Rangers claimed first blood in this week’s Old Firm double header as they delivered a major blow to Martin O’Neill’s Hoops, with Dan Neil’s brilliant brace sending the Ibrox men to the Premier Sports Cup semi-final

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Brilliant Rangers claimed first blood in this week’s Old Firm double header as they delivered a major blow to Martin O’Neill’s Hoops.

Dan Neil produced a stunning display of finishing as his brilliant brace sent the Ibrox men marching towards Hampden for the Premier Sports Cup semi-final – where they’ll face Aberdeen.

The former Sunderland skipper was one of six derby debutants in the Rangers starting line-up and another, new Venezuelan hitman Kevin Kelsy, got in the act too as he swept home the crucial second.

Here Reach Sport takes a look at how the Light Blues players rated…

Rangers player ratings

IVOR PANDUR: Croatian keeper had a couple of tame efforts into his body to deal in terms of shot-stopping but not much more on his derby debut. Sight of him being sharp off his line and taking a couple of dangerous looking crosses was a source of major reassurance for McInnes’ men. 7

DUJON STERLING: A solid showing and off the ball. Didn’t give Sebastian Tounekti a sniff before the before the Tunisian got the half-time hook. Won a big challenge on Camilo Duran after the break as the Colombian switched flanks. 7

MANNY FERNANDEZ: Giant centre-back has had an error-strewn start to the season and there were a couple of hairy moments in the first half. Sharpened up though and completely dominated Celt’s anonymous £11million man Kasper Hogh. Preserved the clean sheet with last-minute clearance off the lone. 7

OLWETHU MAKHANYA: Gers’ new South African has been a stabilising figure at the back and completely strolled this one too. Left with a tough job dealing with Duran all on his own in the first half as Penrice went inside to deal with Nygren but it was no bother at all for the classy centre-back. Booked for clattering Celtic sub Haissem Hassan just after the break. 8

JAMES PENRICE: Asked to do a man-marking job on Benjamin Nygren, even if meant the left-back had to follow the Dane across the park. Required a huge effort to cover the ground but had the energy left to deliver the cross which led the Gers’ killer second. 8

MINSU KIM: Started on the right hand side but with licence to drift into the central channels. So close to the opener as his volleys from Johnstone’s flap was blocked on the line by Liam Scales. Had two other efforts saved by the keeper. 7

NICO RASKIN: Partnership with Neil is growing in strength by the week. Had to bail out Englishman early doors, though, when he got back top halt a Hoops breakaway. Kept Gers moving as they applied the pressure in the build up to No2. Thought he’d got in on the scoring act until an offside flag cut short the celebrations. 7

DAN NEIL: It’s only a few weeks since Rangers fans were questioning why McInnes had bothered signing the ex-Sunderland skipper – but he’s got them all on board now. Sparked a noisy groan when he lost possession in a key area early on. But quickly had the punters roaring with two stunning finishes. 9

DJEIDI GASSAMA: In decent form this season but has struggled to convert that into firm numbers. Wiped out by Colby Donovan as the young Hoops defender earned a booking. Followed that up by ruining a good moment running the ball out of play. Remains a frustrating Ibrox enigma. 7

RYAN NADERI: Got the nod to start on account of his work off the ball. And he more than justified his manager’s faith with a huge shift and magnificent display. Had a hand in both goals, pinching possession from Cameron Carter-Vickers in the build up to the opener before flicking on for his strike-partner to score. 8

KEVIN KELSY: The £9million man looked to have wasted a huge chance to start repaying his massive fee when he dragged wide from Sam Johnstone’s mishit pass. But had a big role in Rangers taking the lead as he picked out Neil on the edge of the box before slamming home his first goal for the club with a kiss on off Johnstone’s near post. 8

Substitutes

BEN GODFREY (on for Naderi, 74): Big header late on as Celtic chased a consolation effort. 3

BADREDINE BOUANANI (on for Kim, 74): Provided some fresh legs in the final stage as Gers eased their way through to Hampden. 3

FINDLAY CURTIS (on for Gassama, 85): Close to adding a fourth as he forced Johnstone into a save. Dug in to ensure Celtic didn’t pull one back at the death. 4

VANJA DRAGOJEVIC (on for Neil, 85): Added some energy for the hosts after a huge shift from the starters. 3

BOJAN MIOVSKI (on for Kelsy, 87): No time to repeat his midweek heroics. 2

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Surrounded by rolling farmland and boasting thatched Tudor cottages, a pub and a church recorded in the Domesday Book, one could say Salford Priors is the epitome of a classic English village.

But residents of the picturesque community – and others along Warwickshire’s border with Worcestershire – are up in arms over plans for what would become one of the UK’s biggest solar farms. 

They say the scheme will turn prime arable land into a ‘crystal desert’ with communities blighted by glint and glare and natural habitats destroyed.

The proposed Arrow Valley Solar project will span an area of four square miles and see solar arrays and battery storage systems in four zones across both counties, all connected by a network of underground cables.

The project is of such a scale that it is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and could generate up to 500megawatts of energy, enough to power about 235,000 homes annually.

The site, which is expected to become operational by 2031 if planning permission is granted, covers 4,353 acres, equivalent to 2,468 full-size football pitches. Some of the panels will be ‘tracker’ variants the size of double-decker buses which follow the trajectory of the sun.

Paul Wareing, 68, said the farm would cover sections of the Vale of Evesham – renowned for its fertile land and an important fruit and asparagus growing region, and destroy ‘quintessential English countryside’.

The semi-retired former government project manager said: ‘People are only just waking up to the scale of this thing. It will destroy our green and pleasant land.’

David Smith is upset this farmland near his home in Abbots Morton, Warwickshire, will be swallowed up by the solar farm

The project spans four square miles along the border between Warwickshire and Worcestershire

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Mr Wareing, who lives with wife Joanna, 69, in Salford Priors – a former Warwickshire village of the year winner – said that a field designated as housing battery units to store excess energy was the site of a wildfire which threatened the village last month.

He added: ‘If there had been batteries in-situ then there would have been hell to pay.

‘This scheme will turn a beautiful area into a giant industrial estate.

‘The irony is that I live in a conservation area and if I wanted to put solar panels on my roof I wouldn’t be allowed. Instead schemes like this are allowed to blight the countryside around us.’

Much of the land for the scheme will be provided by the nearby 6,000-acre Ragley Estate – which was at the centre of a bitter High Court family trust dispute last year.

David Smith, a retired electricity board worker from Abbots Morton, accused Henry Seymour, the 9th Marquess of Hertford who inherited the £85million ancestral estate in 1991, of ‘destroying this corner of Warwickshire’.

Mr Smith, 68, said: ‘How will he be remembered after this?

St James’s church in Weethley enjoys a stunning vista overlooking the Cotswolds – but the view is set to be obliterated by solar panels, residents say

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Salford Priors is a former Warwickshire village of the year winner 

‘Landowners like the marquess are custodians, it is only his house for his duration.

‘A sizeable percentage of this scheme will be on the estate’s land, but not one square inch of it will be visible from Ragley Hall.’

Mr Smith said the new solar scheme will result in panels positioned just yards from his home. The land, currently used to grow oil seed rape, would flood because underground drainage pipes would be ‘smashed’ by the framework for the solar panels, he feared.

But the landowner, who said he had agreed to lease 200 acres for at least 30 years as part of the development, said farming was becoming ‘unviable’.

‘If the scheme gets the go-ahead there will be sheep on here – it’s going to be built so they can graze’, the farmer, who declined to be named, said.

‘I’m losing money growing crops’.

NSIPs require a specific type of planning permission called ‘development consent’, with the final decision resting with the Secretary of State.

A public consultation into the project opens at the end of this month.

Banners such as this one have been appearing in villages around the area 

The scheme will turn prime farmland and rolling countryside used by walkers into a ‘giant industrial estate’, residents say

Land earmarked for the scheme spans at least 11 parishes, with other villages and hamlets affected including Broome, Cleeve Prior and the hamlet of Weethley, where a stunning vista behind St James’s church is set to be decimated by solar panels.

Dr Jane Cornwall, a psychologist and church warden at St James’s, runs a mindfulness group from the building for people with anxiety and depression.

She said: ‘People come here to enjoy the unadulterated view, to walk and enjoy the peaceful tranquillity. I’m very concerned and the company behind this scheme have done nothing to allay people’s fears.’

But a villager in Dunnington who was in favour of the scheme, and green energy in general, said: ‘The panels near here won’t be visible from the houses and will mainly be on estate land which isn’t used for much at the moment.’

Arrow Valley Solar is one of slew of super-sized solar parks to enter the planning system over the last year. Earlier this year, the government approved what was up until then the UK’s largest power-producing solar farm, following a planning inquiry.

The 800megawatt Springwell Solar Farm, between Lincoln and Sleaford, will cover 3,163 acres and power 180,000 homes.

A decision on a proposed 4,361-acre ‘Great North Road’ solar park, which could generate enough electricity for 400,000 homes, beside the A1 in Nottinghamshire is expected next month.

Fields between Salford Priors and Dunnington will form part of the solar farm

Jamie Gleeson, Project Development Manager for Arrow Valley Solar, said the development would be ‘sympathetic to the local area’s environment, character and history’.

He added: ‘The project is being developed to help meet growing demand for secure, home-grown renewable energy and will be shaped by a comprehensive programme of environmental and technical assessments, alongside feedback from local communities and stakeholders.

‘We recognise that people have questions about what the proposals could mean for the local area and would encourage anyone interested in the project to take part in our forthcoming public consultation’. 

Ragley Estate said it understood some residents had concerns over the scheme, ‘for which Ragley is one of a number of landowners that are involved’.

It said that, ahead of the consultation, the ‘Arrow Valley Solar project team are best placed to respond to any queries or concerns’. 

Last November, the Earl of Yarmouth, William Seymour, was saddled with a £1.3million legal bill after losing a battle over the running of the estate.

The earl, then 31, had been involved in a spat with his parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Hertford, since 2018 when they objected to his wedding to former Goldman Sachs banker Kelsey Wells – now Lady Yarmouth.

The High Court was told that as the oldest son, the earl expected to be handed Ragley Hall, the 340-year-old family seat, when he turned 30.

But he was disinherited by his father after they fell out around the time of the earl’s marriage.

Emma is fronting the BBC dancing competition with comedian Josh Widdicombe and Strictly pro dancer Johannes Radebe

Strictly Come Dancing’s Emma Willis has opened up about being compared to Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman after taking over the BBC series.

The BBC dancing competition will return on Saturday (September 18) as fans prepare for a series without former hosts Tess and Claudia. The pair announced they were leaving the show late last year, and hosted the show for the last time during the 2025 series finale.

It was announced earlier in the year that the duo are being replaced by The Voice host Emma, comedian Josh Widdicombe and Strictly pro dancer Johannes Radebe. They will serve as the show’s first ever presenting trio.

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Emma is no stranger to working on major UK series, with her fronting The Voice, Big Brother The Circle and Love Is Blind over the years. The latter is the Netflix series she hosts with her husband Matt Willis.

Speaking to the Press Association, Emma has spoken about the pressure of taking over from Tess and Claudia and how she and her co-hosts feel about the comparisons.

“I’m ready for the comparisons. I am ready for the negative opinions that can come with these things, but on the flip side, there are always positives as well.

“But at the end of the day, I feel like it’s really simple, right? We work in this industry, and we’ve been given the opportunity to work on a phenomenal show that is really well loved by the public and also by ourselves.

“We aren’t reinventing the wheel, and we’re not rocket scientists. We are working on an entertainment show about dancing that is meant to hopefully bring joy to everybody watching it. So hopefully we can be a small part of that joy and have a really lovely time doing it,” she said.

Emma added: “There’s obviously a kind of fear that comes with it because of the enormity of it, and you have nerves about being good enough to kind of do the job and step into the role.”

Meanwhile, Josh noted that they are not aiming to ‘reinvent the show’. He stated that they are going to ‘be ourselves and our personalities will be there’.

Johannes, who is moving away from dancing on the series, revealed that Tess and Claudia had offered them words of advice. He recalled: “They reached out and wished us well for the season ahead and reminded us just to enjoy it. It felt like we got approval from older sisters.”

Tess initially presented the series with Sir Bruce Forsyth when it launched in 2004 During this time, Claudia fronted its weekday companion show, It Takes Two. Claudia eventually moved on to host the Sunday night results show alongside Tess , and joined the main show every Saturday from 2014 after the late Sir Bruce stepped down.

The celebrity contestants this season include former Love Island winner Dani Dyer-Bowen, actress Melanie Walters, former England footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips and Australian singer Delta Goodrem.

They will be joined by EastEnders actress Lacey Turner, celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton, Love Island winner Cach Mercer, presenter Will Best, Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, actress Jaime Winstone, actress Bethany Antonia, dog trainer and presenter Graeme ‘The Dogfather’ Hall, Emmerdale’s Lawrence Robb, Olympian Tabby Stoecker and sports content creator John Nellis.

On top of Johannes moving to presenting, there’s been further change for the pro dancer line-up with Karen Hauer, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk, Michelle Tsiakkas and Gorka Marquez all leaving the series.

Strictly recently revealed five new professional dancers are joining the show to replace those who have departed this year: Aleksandra Isaeva, Cristian Priori, Lethabo Monametsi, Maddie Ingoldsby and Mark Karmalita.

British track sensation Amy Hunt has joined the pile-on against Sydney Sweeney after the actress was accused of sexualising women’s sport. 

Hunt used her post-race interview at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship to criticise the American Euphoria star. 

Sweeney has split opinion after posing naked – while using various pieces of sports equipment to cover herself – in an advert for betting platform Novig.

The provocative advert has dominated headlines and drawn criticism from a range of athletes, with one branding it a ‘disgrace’.

And after finishing fourth in her 200m race, Hunt said: ‘It was incredible to be part of such an incredible race. Sydney Sweeney, this is what women’s sport looks like!’

The 24-year-old – who has previously called herself ‘sexy and aggressive’ – shot looks straight down the camera as if to address Sweeney directly. 

Sweeney covered herself with sports equipment in an ad for betting platform Novig 

Sprinter Hunt said that women’s sport looks like ‘hard work, sweat, blood, tears’

‘Hard work, sweat, blood, tears,’ Hunt continued. ‘This is a beautiful evening.’

Hunt, a Cambridge University graduate, joins a chorus of female athletes speaking out against Sweeney.

Australian Olympian water poloist Matilda Kearns wrote in a video montage on Instagram: ‘I absolutely f****** hate Sydnwey Sweeney’s new sports ad.’

She added in the caption: ”Like what are we doing… so much worse than I imagined too.’

‘Here’s some real women’s sports content,’ adding a medal emoji to footage of the Aussie water polo team.

‘Hey Sydney Sweeney, this is women in sports btw,’ said ex-Olympic runner Hannah Williams as she shared a clip of sprinters. 

‘The ad is such a disgrace for woman in sports btw constantly trying to be respected in a male dominated field.’

‘The sexualisation of women in sport (and in life) is an ongoing issue that most (if not, all) women face,’ said Olympic weightlifting coach Danielle Bagacay.

Australian water poloist Matilda Kearns said she ‘absolutely f****** hates’ Sweeney’s ad 

Sweeney defended herself by pointing out that male and female athletes have posed nude before 

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‘This issue disproportionately focuses on physical appearance and, instead, overshadows our achievements, hard work and ability to reach athletic goals.

‘My purpose and mission as a coach is to focus on improving my athletes’ ability, capacity and capability to reach their strength and performance goals.

‘Less about the number on the scales or how they look, and more about feel and empowerment.

‘I hope whatever Sydney Sweeney is trying to portray will be overshadowed by other women speaking/posting against the brand campaign.’

‘Congratulations Sydney Sweeney, you’ve just rattled every woman in sport,’ wrote fitness influencer Angela Everington.

’45 per cent of teenage girls say they don’t feel they have the ‘right body shape’ for sport.

‘A study of women found 70 per cent had seen girls drop out of sport because of sports kit or body-image concerns.

‘I’m sure your marketing would have performed just as well if you used your platform to share what the body can do rather than sexualise it.’

Other people have aired their support for Sweeney, with one writing on Kearns’ post: ‘Easy to hate someone you are also jealous of.’ 

Another said: ‘It still brought attention to women’s sports… stop being such haters to another woman. Full stop. The end.’

‘Why all the hate? What ever happened to women supporting women? She didn’t kill her kids or anything,’ someone else wrote.

The criticism comes after Novig founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky revealed that Sydney herself decided to appear nude in the campaign for an unexpected reason.

Sydney was reportedly drawn to the platform because it focuses strictly on sports predictions, while other platforms allow users to make predictions on a broader range of topics.

‘She said, “I’m uncomfortable with other platforms that have markets on what colour underwear I’m going to wear”,’ Fortinsky recalled in an interview with Front Office Sports.

‘There’s something clean about sports,’ she reportedly said.

Sydney holds an equity stake in Novig, making it unsurprising that she was willing to generate another talking point by appearing nude for the campaign.

‘Sydney is great at captivating audiences and being the center of attention,’ Fortinsky said.

‘In some sense, it forces us into the national discourse,’ he added.

Sydney has since hit back at critics of her new ad, sharing a series of Instagram Stories that highlight celebrities who have posed nude.

She posted photos of Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and Caroline Wozniacki showing off skin for magazines.

Sydney also pointed out men who have stripped down in the name of sports.

Myles Garrett, Rob Gronkowski, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jason Kelce featured in her round-up of naked men.

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Oasis are expected to announce details of their 2027 tour this afternoon including venues, presale and general sale information

The clocks have been set. This afternoon, at 4pm Oasis fans are hoping 2027 tour details will finally be announced.

Last week, the band confirmed they would be spilling more information on Monday (September 14) with the help of a huge drone display above Manchester’s Etihad Stadium. On Thursday night (September 10) the band’s black and white logo lit up the Manchester skies over the stadium, followed by the date of 14.9.26 at 4pm BST.

The display of drones was 120 metres long and emerged from the ground of Man City’s women’s team, the Joie Stadium. It rose above the ground, next to the Etihad Stadium, where onlookers grabbed video and pictures for ten minutes before it disappeared.

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The imminent tour announcement comes after months of speculation of a 2027 tour. Adding fuel to the fire, over the last two weeks, Oasis have been posting social media teasers on Instagram which has included clues to a different city or venue.

The teases, and likely tour dates have included Glasgow, Manchester, Amsterdam, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and Boston. Slane Castle and Knebworth have also been rumoured, as well as a potential Las Vegas residency.

The MEN understands from music industry sources that tickets are likely to go on sale by the end of this week. Last time, when the tour was announced in August 2024, presale started on the Friday, followed by a general sale on the Saturday.

It sparked an almighty rush for tickets, as Oasis fans from across the globe scrambled to secure their place at one of the biggest series of gigs in decades.

Roughly 14 million fans tried to buy tickets for the Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour. More than 10 million people from 158 countries queued online at peak times on ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster.

However, only about 1.4 million to 2.2 million tickets were available across the UK and Ireland tour dates, which meant many left empty handed. Meanwhile, those that were successful were met by rather steep prices.

Last time, face-value tickets for Oasis Live ’25 started at £73 to £74 for basic seated tickets and cost around £135 to £151 for general admission standing. However, as many fans remember, demand drove face-value and resale rates much higher to around £350.

Whilst tickets are not guaranteed to the 2027 tour, there are a number of steps fans can take today to give themselves the best possible chance for when tickets hopefully go on sale this week.

Below, you’ll find five tips for navigating ticket platforms including Ticketmaster, including what devices to queue on, rules around refreshing your page, and having payment details pre-saved.

Create an account and make sure it is verified

Sign up on Ticketmaster or other ticket selling platforms before tickets go on sale. Add (or update) your payment and delivery info for faster checkout. Add your phone number and verify your account with a one-time code.

Get everything ready

Charge your devices, sign in to your Ticketmaster account, clear your browser’s cache, and avoid using a VPN. Make sure you have sufficient funds in your registered bank account too, otherwise the payment may fail and cost you time as you go back in the virtual queue.

The waiting room

The waiting room (if there is one) will usually open 15 minutes before the sale. Once the queue opens, you’ll be told where you are in line.

While some people advise refreshing ten seconds before the ticket sale starts, once the sale has started, do not refresh when you’re in the actual queue. You could lose your place and be booted to the back of the queue.

Load Ticketmaster in one browser window only

Although you might think you have more chance with multiple tabs, it may actually hinder you. It will only allow one booking at a time so you may end up losing your tickets if you’re going between tabs. Instead try on different devices.

Website or app?

You can use both. Some people reckon the app is smoother, but you may as well increase your chances using your laptop and phone.

Over the past week the band have been releasing teaser videos about other venues they will play, with some easier to work out than others.

They all point to a European tour next Summer although a later teaser appeared to be for Boston and dates in Las Vegas are also rumoured, so the band may have a US leg after they finish in Europe. In 2025 Oasis toured North and South America after they finished in the UK.

The first teaser which appeared on September 3 was set in a fish and chip shop and using the numbers from the posters on the walls fans were able to work out the longitude and latitude co-ordinates on a map for Celtic Park in Glasgow. Another video on September 6 featured a guitarist playing next to a Joan Miro poster, with this being the most famous artist to come from Barcelona, fans are certain this will be the venue for dates in Spain.

Other likely cities which were teased include Rome, where it is thought they could play two dates in July, Paris, Munich and Amsterdam. The teaser for Amsterdam featured police running and was thought to be an in-joke from when all the band – except Noel – were deported from Amsterdam before they were due to play a gig after getting into a fight on the ferry over to the Netherlands in February 1994.

Noel appeared to confirm the tour when speaking on Talksport at the start of month. Asked about the possibility, he said: “Well, let’s put it this way: there’s no football tournament on next year, so we’ve got to do summer in the summer right?”

The Department for Education said it hoped the reforms would tackle childhood obesity, improve nutrition and support children’s concentration, learning and wellbeing.

Schools will be required to publish food policies and menus online with monitoring arrangements set to be developed alongside the Food Standards Agency, it said.

Pepe Di’Iasio, ASCL general secretary, said parents would feel “reassured” that schools were providing children with a healthy diet.

But on plans for enforcement, he added: “None of us would consider ourselves experts in health and nutrition. Don’t create another stick with which to beat head teachers when they are trying to do their very best to provide a healthy, balanced meal for those in our schools.”

He said schools needed “more investment” in catering facilities and in the “professional development” of school chefs to develop menus that “meet the ambitions” of the government.

Schools Minister Georgia Gould told BBC Breakfast she was confident schools could deliver healthy meals within existing budgets, without diverting funding from elsewhere, like teaching, and that schools would be given a year to implement the changes.

She said the government was “absolutely determined to support schools” to redesign their menus affordably.

As part of the changes, deep-fried chips will have to be oven-baked instead, and pasta dishes will need to be 50% wholewheat once a week. High-fibre bread will also become a requirement.

The disruption is affecting services to and from Scarborough, as the track between Filey and the coastal town is inspected.

Trains have been forced to run at reduced speeds, with delays, cancellations, and revised timetables expected until 2am on 16 September, according to train operator Northern.

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A spokesperson for the York-based company said: “Network Rail are on site and have advised that trains must run at a reduced speed.

“Repairs are being arranged but are not expected to be completed until Wednesday. September 16.”

To minimise disruption, services departing Scarborough and Seamer towards Hull and Sheffield will be retimed to depart earlier than usual.

Passengers are advised to check journey times before travelling.

Affected stations include York, Goole, Driffield, Howden, Selby, Bridlington and Beverley.

The Northern spokesperson said: “You can travel on the next Northern service to your destination, where available.

“Northern train ticket restrictions have been lifted in the affected areas, including Advance and Peak restrictions, during this disruption. Restrictions will be reinstated once the disruption ends.”

It’s often said that hands are the true indicator of age, but I’ve never believed that. I have plenty of body parts that are quite evidently 53 years old, my knees and elbows included.

But as I edge further into my fifties, I am noticing a distressing decline in the quality of the skin on my hands.

Age spots have appeared, the skin is sagging and there is a crepey texture that no amount of hand cream can combat.

They have bothered me for months – I especially notice how the skin looks like parchment when I’m driving.

Then I was invited to experience the brand new Hands Back Time treatment at the Clinic Dr Paris near London’s Harley Street. I accepted with enthusiasm tinged with scepticism.

The treatment has no needles, no lasers and no downtime. In my 30-odd years of reviewing beauty treatments, I’ve found that the more uncomfortable something feels, the more effective it is likely to be. So I wasn’t optimistic.

Aesthetic doctor Dr Paris Acharya confirms my suspicions about midlife hands.

‘From the late forties and fifties onwards, skin quality changes,’ she explains. ‘You’ll see some diminishing of skin quality as collagen scaffolding becomes less stable, elasticity declines and years of sun exposure take their toll.’ She agrees that crepey skin is by far the most common complaint in midlife women.

LED light therapy stimulates cellular activity and supports the skin’s repair processes during the treatment 

‘We invest so much time and effort into our faces and necks, but we frequently neglect the rest of the body, and especially hands,’ she adds.

Menopause plays a role, with declining oestrogen contributing to lower collagen levels. HRT, which I am not currently on, has been proven to help maintain skin quality, but Dr Paris says that this can’t entirely hold back the years.

Despite the raging ongoing debate around collagen supplements, she says many of her patients find them a game-changer, and I absolutely concur. (I take Ingenious Collagen+).

But it’s not quite enough to turn back the clock, and so Dr Paris created the hand treatment in response to the concerns of her well-heeled but wrinkly-handed patients. I feel mildly hand-shamed before we even begin. Do I moisturise my hands, I was asked? Sometimes.

Do I put SPF on my hands? Yes, in the morning. But only since last year.

Do I put Vitamin C on my hands? What? This last question had never occurred to me.

Having established that it’s frankly a miracle I have any skin left on my hands after years of near-criminal neglect, the treatment begins with gentle exfoliation using a light scrub to remove dead cells and make the skin more receptive to active ingredients. It felt very slightly abrasive on my skin.

I am then popped into a pair of CACI Rejuvenating Hand Mask gloves. CACI stands for Computer Aided Cosmetology Instrument. The gloves look like loose, cream surgical gloves and contain a blend of hyaluronic acid and Vitamin C.

These are evidently going to nourish my skin, but they have that slightly icky, cold feeling that you get when you put on a pair of rubber gloves and discover there’s water inside.

The tips of these gloves are removed, and then a second pair of gloves threaded with conductive silver fibres running throughout, is pulled on top.

My gloved hands are dipped in a liquid electrolyte solution that will help conduct the current from CACI’s portable hand rejuvenation device. This makes me a little nervous. Having damp hands that are deliberately exposed to electricity seems counterintuitive. Disappointingly (I like drama) when the CACI device is turned on, I feel only a slight fizzing sensation.

The aim of this low level microcurrent is to boost circulation and therefore allow better absorption of the moisturising and rejuvenating ingredients, while stimulating the body’s own repair processes. This takes about 20 minutes.

The gloves and mask are then removed and a very fine mist consisting of PDRN – a clinically proven regenerative peptide serum – is sprayed on to the skin. It is then pushed into the hands via a hand-piece attached to CACI’s Rejuva Med system which has four metal probes on the end and uses a different microcurrent setting. It is soothing and rather satisfying as the hand-piece is moved around my hands.

At the same time, LED light therapy, also emitted by the hand-piece, stimulates cellular activity and supports the skin’s repair processes. It’s a sort of needle-free mesotherapy, explains Dr Paris. The skin barrier is temporarily disrupted, allowing the PDRN to penetrate more effectively, without injections or downtime. The light feels soft and warm.

The treatment began with gentle exfoliation, having established that it’s frankly a miracle I have any skin left on my hands after years of near-criminal neglect, writes Alice Smellie

Alice Smellie’s hands before (left) and after (right) the 30-minute treatment using serum and LED light therapy

The results? Phenomenal. Immediately afterwards, my hands look ten years younger. They are soft and luminous looking, the fine lines look reduced and the crepiness is smoothed. I am overjoyed, and spend my journey home admiring my hands rather than recoiling from them.

However, I see this very much as a starting point. One treatment isn’t going to reverse decades of neglect and have lasting results. Dr Paris recommends a course of six and, ideally, regular maintenance treatments once a month.

But the treatment has galvanised me, and changed how I think about my hands. I had assumed they would continue their slow descent into crone-dom, but now realise there’s a different path. A huge relief.

It’s hard to say how long the results last, as I spend ensuing weeks faithfully using Vitamin C serum followed by SPF50 in the morning and then the same moisturiser in the evening as I reserve for my face (Vital Assist).

Even after this long, hot summer, they have continued to look more rejuvenated, fresher, younger, and I am committed to giving them far more care in the future. Nobody comments, but I know they’re improved. I’m absolutely going to maintain this simple but incredibly effective routine. I just wish I’d taken myself in hand years ago.

• Thirty minutes, £150 for standalone treatment or £75 as an add-on to facials (and six for the price of five), drparis.co.uk