J.M.W. Turner’s ‘Ulysses deriding Polyphemus – Homer’s Odyssey’ is on display at York Art Gallery as part of the new exhibition Turner, Wedgwood & Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman.

The painting, on loan from the National Gallery, features alongside Turner’s ‘The Fall of Anarchy’, William Blake’s ‘Beatrice Addressing Dante from the Car’, and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’s ‘Paolo and Francesca’.

Beatrice Bertram, senior curator at York Art Gallery, with J.M.W. Turner’s ‘Ulysses deriding Polyphemus – Homer’s Odyssey’ (Image: Claire Collinson Photography)

Co-curator of the exhibition Richard Johns, from the University of York, said Turner’s Ulysses deriding Polyphemus “lives on” in Christopher Nolan’s latest cinematic blockbuster The Odyssey.

“Seeing Flaxman’s work alongside Turner, Wedgwood and a host of other great artists is a revelation,” he said.

Born in York in 1755, John Flaxman was one of the defining figures of British art whose sculptures and drawings were world-renowned.

Guests enjoy the Turner, Wedgwood & Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman exhibition at York Art Gallery (Image: Claire Collinson Photography)

Flaxman’s celebrated designs for the potter Josiah Wedgwood helped shape some of the most recognisable works of British ceramic art.

The artist’s published outline illustrations to Homer and Dante, along with other ancient poets, secured him an international reputation and inspired artists across Europe.

Dr Johns said Flaxman inspired, and was inspired by, “some of Europe’s greatest artists”. “As a sculptor, designer and illustrator, he bridged the ancient and modern worlds in ways that continue to resonate.”

Turner, Wedgwood & Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman has opened at York Art Gallery (Image: Claire Collinson Photography)

The new exhibition in York explores Flaxman’s influence on his contemporary artists including Turner, Blake, Ingres, and fellow York-born artist William Etty.

More than 70 artworks loaned from leading museums and galleries across the UK have been used in the exhibition.

Beatrice Bertram, senior curator at York Art Gallery, said: “Modern audiences tend to know Flaxman’s legacy better than they know Flaxman himself.

“Although during his lifetime he was one of Britain’s most celebrated artists, today his sculptures, monuments, illustrations, and Wedgwood designs are often encountered without recognising the remarkable artist behind them.

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“Flaxman’s ideas influenced the work of his contemporaries, such as Turner, Blake and York’s own William Etty, and continued to inspire artists across Britain and Europe long after his death.

“Our exhibition explores these connections, inviting visitors to discover an artist whose imagination helped shape iconic works of art.

“As one of the artists who is commemorated on the facade of York Art Gallery, there’s no more fitting place to tell Flaxman’s story than in his home city.

“The phenomenal range of loans we have generously received from collections across the UK enables us to explore the breadth of his artistic practice, and we are thrilled to be working with the University of York on this show.”

Turner, Wedgwood & Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman runs until January 17, 2027, included in general admission to York Art Gallery. Visit York Art Gallery’s website for more information and tickets.

A South Sudanese teenager who operated a super-dinghy carrying a record-breaking number of migrants across the English Channel has been jailed.

Chan Atak, 19, was at the helm of a poor quality rigid inflatable boat carrying more than 160 people from France into British waters on July 23.

It represented the highest number of migrants carried illegally into the UK by a small boat at the time, although this has since been surpassed by a dinghy carrying 230 people last month.

Atak was handed an immediate custodial sentence of two years and three months after he admitted one count of endangering lives at sea.

Sentencing Atak at Canterbury Crown Court today, Her Honour Judge Sarah Counsell said: ‘Those who take responsibility at the helm of the boat take on the responsibility for the safety of its passengers.

‘The risks of continuing the journey in an overcrowded boat in the state that it was in, without appropriate experience of navigating, would have been obvious.’

The court heard Atak has applied for asylum in the UK after fleeing his home, but the judge said: ‘Sadly your circumstances are not unusual amongst those who seek to cross the Channel and seek asylum in the way that you did.’

The court heard the boat was not seaworthy – only one of its two outboard engines was working, and the tubing had started to deflate.

Atak was filmed by drone while at the helm of a poor quality rigid inflatable boat

Atak, who is said to be 19 and from South Sudan, pleaded guilty to endangering lives at sea following a small-boat crossing

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There was a lack of navigation equipment and safety provision, while the life jackets worn by most of the migrants on board were substandard.

The court heard the passengers included 31 children, the youngest being 14 years old, and had taken around 24 hours to complete the journey.

Those on board included nationals from countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe.

The judge said: ‘Crossings of this nature are inherently dangerous, the English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

‘Small inflatable vessels of the type commonly used for these crossings are not designed for offshore sea voyages.

‘Those who choose to steer such vessels assume responsibility for the safety of those on board and expose others to significant risks where that responsibility is exercised in dangerous conditions.

Migrants were packed onto Atak’s dinghy as it arrived into the UK from France during the summer

Atak, pictured in the white T-shirt, arriving at Dover along with more than 160 other migrants

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The flimsy RIB used by Atak to cross the English Channel

‘Whilst the coastguard and Border Force do all they can to minimise the risk to life by seeking to intercept boats and rescue those on board, sadly their efforts are not always able to avoid injury and death.’

Drone footage appeared to show Atak operating the engine for around 90 minutes, before cutting the power and taking off his distinctive jacket as Border Force officials pulled alongside.

The prosecution said this was an attempt to mix in with other migrants and avoid detection as the pilot.

Prosecutor James Harrison said: ‘In interview, the defendant said he had paid 200 euro (£170) to a gang for the crossing but did not direct the tiller at any point during that crossing.

‘He specifically denied that he was wearing the jacket with the distinctive Italia logo.

‘When it was put to him that he had been seen to discard his jacket, he answered “No comment.”‘

He added: ‘Your Honour’s experience will tell you from cases of this type that the Channel’s tides and currents are a challenge to navigate, particularly in a vessel of this type, not manufactured perhaps to standards required to undertake such a crossing.’

Audrey Mogan, defending, said her client was at the helm but had nothing to do with the seaworthiness of the vessel, or the number of occupants.

She said: ‘Save for the fact he was piloting, there is not a single other shred of evidence to suggest that as (a 19-year-old) from South Sudan that he had anything to do with the number of people that ended up on that boat, that he had anything to do with the state of the dinghy, the fact that there were not life jackets or that those life jackets were inadequate, the lack of first aid equipment or flares.’

She said Atak, aided in court by an Arabic translator, was forcibly recruited by a militia in his homeland, but was able to flee via Libya, where he was beaten and forced into labour, and then Italy and France.

She said her client is a Christian and came to the UK ‘to seek sanctuary and safety’.

She added: ‘What we are talking about here is someone who has escaped the horrors of South Sudan.

‘Mr Atak was living in South Sudan where war has been raging for many years.

‘He was captured by a militia and effectively they raided a neighbourhood, set fire to it, he had seen people shot and their throats slashed, and he was then taken and forcibly recruited but was able to escape.’

The length of his sentence means he will be recommended for deportation from the UK.

However, lawyers may argue it is against his human rights to deport him from the country due to political instability and violence in South Sudan.

John Turner, senior investigating officer of the National Crime Agency, said: ‘Chan Atak was unimaginably reckless and his actions could have easily resulted in many deaths had this boat not been intercepted.

‘Not only did he place the lives of 165 migrants in severe peril, this flimsy vessel was entirely unsuitable for crossing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

‘Combating the threat posed by the networks involved in organised immigration crime is one of our biggest priorities, and we currently have more than 100 investigations ongoing.’

Border security minister Anna Turley added: ‘Today’s sentencing rightly puts this evil criminal behind bars, and he joins 16 other pilots sentenced in just three months for endangering lives with flimsy, overcrowded dinghies.

‘This is a stark reminder of the ruthless acts used by smuggling gangs to exploit desperate people for profit, but today shows there is nowhere for them to hide.

‘With arrests for immigration crime surging, and the lowest number of small-boat arrivals over the summer since 2020, we are making progress. We will be relentless in bearing down on these dangerous and illegal crossings.’

The 165 migrants on Atak’s dinghy represented nearly half of the 366 people to have made the journey across the English Channel by so-called small boats that day.

More than 17,000 migrants have arrived illegally via the Channel so far this year.

Traffic continues to queue along the M60 after a lorry had broken down earlier today, closing all lanes on the motorway.

Inrix, a traffic service, have issued an update that all lanes have now reopened but drivers will continue to face a delay in the aftermath.

Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter

They said: “Queueing traffic due to earlier broken down Lorry on M60 clockwise at J12 M62 J12 (Eccles Interchange).All lanes have been reopened.”

This is a live blog we will keep you updated…

This is the fifth time that similar proposals have been submitted for the former school

A Grade II listed former Victorian school could be converted into a home. If approved, the Old Day School in High street in Bluntisham would undergo extensions and alterations.

This is the fifth time that similar proposals have been submitted to Huntingdonshire District Council. The previous applications were either withdrawn or refused. Planning documents state the building is “in a deteriorating condition and is frequently vandalised by trespassers”.

The current plans for the old school building would convert it into a two-storey, three-bedroom house. The school was built in 1842, with a toilet block added in 1930 and a kitchen added in 1944.

The works include breaking through the west of the hall to create an opening, adding mezzanine to the north of the hall, creating a sun roof, knocking down the outbuilding and removing and reconstructing the toilet and kitchen. Reviewing the plans, a conservation officer said: “The main feature of the building is the open classroom space which forms part of its original plan form, this is specifically emphasised as an important part of why the building is listed and its significance.

“The inclusion of the mezzanine with bedroom and ensuite bathroom under will fundamentally and significantly erode the space of the hall and damage the original plan form. This will result in a high level of harm.”

However, parts of the works such as removing the outbuilding were not objected to by the conservation officer. Although the officer said the development would “not harm the setting of adjacent listed buildings”, they believe the proposals “do not preserve the significance of the listed building, and result in a high level of less than substantial harm”.

The design and access statement for the current plans, written on behalf of applicant Simon Claridge, says: “The proposed development has been carefully conceived to secure the long-term preservation and viable reuse of the former school building through its sensitive conversion to a single residential dwelling.

“The design approach has sought to balance the functional requirements of a modern home with the need to preserve the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building and its contribution to the wider character of the conservation area.”

Expressing their thoughts on the plans, one person claimed: “The double-height Victorian schoolroom (the primary feature of the building’s architectural interest) is set to be permanently chopped in half by a modern stud partition wall to carve out a private main bedroom. This destroys the open, high-ceiling volume of the historic school hall.”

Planning document notes state that existing historic railings would be removed and taken to another address throughout the works and reinstalled after. An existing dwarf wall in “poor repair” would also be removed and replaced. The objector claimed that “dismantling a protected curtilage asset” would cause “immediate harm to the Bluntisham Conservation Area”.

Several people have also shared their support for the proposals. One person wrote: “I understand that this building is currently derelict. The owners are trying to make a beautiful home out of it. Frankly, we should be grateful that someone is willing to buy the property, invest money into it and make good of it. Otherwise, it will sit there forever and continue to fall apart.”

Meanwhile, another local, who highlighted the building’s “very poor state of repair” said that “in its present condition, the building is clearly deteriorating, and I believe this poses a serious threat to the long-term preservation of this Grade II listed structure”.

The comment added: “Bringing the building back into active, responsible use is, in my view, essential to safeguarding its future. I am fully supportive of the applicants’ proposals to restore the building and convert it into a family home.

“From what I understand of their plans, they are respectful of the building’s historic significance and are focused on sensitive repair, retention of original features where possible, and the use of appropriate materials in keeping with the character of the property.”

It can be easy to just throw everything, including items like batteries, in a household waste bin without thinking.

A binman has revealed exactly where and how you should be disposing of your old batteries.

How to properly dispose of batteries

The TikTok influencer, The No1 Binman, Ashley has revealed that there are a few extra steps you should take when getting rid of old batteries.

He spoke to the BBC and said: “Do not put vapes or batteries in any bin.

“You can take them to B&Q or the vape shop you bought them from and they’re meant to dispose of them themselves.”

Ashley added that a few councils will dispose of batteries if you leave them on top of your bin in a carrier bag.

But he stressed they should never be put inside the bin, as this can cause fires.

He continued: “I’ve had this before and I’m not sure if it’s a battery or a vape – the back of a lorry started smoking.”

Individual local authorities should provide clear information on what households can and cannot be recycled.

Metal items that cannot be recycled in normal recycling bins include things like electrical items and batteries, pipes, irons, and general kitchenware.

How to avoid having your recycling bin refused

Ashley shared some other tips that will help avoid having recycling bin refused by the binmen.

He said binmen are told to leave the entire recycling bin if it contains more than 5 to 10% of non-recyclable items.

He said: “You should be taking food out if you put it in your food waste bin, rather than chucking it straight in there – like if you’ve got a loaf of bread that’s out of date.

“Pizza boxes technically shouldn’t go in paper waste because the grease on the boxes makes it unable to be recycled because you can’t clean it off.

“They should be ripped apart and separated.

“Paper should be clean all the time.

“But some councils allow you to put them in the compost bin because they can be broken down with dirt and foods.”

Ashley also said people should be removing any polystyrene from packages and separating it from cardboard.

He said: “If something comes in a cardboard box, people take the item out and leave the polystyrene in the box.”

Do you always recycle your batteries in the correct way? Let us know in the comments.

One evening in August 2025, a Pakistani shepherd, Abuzar Hussain, was tending sheep and goats in the mountainous slopes of Shijar. At about 6pm, a thunderous roar shattered the silence of the valley.

Abuzar could see a glacial flood headed towards his village, and had minutes to react. He desperately climbed up to a higher point in the mountain where the mobile signal allowed him to get in touch with the village, so that the mosque could broadcast an alert over a loudspeaker.

Hundreds of lives were saved by this phone call from a single man, in a region where millions of dollars are invested in early warning systems.

This story captures something risk and crisis communication researchers have long known, but is not always built into a nation’s emergency planning. It’s not only official messages that are part of a community response to an upcoming disaster. Research shows that the sources who deliver information during emergencies, and their perceived credibility, can affect the way people understand risks and act on them.

That gap, between what people are told and what they trust, is exactly what we set out to measure, with other colleagues. As climate and health information researchers, we ran a series of surveys in Belgium, Germany, Poland and Florida in the US – all places that were hit by major weather emergencies in 2024.

Storm Boris caused deadly flooding across central Europe, while Hurricane Helene caused devastation in the south-eastern United States. These events made natural test sites for our new survey tool, designed to measure “information voids” – the gap between what people expect from flood information and what they actually experience. This could range from knowing where and when to evacuate, to knowing who to believe.

To measure this, we asked people to rate how much information they ideally wanted versus how much they actually received; how accurate they expected it to be versus how accurate it felt; which sources of information they trusted versus which ones they heard from; and finally, which communication channels they preferred versus which they could access.

From their responses, we were able to calculate “void scores”: the difference between the perceived ideal emergency alert and what was received. These were judged in terms of the quantity and quality information received, the source of that information, and the communication channel it was received from. The bigger the difference between the ideal and received ratings, the bigger the void.

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Nepal floods: how measuring snow in the Himalayas could help avoid future disasters

Our findings from nearly 900 people were revealing, but not in the way we expected. Across all four countries, people said they were getting enough information about the weather emergencies. The problem wasn’t the volume of information – it was who it came from, and how it reached them.

Who is the messenger?

We measured the “information void” in four ways: how much information people got, how accurate it was, who it came from, and how it reached them.

Our surveys detected gaps in the accuracy of information about the timing and location of floods. But the biggest problem was the source of that information, and how it reached people.

Trust levels were high for emergency responders such as firefighters and the police. People showed relatively low levels of trust for social media influencers and religious leaders.

Relationships between information sources and audiences become especially fragile during disasters such as floods, where life-altering decisions need to be made quickly. This was demonstrated during the August 2026 disaster on the Nepal-Tibet border, when a flash flood washed away villages and roads, killing more than 1,000 people.

Strong winds and water surges can damage telecommunications and transportation infrastructure, in ways that make it impossible for emergency responders to share important updates about the situation with the public through news or social media.

In the meantime, rumours can often start spreading misinformation about issues such as emergency supplies, leading some communities to feel ignored. This often sows the seeds of social discontent.

Why information fails

Over the past decade and especially since the COVID pandemic, research around tracking and tackling misinformation has increased. Some studies suggest that misinformation outbreaks are usually preceded by a vacuum of information from official channels.

One possible explanation is that uncertainty about the hazard and incomplete information creates a fertile ground for alternative theories to emerge. When these theories gain traction, they can have dangerous consequences.

Measuring, detecting and addressing information voids should help address the risk of misinformation outbreaks during emergencies and disasters – events that are especially vulnerable to these outbreaks.

Preliminary research, which is not yet peer reviewed, suggests that information voids were linked to an increase in the prevalence of misinformation during the COVID pandemic. Other researchers have categorised social media conversations during the pandemic to identify which topics people felt most confused about, or wanted more information on.

What needs to change?

Many disaster planners worry about people not receiving accurate information, focusing on its quantity and quality. And certainly, being informed accurately about the timing and location of natural disasters is of primary importance.

But our research shows it is also vital to focus on who delivers this information. Messengers commanding high levels of trust need to be actively engaged to ensure information reaches people frequently and widely.

Institutions can act on this by constantly monitoring information voids across all phases of a disaster, from preparedness to response and recovery. This will increase the chances that people adhere to emergency advice, and that misinformation outbreaks are headed off before they start.

À lire aussi :
Himalayan hazards are becoming more complex. Our warning systems need to catch up

Investing millions of dollars in early warning systems is necessary, but not sufficient. Accurate information needs to be sent in the right amount and at the right moment via trusted sources, or people are put at risk.

That is a lesson emergency communicators urgently need to absorb.

WWE legend Kurt Angle mixed it up with the very best professional wrestling had to offer during his storied career in the ring. But there is always one that got away.

As you might recall him mentioning, Angle won Olympic gold in 1996 ‘with a broken freakin’ neck’ before he was thrust into the world of WWE (then WWF) in late 1999, winning his first world title within a year of making his debut for Vince McMahon’s all-conquering promotion.

Over the next six years, he would be involved in some of the biggest feuds, most engrossing storylines and absorbing matches during one of wrestling’s golden periods, becoming a six-time world champion.

Angle shared the ring with every major name of his time, headlining with powerhouses of the Attitude Era in Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Triple H and new stars in Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Randy Orton. Matches against ring royalty in The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are among his favourites but there is one name missing from his golden collection.

Bret Hart left the WWE in disgust in in 1997 to join WCW (World Championship Wrestling) in the aftermath of ‘The Montreal Screwjob’. Excluding his brief return to the company in 2010, ‘The Hitman’s last meaningful match in professional wrestling was in 2000 with a meeting between two of the greatest technical wrestlers in history consigned to fantasy.

‘I missed him by a year,’ Angle told Metro, speaking via Gambling.com, the guide to the best online sportsbooks. ‘He left the WWE in 1997, I signed with them in 1998. I was so sad when I saw him get injured and his career was ended.

‘The WWE offered me a contract in 1996, I should have taken the damn contract instead of waiting until 1998, because then I would have wrestled Bret. But I’ve always been inspired by Bret Hart because of his technical ability, and that’s what I portrayed in wrestling as well.’

And of today’s crop? ‘The two guys right now today that I would have loved to wrestle are Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay. They’re both phenomenal. I love their style, even their high-flying style — I don’t do a lot of high-flying things, I do a little bit, but I always mesh well with guys like that, guys like  Rey Mysterio many times — we mesh really well. So I really would have loved to wrestle those two.’

Angle’s match against The Undertaker at No Way Out 2006 is one he regarded as one of the best of his WWE career. The two first tangled at Fully Loaded 2000 and reignited their chemistry in an untelevised house show six years later. They went to WWE chairman Vince McMahon with the idea of bringing it to WrestleMania 22– with Angle heavyweight champion at the time. It would have presented two scenarios – Angle dropping the belt or The Phenom’s undefeated streak coming to an end. McMahon didn’t like either option.

‘We went to Vince and said, “listen, we have great chemistry, we would love to have a match at WrestleMania”. And Vince was like, well, “you’re the champion, Kurt, I don’t want to give The Undertaker the title, and Undertaker’s undefeated and I don’t want to end this streak yet”. So he said, “I’ll give you the match at No Way Out”, the pay-per-view before WrestleMania.

‘Undertaker and I wrestled at No Way Out, which is the lowest-buying pay-per-view of the year — everybody’s saving up for WrestleMania — and it’s the least-watched pay-per-view. So it didn’t get that much exposure because of that. It kind of sucks, because that’s when we had our match. We were planning on having it at WrestleMania, but Vince McMahon wouldn’t have it.’

Angle went onto drop the title to Rey Mysterio the following month with The Undertaker’s remaining undefeated at WrestleMania for another eight years before Lesnar brought it all to a shuddering halt in 2014.

Lesnar had just recently re-signed with WWE after switching to the world of UFC. Already one of the most fearsome athletes professional wrestling had ever seen, his reign as UFC champion only added to his ferocious aura and meant he was perhaps the only credible candidate to end ‘The Streak’.

Would Lesnar have been Angle’s choice? ‘I wasn’t going to be the guy that was going to end the undefeated streak. I believe it was going to be either an upcoming guy or a complete dominator that people would buy.

‘Now, they would have bought me beating Undertaker, but I was already way up here as far as main-eventing and being one of the top guys in the company — I didn’t need it. But neither did Brock. Brock is a dominating athlete though — I think people said, “okay, I can accept this”.

‘I would have preferred if it was someone up-and-coming. Whoever was younger back then, maybe, I don’t know if this is a great idea, but Cody Rhodes or CM Punk, somebody up-and-coming who ended up being the top guy in the company. I think it would have benefited them the most. But they decided to end the streak with Brock Lesnar, and I think it was a great decision because it was a safe decision.’

MORE: WWE rookie from Nottinghamshire ‘floors’ wrestling legend at 29 years old

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Autumn equinox is approaching, and (sigh) you know what that means: the days are only about to get shorter. Damn.

Although it’s a fact of life every winter, I simply can’t wrap my head around the fact that the days end as early as 4pm.

There’s nothing more demotivating than leaving work and it already being evening, and if you’re working from home it can be tricky to energise yourself for a full day of work.

Whether you’re struggling to wake up in the morning, or to maintain energy levels throughout the day, and SAD lamp could give you a morning boost and keep you productive all day long.

They come in a range of sizes, from table to floor lamps, alarm clocks, and even foldable forms that can fit in your bag.

If you’re looking for something that will stop you falling into a winter depression, SAD lamps could be the solution this year.

We’ve rounded up the best to shop now.

Best known for her award-winning role as Mary Cox in Our Friends in the North, McKee spent her formative years in Peterlee, a town built on ambition, community spirit and the heritage of east Durham’s mining villages.

A town built for a new future

Peterlee is unlike most towns in County Durham.

Established as a new town after the Second World War and named after miners’ leader Peter Lee, it was designed to provide modern homes and opportunities for families from the surrounding coalfield communities.

Today, Peterlee is home to more than 20,000 people and is known for landmarks including the Apollo Pavilion, nearby stretches of the Durham Heritage Coast and its rich mining history.

While many visitors know Peterlee for its distinctive architecture and location between Sunderland and Hartlepool, it has also produced one of the North East’s most acclaimed acting talents.

Gina McKee’s Peterlee roots

Born in 1964, McKee was raised in Peterlee and nearby Easington after being born into a mining family.

Her father worked in the coal industry, giving her first-hand experience of the communities that would later inspire some of her most celebrated performances.

She attended school locally and discovered acting while still a teenager.

According to published biographies, McKee joined a local drama group after spotting a poster in a shop window.

What began as a hobby quickly developed into a passion and eventually led to her first professional screen role in the Tyne Tees children’s series Quest of Eagles.

From East Durham to television success

McKee spent several summers with the National Youth Theatre before pursuing a professional acting career.

Despite being rejected by a number of prestigious drama schools, she continued to pursue acting and gradually established herself on television and in film.

Her breakthrough came in 1996 when she starred in the BBC drama Our Friends in the North, earning a BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress.

Since then she has appeared in productions including Notting Hill, The Forsyte Saga, Bodyguard, Line of Duty, Phantom Thread and My Policeman, building a reputation as one of Britain’s finest screen performers.

Why Peterlee remains proud of its star

Like many towns across County Durham, Peterlee has undergone significant change since its mining heyday.

Yet McKee’s success remains a source of pride for many local people and serves as a reminder of the talent that has emerged from East Durham communities.

For a town created to offer new opportunities to mining families, the story of Gina McKee is one of its most notable success stories.

From a local drama group in Peterlee to BAFTA-winning performances watched by millions, her journey remains closely connected to the County Durham town where she grew up.

Mixed signals? Or maybe it is just a sign that Tuchel wants his side to become more unpredictable in their search for success.

Because that is what the best teams do – mix it up when required.

Despite Tuchel’s remarks, his latest squad for the fixtures against Spain, the Czech Republic and Croatia rather contradicts any thoughts of a havoc-rich approach.

The return of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer, two of English football’s most technically gifted players, screams control.

So do the call-ups of Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott and Newcastle left-back Lewis Hall, who are both extremely adept in possession of the ball.

Of course, there is certainly a balance to be struck. That would be Tuchel’s ideal scenario.

Rio Ngumoha’s first senior call-up will certainly add an air of unpredictability to Tuchel’s options.

The Liverpool winger, 18, has had an exciting start to the season, catching the eye with his invention and trickery down both flanks for Andoni Iraola’s side.

That Tuchel revealed Fulham attacker Josh King is also close to earning his first senior call-up provides further indication the England manager wants to reinvigorate his forward line ahead of the forthcoming Nations League campaign and beyond.

Yet, we shouldn’t expect Tuchel to completely let go of the handbrake just yet.

In response to a question as to whether his team can replicate the fast-paced approach of a Premier League team but harnessed with a greater control, Tuchel responded: “That would be the wish, that we become for 10 minutes a little bit more like Spain, here and there.

“The more I reflect on it, it’s maybe more buying into our strengths and play more minutes like we played the second half against Croatia, and more minutes like we played the first half against France, and buying into these strengths, because I think we get a lot of value out of it, we get a lot of connection to the fans, this is what the Premier League reflects.

“We are maybe not the most economical team to play football but this is maybe also a characteristic of the Premier League. The Premier League is not a very economical league, you have to play.

“You need to max out every single match otherwise you cannot compete for the title so this is something more beautiful. But this is where we are, where I am in my mindset and I think where the players are, so it’s still a bit ambiguous.”

But while Tuchel may not have total clarity with regards to whether control or chaos is the way forward, he showed no hint of confusion over who he believes his best players are.

Tuchel refuted assertions his decision to recall Palmer and Alexander-Arnold was an admission he’d got his World Cup squad wrong.

Indeed, Tuchel has hinted he would have picked a vastly similar squad for the upcoming games to the one he selected for the US had all his options been available.

“Before we did the nomination in the last month, I thought we had more of a continuation of the World Cup squad but then a lot of members of our World Cup squad – Reece [James], Dan [Burn], Dean [Henderson, [John] Stones, [Jordan] Henderson, Djed Spence – can’t be with us due to injuries, so it is not like a full continuation.

“These players were crucial for us in building the brotherhood, in building the spirit and taking care of the mentality that took us the long way in the tournament. We will not negotiate on that, we will not give in on that.

“So other players will step up, this is basically how I see this camp.

“My mindset at the moment is not to change too much within the formations.”

England host World Cup winners Spain at Wembley on Saturday, 26 September then travel to the Czech Republic (Tuesday, 29 September) and Croatia (Saturday, 3 October) before the Czechs visit on Tuesday, 6 October.