Suffolk Live, Ipswich (2026)

20/06/2026

There’s a reason Hyrox has built up a reputation as one of the toughest fitness challenges you can do.

Hyrox is described as “fitness racing” – it combines both running and functional workout stations, where participants run one kilometre, followed by one functional workout station, and this is repeated eight times.

Each race is hosted indoors in exhibition halls, with competitions taking place all over the world, and it accommodates both professional athletes and everyday fitness enthusiasts looking to take their training to the next level.

There are four different categories to choose from when entering, including Open, Pro, Doubles or Relay, meaning you can even ask (or bribe) friends or your partner to join you.

From a first glance, it might sound relatively straightforward, but it’s more challenging than you think – and I learned this the hard way.

While I do my best to take care of my physical wellbeing, with some occasional running, weight training and reformer Pilates, I think I underestimated how challenging it would be.

To get a flavour of what race day might feel like, I joined Red Bull and Hyrox athlete Jake Dearden for a one-to-one training session in London.

Dearden, 27, who lives in Bolton, said he has always been “fascinated with sports” – he started off playing football, attended his local athletics club and was “obsessed with the gym and trying to get stronger”.

He originally wanted to become a civil engineer but realised this “wasn’t for (him)” – and with a desire to help people, he became a personal trainer instead and soon “caught the bug” for Hyrox.

Dearden is already a Hyrox world champion and record holder and, with his impressive accolades, it’s fair to say I was nervous before the session, particularly as I had never trained for a Hyrox before.

We started off by warming-up on the treadmill with some steady jogging, followed by dynamic stretches, and Dearden explained how Hyrox works.

He said technique is particularly important, so he demonstrated – with grace and ease – how to complete the workout stations, giving me thorough step-by-step instructions.

For context, after completing your initial one-kilometre run, the first station you are faced with is the SkiErg (an indoor fitness machine that simulates cross-country skiing).

Following the second run, it’s the sled push, and then the other stations after each one-kilometre run include the burpee broad jumps, rowing, the farmer’s carry, sandbag lunges and wall balls.

The first running section felt easy enough, followed by some weighted sandbag lunges, but when I jumped back onto the treadmill, my legs felt slightly jelly-like (and internally, I panicked).

I then jumped onto the rowing machine and actually enjoyed this part and, since my legs were somewhat resting during this station, the next running section did not feel as tough.

Since we weren’t able to follow the exact format of a Hyrox in the gym, I then did some weighted squats to mimic the farmer’s carry, followed by a run, and then the SkiErg was next.

I found the technique for the SkiErg more challenging, but with some encouragement from Dearden, I made it through and jumped back on the treadmill – and by this point, my heart was racing.

I tried to remain cool, calm and collected, but I don’t think I was very convincing – and to distract myself, we started talking about some of our favourite sweet treats.

After another weighted exercise, I was tasked with the burpees – and before even starting, I was dreading these.

Firstly, it’s impossible (at least for me) to look elegant while doing these and, secondly, it was very tempting to just stay lying on the floor once I got there…

The running was my least favourite part, but I was back on the treadmill again (admittedly very out of breath).

I found the sled push easier than some of the other stations, so this restored some confidence, but after the next running section, I knew I had the wall balls – and being on the shorter side, I was not looking forward to these.

For this exercise, you need to squat down with the ball, then explode up, throwing the ball to hit a target for a total of one-hundred reps and, after the ball is caught, you repeat this motion.

While I did not have to do one-hundred reps for this session (thank goodness), I have to say, I would gladly never do wall balls again.

With my heart rate raised, my legs tired and my positivity waning, I nearly did not make it through this section – and there was a near-miss injury when I almost didn’t catch the ball on its descent…

But once again, with encouragement and cheering from Dearden, I completed the task and then collapsed in a heap on the floor.

It’s fair to say the session was humbling and exhausting but enjoyable – and I have to admit, it might have tempted me to sign up for a Hyrox race in the future.

From this, it reinforced my main weakness is the running, so this is something I would focus on in my training sessions, and Dearden gave me his three top tips for beginners.

He recommended practising the technique for all the stations and studying your favourite athletes to learn from them; training with other people to make it less daunting and more fun; and thirdly, focusing on your weaknesses.

To everyone who has taken part in a Hyrox, I salute you – and who knows, maybe you’ll see me at one in the not-too-distant future (but after much more training).

✍Eleanor Fleming

20/06/2026

Gambling advertising within football has created an “absolute tidal wave of normalisation” for young people “without any understanding of the risks involved”, peers have heard.

James Grimes, from Gambling with Lives, told the Lords Liaison Committee that gambling advertising and sponsorship in football is a “really priority issue because of how many young people just love our national sport”.

Mr Grimes told the committee, which is following up on the 2020 Lords Select Committee report on the social and economic impact of the gambling industry, that “things have got a lot worse since this report”.

He said: “There are many more adverts on many more different platforms and what that’s caused is this absolute tidal wave of normalisation where young people associate gambling as being completely safe, harmless fun without any understanding of the risks involved.”

He added: “A study from the World Cup, which is very timely as England are playing tonight, showed that those watching ITV compared to the BBC – and ITV has gambling adverts – there was 16-24% higher gambling frequency.

“In summary, gambling advertising works.”

The 2020 report warned the liberalisation of gambling by the Gambling Act 2005, the universal adoption of smart phones, and the exploitation of soft-touch regulation by gambling operators had created a “perfect storm of addictive 24/7 gambling”.

It said it expected the Government and the regulator to “make changes now”, adding: “Many of the report’s recommendations do not need legislation, and all of them are urgent if consumers are to be protected and lives saved.”

On Wednesday, Raffaello Rossi from the University of Bristol Business School told the follow-up committee that the gambling industry now spent around £2 billion on advertising each year, saying: “What has changed since 2020 is they have created this very integral and complicated ecosystem of advertising across digital, across sports, media, everywhere, and it makes it very pervasive and hard – well, almost impossible – to escape for both children and adults.”

He said the gambling industry is now mostly investing in digital marketing – on social media, integrated in gaming, loot boxes, streaming platforms, “everywhere online, it is very hard to escape”.

He referred to a newly-published study that found 20,000 paid-for gambling ads had been viewed two billion times in the UK over one year, with around 60% breaching the Betting and Gaming Council code to prevent the targeting of people under 25.

Mr Rossi said the content of ads had changed, saying: “It is much more sneaky, it is much more covert… The problem is our research, which included over 400 children and young people, found it’s four times more appealing to children than to adults, and children as well as young people don’t quite understand that what they are looking at is actually gambling advertising.

“These three things have changed fundamentally – it’s more digital, it’s a higher volume, and the formats have changed.

“As a result of that, the regulations are really, really struggling to keep up with that. We are still relying on self-regulation and that hasn’t worked. We need to create more digitally-focused regulations.”

Will Prochaska, the director of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads, told the committee he is concerned about the convergence of artificial intelligence and ad technology “and what we’re going to see that do in terms of ultra-targeting of people who are particularly susceptible to unaffordable losses on gambling platforms”.

He said: “Truth be told, people in the third sector like myself, as well as the regulators, are typically quite a long way behind the gambling sector, and I suspect this is already being deployed very intensively already and I think it’s something the Government needs to get ahead of.

“The public health argument is clear. If you allow liberal gambling advertising you end up in Britain with an estimated 1.4 million people at any given time who are experiencing problem gambling, families ruined, high streets ravaged, children who are addicted – this is undoubtedly a public health crisis.

“If you reduce gambling advertising and you reduce gambling consumption, you will start to rein that in and you will start to see a reduction in harm.”

✍Josie Clarke

20/06/2026

Plans to build 374 homes in a village have been given the final go-ahead more than a decade after being revealed.

Persimmon Homes first brought forward the proposals on more than 22 hectares of land north of Station Road, in Lakenheath, near Mildenhall, back in 2014.

West Suffolk Council approved the new homes in February 2020, subject to further details around the scheme’s appearance, layout, landscaping and scale being submitted.

The authority’s planners have now given these the green light.

The new homes, 30 per cent of which will be affordable, are part of a wider allocation which includes a new primary school.

Green spaces, play areas and walking routes also form part of the proposals.

Access to the site and the new school off Station Road was part of the original application and has already been built.

Officers said impacts around the loss of protected trees and high levels of noise from military planes had been addressed by the scheme’s design.

The planning report said concerns raised by Anglian Water and the county council’s highways department had been addressed by conditions.

Objections from local members and Lakenheath Parish Council were withdrawn.

Lakenheath Community Primary School raised concerns around road safety mainly, but officers said these had been ‘carefully considered’.

✍Original copy by Joao Santos, Local Democracy Reporter

20/06/2026

An easing of inflation in May across a range of groceries and kitchen appliances helped offset the impact of a jump in the price of petrol and air fares, meaning the UK’s overall rate remained unchanged.

It is not the first time in recent months that price rises in some areas have been cancelled out by a slowdown elsewhere, meaning the UK’s headline rate of inflation has flatlined – in this instance, measuring 2.8% in April and May.

The rate stood at 3.0% in January and February 2026, while it held at 3.8% for three months in a row from July to September 2025.

The biggest upward pressure on inflation last month came from air fares.

While the cost of air travel in May was only 0.9% higher than 12 months ago, this followed a sharp year-on-year drop of 13.2% in April, which reflected the early timing of the Easter holidays.

Petrol and diesel prices continued to rise last month due to the effects of the Iran war and the disruption to the global supply of oil.

The average of cost of petrol was 18.9% higher in May than a year earlier, a steeper increase than the 16.6% jump recorded in April, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Diesel prices were 34.6% higher, up slightly on 34.1% the previous month.

Bus and coach fares in May averaged 3.7% more than they did a year earlier, up from 0.8% in April, while train fares swung from a year-on-year drop in price of 0.2% in April to a rise of 1.2%.

Margarine, pizza, tea, rice and chocolate were among the groceries that saw their cost accelerate last month.

Helping to push inflation in the opposite direction, meanwhile, was a slowdown in price rises across a range of other food and drink items.

These include coffee, fish, whole milk, frozen vegetables, pasta, meat, bread and potatoes – all of which recorded a smaller year-on-year rise in price in May than in April.

A handful of items saw a drop in their average price, with yoghurt down 0.6% compared with a year ago, cheese and curd down 2.4%, and jams and marmalades down 3.0%.

Kitchen appliances also contributed to the downward pressure on inflation.

The cost of a cooker averaged 3.6% less in May than a year earlier, a larger drop than 0.6% in April; the price of irons fell 4.8% year-on-year last month, compared with a rise of 2.0% in April; while fridges and freezes saw an annual rate of increase of 4.0%, down from 6.5% in April.

Below are some examples of how the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rate has eased or accelerated.

Two figures are listed for each item: the average rise in price in the 12 months to April, followed by the average rise in price in the 12 months to May.

– Examples where annual inflation has accelerated, ranked by the size of the change:

Passenger air travel: April down 13.2%, May up 0.9%
Margarine & vegetable fats: April down 1.4%, May up 3.9%
Pizza & quiche: April down 4.4%, May up 0.7%
Passenger transport by bus & coach: April up 0.8%, May up 3.7%
Petrol: April up 16.6%, May up 18.9%
Cinemas, theatres & concerts: April up 5.2%, May up 6.9%
Passenger train travel: April down 0.2%, May up 1.2%
Tea: April up 4.6%, May up 5.9%
Rice: April up 0.1%, May up 1.4%
Dried fruit & nuts: April up 3.5%, May up 4.4%
Chocolate: April up 7.8%, May up 8.3%

– Examples where annual inflation has eased:

Irons: April up 2.0%, May down 4.8%
Coffee: April up 6.3%, May up 2.5%
Fish: April up 5.7%, May up 2.1%
Whole milk: April up 10.7%, May up 7.2%
Cookers: April down 0.6%, May down 3.6%
Frozen vegetables (not including potatoes): April up 3.7%, May up 1.1%
Refrigerators & freezers: April up 6.5%, May up 4.0%
Cheese & curd: April no change, May down 2.4%
Jams, marmalades & honey: April down 0.8%, May down 3.0%
Pasta & couscous: April up 6.1%, May up 4.1%
Meat: April up 3.6%, May up 2.3%
Breakfast cereals: April up 4.7%, May up 3.5%
Bread: April up 2.0%, May up 1.0%
Potatoes: April up 1.5%, May up 0.5%

✍Ian Jones

20/06/2026

🌡 Following very warm weather on Sunday, very high temperatures are expected on Monday and Tuesday and will likely bring widespread impacts to people and infrastructure.

🥵 In addition to high daytime maxima, temperatures overnight will remain very warm, especially in larger urban areas, and it will also feel humid.

☀ Temperatures are likely to reach the mid-30s Celsius in places on Monday and Tuesday. Some places, particularly in urban areas, may see temperatures remain above 20 Celsius overnight.

The very high temperatures may continue across a smaller area into the middle of the week, but there remains some uncertainty regarding the extent of this.

20/06/2026

A woman considered having her legs amputated after horrendous muscle aches left her in crippling pain and facing sudden paralysis. The rare condition behind her life-changing diagnosis initially had doctors baffled.

Charlie Wilson, 38, was living a "completely normal" life working in Magaluf, Mallorca, before she lost movement in both legs, her left arm and neck. She broke out in lumps all over her body, but doctors did not know what was causing her pain.

After multiple tests and scans and a three-week stay in the hospital, Charlie was diagnosed with extrapulmonary sarcoidosis. This is a rare condition that causes small patches of swollen tissue to develop in the organs of the body.

In Charlie’s case, her condition is isolated and does not affect her lungs, which is the most common place for the condition to form. Instead, her condition affects the limbs, joints and bones.

Now, her condition has forced her to move back home to the UK, where she has moved into a bungalow with carers visiting four times a day. Charlie says her movement has returned, but she now uses a wheelchair for flare-ups, which leave her in pain.

Charlie, a former shot girl and social media manager from Darlington, said: "My life was completely normal. I woke up and my body felt like it would if you go to the gym and get that ache, but I don’t go to the gym.

"It got to the point where I literally could not move, so my friend took me to the doctors so she could translate as she speaks Spanish. At that point, if I had the option to amputate my legs [and] I would have had it, that was the level of pain I was in."

Her twin sister flew to Spain to help look after her. She needed a wheelchair to get around, 24-hour care and had to be fed through a straw.

Blood tests showed her vitamin B12 was “dangerously low,” as were her folic acid, potassium, and iron levels. Her inflammation markers were high also, and Charlie was admitted to Son Espasas University Hospital as doctors said they “didn’t understand” what the cause of her pain was.

Charlie said: "They brought out two neurologists to do a brain scan. I had 33 blood tests, a chest scan, a brain scan, a CT scan and a PET scan.

"They found something in the biopsy, and they thought it was sarcoidosis, but that comes up in your lungs. There was nothing wrong with my torso."

Unable to return to work, she moved back to the UK in December 2025 and is still waiting for her medication to be prescribed, as it was in Spain. Charlie says that her life has completely changed as a result of the condition.

She said: "My life before, I travelled the world and was used to going from country to country. Now I’m lucky if I go into four different rooms every day.

"I don’t really tend to go out so much – I'm in a wheelchair now when I’m in a flare up, and I can’t get up and down kerbs by myself, so it’s not very often I go out in my wheelchair.

"The boredom is terrible, my sister and my friends have bought me colouring books, and I can only watch so much TV. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime illness I’m dealing with."

✍Andrew Nuttall and Emily Phillips

19/06/2026

Tomorrow's weather forecast for Suffolk

19/06/2026

⚠ The Met Office has issued a severe amber weather warning for extreme heat starting from Monday across 51 areas of the UK - and has cautioned that the scorching conditions could trigger power cuts.

🌡 The weather experts have warned that "extreme heat" will mainly affect the south of England and Wales from 1am on Monday, lasting 46 hours through to 11pm on Tuesday night.

Temperatures will soar into the mid-30s in Celsius, with overnight lows remaining as high as 20C, the Met Office said.

The forecaster warned that the sweltering conditions could cause "heat sensitive systems and equipment" to break down, resulting in "power cuts and the loss of other services to homes and businesses".

It said: "A developing hot spell is expected to peak on Monday and Tuesday and lead to widespread impacts on people and infrastructure."

"Following very warm weather on Sunday, very high temperatures are expected on Monday and Tuesday and will likely bring widespread impacts to people and infrastructure. In addition to high daytime maxima, temperatures overnight will remain very warm, especially in larger urban areas, and it will also feel humid.

"Temperatures are likely to reach the mid-30s Celsius in places on Monday and Tuesday. Some places, particularly in urban areas, may see temperatures remain above 20 Celsius overnight.

"The very high temperatures may continue across a smaller area into the middle of the week, but there remains some uncertainty regarding the extent of this."

During the previous record-breaking heatwave , from May 24 to 31, the UK saw a horrifying death toll of 19 children and adults killed in water related incidents during one week. In response the Mirror launched our 'Save Lives for Sam' campaign to stop the "catastrophic" deaths of 33 children who drown in England every year - "the equivalent of a classroom of children lost".

Bereaved families, Olympic legends and safety organisations have joined together to call on the Government to take five key steps to save young lives across the country.

People heading to the coast in the coming days should be mindful that sea-surface temperatures are not as high as they would be in mid-summer, the Met Office warned. Samantha Hughes is the National Water Safety Partner at the RNLI. She said: "With warmer weather approaching, it's important to remember that the water is still cold. Entering it unexpectedly can lead to cold water shock, causing a sudden increase in breathing and heart rate, which may trigger panic.

"If you find yourself struggling in the water, remember to Float to Live: tilt your head back so your ears are submerged, relax and control your breathing. You may need to gently use your hands to help you stay afloat, and it’s ok if your legs sink—everyone floats differently.

"Where possible, always choose a lifeguarded beach, and swim between the red and yellow flags. In a coastal emergency remember to call 999 for the coastguard."

Areas affected by the amber heat warning:

- Bedford
- Cambridgeshire
- Central Bedfordshire
- Essex
- Hertfordshire
- Luton
- Norfolk
- Southend-on-Sea
- Suffolk
- Thurrock
- Bracknell Forest
- Brighton and Hove
- Buckinghamshire
- East Sussex
- Greater London
- Hampshire
- Isle of Wight
- Kent
- Medway
- Milton Keynes
- Oxfordshire
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Slough
- Southampton
- Surrey
- West Berkshire
- West Sussex
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Wokingham
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
- Bristol
- Devon
- Dorset
- Gloucestershire
- North Somerset
- Somerset
- South Gloucestershire
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
- Blaenau Gwent
- Bridgend
- Caerphilly
- Cardiff
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Monmouthshire
- Newport
- Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Torfaen
- Vale of Glamorgan

✍ Alex Evans

19/06/2026

🏠 People may be paying the wrong amount of council tax for their property due to an outdated system which is decades old.

💷 Carrying out a few simple checks could help some households cut costs - though there is a chance others might end up paying more.

In a post on Instagram, consumer group Which? said: "Our Which? survey found that more than half (54%) of people who challenged their council tax band successfully got it lowered." It added: "Your council tax band is based on what your home was worth all the way back in 1991. That's the same year that Terminator 2 came out, and that valuation has barely changed since."

Council tax operates differently depending on your location. For instance, Wales introduced fresh valuations in 2003, while Scotland has its own separate system.

In England, the majority of properties still rely on the original 1991 price bands - meaning some homes could be paying more or less than neighbours living in identical houses. Councils assign properties to 'bands', and most people have no clue whether their home sits in the correct category.

How to check if your tax is correct in the first place

Which? said people should begin their checks on the GOV.UK website and compare their own property against neighbouring homes. The expert said: "If your home is similar in size, age and location, you should probably be in the same band."

It's also worthwhile examining what comparable properties on your road have recently sold for. The Which? team said: "Use a house price calculator to estimate what that would have been worth back in 1991."

Why checking your band could backfire

Contesting your council tax band is no guarantee of saving money. In certain cases, it could actually result in both you and your neighbours paying more each month.

Which? said: "If you've been in the wrong band for years, you could get a refund for what you overpaid, backdated to when you moved in. In fact, our survey found that more than half of the people who challenged their band successfully got it lowered, while only 1% saw an increase."

Martin Lewis has a full guide on his MoneySavingExpert website here for more help and advice about the process. Martin has been campaigning for people to check and challenge the system since 2007.

You can challenge your band through the Valuation Office Agency in England and Wales, or the Scottish Assessors' Association in Scotland. You can check and challenge your band completely for free directly through the official government channels.

You can challenge someone’s council tax band for them if they’ve appointed you as their ‘representative’ in an Authority to act form. You then need to fill in a Council Tax challenge form on their behalf - you cannot use the online service.

The Valuation Office (VO) will confirm they’ve got your challenge. This is usually within a few days, but can sometimes take up to 28 days.

They’ll review your challenge and make a decision. GOV.UK claims that this can take up to four months. If the VO needs more information, they’ll contact you.

✍ Andrew Nuttall

19/06/2026

⚠ A new law means dog walkers could face £500 on-the-spot fines from June 29.

🐕 Local authorities and councils will gain the power to issue fines of up to £500 to dog walkers from the end of this month.

❗ The Crime and Policing Act 2026 will see the maximum Fixed Penalty Notice for breaches of Public Spaces Protection Orders and Community Protection Notices rise to £500.

This figure is currently capped at £100 but will increase at the end of June. John Roberts, chief services officer of Kingdom Local Authority Support, said: "The Crime and Policing Act 2026 is due to give local authorities unprecedented powers to combat issues such as dog fouling and public drinking."

He continued: "The legislation increases the maximum Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) level for breaches of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) and Community Protection Notices (CPNs) from £100 to £500

"It's important to note that this is not an automatic increase, but it does give councils the ability to set penalties at a higher level where appropriate."

In public areas with PSPOs, dog owners may be required to keep their dog on a lead, or to put their dog on a lead if instructed to do so by a police officer, a police community support officer, or a council representative.

Owners may also be required to prevent their dog from accessing certain areas.

This could be in places such as a farmland or sections of a park, and restricts the number of dogs they have with them at any one time, a rule that also applies to professional dog walkers.

The Government website also advises that dog owners should always clean up after their pet and carry a p**p scoop and disposable bags at all times.

Local councils are obliged to inform the public of any areas where PSPOs are in force.

Should a council intend to introduce a new PSPO, it must display a notice and publish the details on its official website.

The notice must clearly state the area to which the new PSPO will apply, along with details of any accompanying map and where it can be viewed.

✍ James Rodger & Chloe Dobinson,

Suffolk Live

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