It is understood that the woman was approached as she walked at Hardwick Park in Stockton, behind the play area at 1.30pm on Monday (April 20).

Officers said the woman managed to escape and didn’t suffer any serious injuries but was “understandably shaken by the incident”.

The man is described as being of medium build, wearing an all-black tracksuit and a face covering and was on a black pedal bike.

A spokesperson from Cleveland Police said: “There were lots of dog walkers and people in the park at the time who came to help the woman and officers would like to speak to anyone who was there at the time.

“Officers would particularly like to speak to a woman who had light-coloured hair and was wearing light blue clothing.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Cleveland Police on 101, quoting reference number 074004.

Emergency services were called to the A-road through Hemlington Row at 11.15am this morning (Wednesday, April 22), where the man was briefly trapped.

The 56-year-old is understood to have been loading a cabin onto the rear of a van at around when he briefly became pinned between them and suffered chest injuries.

The air ambulance was seen landing nearby and police closed the road around the roadworks.

The road was closed after incident for around three hours. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

A Durham Police spokesperson said: “The man has suffered chest injuries and was taken to hospital by ambulance. He is said to be in a stable condition.”

The road was closed after incident for around three hours. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Police have now passed the incident to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for investigation.

The road was closed after incident for around three hours. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

The road was closed after incident for around three hours. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

A spokesperson from the North East Ambulance said: “We were called to an incident on the A690, Hemlington Row in Crook shortly before 11.15am on 22 April.

“We dispatched a double-crewed ambulance, a clinical team leader and were supported by Great North Air Ambulance Service.

“One patient was taken by road to University Hospital of North Durham.”

The road was closed for around three hours while the emergency services attended but it has now reopened.

The Northern Echo has contacted the HSE for comment.

Ali Shoukat Nasri died at his home address on Rosenheath Grove in Great Lever on Friday, April 17, 2026.

Police said there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the 36-year-old’s death and have launched a next-of-kin appeal.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “Do you know the next of kin of a man from Bolton?

“Ali Shoukat Nasri (36), sadly died at his address on Rosenheath Grove, Bolton, on Friday 17 April 2026.

“There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.”

Next-of-kin, while not fully defined under UK law, is usually understood to refer to the closest living relative, be that a parent, child or sibling.

Police are urging anyone with information about the whereabouts of Mr Nasri’s family to contact the Police Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 4687.

He placed his hands around the victim’s neck, causing her to stop breathing for about 15 seconds

A man strangled his wife until she stopped breathing at her home in Cambridgeshire. Luke Davey, 35, attacked the victim at her home in Doddington, near March, in the early hours of November 16 last year.

According to Cambridgeshire Police, the couple were in the process of splitting up and an argument had broken out. The victim began recording the argument with her mobile phone and Davey grabbed it before placing his hands around her neck, causing her to stop breathing for about 15 seconds.

Davey of Marshall’s Road, Raunds, near Wellingborough, also dragged her out of her daughter’s bedroom as she tried to call police from another phone. He was jailed for a year on April 21 at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court, having previosuly pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation. He was also handed a five-year restraining order against the victim.

DC Chris Herring, who investigated, said: “This was a despicable attack which could have had fatal consequences. I would like to thank the victim for reporting the assault and supporting us with a prosecution. Domestic abuse is a force priority, and we will do all we can to put the perpetrators before the courts.”

Her agent, Michelle Sykes, confirmed the news on Wednesday (22 April).

She said: “She passed away peacefully, after a short illness, surrounded by her loving family on 21st April 2026 at the age of 89.”

Born in Liverpool in 1936, Kelly was 69 when she won her breakout part in Benidorm, appearing as the mother of Johnny Vegas’s character.

ELSIE KELLY pic.twitter.com/IOlbi1H0R3

— Derren Litten (@DerrenLitten) April 22, 2026

The sitcom, set in an all‑inclusive resort in Spain, follows a group of mainly British holidaymakers who return to the same complex year after year.

In the original script, Noreen was supposed to be killed off in her first episode, but the chemistry between Kelly and Vegas proved so strong that the character was kept on as key member.

Benidorm creator Derren Litten honoured Kelly’s legacy, describing her as a “comedic genius”.

“So sad to pass on the news of the passing of Elsie Kelly aka Noreen in Benidorm,” he wrote. “One of the best-loved characters in the show and certainly one of the most beloved cast members. Elsie’s acting abilities and comic genius were so natural they were almost taken for granted.

“Thanks for your talent but most of all your friendship Elsie. I am very sad today but also happy to think of such a wonderful life well lived.”

Kelly’s fellow Benidorm star Crissy Rock joined in the tributes, saying that she was “so sad” to hear of the actor’s death.

“We shared so many wonderful memories filming Benidorm, moments I’ll always treasure. She was an absolute joy to work with and brought so much warmth and laughter wherever she went,” Rock wrote.

She appeared on nine of the show’s 10 seasons between 2006 and 2018, and in the show’s final season, also played Noreen’s twin sister Doreen.

rip elsie kelly pic.twitter.com/VTE8xIdDvT

— lennon (@ll3nn0n) April 22, 2026

Benidorm a huge hit with fans

The series, set in a Spanish resort, first aired in 2007 and ran for ten series with 74 episodes before ITV bosses cancelled the show.

Benidorm was a big hit for ITV, gaining more than eight million viewers and a big fan base, even inspiring many to visit the Spanish region for their own holiday.

Creator of the show, Derren Litten, has previously taken to X, formerly Twitter, to share that he has more stories he would love to explore.

During its time on ITV, Benidorm became a hit, earning numerous National Television Awards and TV Choice Awards, and it was BAFTA-nominated.

Did you enjoy Benidorm? Let us know in the comments

Tottenham are looking to appoint a lead psychologist for their men’s first team after boss Roberto de Zerbi said they need to “change the mentality”.

Spurs have slipped into the Premier League’s bottom three, having gone 15 league games without a win.

De Zerbi was appointed as Tottenham‘s third head coach of the season at the end of March but has picked up just one point from two games.

The Italian said his job is to give the players the “right mentality” and it appears the club is taking steps to help him achieve that goal.

In an advert posted by Spurs on social media platform LinkedIn, external, the club said they are seeking an “outstanding performance psychologist” to deliver “evidence-based psychological support to elite players”.

“The role encompasses individual player support, systemic work across the coaching and performance staff, and the ongoing development of a psychologically informed performance culture throughout the team,” the advert added.

“This role demands a practitioner who is credible, discreet, and highly effective in a Premier League environment, capable of building trust with players and coaches while operating with the professional rigor expected at the highest level of the game.”

I VOTED Labour in the last election. After the disgraceful behaviour of the last Government, I honestly thought that Keir Starmer would, at the very least, bring truth, transparency and honesty.

Watching Olly Robbins today, and the way he presented himself and the evidence he gave, it’s blown apart the explanations given by the PM. The PM has mislead the us all. I feel so sorry for Olly Robbins who didn’t deserve to be sacked.

Starmer tried to bully Mandelson into the US Ambassador’s role despite his relationship with Epstein and business links to China and Russia as well as his obsession with the rich and powerful.

The defence of “no one told me” is insulting.

Starmer had the opportunity to tell the truth, take responsibility and he didn’t take it. We need a leader, not someone who sacrifices all those around him.

John Jones,

Russet House,

Birch Close

York

What do you think?

Feel strongly about an issue? Write us a letter. Please write no more than 250 words and you must provide your full name, address and mobile number. Send your views by email to: letters@thepress.co.uk

Write a comment

Join the debate and leave a comment in our comments section below this article – we may use your comments for a follow up article.

The influencer, who has more than one million followers on TikTok and Instagram, was seen walking through streets in the city centre on Wednesday afternoon (April 22).

Speaking in Clifford Street, Gymskin told The Press he was filming live content on the streaming platform Kick but declined to speak further as we was going for lunch.

More than 1,800 viewers were tuned into the live broadcast on Kick at 1.45pm, in which Gymskin could be seen posing for photographs with fans.

Gymskin was joined by a camera operator and another man as the group walked around York city centre.

The video, which also featured clips in Leeds city centre, said the influencer was taking part in a UK tour.

“I’m so gassed, this is mint,” Gymskin said in the video after arriving in York.

I’m standing in a deconsecrated church in Lambeth, London, now home to the Garden Museum. It has a warm and pleasant atmosphere, undeniably a church, yet far removed from its original purpose. On this quiet Friday morning, I met with Emma House, the lead curator of the exhibition Seeds of Exchange. We wandered around the exhibit, which is deceptively small for the scale of its story, crossing continents, cultures, languages and time.

Seeds of Exchange: Canton and London in the 1700s tells a story that is both local and global. It centres on a short-lived but remarkable collaboration between an English botanist and his Chinese counterparts. Together, they documented the plant life of Canton (modern-day Guangzhou) at a time when global trade, science and empires were becoming deeply entangled.

As a botanist I love plants – but this story is not only about them. It is about how knowledge moves, and who gets to shape it.

A meeting point of worlds

The late 18th century was a period of carefully controlled contact between China and Europe. Trade with the outside world in China was tightly regulated through licensed Chinese merchant guilds. Foreign traders could only operate during part of the year.

Into this system stepped John Bradby Blake, an employee of the British East India Company in the early 18th century.

Like many of his contemporaries, he was not simply a passive participant in imperial trade. The East India Company allowed its agents a degree of personal enterprise, and Blake – having suffered substantial financial losses in tea speculation – turned to botany as both scientific pursuit and potential commercial opportunity.

His project was ambitious: to catalogue Chinese plants in what he envisioned as a Compleat Chinensis (Complete Chinese). Between 1766 and his death in 1773, he commissioned over 150 botanical paintings, documenting many now familiar plant species, ranging from citrus fruits and camellias to turmeric and jackfruit.

Advertisement

What makes this project particularly striking is that it was not a solitary European endeavour. Blake relied heavily on local expertise, as he did not know the flora and did not speak Mandarin.

Mak Sau, a Chinese artist about whom we know very little, produced detailed botanical paintings that form the heart of this exhibition. These works are scientific documents, capturing colour and structure with fantastic precision. But they are also superb works of art and form a historically important collection of early botanically accurate watercolour paintings in China.

Local knowledge also helped identify species that Blake himself struggled to classify. Whang At Tong, Blake’s Chinese counterpart, was a merchant operating within the Canton system. He facilitated the exchange of materials, knowledge and, eventually, the transport of Blake’s collection back to Britain. The endeavour was, in many ways, a shared intellectual enterprise. Yet it unfolded within an unequal system shaped by imperial trade and economic ambition.

Plants, profit and empire

Many of the plants depicted in Seeds of Exchange hint at the economic motivations behind Blake’s work. Tea, citrus species, indigo and medicinal plants all had clear commercial value. Others carried horticultural interest that would later shape European gardens.

Advertisement

Blake cultivated plants in his own Canton garden, experimenting with germination and growth and sending seeds back to Britain. These botanical exchanges contributed, in small but significant ways, to breaking China’s monopoly on certain crops – particularly tea.

Yet the paintings also reveal a more complex botanical landscape. Some species, such as chilli peppers and watermelon, were themselves recent arrivals to China (from South America and Africa respectively).

Even in the 18th century, plant distributions were already shaped by centuries of movement across continents. Today, the movement of plants across the world is on a monumental scale, driven by crops and horticulture. The exhibition quietly reminds us that “native” and “foreign” are often more fluid categories than we assume.

Blake’s death in 1773 brought the project to an abrupt halt. He never completed his Compleat Chinensis, and his work might easily have faded into obscurity. Instead, Whang At Tong transported the collection to London, where it entered elite scientific circles. He is one of the earliest recorded Chinese people to have come to the UK. He met figures such as Joseph Banks, a central figure in British botany, and even sat for a portrait by Joshua Reynolds – a rare moment of cultural visibility for a Chinese visitor in 18th-century Britain. The Reynolds painting is in the exhibit, and exquisitely done.

Despite this, the botanical paintings themselves were never fully integrated into British science. Seeds were sent to Kew, but the visual and documentary archive remained largely unused. Over time, the collection became physically divided. One portion, consisting of manuscripts and herbals (historical books describing the properties of plants), ended up, remarkably, in Canterbury Cathedral. Another, including many of the paintings, passed through the art market before being acquired by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Virginia in the 20th century.

Reuniting the past

Seeds of Exchange marks the first time these materials have been brought back together in over two centuries. Seen together, the paintings, herbals, notebooks and maps reveal a network of knowledge production that was collaborative, cross-cultural and contingent. Recent research indicates that Blake mainly used texts by European authors for identification, however the exhibition shows Chinese floras which were used in the work, highlighting the depth of local contribution.

The exhibition also sits within a broader historical context. The Garden Museum itself stands on land once associated with early botanical collectors such as the Tradescant family, whose 17th-century “cabinet of curiosities” helped lay the foundations of modern museums. From these early collections to Blake’s Canton project, the gathering and classification of plants has long been tied to exploration, trade and power.

What, then, does this exhibition tell us today? At one level, it is a fascinating story of early globalisation. But it also prompts deeper questions about authorship and recognition. Projects like Blake’s were often framed as European achievements, even when they depended heavily on local knowledge and labour.

Seeds of Exchange highlights that scientific knowledge has almost always been co-produced, even if the historical record has not always acknowledged this. In an era when museums and collections are increasingly reexamining their collections and histories, this matters.

Like the plants it documents, the knowledge this exhibition represents has travelled, adapted and taken root in new contexts – and we are still tracing its origins more than two centuries on.

Seeds of Exchange: Canton and London in the 1700s is at the Garden Museum in London until May 10 2026