Police said wholesale amounts of cocaine were moved around the area by the group, all largely from the Burnley area.

The gang had a hierarchy, with those at the top of the conspiracy involved in running the network, sourcing the drugs, and arranging for others to supply them to users.

They also ensured money owed by those buying drugs was collected.

Nolan, Boys, Waterworth, and Burnie at a spa day as part of their ‘lavish’ lifestyle (Image: Lancashire Police)

Heading the group was Paddy Nolan. His responsibilities included sourcing multiple kilos of cocaine from outside of Lancashire and bringing it into the county for distribution.

Lancashire Police’s East Targeted Crime Unit gathered evidence showing that Nolan had amassed a significant amount of wealth and had access to large amounts of cash, allowing him to live a lavish lifestyle.

A picture of the gang’s cash that was seized from the mobile phone of one of the defendants (Image: Lancashire Police)

Ross Boys was one of Nolan’s most trusted mid-level marketeers and a trusted member of the drugs network, police said.

Darren Mott was the gang’s cash courier, making frequent journeys from Manchester to Lancashire and only staying a short time in the county.

Paddy Nolan (Image: Lancashire Police)

On November 14, 2024, Mott was seen carrying a large rucksack in the company of Nolan and then travelled in Nolan’s car.

Mott then transferred to another car and, when that vehicle was stopped by officers, £100,000 in cash was found in the rucksack.

Nolan, Ross Boys, and Mott were among those arrested on December 2, 2024. More of the gang were arrested later that month, and in January 2025.

The 10 defendants appeared for sentence at Burnley Crown Court last Friday. They are:

• Paddy Nolan, 29, of Hallam Road, Nelson – jailed for 11 years and eight months
• Ross Boys, 29, of Mitella Street, Burnley – jailed for seven years and six months
• Darren Mott, 47, of Henley Avenue, Irlam, Manchester – jailed for six years and nine months
• Matthew Waterworth, 34, of Grange Street, Burnley – jailed for five years
• Regan Burnie, 34, of Stanbury Drive, Burnley – jailed for four years and 11 months
• Aaron Cormack, 31, of Eastern Avenue, Burnley – jailed for three years and nine months
• Luke Barritt, 37, of Healey Wood Road, Burnley – jailed for three years and eight months
• Leon Canning, 27, of Bowland Avenue, Burnley – jailed for three years and two months
• Jacob Dewhurst, 29, of Greenbrook Road, Burnley – jailed for three years and two months
• Jamie Howes, 29, of St Annes Street, Padiham – jailed for three years and one month

Chief Inspector Sarah Danson, of Lancashire Police, said: “This gang made significant amounts of money peddling drugs on our streets, but despite their best efforts to cover their tracks and to evade capture are now behind bars.

“We will continue to tackle those who bring harm to our communities by dealing in illegal drugs by dismantling these gangs and putting those involved before the courts.

“I’d like to thank the hard work and dedication of the East Targeted Crime Unit who brought down the gang and brought them to justice.”

After enjoying hit singles such as Mary’s Prayer and The Second Summer of Love with Danny Wilson, the Dundee-based singer has turned to the small screen.

When frontman Gary Clark was riding high in the charts almost 40 years ago with Scots pop band Danny Wilson, it became a running joke that folk thought it was his name.

After enjoying hit singles such as Mary’s Prayer and The Second Summer of Love with Danny Wilson, the Dundee-based singer has become a successful songwriter and has worked on a series of films and TV shows with acclaimed Irish director John Carney.

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So when it came time to work on his latest movie, Power Ballad starring Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd, Gary couldn’t believe it when he read that Jonas’s character would be called Danny Wilson.

“It was a bit of a joke by John Carney in an early draft of the script and he just kept going with it, and I’m like, ‘Surely at some point he’s going to change this’, and he never did.

“So we’ve got Nick Jonas playing Danny Wilson and it’s like life imitating art imitating life imitating art or something.”

As the band’s singer, Gary would often get called Danny Wilson, so is amused to be now writing songs for Jonas’s Danny Wilson.

He admits that the band name was confusing for some.

Bandmate and brother Kit came up with the idea after they needed to make a hasty change from their original name Spencer Tracy, when they signed the record deal.

“The label were concerned we couldn’t trade under that name. It was my brother’s idea to use Danny Wilson, who was a fictional character that Frank Sinatra played in a movie called Meet Danny Wilson.

It was so last minute and we just went ‘Aye, that’s a good idea, that’s fun’. And then people constantly called me Danny and I was like, ‘What did we do that for?”

The new movie Power Ballad, about a fading boy band star (Jonas) who befriends a wedding singer (Rudd) and enjoys a career revival, is the fourth time he has worked with Carney, who had made his name with the hit music film Once.

He recruited Gary for 2016 musical Sing Street, about a schoolband in Eighties Dublin and has become Carney’s go-to collaborator, working on a stage version of Sing Street, film Flora and Son, with Eve Hewson, and Amazon TV series Modern Love.

“For Sing Street, his original idea was to reach out to a bunch of different people who had hits in the 80s.

“His brother had given him the first Danny Wilson album and he remembers listening to it on his yellow sports Walkman.

“He originally reached out to me to write one song and he just loved it and said, ‘Do you want to do the whole film with me?’

“So that’s how we started and we’ve kind of been working together ever since. It was a life changing phone call.”

That working relationship is now more than a decade long and he’s loved it.

“I took to that like a duck to water. John and I work really well together. He’s in Dublin, I’m in Dundee and we just ping pong stuff. We will get together in the studio but a lot of it’s done long distance.”

For Power Ballad, Gary had to work closely with leading stars Rudd and Jonas to help get them in the same groove.though it helped that he had met and worked with Nick.

Gary revealed: “He used to date Delta Goodrem and I was working on an album with Delta in Los Angeles.

He came in to write a few songs so I knew how good he was. He’s a total pro.

“With Paul, I had less background on him musically. It was hard to find clips of him singing. Then I found a clip of him on YouTube singing Wichita Lineman, and I said, ‘Oh, wait a minute, he can really hold a tune, you know?

“The first time I worked with him was literally day one of recording his vocals in the studio. I didn’t know what to expect but I was really blown away.

“He’s absolutely great and will work for hours and hours to get you what you want.

“He really is a pro but he’s also a lovely guy to have around. The way he comes across on screen is what he is like.”

Gary loves being a writer and producer for a wide range of artists and projects, and is currently working with Emma Thompson on a Nanny McPhee musical version.

While he had no complaints about living the pop star life with Danny Wilson in their heyday, he admits he’s always had a notion for purely songwriting.

“My dad was a huge fan of the great American songbooks and loved to play us stuff like Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, and he would always talk about the songwriters by name, like Rodgers and Hart or Cole Porter.

“So I always had it in the back of my mind that I’d love to write songs for others. You don’t really know how to do it. It just finds you strangely enough.

“Towards the end of Danny Wilson, I started getting people asking me to write stuff. And so it just shifted very gently, rather than me making it happen. And that’s very similar with the films.

“I’d had a lot of things placed in films and I absolutely love the thrill of hearing your stuff on the big screen. But I didn’t know how to get into writing stuff and in the back of my mind thought that’d never happen. And then John Carney called me because he liked Danny Wilson.”

While he travels a lot for work, Gary is proudly still based in Dundee, and loves bringing his work to his hometown.

He appeared at a premiere of Flora and Son at Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) when it was released, and will also hold a special screening of Power Ballad there next month.

He was delighted to give the movie its first Scottish screening just down the road at the Sands International Film Festival in St Andrews in April.

“That was a great festival at Sands. The film got an amazing reaction and the Q&A afterwards really impressed me as a lot of the young people there were studying film so had seriously good questions I had to really think about.

“It was great fun premiering it so close to home.”

*Power Ballad is in cinemas May 29, and Gary will attend a special screening at the DCA June 6. For more information on the Sands International Film Festival, visit www.sands-iff.com.

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Airline cabin crew, railway workers and public transport staff plan to strike on June 3 in protest at proposed government reforms, putting up to 500 flights at risk of cancellation

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Britons face significant travel chaos at the beginning of the summer holidays as a looming transport walkout is set to hit a popular tourist destination.

Those heading to Portugal should make preparations in advance, as airline cabin crew, rail employees and public transport workers are planning to strike on Wednesday, June 3 in opposition to proposed government reforms.

Reports suggest up to 500 flights could be scrapped, while trains, ferries, city metros and buses are all expected to face disruption.

Cabin crew operations for TAP Air Portugal, along with its regional operators Portugália and SATA, will see up to 79% staff absence, according to Travel Tomorrow. Other carriers are also anticipating staffing problems.

Personnel shortages could spell trouble at the beginning of the summer period for Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers, Ryanair and competitor easyJet.

Both carriers operate from Portuguese hubs.

Airlines are typically required to help or reimburse passengers if their flight is delayed or cancelled because of a strike and its circumstances.

It does, however, depend on the airline’s terms and conditions, with some not covering strikes beyond their control. This would include airport or baggage handler walkouts.

Reimbursement also hinges on the scope of a passenger’s travel insurance.

This information should be readily available on the airline or insurer’s website. Booking a flight during a period when industrial action has been announced means passengers are unlikely to be entitled to compensation.

Passengers are advised to check for any strikes affecting their chosen airline, as well as their departure and arrival airports.

Strikes are mainly used as negotiating tools in discussions between unions and employers. The possibility remains that both sides will reach an agreement before a strike takes place.

Sprouted potatoes can contain toxic levels of compounds called glycoalkaloids, which can cause serious issues

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Potatoes are a staple ingredient in households throughout the UK, and for good reason. They are incredibly versatile, affordable and tasty.

However, many people will be familiar with the sinking feeling of reaching into the bag or box where they store their potatoes, only to discover they have turned green and begun to sprout.

It may be tempting to simply remove the sprouts and carry on with your dinner plans – but this would be an error.

According to VeryWell Health, sprouted potatoes can contain toxic levels of compounds known as glycoalkaloids.

These are essential for protecting the plant against fungi and insects – but if consumed by humans they can trigger severe gastrointestinal distress reports the Express.

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Symptoms of glycoalkaloid toxicity include:

• Abdominal cramps
• A bitter taste in the mouth
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Nausea
• Throat burning sensation
• Vomiting

In severe cases it can cause:

• Confusion, difficulty concentrating, or remembering
• Drowsiness
• Fever
• Hallucinations
• Jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes
• Loss of vision or hearing
• Paralysis (inability to move all or part of the body)
• Tremors, uncontrollable shaking

If you want to be certain that your potatoes are safe to consume, look out for greenish discolouration in the flesh, sprouting, damage and bruising or a pungent, musty smell.

If your potatoes have only sprouted slightly, and there is no green discolouration present, then it is generally safe to remove the sprouts and eat them.

However, if there is considerable greening or substantial sprouting, it is far safer to throw them away.

To keep your potatoes safe to eat for longer, ensure you are storing them properly.

Avoid leaving them in direct sunlight, and opt for dark drawers or cupboards instead.

Make sure they have adequate airflow by storing them in a perforated bag or an open box. Aim to maintain a steady temperature – avoid refrigerating raw potatoes or storing them beside radiators.

Humans spend a great deal of time trying to smell good. We wash, deodorise and perfume our bodies daily, suggesting body odour must matter. Yet scientifically, the picture is far less straightforward.

In the animal world, smell is a powerful communication tool. Many species use scent to signal readiness to mate, mark territory or warn of danger. Female moths, for example, release chemical cues that attract males over long distances in predictable ways.

Humans also produce body odour through sweat and sebaceous glands. In addition, apocrine sweat glands are concentrated in areas such as the armpits, genitals and around the nipples. These glands release oily secretions that skin bacteria break down into the characteristic smells associated with body odour.

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The biology of body odour, from sweat glands to skin bacteria

Biologically, the human body is certainly equipped to produce odours that others can detect. Whether these odours carry information in the same way as scent signals do in other species remains uncertain.

Modern hygiene complicates the picture. In many societies, frequent washing and fragranced products mask natural odours. This makes it difficult to study how scent might operate in everyday human interaction under less controlled conditions.

Love stinks? Attraction, pheromones and genes

Smell is often assumed to play a major role in attraction. People frequently report liking a partner’s scent, and some studies suggest partners can recognise each other’s body odour. But the direction of the effect is difficult to untangle. Smell may help shape attraction, but emotional attachment and familiarity may also make a partner’s scent seem more pleasant.

The idea that smell shapes romantic attraction remains popular. Early studies suggested people might prefer the scent of partners with different immune system genes, potentially increasing the chances of healthier offspring.

Results, however, are mixed. Some studies support this pattern, others do not. There is currently no clear evidence that humans reliably use smell to select genetically compatible partners.

Claims about human pheromones are even harder to support. In animals, pheromones are usually understood as specific chemical signals that trigger reliable responses in other members of the same species. In humans, no equivalent system has been clearly demonstrated.

Researchers have examined individual components of human body odour that have been proposed as possible human pheromones. A few molecules, such as androstadienone and estratetraenol, have been studied as possible chemosignals. A chemosignal is a chemical cue that may carry information and influence perception, mood or behaviour. Some studies have reported small effects on mood, attention or social perception, but findings are inconsistent and difficult to interpret. These compounds have not been shown to work as human pheromones in the strong biological sense.

Most scientists agree that clear, animal-style pheromone communication has not been demonstrated in humans.

There are also anatomical differences. Unlike many mammals that rely heavily on pheromone communication, humans do not appear to have a clearly functional vomeronasal organ, a sensory structure that detects pheromones in many animals, or an accessory olfactory bulb, the brain region that processes those signals. These play central roles in scent communication in species such as mice.

À lire aussi :
There’s no evidence human pheromones exist – no matter what you find for sale online

So while humans clearly produce and detect body odour, evidence for a precise biological signalling system is limited.

Cultural learning also shapes odour perception. Babies show relatively few strong preferences early in life, but over time people learn what is pleasant or unpleasant through experience and social norms. Foods considered delicious in one culture can seem intolerable in another.

Beyond attraction, smell may have a more basic function: helping us decide whether to approach or avoid things. We use it to judge food, environments and other people, often as a rapid safety check.

We quickly adapt to familiar scents and stop noticing them. New or unexpected smells, particularly unpleasant ones, capture attention because they may indicate risk.

Can we smell emotions or illness?

Growing evidence suggests body odour carries information about physical and emotional states.

Emotional experiences can alter the chemistry of sweat. In experiments where participants watched films designed to evoke fear or happiness, researchers collected sweat samples from their armpits. When others later smelled these samples, their facial muscles responded in ways consistent with those emotions, suggesting a form of low-level communication with little conscious awareness.

Body odour also changes during illness. In laboratory studies where participants’ immune systems were temporarily activated using compounds that trigger an immune response, their scent shifted within hours. Smellers described these samples as slightly more sweaty or less pleasant, despite the differences being subtle.

This suggests the human nose may detect some early signs of illness before obvious symptoms appear, although this does not mean people can reliably diagnose illness by smell in everyday life.

Historical accounts hint at this connection. Before germ theory, illness was often associated with “bad air” under what became known as the miasma theory. The explanation was wrong, but it reflected a real observation that illness and infection are often associated with distinctive odours.

Today, trained dogs can detect certain cancers and infections through scent. But humans may also pick up some sickness-related cues. In a study I was involved in, volunteers whose immune systems had been temporarily activated produced sweat that others rated as more intense, unpleasant and unhealthy.

Exposure to unpleasant odours may even prime the immune system. In one study, people exposed to strongly disgusting smells showed increased inflammatory responses in saliva, suggesting the body prepares for potential infection when encountering cues linked to disease.

The same biological richness that makes smell difficult to study also makes it promising, but challenging, in medicine.

Interest is growing in scent as a diagnostic tool. Illness alters the chemical composition of breath, sweat and skin oils, and researchers are working to identify the molecules responsible.

If reliable patterns can be established, electronic “noses” could detect disease early through non-invasive testing. This approach is already being explored for several cancers.

The difficulty is that body odour contains hundreds of molecules, and isolating meaningful signals is hard. Still, the potential is substantial. A simple device capable of detecting disease through scent could transform screening and diagnosis.

Smell helps us navigate risk, detect possible illness, recognise familiarity and interpret our surroundings, often without conscious awareness. That is powerful, but it is not the same as a proven human pheromone system.

Future research may reveal more about this overlooked sense. Scientists are exploring technologies that can capture and reproduce smells digitally, potentially allowing odours to be transmitted remotely, alongside medical applications such as scent-based diagnostics.

For a sense that rarely demands attention, smell exerts a constant influence on how we respond to the world and to each other.

Strange Health is hosted by Katie Edwards and Dan Baumgardt. The executive producer is Gemma Ware, with video and sound editing for this episode by Anouk Millet. Artwork by Alice Mason.

In this episode, Dan and Katie talk about a social media clip via YouTube from Alexandrasgirly.

Listen to Strange Health via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.

As part of the audit, they are considering numerous factors to work out why it has become such a problem.

For example, Spurs are analysing the “bounce” on the club’s home pitch in comparison to that at rival grounds and their Enfield training centre.

At present, the club have found there is no major difference between the conditions of other pitches in comparison to their home ground, but testing is ongoing.

There is a view that certain knee injuries are unavoidable – Odobert for instance damaged his ACL following an awkward landing.

It is also understood Spurs are confident the on-field treatment of Simons’ injury did not result in additional damage to the Dutchman’s knee.

There has been criticism from supporters after footage showed medics allowing the attacker to put weight on his knee despite having suffered a serious injury.

One of the key improvements Lewindon has recommended is to make medical support more individually tailored – based on factors including strength, fatigue and robustness.

Medical staff will compile bespoke profiles for each player that will include personal insights as well as physical and psychological information to ensure they can deliver expert individual support to treat – but also prevent – injury.

There is also set to be greater leeway for injured players to conduct part of their rehabilitation away from the club’s training facility.

Players across the Premier League are increasingly relying on external medical practitioners to aid their fitness and recovery, while many overseas footballers even return to their homeland for treatment.

That dynamic often causes friction but moving forward Tottenham are open to letting players leave their direct care provided all parties involved agree to one shared recovery plan – though Spurs would ultimately take responsibility for any problems that arise during the process.

The medical team will work closely alongside head coach Roberto de Zerbi and his staff over the summer amid concerns changing managers three times in under 12 months has contributed to their injury problems.

Tottenham will look to introduce an integrated structure that will ensure De Zerbi, or a member of his staff, the medical department and the player are involved in deciding when a player can accelerate their rehabilitation plans.

Psychology is also a key component of the ongoing review with the club set to employ a full-time head of psychology to work with the players and staff.

Nicola Jameson, from Atherton, described the scene as “horrendous and a bit sad”

A mum from Greater Manchester has said she was disgusted after what she saw on the beach after Bank Holiday chaos in the area. Formby Beach car park was closed on Monday (May 25) as it reached capacity and police blocked roads leading to the sand.

Dozens of cars were spotted travelling towards towards the beauty spot, leading to large queues in the area. Footage has since been shared of significant amounts of litter left on Formby beach. Hundreds of parking fines were also handed out over the weekend.

Clips were taken by Nicola Jameson while she was out walking her dog on Tuesday, who condemned ‘bone idle’ people after spotting discarded nappies and chicken. Nicola told the ECHO she often travels from her home in Atherton to Formby and was caught by surprise by the state of the beach.

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Nicola, 33, said: “It was horrendous. I just didn’t expect it. It was a bit sad. There were people coming to the beach this morning. I wouldn’t like to take my kids to see that. People are happy to enjoy the beach but not happy to clean up.

“The dog likes going to Formby. I was talking to quite a few locals on the beach – they said every time there’s nice weather, it’s left in a state. There were nappies, barbecues, my dog was eating chicken bones, all things that shouldn’t be there. Cans, vodka bottles too.”

Nicola said individuals, rather than the council, need to take more responsibility for looking after beauty spots such as Formby. She said: “I understand that people want to go and have a nice day but whatever you take with you, take it back. Older people were cleaning it up – that’s not their job.

“There aren’t enough bins but it’s a very difficult place to get to with the sand dunes. The council were there very early this morning. I think people need to take responsibility. You know what’s nice and what’s not nice.

“It was disgusting. The nappies – eugh. It was awful. I think people need to stop being bone idle. People moan about this country. But we have a nice day and a nice place like that gets ruined.

“If they went aboard, they wouldn’t do it there. If one person leaves stuff, everyone else thinks it’s alright and they do the same.”

There were similar scenes at other beaches in Sefton on Monday. A teenager was also taken to hospital after suffering injuries from a ‘bladed weapon’ on Crosby beach.

In response to these issues, Sefton Council issued an urgent warning visitors about the importance of planning and acting responsibly when visiting its beaches following ‘unacceptable’ scenes over the weekend.

The statement said: “During warm and sunny weather, coastal locations including beaches at Ainsdale, Formby and Crosby receive an extraordinary number of visitors. While Sefton Council fully understands why visitors want to visit its beautiful coastline, and welcomes them, this should not be at the cost, inconvenience or safety of local residents.

“Inconsiderate and illegally parking on residential streets near to beaches can make pavements unusable and inaccessible for some. It could also prevent emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire engines from reaching incidents at the beaches themselves and in local people’s homes.

“Unfortunately, this weekend saw some visitors, who flock to Sefton from across the whole of the North West and beyond, park in this way. Irresponsible and dangerous parking led to around 700 parking fines being issued by enforcement team members across the Bank Holiday weekend.

“Further reports of anti-social behaviour were reported to Sefton Council, with staff from its Green Sefton service diverted from their regular maintenance and community work to deal with its effects, including littering and damage to toilet facilities.

“The council also understands there were anti-social incidents at local rail stations and other locations. Anti-social behaviour impacts residents, other visitors and Sefton’s protected natural habitat, and is unacceptable.”

As Mark Shaw, service manager for the council’s Green Sefton service said: “We have always said that we welcome visitors to our coastline.

“All we ask is that they act responsibly when they come here, show some consideration for the local people who live here all year round and respect the coast. We also ask them to leave the place as they find it, which might mean taking your rubbish away with you.

“That’s not too much to ask and if people can’t manage that or want to engage in unacceptable anti-social behaviour, we’d prefer that they went elsewhere.”

This small village sits in the Coquet valley a few miles east of Rothbury, just south of the A697 between Morpeth and Wooler, surrounded by fields, wooded slopes and big views towards the National Park.

Where is Whittingham in Northumberland?

Whittingham is tucked away in the countryside east of Rothbury, on the route many people use to cut across Northumberland between Morpeth, Wooler and the Cheviots.

It is the kind of place that appears on signposts for walkers, cyclists and day‑trippers heading for the Coquet valley and the hills beyond, even if they have never actually stopped in the village itself.

How most people say it (and get it wrong)

On paper, Whittingham looks straightforward. Most visitors automatically sound it out as “Whit‑ting‑ham”, hitting every consonant and giving the final “ham” its full weight.

It feels logical if you are reading it off a map or a sat nav – but it is not how locals say it, and it is the quickest way to give yourself away as someone from out of the area.

The local pronunciation: Whitting‑jum

In Northumberland, the name is smoothed out into “Whitting‑jum” – effectively “WHITT‑in‑jum” – with the stress on the first syllable and the end of the word collapsing into a quick “jum” sound instead of a sharp “ham”.

The middle consonants are softened, the final “ham” all but disappears, and the whole word runs together much more quickly than it looks on the sign.

Why English place names drop the “ham”

It fits a wider English pattern where “‑ham” has worn down in everyday speech.

Guides often point to examples such as Nottingham – said more like “Nott‑ing‑um” than “Not‑ting‑ham” – to explain why names ending in “ham” don’t always keep that full ending.

Whittingham follows the same logic, just with a particularly Northumbrian twist in that soft “‑jum” finish that you hear up and down the Coquet valley.

How to sound a little less like a visitor

For anyone planning walks around Rothbury, a drive through the Coquet valley or a holiday in rural Northumberland, getting Whittingham right is an easy way to sound less like a visitor.

Next time you see the village on a signpost or in a route planner, skip the textbook “Whit‑ting‑ham” and go for the local version instead: Whitting‑jum.

It is a tiny change, but it is exactly the sort of detail Northumbrians notice – and appreciate