OTHERSAlmost £200,000 of fuel stolen from UK forecourts every day since Iran war began
UK drivers have stolen almost £200,000 of fuel from petrol stations on average every day since the Iran war broke out and sent prices soaring, according to industry analysis.
Incidents of fuel being taken from forecourts without payment have risen by a fifth in the five months since 28 February, figures from Forecourt Eye suggest.
The conflict in the Middle East severely disrupted oil supplies across the region, triggering a rise in wholesale prices and subsequent increase in costs at the pump in the UK.
Forecourt Eye said the value of the stolen fuel is estimated to have risen by 48% compared with the five months before the war - to reach an estimated daily average of £194,000.
The fuel theft prevention company added petrol stations are reporting an increase in "abuse, intimidation and violence from frustrated customers".
The figures are based on a representative sample of 550 forecourts, comparing the five months prior to the outbreak with the five months after it started, and extrapolated to the UK's 8,359 forecourts.
The number of incidents recorded at the forecourts in the sample equates to 2,872 daily incidents on average at forecourts across the UK in the months after war began, up from around 2,400.
They include people driving off without an attempt to pay, and people claiming they have no way to pay after filling their vehicle.
The volume of stolen fuel rose by 24% - up from an estimated 87,000 litres to 108,900 litres a day across all forecourts.
In response, Forecourt Eye said it would partner with facial recognition company Facewatch to offer more than 2,000 retailers free access to crime reporting technology from the autumn.
Fuel prices peaked in April, before falling back when US and Iran agreed to a framework deal to end the conflict in June, but they have risen again since the collapse of peace talks.
Last week petrol reached a new high since the conflict in the Middle East started â and its highest level since 2022.
Forecourt Eye also reported a rise in thefts after the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in early 2022.
It comes after John Healey at the weekend vowed the government would act on any price gouging due to the Iran war.
The new chancellor told the Sunday Telegraph there was no significant evidence of this but he would be "watching closely" for any suggestion the public were being "taken for a ride at the pump or the till".
No evidence of widespread fuel price-gouging, watchdog says
Earlier this year former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and some of his ministers said the government would step in if customers were being ripped off by fuel retailers.
The remarks led to a row. Fuel retailers have denied accusations of price gouging, with the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) criticising the government's "inflammatory language".
The Competition and Markets Authority said in May there was no widespread evidence of price gouging in the weeks after the conflict.
But it said it was investigating why fuel margins increased between February and March for two supermarkets and three non-supermarket retailers.
The PRA was approached for comment regarding Healey's remarks.
The British Retail Consortium said in response that competition between supermarkets has kept prices as low as possible â not government intervention.
It added many of the extra costs pushing up prices have come from higher National Insurance contributions, increased packaging taxes and failing to reform "outdated" business rates.
"Despite these pressures, retailers will continue to do everything they can to deliver great value for customers," added Andrew Opie, BRC director of food and sustainability.
UK petrol prices hit highest level since Iran war began
Petrol retailers in row with government over 'rip off' accusations
Forecourt fuel thefts rise as petrol prices soar
Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.
SPORTSLiverpool ship four second-half goals to leave Iraola with much to ponder
Liverpool leave their USA pre-season tour with two wins and one defeat
On the flight home from Chicago, as he reflects on the 4-2 loss to Leeds that ended Liverpool 's United States tour, manager Andoni Iraola will have plenty to think about.
The first-half display was arguably the best since he took charge of Liverpool , but the second was categorically their worst as they conceded four times without reply inside 25 minutes.
Iraola did make a raft of changes at the break and in the second half but that is no excuse for the way they capitulated against Daniel Farke's side.
Their lack of squad depth and physicality was alarmingly exposed and Iraola will be concerned with the ease with which Leeds scored, albeit against an inexperienced backline that finished with Calvin Ramsay, Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Mor Talla Ndiaye and Kostas Tsimikas.
With Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz making their return, Liverpool were excellent in the first half and it is important not to be too critical but perhaps Iraola will be glad in the long-run that he saw this second-half display, where Liverpool 's set-piece deficiencies were highlighted too.
The intensity Iraola demands on the training pitch was evident in the first half but seemed non-existent after the break. Senior figures like Curtis Jones and Federico Chiesa did not cover themselves in glory.
"I particularly hate this month of August because you start the competitions and you still don't know if some of the players are going to leave and who's going to come - there is a lot of uncertainty," said Iraola, earlier in the week.
Iraola will meet Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Alisson Becker and new signing Victor Munoz over the coming days at the AXA Training Centre.
By then, the only first-team player he will have yet to meet will be Alexis Mac Allister, who has been granted extra time off following Argentina's run to the World Cup final. Munoz, who did not play a minute in Spain's successful World Cup campaign, will return earlier to aid his integration into the squad.
However, over the course of a fortnight in America, Liverpool have had no incomings. That was in part because Iraola wanted to see the squad at his disposal before making decisions. What he saw in this defeat will play into those decisions.
"I think we learn a lot of things. Obviously it's not the result you want but I think (it was) probably the most useful friendly we played â in a positive way in the first half and in a negative way in the second half," said Iraola. "I think we've learned a lot and I think we can take good conclusions and solve some things."
Wirtz scored seven goals for Liverpool last season
Even before the second-half troubles, Iraola would have known that there was no time to waste as he plans for the start of the season, his starting 11 reflecting this with Isak and Wirtz in against Leeds - even if the state of the pitch suggested that could be a risk.
The inclusion of a pair who cost a combined £225m last summer also gave the teamsheet the star quality befitting the host city of Chicago, home to both the Lollapalooza Festival and Major League Baseball series between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs over the weekend.
And in what was Liverpool 's best half of the tour, Isak looked sharp and Wirtz scored as they suffocated Leeds with their press and moved the ball around with confidence.
Their early breakthrough came from an unlikely source. Luke Chambers spent the second half of last season on loan at Charlton Athletic but, given Liverpool 's centre-half crisis, the left-back moved inside against Wrexham in Liverpool 's previous friendly and kept his place.
Fresh from impressing Iraola in New York, Chambers hammered home from inside the box in the seventh minute after Milos Kerkez got a touch on Szoboszlai's corner.
Rio Ngumoha caused havoc down his preferred left flank while 19-year-old Trey Nyoni continued his excellent pre-season with another solid showing. In the 40th minute, he floated a ball across to Jeremie Frimpong, who cut it back to Wirtz and the German did the rest. It was a wonderful team goal that involved Isak too.
Nyoni has been linked with a loan move this summer but on these showings, the midfielder will surely stay and get more minutes for Liverpool this season.
He only played 229 minutes in 2025-26 but Iraola has spoken glowingly about his attributes, not least his confidence on the ball and his desire to go direct.
Intensity, smiles & Lewandowski - inside Liverpool training under Iraola
Four pointers to most open Premier League title race in years
What happened to star signings your club never made?
OTHERSThe change that may help you get a mortgage as a first-time buyer
If you're working towards buying your first home you might feel like everything is stacked against you - but recent changes could help you get a mortgage.
It hard to save for a deposit when the cost of living is so high, the average house price is nearly £300,000 , external and interest rates on new mortgages are rising.
However, a rule change and more flexible lending mean first-time buyers can now borrow up to six, or at the most, seven times what you earn in a year.
This means mortgages will be within reach for more people but it is a shift that comes with some risk so here's what you need to know.
Reckless mortgage lending was blamed for the financial crisis of 2008, which brought some banks to their knees and saw people lose their homes.
In 2014, the business secretary of the time, Vince Cable, said he was appalled that some mortgage providers were lending five times a mortgage applicant's income, suggesting a stable level was up to 3.5 times.
But house prices have risen significantly since, outstripping wage rises most of the time. So a bigger loan has become the only option for many potential buyers.
Regulation limited how much lenders were able to lend - technically, only 15% of their new mortgages could be at higher than 4.5 times loan-to-income. Many of the big lenders played it very safe meaning they didn't get close to the limit.
But those rules have been relaxed , external over the last year. Many lenders are offering bigger loans compared with your income, with niche lenders and building societies at the highest end.
"The greater flexibility could mean that first time buyers that felt ownership was still out of reach may find that the amount they can borrow has changed markedly in a relatively short time," says David Hollingworth, of mortgage broker L&C.
The idea of taking a big income stretch is not going to be for everyone, says Aaron Strutt, of broker Trinity Financial.
"But it is tempting for many because it gives them the option to get out of renting or living with parents," he adds.
There is still a strict criteria you most likely need to meet as a first-time buyer to be offered a larger mortgage. They may include:
A good credit history with limited credit card debt and loans and no missed payments
A regular salary, ruling out many who are self-employed
A salary large enough to qualify for specific mortgages, which varies depending on the borrower and the lender
An acceptance to borrow at a certain interest rate usually for five or 10 years, rather than two
Enough savings to offer a deposit, although the options for low-deposit mortgages have increased too
Also, circumstances can change, such as what is on offer when you come to renew or shop around for another mortgage after five years. Lenders may become more picky if the economic outlook takes a turn for the worse.
Personal circumstances can change too, such as losing a job, having to take time out to care for a loved one, or illness of your own.
"Ideally you need to have a cash buffer or a plan in case something happens financially," says Strutt.
SPORTS'No guarantees' - joyful Glasgow cannot banish all Commonwealth doubts
Scotland's Josh Kerr provided one of the moments of the 2026 Games by winning the mile race at Scotstoun Stadium
Glasgow has performed the surgery the Commonwealth Games needed to keep it alive.
Eleven days. 674 medals. Thousands of happy fans.
But this is only the start of the recovery.
The Indian city of Ahmedabad now stands where Victoria did four years ago - as the next hosts of an event that will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2030.
Victoria pulled out. Can Ahmedabad give certainty it won't?
"I don't think one can give any guarantees," Raghu Iyer - chief executive of the Indian Olympic Association - told BBC Sport.
It was a note of caution that showed questions about the Games' future had not been banished as the 2026 Games closed on Sunday evening.
Why the Commonwealth Games are important to NI athletes
'A huge success' - Wales win 31 medals at Glasgow Games
After Victoria withdrew in 2023, Glasgow answered the SOS call - and organisers say the past 11 days in the Scottish city have "exceeded all expectations".
Yes, there have been grumbles - including from those who have seen parking spaces outside their houses taken - and taxi drivers and shop owners the Games have passed by.
On the ground, though, this felt like a meaningful event.
Ticket sales of 434,000 were well down from 1.5 million for Birmingham 2022, but they were always going to be given the smaller venues for this scaled-back edition. It has been rare to enter a venue and not find a joyful, engaged crowd.
There was plenty of excitement for fans, too - Josh Kerr's golden homecoming at Scotstoun , Angharad Evans making the swimming pool floors shake, and Neil Fachie's emotional victory on his return to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
They also celebrated Jamaica's seismic netball win over Australia. Live sport rarely fails to deliver.
But a nagging question has remained throughout: is anyone else watching?
Big names such as Kerr and Adam Ramsay-Peaty - with his emotional reaction to taking bronze in the pool - broke out of this Glaswegian bubble, but what else?
Organisers said their social media views passed those of Birmingham within the opening few days and highlighted record-breaking television figures in Australia and New Zealand, where the Games were free-to-air.
Still, without that same coverage in the UK, these Games have - at times - drifted by.
Glasgow 2026 was also hurt by the absence or late withdrawal of big-name competitors, particularly in athletics, which missed Keely Hodgkinson, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Dina Asher-Smith.
The Games' differing relevance between sports was again clear - for netball, this remains the pinnacle and is treated as such; for others, it is a stepping stone. Many narratives focused on the "next generation".
Eighteen-year-old Jersey swimmer Filip Nowacki was perhaps the most exciting name to emerge, but gymnasts Ruby Evans (Wales) and Reuben Ward (Scotland) and England track cyclist Henry Hobbs, who won two golds and a bronze, were others.
Swimmer Faye Rogers impressively brought her success at the Paralympics back to Glasgow with gold in the pool - and then competed in the non-para event as well.
Cyclist Emma Finucane turned her three Olympic medals in Paris into four Commonwealth golds in Glasgow .
All will have their eyes on Los Angeles in 2028.
This video can not be played
'I'm number one' - Fachie
But what does this all mean for the future of the Commonwealth Games?
A move to October for Ahmedabad will free athletics from a scheduling tussle with the European Championships. It will, though, extend a gruelling season and give athletes a different decision to make.
That the next Games are seen as a step towards India hosting the Olympics and Paralympics - possibly also in Ahmedabad - should help ensure their success.
The main venue will be the 120,000-seater cricket stadium which bears the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Given the issues at Delhi 2010 , plenty will be watching with interest.
But as the number of sports rises - not beyond 20, as was planned for Victoria, but to 17 from the 10 in Glasgow - so will costs.
They were slashed from £800m here, but the budget for Ahmedabad 2030 is almost double Glasgow's £160m. Therein lies a conflict.
This version has been billed as a template for the future, but immediately there is change. A financial and logistical circle needs to be squared.
This video can not be played
'I couldn't be happier' - Sawyers on Commonwealth gold
The specific sports returning for Ahmedabad will be interesting too.
While the Olympics have recently added skateboarding, surfing and breakdancing, the Commonwealths - with India having a big say - look set to reintroduce cricket, shooting, archery and hockey.
Cricket, though, would be another sport for which this event does not represent the biggest prize.
The BBC has been invited back to the negotiating table for broadcast rights, too.
But perhaps most significant is the fact sports, nations and thousands of athletes still want to be here - each for many different reasons.
"I always looked up to it as a little girl and wanted to compete at a Commonwealth Games," said 5,000m runner Rose Davies - part of the Australia squad that won 70 of the 216 golds.
"It is a big part of our development and one of the goals an athlete has."
Tarona Taafaki looked more broadly after winning Tuvalu's first Commonwealth medal.
"It means there's a start, there's a beginning, and right now it's just the beginning of what Tuvalu can reach in the future," she said.
If that drive remains, so will hope for the future.
Final medal table as Australia dominate Glasgow 2026
Day to remember for record-breaking Finucane
Selfies, signatures & social media - how Kerr embraced Glasgow Games
