Summary

  • Updates from Thursday 18 October

  1. Police riot van saves children's partypublished at 16:12 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    After a friend asked for help, officers turned up and allowed children to play inside the riot van.

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  2. Mysterious rooms revealed at palacepublished at 15:44 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    The draining of lakes at Blenheim Palace reveals a series of hidden rooms.

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  3. The man who can talk to dead peoplepublished at 14:57 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    He's been hailed as the doctor who can talk to the dead.

    Over the course of his 25 year career Dr Richard Shepherd has examined over 20,000 bodies in his role as one of Britain's leading forensic pathologists, worked on such high profile cases as the death of Princess Diana, the 7/7 bombings and the Hungerford shooting.

    He visited the town the night after the incident, and was one of the first people to examine the killer - Michael Ryan.

    Dr Richard Shepherd:

    "Hungerford was shut down, there were road blocks and nobody was coming in or out and I was told to stop off just off the motorway.

    "This town that I could imagine being really lively on a warm August evening was utterly dead, nothing moved around at all.

    "There were bodies in cars, and bodies lying on the street.

    "We went off through the town stopping to look at some of the bodies, and it became clear that I couldn't do anything that night - I needed proper postmortem facilities."

  4. Man with cancer killed wife and himselfpublished at 14:55 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    A review found no-one inquired how the couple from Shanklin had been coping with worsening health.

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  5. Boy, 16, held on suspicion of murderpublished at 14:33 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    The teenager is being questioned after a 56-year-old man was found dead in a house on Monday.

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  6. County Championship restructure agreedpublished at 14:15 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    The County Championship will see three teams promoted and one relegated next year to create a 10-team top tier from 2020.

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  7. Bournemouth through to EFL Cup quarter-finalspublished at 13:54 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    Mark Mitchener
    BBC Sport at Vitality Stadium

    Bournemouth booked their place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after edging out Championship side Norwich City.

    Junior Stanislas put the Cherries ahead when he cut in from the left and hit an unstoppable right-foot shot.

    Norwich improved after the break and equalised when winger Onel Hernandez netted from a tight angle.

    But the visitors were level for only two minutes as they failed to clear a corner and Cherries defender Steve Cook hammered home from 12 yards.

    Bournemouth score v NorwcihImage source, Getty
  8. Work set to start on Christchurch's zig-zag pathpublished at 13:03 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    Work to rebuild a popular cliff path at Highcliffe in Dorset, which was closed following safety concerns, will start next month.

    The zig-zag path, which runs down to the beach has been shut since spring last year. Christchurch Borough Council initially said it couldn't afford to repair it, but following a campaign by residents, it agreed to fund the work. It's hoped it'll now reopen in April.

    Zigzag pathImage source, Christchurch Borough Council
  9. Emergency crew assaults 'unacceptable'published at 13:00 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    Ambulance, police, fire and healthcare staff suffer serious injury, verbal abuse, spitting and biting, and sexual assault.

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  10. NHS Digital changes 'will cost 500 jobs'published at 12:58 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    It employs about 2,700 people in IT-related roles with almost 2,000 of those jobs in Leeds.

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  11. Sindlesham road blocked after lorry crashpublished at 12:41 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    Mole Road in Sindlesham, near Wokingham, is blocked after a lorry having tipped over on to it side, knocking a car onto its side in the process.

    South Central Ambulance Service said both drivers sustained minor injuries.

  12. Crash death girl 'cheeky and loveable'published at 12:37 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    "Adorable, beautiful" Darcy-May Elm, four, was killed in a two-car crash on the A40 on Saturday.

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  13. Heating problem hits the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Readingpublished at 12:31 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

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  14. Bus pass u-turn in Readingpublished at 12:26 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    Companion bus passes for disabled passengers who have difficulty travelling alone will continue to be accepted on buses in Reading.

    The council had been considering scrapping the passes, which allow free bus journeys for those travelling with Access Pass holders, to save money - but after consultation, it now won't continue with the plan.

    However it is still considering whether to only allow free weekday travel from 09:30 until 23:00 or scrapping free travel on ReadiBus services entirely for Access Pass holders.

    Bus stop - generic
  15. MP wants answers over ferry disruptionpublished at 12:05 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    Bob Seely says three firms operating to the Isle of Wight need to explain their poor performance.

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  16. Six men admit to racecourse disorderpublished at 11:46 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    Six men plead guilty to violent disorder during a brawl at Goodwood races in West Sussex.

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  17. MP Michael Tomlinson claims marriage disappearing from poor communitiespublished at 11:27 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    Conservative MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, Michael Tomlinson has told a budget debate in the House of Commons that rich people get married and stay together while poor people don't.

    He said marriage appears to be disappearing in Government policy-making and insisted more money should be spent on preventing family breakdown.

    Michael Tomlinson MPImage source, bbc
    Quote Message

    "Because 87% of high-earners marry, 24% of low-earners marry - the rich get married and stay together, the poor don't. Why does this matter? Because where there is poverty, family breakdown is often not far behind - and while poverty is often a driver of family breakdown, crucially so too is family breakdown a driver of poverty.

    Michael Tomlinson MP

  18. Havant & Waterlooville hit seven past Maidenheadpublished at 10:38 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    BBC Sport

    Havant & Waterlooville ended an eight-match winless run in spectacular style with a resounding 7-0 victory over 10-man Maidenhead, who had goalkeeper Carl Pentney sent off and had no substitute keeper on the bench.

    Alfie Rutherford, Tyler Cordner, Alex Bradley, Rory Williams and Alfie Pavey wre all on the scoresheet for the Hampshire side in the National League match.

  19. Cowes Floating Bridge back in servicepublished at 10:08 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    The Isle of Wight's troubled floating bridge is back in service this morning after repair work following a broken prow chain.

    The chain ferry has been out of service since Wednesday and the council had initially said the service would be operational on Monday.

    A replacement launch operated for foot passengers while the ferry was out of action, while vehicles have to make a 12-mile (19km) round trip by road.

    Floating BridgeImage source, Isle of Wight Council
  20. Spooky contacts warningpublished at 09:39 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2018

    An eye doctor is warning of the dangers of eye infections which can be caused by "spooky" cosmetic lenses popular at Halloween.

    Parwez Hossain, a consultant ophthalmologist at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said people using the lenses as fancy dress accessories were "largely unaware" of the risks of poor hygiene.

    He has spoken out following a recent rise in severe corneal infections related to overall contact lens use and warned of "grave concerns" if partygoers do not heed safety advice.