Mr Adrian Forshaw submitted plans to alter the property at 55-59 Dobb Brow road, erecting a side garage and changing the Tudor-style frontage into modern red brick.

Previous plans were submitted to demolish the building entirely, but the new plans merely seek to ‘refurbish’ it, alongside making a host of other landscaping changes.

The proposed frontage (Image: Bolton Council)

Town Councillor David Wilkinson said: “If anybody knows Dobb Brow they’ll know it’s Tudor style housing, and unfortunately they’re going to take all of that off.

“It’ll have basically have a brick skin, but they’re keeping the house.

“The previous application which was building new ones at the back and knocking this one down as well.

“So, it’s staying, but it will look different from what it looks like currently.”

Despite this, Cllr Wilkinson voted to approve the application, as did the other members of Westhoughton Town Council.

The plans will change the character of the property.

The Tudor frontage, with its white coat of paint and black painted contrast detailing, will be entirely removed.

Instead, the house front will consist of red brick.

The black-framed windows will also be removed and new windows will be installed.

The new design features a large, two-storey central glass window, flanked by two windows to the left and three windows to the right.

The proposed rear of the property (Image: Bolton Council)

Rather than black-painted window frames, the new windows will be topped with sandstone.

A garage will also be appended to the front-left side of the property, which does not exist currently, and electric vehicle charging points will be installed.

Stainless steel external lights will be installed on either side of the central window.

The roof will be formed of interlocking concrete tiles with a dark grey colouration.

Westhoughton Town Council approved the plans, but as an advisory body, they cannot grant to right to the developer to begin construction.

The plans will now have to be assessed by Bolton Council planning bosses before work can begin.

The 44-year-old, known for her roles in The Fall and Outlander, stars as Detective Monica Kennedy in The Dark, a new series based on Scottish crime writer G R Halliday’s novel From the Shadows.

Set in the Scottish wilderness, the series follows Kennedy as she investigates the staged killing of a young man.

As paranoia spreads, long-held secrets begin to surface and locals realise a serial killer may be hiding among them.

The six-part series also stars The Last Kingdom actor Mark Rowley and Friends actress Helen Baxendale.

Donnelly said she found it interesting that the series focused on missing men, as women are more commonly portrayed as victims in crime dramas.

“Obviously, it’s far more common for the victims to be women, not that it doesn’t happen to men, but it is much more common with women,” she said.

“What I really liked about this first storyline was that we weren’t getting that familiar dynamic. In particular, I appreciated that it wasn’t accompanied by gratuitous violence and gore.

“We’ve seen women being hunted and killed on our screens so often over the years, and while that is, of course, the reality in many cases, it can also feel very gratuitous.”

In the series, Detective Kennedy balances her demanding career with raising her daughter.

“I think what I really, really adored about this character, and about the first scripts I read, was how little being a mother impacts the way she does her job,” she said.

“It certainly affects her relationship with her child, there’s no question about that, but she doesn’t allow the fact that she’s a mum to affect the way she works.”

She added: “I love that motherhood doesn’t stop or hinder any aspect of what Monica does, whether she’s being reckless, putting her own life on the line, or throwing herself into a situation in a completely inadvisable way.

“She doesn’t even think twice about the long hours she has to work. She simply relies on the fact that her mum has things under control and will look after Lucy while she gets on with the job she believes she was put on this earth to do.

“I think Monica feels she was put on this earth to solve these kinds of crimes, not to be a mother. That really appealed to me about this character.”

Laura Donnelly leads the cast of The Dark on ITV, which is an adaptation of GR Halliday’s novel From the Shadows (Image: ITV)

Rowley, 36, who plays Detective Conor Crawford, revealed that he spoke to a Highlands-based detective while researching the role, using those insights to help create an authentic portrayal of detective work.

“I ended up speaking to a superintendent who had previously been in charge of the Highlands in Inverness. It was really interesting talking to him,” said the Scottish actor.

“It’s not something we’ve explored in great detail in our show because we’ve taken a different direction, but one thing he said they’re increasingly finding difficult is social media.

“When people post things online, there’s often an assumption that it’s evidence, when in reality it isn’t. The challenge is identifying the core evidence that can actually stand up in court and lead to a conviction. I found that fascinating.

“I suppose it all comes back to detectives hunting for the truth, and that can take you down many different paths.

“In the show, there are moments where we find one tiny piece of evidence, and that’s the key that unlocks everything.”

Episode 2 of The Dark is on ITV tonight at 9pm and ITVX.

Carol Vorderman has revealed she was recently rushed to hospital in an ambulance after suffering a horror fall which left her unconscious.

The TV personality, 65, took to Instagram to share a health update after she tripped over a tree root outside her home and ‘smashed onto the tarmac path’ injuring herself. 

The Countdown legend explained in a video: ‘I’ve got a bit of a story to tell you about my concussion, which might also explain why I was a bit offline in June.

‘So right at the very end of May, I was walking just outside my house on a public footpath, and I tripped over a tree root, which I didn’t see.

‘And I went smash here on the tarmac path, and I was unconscious.

‘I can’t remember what happened then, but I do know that an ambulance came, and I was taken to the BRI, Bristol Royal Infirmary.

‘By the way, I also know that they were playing the final countdown in the ambulance on the way. It’s another story, but it did make me laugh.’

Carol went into further detail, noting how she was ‘discharged the next day’ but experienced ‘massive vomiting… all the bad signs’.

She added: ‘Straight back into hospital, they were wonderful. The A&E did all the CT scans and everything. Out again. I had the biggest black eye or bruises all down my face for three or four weeks.

‘But what it did leave me with after about two or three weeks was dizziness. So I felt as though I was kind of walking on a moving ship, like sort of knocking into the wall a little bit.’

The I’m A Celebrity star explained that she was left feeling like the room was spinning and thanked the ‘Epley technique’ and a lady called Sophie who introduced her to it for helping tackle it. 

Carol urged: ‘I am not a doctor. I am not advising people about this, but I’m just telling you what’s happened to me.’

She went on to explain how it is BPPV, adding how ‘it’s all about the inner ear and this little sort of sack of crystals that gets dislodged, and she puts it back together again’.

After three sessions with physio Sophie doing the Epley technique, Carol says she has been discharged from the service and ‘couldn’t be happier’.

It comes after Carol revealed she is hoping to go under the knife and have a facelift ‘in the next couple of years’.

The presenter has previously hit back at criticism she’s faced for having Botox to maintain her ageless appearance, and she doubled down on her plans for more surgery in a new interview.

Hitting back at critics of her tweakments, Carol declared she’ll ‘spend her money on what she likes’ and has ‘no issue’ with having surgery in the future.

The TV personality, 65, took to Instagram to share a health update after she tripped over a tree root outside her home and ‘smashed onto the tarmac path’ injuring herself

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Speaking to Daily Mail’s Richard Eden, she said: ‘I don’t look as good as I did in my 40s, but I don’t think I look bad for my age.

‘I have Botox and all of those things, and I’m probably going to have a facelift in the next couple of years.’

‘It’s my money, I’ve earned it, so I’ll spend it on what I like. I am accepting of myself, but I also want to look good, and those two things can go together.’

Carol has previously said she has a ‘no f***s given’ approach to ageing as she recounted the abuse she often gets over her appearance. 

She told The Sunday Times Magazine in 2024: ‘Everyone on telly has Botox. I look the way I do because it makes me happy.

‘But you get to a point in life where it’s no f***s given. I love what David Bowie said about ageing: “You become the person you always should have been.”

‘My sixties is the age I always should have been. The abuse I get is off the scale but I don’t give a monkey’s. Actually it spurs me on.’

She also told how she has actually never had a boob job but that she went up three cup sizes when she went through menopause.

“Netherfield Park is let at last!” go the famous opening words from Mrs Bennet in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. To her delight, the estate has been taken on by the eligible newcomer Mr Bingley – a “single man in possession of a good fortune” – who brings new marital opportunities for her five unmarried daughters.

In the beloved 1995 BBC television adaptation of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Edgcote House in Northamptonshire was chosen as the location for Netherfield Park. Edgcote is a stunning Georgian manor, built in the mid-18th century, in an elegant landscaped park. In summer 2026, the estate is up for sale – ready and waiting for its next eligible owner (though they’ll need a bit more cash than Bingley’s four or five thousand a year).

But what about the stories beneath the glossy costume-drama world?

In the middle of the 18th century, a young labouring-class woman, Mary Leapor, worked as a servant at Edgcote House. She was also – despite her humble background and lack of formal education – a poet.

Her master at Edgcote House, Richard Chauncy, later recalled that “her fondness for writing verses… displayed itself by her sometimes taking up her pen while the jack [the spit] was standing still, and the meat scorching.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Leapor was dismissed from Edgcote House in 1745.

Leapor’s poem Crumble-Hall is based on her time working at Edgcote House and was written just before she left. It takes us below stairs to see the hidden stories and secrets of the great English country house.

Leapor writes in the first person, in the guise of a servant called Mira, introducing us to a colourful cast of characters.

In the kitchen, the maid Ursula is doing the washing up, but crushing hard on the servant-boy Roger, who’s eaten too many leftovers and is snoring on the table.

In the poem’s typically comic style, Ursula declares her passionate (unrequited) love for Roger, dedicating all her mundane chores to him.

“Ah! Roger, Ah!” the mournful Maiden cries:
“Is wretched Urs’la then your Care no more,
That, while I sigh, thus you can sleep and snore?
Ingrateful Roger! wilt thou leave me know?
For you these Furrows mark my fading Brow:
For you my Pigs resign their Morning Due:
My hungry Chickens lose their Meat for you:
And, was it not, Ah! was it not for thee,
No goodly Pottage would be dress’d by me.
For thee these Hands wind up the whirling Jack,
Or place the Spit across the sloping Rack.
I baste the Mutton with a cheerful Heart,
Because I know my Roger will have Part.

Her frustrated romantic thoughts, however, are rudely interrupted.

But now her Dish-kettle began
To boil and blubber with the foaming Bran.

The kettle’s boiled, the water’s hot, and she has to get on with the dishes. The servant’s time is not her own. The above-stairs ladies of Jane Austen’s novels get to have their love affairs and romances – but servants can never be the main characters in their own stories.

Mary Leapor also takes us on a tour around the house. And, as the title Crumble-Hall suggests, this isn’t quite the glamorous world we might imagine. Instead, it’s disintergrating, dusty and decrepit. Leapor observes that “Safely the Mice through yon dark Passage run”. And, in the dimness, she says, “Along each Wall the Stranger blindly feels; / And (trembling) dreads a Spectre at his Heels.” Even the Library is full of “dusty volumes”, gathering cobwebs.

In fact, during Mary Leapor’s time there, Edgcote House probably really was crumbling. The new manor house, which we know from the BBC Pride and Prejudice, was built around 1747 to 1752.

Mary Leapor is looking ahead to this major remodelling of Edgcote House and its estate when she takes us briefly, at the end of the poem, out into the grounds. She laments that ancient trees will be torn down “[t]o clear the way for Slopes, and modern Whims”. For Mary, this is a moment of sadness and loss: she foresees a “ravag’d” and “barren” future park: green and elegant, but emptied of the nature and memories she knows.

What paid for this ambitious rebuilding of Edgcote House? Richard Chauncy, its owner, made his vast fortune through the East India Company. This was the joint-stock company formed in 1600 to trade in the Indian Ocean region, which by the mid-18th century was already exercising military power, assuming administrative functions, and effectively forming the basis for the British Empire in India.

Leapor’s poem points us towards the hidden labour below stairs which underpins the English country house – but also the hidden labour, halfway across the world, which pays for it.

Mary Leapor died of measles in 1746 at the age of just 24. Her poetry wasn’t known beyond her hometown of Brackley, Northamptonshire, in her lifetime. When I wrote about Leapor in my book A History of England in 25 Poems, I couldn’t help wondering: what might she have gone on to write? What sort of poet would she have become?

I like to think that this fearless, radical, witty young woman would have held her own in conversation with Jane Austen – or, even, in the Bingleys’ drawing room. She helps us listen beyond the familiar voices and to see the other, often invisible, stories, beneath the stately homes of England.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

It is alleged a man drove nearly 300 miles from his home to Ann Widdecombe’s bungalow in Haytor, Devon, where the veteran politician and reality TV star was found dead

The murder of former British politician Ann Widdecombe is being investigated by Counter Terrorism Police with a suspect re-arrested on a terrorism offence, police said today.

Authorities confirmed Counter Terrorism Police are leading the probe after the suspect, originally detained on suspicion of Miss Widdecombe’s murder, has been re-arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. This gives police the powers under the Terrorism Act to detain a suspect without charge for up to 14 days.

Devon and Cornwall Police had previously faced a race against the clock to bring charges after the initial arrest. The head of UK counter-terrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said: “Building on the progress made by our colleagues in Devon and Cornwall Police, we now have new information and evidence that means Counter Terrorism Policing is now leading the investigation.

“We are pursuing multiple lines of enquiry to establish the motivation for this attack. Our priority is progressing this investigation quickly, with all the capabilities we have available to us. If anyone has any information, please share it with the police.”

Who are Counter Terrorism police?

Counter Terrorism Police work with the UK intelligence community to help protect the public and our national security. Officers from forces across the UK collaborate to prevent, deter and investige terrorist activity.

The unit says “choices have to constantly be made about resources” but they lead investigations on cases deemed to pose a threat to national security. It is unclear what the “new information and evidence” is on the Miss Widdecombe case but this has led to CTP taking the lead on this one.

Investigations have taken place in Devon and South Yorkshire (the latter where the latest arrest was made) with CTP’s team covering the whole of the UK. They generally become involved where there is suspected terrorism or offences under UK terrorism legislation. Now, the suspect has been re-arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

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What happens next?

The re-arrest on alleged terrorism offences gives police the powers under the Terrorism Act to detain a suspect without charge for up to 14 days. Devon and Cornwall Police had initially said there was nothing to suggest the attack was terrorism-related, but investigations are ever evolving as new information comes to light.

But, like Devon and Cornwall Police said, Counter Terrorism Police has urged “anyone with any information” to share it with them online.

How significant is this?

Previously, the case was being led by Devon and Cornwall Police — because the offence happened in Devon. However, they received help from South Yorkshire Constabulary whose officers arrested the suspect on Saturday in Rotherham.

This meant the case had already used resources from at least two constabularies. Counter Terrorism Police uses such collaboration, with officers from forces across the UK.

Crucially, while Devon and Cornwall Police faced a shorter period in which to bring charges against the suspect, the latest development gives Counter Terrorism Police much more time. They have powers to detain the man, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, for up to 14 days while they continue to investigate.

Lamine Yamal has struggled for goals at the World Cup despite his stellar reputation but Rodri has come out to bat for the Spanish star ahead of their World Cup semi-final

Spanish great Rodri has told Lamine Yamal to “calm down” as he urged the teenage wonderkid to stop obsessing over the need to prove himself at the World Cup.

Spain arrived as European champions with Yamal their poster boy, but drew their opening game against Cape Verde. Whilst they have grown into the tournament, beating the likes of Portugal and Belgium, the Barcelona youngster has yet to hit top gear.

Yamal is seen as one of the next generation but has managed to score just one goal and has not recorded any assists in six matches. He remains a talismanic figure for Spain, who are eyeing their second World Cup following their 2010 triumph.

Rodri was named the best player at Euro 2024, leading to the Ballon d’Or, and he insists Yamal is still having an impact and it is the squad’s job to remind him of his quality and keep him level before games.

The Manchester City star said: “I think he needs to calm down a bit, that anxiety that sometimes he has to prove himself. He’s a very important player for us because of what he does with and without the ball, and he’s a very intelligent guy. It’s true that he’s 19 years old and that we have to calm him down at certain moments of the game.”

Yamal has hit back at his critics and maintains he’s more than having an impact on games, even if he’s not scoring, and his lack of goals won’t mean anything if Spain ultimately deliver the big prize.

“If we win the World Cup, I think nobody will remember how many goals I scored or how many I didn’t. If we win, we’ll all be happy, that’s all I want,” said the Barcelona man.

“I know that with my movement I draw a lot of opponents away; I can create space for a teammate. Anything I can do to help, even if I don’t touch the ball in a play, will be a positive. I think everyone’s obsessed with scoring goals,” says Lamine Yamal, via COPE.

At the Euros two years ago France met Spain in the semi-final, where Yamal scored a wonderstrike from distance to level the contest before the Spanish went on to claim victory. The teenager was electric in that tournament as his country went on to claim the trophy.

Last season he enjoyed his best year to date in front of goal as Barcelona retained their La Liga crown. Yamal scored 24 times – six more than the previous campaign.

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In an upcoming speech this Thursday, President Donald Trump will reportedly reveal plans by foreign nations to interfere in the 2020 election.

The claims will be based on declassified intelligence information, MS Now reports.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

On Monday, President Trump previewed the address with a brief message on Truth Social, describing it as a “Speech to the Nation” planned for 9 p.m. Eastern time.

The president has long claimed without evidence that he won the 2020 election.

Since Trump returned to office, federal officials have continued to investigate the election in Georgia.

Federal prosecutors have also described investigating a potential “grand conspiracy” against Trump dating back to 2016.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.

“Oxford University’s new Ebola vaccine has been developed in just eight weeks after a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is British science at its finest.”

Efforts will save lives

British scientists are once again showing how skill, urgency and public service can save lives far beyond our shores. Oxford University’s new Ebola vaccine has been developed in just eight weeks after a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo killed 625 people and infected nearly 1,800. That speed is extraordinary, but corners are not being cut.

The same rigorous tests are being carried out, with teams working around the clock and in parallel. The technology behind the jab helped create the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, credited with saving millions of lives worldwide. Now it could offer hope against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.

The first safety trial will take place in Britain before testing begins in Africa. This is British science at its finest: fast, careful and driven by the simple belief that every life matters, wherever it is lived.

Fairness for all

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is right to argue that Britain’s asylum system needs reform. It is slow, costly and leaves people trapped in limbo for years. But change must be fair as well as firm.

Handing appeal decisions to members of the public raises questions about consistency and expertise, while charging successful applicants £10,000 for support and accommodation risks punishing people who have proved their right to stay. Meanwhile, concerns over trafficking survivors must be answered, not brushed aside.

Any new rules should protect victims rather than make it harder for them to rebuild their lives. Creating legal routes is welcome and could help restore order. Ministers should think carefully before changing settlement rules for those who came here under one promise and may now face another. Reform needs trust, clarity, as well as humanity.

Best bar none

Britain’s best pub may be closer than the local high street. Ingenious homeowners’ brilliant garden boozers prove imagination, recycled materials and a well-stocked fridge can create something special. The Pampered Chicken, The Mucky Pub and Hibbys are all worthy finalists. May the best backyard boozer win – with no closing time and no taxi home.

Prince Harry has said he shows affection to his children as his mother, the late Princess Diana, did to him.

The Duke of Sussex told former England rugby player Joe Marler on his podcast that ‘if a day is hard, one thing I will do is always squeeze my kids that extra, extra tight’.

Harry has previously described how Diana would squeeze him and his brother, Prince William, as ‘tight as possible’.

Speaking on the Joe Marler Will See You Now episode, recorded on Thursday before his family’s secret reunion with King Charles the following day, Harry said: ‘The resilience of kids is amazing and the way they view life is so incredibly refreshing.’

His children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, were reunited with their Royal grandparents for the first time since 2022 on Friday during a private evening at Highgrove.

It came at the end of a week in which Harry suffered a crushing defeat in his privacy court case against the Daily Mail.

Celebrity Traitors star Marler hosts the podcast which takes the form of a mock therapy session.

Harry joked during the episode that his hair was not ‘ginger’ but ‘auburn’ and when asked to name his ‘favourite trashy TV show’ he replied ‘Love Island’, adding: ‘I don’t watch Love Island, I have watched Love Island.’

The Duke of Sussex recited his rarely-used full name in the new interview with former England rugby star Marler

Asked which other Harry he would be for the day, ‘Harry Styles, Harry Kane or Harry Potter’, the Duke said: ‘Kane on a winning day.’

He also gave his prediction about England’s chances of the World Cup, saying: ‘I think it’s coming home, not going to be easy – never is.’

Asked about his grooming regime, he replied ‘s***, shave, shower’ and ‘I trim my beard every five or six days, just to keep it a little bit tidy’.

The duke added: ‘Nothing really happening on top, I get a haircut, otherwise I try not to look at what’s happening.’

Striking a more serious tone when asked how he dealt with trauma, Harry said: ‘Exercise, sport and being able to find the time to take yourself somewhere, do something – repetition is great, have a routine.’

He added: ‘Boxing, another thing that I really enjoy, just to let the aggression out, get a sweat on, to me it’s always about getting a sweat on.’

At the start of the episode Harry used his full name in answer to one of Marler’s questions.

Asked for his name, the Duke replied: ‘Henry Charles Albert David, Duke of Sussex,’ to which podcast co-host Jake Bhardwaj quipped: ‘It’s a long one.’

Harry quickly responded: ‘Alright, Jake,’ causing huge laughter from the podcast hosts and crew members behind the camera.

As Harry entered the podcast set the hosts chanted, ‘Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke’ before Marler said: ‘What the f*** was that?’

Marler and Bhardwaj spoke to the prince about trauma, coping mechanisms, identity and grief, as well as lighter topics.

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 20:53 BST, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 21:58 BST, 13 July 2026

A walker in his 70s has been trampled to death by cattle while visiting a National Trust site today. 

Emergency services rushed to Felbrigg Hall, near Cromer in Norfolk at about 11.45am.

Sadly, the man died from his injuries on the parkland grounds.

Following the death, the National Trust site has closed for the rest of the day and tomorrow.

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Norfolk Police said: ‘Despite efforts to save him, a man in his 70s sadly died at the scene.’

‘His next of kin have been informed. Officers are investigating alongside colleagues from the Health and Safety Executive.’

A National Trust spokesperson said: ‘Emergency services were called to the parkland at Felbrigg Hall on Monday 13th July after a member of the public was seriously injured while walking. 

‘Despite the efforts of the paramedics, the person tragically died at the scene. 

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A man was killed by cattle at Felbrigg Hall, pictured, located near Cromer in Norfolk today

The site’s grounds span 520 acres and include woodland, a lake and a walled garden

The property which was built in the 17th century, was donated to the National Trust in 1969

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‘We are shocked and deeply saddened by this news, and our thoughts and condolences are with their family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.’

This is not the first death to occur on the Norfolk estate.

In 2007, Daniel Mullinger, 11, was killed by a 23-metre-long tree branch that fell on him, while visiting the estate on an orienteering trip with his school.

Felbrigg Hall was built in the 17th century and was donated to the National Trust in 1969. 

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Its grounds include 520 acres of woodland, a lake, and a walled garden.