The Swans brought in a number of new recruits over the summer – and some have clearly been more successful than others

There were plenty of positives for Swansea City fans to enjoy on Sunday.

A 4-0 win over struggling Sheffield Wednesday has not only further eased any flickering concerns of a relegation fight, but has actually sparked some tentative talk of an unlikely surge towards the top six.

Swans fans also got to see new signing Leo Walta in action for the first time. The Finland international coming off the bench to make his first outing since arriving on deadline day.

January as a whole was a reasonably quiet one for the Swans, with Walta one of three incomings during the month.

Joel Ward and Bretford loanee Gustavo Nunes were the others to come through the door, and Vitor Matos will be hoping the trio can make a positive impact on his squad heading into the second half of the season.

Swansea’s summer recruits have certainly made a difference.

Well, some of them anyway. Others are perhaps still waiting for their Swans careers to get moving.

Here’s a quick look at how Swansea’s summer signings have fared so far.

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Zeidane Inoussa

Swansea’s first signing of what would prove to be a busy summer. He signed a five-year deal after joining for an undisclosed fee from FC Hacken. The winger’s arrival was the first indication of co-owner Luka Modric’s influence, after revealing he spoke to the Croatian before signing.

Verdict: Has shown some promising signs, but has taken time to adapt to the Championship. Started 12 times, but yet to score a league goal, and facing a prolonged spell on the sidelines with a back injury.

Bobby Wales

The youngster was always going to be signed as one for the future after joining from Kilmarnock, where he scored five goals in 44 appearances.

Verdict: Hasn’t yet managed to really make his mark on the first team, with all four of his league appearances coming from the bench. Does have a cup goal to his name, and he remains highly rated by insiders, but needs to play regular football on loan at Huddersfield.

Ricardo Santos

Was always brought in as defensive cover after leaving Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer, but may well have expected a little more game-time. Injuries haven’t helped, but he’s made just one appearance since joining. Was close to leaving in January but an exit never materialised.

Verdict: Still time to turn things around, but doesn’t feel like it’s worked out so far.

Cameron Burgess

Signed on a free after coming up against the likes of Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak in the Premier League with Ipswich Town. Has become one of the first names on the teamsheet this season, having started every league game so.

Verdict: Has had his dips, and clearly brings a different skillset to predecessor Harry Darling, but it would take a big shift for him to be dislodged as Ben Cabango’s first-choice partner. A pretty successful signing on the whole.

Ethan Galbraith

Has looked hugely impressive both in the heart of midfield and, more recently, at right-back. Having notched up three goals and two assists, the Northern Irishman has become a huge favourite with fans and players alike.

Verdict: The fact Swansea are likely to have a big fight on their hands to keep him this summer says it all. Already an instrumental figure, and very much looks a Premier League player in waiting.

Kaelan Casey

Brought in on loan to add further depth at the heart of defence. However, he made just three league starts for the Swans, much to the concern of West Ham, who made the decision to recall him in January. Now enjoying a stint at Leyton Orient.

Verdict: It didn’t really work out, but it wasn’t really his fault given Burgess and Cabango are clearly the favoured duo right now. Was fairly accomplished on the occasions he was called upon.

Paul Farman

Signed to add depth to the goalkeeping options, the 35-year-old hasn’t yet made a single appearance. Barring a goalkeeping injury crisis, it seems unlikely that will change any time soon.

Verdict: He’s provided valuable cover, but with his contract up at the end of the season, it seems likely he’ll be moving on this summer.

Malick Yalcouye

Signed amid a fair amount of fanfare on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, the midfielder was playing Champions League football for Austrian side Sturm Graz last term. Netted his first Swans goal in the 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.

Verdict: Has had a bit of a slow start to this Swans career. A silly red card against Queens Park Rangers in October clearly didn’t help matters. Indeed, he wouldn’t start another game until New Year’s Day, and there had been some suggestion Matos perhaps wasn’t too keen on the midfielder. However, a series of promising recent cameos means he is surely now pushing for more game-time. One hopes there is more to come.

Marko Stamenic

A huge favourite under Alan Sheehan, the New Zealander has had a difficult time in south Wales due to matters off the pitch. However, he now looks to be recapturing some of his promising early form, as evidenced by his brilliant performance at Watford recently.

Verdict: Seems a really important part of this team, adding steel at the base of midfield. Looks to be a solid acquisition.

Adam Idah

Arrived for a massive fee, but his Swans career is yet to really take off. There have been highlights, most notably his winner against Wrexham before Christmas. But a hamstring injury and the red-hot form of Zan Vipotnik has clearly hugely hampered his efforts to impress.

Verdict: Spending three months on the treatment table will be gutting. As such, the jury is clearly still out for now.

Ishe Samuels-Smith

Had never made a senior appearance before joining on loan from Chelsea, and the decision to hand him a debut against Premier League Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup earlier in the season subsequently felt a bit of a gamble. However, he’s always looked fairly comfortable when called upon.

Verdict: Looks a decent acquisition and probably would have played more were it not for Josh Tymon’s importance to this team. There could well be a gap to fill at centre-back, however, in the second half of the season, a role he has played before.

Manuel Benson

There was plenty of excitement around his capture given how good he was for Burnley when he was last at this level. But it turned out to be a bit of a disaster, with the winger starting one game before being shipped out in January to Maccabi Haifa.

Verdict: Sadly proved the worst signing of the window. His time in south Wales yielded little, if any, positives. A move away the best for all concerned.

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Plans for a redeveloped petrol station include photovoltaic solar panels

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A petrol station in Peterborough could be demolished prior to significant redevelopment. A planning application submitted by Directfirm Ltd to Peterborough City Council outlines how the BP garage on St John’s Street needs to modernise.

The application explains how the site has “operated as a petroleum filling station for many years.” and “benefits from a strong and established customer base”.

It goes on to say: “However, the existing facilities no longer meet the expectations or safety standards of a modern service station, and the current forecourt layout presents accessibility and operational challenges.” The garage site is home to a petrol station, a kiosk building, a forecourt, and a canopy.

The whole site will be comprehensively upgraded if the proposed plans – drawn up by ADP Architecture and Design Ltd – are approved. The site will see works consisting of the “Demolition and redevelopment of existing petrol filling station, including new kiosk building, forecourt canopy, lighting pole and below ground fuel tanks.”

Once completed, the new facility will boast:

• A new kiosk/sales building offering retail sales, refreshments, and an accessible unisex public toilet;
• A fully resurfaced forecourt;
• Improved car parking facilities, including the introduction of electric vehicle charging points;
• A new forecourt canopy positioned over the fuel dispensing areas;
• PV solar panel systems for energy generation.

The plans suggest the petrol station will continue to operate the same one-way traffic system as it does now. The planning application was validated on Thursday, February 5.

The Glens suffered a 4-1 defeat to the league-leaders at the Oval last month, but the midfielder is determined for a different outcome in Tuesday night’s return fixture against his former club

Joe Thomson says Glentoran must take the positives from their last meeting with Larne as they prepare to face the league leaders at Inver Park on Tuesday evening (Kick-off 7.45pm).

The Glens went down 4-1 to Gary Haveron’s side at the BetMcLean Oval last month but Thomson says the score doesn’t tell the whole story.

With the game finely balanced at 1-1 the hosts were reduced to 10 men 11 minutes before the break when Ryan Cooney was dismissed with the visitors restoring their lead in the 41st minute through Chris Gallagher.

Further goals from Paul O’Neill and Tomas Cosgrove in the second half made it a comfortable looking score line for the Invermen, but Thomson believes there was plenty for Glentoran to take heart from.

“Obviously if you look at the score line it doesn’t make pretty reading for us, but that wasn’t the full story on the night from our perspective,” said Thompson.

“We had got ourselves back into the game when Daniel Larmour equalised for us and I felt we were getting the upper hand.

“Unfortunately, the game was to swing back in their favour when Ryan was sent off and they got themselves back in front again before half-time.

“The message from the boss at half-time was positive and we were determined to keep pushing to try and get back into the game.

“I think we gave a good account of ourselves, especially as we were able man down, and on another night, we might have got something out of the game.

“Larne obviously scored a couple more goal but I think the circumstances played their part. That gives us a lot of heart going into Tuesday night.

“We know we have to work hard and put in another big performance, but it’s also important that we manage the game as we are away from home.

“When you play the teams around you it’s important you take something from it and we will be doing all we can to do that.”

Confidence is high in the Glens squad as last Tuesday night’s BetMcLean Cup semi-final win over Coleraine made it four wins in a row following their defeat to Larne.

A date with Linfield in next month’s showpiece final awaits as momentum builds towards a big end to the season and Thomson says Glentoran need to harness the positivity of their recent results.

“Bar the Larne game we have had some big results and performances over the last couple of months,” he added.

“The was our only defeat in the last nine games with eight wins in that time, which is a good run for any team.

“Confidence is high amongst the squad because of that and I think you can see that in our performance levels.

“Not only have we produced some impressive performances over the last few weeks, but we have also shown a lot of character.

“The times where we have had to dig in to get results, we have done it and that says a lot about us as a squad.

“Last Tuesday night against Coleraine showed that. It was a very tough game against a quality side.There were times when we were under a lot of pressure, but we dug in and defended as a team.

“We also showed our quality by taking our chances when they come along to make sure we won the game.

“Every game is massive now and we have to try and come out on the right side of the result as many times as we can.

“Having momentum is key in football and we are feeling good, especially after progressing to the BetMcLean Cup final.

“We just have to continue to keep doing the things we have been doing well so far this season and see where it takes us. It’s certainly building towards an exciting end to the campaign for us all.”

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Manchester United faced a familiar scenario on Saturday but this time with a different manager in the hotseat at Old Trafford.

Ruben Amorim’s time as Manchester United manager didn’t produce many highlights but undoubtedly one of the darkest days of his tenure came when Everton visited Old Trafford last November. The Reds fell to a 1-0 defeat against Everton despite playing against ten men for all but 13 minutes of the match.

The negative 3-4-2-1 system was under scrutiny and proved it could not unlock a side that would definitely have taken a point as soon as they were reduced to 10 men.

Unbelievably the Toffees secured all three points and less than two months on Amorim was sacked. Last weekend, United once again found themselves up against 10 men with the game goalless. Where Amorim failed, Michael Carrick succeeded.

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MEN Sport has taken a look back at the Everton defeat and highlighted five ways Carrick’s tactics trumped Amorim’s when tasked with breaking down a side who had seen a man sent off.

Fernandes change

Amorim always justified the decision to play Bruno Fernandes deeper in midfield because he wanted United to have more control in the centre of the pitch.

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However, that tweak saw Kobbie Mainoo drop out and it is clear to see that Mainoo needs to be in the team. Everton’s winner came from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall running off Fernandes before Leny Yoro failed to stop the shot.

Against Spurs, and since the arrival of Carrick, Fernandes has moved into attacking midfield and he has been excellent, as has Mainoo since being brought back in from the cold.

Predictability

Rewatching the Everton game was painful for plenty of reasons, particularly because of how predictable United were. It was difficult for Amorim’s side when playing a team with a goal advantage and the ability to sit on the edge of their area, but the Reds made it way too easy for them.

United would play the ball out to Amad in the hope he could produce a moment of magic, but with Everton doubling up on him he would have to work it back and eventually the attack broke down. It was dull and uninspiring.

In contrast, United switched up their attack against Tottenham, with the first goal a perfect example. Matheus Cunha did well to drift inside and create overloads in the centre, a move that ultimately won the corner from which the first goal came.

A neat training ground routine allowed the ball to be laid off for Bryan Mbeumo to slot home. It seems simple but it is by far a better brand of football to watch.

Tempo

This goes hand-in-hand with the predictable nature of Amorim’s system but the tempo in the defeat to Everton was shockingly low. When Idrissa Gueye was sent off, Old Trafford was rocking and hopeful of seeing their side take advantage.

Instead, United killed that urgency with slow play which made it easy for Everton to defend. The Reds were too casual in possession and this created problems with passes being intercepted and clearances being made.

Now, there is a sharpness to United’s play that is not just evident against ten men. Carrick’s side pass the ball around with a crispness and some of the one-touch football left Spurs scratching their heads at the weekend.

The out-ball

Bafflingly, United were so defensive against Everton you would have thought they were the ones with ten men. A particular example of this was their approach to defending long throws.

The Reds put all 11 men behind the ball, including Joshua Zirkzee. When they eventually cleared the danger, there was nobody upfield to offer a way out and Everton were able to just recycle possession.

Against Tottenham, that was not the case and this allowed United to retain more control. Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez have forged a solid partnership in recent weeks and that gives United the confidence to leave a man upfield without the fear of conceding.

Crossing

When United eventually managed to work an opening against Everton they looked to get crosses into the box. Not a bad strategy except for a couple of key issues.

Firstly, there was no variation on the crosses, with all being looping balls that Michael Keane and James Tarkowski took pleasure in just heading away. On the few occasions they were beaten, Zirkzee forced a couple of good saves from Jordan Pickford.

However, there were also too many occasions when Zirkzee and other forwards were not bursting into the box to try and get on the end of crosses. The combination of the two was a recipe for disaster.

Now, United are showing a variation in their crosses and the second against Spurs came thanks to a brilliant delivery from Diogo Dalot which Benjamin Sesko was trying to reach.

He missed it but following up was Fernandes. The finish was sublime.

While men aren’t a fan of the classic cowgirl, and women hate it in reverse, how we like it in bed will always be a hot topic.

Of course, everyone has their own personal preferences, but there’s one position that both men and women agree is ‘one of the worst ever’.

What is it, you ask? It’s the 69, and both sexes have the exact same complaint… they don’t like multi-tasking.

It’s an understandable gripe, with countless men and women taking to Reddit to decry the oral act.

Here’s what the guys had to say…

One 28-year-old guy wrote: ‘Not a fan. I love giving. I love receiving. 69 makes it hard for me to enjoy either part. I don’t like someone’s crotch in my face when I’m receiving… and the BJ is really overwhelming for me when I’m trying to give pleasure.’

The off-putting nature of this multi-tasking was summed up perfectly by a fellow male Redditor, who said: ‘It’s like two people giving each other a massage. Feels like for the relaxation to be fully enjoyed, one person should go at a time.’

Others shared how they’d never climaxed or made their partner climax while 69-ing, while others admitted they’d get more pleasure taking turns.

‘The main problem with this position is that you are both givers and takers at the same time,’ added another. ‘As a giver it’s hard to focus, and as a taker you can’t relax. It’s one of the worst positions ever.’

Here’s what the women thought, too…

In the case of the 69, it’s clear men and women are singing from the same hymn sheet.

‘I don’t enjoy oral unless I can really concentrate on every subtle thing that he does and how good it feels,’ explained one woman. ‘Otherwise it just feels like someone tickling me in an uncomfortable way.

‘And when I have a d**k in my face, I am pretty unaware of anything going on with the rest of my body. It’s just so demanding and there in my face. So it end up being a blow job in an uncomfortable position with someone tickling me somewhere and an obligation to enjoy it.’

In fact, a study of more than 2,000 women found that, for 29%, the 69 was the most disliked sex position. Site Seduce AI, which conducted the study, found women cited the division of attention between giving and receiving pleasure to be a turn off.

They also felt they couldn’t focus on their own sexual feelings, which caused frustration and a lack of sexual satisfaction. Honestly, getting to the finish line can be hard enough as it is.

One woman added: ‘I don’t like it. It’s supposed to be double fun, but I can’t focus on any of the two and as a result neither of the two is fun.’

Others shared they were ‘surprised anyone actually likes it’.

For some women, it’s too close for comfort

But unlike men, women shared another pitfall they felt stopped them from being able to enjoy the position.

‘There’s nothing appealing about it, and I’d feel self-conscious in that position,’ one lady admitted.

It’s not hard to see how having your naked behind on full display less than two inches from someone’s face might make you a bit nervous – it’s pretty exposing.

Another woman agreed, adding: ‘It’s a really awkward blowjob angle and his nose ends up too close to my butthole for comfort.’

The 69 is the marmite of sex

‘No sex position is for everyone but people have a lot of divisive opinions about 69-ing – they either love it, or they hate it,’ sexologist and author of Kink Curious, Gigi Engle, tells Metro.

‘In my experience, most people don’t like it.’

For Gigi, she agrees it can be a lot of work and can result in a loss of focus.

‘Giving a blowjob to a penis can be a lot of work, and takes a lot of focus, it can also be pretty exhausting on the jaw for some people,’ she explains.

‘The part women tend not to like about it is it can be difficult to enjoy the oral they’re giving you, because you can’t focus on your own pleasure and experience.’

She also adds that the 69 won’t be a favourite for people who like lots of eye-contact during sex, but she does think it’s a great position in its own right.

‘No sex position is for everyone, but 69-ing can be really fun, the focus just needs to be less about climaxing and more about experiencing the pleasure you’re giving each other,’ she says.

‘It doesn’t need to be about putting on a performance, just enjoy the intimacy of pleasuring your partner, while they’re pleasuring you.’

Proving there’s no one fits all when it comes to sex, though, once writer who recently took part in Metro’s How I Do It sex diary revealed how it had become her favourite way to end a night.

‘These days, 69 is definitely our ‘go to’ position for passion. We always finish together and my orgasms are so much more intense (and frequent),’ she said.

‘We may not have as much penis in vagina sex as we used to back in the day and pre-kids, but all our sexual encounters are so much more satisfying.’

Ultimately though, if the 69 is a turn off for you, that’s totally fine. As Gigi says, it’s ‘different strokes for different folks’.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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Lando Norris’ confidence is “even higher” for the 2026 Formula 1 season after he won his first drivers’ title last year, McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown says.

As McLaren launched their car for the new season, two days before the start of the second pre-season test in Bahrain, Brown said Norris wanted to become a multiple title winner.

He predicted the British driver’s team-mate Oscar Piastri would again pose a strong challenge, having led the championship for much of last season only to fade in the final part of the year.

He said: “There are some drivers that say, ‘I’ve done it, now I’m done.’

“And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go, I’ve done it once, now I want to do it twice and three and four times.

“Lando’s confidence is very high. He’s highly motivated. It’s our job to give he and Oscar equipment again to be able to let him fight it out for the championship. But if we can do that, I would think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shout.”

Brown said that, as last year, the team would allow their drivers to race each other for the title.

“They continue to be free to race. Again, we will be strategic and intelligent when situations arise. There won’t be much change because they were free to race last year,” he said.

Brown is optimistic McLaren, who also won their second consecutive constructors’ title last year, will be “strong” when the new season starts with the Australian Grand Prix from 6-8 March.

Brown said the evidence of the first ‘shakedown’ test in Spain last month was that they, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull “all seemed competitive”.

Brown said: “Very risky to judge. Spain, what I would say is we feel like we’ll be competitive.

“Very early days, but indications that we will be strong. But it would be premature to make any predictions beyond that.”

The company hired administrators last year

A well-known high street beauty brand has been saved from collapse following a major sale. Cosmetics company Barry M has been bought out of administration by rivals Warpaint, as part of a £1.4 million deal.

After being founded in 1982, Barry M has become a staple high street name, known for colourful nail varnishes and affordable make-up which is vegan and cruelty-free. The beauty name has stood in more than 1,300 stores including Superdrug, Boots, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, as well as selling products online.

The beauty company however has now been bought by cosmetics firm Warpaint, which owns make-up brands W7 and Technic. The firm said it expects the move to help it grow into key retail channels in the UK.

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The sale comes after Barry M appointed administrators last year after warning over “geopolitical issues” and rising prices, which it said were absorbed into its cost base. The acquisition of the company includes the Barry M brand and its intellectual property, but not the business’ factory and staff.

According to its most recently published results, Barry M generated a £17.4 million turnover and a £172,000 pre-tax profit for the year to the end of February 2024. The brand also had more than 120 staff members on average during the year, with most employed at its manufacturing site in London.

Warpaint, whose products are also stocked in high street retailers, told investors that earnings for the 2025 financial year were expected to come in at around £22 million. But it said the collapse of beauty retailer Bodycare last year and subsequent closure of all its stores negatively impacted the group, as it was a significant retail customer of its brand Technic.

Kate Osborne, the Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, has said she doesn’t “have any confidence” in Sir Keir Starmer.

The Prime Minister’s chief of staff and head of communications both stood down as the fallout over Mr Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador rumbled on into another week. Mandelson was forced to resign from the party and the House of Lords over his relationship with Epstein and also faces a police investigation into whether he leaked sensitive information to the paedophile financier.

“I don’t have any confidence in Keir Starmer and haven’t for some time,” Ms Osborne said.

“I said last week that the buck stops with the leadership, staffing changes were and are essential but they cannot take all the blame.

North East MP Kate Osborne has called for the PM to go. (Image: UK PARLIAMENT)

“We need more than damage limitation; we need a complete change at the top, and we need an end to the dictatorial and chaotic culture that Starmer is and has presided over as leader.

“We need our Labour party to get back to its Labour values, values that deliver for working people, not the elite, values that promote equality, social justice, and restore trust in politics.

“I and a growing number of my colleagues no longer have faith in Keir’s ability to restore that trust in politics.”

It follows an intervention from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar on Monday.

Mr Sarwar hit out at “failures in the heart of Downing Street”, warning they were hurting Labour’s chances in Scotland.

He is the most senior Labour politician to call for Sir Keir to go, conscious of the task facing Scottish Labour in May’s Holyrood elections where opinion polls indicate his party faces coming third behind the SNP and Reform.

At a hastily convened press conference in Glasgow, Mr Sarwar said: “The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”

But as he was speaking, a series of Cabinet ministers rushed out statements in support of Sir Keir, including Houghton and Sunderland South MP Bridget Phillipson and Redcar and Cleveland MP Anna Turley.

Some residents are unable to shower or do daily chores due to a lack of water.

Thousands are still facing water problems as a result of a “complicated” pipe repair. People in Chatteris continue to be left with “very low” water pressure as a result of damage to a pipe in the water supply.

Anglian Water previously told CambridgeshireLive around 2,700 residents were affected. Residents have been experiencing problems since January 29. These were due to be fixed on February 1.

However, they have now been told the issue is not expected to be resolved until 5.30pm on Friday (February 13). Demi Scott, who previously told CambridgeshireLive she was unable to work as a result of the lower pressure, is still experiencing problems.

She said: “There is not enough water to clean the house such as clothes washes, dishwater or hand washing.” She and her family are also unable to shower.

Demi added: “We are behind on daily house work. There is no shower water available for us to shower and I am worried about work and not having water.”

Lawrence Weetman said water pressure has been “noticeably lower than usual”.

An Anglian Water spokesperson said it apologises for people still experiencing problems.

The spokesperson added: “These problems are all knock-on issues from a third party contractor damaging one of our large diameter water mains on January 29. The damaged pipe helped supply the Chatteris area, so while it’s out of action while we repair it, we’re having to take water from other parts of the surrounding network to keep everyone on water.

“On a couple of occasions our pumps, which help to push water around the network, have struggled to cope with the amount of water coming through the smaller pipes and they’ve tripped. While our teams were able to get the pumps back online within three hours on both occasions, to reduce the chances of it happening again, we’ve made some adjustments and popped additional monitors around our network so we can keep a close eye on what’s happening.”

The spokesperson said the repair is more “complicated” than expected. They added: “Our priority is always keeping our people safe, and to get this work done our teams not only need additional equipment but also to work under much stricter health and safety rules. This means it’s taking longer than usual to do our work.”

Anglian Water has received requests from people for bottled water during the last two disruptions. A spokesperson added: “While we know it’s really frustrating for your water supply to keep being affected like this, it’s important for you to know that we don’t routinely provide alternative water supplies unless there’s an interruption lasting 12 hours or more.”

All 29-year-old French citizens are to be encouraged by their government to have babies while they still can.

Health officials say the aim is to avoid these men and women facing fertility problems later on and thinking “if only I had known”.

The strategy is one part of a 16-point-plan to boost the fertility rate in France, one of many western countries, including the UK where figures are tumbling.

The trend is creating anxiety about how governments will able to fund pensions and healthcare for ageing populations, when there are fewer younger working people paying taxes.

But globally, policies to boost fertility rates have produced limited results, and critics of the French scheme suggested that better housing and maternity provision could be more effective solutions.

France’s fertility rate of 1.56 children per woman is far below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population.

But it is higher than the infamously low rates in China, Japan and South Korea; and the UK – where the latest available figures show that it had dropped to a record low of 1.41 in England and Wales by 2024 .

Professor François Gemenne, who specialises in sustainability and migration at HEC Paris Business School, told Sky News: “This is something that demographers had known for a long time, but the fact that there were more deaths than births in France last year created a shock effect.”

France’s “demographic worry” is exacerbated by the design of its pensions system and its “obsession with immigration and the fear of being ‘replaced’” he added.

Read more: 2026 could bring ‘tipping point’ for UK birth rate

The French government’s attempt to address falling birth rates will see it send out “targeted, balanced, and scientifically sound information” to young people, including issues including on sexual health and contraception.

The material “will also reiterate that fertility is a shared responsibility between women and men”, the country’s health ministry said.

As a part of its plan, it is also trying to boost the number of egg-freezing centres from 40 to 70 and make the country a leader in fertility research.

Its health system already provides free egg-freezing for 29-37 year olds, a service that costs about £5,000 per round in the UK.

The plan also includes a new national communication campaign, a “My Fertility” website advising on the impacts of smoking, weight and lifestyle and school lessons for children about reproductive health.

France’s health ministry has acknowledged its maternal and infant mortality rates are higher than neighbouring countries and is also beginning a review of perinatal care to combat the “concerning” situation.

Channa Jayasena, professor in reproductive endocrinology at Imperial College London, told Sky News: “On the female side, societal changes leading to older age of motherhood are certainly important.”

He said obesity was also a problem as it increased women’s risk of polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis, and was also the main risk factor for men.

Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at Manchester University, said for most people globally, deciding to have children was “down to [non-medical] factors such as better access to education, career opportunities, taxation, housing, mortgages, finance, etc”. “Medicine can’t help with those things,” he said.