UK news

UK news

New figures have indicated a record-breaking 206 ebike and escooter fires broke out in London during 2025, according to the London Fire Brigade (LFB). Two Londoners died in the fires last year, with a total of five people since 2023. A brigade spokesperson said the blazes were often caused by faulty or poorly built vehicles, usually bought online or second hand, leading to failures in lithium-ion batteries, conversion kits or chargers.

Customer service in the UK has a problem. According to recent survey data, almost half of UK customers have experienced poor customer service over the past year. That's not a minor data point, but rather a warning sign. Long wait times, unhelpful responses, and automated loops that dead-end are just the beginning, and they erode customer trust quickly. While many businesses have invested heavily in digital tools and AI to help address these problems, that comes with its own drawbacks.

The forecasts from the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon) show crime rates and unemployment will rise until the next election in England's 613 most deprived neighbourhoods, despite the government's promises to invest in local communities. The report's authors warn the extra money ministers have pumped in is not enough to counteract longer-term trends such as the increase in antisocial behaviour and the problems facing the retail and hospitality sectors.

Royal Mail has been criticised for offering an unacceptable performance over the crucial Christmas period after it failed to deliver letters and cards on time to about 16 million people, Citizens Advice found. The consumer watchdog, which carried out research into Christmas deliveries, said that figure was 50% higher than in 2024, and the highest level over the festive period in five years, excluding when Royal Mail was hit by strike action in the run-up to Christmas four years ago.

The BBC has named senior executive Rhodri Talfan Davies as its interim general director, as the corporation continues the search for a permanent replacement for Tim Davie. Davie, who resigned in November after the row over the BBC's editing of a Donald Trump speech, will remain in the role until the start of April. Talfan Davies will then take over.

Law, who grew up in Blackheath and went to nearby John Ball Primary School, said the plans were not the answer to London's growing housing crisis. He said: My junior school was across from the site where this proposed development will take place. This plan does not answer housing needs. Instead this plan will enforce a strain on a wonderful old village that deserves our protection.

A snap inspection of a Bristol secondary school criticised for postponing a visit by an MP who is a member of a group that advocates for Israel has found no evidence of partisan political views. Ofsted inspectors arrived at Bristol Brunel academy earlier this month after reports that its leaders had called off a visit by Damien Egan, the Labour MP for Bristol North East, after opposition from a pro-Palestine group and members of staff belonging to the National Education Union (NEU).

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

It is absurd to let landlords drag their feet for an entire decade, denying renters the most basic standards in our homes. It will mean millions of renters, including children, trapped living in poor-quality homes with nowhere to turn. Homes are the foundations of our lives, but millions of renters are living in homes that are falling apart and dangerous to our health. This is terrible value for money as the rents we pay every month continue to soar.

Well it's official, I'm back doing what I love to do, Fury posted on Instagram. I've brought the biggest network along with me @netflix @netflixuk this is going to be astronomical. Blessed by God.

The open-ended sentences, which were scrapped in 2012 and have been described as psychological torture by the UN, have left thousands trapped in jail for up to 22 times longer than their original tariff. This includes many who were children at the time of their offence and handed a type of IPP sentence for under-18s called a Detention for Public Protection (DPP) jail term.

I'd like to recognise the awareness and proactivity of our officers in identifying Zenith, then quickly working to link him to further offences. This fast-paced investigative work allowed us to arrest, charge, and bring him before the courts in just two days. His imprisonment demonstrates our determination to tackle theft across the railway network. By using targeted patrols, intelligence and thorough investigative work, we are ensuring offenders are identified quickly and held accountable,

The Metropolitan Police's covert Special Demonstration Squad spied on relatives who started a peaceful campaign called Justice for Ricky Reel in the belief he'd been murdered. David Hagen an officer known as HN81 gathered information about them and their supporters as they travelled nationwide trying to expose apparent failings in the original investigation. On one occasion, Hagen drove Mr Reel's mother Sukhdev from a McDonald's in Stratford back to the family home an address she wanted to keep private.

Tiffany was loving and caring and was very close to my daughter and wife. I think the school friends got together and met up in the flat to just have a chat and enjoy their holidays. My daughter is in the same class as Tiffany in Kingsford Community School. We always saw Tiffany she was so generous and humble and has a heart of gold.

Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) stopped the lorry as it was approaching the Dover ferry port and found the men hidden inside as part of a sting operation. Police had been tracking a suspected organised crime group involved in smuggling migrants out of the UK and said immigration crime was threatening the border security of both the UK and France.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

Naked but for handcuffs, a waist restraint belt, and a towel to cover his modesty, a man waiting to be deported from the UK is carried by officers to his bed inside his new home the country's most notorious immigration detention centre. Days later, a resident with a history of mental health issues is restrained after smashing up the television in his room and boiling kettles of water in a bid to flood his sleeping area.

Online total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) totalled £1.42 billion. That was a figure 8 percent higher than in the same period for the previous year. Real event betting GGY also increased with the total of £508 million being 12 percent up year-on-year. Despite those new stake limits, the GGY for online slots was up 9 percent to £747 million. The number of spins rose by 4% to 24.4 billion.

Valve's policies on Steam violate UK laws on "anti-competitive prices" and "unfair trading conditions that prevent or hinder others from competing with them." The argument concerns Valve's demand that games sold on Steam not be made available at a permanently lower price on rival stores, and that once you buy a game on Steam, the only way you can buy further content for that game-be it DLC, expansion packs or cosmetics-is also via Steam.

"They are still relatively small numbers. But the thing I would say is, this was a pilot. It was designed to try to prove that this new model of working with the French could work. "And there are practical issues around how quickly you can detain people and then get them on a plane and move them out to France."

Umer Khalid, a 22-year-old British pro-Palestine activist, has ended a hunger and thirst strike in prison after his health deteriorated rapidly, with fears he was at high risk of a heart attack. Khalid, who is being held on pre-trial remand at the Wormwood Scrubs Prison in London, ended his protest on Sunday, the day he was treated in intensive care as his heart rate slowed to a dangerous level.

New rules making it much harder to close noisy pubs and clubs could be introduced under a radical plan to protect London's night-time economy. It wants councils to only investigate noise complaints if a minimum of 10 unrelated households complain, to prevent only a handful of vexatious neighbours being able to effectively force pubs and clubs to close early. The taskforce's report said London needs a more modern approach to managing sound in the city and changes to noise enforcement rules.

Electrical retailer AO has upgraded its networks to accelerate its business with informed decision-making, securely connecting a diverse range of devices and streamlining IT operations across all 26 of its offices and logistics centres across the UK. AO describes itself as the UK's most trusted electrical retailer, and is known for its home appliances, consumer electronics and mobile phones. The firm started life in 2000 as part of a £1 bet by founder John Roberts on his mission to sell electrical appliances online.

The UK's poorest families are getting poorer, with record numbers of people classed as in very deep poverty meaning their annual household incomes fail to cover the cost of food, energy bills and clothing, according to analysis. Although overall relative poverty levels have flatlined in recent years at about 21% of the population, life for those below the breadline has got materially worse as they try to subsist on incomes many thousands of pounds beneath the poverty threshold.

A portion of the land dubbed the UK's worst illegal waste dump is owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, the King's extensive private portfolio of properties and estates. The waste site in Bickershaw, Wigan, is part of the UK's mounting crisis of illegal dumping. But the Duchy has said due to an ancient feudal legal framework from more than 700 years ago, it is in effect exempt from cleaning up the site, according to an investigation by Channel 4 News.

Bork!Bork!Bork! London's Elizabeth Line is the latest thing in urban development (at least as far as the UK is concerned). So it seems appropriate that its borks should be similarly up to date, and its emoticons rotated so the intent cannot be mistaken. Sent in by an eagle-eyed Register reader, today's entry in the pantheon of bork was snapped at London's Paddington station,

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Juric shared an image of two schoolgirls in uniform, aged around 15, with the undercover officer. He went on to share an indecent image of a girl aged around 14 posing in a sexual manner with her breasts partially exposed, the prosecution said. Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, said that in November 2024, Juric messaged the decoy again. The defendant asked the decoy if they were horny and what were they into, the court heard.

It didn't look like anything had been missing initially until we noticed the retractable parcel shelf had been removed. We had to wait weeks for the new window because it's such a common problem in north London that the demand for the windows was just exceeding their ability to supply them. We were told, if we replaced it, to take the parcel shelf out at night.

PA Award-winning actor and DJ Sir Idris Elba has been fined after he was caught breaking a 20mph (32km/h) speed limit while riding his scooter along Chelsea Embankment in London. Sir Idris, known for starring in Luther and The Wire, was recorded travelling at 28mph last June. He was given a 147 fine at Westminster Magistrates' Court, as well as three penalty points on his licence, and ordered to pay 110 in costs and a 59 victim surcharge.

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after another boy died following a crash involving the e-scooter they were riding and a car last March, Greater Manchester Police said. Jacob Calland, also 14, a passenger on the e-scooter, was injured when it collided with a car in Wythenshawe at 4pm on 19 March, 2025. Police previously said the e-scooter came to a rest on a third vehicle in Southmoor Road.