At the special centre,dogs like Percy (above) can run around, negotiate obstacles and navigate their wheelchairs at speed on tarmac before being promoted to the park (Picture: Supplied)
In the heart of the Lincolnshire countryside, there is a learner driver centre unlike any you have ever seen. Here, you won’t find any examiners, provisional licences or emergency stops (hopefully) – just excitable dogs racing around practising with their new wheels.
That’s because it is home to Broken Biscuits, a disabled animal rescue charity and sanctuary where poorly and recovering pups are given a new lease of life at what the founders say is the ‘world’s first disabled dog park’.
Here, disabled dogs are initiated at the learner driver centre, where they can run around, negotiate obstacles and navigate their wheelchairs at speed on tarmac before being promoted to the park, where they yip, chase balls and run without a care in the world.
Tim Giles, co-founder of Broken Biscuits, tells Metro: ‘A lot of times, when you get a dog fitted into a wheelchair, if it’s in strange surroundings, like a park, the dog will just stand there. But we found the best place to take a dog to do a fitting was a tennis court, because there is tarmac, a fence around it and they have space to run around.’
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Tim with some of the dogs that use the exercise space at Broken Biscuits (Picture: Supplied)
After their discovery, Tim, 58, and co-founder and wife Cassie Carney, 49, built the racetrack to get the dogs running again.
The seven-acre park enables dogs to pass their learner driver’s test on hard surfaces, before graduating to a grassy area alongside stables and small houses where timid dogs can hide or take a break and grassy mounds which more advanced wheelchair users can climb up and race down.
The couple set up the charity 18 years ago after going on holiday in Europe and seeing how many stray puppies were paralysed then euthanised after being hit by cars.
Cassie, a veterinary nurse, and Tim started working with clinics, providing spaying and neutering in Moldova, Bosnia and Romania, when they came across Otto, a shih tzu-yorkie cross whose back legs were amputated after he was hit by a car and was due to be put down.
Tim and wife Cassie, a veterinary nurse, launched the charity 18 years ago after going to Europe and seeing how many stray puppies were paralysed and euthanised after being hit by cars (Picture: Supplied)
They brought Otto back to the UK in 2009, along with two other dogs, and set up a sanctuary that is now home to 20.
Cassie admits that working with disabled dogs, they made ‘a lot of mistakes’, because fitting wheelchairs is a complicated art. They often require a lot of adaptation, and dogs in shelters are frequently undernourished, so the fit needs to change as the pups gain weight.
‘If you get the wrong equipment, you then put the dog off. If you put them in a wheelchair that’s rubbing on their body or becomes too hot in the sun because the bars heat up, you lose that trust with the dog. So you’ve spent all this money on a wheelchair, and you feel like you failed them,’ she explains.
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For the past few years, the couple have been working alongside Rachel Wettner, founder of dog charity Winston’s Wheels. She knows just how valuable a wheelchair can be after she was told her beloved Staffordshire Bull Terrier Winston would have to be put down in 2017 due to a spinal tumour.
Rachel Wettner named her charity, Winston’s Wheels, after her own dog (Picture: Supplied)
‘We [she and husband Sydney who passed away last year] took him to the vets and after scans and tests they said – just take him home and enjoy him, and when you’re ready, put him to sleep. And that was it,’ Rachel, from Suffolk, tells Metro.
‘It was heartbreaking because even though he couldn’t use his back legs, he was exactly the same dog down to his waist. He was cheeky and playful and he just wanted to carry on. And we were devastated – we’d had him from a puppy so we had such a close bond. We were just determined we weren’t going to give up on him.’
In desperation, Rachel, a learning mentor for young adults with special needs, asked for advice on social media and a kind stranger got in touch offering to loan her a wheelchair.
‘That was a real blessing because Winston took to it straight away and did everything he did before – like dog shows and paddling in the sea. It was a total game changer. He really was amazing. And the cat was fascinated by him,’ she recalls.
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Rachel with her dogs Ernie, Winnie and Dino (Picture: Supplied)
Every time the wheelchair came out for a run around the garden or a walk, Winston’s tail would wag like crazy, Rachel remembers, and he enjoyed three extra years sniffing around and playing in his wheels before passing away in 2020.
Inspired, Rachel, went on to home two further disabled dogs and set up Winston’s Wheels in his memory, which has helped thousands of dogs.
The charity loans out wheelchairs to pets, which are returned when they are no longer needed after the dog has either recovered or passed away. They have even provided wheelchairs for disabled sheep. And the charity has enlisted the help of Team Tactics, who run corporate days building the wheelchairs to help spread awareness and raise funds.
Rachel’s charity loans out wheelchairs to pets (Picture: Supplied)
Blueberry the black lab
‘It’s fantastic, because people get to see these special dogs and they fall in love with them instantly. People’s reaction to them is amazing and for them to see how the wheelchairs transform dogs’ lives is brilliant, Rachel says.
Disabled dogs can live a long time – as Otto is living proof. Although now aged 13 and going through heart failure, he ‘still looks and acts like a puppy’, Cassie says.
Care for disabled dogs has come a long way in recent years aided in part by the popular TV show Colin from Accounts.
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The Australian comedy tells the story of Gordon and Ashley who were catapulted together by a stray terrier (Picture:CBS Studios Inc)
Disabled dogs can live a long time – as Otto, now 13, is living proof (Picture: Supplied)
‘It’s not unusual to see a dog in a wheelchair now. When we first started, we would have Otto in his chair and cars would stop, people would point, say it’s cruel,’remembers Tim.
Cassie adds: ‘Disabled dogs are put into a “freak show” – “too difficult” category. But we want to normalise it. It doesn’t have to be that difficult or scary. Nearly all pet parents will have their dog become disabled at some point in their life – by being hit by a car or having a stroke.
‘But also, they will become disabled as they age. They will lose bladder control, their sight, their hearing, or there are diseases like cancer, arthritis and Cushing’s that will affect their mobility. It’s just a normal part of life.
‘Life rolls on and we’re glad to be able to help dogs and their owners as they navigate that.’
The vacant plot of land off Kestor Street in The Haulgh formerly housed Bolton Parish Primary School before they moved to their current school on Chadwick Street.
A design and access statement submitted by RA Design and Project Management said that “existing access into the site is tight” and “a dropped kerb will make access easier in the future”.
They continued: “There is no firm plan for the site but several prospective future users have commented that the access is too narrow”.
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They have proposed dropping the kerb and widening the entry gate to make the site easier for future occupiers to use.
Bolton Council’s town planning officers agreed with the proposal which they said “would not have any significant impact upon the visual amenity of the area”.
In their report, they said the area is predominantly in commercial and industrial use “with commercial fencing visible along Kestor Street”.
Officers were called to Northumberland Road on Thursday (April 2) at around 3.30am.
A cordon was erected as white-suited investigators probed the semi-detached home later on Thursday, with pictures showing how the property had two smashed windows.
No injuries were reported during the incident, although people were inside at the time.
Cleveland Police has today (Friday, April 3) confirmed no arrests have yet been made and the investigation remains ongoing.
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(Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
Crime scene investigators were seen wearing white suits with blue masks and gloves on Thursday within one of three police cordons set up along the road.
The road was fully blocked off at the junction with Thornaby Road, where an officer was standing guard beside a police van.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Pringle, from Stockton CID said: “At 3.30am on Thursday, April 2, police received reports of a firearm being discharged towards a property on Northumberland Road in Thornaby.
“While occupants were inside the property at the time, there were no injuries reported.
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“Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information, dash cam or doorbell footage is asked to call Cleveland Police on 101 quoting reference number 060930.”
The wind alert will now be in place until 7am on Easter Sunday, with the forecasters warning of possible disruption across Darlington and County Durham over the weekend.
Storm Dave will move in towards the North East during Saturday evening (April 4), bringing gusts of up to 50 to 60 mph and up to 60 to 70 mph in more exposed locations.
The spell of very strong winds later on Saturday and overnight into Sunday morning could lead to damage and travel disruption.
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Where will be affected?
The yellow weather warning runs from Saturday 5pm until Easter Sunday 7am (extended from Saturday evening) and applies to the following areas in the North East, including:
· Darlington · Durham · Gateshead · Newcastle upon Tyne · North Tyneside · Northumberland · South Tyneside · Sunderland
Forecasters rate the potential impact of the weather warning as medium, with the likelihood of the disruption being “very low.”
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The Met Office said: “A rapidly deepening area of low pressure, Storm Dave, is likely to move North Eastwards close to or across northwestern parts of the UK during Saturday evening and night, clearing to the North Sea by Sunday.
“While there is some uncertainty over the exact track, intensity and shape of this area of low pressure, a period of strong west to south-westerly winds is expected during Saturday night and into the first part of Easter Sunday, before gradually easing through the day.
“Peak gusts of 50-60 mph will be possible fairly widely, with 60-70 mph in more exposed locations.”
‘The design of the development will create a vibrant neighbourhood with strong connections to the local community’
Plans are under consideration to build over 200 houses in a sleepy Welsh village. Developer BDW Trading Ltd has lodged an application with Vale of Glamorgan Council to build 232 houses and a foodstore that could be as large as 20,000 sq ft on Church Farm in St Athan.
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The development would feature a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom properties. These properties would be split into 150 homes for the open market, 54 social rented units and 28 “low-cost home ownership units”.
The application reads: “The development has been structured around a clear street hierarchy and integrated network of green infrastructure and public open spaces to create a high-quality and inclusive residential environment” For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here
The affordable homes on site are located throughout the development, “providing integration with the open market housing”.
Planning documents read: “The proposals make efficient use of the site by providing much needed market and affordable homes, in addition to a new foodstore.”
It continues: “The design of the development will create a vibrant neighbourhood with strong connections to the local community.”
The documents also outline that a total of 498 private car parking spaces will be provided, with the numbers per plot ranging from one to three depending on “dwelling size”
There will also be 48-off carriageway visitor parking spaces.
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Four-hundred metres of hedgerow are proposed to be removed as well as 12 small hawthorn trees to make way for the development.
In return, a total of 200 trees are proposed to be planted across the development in addition to 600m of hedgerow, over 500sq m of “native shrub planting” and over 3,500sq m of native grassland and wildflowers.
The application reads: “The development includes the creation of several open spaces and green corridors within the site.
“This includes three large open spaces, with two primarily focusing on formal and informal play and the larger space combining informal play, biodiversity and sustainable drainage systems use.”
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Regarding the proposed foodstore, the application reads: “Given the limited food retailing options within St Athan currently, the proposed foodstore would make a significant contribution to the settlement as a whole and reduce longer journeys by private car to other foodstores further afield.”
It continues: “The provision of a food store will have significant sustainability benefits and have the potential to create a range of new employment opportunities.”
In its latest operational update, the Ministry of Defence said RAF Regiment gunners downed multiple Iranian drones overnight, while UK Typhoons and F-35 jets, together with Wildcat helicopters, continued their defensive missions over Cyprus, Jordan, Qatar, UAE, and Bahrain.
After nearly half a century of quiet village life, residents in Halkyn claim the atmosphere around them has shifted dramatically. Locals living near a £1.6 million luxury holiday property in Flintshire claim noise and anti-social behaviour from visitors has disrupted what was once a peaceful rural setting.
However, the owners of the Old Church School insist they have taken every reasonable step to address neighbours’ concerns – resulting in a deadlock between both parties.
Guy Roberts, who resides with his wife and elderly father in the adjacent Old School House, claimed loud music and lighting continuing into the early hours of the morning, along with visitors celebrating in the rear garden of the 24-bed establishment, had destroyed the peaceful rural setting since it began welcoming guests in October, 2025.
“It’s simply not a suitable use for a property in this village,” Mr Roberts claimed. “When planning went in for a holiday let we thought that was what it would be, but it is almost like a venue.
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“We have lived here for 46 years and this has changed the character of the place. I’m a truck driver, my wife is self-employed and has to work early so we need our rest. The noise is so bad my dad, who is deaf, is bothered by it.”, reports North Wales Live.
“We’ve tried to speak to the landlord, he agreed to put a device on the sound system to cut it off at 11pm but said he can’t stop guests bringing their own, which they are now doing.
“Also, the music is often on all day. It seems to be that people are coming for parties at the weekend rather than peaceful week-long holidays.
“They are out in the hot tub at all hours of the day and night and we can’t seem to get anywhere. We have reported it to the police but they can’t do anything and Flintshire County Council have set up equipment to monitor the noise but it is driving us crazy.
“We are not even in peak season yet so goodness knows what it will be like then.”
Mr Roberts has since sought the assistance of Brynford and Halkyn Cllr Fran Lister in finding a resolution.
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“It’s clearly very distressing,” she said. “I remember when this went through planning as a holiday let and we had no objections as long as it’s not too noisy for the neighbours.
“It’s not fair that the neighbours are feeling this impact.” Make sure you never miss Wales’ biggest updates by getting our daily newsletter
However, a spokesperson for Halkyn Estates Ltd, the company running the property, stated that it had been taking residents’ complaints on board and working towards solutions.
“This was a Grade II Listed building that was falling into disrepair,” he said. “We spent £1.6 million to buy the building and refurbish it – preserving it for the community.
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“We even included original artefacts, furniture and school photos from when it was a school in the interior.
“We have done everything by the book and I understand the problems residents have. We appreciate the issues around noise which is why we installed a shut-off system.
“We operate a number of properties and this is already a very popular one. We want to be part of the community and work with residents to resolve any issues because ultimately we want the tourism we bring to Halkyn to enhance the area.
“Guests are advised to be considerate of our neighbours and to ensure noise is kept down during unsocial hours.
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“Our investment in the Old Church School has brought it back into use in a sustainable way. Between being a school and a holiday let the site was for some time a factory and when we bought it it still had planning classification as one.
“That would have created a lot more noise. We understand that our neighbours have concerns and we would welcome the opportunity to work with them to find a solution that suits everybody.”
The warning runs from 5pm on Saturday (April 4) until 7am on Easter Sunday (April 5).
It warns that Storm Dave will bring a spell of very strong winds – of 50-60mph in the York area – which may cause some damage and travel disruption.
The yellow warning says road and rail services are likely to be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible.
Power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage, it adds.
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Some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen, the warning also suggests, adding injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible.
A yellow weather warning has been issued for York ahead of Storm Dave (Image: Met Office)
Met Office deputy chief forecaster, Tom Crabtree, said: “StormDave will form and rapidly deepen on Saturday as it approaches the UK from the west.
“By Saturday afternoon winds will strengthen significantly, with gusts of 60-70mph expected at times across parts of Scotland with the potential for gusts of 80-90mph in exposed coastal locations in Scotland.
“Gusts of 50-60mph are likely more widely in northern Britain.
“As well as strong winds, StormDave will also bring heavy snowfall over the hills in northern Scotland where up to 10-20cm of snow could accumulate.
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“Along with the strong winds this will lead to blizzard conditions.
“Elsewhere there will be heavy spells of rain as the system moves through eastwards across the UK.”
A yellow wind alert has been announced for northern England, including several areas in Greater Manchester. The warning covers Bolton, Bury, Oldham and Trafford, as well as other parts of the region.
This alert is in place from 5pm on Saturday, April 4, until 7am on Sunday, April 5, due to the anticipated strong winds of up to 90mph in some parts of the UK.
#StormDave has been named and is forecast to bring damaging winds across northern parts of the UK, with some disruptive snow possible in northwest Scotland later on Saturday and into Easter Day #WeatherAwarepic.twitter.com/J0NZYD2SPC
This is different to the previous wind warning, which was previously in place from 6pm on Saturday, April 4 until 12pm on Easter Sunday.
According to Tom Crabtree, deputy chief forecaster at the Met Office, “Storm Dave will form and rapidly deepen on Saturday as it approaches the UK from the west.”
He added that parts of Scotland might experience gusts of 60-70mph, and some coastal areas could face winds as high as 80-90mph.
Gusts of 50-60mph are predicted to occur more commonly across northern Britain.
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Northern Scotland may see heavy snowfall on the hills, accumulating up to 10-20cm of snow, alongside strong winds that could result in blizzard-like conditions.
Heavy rain is expected to spread across the UK as Storm Dave moves eastwards.
The Met Office warned that the strong winds pose a risk of causing injuries and danger to life from flying debris, which may also result in damage and travel disturbances across the affected areas.
While northern regions are anticipated to face more severe conditions, southern parts of the UK are not set to feel the impact of the storm.
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Travel services, including road, rail, air, and ferry, are likely to be disrupted, with longer journey times and potential cancellations.
Certain roads and bridges might need to be closed, and power cuts could occur, possibly impacting other services such as mobile phone coverage.
Debris-related injuries and danger to life are forecasted, with large waves expected to pose a threat to sea fronts, coastal roads, and properties.
Precautionary advice encourages the public to ensure the safety of loose items around their homes and to prepare for any delays by checking travel conditions and schedules.
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Residents near the coast are advised to be cautious of large waves and to be prepared for the quick updates in weather warnings.
The general public is continually advised to stay informed with the latest updates as Storm Dave was expected to move across Scotland on the night of Saturday into Sunday and off into the North Sea.
The storm is predicted to bring strong winds, primarily from the southwest direction.
The highest wind speeds are expected during Saturday evening, with a small chance of brief gusts of 70-80 mph, particularly in northern England and southern Scotland.
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In addition to the strong winds, large waves could result in dangerous conditions around windward coasts.
People are advised to follow official advice to ensure safety.
Kloppreceived a hero’s welcome as he oversaw an entertaining 2-2 draw at Anfield. Before and after the fixture, he participated in various community activities in support of the LFC Foundation. He continues to serve as an ambassador for the club’s charitable organisation, having taken up the role when he stepped down as Reds boss in 2024.
Following the event, Klopp shared photos on Instagram. Tagging in the LFC Foundation, he wrote: “Thank you to everyone who made my homecoming so special.”
Klopp has embraced several new positions since departing the Reds. He joined the Red Bull Group as Head of Global Football in an advisory capacity before being appointed as an expert by the German Football League (DFL).
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He now faces a hectic summer after being signed up as a pundit for the World Cup by German television and streaming service Magenta TV. Klopp revealed the news late last year in a video that hinted at a return to management, only to confirm he would instead be working as an analyst at the tournament.
After strolling through a stadium, gazing wistfully at his surroundings, he told the camera: “Oh no, not as a manager. I am becoming a pundit for Magenta TV at the FIFA World Cup 2026.”
“But that’s all nonsense. They haven’t called even once, not once. My agent is there, you can ask him. They haven’t called him either.”
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Klopp has made it abundantly clear that should he return to the dugout, it wouldn’t be with another English club. His comments following the Dortmund legends fixture reinforced his enduring connection with the Reds.
He said: “Enjoyed every second. My role was definitely not to have a lot of words. I was here for the Foundation and to be part of a really special experience.
“For me, a very special experience after a while – being around, being that close, seeing all the Liverpool lads and then seeing the Dortmund lads as well, because that was like 80 per cent of my players. And you don’t meet very often and have them all together in one room. It’s really cool.”
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