Innovation

Councillors will be asked to approve the continued closure of a car park in Worthing which was forced to shut last month due to concerns over unstable concrete.

Specialist engineers have been assigned to investigate the Grafton multi-storey car park after recent inspections raised safety concerns about the building.

Members of Worthing Borough Council (WBC) will later be asked to consider a report on the car park's condition, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The cabinet will also consider a report to return in July to discuss the future regeneration on the site alongside assessing the progress made since the initial closure on May 16.

In a note requested by WBC, HOP Consulting Civil and Structural Engineers said it supported the closure of the car park until further notice.

'Debris detachment'

It said: "Our note outlines that there are risks of failing/falling parts of the structure that threaten the safety of the public, users of the car park and is dangerous.

"Hence, we agree it is appropriate to close the whole of the car park for urgent investigation and review."

According to HOP, the monitoring approach used for several years to manage the "resulting overhead debris risk" is becoming "increasingly unreliable at pre-empting overhead debris detachment".

The car park, which is over 60 years old, was closed because of am unstable High Alumina Cement beam.

In November 2023, Worthing Borough Council announced plans to sell and demolish Grafton car park, a move which had first been mooted in 2007.

Tourism businesses in Jersey have been making the most of the hottest April since 2018.

According to Jersey Met, the total rainfall has been around half of the usual average for this month, which usually stands at 56.7mm.

Sunshine hours have also been above average, with an estimated 80 extra hours throughout the month compared to a typical April.

One watersports business owner said the warmer weather had been a "bonus" and enabled him to start the season earlier than usual.

In St Brelade, Jono Stevenson of Jono's Watersports in St Brelade said: "It's not very often I'm open in April, it's good to get going.

"Generally, in Jersey, the season runs May to September. It's a bonus to be open".

Other businesses have not seen much of a change including Simon Monins, who drives Le Petit Train, and said it was "still very quiet."

He added: "I've been chatting to some of the hoteliers and they all agree – it's been a quiet start to the year."

He remains "hopeful" for the rest of the holiday season.

Temperatures are expected to reach highs of 26C on Wednesday, just below Jersey's April record of 26.2C in 1984.

Quaranta William is the operational manager of Jersey Bus Tours, and he says he's seen more English visitors during the warm weather.

He said: "With us having the open-top bus, it's quite a nice selling point on a hot day.

"However, there's been no presence of French visitors."

Islanders will be able to enjoy the sunshine this bank holiday weekend at the Boat Show.

John Neal of Marquee Solutions has been setting up today. He says the event "kick starts the summer season".

"It's all hands on deck at the moment but really enjoyable in the sun".

A Jersey firefighter completed his challenge to run 150km (93.21 miles) around the island for charity.

Matt Roberts has raised more than £5,000 for the Firefighters Charity and Friends of Jersey Oncology (FOJO).

He started the run from St Helier at 16:00 BST on Saturday and finished 23 hours later at 15:00 on Sunday.

Mr Roberts was joined by friends and colleagues for the vast majority of the run to help him complete his challenge.

Fire crews, friends and family members gathered at the finish line which was made by tying a line between two fire engines.

Mr Roberts said it was "actually really enjoyable" and "out of 23 hours of solid running, I was on my own for less than 10 minutes".

He added: "I genuinely didn't think I'd raise over £1,000 so £5,000 is incredible."

Mr Roberts celebrated his finish with a can of Guinness and some takeaway food which his friends had bought him.

Paul McGrath and Steven Andrews are both from Jersey Fire and Rescue Service and joined Mr Roberts on different parts of his run.

Mr McGrath said "this is just amazing" and "I just wanted to be there to support him".

Mr Andrews added "Matt is a very dedicated guy" and "it's tiring enough doing just doing a little bit of it".

Jersey's Chief Fire Officer Paul Brown also cheered on Mr Roberts as he finished.

He said: "It was really inspiring.

"I think it says something about Matt first and foremost, he is quite remarkable individual to have done this in this way for those charities.

"Hopefully he will recover well because he certainly deserves to have some down time now," Mr Brown added.

FOJO called Mr Roberts an "amazing person" for completing the "phenomenal challenge".

Outline plans to build 49 homes in a West Sussex village have been deferred by a council.

Members of the planning committee at Chichester District Council asked for more information about the application for land east of Inlands Road in Nutbourne.

Concerns were raised by some councillors about the capacity of the Thornham Wastewater Treatment Works and the impact another batch of housing would have.

While West Sussex Highways filed no objection, councillor Roy Briscoe (Con, Westbourne) suggested the application be deferred to allow the authority to have "a really good look" at it, and reassess the information provided and its conclusion.

Network Rail pointed out that the level crossing on Inlands Road was considered high risk and was critical that applicant Metis Homes Ltd, had not engaged with them earlier.

But it was road safety which proved to be the biggest sticking point, especially given the narrowness of Inlands Road, according to Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Officers were worried that a delay would see the applicant launch an appeal against non-determination, especially as the council cannot demonstrate that it has a five-year supply of housing land.

Members agreed the deferral by nine votes to two with one abstention.

A special event recreating wartime in Londonderry has taken place to commemorate the city's role in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The naval base in the city – shared by the Royal Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the United States Navy – was pivotal to winning the longest continuous military campaign of World War Two.

At one time, 140 Allied escort ships, vital to the protection of convoys in the Atlantic, were based on the River Foyle and in May 1945 eight German U-boats surrendered close to the city.

A recreation of the German surrender took place place at Ebrington Square on Saturday, where a number of wartime museum collections have been on display over recent days.

"Derry is a city steeped in history and often we forget its strategic importance during World War II, although in terms of global significance it played a huge role," the city's mayor Lilian Seenoi Barr told BBC News NI.

What was the Battle of the Atlantic?

The Battle of the Atlantic was fought for control of vital supply routes, beginning as war broke out in 1939.

German submarines were the Allies' principal threat at sea. Winston Churchill once wrote: "The only thing that really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril."

Skirmishes in the Atlantic continued until the war ended in 1945, but the Allies sank particularly large numbers of U-boats in May 1943, effectively winning the Battle of the Atlantic.

Thousands of merchant ships and tens of thousands of lives were lost during the longest continuous military campaign during World War Two.

More than 66,000 Allied merchant seamen, sailors and airmen died, with 175 Allied warships and 5,000 merchant ships destroyed by German U-boats.

Derry is acknowledged as the Allies' most important escort base during the Battle of the Atlantic.

On 14 May 1945 the first of the U-boats berthed at Lisahally, the naval port on the city's outskirts, were formally ordered to surrender by Admiral Sir Max Horton.

The mayor said as well as holding such vital strategic importance during the Atlantic campaign, the city was also changed by the influx of north American service personnel, housed at Base One Europe, the US Navy's operating base in Northern Ireland.

"The billeting of Allied servicemen here during that time also had a major cultural influence here in the city, where people mingled with the US and Canadian forces," she said.

Derry City and Strabane District Council's head of culture said Saturday's event will give people a sense of the historic significance of events in the city in 1945.

Ex-Wolves and England footballer Geoff Thomas is riding in his seventh Tour De France this summer to raise money towards clinical leukaemia trials.

The retired player and former leukaemia sufferer will be part of a team to cycle the full 2,200-mile (3,540km) route across 21 days in June and July.

The challenge aims to raise £1m for Cure Leukaemia, with Thomas describing it as the "most gruelling" of his life.

He said: "I first did it in 2005, when I was six months in remission – if I could do it then, what's stopping me now?"

Thomas, who lives in Worcestershire, received nine caps for the national team, but was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2003, a year after he retired.

He subsequently raised millions of pounds for charity, became a patron of Cure Leukaemia and launched his own charity, The Geoff Thomas Foundation.

He said if he could reach the finishing line in Paris in July, setting off a week before the pro riders, it would "eclipse anything" he had ever done on a football pitch.

"I don't really think you can do enough training – it's about getting as many miles in your legs as possible, without fatiguing yourself," he said.

"I'm just aiming to do the first day, knowing that you've got over 100 miles to do – you've got to survive that, and then take each day as it comes."

He described reaching Paris on previous tours as "one of the most enjoyable experiences you can have".

"It eclipses anything I ever did on a football pitch, and I was lucky enough to be involved in some great games – it's just a magical time."

Thomas announced his decision to take part in the event at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, where he met current leukaemia patient Adam Claxton, 42, from Worcester.

Mr Claxton said his own diagnosis the previous year had been "a complete shock".

"I'm a football fan, and I remember Geoff as a player – his career was terrific, he had a great run on the pitch and to meet him off the pitch is an honour," he said.

"What he's doing is inspirational."

Dr Salim Shafeek, a consultant haematologist who previously treated Thomas at Worcestershire Royal, said he was "a real ambassador for people with leukaemia".

"It's unbelievable what he's been doing for clinical research over the last 20 years," he added.

Thousands of knitted poppies are expected to turn a city's famous pier into a striking remembrance memorial.

The display will run the entire 1.33-mile (2.14km) length of Southend Pier in Essex from 5-16 November.

People have been invited to donate their creations by the end of September.

Labour city councillor Matt Dent said it would be a "truly memorable" commemoration.

The display would culminate with a "dramatic installation at the pier's selfie signpost", Southend-on-Sea City Council said.

Crafters of all skills were encouraged to get involved, with Dent hoping it would instil "a sense of civic pride".

He added: "As well as being a poignant tribute, I expect the display will give a welcome boost to tourism and visitor numbers on the pier during the quieter off-peak season."