Economy

Swimmers are being sought to take part in a study aimed to determine if cold water swimming can help treat depression and anxiety.

University of Portsmouth academics are following a similar trial last year with an appeal for 480 swimmers to take part in a trial outdoor swimming project at sites including Shoreham in West Sussex and Christchurch in Dorset.

Dr Heather Massey, senior lecturer in sport, health and exercise science, said the study aimed to provide "definitive evidence" of the positive impact of cold water on mental health.

It is hoped the study could help determine future treatments for depression and anxiety.

Cold water swimming experienced a boom during the Covid-19 pandemic, with sea and lido swimming providing a means of exercise during lockdowns.

Despite similar studies into its effects on mental health in the past, the Portsmouth researchers want to take a larger sample pool to achieve more scientific results.

They want to see what cold water swimming and cold-water immersion does to patients who suffer from depression and anxiety.

During the study, one group of volunteers would take part in an eight-week swim course, as well as maintaining their current medication plan.

The second would be a controlled group, where participants would continue taking their current treatment for depression and anxiety, and then take the swim course at the end.

Lynne MacFarlane, from the New Forest in Hampshire, was referred to the course because of depression but admitted she was "quite cynical about it" at first "because being a swimmer, I know I love the water, I love the sea".

She added: "I couldn't see how the cold would help my symptoms of depression but it did."

Dr Massey said there was "lots of information out there" on water's positive impact on mental health.

"What we don't have is definitive evidence to say that is the case," she continued.

"This is why we should be doing this type of work, to have that greater level of understanding about what is happening to people's symptoms of depression and who it helps to impact."

Nina Yates, an open water swim coach at Lymington Sea Baths, said she had "seen the benefits" from swimming in open water.

She added: "You get this buzz. It's all about making people feel comfortable."

It is hoped that the two-year study could help determine future treatments for depression and anxiety and even get cold water therapy prescribed by GP surgeries.

Outside 2 has been set up by the University of Portsmouth and Sussex Partnership NHS Trust, with funding by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

It needs 480 volunteers who experience mild to moderate depression and will take place at 15 sites across England, including Lymington, Shoreham in West Sussex, Maidenhead in Berkshire and Christchurch in Dorset.

A wildlife charity is fundraising to buy a 400-acre farm so it can rewild an area of land between Kent and Sussex.

Kent Wildlife Trust has launched a campaign to raise £500,000 to purchase Hoathly Farm in Lamberhurst, near Tunbridge Wells.

The trust says if successful, Hoathly Farm would be added to its existing wilding projects at Scotney Castle and Furnace Farm, which it already owns, to create a "near-continuous landscape for nature" connecting Kent and Sussex.

Paul Hadaway, director of conservation at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: "This is Kent's biggest opportunity in a generation to restore nature on a major scale.

"With the help of our supporters, we can reconnect landscapes, bring back biodiversity, and build a resilient future where people and nature thrive side by side."

The charity said transforming low grade arable land into a "wildlife haven" could "enhance and support farming", as well as improve soil health.

Mr Hadaway added: "Allowing nature to return to Hoathly Farm isn't just about wildflowers and woodlands.

"It's about shaping a future where children can grow up connected to the wild and where our farming practices enrich rather than deplete the land."

The charity said it was planning to reconnect fragmented habitats and support native wildlife, including the potential return of lost species like the pine marten.

In addition, it hoped to enhance carbon storage, improve flood prevention and water quality.

So far, the charity has raised £87,000. It said once it achieved its target of £500,000 the amount would be doubled through match funding.

The charity said the fundraising deadline had been set for 24 May.

A man has been jailed for 11 years after a forensic examination of his clothing linked him to multiple crimes.

Richard Clarke, 43, was sentenced to nine years for the robbery at Vale Service Station on 30 April 2024 and two years for being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

He was also sentenced at the Royal Court to a four-year concurrent sentence for the burglary of Doyle Motors Convenience Store on April 14 2024.

The Bailiwick of Guernsey said it would always "rigorously investigate" offences to ensure offenders were brought before the courts.

'Clothing concealed'

It said: "Digital forensics throughout the investigation assisted in proving Clarke's involvement in the offences.

"We would like to thank the member of the public who called the station to report clothing concealed nearby to the Doyle Motors incident.

"It was similar to that worn by the offender and forensic examination linked them to Clarke and subsequent CCTV inquiries around the area assisted in confirming his identity."

The victim of the robbery was awarded £1,000 seized from Clarke by way of compensation, the court said.

It added Clarke would also be subject to a four-year extended sentence licence for the robbery following his release from prison.

Firefighters are tackling a blaze at a metal recycling centre on the outskirts of a village.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue said it was called to the fire at Railway Terrace, Kings Langley, near Hemel Hempstead, at about 03:10 BST.

The fire service is advising residents nearby to keep their windows shut.

Road closures are in place and are expected to last for some time, said Hertfordshire Police.

Last year, tens of thousands of 'Swifties' – Taylor Swift fans – thronged Madrid to watch back-to-back concerts at the Spanish capital's famous Bernabéu stadium, home to Real Madrid, who won Europe's Champions League final less than 24 hours later, on 1 June.

The mega-concert was one of dozens of high-profile gigs staged at the newly renovated stadium in 2024 to boost the club's revenue.

But the project was short lived. In September all gigs were cancelled after residents living within earshot of the music filed a legal complaint over the noise.

Now, nine months later, Spanish pop singer Aitana is the latest artist to switch venues from the Bernabéu to the Metropolitano Stadium – home to rivals Atletico Madrid – as the court case rumbles on.

"In every concert it is exactly the same," says Enrique Martínez de Azagra, president of the neighbours' association. He and other locals say the sound from concerts like Taylor Swift's has become too much.

"It is impossible to suffer this kind of noise and it affects our health, it affects migraines, insomnia and heart attacks and it is a criminal offence in our laws," adds Enrique.

In Madrid, the noise levels measured by the neighbours exceeded 90 decibels regularly during the concerts.

Ian Marnane from the European Environment Agency says that in Europe any level of 55 decibels or above is considered to be harmful, and continued exposure can lead to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease such as strokes. There are also links between noise exposure and diabetes.

Enrique says there is a significant difference between the noise from the concerts compared with that from football matches. He and most of his neighbours have lived in the area for decades. Many of them are life-long Real Madrid supporters and are on committees that represent the interests of the club.

"Football is a sport that lasts two hours, more or less. The noise is normal. Only when there is a goal, the passion surges," says Enrique. The problem he sees with the concerts is that they spew continuously high levels of noise for long periods of hours at a time.

To reduce their exposure to these high levels of noise, Enrique and his neighbours took Real Madrid to court.

Sports journalist Felippo Maria Ricci believes they have a strong case.

"The Bernabéu is right in the heart of Madrid. The neighbours who live there have good positions and know the right people," says Felippo. "This battle for the concerts can be quite long but at the moment Real Madrid is losing this battle."

The neighbours say the city government is hesitant to resolve the issue as it benefits from the tourism and the money the concerts generate. According to local media reports, tourists coming for the Taylor Swift concerts alone spent about €25m (£21m; $28m).

Filippo says that the £1.1bn renovation to make the stadium multi-purpose was supposed to provide a huge financial boost to Real Madrid.

They also signed a contract with a US company selling the commercial rights to the stadium.

"They spent a lot of money to develop a new system for the pitch, to take it off when they have the concerts," says Filippo. "Now all this new super system is quite useless, at the moment, all that money is gone."

Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons and AC/DC are among the acts playing at the rival Atlético stadium this summer.

Madrid City Council, the Mayor's office and Real Madrid have not responded to requests for comment by the BBC.

Real Madrid has previously said it is trying to sound proof the stadium. According to local reports the club hired a specialist company and windows were installed in the skywalk area.

When I put to the neighbours that Real Madrid is trying to soundproof the stadium, they chuckled. Enrique works as an engineer and thinks it is "quite impossible to soundproof the stadium".

While the Bernabéu's roof can close, the stadium is never completely closed, as there is an open gap between the roof and the facade all the way around the stadium.

The neighbours say they are not against all concerts.

"We've had concerts in the past, but once a year," says Pablo Baschwitz, a lawyer and one of the neighbours campaigning for change.

He recalls concerts with music legends such as Frank Sinatra and Julio Iglesias at the Bernabéu – but says having 20 concerts scheduled per year is just too much.

From the roof terrace of one of the neighbours' flats the proximity to the stadium is plain to see.

They point to a health centre that they say struggles to accurately measure patients' blood pressure at times because the sound waves from the concerts disturb the readings in their machines.

Pablo says the concerts aren't the only problem – there are also rehearsals and sound checks during the day which disturb the local community, including schools.

Luis Jordana de Pozas lives right across from the stadium, and some of the noise measurements were taken on the outside and inside of his flat.

On his terrace overlooking the Bernabéu, he explains how newly added metal plates on the stadium's exterior have amplified the sound, and shows me recorded videos of the "unbearable" noise.

In Madrid, the facades of the houses around the stadium are lined with banners. Draped from their windows, balconies and terraces the neighbours put their protest posters on display, reading "conciertos no" (no concerts) and "ruído no" (no noise).

For now, while the case is in court, the music has stopped.

Staff at a mental health hospital have been praised for creating a "positive culture of safety" across five wards.

Brockfield House, in Wickford, was rated "good" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in a report published on Friday.

The centre, run by Essex Partnership University Foundation NHS Trust (EPUT), cares for men and women with mental health disorders.

Paul Scott, chief executive of EPUT, said he was "delighted" by the CQC's verdict.

Inspections of the Alpine, Forest, Aurora, Fuji and Causeway wards were carried out in April 2024.

It followed concerns brought to the CQC about patient treatment, whose inspectors found them to be "unsubstantiated".

Staff were instead praised for minimising the use of restrictive practices, reducing the use of restraint and seclusion.

Inspectors found patient discharges were well-managed with regular reviews, while the facilities were noted to be "clean, safe and well-maintained".

'Relentless drive'

Mr Scott said all at EPUT were pleased the team's "hard work" had been recognised.

"This is a testament to the relentless drive to improve care for all our patients," he added.

EPUT has been at the centre of a public inquiry into mental health deaths across the county.

The deaths of at least 2,000 people under NHS care in Essex have been included in the Lampard Inquiry.

Evidence is due to resume on Monday.

US President Donald Trump has proposed cutting tariffs on goods from China, in his latest comment to signal interest in de-escalating the trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

"80% Tariff on China seems right," Trump wrote on social media on Friday, ahead of trade talks between the two countries in Switzerland.

China's Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying also struck a confident note ahead of the meetings, saying Beijing had "full confidence" in its ability to manage trade issues with the US.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has hit Chinese imports with 145% tariffs and China has retaliated with levies of 125% on some US goods, driving down trade between the two nations.

On Friday, official figures for April showed China's exports to the US fell by more than 20% compared to a year earlier. But at the same time its total exports rose by a better-than-expected 8.1%.

Officials in both Washington and Beijing are "under growing economic pressure", Dan Wang from political risk consultancy Eurasia Group told the BBC.

"The recent signals from both sides suggest a transactional de-escalation is on the table", she added.

The announcement earlier this week of the talks was welcomed as an important first step towards easing tensions but analysts have warned that this marks the start of what are likely to be lengthy negotiations.

"The systemic frictions between the US and China will not be resolved any time soon," said former US trade negotiator, Stephen Olson.

Any cuts to tariffs as a result of this meeting are likely to be "minor", he added.

The initial negotiations will be led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China's Vice Premier and economic tsar He Lifeng.

But "I think everyone recognises that any final deal will require the active engagement of both presidents," Mr Olson said.

Another trade expert said that even if the new tariffs imposed by Trump were lifted, the two countries would still have major issues to overcome.

"A realistic goal is probably at best a pullback from the sky-high bilateral tariffs but that would still leave in place high tariff barriers and various other restrictions", the former head of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) China division, Eswar Prasad told BBC News.

On social media on Friday, Trump called on China to "open up its market" to the US. He said any tariff reduction would be "up to Scott B".

In earlier remarks on Thursday, he had said he expected a "very friendly" meeting.

The talks between China and the US are set to take place just two days after the UK became the first country to strike a tariffs deal with the Trump administration.

The US agreed to reduce import taxes on a set number of British cars and allow some steel and aluminium into the country tariff-free, in exchange for new access to US beef and other exports, according to an outline of the new agreement.

Countries around the world are scrambling to make similar deals before steep US import taxes are due to take effect next month.

Trump announced what he called "reciprocal tariffs" on dozens of countries in April but paused them shortly afterwards for 90 days to give their governments time to negotiate with his administration.

Businesses based in the US will also be watching events in Switzerland closely.

Wild Rye, a women's outdoor clothing firm based in the state of Idaho, has manufacturing stations in China and has been severely affected by the tariffs.

The cost of shipping goods has jumped significantly, the firm's chief executive, Cassie Abel, told the BBC's Today programme.

"We have a purchase order that's incoming, which is around $700,000 [of goods] that's now costing £1.2m in levies up from £200,000," she said.

Ms Abel added she was now looking to sell parts of her business to try to raise cash.

Plans to transform Weston-super-Mare's Tropicana into a 5,000-seater venue could be approved next week after the design was amended following criticism from locals.

Some local residents dubbed the building "brutalist" and a "1980s warehouse" when plans were unveiled in January, but now planning officers are recommending a softened design gets the go-ahead.

After closing as a pool in 2000, the Tropicana stood vacant for years until Banksy used it as the setting for his Dismaland bemusement park in 2015, since then it has been used as an events space for hire.

North Somerset received £20m from the government's Levelling Up Fund in 2022, and allocated a portion to revamp the 1930s former lido.

Residents at a block of flats have shared their dismay after paying for a lift that does not exist for two years.

The tenants at Barham Park in Wembley, north-west London, contacted the BBC after it reported that Notting Hill Genesis had sent rent and service charge notices to tenants with cost increases of up to 50% "in error".

Those living at Barham Park said their block of flats only had stairs, yet each tenant had been charged close to £200 for a lift for two years in a row.

The housing association apologised and said certain costs at Barham Park had been "incorrectly apportioned", and it would send out new estimates.

It also apologised for concern caused to tenants at another block whose service charge costs are more than doubling after previous year's costs were under-budgeted by more than £77,000, as shown in documents seen by the BBC.

The errors have led to criticism, with the Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) saying overcharging and miscalculations made by housing associations "is a scandal on par with the Post Office scandal".

While an employee of a managing agent who works on one of the same sites as Notting Hill Genesis – and interacts with the association – told the BBC anonymously "I don't think the finance systems are robust" because they had seen "duplications in terms of spending on contractors".

They added "there are lots of junior staff and high turnover" within housing associations generally and "employees need more support from the managers".

Angela Tanner, who lives at Barham Park with her partner Rosemary, said: "We just don't have a lift in this block.

"We've asked multiple times for a refund but Notting Hill Genesis still haven't made that refund.

"We're paying around £200 for the non-existent lift this year. It's like banging your head against a brick wall."

Ms Tanner said their service charges had almost doubled in a year.

"It's very difficult for me as a resident to understand what I'm being charged for," she said.

"It's also lack of transparency on what the charges are when they lump it together. I don't understand the logic."

'Issuing refunds'

Notting Hill Genesis said at Barham Park it had identified that certain costs had been "incorrectly apportioned meaning some of our residents have received inaccurate service charge bills".

"We have written to residents to let them know and we will be sending new estimates setting out the costs they'll be paying, as well as issuing refunds where appropriate," a spokesperson said.

"We recognise the impact this will have had on residents and are sorry for the understandable concern caused."

In response to the anonymous employee, the Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson said: "We are in the process of embedding a new operating model which provides local officers with support from more specialist teams with expertise in specific areas, including service charges.

"We are also close to introducing a new finance system which will improve how we manage core information and, in turn, improve services to residents."

Meanwhile, service charges for another group of tenants living in Geneva Court, a Notting Hill Genesis block in Hendon, north London, are increasing by more than 100% – which residents say is the highest increase in more than 20 years.

Paperwork seen by the BBC showed that in 2023-2024 the building had an expenditure of £126,656 but only had a budget of £49,640, meaning the housing association under-budgeted by £77,015.

Resident Manuel Fernandez said: "Why should I be penalised for someone's mistake for under-budgeting a 22-year-old building?

"Looking at the service charges throughout the years, the electricity is exactly the same charge. That's your problem not mine."

Mr Fernandez added: "I'm physically and mentally drained. It's not the first time I've been dealing with service charges. I've called them a few times on mistakes but they've never refunded us.

"I work five days a week, silly hours, as a gas engineer. I leave at 06:00 and don't come back until 19:00 or 20:00.

'I'm going to have to tell my family we can't go out. We have to pay an extra £300 a month."

Notting Hill Genesis said, in line with the tenancy or leasehold agreement and service charge practices, it reviews the actual spend against the estimated amount each year and then charge or credit the difference.

"Unfortunately, at Geneva Court, the estimated amount was too low, and we now need to recoup the actual cost of those services," a spokesperson said.

"We recognise the impact this has had on residents and are sorry for the understandable concern this is causing."

'Refusing to listen'

SHAC said it was inundated with tenants across the UK complaining about "huge number of errors, inflated charges and unexplained charges".

Co-founder Suzanne Muna said: "'There are people paying directly who are having to find ever greater sums of money to keep up with what their landlords are trying to charge them.

"But we also have a number of people who are having it paid through the public purse and that means we are all paying these highly inflated and sometimes what we would consider downright fraudulent causes."

The group is calling on the government to introduce something similar to the deposit protection scheme to help residents dispute service charges.

"We think this is a scandal on par with the Post Office scandal because tenants and residents have been saying for years it's been happening. And landlords and government have been refusing to listen."

The National Audit office said: "We have received the correspondence from SHAC and we are carefully considering it in line with our remit to audit government spending."

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "We will consult this year on implementing measures to drive up transparency of service charges, ensuring leaseholders and tenants can better hold their landlords to account."

A Derby County footballer who runs mentoring sessions in schools says Netflix show Adolescence has highlighted how parents may not know what their children are up to behind closed doors.

Midfielder Ben Osborn said the drama about a 13-year-old boy charged with the murder of a female classmate had done a good job highlighting some of the dangers children faced online.

Netflix has said it will make the series available to screen for free in secondary schools.

Osborn said while showing the programme in schools "isn't going to do any harm", it was key the issues opened up discussions for parents.

He said: "The scary thing about Adolescence is it blindsided the parents – the stuff that they're getting up to on social media or online, how can you police that?"

Osborn, of Spondon in Derby, visits primary and secondary schools through his company EFD Sport & Education, which he set up with former Nottingham Forest academy team-mate Jack Andrews.

He added: "Across the country, suspensions are at an all-time high, permanent exclusions are increasing year on year, and you are definitely seeing a rise in behavioural issues.

"If I spend an hour on X or social media, I'm confused, I don't know what to think because the algorithm gives you a load of different stuff.

"It's confusing, let alone if you're an impressionable teenager. It can be scary."

The enterprise has a team of mentors that visit schools in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire using sport to help improve behaviour, attendance and engagement.

Osborn said: "You have to educate young people because the world is changing, you can't just say log off your phones and let's live in this real world, but a lot of the time it's fake realities they're seeing online and that's the issue.

"Adolescence is a very difficult programme to watch but I'm pleased that it's showing people what life for some young people can be like.

"We've been talking about this for a long time and people are now seeing that for themselves. That's very welcome, but it's long overdue."