News 21/02/26

A police presence remains in place at the Iceland and B and M car park just off Farnham Road.

Officers were called to the Montrose Avenue car park during the afternoon. A forensics tent was erected and a police cordon put in place. Photos and feedback from the scene show an almost completely empty car park with a significant police presence.

NASA may delay its mission to send astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than half a century after discovering a fault with its rocket.

Artemis Two had been due to launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center from as early as March. On Friday night NASA found the flow of helium, required for launch, had been interrupted during a key stage of preparations. A spokesperson said this would almost assuredly affect the March launch window.

One of the first officers on the scene of the 2017 London Bridge terror attack has been dismissed for gross misconduct over messages about Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.

Detective Constable Mark Luker of British Transport Police used the term pikey and in another message referred to dags, citing a scene from the film Snatch. He also mentioned scrap metal, lead roofing and cable, which he accepted was a joke linking theft to the Irish Traveller community.

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s security officers are likely to hold information about potential misconduct, according to Dai Davies, the former head of UK royal protection.

He told Sky News this follows Andrew’s arrest on Thursday by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The allegations centre on claims he sent confidential government documents to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a trade envoy. In a separate inquiry, the Metropolitan Police says it is identifying and contacting former and serving officers who worked closely with him. The force is also assessing, with US counterparts, whether London airports may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Two bodies have been found in the Eryri mountain range, also known as Snowdonia, during a search for two missing men, North Wales Police have said.

Concerns were raised about the welfare of the 19 and 20 year olds on Wednesday. Crews from Llanberis and Aberglaslyn Mountain Rescue Teams, the RAF Mountain Rescue Service, SARDA and HM Coastguard carried out extensive searches on Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon. Police said the bodies were located and recovered as part of the co ordinated operation.

The Bishop of Lincoln, the Right Reverend Stephen Conway, has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.

Lincolnshire Police said a 68 year old man was detained as part of an ongoing investigation into an allegation that a man was sexually assaulted between 2018 and 2025. Bishop Conway has been released on conditional bail. A statement on the Diocese of Lincoln website confirmed he has been suspended from ministry following a complaint to the Church of England’s national safeguarding team.

Police searches at Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s former home, Royal Lodge in Windsor, are entering a third day.

Thames Valley Police confirmed the searches will continue until Monday. Pictures showed a convoy of officers travelling into the property, a few miles from Windsor Castle. The former prince was arrested on Thursday. The force later said it had arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

An inquest has been opened into the death of a woman at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough.

Ivy Margaret Rylance died aged 91 at the hospital in Wexham Street on 22 December 2025. Her provisional cause of death was given as pneumonia and frailty. The inquest into the circumstances surrounding her death was opened at Reading Coroner’s Court in Blagrave Street on Wednesday 18 February.

A clinical trial examining the risks and benefits of puberty blocking drugs for children questioning their gender has been paused after safety concerns were raised by the UK medicines watchdog.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is due to hold talks next week with King’s College London, whose researchers are leading the study, to address those concerns, the government said. Details of the trial, involving more than 220 children aged between about 11 and 15, were announced in November after approval from the regulator and the Health Research Authority.

A blood test designed to detect multiple types of cancer has failed to meet its main objective in a major NHS trial.

The Galleri test is being trialled on 142,000 patients with the aim of identifying cancers early and saving lives. The company behind it, Grail, said there were positive signs that some aggressive cancers could be prevented. However, researchers said any benefits remain speculative until it is shown to save lives, and the NHS says it is studying the results carefully.