Traders say their rent review was supposed to take place between one and three years ago. Now, all shops are facing not only an exponential increase to their rent, but this rent is set to be backdated to when the rent review was supposed to be undertaken – despite, according to traders, it being the council who opted not to conduct the rent reviews when they were due.

A Cambridgeshire canoe racer is competing for her late father and grandfather as she tries to make her family proud on the global stage this month.

Lindsay Thorpe, 33, from Chatteris, will compete for Great Britain at the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships later this month. She will take to the water in Poznan in competition, from 26-30 August, and the event will be another marker before the LA 2028 Paralympics.

Thorpe revealed that she lost her grandfather Cecil Cutting, and her father Mark Cutting in the space of six weeks. Her father lost his battle with cancer aged 62 on the day of her selection race for the World Championships.

“My dad was my biggest cheerleader, so I’m still finding my feet when it comes to pre-race pep talks. It’s given me extra motivation to go in his honour,” Thorpe said. “It’s my story, they are part of my story. It’s always going to be connected. There’s the side that wants to give it a mile, but we are all humans. We all have personal lives and our reasons why. As time passes, it might not be as strong, but this year I will pride myself in doing well for them.”

She is part of a team which includes reigning Paris champions Emma Wiggs and Charlotte Henshaw, as well as 2024 silver medallists Hope Gordon and Jack Eyers. Perhaps with a new take on life after suffering personal loss, Thorpe wanted to make the most of another opportunity to wear the flag on her vest and represent not only her country but her family.

She said: “My goal is to make the A final, in the top nine athletes. The atmosphere is going to be big and exciting. The fact I’ve got the opportunity to go out there and give it my all is a blessing. I’m lucky that I have some of the fastest on the globe as my national competition.

“I’ve been in the sport 10 years now, and every time that the announcement comes out, I get goosebumps. You don’t know what’s going to happen next with sport.”

Paddle UK is the national governing body for canoeing, kayaking and all other paddle sports. For more information, visit https://paddleuk.org.uk/

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, is seeking to postpone a trial in a lawsuit filed by a former security guard at his Donda Academy, asking a judge to move the start from this fall to next spring over claims the plaintiff has stalled on giving a deposition.

Benjamin Deshon Provo filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the rapper in April 2024.

Provo alleges that Ye, now 49, reprimanded him over his dreadlocks, worn in observance of his Muslim faith. Provo worked at Donda Academy and for Yeezy, Ye’s apparel company.

“Kanye and members of his management team subjected Provo and other Black employees to less favorable treatment than their white counterparts,” according to the suit, which further alleges that Ye often screamed at the plaintiff.

The lawsuit alleges that Provo was ultimately fired for failing to follow Ye’s hair edict.

On Wednesday, Ye’s lawyers filed court papers asking Judge Brock T. Hammond to reset the scheduled start of trial from Oct. 12 to May 17, 2027, or to another date convenient to the court and available to Provo.

“Despite months of repeated requests from defendants, plaintiff Benjamin Deshon Provo has refused to sit for deposition and his counsel had refused to offer any dates for his deposition…,” Ye’s attorneys contend in their court papers.

Provo’s deposition testimony is “essential to the fair determination of this action,” Ye’s attorneys state in their court papers.

After producing several people for deposition and responding to hundreds of written discovery requests, Ye’s side sought Provo’s deposition and was repeatedly stymied, Ye’s attorneys further contend in their court papers.

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In his suit, Provo alleges that members of the rapper’s management team required Provo to choose between “critical aspects of his self-identity and financial stability.”

Last month, Ye appealed a jury’s $140,000 award to handyman Tony Saxon, who accused him of underpaying him for renovation work at his Malibu mansion.

Saxon’s lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claimed the pair had a 2021 agreement for $20,000 per week but that he received only one payment and an additional $100,000 for construction costs. Judge Brock Hammond upheld the March 11 verdict.

All Saints RC School was among the most successful schools for results this year in York.

Almost half of the Year 13 cohort achieved three A* to B grades, earning them spots at the most prestigious universities in the UK.

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Head teacher Sharon Keelan-Beardsley said: “We could not be prouder of our students.

“These results are a wonderful reflection of their hard work, determination and ambition, supported by the dedication of our staff and the strong partnership between school and families.”

Katie Wrenn achieved an A*, A*, A, and will go on to study Ecology and Wildlife at the University of Cumbria (Image: Newsquest)

Among the high achievers was head boy Charlie King, who was accepted to study law at the University of York after achieving an AAB in English Language, English Literature and Geography.

Charlie said he will be hoping to pursue family law after his job at a local primary school, where he works as a play worker.

He said: “I really want to help families after spending time at the school, and I want to specialise in family law.”

Climate activist and student Katie Wrenn said she would be attending the University of Cumbria to study Ecology and Wildlife.

The hard-working teen earned an A*, A* and A in Biology, Geography and RE, and will be taking a gap year, volunteering at a Methodist Church to help connect people with faith and nature.

Proud parents. Sid Burne will head to University of Liverpool to study politics and sociology (Image: Newsquest)

Sid Burne collected his results with his parents at school.

He sailed through A-levels in politics, business and PPT and was allocated his spot on the politics and sociology course at the University of Liverpool.

Another student Isaac Morris will take up a place at Princeton University, in the USA, following his gap year, after he represented Great Britain at Under-23 level in rowing – finishing eighth in the World Championships.

Head teacher Ms Keelan-Beardsley said: “A significant number of students achieved As or A* across the board and several achieved three or more A* in all their chosen subjects including Hope Fomekong Zome, Owen Fryer, Monty Parmiter, Oliwia Rosciszewska, Florence Slezak and Ava Thomas-Richards.

“A number of our young people have overcome challenges to achieve superb results, making their success all the more inspiring.

“Whilst academic achievement is important, we are equally proud of the confident, compassionate young people our students have become.

“The country needs a workforce that is flexible, resilient and innovative, and our young people possess these qualities in abundance.

“All Saints students leave us with far more than outstanding exam results; they take with them strong values, a commitment to making a positive difference and the ambition to succeed in whatever path they choose.

“We wish them every happiness and success for the future.”

At least 11 people have been injured after a train was derailed between Haywards Heath and Lewes in Sussex, with police declaring a “major incident”.

Two people were seriously injured while nine others sustained wounds after three carriages derailed onto their side at 3.54pm on Thursday, leaving a number of people trapped. They have now been safely evacuated, British Transport Police has said.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “deeply concerned” by the incident which involved a Southern Railway train travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Drummond-Smith said: “We’ve declared a major incident and a significant emergency service response is ongoing at the scene” as police, ambulance, fire services and engineers remain on scene.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has also deployed a team to establish what happened.

James MacCleary, the MP for Lewes, wrote in a Facebook post: “I am aware of very concerning reports of a train crash in the Lewes area this afternoon.

“This is clearly a very serious and developing incident, and my thoughts are with everyone affected.”

Have you witnessed the crash or have pictures from the scene? Email bryony.gooch.ind@independent.co.uk

The Repair Shop expert Will Kirk couldn’t believe how one guest had accidentally ruined a sports jersey.

The Repair Shop star quickly realised the mistake.

On the BBC show, viewers saw Lloyd Richards enter the barn with his wife, Karen, as they had a very important item with them to get fixed.

Placing it down on the bench, The Repair Shop guest explained that the sports shirt had once belonged to his dad, Bryan Richards.

Admitting his ‘greatest regret’ was never getting to see him play, he told experts Will Kirk and textile conservator Rebecca Bissonnet more about his achievements, reports Wales Online.

Originally, his dad started off by representing Neath Rugby Club before making the move to Swansea, where he eventually became captain.

His father also earned Barbarian honours and claimed his one and only Welsh cap against France in 1960.

Explaining his position as a fly-half, Lloyd shared that now those in that position wear the number 10, however his dad was the last Welsh international to play with the number six.

In a poignant moment, Lloyd revealed his father had died away in 2023 at the age of 91, underlining just how much the shirt now meant to the family.

Recounting the shirt’s unfortunate fate, his wife Karen admitted that prior to having it framed, she had popped it in the washing machine.

Confessing she ‘forgot’ it was from the 1960s, the colour had run from the main part of the shirt to the collar, which she had tried to fix herself.

Realising that the state of the shirt was due to Karen, Will was speechless as his mouth dropped open.

Learning that she’d used bleach to try and fix it, Will asked This is actually you?’

Karen was then emotional, reflecting on the mistake, admitting she felt ‘mortified’ and highlighting her ‘incredible guilt’ ever since.

Stating how hard Bryan had worked to get the jersey, she wanted the experts to be able to get it looking how it had originally by brining back the vibrancy of the red.

Ultimately, Rebecca successfully restored the jersey when the couple returned to the barn shortly afterwards. Both were overwhelmed with emotion as Karen broke down in tears, describing their work as ‘amazing.’

The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

As a middle-aged woman with a pulse, it’s not often I look at Brad Pitt and experience a crushing sense of disappointment.

But this week, I encountered this curious sensation as I read the interview he did with Esquire magazine, in which he revealed that after seven years of sobriety, he has started drinking again.

‘I got back off the wagon,’ he told the magazine. ‘In a more restrained manner. I got overconfident a couple of times went, Yep, nope, not good for me. Not in big quantities.’

The journalist then asked the single most dangerous question you can pose to someone who’s had to quit drinking because of a problematic relationship with alcohol: can you now have a glass of wine?

Oh, sure, it might seem totally innocent if you’re the kind of human who can pour a small amount of rosé out of a bottle then put it back in the fridge door for the rest of the week. But Pitt is clearly not that, admitting that he attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, his divorce from Angelina Jolie prompting him to quit the booze in late 2016.

Pitt is, by his own admission, a problem drinker, and asking a problem drinker if they can have the odd glass of wine is a bit like asking someone with a nut allergy if they can occasionally treat themselves to a Snickers bar.

But to be fair to the interviewer, Pitt also seems to have misunderstood the nature of sobriety and alcoholism.

‘Well … I can have a few [glasses of wine],’ he told the interviewer. ‘But I can’t have a lot. I have to be professional about it.’

And in just a few deluded sentences, I went from fancying Brad Pitt to pitying him. Because in my experience, once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. Being able to abstain from booze for long periods of time doesn’t prove you can drink responsibly, or ‘professionally’, as Pitt refers to it – it just proves that you can’t drink. And in saying otherwise, Pitt is doing some of the most terrible acting of his career.

Perhaps I’m being uncharitable. Maybe Pitt really has pulled off the almost impossible, and taught himself to moderate his alcohol intake after finding himself in a situation where things got so bad, he was forced to remove his ‘drinking privileges’ (his own words).

But in my nine years of sobriety, I’ve not yet met anyone who’s succeeded in doing this.

However, I have seen plenty of people who have relapsed, and tried to convince themselves (and everyone around them) that they’ve got things under control, but they usually crawl back to sobriety with their tail between their legs some time later – if they’re very lucky. Many never make it back, living out their lives in alcoholic misery and squalor.

And this is why I’m so disappointed by 62-year-old Pitt’s public pronouncement. Because he must know, deep down in his soul, how unhelpful such declarations are to a community where denial and delusion aren’t just pitiful – in many cases, they can be deadly.

I know too many alcoholics who have lost everything in their attempts to drink like a normal person. I imagine that, given Pitt has been to a few AA meetings, he has encountered these people too. What message is he now sending out to a world which already misunderstands addiction and alcoholism?

Angelina Jolie filed a lawsuit in which she claimed Pitt threw alcohol over her and their children while on a private jet. Reports say she ‘is not surprised’ her ex-husband is drinking again

When I was in active addiction, I used to see those ‘drink responsibly’ signs on the back of wine bottles and wonder what was wrong with me. I was an alcoholic, of course, but the shame attached to that word was so big I went out of my way to prove it didn’t apply to me. It was only after a series of increasingly dangerous scrapes that I realised it was going to be much easier to simply accept I was one and that I was lucky to be alive by this point.

One of the things you learn, when you finally come to terms with your alcoholism, is that drinking nothing is genuinely easier than trying to only have one or two. Alcohol lights me up like a Christmas tree – once I start, I don’t stop.

There is a truth we all learn, in recovery: that for us, one drink is too many, a thousand is never enough. And this is why I don’t believe a word that Pitt said in his Esquire interview.

After their break-up, Angelina Jolie filed a lawsuit in which she claimed Pitt threw alcohol over her and their children while on a private jet. Though the actor vehemently denies these claims, not a single one of their six children is said to speak to Pitt now, with several of them recently filing to legally remove his surname from theirs.

Reports say Jolie ‘is not surprised’ her ex-husband is drinking again, and suddenly you realise this is not some superficial drama, but a situation involving children that is kind of tragic. Because take away the Hollywood gloss and the magazine covers, and the truth is that Brad Pitt isn’t actually anyone special. He’s just a sad old man in the grip of a relapse.

When perimenopause meets pregnancy… 

The world is so unused to seeing women’s bodies that when Anne Hathaway shows off her pregnancy bump, social media starts saying it’s fake. 

Anne Hathaway, 43, looked stunning as she showed off her baby bump in Los Angeles this week

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I personally love that the 43-year-old actress is displaying her ‘geriatric’ pregnancy for all to see. She clearly couldn’t give a damn what anyone thinks – which is exactly what you’d expect when perimenopause meets pregnancy!

Time you quit social media, Jan

Jan Leeming has got into a spot of bother again after criticising the presenting skills of ITV News’ Charlene White. ‘She has such a condescending style,’ wrote Leeming on X, apparently without irony. 

Her remarks come just months after she used the social media site to complain about children being allowed in restaurants. In fact, she seems to spend most of her time online whingeing. 

Jane Leeming has now quit X, after receiving abuse for comments she made about ITV News presenter Charlene White

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She’s now quit X for a few days due to ‘vile abuse’ she’s received after her Charlene comments. Maybe stay off it for good, Jan. As the old adage goes: if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Why I’m glad I never vaped

Angela Rayner has admitted she can’t quit vaping, as she launches a crackdown on e-cigarette shops. I’m glad I got off cigarettes cold turkey, instead of vaping. Every time I see someone sucking on a piece of bright pink plastic, I realise I narrowly escaped swapping one nasty habit for an even more addictive – not to mention embarrassing – one.

I loved watching the eclipse on holiday with friends in Cornwall, where there was almost 95 per cent coverage. We adults were enchanted, the children less so – they complained it took too long and didn’t look as good as it did in the clips they’d watched on YouTube. Honestly: the youth of today!

No wonder Cornwall hates all these tourists 

I wasn’t surprised to read about the couple who caused almost £5,000 worth of damage breaking the safety barriers of a Cornish campsite. 

The pair were trying to leave in their VW van at 2am to pick up their teenage children from a nearby festival, despite campsite rules explicitly stating the accommodation would be locked just before midnight to keep campers safe. 

Sadly, their entitled behaviour is par for the course down here. In the past few days, I’ve seen families playing loud music and having giant barbecues on the beach, as well as people refusing to clean up after their dogs. No wonder the locals are sick of tourists.

Known to her friends and family as “Amazing Grace”, she said afterwards she was “thrilled” to have completed the swim.

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A 54-year-old mum from Co Down has completed swimming’s Irish triple crown after crossing the North Channel.

Mother-of-three Grace McLaughlin from Bangor swam the North Channel in 12 hours, 43 minutes and 57 seconds.

Her journey began shortly after 2am on Thursday when she left The Gobbins, Islandmagee, and swam to Portpatrick in Scotland.

A boat crewed by Newry-based Infinity Channel Swimming accompanied her and provided food and water along the way as she swam, progressing at 57-60 strokes a minute.

Ms McLaughlin is the 199th swimmer and 84th female swimmer to complete the challenge.

Known to her friends and family as “Amazing Grace”, Ms McLaughlin said afterwards she was “thrilled” to have completed the swim.

“It took a lot of hard work and preparation but the feeling of finishing is fantastic – and difficult to put into words,” she said.

“I was exhausted afterwards but the buzz of completing the swim is carrying me through.”

Ms McLaughlin also has two World Ice Swimming gold medals – one a world record in the 500m in her age group – The Galway Bay Swim and the Fastnet Swim.

The triple crown is an elite challenge established by the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association requiring the completion of three marathon swims.

She celebrated her most recent achievement by following tradition and signing “The Wall of Champions” at Donaghadee’s Pier 36 pub.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Nicole Kidman has spoken openly about how she is feeling following her split from her husband of 19 years Keith Urban.

The Australian actress, 59, reflected on how she has approached this ‘new chapter’ of being single as she looks to the future with an ‘open heart’.

Nicole said she takes a ‘feelings-centred’ approach to decisions and leads with her heart, admitting she suspects people will think she is ‘more measured’.

Speaking to British Vogue about her love life, she said: ‘I can still approach things intellectually. But my desire is not to be ruled by my head, I’ve always wanted to live a well-examined life, so what does that entail? 

‘Trying things, making mistakes, failing, getting back up, moving on, embracing love, staying open, keeping the heart open and the possibilities.’

However, Nicole went on to say that she has had to adapt because how her life has panned out hasn’t how she expected it to.

The Australian actress, 59, reflected on how she has approached this ‘new chapter’ of being single as she looks to the future with an ‘open heart’ (Nicole and Keith pictured 2022)

She said: ‘But at the same time I’m like, “OK, I didn’t expect this. I had a different view of what my life was going to be, but this is what it is now.” You make all these plans and you have all these ideas of what it’s all going to be like and then it’s…not. You have to adjust. You adapt. The future, it’s completely unknown to me right now.’

Her response when asked if it was scary too: ‘There was a point where I was very fearful and deeply vulnerable, which is exposing.

‘And then at the same time I’m going, “Well, I can either really not confront it and just curl up, or I can just go forward with an enormous amount of hope”.’

Nicole and Keith have two daughters, Sunday, 18, and Faith, 15. She also adopted Isabella, 34, and Connor, 31, with her ex-husband Tom Cruise. 

Sharing her gratitude for her family, she said: ‘It’s an extraordinary purpose. Everything else is not important. These kids now, that’s what we drop everything for.’

Detailing what her kids are up to, Nicole said: ‘[Sunday] is so her own creature. She has such a strong sense of identity and what she loves. She’s very European in her style. She’s very visual. She takes photographs and she makes films and she’s highly creative with that. 

‘And then the little one, even though she’s not little, just did the Vogue School and loved it. She has what I call the “Bessette” style. They’re both very different though they look very similar.’

Speaking of looking forward with an open heart, Nicole was recently pictured grinning alongside private equity mogul Michael Reinstein in his £250,000 Ferrari.

Michael, 54, collected Nicole after she flew from New York to Los Angeles in the latest sighting of the pair who were first linked romantically last month.

Nicole said that she takes a ‘feelings-centred’ approach to decisions and leads with her heart, admitting that she suspects people will think she is ‘more measured’

See the full feature in the September issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Thursday 20th August

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They were first seen together on a balcony at the exclusive Belmond Splendido hotel in Portofino, Italy. 

Michael, from Los Angeles, is the founder and chairman of 13-year-old private equity firm Regent, based in Beverly Hills.

Nicole and Keith were said to have been living separately since last summer, before their split was reported in September. 

She filed for divorce the following day, September 30, citing irreconcilable differences.

It was finalised on January 6 this year when they reached a settlement agreement, with Nicole reportedly named primary parent to their two daughters.

A source close to Nicole told the Daily Mail: ‘After everything she went through with Keith, she deserves to find happiness.

‘She never thought her marriage wouldn’t work out, and she tried as best as she could to keep her family intact. Her daughters are her best friends, and she seems really content in her life.’

See the full feature in the September issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Thursday, August 20