The buzzard was found with shotgun pellets in its wing in the Bransdale area on May 4.

The bird was also found to have a broken leg, and was taken to a vet, were sadly, it had to be euthanised due to its injuries.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: “The bird was x-rayed, and pellets from a shotgun were found in its wing.

“It is believed the broken leg occurred up to 48 hours before it was found, and may have been caused by a hard landing – so the buzzard could have been shot within that same 48-hour period.

“Buzzards and other birds of prey are legally protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To intentionally kill or injure one is a criminal offence.

“Anyone with any information about how the bird came to be injured is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting reference 12260080894.”

Carlos Alcaraz has pulled out of Wimbledon due to injury, following his withdrawal from the French Open.

Alcaraz announced the news on social media on Tuesday. He will also miss Queen’s, the London grass-court tournament that many players use as a warm-up for Wimbledon.

The update follows news in April that the Spaniard would not compete at the French Open in Paris, which began this week, due to a wrist problem.

“My recovery is going well and I feel much better, but unfortunately I’m still not ready to be able to play,” Alcaraz wrote on Tuesday.

“And that’s why I have to withdraw from the grass-court swing at Queen’s and Wimbledon. They are two really special tournaments for me and I’ll miss them a lot.

“We keep working to return as soon as possible!”

Alcaraz is a two-time champion at Wimbledon, having beaten Novak Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals. The 23-year-old finished runner-up to Jannik Sinner last year.

Alcaraz, a former world No 1 who is currently ranked No 2, is also a two-time champion at Queen’s. He lifted the trophy there in 2023 and 2025.

Alcaraz’s withdrawal from Wimbledon leaves Sinner the heavy favourite to win the grass-court major, just as the Italian is on the clay of the French Open.

Sinner, 24, said he was “sad” to learn of Alcaraz’s withdrawal from Roland Garros in April, but that news – and Tuesday’s – gives the world No 1 a great chance of taking his grand slam haul from four to six in the coming months.

Before beating Alcaraz at SW19 last summer, Sinner narrowly lost to the Spaniard in an all-time classic French Open final. The rivals met again in the final of the US Open, where Alcaraz triumphed.

Alcaraz also won the Australian Open in January, beating Djokovic in the final after the Serb overcame Sinner in a scintillating semi-final. The Spaniard’s victory in Melbourne made him a seven-time major champion, but he will have to wait until the US Open in September at the earliest to add to that tally.

Alcaraz’s last competitive outing on court was in Barcelona in April, where he was beaten by Tomas Machac in the round of 16. Before that, “Carlitos” was defeated by Sinner in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters. Both tournaments are played on clay.

The Ely bridge is one of the most-bashed in Britain

A tractor struck a railway bridge in a Cambridgeshire city causing disruption to train services on Monday, May 18. Network Rail received a report of a vehicle striking a bridge at Ely just after 6pm.

The crash caused minor disruption to some passenger services using the freight line and platform three. Following an inspection of the bridge, it was deemed there was no damage reported. Train services resumed at 6.40pm the same evening.

A previous Freedom of Information (FOI) submitted by CambridgeshireLive to Network Rail revealed the bridge had been struck 80 times over the last five years. In October 2025, the bridge was hit three times within one week.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We received a report of a vehicle striking a bridge at Ely yesterday at around 18:07. This caused a minor impact on some freight and passenger services using the freight line and platform 3.

“After inspection of the bridge, no damage was reported and services resumed at 18:40pm.”

Over 630,000 customers and employees had their data leaked onto the dark web – and the company has since been fined nearly £1 million

The owners of a Cambridge water company have been fined nearly £1 million after thousands of customers and employees had their data leaked. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined South Cambridgeshire Staffordshire Plc £963,900.

The company owns Cambridge Water. The fine follows a serious cyber attack that led to the information of 633,887 customers and employees, including those in the Cambridge Water area, having their data leaked on the dark web.

In its Monetary Penalty Notice, the ICO confirmed the cyber attack traced back to September 2020. It mostly took place between May and July 2022.

Elena Karpathakis, managing director at Cambridge Water said: “We are sorry for the worry and disruption this cyber attack caused. We know that customers place their trust in us to protect their information. As soon as we became aware, we worked to contain the cyber attack, support those affected and put additional protections in place.

“Since 2022, we have continued to invest significantly in our cyber security, including strengthening governance and monitoring, and we will continue this focus as threats continue to evolve. We remain focused on doing the right thing for our customers and learning from what happened.”

The cyber attack on South Staffordshire Water began with a phishing email. The recipient of the email opened an attachment which allowed the scammer to install software onto the company’s system.

This remained undetected for nearly two years. In May 2022, the hacker then moved through the IT network. The breach was identified in July 2022 when IT issues prompted an internal investigation.

The company discovered a ransom note that the hacker had unsuccessfully tried to send to members of staff. Between August and November 2022, the company detected that more than 4.1 terabytes of stolen data had been released on the dark web.

This included: personal details including full name and email addresses, HR information from employees, and customer account information. The ICO investigation found South Staffordshire failed to implement a range of UK controls.

These included:

• Inadequate controls that led to the hacker being able to escalate to administrator privileges;
• Inadequate monitoring and logging;
• Use of obsolete and unsupported software on some devices;
• Inadequate vulnerability management, including unpatched critical systems and the absence of regular internal or external security scans.

Law firm Leigh Day is now representing around 6,500 people impacted by the data breach. Sean Humber, Leigh Day partner and group claims data breach specialist, said: “This significant fine recognises South Staffordshire’s serious failures that resulted in the personal information of hundreds of thousands of its own customers being stolen, leaving them at a huge risk of being targeted by fraudsters.”

Gene Matthews, Leigh Day partner and group claims data breach specialist, added: “Those personally affected by the data breach are likely to have strong claims for compensation for the distress caused by the breach, as well as any financial losses suffered.

“While the amounts are likely to vary from individual to individual, given the sensitivity of the information, many of the claims for compensation are likely to be substantial.”

Falling on Channel 4 is Adolescence creator Jack Thorne’s “first ever love story”.

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Falling premieres on Channel 4 tonight with fans eager to know where the romantic drama was shot.

Channel 4’s Falling delves into the forbidden love story of nun Anna (played by Keeley Hawes) and Catholic priest David (Paapa Essiedu), forcing them to wrestle with their vows and relationship with God.

The six-part series is not only brought to life by an all-star cast but by its award-winning creator Jack Thorne, famed for writing Adolescence on Netflix.

Channel 4 Falling filming locations

Filming for Falling on Channel 4 primarily took place in Bristol, Wales, specifically Cardiff, and the wider South Wales region.

Shooting for the new series reportedly began in April 2025 and continued throughout the year.

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Bristol served as a key location as much of David’s storyline within the local community meant Falling was shot across residential districts and inner city areas.

4Filming reported that community centres and neighbourhood streets were used to portray his work in different environments.

Channel 4’s official production also talks about his connection to the “Bristol community that surrounds it”.

On the other hand, Cardiff and the surrounding parts of South Wales were also heavily used during filming, particularly to do with Anna’s life in the convent.

4Filming adds: “Several historic properties and quiet religious-style locations around the city reportedly doubled as the secluded convent where Anna has spent most of her adult life.”

Production also took place at The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol, one of the largest film and television studios in England.

It’s been reported that interior sets for the convent, rectory and other indoor scenes were shot here.

The Bottle Yard Studios is no stranger when it comes to hit series either with other popular shows like Poldark, Sherlock, The Buccaneers and Wolf Hall, also filmed at this location.

Talking about Falling ahead of its premiere, Thorne said: “I never thought I’d write a love story, but I am very excited to be making one with the brilliant Peter Hoar.

“We feel so lucky we have persuaded the mighty (and lovely) Keeley Hawes, the brilliant (and also lovely) Paapa Essiedu and the most amazing company of (lovely) actors to come make this with us, The Forge and Channel 4.”

Falling premieres on Tuesday, May 19, at 9pm on Channel 4.

LONDON (AP) — Police in the UK say they are investigating two allegations of decades-old child sex abuse after looking into potential crimes revealed in documents from the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Police in Surrey, the county immediately southwest of London, said in a statement Tuesday that they are investigating two separate allegations. One relates to locations in Surrey and Berkshire in the mid-1990s to 2000. The other relates to the mid- to late 1980s in West Surrey.

No arrests have been made.

“We take all reports of sexual offending seriously and will work to identify any reasonable lines of enquiry to verify information or establish corroborating evidence,’’ police said in a statement.

Surrey is among several U.K. police forces that have worked together to assess potential crimes revealed in documents linked to the late financier and sex offender. The National Police Chiefs’ Council, which brings together police leaders from across the U.K., said in February that it had set up a national coordination group to support forces looking into issues arising from the more than 3 million pages of documents released earlier this year.

While the council didn’t specify the police forces involved in the effort, at least eight have said they are “assessing” information in the files. They are looking into issues ranging from concerns that Epstein’s private jet may have been used in sex trafficking to allegations that the former Prince Andrew sent confidential reports to the financier when he was Britain’s international trade envoy.

The Epstein scandal has rocked the royal family and British politics in recent months because of his links to Peter Mandelson, the U.K.’s former ambassador to Washington, and to the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

King Charles III in October stripped his younger brother of his royal titles, including the right to be called a prince, in an effort to insulate the royal family from the continuing revelations about his friendship with Epstein.

Plans approved by City of York Council are set to see the borehole drilled at Wigginton Playing Fields, in Mill Lane.

The Wigginton Sports and Playing Fields Association has applied to drill the hole to get water to irrigate football pitches during droughts.

Council planning officers stated it was an appropriate and modest development on green belt land.

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The hole is set to be drilled to the west of the playing fields’ pavilion building, towards the back of the site.

It is set to be 1m-wide and would look similar to a manhole cover at the top.

The pitches are used and managed by the Wigginton Grasshoppers grassroots football club.

Plans stated they aimed to create a supply of water to football pitches during summer droughts.

They added the works would be carried out by an experienced borehole drilling contractor in line with best practice guidance to avoid contaminating ground water.

Plans stated: “The borehole and headworks will be covered by a lockable housing to prevent access to the borehole by unauthorised personnel, the pump controls will be located in a locked, steel container.

“The water, which will only be used for watering the WSPFA’s playing
field, will only be abstracted under the control of the Wigginton Grasshoppers Personnel.

“The borehole and associated works will be maintained in good working
order by the WSPFA.

“If and when the borehole is to be abandoned the borehole will be capped off in accordance with good practice at the time.”

Council planning officers stated groundwater and neighbouring residents would not be negatively affected by the plans.

They stated: “The proposal constitutes appropriate development within the green belt, being the provision of appropriate facilities for outdoor sport.

“The development, given its modest nature would not result in harm to the openness of the green belt.”

Photographer Kieran Delaney had his camera handy to capture the towering dark clouds as they gathered above the city, with one or two flashes of lightning cutting through the gloom to the backdrop of rumbling thunder.

Storm closes in on York in dramatic photo by Kieran Delaney – pictured. (Image: Kieran Delaney)

Kieran, 27, is a member of The Press Camera Club and lives in Heworth. He studied photography at sixth form at All Saints RC School and works as a photographer and at Tommy Hilfiger at York Designer Outlet.

Kieran shoots on a Nikon D5500, with a 35mm lens, a standard kit lens 18-55mm and a 55-200mm lens and he also has a drone.

Garry Hornby captured this scene slightly earlier at the ‘Coppergate Brolly walk’. (Image: Garry Hornby)

According to the Met Office, unsettled weather is expected to continue across North Yorkshire over the coming days.

Forecasters suggest a mix of sunshine and scattered showers, with a risk of further thunderstorms, particularly in the afternoons. Temperatures are likely to remain around the mid-teens, with occasional gusty winds accompanying heavier bursts of rain.

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More than 3,000 readers have joined The Press Camera Club, which launched in June 2017 and brings together talented photographers from across York and North and East Yorkshire to share their work, swap tips and take part in themed monthly prize competitions.

To join the free club, simply search for ‘The Press Camera Club’ on Facebook – we’d love to see what our region looks like through your lens.

We will feature pictures from our camera club in The Press and online regularly.

If you like seeing photos of York, please follow us on Instagram too @york.press.

The teenager was so concerned that Michael Cullen would make good on his threat that he fled from his home

A man not long out of prison threatened to chop off a teenager’s fingers with an axe, a court has heard. The teenager was so concerned by the menacing phone call that he fled his home shortly before the defendant turned up at the property armed with a hammer.

Swansea Crown Court heard that the background to the threat was money owed for damage done to a borrowed car, with Cullen volunteering to take the role of debt enforcer.

The defendant’s advocate said his client had been “trying to secure compensation for a friend” but accepted he shouldn’t have acted in the way he did.

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told the court that the victim in the case borrowed a car from a woman known to Cullen, and then let a friend of his drive it. The friend subsequently crashed the car and the two men abandoned the damaged vehicle.

The court heard the woman asked the Swansea teenager – who cannot be named due to his age – for compensation for the damage done but none was forthcoming. The woman later mentioned the incident to Cullen who took matters into his own hands.

The prosecutor said on the night of April 13 this year the defendant called the teenager, telling him to pay compensation to the woman and telling him he had recently been released from prison.

Cullen then told the teenager that he would be attending his home that night, and would cut off his fingers with an axe.

The court heard the complainant ended the call before ringing the police, and that he then left the house as he was concerned Cullen would make good on his threat. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter

The prosecutor said that at 2.30am the following morning Cullen and the owner of the damaged car arrived at the teenager’s house in a taxi. He said the defendant knocked on the front door, and after getting no answer produced a hammer from the pocket of his hoodie.

The court heard Cullen then broke the video doorbell on the property before walking into the rear garden and taking a children’s motorbike. The 44-year-old defendant was riding off on the stolen bike when police arrived on the scene, and officers tracked him down and arrested him a short time later.

In a statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the victim said he was concerned for the safety of his family.

Michael Cullen, of Clyne Court, Sketty Park, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to sending threatening communications, criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon, and driving while disqualified when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 11 previous convictions for 41 offences including “serious violence”, dangerous driving, and aggravated vehicle taking.

Andrew Evans, for Cullen, said his client had been “trying to secure compensation for a friend” but accepted he shouldn’t have taken matters into his own hands in the way he did, and shouldn’t have made unlawful threats – though he said in his submissions the threats had been “empty” ones.

The advocate said the defendant had come out of prison drug free shortly before the incident and was disappointed in his behaviour and the position he had now put himself in.

Judge Huw Rees said he suspected that in the cold light of day the defendant now realises he went about things in the wrong way and now understands he should not have got involved in the dispute.

With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas Cullen was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He will serve 40 per cent of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

The final pieces are falling into place for one of the most consequential by-elections in modern British history.

Next month, the people of Makerfield – a constituency covering the area south of Wigan in Greater Manchester – will choose who they want to be their new MP.

The contest was triggered by the resignation of Josh Simons, who said explicitly he wanted to give Andy Burnham an opportunity to win a seat in the Commons and possibly launch a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer.

This afternoon, it was confirmed that the Mayor of Greater Manchester will indeed be running as the Labour candidate.

We also now know the identity of the man likely to be his biggest threat: Robert Kenyon, a local plumber who is running for the second time as the candidate for Reform UK.

Both men have emphasised their community credentials. Burnham grew up a 20-minute drive away in the town of Culcheth, while Kenyon says he was born and bred within the constituency boundaries.

In a speech yesterday, Burnham apologised to the area for ‘the circus that’s about to arrive in town and the inconvenience that will result’.

But he added: ‘I hope you feel it’s a good thing as well that the places that make up this constituency, long forgotten by national politics, finally are at the centre of the national debate.’

What you should know about Makersfield

The first thing is that ‘Makersfield’ is not a town, and never has been.

It is an area containing several settlements large and small – including a few that incorporate the name, such as Ashton-in-Makersfield and Ince-in-Makerfield.

If you were to draw a line on a map connecting Manchester and Liverpool city centres, Makersfield would be almost exactly in the middle and a little to the north.

At the time of the last general election, just over 100,000 people lived in the constituency and they were almost 97% white.

The child poverty rate was more than 5% lower than that for the broader north-west of England, but house prices were also lower than the average for the region.

Like many other places in this part of England, Makerfield was once dominated by two industries: cotton and especially coal.

Burnham has focused heavily on the impact of deindustrialisation in the area, saying Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980s drained away ‘economic, social and political power’.

What are Makerfield’s politics?

This is a seat with strong, historic links to the Labour Party.

In fact, its residents voted Labour at the first opportunity in 1906, when the constituency was called Ince and the party was called the Labour Representation Committee.

They continued voting for the red rosette until 1983, when the constituency’s boundaries and name were changed. From then on, it was Makerfield rather than Ince that kept choosing Labour MPs.

There was never much of a threat to the party’s dominance until 2019, when Boris Johnson’s Conservatives came within 5,000 votes of taking the seat. This counted as a close call.

In summer 2024, it was Reform UK that posed a threat to new Labour candidate Josh Simons. More people voted for Nigel Farage’s party in Makersfield than any other seat won by Labour.

As Sir Keir Starmer’s government has grown ever more unpopular, it has looked more like a dead cert that Reform would bag the constituency at the next election.

But Andy Burnham’s candidacy changes the calculations. Not only is he a popular mayor, he is also positioning himself in opposition to the Prime Minister.

His unspoken message to voters is: ‘Vote for me, and you’ll make sure Starmer is replaced by a strong northern voice.’

For Robert Kenyon and Reform, the spoils of victory are irresistible – demonstrating they can beat Labour’s most popular figure in the country on his doorstep, while also keeping an unpopular PM in power.

They might be buoyed by the fact Makerfield voted 65% leave in the Brexit referendum, which took place almost exactly ten years before the constituency will go to the polls in June.

Luke Tryl, the boss of pollster More in Common, says attitudes have shifted to the extent it would likely now narrowly vote to remain. However, the landscape that led to that high percentage – such as concern over levels of immigration – remains.

He said: ‘Andy Burnham definitely wants it to be Andy Burnham versus Reform, rather than Labour versus Reform.

‘If it’s Labour versus Reform, Reform win. If it’s Andy Burnham versus Reform, it’s much closer.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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