6:14 am, August 29, 2023
Premier League footballers’ stolen cars found in shipping containers
Stolen cars belonging to two Premier League footballers are among a haul of vehicles and parts worth more than £16m that have been recovered by an Essex Police unit so far this year.
The Ferrari and Range Rover Sport belong to two players who have not been named, but have more than 100 international caps between them.
The vehicles were stolen in neighbouring counties but discovered in shipping containers due to be transported to Dubai from London Gateway Port in Thurrock, Essex Police’s stolen vehicle intelligence unit (SVIU) said.
In total, 517 vehicles or parts were recovered, with police saying thieves could have been hoping to be paid two or three times more than the UK value, once they sent were overseas.
Thousands stranded by cancelled flights and disruption could last days
Travel disruption could last for days after flights were cancelled leaving thousands of passengers stranded following an air traffic control technical fault.
Holidaymakers were hit by bank holiday travel delays, which started on Monday after a UK air traffic control failure meant flight plans had to be input manually by controllers.
By Monday afternoon, 232 flights departing UK airports had been cancelled and 271 arriving flights, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
This equates to about eight per cent of all expected departures and 9 per cent of expected arrivals, Cirium added.
BMW X5 gets toughened Protection model
BMW has created a new version of its X5 Protection model.
Following hot on the heels of the recent 7 Series Protection, the new X5 version meets Germany’s stringent attack-resistance tests meaning it’s able to fend off both bullets and explosives.
Designed to have ‘barely any perceptible difference’ between the standard model, the X5 Protection uses BMW’s performance-orientated 4.4-litre V8 engine to ensure that it can make a quick getaway.
Set to make its debut at the IAA Mobility Show in Munich, the X5 Protection features a redesigned kidney grille design compared to its predecessor, while inside there’s a four-seater layout. The X5 Protection manages to deliver the same amount of space as the standard version, according to BMW.
Residents ‘offered £100 a month’ to provide parking on Ulez charge-free road
Residents of a road which forms a charge-free corridor through London’s expanded ultra low emission zone (Ulez) say they have been offered ‘£100 a month’ to let people park on their driveways and avoid paying the fee.
Motorists travelling along Moor Lane which becomes Bridge Road in Chessington, south-west London, do not have to pay the Ulez charge, but should they turn off at any stage they will immediately enter the zone.
People leaving the road to access a train station, pub car park and numerous businesses along the road will have to pay the £12.50 charge if their vehicle does not meet emissions standards.
Fresh food prices help retail inflation to slow in August
Price rises in British shops have slowed to their lowest rate since October last year, but keep going up significantly, new data has shown.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported on Tuesday that prices rose 6.9 per cent in the year to August, down from 8.4 per cent in July.
It does not mean that things are getting cheaper, just that they increased in price more slowly between September 2022 and August 2023 than they did between August 2022 and July 2023.
Car Dealer headlines you might have missed over the bank holiday weekend
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- Used EV price falls have levelled out – but now diesel values are plummeting
- Big Mike: How my collections job at hotel car parks became a full-on Fiesta fiasco
- Car dealer group Jemca sees profits fall below £500,000 in latest company accounts
- Nissan to help make CarFest 2023 more inclusive and accessible than ever before
M&S set for return to London’s FTSE 100
High street giant Marks & Spencer is set to return to London’s blue chip share index on Wednesday after a four-year hiatus following a jump in shares on the back of resurgent sales.
The retail chain is expected to be promoted back up to the top tier in the latest quarterly indices reshuffle, according to data from FTSE Russell.
It has languished in the FTSE 250 Index since being demoted from the top flight in 2019 for the first time, having been a founding member of the leading City share index.
Hundreds of passengers have to fly home early after cruise liner collision
Hundreds of passengers are to leave a P&O cruise ship early after it collided with another boat during severe weather in Palma de Mallorca.
MV Britannia reportedly came free from its mooring during the storm and was involved in a bump with another vessel on Sunday.
A small number of people sustained minor injuries and were cared for by the onboard medical centre, a P&O Cruises spokesperson said.
Inspections revealed that one of the lifeboats sustained structural issues and cannot be repaired onboard, the spokesperson added.
Picture credit: Top and second image of recovered vehicles courtesy of Essex Police and PA
