The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will change some benefit payment dates next week due to the May bank holiday – here’s what you need to know

Thousands of benefit claimants will see their payment dates brought forward next week due to the upcoming bank holidays. The forthcoming May bank holiday, falling on Monday, May 4, is the cause of the change.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does not process benefit payments on bank holidays — instead, claimants will receive their money on the last working day beforehand. This means that anyone due a benefit payment on Monday, May 4, should expect to receive it on Friday, May 1, instead.

A second bank holiday falls on Monday, May 25 — again, those due a payment on this date will be paid early. Benefits should be paid on Friday, May 22, instead.

However, receiving payment early does mean a longer gap before the following payment. Money will be deposited into the usual bank account where benefits are regularly received, reports the Mirror. The amount paid will remain unchanged unless personal circumstances have been altered.

The payment adjustment will also affect certain HMRC benefits, including Child Benefit.

Television presenter Graham Norton has been married to husband Jonathan McLeod since 2022

Graham Norton is a regular face on our screens, with ITV show The Neighbourhood and Eurovision representing just two of his ventures this year.

However, his personal life remains precisely that, with the broadcaster known for maintaining privacy regarding his romantic life throughout the years, reports the Mirror.

While he’s experienced his share of romantic ups and downs – previously joking that he’d be “single forever” – Graham did discover true love and has been wed to Jonathan ‘Jono’ McLeod since 2022, with the couple poised to mark their fourth anniversary this summer.

So what does their life together look like? And what has Graham revealed about their marriage?

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Meeting partner transformed star’s view on marriage

During a 2022 appearance on Ireland’s The Late Late Show, talk show host Graham chatted about how marriage hadn’t been on the cards and hinted that meeting Scottish filmmaker Jonathan was what altered his outlook.

“As you get older, having had a string of failed relationships, you appreciate when something is right, you treasure it, you don’t take it for granted and so put a ring on it,” he was quoted as saying on the programme.

Talk show host wed in Ireland

Graham and Jonathan married in Cork in 2022, reportedly a few years after they met for the first time.

The pair exchanged their vows in a ceremony at Bantry House, a historic estate that was built in the early 18th century. They are then thought to have returned to Graham’s harbour residence in Ahakista to carry on the celebration.

Reports at the time suggested approximately 120 guests attended, with singer Lulu believed to have entertained those at the event. Panti Bliss was understood to have provided the DJ duties, while Irish dancing troupe Cairde are thought to have performed as well.

Rare glimpse into married life

In 2023, Graham – who was in his late 50s when he tied the knot with Jonathan – offered fans a rare glimpse into his marriage while speaking with The Guardian.

Recalling a moment from their wedding day, he said: “I had a joke in my speech: the vows are much more manageable. ‘Till death do us part’ seems more achievable at our age.”

He added: “If you get married at 23, that’s a big ask. We only have to put up with each other for a couple of decades. And then I’ll be out of here.”

In 2024, he told Attitude he was “enjoying” married life. “I was older, so I went into it with my eyes wide open,” he said. “You know the pitfalls of relationships, the dangers. But I met someone who I was willing to take a bet on.”

The Neighbourhood starts at 9pm on ITV on Friday April 24.

​Banks Lounge Bar, at 5 Murray Street in Filey, will not be allowed to create an outdoor drinking area at the rear of the Victorian-era bank, which was converted in 2018.

​Tracy Fleet applied to remove a condition that was originally put in place to prevent noise disturbance to nearby residential properties, especially during the evening and nighttime hours.

​The outdoor site could have been used until 9.30pm and would have had space for up to 35 people.

​Officers noted that the rear yard is in “close proximity to dwellings, and its use as an external drinking area is likely to result in elevated noise levels from patrons, including raised voices, laughter, and general social activity”.

​A council planning report highlighted that “these types of noises are difficult to control and can be particularly intrusive during quieter hours”, adding that “the removal of this condition would significantly increase the risk of loss of residential amenity due to noise, and environmental health considers this to be unacceptable”.

​One representation was received from a member of the public who supported the proposal on the grounds that the bar is “a well-run establishment and should be encouraged to support businesses”.

​Planners said the proposal to remove the condition prohibiting the use of the external area had the potential to introduce levels of disturbance to the area not previously experienced from the site.

​Officers concluded that “given the direct proximity of the seating area to the residential neighbours to the rear, it is considered that the capacity would be excessively high, and in combination with the proposed operation hours late into the evening, the proposed removal of the condition from the original permission restricting the outdoor area would have an unfavourable relationship with the residential dwellings”.

​They said that approval of the plan would result in “undue noise and disturbance, the sum of which would be to cause significant harm impacts on the occupants of these neighbouring dwellings”.

​The application was rejected by North Yorkshire Council.

The family is waiting for a domestic homicide review to be completed by the Home Office

The sister of a woman killed by her partner said she “feels in limbo”, as the family awaits a homicide review to be completed in order for her inquest to go ahead. Simone Smith, 35, was found dead at her flat in Saunders Close, Huntingdon, on February 26, 2025.

Simone was killed by her partner Cody Parker, who was found dead the following day in a toilet cubicle at Hinchingbrooke Hospital. An inquest on Thursday (April 23) found that Mr Parker died by suicide.

Simone’s sister Karina, who asked to use only her first name, was at Mr Parker’s inquest, alongside her partner and a representative from Peterborough Women’s Aid. While the coroners’ court could only deal with Cody’s death, the court heard about events leading up to him being found, including Simone’s death.

Simone’s inquest cannot be held until the Home Office signs off a Domestic Homicide Review. Speaking after the inquest, Karina said she feels the delay is “silencing Simone”. She added: “Simone died over a year ago, and we are still waiting for her inquest. The closure will look different once that is done.

“We still feel no closure, and we are still in limbo.” Due to the delay of the homicide review, Karina added that she believes it could be “over a year”, before the inquest into Simone’s death is held.

A Home Office spokesperson told CambridgeshireLive that the review is “due to be sent out imminently” and it should be expected in the “next few months”.

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The new ITV series is set to be one of the station’s biggest shows of the year

Graham Norton’s new ITV series The Neighbourhood is finally here, but who are the families taking part in the programme? Premiering on Friday, April 24, the broadcaster are hoping The Neighbourhood is their next big hit.

The first season of the series will consist of 11 episodes. Airing the same day as the I’m A Celebrity South Africa final, the series sees families and households compete in a street-sized popularity contest.

Living in a neighbourhood specially created for the show, they will be seen battling it out for the chance to take home a life-changing £250,000 cash prize.

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ITV have teased that it ‘marries high-stakes competition, epic challenges and relatable domestic drama, to offer a completely fresh flavour of reality’. With the households consisting of real life friends and families, they will be seen trying to mingle and potentially sabotage their way to a major win.

Teasing why he joined the show, Graham said: “What was so refreshing about this was that it was an idea I hadn’t heard before. It taps into the minutia of daily life that we’re all fascinated by.

“The neighbours and what’s going on, I am Mr twitchy curtain. It super sizes it, the scale and ambition of it. It’s almost 200 cameras, I’ve never worked on anything of this size before. They are being filmed 24/7. There’s the game part and the reality of what’s going on inside those houses, which is equally entertaining.”

With the series set to become the talk of the nation over the coming weeks, here are the families looking to win the life-changing amount of money.

The Kandolas and Samra

The Kandolas and Samra are a blended family from Bedfordshire, made up of mum Sunita, 52 her husband Tony, 57 and Sunita’s 24-year-old son Ruben, the youngest of her three children.

Tony said: “We want to do our best to win the show so hopefully Ruben could move out!” Sunita stated: “For me, it was really important to represent our community and to highlight we’re a blended family. Between us we’ve got six adult kids and grandchildren. We wanted to break away from the stigma that Asian women should be a certain way.”

The Scouse Haus

Hailing from Liverpool, the Scouse Haus consists of twin sisters Louise and Lyndsey, both 25-year-old Baristas, and Lyndsey’s girlfriend Rosie, 28. The group decided to join the show because they ‘don’t want every day to look the same’.

Rosie noted: “I felt like all of us were sitting ducks in the way that our lives were. We hated our jobs, so something that was going to pluck us out of our everyday life and put us in this simulation for however long – why not?”

The Brandons

The Bradons are a household of five from Essex, across three generations. They’re made up of mum Faye-Marie, 69, her daughter 29-year-old daughter Alicia, sons Lucas and Nathan, 37 and 45, and Nathan’s 17-year-old son Zach.

“I think it was an opportunity for us all to be together, to spend that time intimately within the household because a lot of us are often away with work and things like that. We wanted that opportunity to have that time together, bonding and of course there was the opportunity to win £250,000 which would be very beneficial to all members of the family,” Nathan said.

The Pescuds

Hailing from Cambridgeshire, the Pescuds consist of Paul and Wendy, 51 and 55, and their children Grace and Harrison, 18 and 25. Paul stated that they wanted to go on the show as it’s ‘really interesting and something different to do’.

“We don’t know anybody who has been on a reality programme. It was interesting and exciting, and especially as it was as a family,” he said.

The Uni Boys

Proving that it’s not just families welcome in The Neighbourhood is The Uni Boys. The close group of friends made up of Hadi, 23 Kevin, 21, DJ, 21 and Fahad, 21, met during their first term at Nottingham Trent University.

“I think we’re all quite different, so when we have conversations we all have something to bring in. I feel like it enhances our dynamic because we’re all funny, we all roll off each other, we’ve got a really good friendship dynamic that other people can see,” Kevin said.

The Lozman-Sturrocks

The final household taking part in The Neighbourhood are the Lozman-Sturrocks. The close knit family from Darlington is made up of Christine, 72, her husband Dave, 67, her son Jordan, 34, and Jordan’s wife Katie, 29.

Christine said: “I’m growing old disgracefully. I’m still very, very competitive and that’s what I wanted to show. There is still life in us – we can still take part and have fun. Also, to represent the North! I wanted people to see we’re good people, kind and inclusive. When you get into your 70s, you don’t get many chances to do many firsts. We’re very sociable people and we love being with people.”

A suspect has been arrested after a body was found in the search for two University of South Florida doctoral students who vanished a week ago.

Zamil Limon’s remains were found on the Howard Frankland Bridge Friday but the search continues for Nahida Bristy.

The couple from Bangladesh was reported missing after being last seen on April 16 at the university campus in Tampa, Florida.

Limon, who was studying geography, environmental science and policy, was last seen at his home in a student apartment complex. Bristy, a chemical engineering student, was last seen an hour later at a campus science building.

A family friend contacted authorities last Friday after being unable to contact either one, USF police said. Friends and family described their lack of communication as out of character.

During the search for the missing couple, investigators identified a suspect in the case, Limon’s roommate, and responded to a home near USF on Friday morning.

The suspect barricaded himself inside the home but was later arrested.

He faces charges including domestic violence battery, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, failure to report a death and improper removal of a human body.

An autopsy will determine Limon’s cause of death, and investigators haven’t yet identified a motive in his killing.

Deputies are still searching for Bristy and urged the public to contact police if they’ve seen or heard from her. The sheriff said they have no indication as to whether she has been harmed.

A van driver who killed a woman after crashing into the back of a broken-down car on a smart motorway where the safety alert system was malfunctioning has been spared jail.

Barry O’Sullivan, 45, was driving a grey Ford work van along the M4 when he collided with a Nissan Micra that had come to a halt in the fast lane of the motorway on March 7, 2022.

The collision – which took place during the morning rush hour on the M4 westbound between junctions 11 and 12 – caused both vehicles to propel forward, with the Nissan bursting into flames.

Pulvinder Dhillon, 68, who was a passenger in her daughter’s Micra, suffered fatal injuries.

O’Sullivan was found guilty at an earlier trial of causing Mrs Dhillon’s death by careless driving.

He was sentenced on Friday to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.

It was later discovered that an unresolved technical failure on the M4 smart motorway network meant radar alerts for broken-down vehicles were not being properly communicated to the control room – and had not been for five days before the crash.

But Judge Amjad Nawaz, sentencing at Reading Crown Court on Friday, said the absence of warnings lights should not detract from a driver’s duty to remain alert at all times.

‘Every driver owes the duty of care to other users,’ Judge Nawaz said.

‘The fact that there was no warning lights does not detract from that duty in any way.

‘Nothing the defendant said explained why he didn’t see the car ahead.

‘There were plenty of cues, and no evidence of slowing down.’

The prosecution had previously told the court that O’Sullivan did not pick up on ‘cues’ that the vehicle was stationary – including the fact that other motorists were taking steps to avoid the broken-down Nissan.

The judge also said O’Sullivan’s driving that day showed ‘a lack of attention’, adding: ‘There was distraction.

‘What it was that was causing the distraction, we simply do not know.’

The court heard O’Sullivan suffered severe injuries in the crash, with his life expectancy having been reduced as a result.

In an impact statement read out to court by prosecutor Ian Hope, the victim’s youngest son, Manvir Dhillon, said his mother was his ‘best friend’ and that their family was struggling to move on from her sudden loss.

‘Just the day before this horrific incident, she had been at a party, dancing away and living her life to the fullest, as she had always done,’ the statement read.

‘One day she was dancing and the next she is no longer alive. How could we ever forget this and move on?

‘It was so sudden and although it has nearly been four years, we are still unable to fully process this.’

Part of the statement was addressed directly to O’Sullivan, and was also read out in court.

It said: ‘We know you hadn’t set off that morning to take someone’s life but the fact of the matter is that you did.

‘Where is your driving standards, your training? All of these questions remained unanswered because you refuse to admit blame.

‘I am not saying you are the only one to blame but you did have a major part to play.

‘I would have rather you came to me at the very least and admitted you made a mistake or weren’t paying attention.

‘I can’t say I’d sympathise but I’d be able to relate as I know how easy it is to lose attention when driving on a long stretch of road.’

In the defendant’s statement, read out by defence barrister Ian Bridge, O’Sullivan expressed his remorse, saying: ‘My heart aches for the family of Pulvinder Dhillon.

‘There is not a day I do not think about how sorry I am about this situation.

‘This is something that will truly haunt me forever.’

O’Sullivan, of Wixams, near Bedford, was also told he will be disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Speaking outside of court after the sentencing, he said: ‘Nobody’s won – everybody’s suffered needlessly.’

He added he believes National Highways have ‘just washed their hands of blatant negligence’, and has submitted a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), which is in process.

A National Highways spokesperson said: ‘Any death on our roads is one too many and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Pulwinder Dhillon following this tragic incident.

‘While nothing can ever compensate for that loss, the person responsible has been convicted of driving carelessly.’

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

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Emergency services were called to the major route after a crash between a car and a lorry at 5.20pm this evening (Friday, April 24).

The road has been closed between the A67 Crathorne turnoff, near Yarm, and the Parkway Interchange, which connects the A19 to the A174 in Middlesbrough.

An image from the scene shows traffic being diverted through Yarm off the A19, with cars also being reversed backwards on the northbound side.

Further images seen by The Northern Echo shows several 999 vehicles on the road beside a HGV, which is partly off the carriageway.

It is not yet known whether anyone has been injured in the crash.

The southbound side remains open.

National Highways said: “The A19 in North Yorkshire is closed northbound between the A67 (Crathorne) and A174 (near Middlesbrough) due to a serious collision involving a lorry and a car.

“All emergency services including North Yorkshire Police are on scene. National Highways Traffic Officers and contractors are also assisting with traffic management.”

A force spokesperson said: “The A19 northbound is currently closed at the A67 turnoff to Crathorne, following a collision at 5:20pm.

“Please follow the diversions in place or take an alternative route where possible. Thank you for your patience.”

Cleveland Police and the North East Ambulance Service have been contacted for more information.

It was actually confirmed back in February that the shock death would occur in Weatherfield this month

Coronation Street fans think they have figured out what will play a key part in the upcoming murder set to rock the cobbles, with the victim also ‘sealed’.

It was actually confirmed back in February that the shock death would occur in Weatherfield on April 23, with the news being shared during a flashforward episode of the ITV soap.

At the time, Corrie viewers saw a shocked and anxious Betsy Swain being interviewed by detectives about finding the dead body of someone she knows. She explained she had been at the wedding of her mum, Lisa Swain, and Carla Connor and was heading into town to continue the celebrations when she made the shocking discovery.

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As the episode returned to the present day, viewers started to see how the behaviour of the five characters could lead to their possible death – with Megan Walsh, Theo Silverton, Maggie Driscoll, Jodie Ramsey and Carl Webster revealed as the potential victims.

After months of waiting, during Thursday’s (April 23) edition of Corrie, Lisa and Carla’s wedding day arrived, however, after the celebrations took place, Carla and Lisa were seen alone in Underworld when a scream was heard.

And while it caught Lisa’s attention, Carla dismissed her concern that it was ‘just foxes’ and carried on finding the song she wanted the pair to dance to to round off their special day.

With nothing seen, only Betsy’s horror cry heard, Corrie fans were left having to wait until next week, where, stripped across five nights of drama, the murder victim will be revealed. It comes after spoilers for next week’s Corrie already confirmed that the big reveal won’t take place until next Friday (May 1), with the previous episodes starting at the same point each day before going on to document each possible victims story.

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But, following recent episodes of the soap, during which the tension ramped up for each of the five possible victims, Corrie fans think they have spotted what will play a crucial part in what’s set to unfold.

@swarla0310 said: “I think whoever dies it’s something to do with the scaffolding 100% #corrie Someone’s defo getting pushed over it.” @Jane69946890611 shared: “Why do I have a feeling the scaffolding is gonna be linked to the whodunnit? I just think it’s weird that it was up today and they made a point of showing it on screen. #corrie.”

@MateysMate noted: “That’s the first time we have seen Theo up some scaffolding #Corrie.” @NateCorey2020 commented: “Betsy finds the body next to the scaffolding. Theo was up on the scaffolding so either he is pushed or he falls and everyone thinks he was murdered. With so many suspects it will take months. #Corrie.” @clarep1987 posted: “Who was that screaming though? I think it was Theo on the scaffolding and he’s fell off or been pushed! #Corrie.”

However, @Momrocks50 predicted: “So Betsie scream at end finding body Only 4 possible Jodie,Carl Theo/Todd only ones we have possible seen not sure if it was Theo on scaffolding not tall enough #Corrie.” @SimmyKB argued: “Female scream. Meghan. She let slip on This Morning #corrie.” @gregayala0010 echoed: “We all know now that the first scream during the fireworks display was a female and in our hopes is gotta be Megan who dies.”