#bristol-water-main-burst

#bristol-water-main-burst

They're special on a world stage, 85% of chalk streams are in England. They're wonderful habitats, they're great for people as well, people really enjoy them, whether it's areas like this where you can find kingfishers and grey wagtails and it's just a unique resource that we really should steward properly.

Sarah Lambert took her usual morning swim for 40 minutes off Exmouth town beach before her volunteer shift helping disabled people get access to the water. A wheelchair user herself, Lambert's regular sea swims twice a week between the lifeboat station and HeyDays restaurant were the perfect form of exercise for her disability.

Contamination of drinking water is rare - but it is utterly unacceptable. The communities affected by this abhorrent incident in Brixham deserve answers, and today's guilty plea is a crucial step toward accountability.

A Reg reader received an automated call warning of potential water discoloration during planned works from January 19-25. The message advised running taps for twenty minutes if the water appeared discolored - standard stuff, if a bit robotic. In the recording forwarded to us, a female voice told our reader what to expect. All good, if a little robotic. However, things went off the rails a bit when the robot attempted to read out the URL for Severn Trent: http://www.stwater.co.uk/discolouration.

There was a time when plumbing work stayed politely behind the walls, noticed only when something went wrong. That era is over. Today's plumbing contractor sits at the crossroads of infrastructure, housing stability, climate stress, and technology that finally works the way it should. The job still involves grit and know-how, but it also requires foresight, communication, and a willingness to run a smarter business without losing the human touch. That mix is what separates contractors who stay busy from those who stay booked.

Data published by the insurer Aviva reveals that of the 396,602 new homes recorded by the Ordnance Survey in England between 2022 and 2024, 43,937 are in areas of medium or high risk of flooding, while 26% of new homes have some risk of flooding.

a unique health offer, with nothing similar in London, the UK or Europe

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Every time a boat passes through a canal lock, thousands of litres of water are released and must be replaced, usually from other sources. To reduce water loss, engineers sometimes build side ponds next to canals with several locks in succession. These side ponds allowed water to be "put aside" rather than lost. When a lock chamber was emptied to lower a boat to the next level, paddles were opened to divert the water into an adjacent side pond.

The government committed 7.3bn in November's Budget to fix roads over the next four years. The DFT rated 154 local highway authorities as red, amber or green based on road conditions and how well they were using government funds. The vast majority were rated as amber, meaning they were patching up roads and had preventative measures in place but there was still room for improvement.