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British beaches have been left looking like a 'plastic war zone' after the worst wave of pollution in four years was washed up in the wake of Storm Eleanor. The Cornish coast has been covered with plastic debris, broken fishing nets , pieces of Lego and everything from plastic straws and bottles to shredded bags and polystyrene. Piles of plastic debris and nurdles are seen littering the sand of Tregantle Beach in Cornwall, January 9 2018. The south west coast...

Bath could become the first city in the UK to introduce a tourist tax, in line with a model common in European cities. Tourists have flocked to the Georgian spa city for centuries in order to visit the Roman baths and famous abbey - but plans have been drawn up to charge visitors an extra £1 per night, which would be put back into the community. The plans, proposed by Bath and North East Somerset Council, will be put to...

A pneumonia patient was transferred to hospital in the back of a smoke-filled taxi, TLE can exclusively reveal today as the NHS crisis continues to grip the nation. Adam Turner, from Middlesbrough, dialled 111 after waking up short of breath and gasping for air. After explaining his symptoms – that he'd just finished a seven-day course of antibiotics for a severe chest infection and that he has asthma - he was told he needed urgent help but that an ambulance...

The remains of primitive moths dating back to the time of the dinosaurs 200 million years ago have been dug up in northern Germany. Experts say they are the earliest fossilised evidence of the insects, and shed fresh light on their evolution - and also that of their butterfly relatives. About 70 wing scales and fragments - some beautifully preserved - were discovered in a drilled core of rocks dating back to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. It makes them 10 million...

Tim Farron has admitted that he lied to the public during the 2017 general election campaign, when he was asked if he believed gay sex was sinful. His answer to the question was “we are all sinners” to avoid his real feelings on the issue. Now Mr Farron has admitted to a Christian radio station that he felt pressured into dodging the question He told the radio show: "The bottom line is of course I did. And there are things...

In an opposition day motion on the NHS crisis, the shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth praised the hard work of NHS staff in the House of Commons and pressed the Health Secretary on “a winter crisis even worse than last year." MPs from around the country told horrifying tales of cancelled operations, hospital closures, staff shortages and failures for patient outcomes. Jonathan Ashworth told how In a hospital ward in Pinderfields Hospital, west Yorkshire, patients were left lying on the...

Theresa May tried to strike a light tone for the first Prime Minister’s Questions of 2018, but ended up looking out of her depth - and not just when she quipped about Labour’s Angela Rayner not being present to defend herself - only to have to apologise when informed that the shadow education secretary was absent as she was undergoing medical treatment. And it was the NHS that dominated a tense PMQs, with the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt shifting about in...

A delegation of global press freedom groups will undertake an unprecedented mission to the United States, reflecting concerns about threats to journalists and heightened anti-press rhetoric. The mission, which follows trips to Ukraine and Turkey, will coincide with the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration and will leverage the first year’s findings of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which will be released at an event at the Newseum, Washington D.C. From January 15 to 17, leaders of six organisations -- Article...

Jeremy Corbyn used a heartbreaking and "not uncommon" example of NHS failings to challenge the Prime Minister on its preparedness in today's PMQs. With 55,000 cancelled operations joining the four million-strong waiting list the Labour leader told the case of Vicky to drive the message home in the first questions of 2018. Vicky's 82 yr old mother spent 13 hours on a trolley in a corridor, on top of the three hours between calling 999 and arriving in hospital. The...