Plumbers, electricians and gardeners have among the safest jobs amid the rise of AI chatbots, according to the Astronomer Royal Lord Rees.

Many white-collar professionals previously assured that their special talents were irreplaceable are in more trouble, he says, with lawyers and computer coders among those at risk of having their jobs taken by AI tool ChatGPT.

Accountants may end up job-sharing with the bot, which can look at balance sheets, and doctors could be working with more wide-ranging AI which can analyse medical scans.

But skilled blue-collar workers may have the last laugh in a future jobs market dominated by AI. Reassuringly, Lord Rees, an esteemed academic and former president of the Royal Society, believes the threat to our way of life from ChatGPT has been exaggerated.

Rather than humanity facing the rise of machines more intelligent than us, he says AI devices may be more like 'idiot savants', which understand words in great detail but are still limited in their real-world applications.

On the threat to the workplace from AI, Lord Rees told the Edinburgh Science Festival: 'Skilled service sector blue-collar jobs, like plumbing and gardening, they require non-routine interactions with the external world – they would be far harder to automate.'

Speaking to the Mail, he said: “Plumbers and gardeners have to go to a strange house and fiddle with appliances – and that requires an understanding of the real world.' Tech bosses including Twitter owner Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently signed an open letter demanding a pause to all AI research for at least six months to ensure the technology does not threaten humanity.

But Lord Rees said of a robot future: “The jury is out on whether they will be idiot savants or display superhuman capabilities and whether we should worry more about breakdowns or bugs.”

The cross-bench peer, whose latest book If Science is to Save Us looks at the technological future, does believe however that the future belongs to machines, which will outlive people. He says the first humans who merge their minds with computers to become part-Cyborg will be living on Mars.

Before that, he said: “We should embrace computers taking over work in call centres and robots replacing humans who pack parcels in Amazon warehouses.”

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  Robert Jenrick: How Reform UK Will Take Tool Theft “Seriously” and Get Britain Building Again

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  Tradesman's Warning to All Trades: Wear a Mask!

The signs, which were proposed to be a metre wide and 0.4 metres tall, would have been installed on roundabouts on either side of the bridge which carries traffic over the A12.

But Colchester Council’s planning committee rejected his bid, stating the signs would add to “street clutter” in the location.

It comes despite Daniel’s proposal being made as part of a council-run roundabout sponsorship scheme.

The 39-year-old said he was “shocked” to see his application, which also advertises his wife's balloon art business, had been refused.

“I knew there was going to be a big development there and so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to advertise my business,” he said.

“I was really disappointed when I saw the signs wouldn’t be allowed.

“We are a local business which looks after hundreds of people in keeping their homes safe and I feel we should be supported by the council, especially in these tough times.”

The electrician, who runs the family business based in Colchester, said he has since been told the council will no longer let people advertise on roundabouts.

He added: “Now the situation as a small business is it feels like we have just thrown money away.”

Among the documents submitted to Colchester Council, both Essex Highways and National Highways said the plan should be granted.

However, Myland Community Council objected to the bid amid fears the signs would distract motorists.

And Colchester Council raised its own concerns, ultimately rejecting the application.

A report reads: “The advertisements are considered unacceptable in terms of their impact upon visual amenity due to their prominence, size, design and the resultant addition to street clutter in the location.”

It said the advertisements would “fail to integrate” successfully in the street scene, adding: “It is not considered that any public benefit outweighs the visual amenity harm to the character of the area.”

Last week, director Greta Gerwig and the film’s production designer Sarah Greenwood sat down to talk about the construction of Barbieland.

During the interview, Greenwood told Architectural Digest that the film caused an international shortage of pink paint.

“The world ran out of pink,” she said.

Lauren Proud, who is the vice president of global marketing at Rosco, the paint company used by the film, confirmed Greenwood’s claim, telling the Los Angeles Times that the film “used as much paint as we had”.

“There was this shortage and then we gave them everything we could – I don’t know they can claim credit,” she said. “They did clean us out on paint.”

Speaking of the set’s colour, Gerwig said: “I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much.

She added that she didn’t want to “forget what made me love Barbie when I was a little girl”.

Workmen found the human remains after carrying out renovations on a kitchen extension in September 2017, and were shocked to dig up the body in the homeowner's garden in Wimbledon, London.

Scotland Yard said the man, who was buried in a shallow grave just 1ft deep, had been dismembered and had a significant and traumatic head injury. 

The force is now appealing to anyone who might have information about the victim and have released an e-fit image to help identify him. 

The woman, who lives in a £1million four-bed Victorian terrace, said at first the builders thought the bones were fake and perhaps from a model skeleton. 

She said she was in shock after they also discovered a shirt, a tie and trousers in the grave with the victim.

“We called the police and the forensics came, it was like we were in the middle of a crime drama,” she told the Evening Standard.

The human remains were excavated and a post-mortem examination found the victim was bludgeoned and died from a head wound. 

Scotland Yard said: “Radiocarbon dating indicated that the deceased likely went in the ground in the early 1960s.

“A biological profile from an anthropologist indicated that the deceased was male and likely of Asian ancestry, likely to be in the age range of 35 to 55, approximately 5ft 7in tall and likely to be of muscular or of a more robust stature due to marked and well developed muscle attachments on a number of bones.

“There is a strong possibility that the deceased has some form of medical procedure to the head - likely to be trepanning (drilling a hole into the skull using a sharp instrument) or neuro surgery as there are circular defects to the skull that had healed prior to death.

“There is no evidence of dentistry and the deceased likely had a sugar free diet for a while.”

Blaan Paterson is in dispute with his local council over his claim that cavity wall insulation has led to nearly a decade of damp conditions.

He has spent £4,000 on reports that suggest a mix of rock wool and polystyrene insulation - and a botched removal - have caused persistent damp.

South Lanarkshire Council said the work was carried out by contractors.

And an industry body said mould spores evident throughout Paterson's flat were "unrelated" to insulation.

The insulation was installed at Paterson's property in East Kilbride after it was given the go-ahead by the council as part of a Scottish government scheme around 12 years ago.

BBC Scotland has spoken with more than a dozen other residents in his neighbourhood complaining of similar problems after the scheme launched.

The Scottish government said it was sorry to hear about the concerns but added any issues should be addressed by factors "as soon as possible".

Paterson, 48, said he could expect to spend a further £10,000 to take the case to court and the long dispute has "destroyed" his mental health.

"For eight years I've tried everything," he said.

"You're just left in a situation where you don't know who to turn to. All this for work that I didn't even agree to have carried out.

"This was a Scottish government scheme that has completely ruined my home. And there is no help anywhere to get it fixed."

Paul Bevans, 50, matched all five main numbers in The National Lottery’s Set For Life draw on March 27, and was rewarded by receiving £10,000 every month for a year.

After hitting the jackpot Paul wasted no time celebrating in style, gathering his co-workers round and treating them all to bacon butties.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Paul. “In fact I was so unsure that I scanned the ticket about five times - this time with my eyes firmly open - and each time there was the same winning message.”

While he could be forgiven for taking the day off, instead Paul popped his winning National Lottery ticket in his pocket, jumped in his van and headed off to work clearing out a house he had been working on.

He said: “When I got to the site I showed my boss and the other lads, and then headed to the local shop so it could be checked properly on the terminal before I called The National Lottery, and of course, to shout the lads a bacon, sausage and egg roll to celebrate!

“Once I’d made the call confirming the win I headed back to work and got on with the house clearance with everyone else.”

While he has no plans to stop working, Paul is beginning to think about what the future may hold and although it’s early days there are a couple of ideas on his wish list.

Experts were baffled after the curious discovery in the historic town of Santa Maria Regla in Mexico City.

Builders uncovered the mysterious specimen during construction work.

It has a small body, four limbs, round head like a baby, a disfigured face with a pronounced nose, claws, and a tail.

Authorities say samples are being analysed by university researchers.

The foetus itself is being exhibited at the Museo de los Duendes - translated as Goblin Museum - in the municipality of Huasca de Ocampo.

Mayor Francisco Mayoral Flores said the mummified remains could be from a “goblin or a nagual.”

In Mesoamerican mythology, a nagual is a human with the ability to shape-shift into an animal counterpart.

The mayor said: “Everyone can value it themselves based on their beliefs and traditions.”

Huasca de Ocampo is a well-known region for legends related to goblins, naguals and other mythical Mayan entities such as aluxes.

Unhappy locals in Bestwood, Nottingham, claim that builders have been blocking their driveways and causing a racket.

Peter Walker, who has lived in the area for 18 years, said the works are becoming a "nightmare" for the community.

The 59-year-old told NottinghamshireLive: "None of the residents are happy.

"They keep blocking access to residents' driveways. It is becoming a nightmare."

Peter, who is a construction site manager himself, continued: "They are not supposed to work before 8am and after 5pm. This is a residential area.

"There is no consideration, no respect for the residents. They do not seem to care. I heard the lorries at 6.30am. They started the plant before 8am. And it is just getting worse. Traffic jams outside.

"I am thinking about selling off because I had enough and they are going to be here for another year."

The works on the site are being carried out by Lovells. Beth Bundonis, Interim Regional Managing Director for Lovell East Midlands, said: “We are aware that a saw was started on site just ahead of core hours of working this week.

"We apologise to any residents disrupted and will be putting this in writing as soon as possible. We have reconfirmed the correct core hours to all subcontractors to avoid this happening again.”

Scott Reeves and Jack Oakey, from SJR Solutions in South Gloucestershire, started posting their dances on TikTok for fun in 2022.

Since then, their videos filmed on building sites have quickly picked up legions of fans.

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The production and distribution of energy are critical to the functioning of society.

This means that striking energy workers can exercise a lot of leverage and put pressure on governments or their employers to negotiate, particularly if they are willing to resort to spikier, more creative tactics.

French workers are currently doing just that in the ongoing dispute over pension reform which is entering its fourth month. Industrial action is heating up as a result of the government’s decision to raise the pension age as planned without a vote in parliament.

Energy workers - from the operators of nuclear plants, to electricians maintaining the grid and employees at oil refineries - have been on the frontlines of some of the most combative aspects of the dispute.

They have been deploying militant tactics against the government, with the government playing hardball in return.

France’s electricity mix is dominated by nuclear power. According to the latest International Energy Agency review, nuclear accounts for around 71 per cent of the nation’s electricity production. Hydroelectric power contributes 10 per cent, while a mix of thermal and other sources make up the rest.

This means that when the workers in France’s nuclear power stations go on strike they can have a significant impact on the nation’s economy by cutting the production of electricity.

In the energy sector, workers have to give a 48 hour warning before striking so that critical infrastructure can be maintained.

Fabrice Coudour, Federal Secretary of the CGT union for Mines and Energy, says that workers “have mastered the tools of their work” so are deciding to call their strikes ahead of times that cause maximum disruption to the process of running a power station.

According to an EDF spokesperson, RTE, the body responsible for balancing energy supply and demand, needs to import electricity if production falls too low. Coudour explains this is one of the principal ways that workers in nuclear power stations can exercise leverage.

It was worlds away from the confines of a building site.

The response to her post resulted in a flurry of fans suddenly realizing they needed joinery done in their homes.

Others simply stated, "You’re a joiner?"

Charlotte Davies (@charlottedavies_444) is a proud "girl joiner" and "female construction worker."

In her post, Charlotte could be seen at work.

She was either inside or out, drilling, sawing, or carrying planks of wood.

At one point, she was even working on scaffolding several floors up.

Her standard daily workwear comprised work boots, trousers, a hi-vis vest, and a hard hat.

It was hardly glamorous, but the transformation to her going-out look couldn't have been more different.

Out went functional wear and in came a highly glossed and shiny Charlotte.

She wore a shimmery pale blue mini dress, with a matching bikini top, and strappy heels, and her long blond hair was worn loose.

Dressed up like this, Charlotte encountered disbelief when she revealed her professional life.

In the comments to her post, there were a few wags, but most of the responses were from other guys in the trade.

They were supportive and wanted to see more women in construction.

“I need some doors hanging," joked one viewer.

Her experience will give her a passport to travel, said this fan: “You can travel all over with those skills, It’s great to see some female trades.”

This man offered more encouraging words: “This is exactly what we need, good for you girl, just wish we had a few more in the trade”

Finally, more enlightened views from this fellow tradesperson: “Amazing. Love to see more women in the trades. As an electrician, it's just great to walk onto a site and find tradeswomen. It’s equality in the workplace.”

According to the Independent Franco Galvan Martinez, 53, disturbed the hive as he worked at a home in Austin, and accidentally kicked away the ladder beneath him, his family said.

“I guess in a panic trying to swat away the bees from himself, he kicked away the ladder,” Joe Maldonado, a family friend and pastor, told KXAN.

“The hive was so ginormous that it literally covered Franco instantly.”

Two of the victim’s co-workers below tried help but were also stung by the bees.

“For over 10 minutes, all they could do was endure hearing his anguish,” added Maldonado.

Emergency services were called to the scene on Thursday and firefighters used their hoses to blast the bees away so they could reach the married father of two.

His family say Galvan Martinez was working for Bill Biggadike & Associates, a landscape and lighting business based in New Braunfels, Texas.

The company confirmed that one of its workers had died, but made no other comment.

City officials said that the incident has been assigned to the Austin Code Department who sent an inspector to the home where the incident took place.

Professional beehive remover Mike Lopez told KXAN that in the case of an attack you have to keep moving and try to get indoors or into a vehicle.

“Under no circumstances do you stop moving,” Lopez said.

Taking to Facebook he wrote: "Being disabled, I went to park at the post office on the high street but due to all the scooters from McDonald’s being parked there, I couldn’t park. They need to be told that the bays are for disabled people’.

Howard Toshman thinks he knows why this is happening, and according to him it’s due to a legal technicality. He said: “The two spaces/bays immediately outside the Post Office in High Barnet are loading bays not really for mopeds - but the moped riders take advantage of the situation as it would be a grey area as to whether they are actually 'loading'."

He added: “Ideally one of these loading bays should be made specifically a disabled bay to prevent any use by moped riders and give easy access to drivers with a disabled badge.”

Mark Stammers said: “Why don't anyone tell them to move out the bays or complain to the businesses they work for.. I know I would.” And Lucy Colclough has seen it all before.

She said: “The same happened to my nan she ended up getting a ticket parking on a double yellow even with a disabled badge! Bloody vile if you ask me.” Jo Elizabeth too has the same issue.

She wrote: “It’s very very difficult to park in North Finchley, scooters everywhere. I also find if you park often when you come back one has parked in front of you leaving one inch to get out. I think there should be an area for scooters and not allow them to use up all the parking spaces.”

Paul Saab and Christal Condon Saab live in the $15million home with their three young kids. Paul is a software engineer at Facebook and Christal is an angel investor. Records show that they bought the property in 2020. 

While digging up the yard to perform renovations, the couple's team of contractors discovered a car buried deep in the ground behind the house.  Cadaver dogs were brought in and detected a 'slight' possibility of human remains.

The car was registered to a previous owner of the home and police believe it is from the 1990s. That owner has not yet been named, but police are working to track them down for an interview. 

DailyMail.com has viewed property records which indicate the Lew family lived in the home between 1990 and 2014.

The unused bags of concrete were placed throughout the vehicle, though it was blanketed by dirt over the roof, he said.

The 1.63-acre property includes the 12,000sq ft home and was bought in 2020 by its current owners for $15million.

The mansion was built in 1990 and was sold in 2014 for $7.3million.

It has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms and features a private pool, and was listed for rent before the 2014 sale.

Atherton resident Athena Ogawa told NBC Bay Area: 'It's a mystery in my own neighborhood.'

Multiple squad cars, SUVs and firefighters came to help on the potential crime scene.

Meanwhile, Sky News reports that a convertible sports car stolen 30 years ago has been found buried in the yard of a California mansion built by a man with a history of arrests for murder, attempted murder and insurance fraud.

The car was reported stolen in September 1992 in nearby Palo Alto, Atherton town mayor Rick DeGolia said.

The sprawling home with a pool and tennis court was built by Johnny Lew, who spent time behind bars in the 1960s and 1970s.

He was found guilty of murdering a 21-year-old in Los Angeles in 1966, but the conviction was overturned two years later.

And in 1977, he spent three years in prison after being convicted of two counts of attempted murder.

In the late 1990s, he reportedly hired undercover police officers to take a $1.2m yacht "out west of the Golden Gate Bridge into international waters and put it on the bottom".

His daughter Jacq Searle told the San Francisco Chronicle that the family lived at the property in the 1990s - which is when Atherton Police believe the car was buried - and that her father had died in 2015 in Washington state.

Police commander Daniel Larsen would not say if police believe the vehicle was registered to Lew.

Although cadaver dogs alerted to possible human remains on Thursday, none had been found more than 24 hours after technicians began excavating the car.

David Lindsay, 64, was startled by his wife's scream as he lay asleep on a sofa at their home only to find his right big toe was covered in blood.

The bone in his toe had been fractured by his seven-month-old bulldog puppy Harley as he slept and his toenail left hanging off. However, the horror incident turned out to be a lifesaver as medics later discovered he had lost the feeling in his feet due to two blocked arteries in his legs. David, a father to five daughters and grandfather to 11 children, now has no plans on getting rid of the naughty pup after it inadvertently saved his life.

David, who suffers from diabetes, said: "I was asleep on the couch when my wife walked in and shouted, 'Dave, the puppy's chewing your toe!' My puppy had near enough chewed my big toe off!

"It chewed down to the bone and cracked it. But because of all this, I discovered that my foot is completely numb, I can't feel anything."

His wife wrapped up his toe and rushed him to hospital, where he's been for nine days. David has been put on intravenous antibiotics to stop the infection, caused by the dog bite, from spreading to his bone.

But only because of the severe mauling his toe endured David discovered he couldn't feel his foot. During CT scans for the fractured toe the doctors discovered not one, but two, blocked arteries.

The blockages could put his whole leg in danger of needing amputation if the blood supply wasn't returned.

Public opinion on the Ulez expansion has been very divided ahead of its proposed introduction in August.

A tradesman claimed he will face extra costs of more than £3,000 a year when the expanded £12.50 charge comes into effect.

Reddit user @bluelouboyle detailed his concerns in a lengthy post, arguing the charge introduced for driving vehicles that do not meet emission standards could cost him as much as £3,500 more per year. 

He said: “I’m a self employed builder and have lots of subcontractors and I can tell you that it’s going to be very difficult for some of them to cope with the Ulez.

“The cost of second hand vans has skyrocketed since Covid and for a second hand 2017 van that has done 60,000 miles you’re looking at around £20,000 + VAT. Many of the one-man band businesses are not VAT registered so they will have to pay it.

“I promise you that many tradesmen cannot afford it.”

Joanne Dennis, 81, took on Kelvin Humphries to build an extension on the bungalow she shared with her husband Charles.

Joanne said she needed the extension so life would be easier for her husband, who was suffering from cancer. But after the work got underway, it became “stop-start”, according to Mrs Dennis, and eventually stopped altogether.

By the time Dennis passed away, aged 80, they had paid Humphries just under £66,000, StokeOnTrentLive reports. And the couple's daughter and son-in-law, who also commissioned Humphries to work on their home, said they too were left in the lurch by the builder.

Joanne, who lives in Longton, Staffordshire, said: “I wanted the work done because I knew my husband was on borrowed time. I wanted him to be able to spend time in the extension, to listen to his music on his sound system. I wanted a proper kitchen so I was able to cook for him. But with the work going on all I had was two microwaves, a toaster and an ActiFry.”

Joanne said work got underway at Christmas 2020, and in June Humphries asked her for another £16,000 towards the work. She said in November of 2021, she was told by him that he had under-estimated the cost of putting foundations in. She grew concerned around Christmas 2021 that the cold weather was going to set in and have an impact on the extension, so she says she handed over money for doors and windows.

Banking records seen by StokeonTrentLive show Humphries received £65,890 from the couple between November 2020 and December 2021.

Joanne's daughter Cath, 58, who attended Berryhill High School and was in the same year as Humphries, had a similar experience - not seeing or hearing anything of him since the same time last year.

Amanda Cardy, 49, and husband Antony, 59, were financially comfortable when they decided to get an extension for their youngest son's bedroom.

However, they claim they are now £10,000 down after the build wasn't completed properly.

Wiring and piping also went missing from the empty property in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, the family said.

Amanda says the horrific ordeal has left the family unable to afford groceries after they had to pay to have the problems fixed.

The mother-of-three said: 'We've gone from being normal comfortable family and now next week I have to go and get food from a food bank.

“My children's mental health is ruined, my husband's company has suffered, and I got really ill and depressed.

“It's mental torture. I feel like I can't take it anymore - I've never been in the situation where I can't afford to put food on the table.”

The family decided they wanted to add an extension to their home to allow their youngest son to have a bigger bedroom.

They hired a builder in April 2020 who started the works - but then stopped turning up to the site and left the house without doors or windows.

The family had moved into a rental property as they were told the extension would take just 12 weeks.

But they quickly realised they were in for a much longer process.

Hoping for more luck, they hired another builder. But they say they were let down again and say works were never started by the second contractors.

Amanda also alleges that copper wiring and pipes were taken from inside their home.

The couple paid £10k for materials and the work, but say they have been left with no money and say works were never started by the second contractors.

Despite reporting it to the police, they have been unable to take any action as it is believed to be a civil matter.

The family has been left to live in an unfinished home and owe money to tradespeople they hired to fix the problems.

Amanda said: 'We just wanted a two-metre extension at the back as we wanted our youngest to have a slightly bigger bedroom.

“It was during lockdown and we had to move out, so we found a rental and were told it wouldn't be longer than 12 weeks.

“After the first builder left us with no windows and no back doors, we decided we couldn't keep renting the other house and needed something done to make our house airtight.

“I put an ad up in June 2020 and a builder contacted me and wanted to come over straight away.

“I cried to him about what the first builder did and he told me he had a group of guys and could get it finished in five weeks.”

Some five years later, he was left on the football scrapheap and now works on building sites installing cavity wall insulation, and is a trained plumber, The Sun reports.

Now 42, Roche was given a free transfer two months after his bow in Europe's premier club competition.

And when a football career petered out after spells at Wrexham, Burnley and Droylsden, the youngster had to come up with a different plan in life with the help of the PFA.

Coming to an end

At the age of 27, Roche was admittedly fed up of the game.

He'd bounced from a loan deal at Wrexham to Burnley, then back to Wrexham again.

Injuries began to take their toll, and the former England U21 star lost his hunger for playing.

“I was coming home and not wanting to even watch football on the TV, he told Planet Football.

After he was released by the Welsh club, he trained with Royal Antwerp and former United youth Warren Joyce.

But when a move failed to materialise, he signed for non-league Droylsden in 2007.

It was there he started to think about a life after the beautiful game.

The PFA supported the lost talent and helped him retrain in another profession.

Today, Roche is a qualified plumber and has his own cavity wall insulation business.

“I have had a few fellow workers on the building sites asking me about United and how have I ended up here,” he revealed.

“It can get pretty tiresome so I don’t go shouting about that I played for United. I do think young players today should be made to train as something, so they know about the real world.

“Most of them probably don’t have a plan to fall back on if they don’t make it as a professional."

Baptism of fire

Roche made two starts for United, but it was always in scratch sides.

His debut came in 2001 in a Worthington Cup tie against Arsenal - a 4-0 thrashing in a team that featured mainly reserve players.

“Sylvain Wiltord scored a hat-trick and I remember Kanu being a massive handful – I couldn’t get over the size of his feet,” Roche joked.

“At one point, he flicked the ball over my head and volleyed it, but it went just over the bar, thankfully, otherwise it would have been one of those goals which would have been shown forever.

“There was no hairdryer from Sir Alex afterwards because he knew we had been up against it. I took what I could from that game and tried to learn from it.”

A year later, Roche came on as a sub against Newcastle United in front of a packed house at Old Trafford in a 5-3 win.

“It was unbelievable, coming on in front of 75,000 fans at Old Trafford,” he said.

“I did okay, but I remember Sir Alex talking to me afterwards because Alan Shearer had beaten me at the far post to win a header, so he told me to get up first and not let the forwards do that to me."

The big league

Roche's third and final performance for United was in the Champions League.

He appeared against Deportivo, who at the time were LaLiga challengers to Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Playing in a back three with Laurent Blanc and John O'Shea, the Red Devils look disjointed in a different formation.

Roche, himself, was hauled off at half-time with the Premier League giants trailing 1-0 at the break.

“I was up against (Albert) Luque and thought I had done alright, but I wasn’t going to come off and start arguing with Sir Alex,” he said.

“Giggsy told me to keep my chin up and that I had not done anything wrong. Sir Alex didn’t tell me why I had been substituted, but I didn’t want to overthink it.”

'No regrets'

Despite how his football career turned out, Roche is thankful for his time at Manchester United.

Although he doesn't have any regrets, there is one thing perhaps he might've done different.

“I don’t have any regrets,” Roche revealed.

“The only thing I would point out is that I was known at United for being really quiet, so perhaps I should have been more assertive and mingled more with the lads.

“I’d be straight off home after training to hang out with my own group of friends. I look back now at team-mates like John (O’Shea) and Darren Fletcher and think I should have been more like them and gone out and socialised.

“I think it would have gone down better with United.”

Tomosz Krol, 39, and his wife Marta, 37, wanted an extension to their three-bedroom house but have instead spent two years "living on a building site".

The couple signed a contract with Lee Slocombe in 2021 - unaware he had served three years and seven months behind bars for fraud.

They agreed to pay £40,000 for two extra bedrooms and an en-suite at their £300,000 semi in Fairwater, Cardiff, but this quickly shot up to £60,000 as he "kept asking for more and more".

Almost none of the materials arrived and Slocombe then ditched the job part-way through, reportedly leaving the property in a state.

"It's been two years and we are living on a building site," Tomosz told MailOnline.

It’s dangerous for us and the children, and it's bitterly cold in the house during the winter."

The family, including 18-month-old Alijia and Tomosz's stepdaughter Oliwia, 16, have to negotiate temporary steps before entering a tunnel just to reach the side door of the house.

Their neighbours have also complained that the set-up is an eyesore in the street.

Tomosz has done what he can with the brickwork himself, but they are still left with exposed wires, scaffolding and half-finished plaster.

The singer, 26, snapped up the property on the outskirts of Glasgow three years ago with the help of Ed but has still not managed to convince any workers to help him with the project.

The Someone You Loved star called his new pad a "hell hole" after discovering it smelled of cigarette smoke and dog.

Lewis also hated the décor, so ditched his new purchase for a flat in the Scottish city instead and admitted the rural home is now a "shell".

"Let's put it this way, if this album doesn't go well I have a real issue on my hands," he told US Radio.

"That house is now a shell. I have ripped it all out and right now it's squalor. We keep on finding builders and they keep on being like 'nah, not for us'.

"People are turning me down. I'm offering to pay the money and they're like 'No, not for us, that's not the one'.

"So Ed has still burdened my life to an incredible degree."

Ed recently joked he would buy the troubled house off Lewis, but the singer says he hasn't heard from the Shape of You star.

"I saw Ed saying he is going to buy it off me. I've been chasing that man on email and nothing. I haven't seen him since," he added.

Last month, Lewis experienced a full-circle moment when his musical idol Ed performed one of his songs at his sold-out show.

Hitmaker Ed, 32, paid tribute to the Scottish singer after he hilariously urged fans to buy Ed’s album and not his own on his This Morning appearance.

As a thank you, Ed took to the stage at the 02 Arena in London and played Lewis’ hit Someone You Loved to a 20,000-strong crowd.

Steven Tyson suffered a bleed on the brain, a fractured skull and 11 broken ribs while working on a barn conversion in Melbourne on 8 October 2021.

Nigel Edwards failed to have a structural assessment as part of his planning for the project at his home.

He was handed a community order and told to pay more than £4,000 in costs.

Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court heard the outbuildings  Tyson was working on were in the process of being converted into holiday accommodation when the external face of the stone gable wall collapsed on the 40-year-old.

'Still in pain'

Tyson, a father of two, was rushed to hospital, where he spent the next 18 days in "immense pain".

He has been left blind in one eye as well as losing hearing in his right ear.

"I am still in pain today and struggle to put weight on my right ankle," he said.

"Due to the traumatic head injury, I was unable to drive for six months.

"I have also had therapy sessions to try and come to terms with the physical and psychological impacts of what happened."

The court heard how the building, in Woodhouses, had undergone significant structural alterations.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Edwards had "failed to have a structural assessment" of the outbuildings prior to the work starting.

As a result, "no measures had been identified or implemented to stabilise the building", the HSE added.

In addition, there was "no plan in place" for dismantling parts of the building safely, exposing workers and members of the public to risk of injury or death.

The man is described as white who was wearing black trousers, a black jacket, and a baseball cap.

It is also believed he was carrying a rucksack.

The man entered the site at the junction of New Street and Vauxhall Street at around 3:30pm.

After being told to leave, he brandished a small knife and threatened the workers at the scene.

He then left in the direction of Devonshire Place.

No one was injured.

Anyone with further information is asked to call the police on 612612, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or on the charity's website.

With advice just a click away, 44% of people say they are turning to social media to help them with hazardous jobs.

More than half (52%) surveyed by store Toolstation said they had attempted jobs they would once have regarded as risky.

Of 2,000 adults questioned, 34% said they had tried to plumb in a bathroom, including shower electricals, while 8% had tried to fit an oven or kitchen.

But the new-found confidence with DIY might be misplaced, as 53% of tradespeople said they had been called out within the past six months to correct botched jobs.

A Health and Safety Executive spokesman said: “While gas is an incredibly safe way of fuelling your home, any work carried out should be done by an engineer who is on the Gas Safe Register.”

Last year, American couple Tanya Rodriguez, 44, and James Carolfi, 52, died copying a technique they had seen on TikTok to burn patterns into chemically soaked wood.

Charity Electrical Safety First said: “If you need to look online for a tutorial, you shouldn’t be doing it yourself.”

Ionel Ion claimed he was sacked because of his nationality and for disclosing unsafe working practices at Leeds-based housebuilder Citu.

An employment tribunal rejected his claims after a seven-day hearing in May 2021.

An appeal judge has now said the tribunal may have made legal errors.

Ion, who lives in Leeds, worked for Citu for two years before being made redundant in 2020.

The firm initially claimed he had been made redundant to save money, but managers told the tribunal it was because he was "disruptive".

'Overtly racist'

He claimed he was sacked because he was Romanian and because he raised concerns about loud music being played on the building site which he said meant fire alarms could not be heard.

The employment tribunal, which sat in Leeds and was presided over by Judge Philip Lancaster, found it proven that one of Ion's managers told him: "We could not have a foreigner leading a team of Brits."

But the judge concluded that was not why he was made redundant and the tribunal panel was "perfectly satisfied" he was chosen for redundancy because of Ion's "perceived lack of compliance with the stated company values", namely teamwork and "not doing down your colleagues".

At the appeal hearing in London on Wednesday, Andrew Edge representing  Ion, said the manager who made the "overtly racist" comment was also the one who selected the Romanian joiner for dismissal after superiors asked him to choose who should go.

'Glaring evidence'

He said the judge's finding was "hopeless" as it failed to follow the law by considering whether or not an "appropriate hypothetical comparator", for example a British joiner, would have been treated the same way as Ion had in a similar situation.

Edge also said the process of choosing to dismiss Ion was "opaque" and the "racist" comment meant the "burden of proof" should have shifted on to Citu to prove he was not let go because of his nationality rather than for Mr Ion to prove that was the reason for his dismissal.

Ultimately, his quest failed but not before he showcased the radio the passers-by outside the art gallery. Watch the video below.

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The winning entry from Chris Kitchenside, a groundworker and multi-tradesmen from Borehamwood is a battered 2017v Makita site radio, with a golf ball screwed as the dial and an old car aerial stuck in the top.

More than 40 tradespeople from across the UK, including builders, painters, scaffolders and carpenters, took part in Fix Radio's competition to find Britain's dirtiest radio.

Among the runners-up included Tom Morse, 30, who uses his radio to wipe his hands clean after painting.

The Bridgend-based decorator thought he'd broken his radio after leaving it in the rain for three days - only for it to rise from the dead and start working a week later.

Ben Waldron, 29, who also works as a painter, had his Makita DAB radio fall out of his van, having to replace the aerial with a spring to get it working again.

The radio was given to him as a hand-me-down from his boss eight years ago, and he still uses the beat-up device to this day.

Another entry came from carpenter Josh Branscombe, 32, who swapped a sandwich and drink for the Dewalt radio.

One day he couldn't be bothered to carry it down from a roof, so instead threw it off.

Miraculously, only the screen broke but the radio itself still works - thanks to the help of a cable which doubles-up as an aerial.

Jack Edwards, senior producer, The Bald Builders Breakfast, on Fix Radio said; “British builders are the backbone of society and help make our lives much easier. Whether it’s re-laying the garden, building an extension or putting up some shelves, they’re always there for us.”

What started off as a joke on The Bald Builders Breakfast has changed in the last month into a nationwide hunt for the grubbiest, dirtiest, knackered site radio.

The winning entry, which belongs to Chris Kitchenside, a groundworker and multi-tradesmen from Boreham Wood, is a battered Matika site radio, with a golf ball screwed in to replace the dial, and an old car aerial stuck in the top.

Jack Edwards, senior producer, on The Bald Builders Breakfast, with Fix Radio said: "Chris' radio represents the best of Britain.”

"The device has been alongside him through thick and thin, providing countless hours of entertainment and joy as he worked to make people's homes better.”

More than 40 tradespeople from across the UK, including builders, painters, scaffolders and carpenters, took part in Fix Radio's competition to find Britain's dirtiest site radio.

Edwards added: “British builders are the backbone of society and help make our lives much easier. We wanted to show the art which inspires this generation of builders – the humble radio, which keeps them going throughout the working day.”

Listen to Brad and Sam chat to this year's winner Chris Kitchenside below.

The apprentice, Dan, was working alongside older tradies at a Queensland worksite during construction of a house frame.

The prank involved placing a long piece of timber through the back of the apprentice's shirt to see if he was able to regain his feet after being laid down on the ground, while keeping the length of timber in his shirt.

Once Dan lays down on his back, however, two older tradies use nail guns to secure the piece of wood to the floor, trapping him in place.

Instead of protesting, the apprentice laughs off the harmless prank, earning himself praise for doing so.

In a video posted to TikTok, several of the older tradies on the worksite can be seen convincing Dan that the prank was just a test of his 'flexibility'.

“Oh what the f***,” Dan says, laughing, once the nail guns secure him to the plywood flooring.

“It's a test,' an older tradie responds, as his workmates laugh.

Viewed around one million times on TikTok, many commenters applaud th apprentice for taking the stunt in the right spirit.

“Good on the lad for not taking it the wrong way and having a good laugh himself at his situation,” one user wrote.

“Jokes on them this bloke gets to just lay on the ground for the rest of the day,” a second wrote.

“Take the day off, enjoy laying down and getting paid for it,' a third wrote.

“If there's a 'test' on a job site that isn’t a drug or alcohol test, DONT DO IT,” another wrote. 

The artist confirmed the new work – “Morning is Broken – on his Instagram this morning.

But it was too late for fans to make a pilgrimage because demolition workers had moved in the day before.

The work was on the side of an old farmhouse at Blacksole Farm in Herne Bay, Kent where developer Kitewood is planning to build 15 new homes.

One site source told KentOnline: “We had no idea it was a Banksy.

“It made me feel sick realising it was a Banksy – we were gutted.

“We started demolishing it yesterday.

“The landowner watched us do it and didn’t know either.”

The dad says he was so shocked that his "knees almost gave way" after being told he had won the latest Omaze Million Pound House Draw. Alongside the mortgage free, stamp duty free property - he also won £100,000 in cash to help him move in with his wife of 12 years Dee, 44, and their four sons. Kevin, who has lived in a rented three-bed flat in east London since 2011 says it had long been the couple's dream to buy a home of their own.

He started out as a carpenter and his wife has worked in childcare and education for the past 24 years.

Kevin said: “We’re still pinching ourselves, whatever we decide to do long term, this is going to give us so much security as a family, it's truly life changing for all of us.

“We’ve always wanted to own our own house one day, so this really is a dream come true for us - we’ll be moving in as soon as we can. When Omaze first called me, I recognised the lady’s voice from the TV adverts, so thought it must be genuine – but I didn’t for one second think we’d won the actual house!

"When the team arrived at my doorstep to tell me the good news – I was so shocked my knees almost gave way! My wife was on her way home from work so I video called her straight away - she didn’t believe me at first, but when she saw the camera crew the penny finally dropped.

"She screamed and turned her phone around to tell the packed train that we’d just won the Omaze house – all the other commuters started clapping – it was crazy. I won’t need to use any of my carpentry skills on the house as it's absolutely perfect - the kids are going to love it."