in some places while drying out others. Large-scale water treatment technology remains known and used, but supply lines for chemicals and spare parts are unreliable. Many people develop local approaches and manage while others suffer contaminated water and disease, including cholera, dengue fever and malaria, just as billions did before the eruption.

Before the eruption, around 4.4 billion people from the world’s population of 8.3 billion lacked full, safe freshwater access. A decade after the eruption, it’s possible that 4.8 billion people lack such freshwater, while the world’s population may have declined to 7.9 billion due to spikes in elderly and infant mortality.

For the eruption’s survivors, disease and death are still rising. The eruption may well provide substantive, long-term evidence for the carcinogenic level of silica in the ash. A small but statistically significant increase in diagnoses of both silicosis (an irreversible lung disease) and lung cancer appears from exposure to ash, with similar results for cardiovascular disease in people breathing in ash particles.

Rates are likely higher than measured, because health systems across a continent were knocked out by the eruption and struggling to recover ten years later. The worst part is that the lack of health systems means that many who are diagnosed cannot be treated properly. Survivable diagnoses become lethal.

Inside the eruption zone, two decades follow of a grey landscape. It appears almost lifeless, with the ash transformed into raging mudflows called lahars in every storm. But vegetation, starting with grasslands and shifting to forests, creeps back into the swathes wiped out in the explosion and people follow. These new pioneers coax the landscape into fertile framing, helping to feed hungry populations.

The dispersed ash eventually settles out of the atmosphere, permitting the Sun’s rays to shine fully on the surface again – reviving agriculture and ecosystems. It also revives fears of human-caused climate change, despite the volcano-induced reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists work hard to determine whether the global climate has been knocked onto a new trajectory – which might be better or worse for human beings – or whether the heat stored in the atmosphere and oceans from humanity’s greenhouse gas burning will once again force a rapidly heating globe.

Additionally, scientists want to calculate deaths, injuries and loss to quality of life. Excess mortality analyses could suggest 0.7-1.3 billion premature deaths due to the eruption and its impacts. Perhaps double that number experienced temporary or permanent health effects but survived, although some will say that 100% of humanity was directly affected.

The good news, at least for our species, is that this unstoppable power of volcanism changed the planet, but did not end humanity – or come close to doing so.

T+1 million years

A creature descends to Earth from a sleek spacecraft, still humanoid but far removed from its ancestor species Homo sapiens sapiens. Tjjze (the pronoun used) has absorbed all the scant information available about ancient “Earth” and is curious to learn more.

The most notable material is the rise of its first technological civilisation just over a million years ago. This was followed by the species abandoning the planet as it changed 140,000-160,000 years ago – becoming taller, sleeker, with longer limbs, and with larger hands, heads and brains – having already established itself around the galaxy. In the remaining lore, myths recur of episodes of runaway planetary temperature changes, hot and cold, as well as a series of volcanic blasts that changed the globe.

Tjjze observes that the vegetation is lush and the H₂O is plentiful, providing ample food and water for the bizarre animals and ecosystems. A rapid scan reveals much below the surface. In fact, a large roughly ellipse-shaped ridge made of rock appears prominently underneath the top layers. Yes, this particular region, about 24.3 cqurzots in radius, is definitely lower than the vast plains outside the depression. This seems to indicate an ancient volcanic eruption. And to leave a scar this big, it must have been gigantic.

Tjjze warps the equivalent of the face into the equivalent of a frown as more data are revealed. Indeed, this definitely looks like a caldera. And the age is coming in at around a million years (plus/minus).

Could it have erupted during the time of the technological civilisation? Or were they lucky to have just missed it? It is impossible to really know.

For you: more from our Insights series:

To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. Subscribe to our newsletter.

In 2014, SE Dons were born. Based in south-east London, they were initially a Sunday League side who competed in the Orpington and Bromley District Sunday League.

When it was created by owner Don Strapzy, his only vision was to play football with his friends. More than a decade on, they are still fighting in the FA Cup. They have a huge platform on social media with 36.7k followers on X.

If they keep going the way they are, it will only rise. Their victory over Chichester City, which saw them score in the 93rd and 95th minute to win, having trailed 2-1, was the story of the weekend.

Both of the chefs are in the running for an award

Throughout the county there are chefs serving up the finest dishes, delivering memorable dining experiences and drawing in regular customers to the restaurants they work in. Everyone has their go-to restaurants and dishes, but the National Chef of the Year awards is setting out to crown the best.

Ten chefs remain in the running for one of the most prestigious titles in UK hospitality. This year, there are two Cambridge chefs shortlisted for the award.

Byron Franklin, executive chef at Ancient Shepherds by Mark Poynton and Vladimir Hromek, development chef at Cambridge Dining Co. have earned a place in the final of National Chef of the Year. Following a highly competitive semi-final stage, both Byron and Vladimir have successfully secured a place in the grand final, where the country’s leading culinary talent will compete for the opportunity to join an elite group of past winners and have their name written into the history of the competition.

The award is organised by the Craft Guild of Chefs and judged by some of the industry’s most respected chefs. This year’s finalists were selected following a rigorous judging process that tested creativity, technical skill, flavour, presentation and the ability to perform under pressure.

David Mulcahy, competition director of National Chef of the Year, said: “Reaching the National Chef of the Year final is an outstanding achievement. Every chef who has made it this far has demonstrated exceptional skill, commitment and professionalism throughout the competition.

“Year after year, the standard continues to impress the judges, and we look forward to seeing how both of these talented chefs rise to the challenge on the day.”

Ancient Shepherds, on Fen Ditton High Street, offers three carefully crafted tasting menus of three, five or seven courses. With an average of 4.5 stars out of five on Google among more than 400 reviews, it is clear that it is a highly raved place.

Cambridge Dining Co., which offers a catering service, takes “exceptional, restaurant-quality dishes and brings them to the event table”. It has an almost perfect Google review rating of 4.9 stars out of five among 90 reviews. One customer said they were “blown away by how delicious the food tasted”.

One diner, who tried the summer themed five course tasting menu said they found the food to be “highly inventive, flawlessly executed and beautifully presented”.

Chair of judges and chef patron of Moor Hall, Mark Birchall added: “I’ve been incredibly impressed by the commitment and effort that’s gone into the competition so far. I know how much pressure chefs put themselves under, but also how much they grow and learn from the experience. My advice to Byron and Vladimir is to keep it simple and focus on creating delicious, brilliantly executed dishes rather than trying to overcomplicate things.”

The final of National Chef of the Year will take place at Le Cordon Bleu London on Tuesday, October 6, where the ten finalists will cook against the clock in front of a panel of judges. The winner will be announced later that evening at a distinguished awards ceremony.

Other offenders receiving either immediate or suspended prison sentences included a man who gave police someone else’s name during a police stop, a street-level cannabis dealer and a domestic violence perpetrator.

Another offender jailed was a man who made an insulting remark at a judge from the dock at the court and then refused when given the chance to apologise.

Five defendants who have been jailed or received suspended sentences in past week at Durham Crown Court. (Image: Durham Constabulary/Contributor)

A man involved in a targeted shooting and petrol-bomb attack on a County Durham house has been jailed for 15 years.

Iain Boddy was part of a group that fired a suspected pump-action shotgun and hurled three petrol bombs at the Burnhope property on Friday, December 5 last year.

Iain Boddy (Image: Durham Constabulary)

People were inside the Front Street house, but no-one was injured, the court heard.

But no-one from the property agreed to help prosecutors.

Boddy, 44, of Moule Crescent, Auckland Park, Bishop Auckland, denied possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and arson with intent to endanger life at his trial this week.

He was found guilty of both charges on the fourth day of his trial and was sentenced later in the day by Judge Richard Clews.

Boddy was cleared of trying to set fire to a property in Broom Hill, Stanley, with intent to endanger life, on Christmas Day last year.

He must serve up to two-thirds of his 15-year sentence in prison before being released on licence.

READ MORE: Burnhope arson and shooting said to be part of intimidation campaign

A controlling man kicked his terrified “ex” in the face after grabbing her by the neck, shoving her against a wall and biting her breast.

Ian Hind was said to have treated his partner “appallingly” towards the end of their four-and-a-half year relationship, culminating in him squeezing her neck until she was almost breathless after a row over her going out without him, in January this year.

Ian Hind (Image: Public contribution)

She managed to flee his home and reached her car, where she called police, only later realising that clumps of her hair had been pulled out.

The court heard she suffered cuts, bruises and swelling to her head, neck, face, body and legs, including black eyes and a broken finger.

She has needed ongoing treatment for injuries to her nostrils and scar tissue.

He was arrested and released on police bail on condition he did not contact her, but ignored it by messaging her and sending derogatory messages about her son.

Hind, Northbridge Park, St Helen Auckland, was sentenced at the court after admitting harassment and being convicted of intentional strangulation and assault causing actual bodily harm after a trial before magistrates in June.

He initially planned to challenge his convictions, but withdrew his appeal last month.

Judge Richard Clews told Hind he behaved “appallingly” and caused his former partner “significant physical and psychological injuries”.

But he accepted the Probation Service’s assessment that the 51-year-old civil engineer poses a “low risk” of reoffending and could be rehabilitated in the community.

The judge said Hind’s offences merited prison but after “much deliberation” said he “ticks all the boxes” for a three-year sentence to be suspended for two years under new sentencing laws introduced in March.

Hind must, however, complete 41 rehabilitation and accredited programme sessions overseen by probation, as well as 200 hours’ unpaid work.

He also ordered him to pay his victim £2,000 compensation and £705 in court costs, at the rate of £150 a month.

A restraining order prohibits Hind from contacting or approaching his victim, or visiting two named streets in Newton Aycliffe, for ten years.

READ MORE: Bishop Auckland man’s behaviour to partner became increasingly abusive

A County Durham dealer was caught out when police found 31kg of cannabis in a holdall and two shopping bags.

Corbyn Farn, 32, received a 27-month sentence after admitting two charges relating to the supply of cannabis in Seaham, in December 2022.

Corbyn Farn (Image: Durham Constabulary)

As he was serving a suspended sentence for similar offending at the time, nine months were activated, taking his total prison term to 36 months.

Farn admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply between December 1 and 31, 2022, at a plea hearing at the court on August 5 this year.

He also admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis, on December 31, 2022.

The court heard that when Farn was arrested over an unrelated matter in December 2022 he was found with more than 31kg of cannabis in a holdall and two shopping bags.

Police also recovered scales, snap bags, a mobile phone and cannabis growing equipment.

The cannabis was estimated to be worth between £10,000 and £12,500 on the street.

Smaller amounts of cannabis were also found at a second address linked to Farn.

Messages on his phone suggested he was selling cannabis directly to “customers”.

The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the mobile phone, cannabis and other equipment seized when Farn was arrested in December 2022.

READ MORE: Seaham dealer caught with 31kg of cannabis in shopping bags

A banned driver gave police another man’s name when he was stopped because he feared a longer driving ban.

Anthony Prior’s attempt to evade detection put suspicion on an innocent man and ultimately landed him in prison.

(Image: Durham Constabulary)

Prior, 32, of Oak Lea, Witton Gilbert, appeared at the court after admitting perverting the course of justice at a plea hearing in July.

Prosecutor Imogen Eastham-Brown said police stopped Prior on Stockley Lane, near Crook, at about 1.30pm on November 18, 2024.

Prior gave another man’s name, spelling it out and giving his date-of-birth, and told the officer he had no driving licence or other identification on him at the time.

He also claimed his phone had no social media profile which could verify his identity.

The man whose identity Prior used had no licence, and the defendant told police his father insured him to drive.

Miss Eastham-Brown said the man’s father was contacted, but after 20 minutes Prior, still claiming to be the other man, admitted he had no licence and was uninsured.

The man whose name Prior gave later told police he knew nothing about the stop.

A screenshot from body-worn footage identified Prior as the most likely match with the driver stopped in November 2024, and police visited him on November 5 last year.

Miss Eastham-Brown said Prior indicated he would plead guilty early in the case.

She said he has 18 convictions for 22 offences, including driving without a licence in 2009 and while disqualified in June 2024 for which he received a 12-month community order and a three-year driving ban.

The judge said Prior’s benefit was that he was not charged with driving while disqualified.

“I appreciate a lot of water has gone under the bridge since November 2024 but in my judgement the law is that offences of this type are so serious only immediate custody can follow.”

Judge Clews imposed a six-month prison sentence, of which Prior may serve only 40 per cent.

READ MORE: Witton Gilbert banned driver jailed for giving police false name

A defendant’s four-letter insult to a judge earned him two extra months jail for contempt of court.

Kai Taylor appeared before Judge Jo Kidd at Durham Crown Court on July 27 after surrendering himself, following seven months on a bench warrant for failing to attend a January hearing.

Kai Taylor (Image: Durham Constabulary)

Judge Kidd questioned a remark made by one of Taylor’s associates in the public gallery.

She ordered Taylor’s three “followers” to leave, but he then shouted from the dock that he had made the remark and repeated it, saying: “Snobby ****”.

After speaking to his lawyers, Taylor refused to apologise and was charged with contempt of court.

Taylor, 26, appeared via video link from Durham Prison before Judge Francis Laird at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday (September 15), for sentence on the contempt offence and original charges.

Those involved breaching a restraining order by visiting his ex-partner in Seaham on August 1 last year, breaching a 12-month suspended prison sentence and failing to attend court in January.

Taylor, 26, of no fixed abode, but previously from Seaham, admitted all the charges.

His barrister, Tony Davis, said there was little he could say because his client had, “in reality, run out of rope”.

He added that Taylor’s comment to the judge was “no more than bravado on his behalf”.

READ MORE: Seaham man who swore at judge jailed for further two months

Read next … more court stories from The Northern Echo, by clicking here

Judge Laird said the matter probably would have gone no further if Taylor had taken the chance to apologise, on July 27.

The judge imposed consecutive sentences for the breaches, bail offence and for the contempt (two months), bring a total 12-month prison sentence.

He told Taylor his six weeks on remand would count towards his sentence.

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Published: 09:26 BST, 21 September 2026 | Updated: 13:09 BST, 21 September 2026

Irwin D Simon, chairman and chief executive of Tilray Brands said: “BrewDog is one of the biggest and most recognised beer brands in the UK and across Europe, and we see tremendous opportunity to re-energise it, strengthen its connection with consumers and build it into an even bigger global business.

However, Endrick has not given up on his Real Madrid future, while the club remain reluctant to lose a player they consider a major talent. Arsenal are not the only Premier League side interested, with Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Fulham also having explored his situation.

Former Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman enjoyed a work-free weekend with a spot of shopping in London’s Notting Hill – as the show’s re-vamped line-up failed to deliver in the ratings.

Amid the BBC hit’s big relaunch, Claudia, 54, perused shops in the west London neighborhood with her half-brother Oliver Lloyd. 

She looked relaxed and carefree for the low-key outing, which comes after the new Strictly line-up with Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe failed to deliver the ratings boost BBC bosses had hoped for.

Fans questioned the ‘awkward’ three-presenter format, while comedian Josh, 43, was branded ‘out of his depth’ on the show. 

On Saturday, the pre-recorded launch show peaked at 5.8 million viewers, according to overnight figures, up slightly on last year’s peak of 5.6 million. 

However, the episode averaged at 5.3 million viewers, down from 5.4 million in 2025. 

While Strictly’s revamped line-up failed to deliver in the ratings, Claudia, 54, looked relaxed and carefree she joined her half-brother Oliver Lloyd for the low-key outing

While the peak figure represents a small rise on last year, it remains well below the figures recorded before the programme was hit by a series of controversies.

This includes allegations about the treatment of celebrity contestants and the culture behind the scenes, leading to the departure of professional dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima and prompting the BBC to introduce tougher welfare measures.

Prior to the string of scandals, the Strictly launch peaked at 6.7 million viewers and averaged 6.3 million in 2023.

Bosses will have hoped that a fresh format and new hosting line-up could tempt lapsed viewers back to the BBC One favourite. However, the overnight figures suggest the changes have yet to produce a significant ratings resurgence.

Pre-recorded last week, the episode opened with a dance number from the professionals, including the five new dancers, as well as the judges and the new hosts.

The 15 nervous celebrities also found out who they will be dancing with for, potentially, 13 weeks as they vie for the Glitterball trophy.

Willis, Widdicombe and Radebe have taken over from Tess Daly and Claudia, who left the BBC show at the end of the 2025 series.

Widdicombe admitted he was nervous as the new series got under way, telling viewers: ‘It’s a little bit overwhelming to be here but we are so excited…’ 

Ditching the heavy eyeliner and glam ensembles she would normally don on a Saturday, Claudia instead opted for a more pared-back look, sporting minimal makeup and casual clothing

The Traitors host teamed a brown jacket with slouchy jeans tucked into chunky black boots for the outing 

She could be seen leaning against a bollard while checking her phone, as she and Oliver happily enjoyed each other’s company

Advertisement

Claudia and Oliver share the same mother, author and journalist Eve Pollard, with Eve having welcomed Oliver with her second husband, newspaper editor Sir Nicholas Lloyd

The siblings enjoyed a relaxing day out together

Claudia’s outing comes after the revamped Strictly line-up with Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe failed to deliver the ratings boost BBC bosses had hoped for 

On Saturday, the pre-recorded launch show peaked at 5.8 million viewers, according to overnight figures, up slightly on last year’s peak of 5.6 million

Advertisement

Willis added: ‘We cannot wait to spend the next 13 weeks with all of you.’

And viewers were quick to react to the presenting team on social media.

Willis was widely praised, with one fan hailing her as ‘the goddess of British TV’ as she opened the show in a plunging, glittering dress.

But others questioned the decision to have three presenters, with viewers pointing out the format seems ‘awkward and forced’.

‘Why does it need 3 presenters? It just doesn’t work,’ one wrote on X.

Widdicombe also came in for criticism, with some viewers claiming he appeared ‘out of his depth’.

Amid the furore surrounding the launch show, Claudia didn’t appear to have a care in the world as she enjoyed some retail therapy with her brother.

Ditching the heavy eyeliner and glam ensembles she would normally don on a Saturday, Claudia instead opted for a more pared-back look, sporting minimal makeup and casual clothing. 

The Traitors host teamed a brown jacket with slouchy jeans tucked into chunky black boots for the outing.

She could be seen leaning against a bollard while checking her phone, as she and Oliver happily enjoyed each other’s company.

Claudia and Oliver share the same mother, author and journalist Eve Pollard, with Eve having welcomed Oliver with her second husband, newspaper editor and broadcaster Sir Nicholas Lloyd. 

It comes as ITV made a tactical scheduling change to avoid a direct clash between The Voice and the Strictly launch.

The Voice began at 6.10pm rather than its usual 7pm slot, while Strictly started at 7.25pm.

However, the singing competition, which Willis has hosted since 2014, was unable to match Strictly’s numbers, peaking at two million viewers and averaging 1.6 million.

This means the ITV show, which has been mired in controversy after it emerged coach Tom Jones had been dropped, lost half a million viewers from the previous week.

Willis will spend several weeks going head-to-head with herself on primetime television, and on Saturday, across the two programmes, she helped draw a combined audience of around seven million viewers.

Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon, said: “Just three days after NATS assured airlines and passengers that it had introduced a robust ‘mitigation plans’, its flight data processing system has failed again. More than 25,000 Ryanair passengers have already suffered disruption, with over 140 Ryanair flights delayed, yet NATS still cannot tell passengers when this disruption will end.

“Martin Rolfe’s report claimed that another failure was ‘unlikely’ and that NATS could recover more quickly if one occurred. Those claims have been exposed as completely worthless. Just three days later, passengers are once again suffering lengthy delays because NATS has failed to deliver either a reliable system or an effective back-up.

“After the August 2023 collapse, Martin Rolfe assured Parliament that it was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime event’. Then NATS collapsed again on 8 Sept, disrupting more than 2,000 flights. Now, just 13 days later, the same flight data processing system has failed once more. How many times must UK passengers suffer disruption before Martin Rolfe is replaced by somebody competent?