Those arrested have been banned from areas in Cambridgeshire

Three people have been banned from entering areas of Cambridgeshire after police uncovered an illegal rave in St Ives. Officers seized equipment and arrested three people after a rave of more than 400 people.

Police discovered the illegal rave in an industrial unit in Burrel Road at about 1.30am on Sunday, March 8. At the time, dozens of police officers and a Police Dog attended and a dispersal order was put in place, affecting more than 400 people and preventing others from entering the warehouse.

A 22-year-old man from Doddington was arrested on suspicion of burglary and organising an unlicensed musical event. He has been bailed until June 7 with conditions not to enter St Ives.

An 18-year-old from Stroud and a 26-year-old man from Swindon were arrested on suspicion of breaching a dispersal order, violent disorder, and possession of drugs. They have been bailed until June 6 with conditions not to enter Cambridgeshire.

Music equipment and control units were seized. Officers also cut the power to the unit and boarded it up to prevent any further incidents.

Neighbourhood Inspector Colin Norden said: “Raves are perceived to be unlicensed music events that are harmless fun and victimless crimes. Sadly this isn’t the case. Not only do they serve as an outlet for the supply and use of illegal drugs but they cause significant community disruption and damage.

“Illegal raves will not be tolerated and where appropriate any sound equipment onsite will be seized. Attendees leaving such an event, intending to drive, are also likely to be breathalysed.”

Kirsty Brimelow KC, the senior criminal lawyer who heads the Bar Council, said: “This letter and its more than 3,000 signatories demonstrate the unequivocal principled and practical opposition to the restriction of jury trials from not only the Bar, but the legal profession as a whole.

Soumen Das, co-chair of the Parker Review Steering Committee, said: “As we transition to a new leadership and move into the next phase of the Review’s work, our focus will be on building on this progress, addressing areas which need further attention, and supporting companies in delivering against their 2027 commitments.”

After a taste of springlike warmth across the UK, single-digit temperatures are set to return this week with the chance of snow for some.

Although March is commonly when the sun starts to feel considerably warmer, the air over the far northern Atlantic remains cold.

A number of fronts are set to progressively bring this colder air from the north-west across the UK.

As the week wears on, daytime temperatures will drop and by Friday may struggle to reach double figures – reminding us that winter is still only winding down and the mild, sunny, spring-like days are still few and far between.

The Tuesday letters page is shocked at how expensive amiibo have got, as one reader laments the recent job losses amongst Battlefield 6 developers.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Yearly celebration
So MAR10 Day is here again but this time it feels like Nintendo is building up to something in terms of an annoucement. There was that Mario Kart World rumour but if that happens I don’t see how it’s going to be announced because not even Nintendo shadow drops a Direct. Unless Nintendo is also going to start announcing things through tweets, but let’s hope not.

I have to say, I can’t wait until the Super Mario Galaxy Movie is out because I feel too much attention is being taken up by that and we won’t get any real movement on a new game until that’s over. I couldn’t care less about a Mario film but I’m really impatient to know about the next 3D game. But I think it’s pretty obvious they’re waiting for the movie to come out first.

Even so, I do have some hope we’ll get at least a tease of the next 3D Mario today. They’ve already announced their sale and the new games on Nintendo Switch Online, so it would be disappointing if we didn’t get at least a little bit of news.
Onibee

Premium products
I completely believe that Project Helix is going to be around a grand, but I also believe that Xbox are crazy to dot it. Except, it does seem to be the way things are going. If less people are buying and playing consoles then the obvious way to make up the money, for a publisher, is to make a more expensive item, which will make the same amount of money even if less people overall buy it. It’s why Ferrari don’t bother to make a family hatchback, because it’s chicken feed in comparison.

I don’t think it’s going to work for Xbox, because who’s going to want to buy Xbox after all this, but it definitely seems to be the way that Valve are going with the Steam Machine. Sony are basically there already, given how expensive the PS5 Pro is.

There’s no way I’m paying that much for a console, but it does make me wonder what kind of games are going to playing on it. Are they just going to be the same ones as normal with better performance? Because I can’t imagine anyone making an exclusive game for a format with only a few million customers.
Hammeriron

Worst job in the world
It’s been said before, but I honestly don’t know why anyone would want to be a games developer. I imagine the pay’s okay (except for all the unpaid overtime) but there’s literally no certainty of keeping your job, no matter how well whatever you’ve made does. And even if you do keep your job you’re only months away from being replaced with AI. And then, if by some miracle, you’re still kept around you get to worry about death threats from rabid fans.

I don’t see any positives at all. If you’re intelligent enough to be able to make games there’s a hundred other jobs using similar skills that would be far less hassle. I remember when it used to be seem a dream job to me but now it seems more like a nightmare. Commiserations to everyone working on Battlefield 6 that got laid off by EA.
Royston

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

A new problem
I can tell you now, if dynamic pricing becomes a thing with video games I’m out. It’s retro and indie games for me and nothing else. Every day publishers seem to come up with new reason not to buy their stuff and it’s doing my head in.

Make a good game and I’ll pay for it. I’ll probably even pay £60+ if it’s really good and I don’t feel that you’re messing me around. But it’s never that simple. Everything’s got to be more expensive than it pretends or have small print that makes it worse.

I know there’s no going back but I really miss the PlayStation 4 era. All this stuff was starting then but it hadn’t got bad yet, while the games were top notch. This whole generation has been nothing but downhill in every way.
Stoney

No story
Some interesting info on Marathon’s player counts on the Xbox, with is at number 32 over the last week with the server slam at 37th. Also note that Helldivers 2 is still number 16 on this list.

There’s no supporting narrative, but the PlayStation side of things shows Marathon as 38th with the Server Slam at 26th. Helldivers took 18th place over the week.
NatorDom

GC: We’re not sure what to draw from this other than both games are doing quite well on both formats?

Ignorance is bliss
There’s been a lot of talk about what Xbox is doing in terms of hardware but I think a bigger question is what’s going to happen to the games under this new boss. Any decent business person should be able to make fairly sensible decisions about a console but game development is a whole different kettle of fish.

It’s different for every game, it involves lots of factors she won’t have a clue about if you’re not a gamer, and in management terms Microsoft has been terrible at it since forever. On the hand that could actually be good news because maybe someone more objective, that isn’t particularly interested in games, can offer a better perspective on things.

We all know Phil Spencer didn’t work out so he kind of makes a good argument that the people in charge shouldn’t be gamers, because they have a warped perspective.

But how is this new ‘AI guru’ going to make decisions on what to do with the next Halo or if Gears Of War needs a reboot? The problem I see is that Microsoft already tends to overestimate how good, and how popular, its games are and now we’re going to have people whispering into the ear of this acknowledged non-gamer that everything they do is fantastic.

There’s so much that can go wrong, but I guess we’ll just have to see. But if there is a turn around we’ll know from now on that the secret of running a good games business is to know nothing about games (at an exec level at least).
Gorf

Half price
Happy Mario Day to GameCentral, all readers, and Underboxers! I see the Pragmata amiibo is in stock to pre-order on the UK Nintendo Store, it is £24.99 – which is a lot for one small amiibo.

I thought there might be an amiibo of the soldier too but there isn’t.
Andrew J.

GC: That’s madness. The game itself is only £50.

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People change
To Scooter and changing tastes in games, my niece, well great niece, at 11 plays all the usual: Minecraft, Fortnight, Roblox, Rocket League… but I suppose that’s for socialising purposes too, but she’s more than willing to try other games.

Couple of years ago I got an arcade emulator, two hardy joysticks and six buttons a piece, you can jostle each other and slap the sticks around, just like you’re in a real arcade, circa ’94! And she loves that, her and her sister discovered the many joys of all the varying versions of Street Fighter 2 at Christmas. The younger one found Chun-Li instantly, girly and cute, and quickly discovered her button mashing 100 foot kick, which she used constantly to defeat her big sister!

So she’s now Chunners forever more, the older one now methodically tries each character until she comes across Eddy Honda and his own 100 hand slap! That’s the end of Chun-Li and all hell breaks loose. There’s screaming, name calling and a strop or two… ah, memories, of the days controllers used to hit the walls, controllers I hadn’t had to buy!

Also, with Game Share on Xbox, she’s had Street Fighter 6, Hogwarts Legacy, and WWE 2K24. She was keen on Star Wars Outlaws but don’t think she tried that yet and her mam said she couldn’t play the Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes, ‘cos they were too scary. What kids play now is probably 50-50 gaming and socialising, which we/I could only do face to face back in the day.
big boy bent

Inbox also-rans
Interested to see what else Shinji Mikami can come up with at his company, but I’ll be honest, he hasn’t really done anything great since he left Capcom/PlatinumGames. If he’s still got one great game left in though, I’d love to see it.
Fester

I didn’t realise Slay The Spire is nearly 10 years old. Crazy how time flies. But I guess that explains why there’s been so many clones over the years, they’ve had plenty of time.
Lokishat

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Will Project Helix be a successful comeback for Xbox?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is Pokémon Pokopia really worth getting?

MORE: Games Inbox: Will Resident Evil Requiem get a Mercenaries mode?

Metula in northern Israel is like a ghost town. Shops are shut, hotels closed and there’s very little sign of life.

This is the frontline of the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and it feels other worldly.

Middle East crisis: Follow live updates

After the October 7th attacks, most people evacuated this frontier town fearing an invasion.

In the following years, it was hammered by mortars and missiles fired from Hezbollah.

And now, yet again, the air is filled with the sound of gun fire and sirens.

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Sky team shelter as Hezbollah strikes Israel

But next to a hollowed out hotel once popular with tourists is a pretty cafe with the doors open. Miry is stacking up the chairs after serving some young Israeli soldiers.

She’s remarkably upbeat and defiant, too. This time, she believes Israel will crush Hezbollah – an Iranian proxy that casts a long shadow over this town.

Life in extremis

“The fighting feels like we’re going to finish it – for once and for all,” she says.

“You need to understand Hezbollah is not a community group, and they’re not freedom fighters: they’re a terrorist organisation putting at risk not only the Israeli people, but the Lebanese people, and people around the world.”

They need to “eliminate” them, she says emphatically: “Like a cockroach.”

It sounds like extreme language, but life is lived in extremis here. The rubble, the military machinery, the trail of smoke from Israeli interceptors. There’s even concrete benches on a hill alongside picnic tables if you want to take a look-out over the destroyed homes across the border – the remnants of previous battles.

The latest confrontation with Hezbollah has seen fierce clashes and no let-up from either side.

And it’s not just the border areas in the crosshairs. Last week, one Israeli minister said his government would turn the southern suburbs of Beirut into Gaza.

Already hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people have been displaced – an exodus unmatched in Israel.

‘It’s difficult to live like this’

About 20 minutes drive from Metula is the northern city of Kiryat Shimona. Once a commercial and economic hub, it’s struggled to rebuild after many evacuated following October 7th.

Yamit Yanai Malul, a lawyer with two children, has spent years living with constant jeopardy.

“It’s difficult to live like this because you don’t know when the missile will catch you,” she says.

“Maybe in the supermarket, or maybe doing something with the kids, so you are always tense.”

And yet, she stays. And this time round, she’s hopeful it will make a difference.

“We have a part in this war,” she says.

“We don’t go and run away to another country and find shelter. This is the home and we stay here. And I think we help the government just by being here.”

Read more from Sky News:
Erdogan’s clear message on Iran war
New evidence challenges Trump claim

That sense of patriotic duty may live on for months, even years, to come. And she’ll likely need that enduring patience.

Destroying Hezbollah for good is a massive undertaking – no matter how weakened it is.

And in the meantime, it feels like a lot more could break out either side of the border and beyond – with civilians caught in the middle.

Maxwell Samuda, 26, who appeared on the ninth season of ITV’s Love Island, has spoken out about health issues which he believes are caused by exposure to the cancer-linked pregnancy drug diethylstilbestrol. Samuda’s grandmother Maureen Day, 78, took the drug in the 1970s and his mother, Natalie Samuda, 50, has also had health problems. The family is backing the call from campaign group DES Justice UK for a public inquiry (Samuda family/PA)

Samuda family

No ScotRail services will operate to or from Glasgow Central High Level on Tuesday, but services operating via Glasgow Central Low Level will continue to run but they will not call at the low-level station

ScotRail has issued an update on the reopening of Scotland’s busiest train station – and it looks like there may be problems for commuters for some time yet.

Glasgow Central railway station was closed to commuters on Monday (March 9) in the wake of a devastating fire that broke out at a vape shop on Sunday (March 8) afternoon.

The fire quickly spread from one shop to the next and eventually spread to the building next door – the train station – which saw part of the iconic building collapse in on itself.

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ScotRail quickly announced trains would not be running come Monday morning, with Glasgow’s rush hour providing a real challenge for commuters with few rail replacement options made available. Now, ScotRail has confirmed Glasgow Central will also remain closed on Tuesday (March 10), alongside another unwelcome update for commuters – which is to expect disruptions to continue for several days to come.

The train service operator stated that no ScotRail services will operate to or from Glasgow Central High Level on Tuesday, with services which normally operate via Glasgow Central Low Level will run but will not call at the low-level station.

Customers are advised to travel to and from Argyle Street or Anderston Station while also checking their journey before travelling, as many routes across the west of Scotland are suspended or operating with alterations due to the fire.

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ScotRail is continuing to keep customers updated – including information on impacted routes and details of how to claim refunds on unused tickets – on the ScotRail website, app, and through its social media channels. Station staff are also on hand across the network to help where possible.

Emergency services and Network Rail are still assessing the damage left behind by the great fire, while ScotRail will provide further updates on its services as soon as more information becomes available.

ScotRail chief operating officer, David Ross, said: “Glasgow Central will remain closed on Tuesday while the impact of the fire in the building next to the station is assessed and we expect disruption to continue for several days.

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“We’d like to thank our colleagues in the fire and emergency services who worked incredibly hard to tackle the blaze and prevent it from spreading to the station itself. We know this closure will cause significant disruption for our customers, and we’re very sorry for the impact this will have on their journeys.

“Our teams are working hard to keep people moving where possible, and we’d encourage customers to check their journey before travelling using the ScotRail app or website.”

Scottish Fire and Rescue confirmed that crews are still working to cool off hotspots within the stonework of the building, and are working alongside structural engineers to assess the stability of the remaining building.

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As of 3.30pm Monday (March 9), eight appliances, including three high-reach vehicles, remained in attendance.

“We cannot speculate on the cause of the fire at this time. In line with fire investigation protocols, a multi-agency investigation will be conducted, however due to the significant damage that has occurred this may be hampered,” a spokesperson said for the fire service, adding that “due to the proximity of the incident to the railway infrastructure and the presence of significant debris, Glasgow Central Station remains closed”.

​​The proposed introduction of a permanent order prohibiting the overnight parking of motor caravans in Sandsend and North Bay in Scarborough has divided coastal councillors.

​​It comes as an “overwhelming” portion of responses to North Yorkshire Council’s (NYC) consultation on its Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) objected to the scheme.

​At a meeting in Whitby last week, councillors said the scheme had successfully addressed issues caused by an “unacceptable level” of motorhomes using certain streets, including impacts on visual amenity and safety.

​However, since its introduction, thousands of residents have reportedly also complained about the “displacement effects” of the order.

​​Cllr Roberta Swiers, who represents Cayton, said the trial had “obviously not been a success” and recounted how signs notifying motorhome users of the ban were ripped down.

​​“The signs that were put up were ripped down within hours and thrown over the cliff,” she told a meeting of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee.

​​“So think of the cost of those alone, to be put up and cemented in, only for the same thing to happen before the cement dried, with the signs thrown down the cliffs again. It’s actually vandalism.”

​​Readers had their say in the comments section of The Press website.

​David Gibson said: “There’s no need for a ban, traffic wardens need training to check habitation checks, and that a vehicle is factory built for the purpose intended of overnight parking.”

​Simon Jones said: “Sadly, councils are all too often so intent on restricting campers and motorbikes that they lose sight of the freedom these recreational vehicles are bringing to their owners.

​“The majority of people using this form of ‘getting away’ do so with good intentions, sadly, the businesses running organised sites seem to lobby against free pitches in order to hike their tariffs up. The majority of campers are either retired, young families or even disabled folk.

​“They are not trouble-causers, just people trying to live their lives the best they can.”

​Janice Gray said: “There are plenty of campsites around and about, but of course, they’d have to pay to park there.

​“If only York had free parking at just a couple of places, how good would that be!”

​Snowflake spotter said: “As a start, all camper vans that are parking overnight, outside of commercial camping sites anywhere in the UK, should have a ‘Green Warrant’ like New Zealand, i.e. a fixed, certified toilet that can hold three days’ waste.

​“Before some van-lifers object, they can go blame a large percentage of their number who defecate and urinate al fresco.”

​Reacting to the news that motorhome parking ban signs were thrown ‘over the cliff within hours’ in Cayton, Pfmaximus89 stated: “It’s disingenuous to blame motorhome people. I have seen local youths in town vandalising property.”

​Britain is broken replied: “Caravan and camper van owners have a lot in common with dog owners. 100 per cent selfish.”

A Police Ombudsman investigation into a former officer has revealed shocking allegations

The Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland investigation into alleged non-recent serious sexual offences by a former police officer has brought new information come to light — with the body highlighting the “victim impact, scale and complexity” of the case.

The former officer was arrested by Police Ombudsman investigators in December 2025 on suspicion of committing more than 10 non-recent offences, including rape, other sexual offences, and misconduct in public office. These offences are alleged to have occurred between 2000 and 2009, while he was a serving officer.

READ MORE: Person taken to hospital after Belfast crash involving bus and pedestrianREAD MORE: Teenage pedestrian hospitalied after East Belfast traffic collision

Hugh Hume, Police Ombudsman Chief Executive, said: “We have identified multiple potential victims, together with a substantial number of witnesses. We have also seized a large volume of material, including a significant amount of digital evidence, during a search operation.“We understand that this news may be distressing for anyone who has been affected or harmed or who has been harmed by a similar experience. We would like to reassure victims that they are not to blame and if they choose to contact us, we will listen, we will investigate and we will do so independently from police.“As the victim impact, scale and complexity of the investigation have become clear, we are now working to ensure that this investigation is carried out in the most timely manner possible. We are, therefore, allocating all available resources to ensure it will be victim-centred, effective and efficient.“Our resources are finite and this means that the timeliness of our other casework may be affected. However, this is the reality of balancing the demands of our complaints across the Office with the need to progress this complex and expanding investigation. If we do not prioritise now, in the long term we risk compromising the service we provide to complainants and victims, and public confidence in this office and the PSNI.”Mr Hume said he would encourage anyone who has concerns about allegations of this nature to contact the Police Ombudsman’s Office on 028 9082 8600, Email: info@policeombudsman.orgVictim Support NI provide services which are trauma-informed, confidential, safe, and free. These include Sexual Offences Legal Advisors (SOLAs) who are qualified lawyers who can offer free legal advice and support to adult victims of serious sexual offences.

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