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Only four fines have been issued for littering by West Oxfordshire District Council in the past decade, figures obtained by the BBC have revealed.

A Freedom of Information request showed a total of 401 fixed penalty notices for the offence have been handed out by councils across Oxfordshire since 2015.

Oxford City Council gave the most at 204.

West Oxfordshire District Council said it took environmental offences "seriously" but argued fines can only be given when people are seen littering, which can "limit enforcement opportunities".

Liam Walker, a Conservative councillor on the council, said the low level of fines was "astonishing" but he was also shocked at the level of littering.

"It's not just about enforcement from the council… and government and police, it's all also about education – teaching people not to be throwing litter in this day and age," he said.

Councils were given powers to issue larger fines of up to £500 for littering in 2023.

Tracy Adams is part of the group Thame Wombles and does a litter pick most days, collecting as much as eight bags of rubbish at a time.

"To make an example of a few people, it just might stop others doing it," she said.

"[Littering is] just pure laziness from people."

The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) warned that littering has a serious impact on nature.

Barbara Polonara, community wildlife officer, said small mammals like hedgehogs were at risk.

She said: "There's a huge issue where they get stuck in a lot of different litter, especially when they're looking for food, they can't free themselves and then they die."

When asked about the level of fines handed out, West Oxfordshire District Council said it did recognise the importance of keeping public spaces clean.

A spokesperson said: "Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for littering can only be issued when individuals are directly observed committing an offence, which can limit enforcement opportunities.

"In many cases, litter found in public areas does not include identifying information, making it difficult to take formal action."

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Fishermen who lost their lives at sea are being remembered at special services around the UK.

National Fishing Remembrance Day was created in 2024 by maritime organisations including the Hampshire-based Fishermen's Mission.

The charity said Sunday's services – including Brixham, Kilkeel and Peterhead which have been designated as national services for England, Northern Ireland and Scotland – were a reminder that fishing remained one of the most dangerous peacetime occupations.

A total of 26 deaths involving fishing vessels were recorded in the five years from 2019 to 2023, according to the Marine Accident Investigation Board.

At Portsmouth, a service is being held at The Camber Docks next to a memorial for six crewmen who died on the Wilhelmina J in 1991.

The beam trawler sank when it collided with a cargo ship in thick fog. Four of the bodies – all men aged in their 20s – have never been found.

Hayley Hamlett from the charity said relatives and friends of the six fishermen attended last year's inaugural event.

She said: "It's a chance to remember the people who have dedicated their lives for the fishing industry and in some cases the ones who've lost their lives while getting the seafood for our plate.

"Every day particularly along the south we've still got fishermen going out risking their lives, nearly always on their own on the boats."

Fishermen and their families from across the south of England also attended a service in Poole, Dorset, with sea shanties, poetry and readings.

Groups involved in National Fishing Remembrance Day also include The Seafarers' Charity, Stella Maris, Seafish and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have agreed to halt fighting in the east of the country until peace talks mediated by Qatar reach their "conclusion".

It is the latest truce since the rebels stepped up an offensive in eastern DR Congo where authorities say 7,000 people have been killed since January.

Both sides on Wednesday jointly announced to work towards peace following more than a week of talks, which they described as "frank and constructive".

Last month, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame also reaffirmed their commitment to an "unconditional" ceasefire in a surprise meeting in Doha.

The decades-long conflict has intensified since January when M23 staged an unprecedented offensive, seizing Goma and Bukavu – eastern Congo's two largest cities – and sparking fears of a wider regional war.

DR Congo accuses Rwanda of arming the M23 and sending troops to support the rebels in the conflict. Despite assertions from both the UN and US, Rwanda has denied supporting the M23.

• What's the fighting in DR Congo all about?
• The evidence that shows Rwanda is backing rebels in DR Congo
• Your phone, a rare metal and the war in DR Congo

Rwanda has said its forces are acting in self-defence against the Congolese army and allied militias, some of which it accuses of links to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

DR Congo also accuses Rwanda of illegally exploiting its mineral deposits in the east of the country, which Rwanda denies.

In a joint statement released separately by the M23 and Congolese government on Wednesday, each side pledged to give peace talks a chance.

"By mutual agreement, both parties reaffirm commitment to the immediate cessation of hostilities, a categorical rejection of any hate speech, intimidation, and call on all local communities to uphold these commitments," they said in a statement read on Congolese national TV and and posted on X by the M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka.

They said the ceasefire would apply "throughout the duration of the talks and until their conclusion".

Sources in the Qatar talks told Reuters news agency that the outcome of the meetings were almost derailed by "technical" issues.

It is not clear how long the truce will hold as several ceasefires have been agreed since 2021, before later collapsing.

Belgium's Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prevot termed the truce a "crucial step towards ending the violence".

Qatar has been mediating between the two parties after the rebels refused to attend peace talks in Angola last month.

The Congolese government had long refused to hold direct talks with M23, branding it a "terrorist" group.

More about the conflict in DR Congo:

• DR Congo conflict tests China's diplomatic balancing act
• How DR Congo's Tutsis become foreigners in their own country
• 'They took all the women here': Rape survivors recall horror of DR Congo jailbreak

Emergency first aid kits that could save the lives of knife attack victims have been installed across a Greater Manchester town to combat the "tragic reality" of knife crime.

The so-called bleed kits have been placed around Rochdale as part of a community safety push by the area's council.

Each has been donated from the #kNOwKnifeCrime campaign co-founded by Laura Hughes, the sister of Colin McGinty, who was stabbed to death aged 21 in Merseyside in 2001 in a case of mistaken identity.

She said the kits "send the right message" and would help create "a much safer environment".

She said: "When Colin died, knife crime just didn't exist in our world, but fast forward twenty years and knife crime is very much is a thing."

The kits have been installed outside Rochdale Police Station, with plans to install more of them at stations in Middleton and Heywood.

Each is stored in secure cabinets outside buildings, to provide immediate treatment for severe bleeding not just following a knife attack, but in the event of other traumatic incidents to prevent significant blood loss.

Kits contain dressings, an emergency tourniquet, a foil blanket, and gloves.

A council spokesman said that on average, it takes an ambulance 17 minutes to reach a patient, but bleeding from serious injuries, such as stabbings, can prove to be fatal in as little as three minutes.

The use of these kits can help slow down blood loss until an ambulance arrives, said Councillor Daalat Ali, joint deputy leader of Rochdale Council

He said the kits were needed as "incidents involving knives are sadly a worrying and tragic reality".

The story of how a botanist from Kent saved a variety of Japanese cherry trees from extinction in the 1920s will be told through a series of walks.

Collingwood Ingram, from Westgate-on-Sea, was in Japan when he was shown a picture of a white cherry blossom thought to be extinct in the country.

He immediately recognised it as Taihaku, which he had seen in a garden in Winchelsea, East Sussex, and later sent cuttings back to its native Japan for propagation.

Walks telling the story of Ingram's life and work will be held in Dane Park, Margate, and Ellington Park, Ramsgate, where Taihaku trees were planted in his honour in 2020.

Ingram was born in 1880 and was said to have found his love for nature on the Minster Marshes.

Upon visiting Japan in 1902, he discovered that cloning of more popular colours of cherry had led to a decline in the number of varieties.

He gathered 50 endangered varieties and planted them in his garden in The Grange, Biddenden, for safekeeping.

Ingram became something of an authority on cherries and was invited to address the Japanese Cherry Society, when he was shown the picture of the Taihaku.

His initial efforts to send cuttings from Winchelsea to Japan failed. Only on his last attempt, when he sent them buried in a potato by train, did the cuttings take.

Now, more than 100 years on, Thanet Urban Forest has arranged two walks to tell the story of Ingram's important work and teach people about planting and blossom.

Leading the walks is Peter Hasted, who said: "These were lost species in Japan, [Ingram] spent many years and lots of money trying to re-establish the cuttings in Japan.

"We come to the cherry blossoms, stop, and appreciate what they are."

The walks will be held on 13 April.

Kings of Leon have cancelled their upcoming UK and European shows after lead singer Caleb Followill broke a bone in his heel in a "freak" accident.

The American rockers had been due to play a series of dates including at Cardiff's Blackweir Fields and a headline slot at the Lytham Festival in Lancashire this summer.

But Followill confirmed he had undergone emergency surgery after "shattering" his heel while playing with his children and is now unable to travel or perform for at least eight weeks.

"The band regrets to report that they will need to cancel all upcoming UK and European festival headline shows in June and July of this year," a statement read.

A police force has 313 workers who have not been properly vetted, a report has said.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, which employs nearly 6,000 people, has been ordered to improve its vetting procedures by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The cases involve existing staff whose vetting has expired or who have been promoted without higher level clearance, the report added.

The force said it had recruited a further 12 staff to make checks and had "robust processes" to identify unsuitable new applicants.

At the time of the inspection, the force vetting unit did not have enough staff to meet demand, the report said.

Fourteen analysts and three senior staff were working on 223 applications, with a further 462 cases pending, it added.

In a review of vetting decisions on new joiners, inspectors agreed with 18 out of 25 outcomes but said some risks were not identified.

The force was rated as "requires improvement" for vetting, but "adequate" for other integrity standards including challenging misconduct and tackling corruption.

However, an HMICFRS review of 40 cases identified three where potential crimes were missed.

These included an officer who tested positive for drugs and one who sent misogynistic, homophobic and racist texts.

Both later resigned, but the report gave no outcome for a third case involving an allegation of aggravated assault.

In a statement, Acting Chief Constable Sam de Reya said she welcomed the inspection.

She added: "We had already recognised and responded to the challenges around our vetting arrangements, particularly around ensuring we had sufficient resources to meet demand.

"Our ambitious recruitment programme to increase the number of police officers within the force required us to also bring in more staff to carry out vetting checks.

"The report recognised our efforts to increase capacity within the team, and we have recruited a further 12 staff since the inspection.

"Importantly, our robust processes ensure that only those who are suitable for policing are able to join the force."

The senior officer added that the force's internal investigations had been found to be "good", with "proportionate, consistent and fair" outcomes.

A children's nursery has been closed with immediate effect after Ofsted suspended its licence due to safeguarding concerns.

Child First Nursery in Moulton, Northampton shut on Friday, following a decision by the education watchdog to suspend its registration.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the nursery said: "We can confirm that the nursery is currently closed while an investigation is carried out by Ofsted and the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).

A spokesperson for Ofsted said: "Children's safety is our priority and we suspended this nursery on 9 May because we had reasonable cause to believe that children may be exposed to a risk of harm.

"We will monitor the suspension in line with our guidance and continue to work with other agencies on this matter."

The nursery spokesperson added: "While we are unable to comment further during this process, the wellbeing of the children and families we support remains our top priority.

"We are working closely with parents to help them access alternative childcare arrangements during this time."

Learner drivers in rural parts of Scotland have told BBC News of their frustration as they wait months to sit their tests.

One said they were unable to book a test in their local area at all, while another faces a wait of up to five months.

It has led to fears that the mobility and employment prospects of young people in rural areas is being jeopardised.

On Wednesday, UK government Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told MPs her department aimed to end the backlog across the country by summer next year.

Dylan Whiteley, 17, from Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire, has been trying to book his driving test for the last seven weeks, but cannot find any in the area where he lives.

"I'm going away to university in mid-September, and that's coming close," he said.

"I'll hopefully be able to get a test by then, but if something happens – if I fail it or anything – then it will be really tricky to get it done."

Dylan said he was prepared to look at booking a test in a different part of the country if he had to.

"The test itself would obviously be a lot more difficult having not driven on those roads as much, but if it comes to it and the wait times are less, then it might have to be," he said.

The company behind the redevelopment of a site that was once home to the world's largest brickworks is asking people to give their thoughts on its "evolving plans".

The former Stewartby brickworks in Bedfordshire has outline planning consent for 1,000 new homes, a school and community facilities.

The 130-acre (about 50-hectare) site is about six miles (10km) from Bedford town centre and close to land where Universal is planning on building its first theme park in Europe.

A community day is taking place at Stewartby Village Hall from 12:00 until 16:00 BST.

Property developers Harworth purchased the land in September 2024 from Heidelberg Materials, previously known as Hanson UK.

At one time there were 167 chimneys on the land, but in September 2021 the last four were demolished.

Harworth said the site, which has "unique historical significance", was "set to become a vibrant and sustainable new neighbourhood south of Bedford".

Outline planning permission has been in place since 2021, but the company said it needed to make revisions.

It said it would still build homes, a community hub, new employment spaces, and places to meet and play. The company has not responded regarding what the revisions might be.

It said it was looking to "reflect the rich heritage of the site across the development, so that the importance of the brickworks can be recognised into the future".

"We would like to know your thoughts to help us evolve our proposals for the former Stewartby brickworks site," the company said.

If plans go ahead, building work could begin in the summer of 2027, with the first people set to move in by early 2028.

Brickmaking at Stewartby

• Brickmaking in the area began when John Cathles Hill, a housebuilder, bought various small local companies, which became the London Brick Company (LBC) in 1900
• In 1926, the LBC began to build a garden village for its employees at Wootton Pillinge
• The Wootton Pillinge LBC village was renamed Stewartby in 1936, after the Stewart family, directors of the LBC
• In the same year, Stewartby was recognised as the largest brickworks in the world, employing 2,000 people and producing 500 million bricks a year
• Four of the original chimneys remained on the site, standing up to 70m (230ft) tall, until 26 September 2021