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Universal Studios writes to residents about potential theme park in Bedford | UK News

Universal Studios has written to residents about plans to build its first UK theme park in Bedfordshire. 

Universal Destinations & Experiences – which is owned by US company Comcast – wrote to people living near the site after confirming it had bought land near Bedford.

It said the company was in the “very early stages” of exploring a potential park, adding that while it owns the land it may be “many months before we decide whether to proceed with the project”.

John Reynolds from the company’s external affairs said Universal had “a strong track record of working together with local communities as we consider any new project”.

“Engaging with the local community in Bedford, Kempston Hardwick, Stewartby, Wixams, Wootton, and elsewhere will be no different,” he added.

He said Universal had been “encouraged by the positive nature of conversations” with stakeholders, including Bedford Borough Council and the town’s mayor.

“We plan to work closely with our local communities should we progress,” he added.

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A map showing the land Universal has purchased
Image:
A map showing the land Universal has purchased

Other Universal destinations around the world “create thousands of jobs and generate significant positive economic impact”, he said.

Universal has been expanding aggressively since the pandemic, with fresh attractions at its long-popular US and Japanese destinations, a whole new park in Beijing in 2021, and another in Florida in 2025.

Universal has launched a website to keep Bedfordshire residents updated with the progress of plans.

“There is still a long way to go, and we may not have any more information to share in the near term,” Mr Reynolds added.

The Bedford site is 45 minutes from London and easily accessible from Luton airport.

Major incident declared as Bristol tower block residents told to leave homes ‘immediately’ due to ‘risk to structure’ | UK News

A major incident has been declared in Bristol as residents in a tower block have been told to leave their homes “immediately” due to a “risk to the structure”.

The city council has asked all tenants at Barton House, in the Redfield area, to leave “as a precautionary measure” while more in-depth inspections are carried out.

About 400 people reportedly live in the building.

Surveys at three of the 98 flats found there is a “risk to the structure of the block” in the event of a fire, explosion or large impact.

Anyone who can stay with relatives or friends is being urged to do so, while the remainder will be housed in a temporary rest centre at the Tawfiq Masjid and Centre mosque where beds, food and drink will be available.

More rest centres are “in the process” of being set up, but it is not known how long residents will have to be away from their homes.

A council statement said: “The length of this temporary arrangement is dependent on a further survey of the building, which is being arranged to happen as soon as possible.

“All tenants will be kept regularly informed of progress and any updates on support arrangements.”

The council also said there is “no evidence” to “suggest there is any immediate risk to health and life”.

The statement added that Barton House is the oldest of the tower blocks in the council housing estate, with building work completed in 1958.

“The design and age of Barton House make it unique within the council’s housing estate. There is currently no evidence to suggest the issues identified within Barton House are present elsewhere, although the council is regularly surveying its estate as it works to meet all regulatory requirements,” it said.

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‘Where is the water?’: Residents queue to collect bottles after major incident leaves thousands without water supply | UK News

A major incident has been declared by Surrey County Council as thousands of households are without water.

Thames Water has apologised to residents for the inconvenience, saying it is dealing with the “technical issues” at Shalford treatment works in Guildford “caused by Storm Cairan”.

It has meant residents have had to travel to bottled water stations set up at Godalming Crown Court car park and Arlington Park and ride in Old Portsmouth Road.

At the water station in Godalming, dozens of cars backed up waiting for water causing congestion in the local area.

Thames Water representatives have been handing out two cases per household, with each case containing 12 bottles.

Screengrab from Jeremy Hunt's twitter
Image:
Pic: @Jeremy_Hunt

“I’m furious,” said Serena Howard from Milford, who had been waiting in the queue for two hours to collect cases of water for herself and her neighbours.

“Where is the water for the people?” she asked.

Ms Howard said she was supposed to be on a priority list to get water delivered to her house because she and her daughter both have medical issues, but said she struggled to get through to anyone who could help and had to make the journey to collect it herself, despite being disabled.

“I have had my large bowel removed so I have diarrhoea… I can’t eat without it going straight through me. We have had to use the pond water to flush the toilet,” she said.

However, Ms Howard explained it was actually her young daughter she was worried about, who has recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

She said: “She is running high because she hasn’t had enough fluid today, she hasn’t had enough fluid to keep the sugar down, in her case if it drops too low it’s dangerous, if she goes too high – she is damaging her organs.”

Ms Howard eventually collected seven cases in total, some for her and others for her neighbours who she said have small children.

She was happy to help, but said: “I don’t feel it [should] be up to a disabled person to have to go out and help the others.”

Read more:
Flood warnings remain after Storm Ciaran – but rain expected to pass

Posting to X, formerly known as Twitter, Thames Water said: “We’ve made progress fixing the supply issues but need to refill reservoirs. We’re providing bottled water till 9pm and expect to do so again tomorrow.”

But there is a concern that if the technical issues are not fixed, it could mean children being kept off school come Monday – with parents having to find last-minute child care cover.

Paul is among those concerned, as the water in his household ran out on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s affected a lot. We can’t wash or anything, we can’t do anything. It’s terrible”

He explained he and his wife both work full time, and he was worried if schools had to close due to the outage they would have to figure out what to do with his children.

“One of us will have to take a day off to look after them,” he said. “It’s not good. Not good at all.”

Meet the Redditch residents turning to food banks to survive amid rising interest rates | UK News

At Batchley Support Group in Redditch, I meet Tony.

He’s 59 and one of a higher-than-average number of people in the town who have a mortgage.

That’s despite the area having the fifth-lowest average salaries in England and Wales.

It means he, like others, may be disproportionately affected by interest rate rises.

Tony has struggled to make payments on his tracker mortgage and the recent interest rate rises have pushed him over the edge
Image:
Tony has struggled to make payments on his tracker mortgage

It turns out, for Tony, it’s much more than that.

He’s just been told his flat may be repossessed.

Tony’s circumstances are complicated. He bought the property 19 years ago when he had a job as a lorry driver.

He subsequently became disabled, suffering brain damage, after a street attack.

In recent years his disability benefit changed to a “limited capacity” one.

It has meant he has struggled to make payments on his tracker mortgage and the recent interest rate rises have pushed him over the edge.

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Intimidating and impossible figures

He takes us into his top-floor flat and shows us his papers in a darkened living room.

One letter clearly states his interest rate is rising by another 0.5% from 1 August and he may be losing his home.

The letter states how he is now £7,000 in arrears with £29,000 left to pay on his mortgage.

These are intimidating and impossible figures for Tony.

He doesn’t use heating and limited electricity.

He can’t afford to buy a single piece of food.

He’s been making £150 payments every month but it’s not even half of what he needs to.

‘I’d be dead’ without food bank

“I’ve been here for 20 years. It is my home,” he tells me. “You know, I’m disabled, I need heat and everything else. Where am I going to go? I have got nowhere, no house to go. That’s it.”

I ask him if he didn’t have the nearby food bank, what he would do?

He replies simply: “I’d be knackered, I’d be dead.”

Single mother Sarah is holding down three jobs, but it still is not enough to help feed her and her family
Image:
Single mother Sarah is holding down three jobs but is still unable to feed her family

Single mother reliant on food bank

At the Batchley Support Group Centre – a hub in the middle of this community which offers advice and help for all issues – I also meet single mother Sarah.

She’s holding down three jobs, including an NHS technician role, an online teaching job and acting.

It’s still not enough to help feed her and her family.

She lives with her 13-year-old boy, and her 19-year-old son when he’s back from university.

She’s lucky her landlord hasn’t put her rent up, but she describes how everything else has increased.

“You can’t change the rent, you can’t change your gas, your electric, your water, your TV licence….

“So you can only change the way that you spend the money you have.”

She can pick up as much food as she needs from the food bank here for just £1.

But she’s also worried about interest rates on her credit card.

She describes being reliant on it to pay for fuel for her car to get to work.

‘More working people are struggling’

Mark Barron runs the Support Group, and has had to order an extra load of food each week recently to cope with demand.

He says the service is also seeing a rise in employed people seeking help: “We see more working people who are struggling.

“And that tells us it’s really about disposable income, what’s left once you pay the bills, if anything, what’s left to live on? And that’s, that’s a real leveller for people.”

Redditch isn’t unique in this.

Disposable incomes are being stretched if not annihilated across the country.

Interest rate rises mean that standards of living, in general, are being swept away.

And with them, people like Tony, who are becoming collateral damage.

Residents near airports may be slightly more at risk from symptoms linked to heart problems, study suggests | UK News

People living near to an airport may be slightly more susceptible to symptoms linked to heart problems, a university study has claimed.

A study conduced by Imperial College London looked at hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases among residents whose homes are under Heathrow Airport’s flight paths.

They analysed research on figures recorded between 2014 and 2018.

According to a paper published in online journal Environment International, researchers found that there was a “small increase of risk” of being admitted to hospital for people who had experienced louder noise during the previous night.

It was revealed that men over the age of 65 were particularly affected.

So, what else did the study find?

The team of researchers found that aircraft noise can disrupt sleep and raise blood pressure as well as stress hormone levels – which are factors linked to heart problems.

However, evidence of an association between aircraft noise and deaths due to a heart attack was limited, although this could be attributed to a small sample size.

Researchers have said, the findings provide “potential” evidence that aircraft noise in the late evening and night-time may be associated with increased risk cardiovascular hospitalisations and deaths in the population living within the Heathrow Airport.

But more research is needed to understand the impact of aircraft noises.

The team added: “This is consistent with a mechanism of action via disturbed sleep and has implications for developing respite measures for the communities situated near busy airports.

“Further research into these potential respite mechanisms and behavioural interventions, including runway rotation and noise insulation initiatives, is needed to understand how best to translate the findings from this study into action.”

Read more from Sky News:
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Aircraft noise has been an issue during Heathrow’s long-running bid to gain permission to build a third runway.

Modern planes are a lot more quieter than previous models, but there are concerns that an increase in flights will cause more disturbance.

Heathrow has said reducing the impact of noise from flights is a vital part of its sustainability strategy.

Airport bosses have also said since 2006, they have reduced its noise footprint – the area where residents are exposed to aircraft noise.

Leicester ‘sonic boom’: Mystery as residents shocked by loud explosion | UK News

Dozens of people in and around Leicester have reported hearing an explosion or a sonic boom overhead.

The sound was also reported across Northamptonshire and by people in Banbury and Oxford.

The loud bang led to a swift reaction on social media as people speculated about the cause, including whether it was a jet breaking the sound barrier.

Twitter user Dr Jon Sutton said: “Massive boom heard over a wide area of Leicestershire. Aircraft, or meteor?”

Naomi tweeted: “Anyone in Leicester know what the hell that massive explosion was?? It shook our house and the birds are going crazy.”

Another user wrote: “Very loud boom in Leicester about 15 mins ago. Felt the air shake – cats scared and ran indoors. Very unnerving – what the hell was it?”

Reports later emerged it may have been an RAF Typhoon aircraft scrambled from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to intercept a Dash 8 plane that had experienced radio failure, which later landed at an airfield in Epping.

Leicestershire police said: “We have received numerous calls in relation to a large explosion sound heard from various parts of the city and county.

“We like to reassure you that there is no concern however thank you for your immediate response to us.”

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The neighbouring Northamptonshire force said: “Police and fire services in Northamptonshire have received numerous calls in relation to a large explosion sound heard from various parts of the county.

“We would like to reassure people there is no concern, but thank you for contacting us.”

A sonic boom is caused when planes fly faster than the speed of sound, which at ground level is around 761mph.

When travelling at this speed, also known as Mach 1, the aircraft displaces the air and creates pressure waves that become compressed and then released in a shock wave.

‘What the hell was that’: How residents responded after tremors were felt in South Wales | UK News

You’d be forgiven for thinking that it was an ordinary Saturday morning in the South Wales Valleys – and for most it probably was.

But in the early hours of the morning, a tremor was detected, its epicentre around 10km North of Ebbw Vale/Tredegar Wales, but the impact was felt in a vast area of South Wales – to varying degrees.

Kylie Tavener lives in Ynyshir in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

She told Sky News that she was lying in bed watching Netflix when she “felt like someone picked up the bed and dropped it”.

Her initial reaction was: “What the hell was that” and then she went on Facebook and saw reports of an earthquake.

Kylie Tavener describes the how she felt during the earthquake.
Image:
Kylie Tavener describes how she felt during the earthquake

Kylie’s dog, Riley, was also woken by the quake.

“Normally when he’s in bed he stays in bed. He just woke up and had a little walk around huffing,” she said.

Kylie said she had not found any damage in the aftermath of the tremor, but her friends too had told her that they felt like “their house shook”.

The whole house shuddered’

Pic: Tomas Evans
Image:
Pic: Tomos Evans

Howard Smith runs a Bed and Breakfast near Ystrad Mynach in the Rhymney Valley.

“I was actually reading a little bit of news on my mobile phone and my wife was falling asleep by the side of me and then the whole house shuddered,” he told Sky News.

“My wife jumped out of her skin and I leapt out of bed, put my dressing gown on because I thought something had collapsed within the house.

“I wondered around and there was nothing in the house as such that was damaged or broken or fallen down and then I went outside.”

Howard is no stranger to earthquakes having experienced one in Düsseldorf, Germany, when he was there with the army, and a small one had struck his home in the Valleys once before since he moved six years ago.

“All in the back of my mind I kept thinking ‘Was that an earthquake?’,” he added.

But, despite the tremor, the guests at the B&B clearly still had a good night’s sleep as at breakfast on Saturday morning they said they had “all slept through it”.

Read more:
Earthquake felt in South Wales as midnight tremor makes houses and walls shake

British Geological Survey image showing how the quake in Wales registered
Image:
British Geological Survey image showing how the quake in Wales registered

Terrifying experience’

Stevie Williams lives in Merthyr Tydfil and initially thought a lorry had driven into “the front of the house”, adding that it was a “terrifying experience”.

“I believe it was just after midnight. Me and my wife were watching TV in bed when there was like a little rumble and then what I described as like a lorry driving into the front of the house,” he said.

“The knocker on the front door went so I knew it was our house that had been hit.

“I ran downstairs, ran outside, obviously there was no lorry outside, people were coming out on the street shouting ‘Did you hear that? Did you just feel that?’ And they were on their phones to friends and family and they had felt the same thing a few miles away, so you start to realise then we’d had some sort of earthquake.”

Hampshire residents feeling brunt of tinder-dry heatwave conditions | UK News

In Hampshire, locals and businesses are feeling the brunt of the tinder-dry conditions last month’s heatwave left behind.

While they’ve been adapting to the parched conditions, there’s growing concerns over the heatwave arriving this week.

We visited Odiham, one of Britain’s driest villages, where residents haven’t seen a drop of rain in the last month.

Driving through the area, it’s clear just how parched it is – each corner brings more dry and shrivelled foliage and shrubs.

These conditions are something Odiham and Greywell Cricket Club are getting increasingly worried about.

They currently spend anywhere up to five hours watering their pitch everyday – if they don’t, it’s just not safe for play to go ahead.

With an upcoming tournament on Saturday – when temperatures are expected to peak – it’s all hands on deck to make sure the wicket remains green.

Are they worried about a hosepipe ban?

At the moment they aren’t affected, but if rules around these are made more stringent, they fear they may face a situation where they have to make cutbacks.

They currently spend anywhere up to five hours watering their pitch everyday, if they don't, it's just not safe for play to go ahead

Four miles away, there’s yet another business feeling the strain.

Based in Ewshot, Peacocks Nursery is struggling to keep up with the hot weather.

Peacocks Nursery is struggling to keep up with the hot weather
Image:
Peacocks Nursery is struggling to keep up with the hot weather

Keeping their plants alive is essential to business, but it’s a mammoth operation keeping them watered.

The plants are based around three greenhouses, and manager Rachel tells me after getting through each one, they need watering again within an hour.

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Water chiefs are preparing for drought

It means they’ve got more hands on deck, from morning through to evening, to ensure that business can keep ticking.

But they have major concerns around this heatwave.

They say temperatures in the area are forecast to be higher than those that were seen in July.

On top of that, with the extreme heat being more prolonged than last month, they think this heatwave could be even more costly.