Emergency services were called to Crowther Industrial Estate on Friday afternoon, where flames and large plumes of smoke could be seen from miles away.

Five fire engines and an aerial ladder platform were sent to the scene as crews worked to bring the blaze under control.

Firefighters extinguishing the flames (Image: Ryan Atkinson/CAMERA CLUB)

Pictures taken by Northern Echo Camera Club member Ryan Atkinson show smoke filling the sky above the industrial estate as firefighters tackled the incident.

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said it received a high volume of calls because the smoke could be seen from the A1, A194(M) and Sunderland Highway.

Residents and motorists were urged to avoid the area, while people living nearby were advised to keep their doors and windows closed.

Emergency services at the scene of yesterday’s fire (Image: Ryan Atkinson/CAMERA CLUB)

The smoke was reportedly visible from as far away as Sacriston.

One resident said she felt her home “shake” when the fire broke out.

Writing on social media, she said: “Actually felt the house shake when it happened.”

Another person living nearby said they had been forced to close their windows, while one witness said the smoke could be seen from Durham.

A firefighter and police officer (Image: Ryan Atkinson/CAMERA CLUB)

Northumbria Police officers also attended the scene to support the fire service, with a cordon put in place around the affected area.

A spokesperson for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said at the time: “We have five appliances and an aerial ladder platform in attendance at a factory fire in Crowther Industrial Estate, Washington, Tyne and Wear.”

Fire engines at the scene in Washington (Image: Ryan Atkinson/CAMERA CLUB)

The North East Ambulance Service confirmed it had not treated any patients as a result of the fire, and it is understood there were no serious injuries.

The Northern Echo has contacted Northumbria Police, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and the North East Ambulance Service for an update.

A Gwynedd family struggling to remain in their home village claim residents are at risk of being priced out by the planning system. Father-of-two Marc Evans worries Llanberis will become “the next Abersoch” unless local residents receive greater backing from the local authority.

Last week his application to construct a modest family dwelling in his garden was turned down for a second time. Planning officers determined the two-storey property would “not respect the traditional character” of neighbouring homes, predominantly stone-built quarrymen’s terraced houses, reports North Wales Live.

Arguing that Llanberis features a variety of housing styles, Marc, 43, emphasised his argument by photographing the 21 new properties erected in the village since 2011. “Many are large buildings with masses of glazing and features such as wood cladding and overhanging roofs,” he said.

“Several were built by the council itself.

“In contrast, our proposed family home is much more traditional with a pitched slate roof and local stone cladding. It’s not a multi-storey in glass, and no one locally has objected to the scheme.

“The rules seem to be different for local people and those coming here from outside the area with deeper pockets. It’s a scandal and it’s very frustrating.”

In recent years, Llanberis has been fighting to preserve its cultural identity. Nestled at the base of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) beside Llyn Padarn, one of Wales’ largest natural lakes, the village’s rising profile as a tourist hotspot has proved to be a double-edged sword.

Challenges surrounding over-tourism have emerged, while properties have been bought up as second homes and, notably, holiday lets, reducing availability and driving up prices. At one stage, a sticker campaign was launched throughout the village in protest at the surge in Airbnb properties established since the Covid pandemic.

According to AirROI, a data analytics platform, there are currently 99 active Airbnb listings in the village. With average nightly rates of £190, annual earnings sit at approximately £25,700.

AirROI added: “Supply has held steady year over year while revenue and nightly rates climbed – a mature market where existing hosts capture more value per listing.”

Marc, a former teacher now working as a project manager at Anglesey Solar, resides in a row of terraced houses originally built to house families employed at the nearby former Dinorwic slate quarries. He shares his home with his wife Kellie, also a former teacher originally from Deiniolen, and their two children, Leo, aged 11, and Isla, aged eight.

They’re hoping to construct a more appropriate dwelling in their garden alongside their existing property.

“Our house is fine but it’s too small for a growing family and it lacks modern amenities,” Marc explained.

“We’re looking to complement what’s here, not knock it down.

“Children have a simpler perspective on life and Isla can’t understand why this is happening – why we can’t have a new house when there are so many other properties in the village with more modern designs.”

He argued that planning regulations needed to be recalibrated to support local families wishing to remain in their communities. Without this, he warned, cultural decline would persist across Gwynedd’s towns and villages, draining their vitality.

“Houses here are affordable for people outside the area who earn three to four more times than local residents do,” Marc stated.

“A lot of the new homes built here are owned by people with addresses in London.

“I realise we can’t keep Llanberis secret forever but the planning system must do more to slow the trend. If it doesn’t, Llanberis will be like Abersoch in 10 years time – less Welsh language spoken and the primary school closed.

“We need tourism here but there has to be a balance. Currently, not enough is being done – it seems like local people are being left to fail. Councillors need to show more conviction on planning matters.”

According to the latest Cyngor Gwynedd data from October 2025, Llanberis still has some way to match Abersoch’s lack of local housing availability, where 57.8% of homes are holiday lets, second homes or empty. In Llanberis, the corresponding figure stands at 9.8% – yet Marc contends there is a noticeable upward trend.

The Evans family are hoping to construct a three-bedroom home with an inverted layout – positioning its kitchen and living space on the first floor. Owing to the shape of the garden, a new-build can only be accommodated with its gable end facing the road, meaning the roofline would slope in a contrasting direction to the neighbouring terraced properties.

Cyngor Gwynedd’s planning officers argue this is significant because Llanberis sits at the heart of the Dinorwig Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest, a designation recognising its distinguished quarrying heritage.

Marc’s architect has redesigned the proposed dwelling so that it features no windows on one side, ensuring it won’t overlook the family’s existing home. A proposed raised platform area, accessed from the front floor, has been reduced in size – yet this continues to concern planning officers, who fear it will overlook an adjacent property at the rear and create a “noise nuisance”.

This neighbouring property is Capel Preswylfa, a former Presbyterian chapel constructed in 1882 that closed a century later. It now operates as a residential flat, topped by an Airbnb with its own raised decking.

“The lower storey is subterranean with no windows at the back,” said Marc.

“The first-floor apartment for 12 people is an Airbnb owned by someone in the Peak District – but the planners seem to want to protect these Airbnb owners over the needs of local people.”

A planning report deemed the proposed design to be at odds with the neighbouring terraced properties and concluded it would not “blend in”.

Given the plot’s hillside location, officers warned it would also “stand out in the landscape”, with its positioning likely to have a detrimental impact on the adjoining property where the family currently reside.

Despite this, the application received backing from Cllr Gwilym Evans, who represents Llanberis on Cyngor Gwynedd.

The planning report noted: “The local member emphasises that granting a dwelling house for a local family will assist to reduce the real shortage of housing for local residents that already exists in the village – and has an impact on the number of pupils in the local school.”

In the meantime, Marc’s architect has produced a second redesign, with hopes that a fresh application will be lodged shortly. Cyngor Gwynedd was approached for a response.

No one minds contributing to a sick child’s life-saving medical treatment, but how about a crowdfunder for a celebrity couple’s wedding? Marriage licence, venue, reception, meal, flowers, photography. Any offers?

No, I didn’t think so. And when the couple seeking donations from their guests are former England and premiership rugby player Danny Cipriani and his bride-to-be, Hollywood actress AnnaLynne McCord, it’s even less likely that the proposition will pull on anyone’s heartstrings.

But Danny and AnnaLynne – apparently down on their luck financially despite their lavish lifestyles – are hoping to raise around £10,000 by asking guests to pay towards their big day.

Understandably, Danny’s ex-wife Victoria is among their most vociferous critics.

‘It’s just plain tacky of them to hand round the begging bowl. If it was my neighbours, maybe. But for them? The very idea!

‘They’re even asking for money for the marriage licence. Donations for the honeymoon are just about acceptable, but they’ve both got the capacity to earn. Why don’t they go on OnlyFans? They’re selling every other aspect of their lives. Sell your bodies!’ She’s joking, but I take her point.

‘Scale down the reception. What’s wrong with a barbecue in the back garden? A beautiful, intimate, private moment. No need to be extravagant. They’re silly to want a big do when they’re claiming to have no money.’

Donations, should anyone wish to make them, may be lodged through the happy couple’s website, via the crowdfunding site Honeyfund. There, invitees are encouraged to stump up anything from £75 to £450 to help pay for specific aspects of the wedding. Should they prefer, they may just give money.

Understandably, Danny’s ex-wife Victoria is among their most vociferous critics

Donations, should anyone wish to make them, may be lodged through the happy couple’s website, via the crowdfunding site Honeyfund

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‘I wouldn’t have had the gall to say: “Here’s the wedding invite. Now give us £150 for drinks”,’ continues Victoria, 45, warming to her theme. ‘They’re so emotionally and spiritually involved with each other they’re clearly not affected by humiliation.’ A hint of sarcasm is creeping in now.

‘I’m all for love, light, peace and finding yourself,’ she says, referring to Danny and AnnaLynne’s fondness for therapeutic retreats. ‘But Danny’s found himself in a bloody hole if he’s begging for money for their wedding.’

Victoria, a neuroscience practitioner – sparky, petite, raven-haired – was with Cipriani for four tumultuous years, having met in 2020 via social media.

They were married in 2021 and separated three years later, when Danny walked out without explanation. Victoria was awarded a relatively modest lump sum of £275,000 in their divorce.

When I last met her 18 months ago – then in the throes of their complicated and increasingly rancorous divorce – she told me how Danny had an inveterate drug problem. His excesses – and they were eyewateringly epic – were described in full by Danny himself in his raw 2023 autobiography, Who Am I?

It revealed a shocking juxtaposition: how one of the fittest and most gifted sportsmen in the country was in fact in thrall to hallucinogens and cannabis while playing rugby for his country.

He also confessed, at the height of his celebrity status, to sleeping with three women a day.

But contradictions are key to Cipriani. Once heralded as the successor to the great England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, Cipriani was a maverick on the pitch. Precociously brilliant – aside from representing England he played for Gloucester, Wasps, Sale Sharks and Bath – he was fatally flawed, taking to the pitch just 16 times for his country.

Victoria, a neuroscience practitioner – sparky, petite, raven-haired – was with Cipriani for four tumultuous years, after they met in 2020 on social media (pictured in 2023)

Had Danny been judicious with his finances, he might today be a wealthy man. But Victoria believes he is now penniless.

Reflecting on their marriage today, she says: ‘He was the most beautiful, invested, gorgeous human being – but he could also be completely psychotic, delusional and in a high state of paranoia when he’d eaten a lot of magic mushrooms.’

She described how parcels, masquerading as chocolate bars but in fact containing the hallucinogen psilocybin – commonly known as magic mushrooms – would be couriered to the elegant townhouse in Cheltenham where they lived when Danny was contracted to play rugby for Gloucester.

He also regularly took delivery of marijuana in brown parcels, ‘the size of pillowcases’.

Knowing him as she does, Victoria recognises he spends profligately – he routinely frittered away £600 a time on drugs – but is also recklessly generous.

‘He proposed to me three times and bought me three engagement rings,’ she says.

He is also, she says, hopelessly inept at keeping track of money.

‘He had no idea what his monthly household outgoings were when we met. He’s hopeless with paperwork, whereas I account for every penny.’

That said, she emphatically does not believe he is a cheapskate. ‘Actually, he has a lot of pride and I don’t think the crowdfunding idea will have come from him.

‘When my sister died of a heart attack at 44 her family, who didn’t have much money, set up a crowdfunding page to pay for her funeral. He said, “Absolutely not. We’ll cover the costs.” And he did. The Danny I knew would sell his last pair of socks for a fiver rather than ask anyone for money. I think the crowdfunding must have been AnnaLynne’s idea.’

Victoria, mum to two grown-up children and a grandmother of four, has an alternative money-raising tip for her successor.

AnnaLynne, 39, who made her name in the US TV dramas Nip/Tuck and 90210 in the Noughties, and who met Danny on the exclusive dating website Raya, has been sporting a gigantic sparkler of an engagement ring.

According to one report, it’s a 15-carat, emerald-cut diamond with seven round accent diamonds set on each side of a band of yellow gold.

‘Apparently Danny spent £250,000 on that engagement ring. I don’t actually believe it cost that. Danny’s skint. Maybe it’s costume. But if it’s real, why doesn’t she sell it to pay for their wedding?’ she asks.

Victoria puts forward another idea to supplement their fund. When Danny, 38, left her, without explanation or notice, in January 2024 before moving to the US to start a new life, he took ‘just a couple of pairs of tracksuit bottoms’.

He abandoned, not only his two boisterous giant labradoodles – who still live with Victoria in her modest rented house in Ebbsfleet, Kent – but also a lifetime’s worth of rugby memorabilia, designer clothes, heirlooms and jewellery, which still remain in her care.

‘He even left the cuddly toys he had as a baby and his milk teeth, plus all his rugby kit. It’s his legacy, his love, his passion. How could he not want it?’ she asks, incredulous.

But Danny has never returned to claim this cache, or expressed any intention of doing so when it was discussed during their divorce. ‘He has this ability to walk out of the door and not look back,’ she says.

And as Victoria contends that she paid £900 a month to keep his possessions in storage for two-and-a-half years, she’s felt justified in selling some of them herself on Vinted. ‘I’ve sold the boots he wore for his debut England match and some shirts, but I’ve still got 80 per cent of his rugby kit.’

She adds: ‘There are club shirts, trophies, medals and all his designer stuff – Loake shoes, Dior trainers, Italian suits; a Rolex watch. Everything that he has owned between the ages of zero and 37.

‘I have got two bedrooms full of it. So why doesn’t he come and grab it, and sell it to pay for his wedding?’ she asks.

She looks back on the day she married Danny in the middle of the Covid lockdown on April 27, 2021. Their wedding was a very modest affair, at Stroud Register Office: ‘We weren’t allowed to invite anyone. Even the witnesses had to look through the windows.’

Danny wore casual trousers, his white shirt untucked, and trainers. Victoria chose a knitted dress from High Street store Ted Baker.

‘Danny had planned the most magical wedding in Tobago, where his dad, Jay, is from. He

had said: “I want barefoot on the sand and dolphins.” He had extravagant plans.’

The pandemic, of course, put paid to those plans and in the end they hired a Michelin-starred chef who cooked an intimate dinner for them and ten guests at home.

‘I think AnnaLynne is going to get the wedding I was meant to have,’ says Victoria, who has already noted striking similarities in the way Danny has romanced both her and his current fiancée.

‘On her birthday he chose our wedding song – Spirit Bird by Xavier Rudd – for his social media post. He gave our wedding song away!’ She is indignant.

‘And he proposed to her as he did to me, covering the room with rose petals.’ She doesn’t quite know whether to be outraged or amused by his lack of originality.

When she reflects on their lives together she describes a mix of utter bliss and almost Gothic horror. On one occasion, she told me last time we met, after Danny had overdosed on magic mushrooms, he was admitted to the Priory where, such was his paranoia and psychosis, he thought Victoria was the Devil.

At the time she was 23 weeks pregnant, and a few days later she lost their baby. ‘I went into labour. I was on my own and miscarried our little boy. It was the middle of Covid and I had no medical help.’

Advised not to tell Danny – ‘He would not even have understood’ – she hid the loss until his condition had improved.

‘And when I told him he was on antipsychotic medication. He was heartbroken. He just broke down in floods of tears and in that moment said he would stop taking drugs. He said, “I’ll change.” And for a while he did and our lives were beautiful.’

I wonder if she imagines he has kicked his drug habit now.

‘The Danny I know can’t not take drugs,’ she says. ‘You wouldn’t know when he’s smoking weed. He’s fully functioning. When he was playing rugby he still trained hard. I hope he’s managed to stop – but I can’t imagine he has.’

She says that Danny – who first met AnnaLynne ten years ago, reviving their on-off relationship after he split from Victoria – spent money with wild abandon in the 18 months between their separation and divorce in October 2025, burning through a giddying £450,000.

Victoria believes that within one month in 2024 alone, he spent £30,205 on trips to Egypt where AnnaLynne hosts ‘spiritual and consciousness retreats’.

He also notched up a £10,989 bill for a ‘spiritual vacation’ and more than £10,000 on yoga classes and ‘therapeutic retreats’.

Both he and AnnaLynne say they have tried the powerful psychedelic hallucinogen ayahuasca on journeys to the Amazon to ‘process personal trauma’.

Victoria, who is briskly no-nonsense, dismisses all this as ‘crackers’, showing me a video in which AnnaLynne speaks the fantasy language ‘dragon’ which to the uninitiated sounds like mumbo jumbo. Victoria refers to it all as ‘complete woo-woo’.

Meanwhile, on a more prosaic plane, she describes how their bitter divorce reached its lowest point when Victoria was accused of stealing £70,000 from her then mother-in-law, Anne, whom she was caring for after a stroke.

Victoria had to prove her innocence to the divorce court in a nerve-shredding, nine-month investigation, which ended in her complete exoneration.

‘I cared for Anne as if she was my own mother and handled her finances. Then I had to defend myself against ludicrous accusations of gross financial misconduct and employ forensic accountants to do so.

‘It was a huge shock to be accused – and it wasn’t cheap to clear my name either,’ she says.

Victoria still talks to Danny’s affable dad, Jay, who has confessed to her that he won’t be attending his son’s wedding in Los Angeles on August 22.

‘He says he can’t get a visa in time.’ Victoria wonders out loud if this is a convenient excuse for not going.

She is a resourceful woman who, although resolutely single, is not averse to offers from men who are ‘sane and not on drugs’.

She’s also planning a fresh start, somewhere new. Where is she off to? It is quite a surprise when she says Los Angeles.

‘I might get invited to the wedding,’ she laughs, adding mischievously, ‘but I certainly won’t be paying to go.’

The King of the North has departed for Westminster and a fresh face now claims the throne.

In the wake of Andy Burnham’s swift elevation to Number 10, Greenisland-born Bev Craig has emerged victorious in the contest to replace him as Greater Manchester mayor following what represents the largest by-election in British political history.

The ex-Manchester council leader defeated Reform UK’s Sian Astley to become only the second person and the first female to occupy the region’s top political position. While she may not have replicated Burnham’s overwhelming dominance, the final winning margin proved comfortable nonetheless.

Operating under the supplementary vote system employed for mayoral elections, Ms Craig fell marginally short of securing the 50 per cent threshold of first preference votes needed for an outright victory, reports the Manchester Evening News.

However, once second preference votes were factored in, Ms Craig cruised to triumph with over two thirds of the total vote.

Delivering her victory address on the Co-op Live platform that has previously hosted luminaries including Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish and Bruce Springsteen, Ms Craig pledged to ‘fight for a better life for all of us’.

“My promise to you is that I will make this city region better and I will work for everyone,” she continued. “I will be a mayor for everyone.

“We have to heal, we have to move away from divisive politics that pit neighbour against neighbour.

“We will work together, we will deliver it together and we will build a Greater Manchester that works for all of us, where everyone feels welcome and everyone has the chance to succeed.”

Speaking afterwards to the Manchester Evening News, she said: “Look, I’m ecstatic, but it’s also incredibly humbling to have people place their trust in you because they believe in this city region, they believe that Greater Manchester can be even better, so I’m excited to get stuck in.”

So what does this mean for Reform?

While the party enjoyed a remarkably strong showing in May’s local elections, securing over 100 council seats across Greater Manchester – sweeping all but one of the 25 seats in Wigan and claiming 18 of 19 in Tameside – this marks their third consecutive by-election loss in the conurbation.

Suggesting that backing for Nigel Farage’s movement in the area might be levelling off, Ms Astley secured 20% on first preference votes – a lower proportion than her colleagues Rob Kenyon and Matt Goodwin achieved in Makerfield and Gorton and Denton respectively.

The Green Party’s Geraldine Coggins finished in third place with 12% of the ballot, while Restore Britain’s Marlon West garnered 8.5%, the Tories’ Phil Eckersley took 7.6%, the Liberal Democrats’ Richard Kilpatrick claimed 2.7% and independent candidate Marcus Farmer received 0.5%. Sian Astley described the second-place finish as worthy of ‘congratulations’ rather than ‘commiserations’, saying: “We’ve just come second with a stonking result for Reform, far better than we did in 2024, I think we did really, really well. I am happy. Of course everybody wants to win. I haven’t been in politics for long. I think that there’s a bit of a bounce going on at the minute.

“I think people are hopeful about what the Labour Party are going to deliver, with Mr Burnham, and I think Bev’s kind of attached to that. So I think second is a really good result for us, and I think they probably should have done a lot better, or expected to do a lot better on the first round.”

The Greens’ Geraldine Coggins maintained that voters were ‘backing’ her party in ‘far bigger numbers than ever before’.

“We’re in very volatile times and what we’ve seen with Labour’s vote, you know, really going down, you know, it’s quite a bad result for them that we’re even going to a second round,” she stated. “We’ve never been anywhere near this, and this is in the honeymoon period of a new prime minister, you know, this is when they should be at their absolute peak.

“And so yeah… I’d be very interested to see what happens to their support as time goes by.”

Hannah Spencer, Green MP for Gorton and Denton, noted the party had grown its vote share in 2026 compared to her campaign for the position in 2024. She posted on X: “We’ve come such a long way, and that hasn’t happened by accident. It has happened by all of us stepping up and being part of this campaign, and doing whatever it is that we could do to help.”

The by-election came about following Mr Burnham’s choice to head back to Westminster. He won June’s Makerfield parliamentary by-election in a landslide.

And having succeeded Sir Keir Starmer as Labour Party leader last month, he became the UK’s seventh Prime Minister in a decade.

However, his move faced criticism in certain circles due to the expense – thought to be around £5m – of staging the Mayoral by-election merely two years after his overwhelming re-election for a third term. Over 2.1m people were entitled to vote in yesterday’s poll.

Only one in four turned out for a contest which, having been eclipsed by Mr Burnham’s ascent to Downing Street and the Clacton by-election sparked by Nigel Farage’s resignation, had been labelled the ‘election hardly anyone is talking about’.

Turnout stood at 25.14pc, with 538,659 votes recorded from an electorate of 2,142,779. That marks the lowest figure on record for the mayoral position in the region.

In the 2024 election, turnout reached 32.05pc. It was 28.9pc in 2017 and 34.7pc in 2021.

The evening was Ms Craig’s triumph, and her success marks an extraordinary journey for the 41 year old Northern Ireland native. A decade and a half ago, she had never been elected to any position, yet now she occupies one of the most powerful roles in politics, overseeing a £3bn budget with authority spanning housing, health, policing and transport.

During her manifesto presentation a fortnight earlier, set to music from Oasis, the Charlatans and Happy Mondays, she pledged to build more affordable homes, freeze Metrolink fares and provide free bus travel for all youngsters aged 11 to 18.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News throughout the election period, Ms Craig recounted arriving in the city as an ‘unconfident’ 18 year old to attend Manchester University with ‘no money, no friends, no connections’.

“I moved here and found a place that’s friendly, that gave me opportunities,” she said. “This has always been about giving back and standing up for people who didn’t have a voice.”

She now has the opportunity to fulfil precisely that promise.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Coronation Street actress Vicky Myers has confirmed that she is planning to get married just months after she got hitched in stunning scenes on the iconic soap

Coronation Street actress Vicky Myers has announced her secret engagement, just three months after her character got married on screen. Vicky, 50, plays DS Lisa Connor-Swain on the hit ITV soap, and fans saw her tie the knot with Carla Connor (Alison King) back in April in scenes for the soap’s first ever female same-sex wedding.

With Vicky’s on-screen persona happily settled in her relationship, it seems her private life is also thriving as she has her own romantic story to tell. She confirmed that she is making plans to get married on social media sending a tweet with the news in after she was accused by a troll of keeping her boyfriend a secret.

Posting on X Vicky shared the news as she wrote: “He’s actually my fiancé.” The original message sent to her by the social media user has since been deleted after she clarified her romantic situation to them.

After reading her happy news, fans of the soap star rushed to reply to her and share their congratulations. One delighted fan wrote: “That’s really lovely. I wish you all the happiness in the world.”

A second said: “This is adorable, congratulations, ignore the hate hope we get to see you in your dress,” adding heart eye emojis. A third added: “Never feel you have to explain yourself to anyone but this is the best news so excited for you.”

Fans will be hoping to see Vicky’s big day go more smoothly than Lisa and Carla’s did as they were plagued by issues before finally exchanging vows. The couple almost couldn’t get married at all when their venue cancelled on them at the last minute.

They eventually got hitched in the factory Underworld. Vicky previously spoke about her on-screen wedding and how they decided to tie the knot in the unusual venue to save the day. She told Digital Spy: “It’s something that Ryan says, that Carla had said to him.

“It’s basically about how Carla just wants to marry Lisa. Any hour, any venue will do! And that sets something off in Lisa. She realises, well, we don’t need all of this big fuss, which Carla didn’t particularly want anyway.

“It was more about the intimacy between the two of them.”

Vicky has also appeared in several other TV shows over the years including Ackley Bridge, Casualty and Unforgotten.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on

TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

Cricket, by some metrics the world’s second most popular sport, has a penchant for producing rather peculiar scandals. UK-Australian relations were put under significant strain over the way that Harold Larwood, a coal miner from Nottinghamshire who could hurl cricket balls at batters very quickly, bowled at Don Bradman and the rest of his team in the 1932-33 “Bodyline” series. The tactic even resulted in a severe fractured skull for wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield. Nearly a century has passed, but cricketing aficionados still argue over it today.

Then there were the three Pakistani cricketers who were convicted for arranging to bowl no-balls in a 2010 match between England and Pakistan. The overall effect on the outcome of the match itself was minimal, but the scandal received a significant amount of global press coverage.

Plus, and in no particular order, we have had “sandpapergate”, a ball-tampering scandal ending with Australia’s then-captain, Steve Smith, tearfully apologising on television; the 1979 Dennis Lillee-inspired furore of whether it was right to use an aluminium cricket bat rather than a traditional wooden one; and the then-England captain Mike Atherton’s 1994 “dirt in the pocket” scandal concerning alleged attempts to make a cricket ball swing. That’s not even touching on the many other betting scandals that cricket has suffered.

But the recent “Clicky Ponting” affair, set in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League, seems to be something else entirely. In July 2026, video footage emerged of Brian Devine, standing at first slip, apparently clicking his fingers to mimic the sound a cricket ball makes when hitting the edge of the bat.

Devine, it would appear, has allegedly been pulling off this trick (and duping umpires along the way) for quite some time. And Saltburn CC have been merrily getting batsmen out as a result. Devine has now been suspended by the club for the “foreseeable future”. Other punishments may follow.

No one has openly argued that the Saltburn players – you’d wonder whether at least some of Devine’s teammates must have been aware of this particular act – weren’t crossing a line. But it’s what this does (or doesn’t) say about cricket more broadly that’s the interesting part.

The spirit of cricket (in theory)

Cricket makes a real play of espousing something called the “spirit of cricket”. In the 1990s, two former international players, Ted Dexter and Colin Cowdrey, pushed for cricket to recognise that the game is always played within the correct “spirit”.

By 2000, a preamble to the laws (cricket is far too serious for there just to be rules) of the game argued that cricket should be played “not only within its Laws, but also within the Spirit of the Game”.

Cricket, in other words, sees itself as having a unique appeal. And that appeal rests firmly on the basis that the sport is somehow different to (read, better than) other sports. But the reality of how the game is actually played often doesn’t seem to mirror this.

Devine’s alleged behaviour is clearly not within the “spirit of the game”. But similar forms of cheating – punching the ball over a goalkeeper in a World Cup quarter-final, say, or pretending that you’ve been bloodied in a rugby union game to facilitate the use of a substitution you wouldn’t otherwise have been allowed to make – exist across all sports. I analyse these types of things in much more detail in my own work on the (lack of) integrity in modern football.

Yet those other sports don’t begin from the self-righteous starting position that their game is somehow different. The fact that cricketing umpires have no way of disciplining individuals on the field of play speaks to this. Umpires have neither yellow nor red cards (or any variant thereof) at their disposal. In a game where playing within the “spirit” is taken as a given, they just aren’t deemed necessary.

The spirit of cricket (in practice)

The one thing that debates around the spirit of cricket consistently reveal is a lack of consensus around what the “spirit” actually is. The principles are no doubt honourable, but legitimate practice on the field is shaped by the 42 laws of the game, which are interpreted by the umpires. They exercise judgement based on how they think the laws should apply in a given situation.

The only logical way of invoking something as nebulous as the spirit of cricket is to work out whether an act is taking place within the laws. If you don’t like the act in question, even though it’s deemed legal, you need to find a way of convincing those who oversee such things to change the laws. That doesn’t mean that there is no such thing as a spirit of cricket. But it cannot (and does not) exist independently of the laws of the game.

The thing that arguably irks most is that many within the cricketing community assume that cricket is unique in that regard. Sport is not played in a moral vacuum. Respect for your opponents and respect for the game is clearly evident across all sports. Take the badminton or tennis player who raises a hand in apology when a net cord goes their way. Or a rugby player who knocks their opponent flying, then offers a hand in getting them back on their feet. The playing of any sport requires – or should require – the combatants to treat each other with a bit of respect. That’s the basis of a better society all round.

Brian Devine’s alleged behaviour in Clickgate will be frowned upon by more or less everyone who follows sport. And rightly so. It also one more example of cricket players at all levels indulging in sharp practice and inappropriate behaviour. Yet cricket still seems to think it’s unique in being played differently. It isn’t. And it’s time cricket woke up and realised that.

A huge fire has broken out on an industrial estate. Crews were deployed at 2.42am to the scene at Star Trading Estate, Caerleon, Newport.

The site has been evacuated and all people have been accounted for.

Members of the public are urged to avoid the area and locals are advised to keep windows and doors closed.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is working alongside Gwent Police to ensure public safety.

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A man has been arrested after a ‘suspected explosion’ that saw residents forced to evacuate a block of flats.

Police were called to Princes Street in Ipswich shortly before 9pm last night after people called in to report several windows being blown out.

Residents in the building were told to leave their homes, and the road was closed for safety reasons.

An 18-year-old man was arrested soon after on suspicion of ‘arson/criminal damage with intent to endanger life’, Suffolk Police said.

He was taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre for questioning.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue and the East of England Ambulance Service were also called to the scene.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

A police spokesperson said: ‘A man has been arrested following an incident in Ipswich.

‘Police were called to Princes Street just before 8.45pm on Friday, July 31, following reports of a suspected explosion at a block of flats, which caused damage to several windows.

‘At approximately 9.05pm, an 18-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson/criminal damage with intent to endanger life.

‘Enquiries continue to establish the circumstances of the incident, however no injuries have been reported.

‘Motorists are advised that a diversion is currently in place, as Princes Street is expected to remain closed overnight.

‘Anyone with information relating to the incident is asked to contact police.’

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Looking after your body is no longer just about getting a good workout in; it’s ensuring that you’re properly recuperating afterwards, too. Luckily, in 2026, there is a huge range of products designed to aid recovery.

In fact, the recovery tech boom is playing a big role in the growth of the sports technology market overall. Estimates show it’s projected to grow from $39.6 billion in 2026 to $192.3 billion by 2034.

Two of the most popular products in this category are massage guns and compression boots. Both claim to ease muscle soreness and help you bounce back to training sooner, but they sit at very different price points. You can pick up a basic gun from around £40, whereas the cheapest boots we tested were £300. But which method is actually better for improving workout recovery?

Massage guns can help to improve flexibility in older muscles

Massage guns work by delivering repeated percussion and vibration to one specific area, which helps improve the mobility and flexibility of a specific muscle. In turn, this can make your muscles feel less tense and stiff. These gadgets can be used before and after workout sessions.

While useful for all ages, massage guns can be helpful for anyone looking to improve range of movement, ease muscle stiffness and boost blood flow – whether exercising or not.

“It will help temporarily improve your mobility so that you feel like you’ve got a bit more flexibility in that muscle,” explains Jonathan Wreaves, clinical physiologist at preventative health clinic Viavi.

But how do they actually work?

Most massage guns offer a revolutions per minute (RPM) range, which refers to how many times the massage head moves back and forth every minute. This tends to be somewhere between 1200 and 3500. The lower range is ideal for gentle massage and warming up, while a higher RPM is better for targeting bigger muscle groups and more intense tightness.

The station is also the first fully Great British Railways branded station

Thousands of passengers have passed through Cambridge South station’s ticket gates since it opened in June. The £250 million station, backed by government funding, supports new train services by Greater Anglia, Great Northern, Thameslink, and CrossCountry.

It is the first fully Great British Railways branded station, bringing together Network Rail track and infrastructure with train operators’ passenger services under a nationalised GBR Anglia organisation.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “With thousands of people now choosing to commute by rail, the new station is delivering on its promise to provide an alternative, greener option to access Cambridge Biomedical Campus, reducing reliance on vehicle use and reducing carbon emissions while helping to ease levels of congestion in the city of Cambridge.”

Jamie Burles, managing director for GBR Anglia said: “It is fantastic to see so many people using the new station in just the first month since it opened and I’m sure this is only just the beginning of the story for Cambridge South.

“Having seen over 110,000 journeys in the first month alone demonstrates that the demand was there, waiting for us to build this new facility, and open a new gateway to this very important biomedical campus.

“It really does go to show how investment in the railway can transform people’s lives for the better, by building connectivity and providing easier ways to get to where people most need to be.”