A builder found the winning ticket for a £76m EuroMillions jackpot tucked in the visor of his van six weeks after the draw. Andrew Clark, 51, had a stockpile of lottery tickets in his Peugeot van. He discovered the winning ticket in the stash after being urged to check by his partner Trisha Fairhurst. Mr Clark, from Boston, Lincolnshire, said: "It almost feels like some magical Christmas story, the man who nearly lost £76 million!"

An eight-year-old boy from California took a 12-hour detour to meet his science hero. Ajay Sawant met YouTube star Sir Martyn Poliakoff in Nottingham before heading with his family on holiday to Mumbai in India. Prof Poliakoff, based at the University of Nottingham, showed the science superfan how to make a glowstick and create reactions using dry ice. Ajay's mother Anjli said it was "a dream come true" for her son.

A pair of durable boots is a must-have in anyone's winter wardrobe -- and a team of archaeologists has found a timeless pair in a very unlikely place. The skeleton of a man, dating back around 500 years, has been discovered face down in the mud under London's River Thames, with his thigh-high leather footwear remaining virtually intact.

For more than a hundred years, deep in a dusty enclave of the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, there sat a restricted collection—2,100 books deemed too subversive, too toxic, too scandalous for eager minds. These books, principally concerned with sex, made up the “Phi” collection, bearing the Greek “Φ” on their spines like a mark of sin. But things are different now, and these books are proudly on display at the Bodleian, in the Story of Phi: Restricted Books exhibit that opened on November 15, 2018.

Smoking will be “eradicated” in England by 2030 as roughly a thousand people quit every day, health chiefs have predicted. More than a million smokers have kicked the habit since 2014, Public Health England said yesterday, leaving overall rates at their lowest ever, with just 14.9 per cent of adults smoking.

More than a fifth of meat sample tests in 2017 found DNA from animals not on the labelling, the BBC has learned. Out of 665 results from England, Wales and Northern Ireland collected by the Food Standards Agency, 145 were partly or wholly made up of unspecified meat. The FSA said the levels were consistent with "deliberate inclusion" - but added testing had targeted those businesses suspected of "compliance issues".

The dig site found by metal detectorists 3 years ago appears to be a high-status homestead that once had two villas

Women in England will be allowed to take an early abortion pill at home, under a government plan due to take effect by the end of the year. Currently, women ending a pregnancy in its first 10 weeks must take two pills at a clinic, 24 to 48 hours apart. Under the new plans, which will bring England into line with Scotland and Wales, the second pill can be taken at home.

A new opt-out system for organ donation will be in place by 2020 in England, if Parliament approves "Max's Law". Under the plans detailed by ministers, adults will be presumed to be organ donors unless they have specifically recorded their decision not to be. The government said it would save up to 700 lives each year. In the UK in 2017, 411 people died before the right donor was found, and more than 5,000 people are currently on the waiting list in England.

While Britain braces for its exit from the EU in March 2019, HSBC announced on Monday that seven of its Europe-focused offices will move from London to Paris early next year.

A judge has given the atheist parents of a ten-month-old girl who died 35 years ago permission to have what’s left of her cremated remains dug up from the consecrated ground she was buried in. In an extraordinary case in the Church of England’s Consistory Court, the parents of Elizabeth (Lizzie) Hugill pleaded for rarely granted permission for their daughter’s remains to be exhumed. Lizzie died in December 1982 and was buried in Cheshunt Cemetery the same month.

Two lost musical scores from Gustav Holst are being hand-delivered to the UK after being found in New Zealand. The works, which were signed by the renowned composer in 1906, turned up last year some 11,500 miles (18,500 km) from where they were written.

A healthcare professional has been arrested on suspicion of murdering eight babies and attempting to kill six others at a hospital. Cheshire Police said the woman's arrest was a significant step forward in an investigation into deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Officers have been investigating the deaths of 17 newborns at the neonatal unit between March 2015 and July 2016.

How does a ruler defeat bloodthirsty invaders, secure a kingdom and lay the foundations for England - and then almost get written out of history? Be a woman, that's how. Exactly 1,100 years after her death Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, is emerging from the shadows. Born into a tooth-and-nail war for survival against Viking invaders, Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, grew up in a realm teetering on the brink of disaster.

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Two years ago, a project to save rare cider apple varieties was introduced in the West Country. The National Trust began planting the cider apple saplings at its estates in Somerset, Gloucestershire and in North Somerset. A new orchard is being set up at Montacute which will eventually have 92 cider apple trees.

Growing numbers of vulnerable homeless people are being fined, given criminal convictions and even imprisoned for begging and rough sleeping, the Guardian can reveal. Despite updated Home Office guidance at the start of the year, which instructs councils not to target people for being homeless and sleeping rough, the Guardian has found over 50 local authorities with public space protection orders (PSPOs) in place

Junk food adverts are to be banned from London’s tube and bus network by Sadiq Khan, the city’s mayor, in an attempt to curb an epidemic of childhood obesity. Ads that promote foods and drinks that are high in salt, fat and sugar will no longer be accepted on tubes, buses and overground trains that are part of the Transport for London (TfL) network – nor in stations. The ban is currently out to consultation.

A rainforest design was projected on the facade of Buckingham Palace on Sunday as part of a global conservation initiative led by Queen Elizabeth II.

Cotton buds, plastic drinking straws and other single-use plastics could be banned from sale in England next year in the next phase of the campaign to try to halt the pollution of the world’s rivers and oceans. Theresa May hopes to use the announcement to encourage the Commonwealth heads of government to join the fight as the meeting opens formally on Thursday. “The Commonwealth is a unique organisation with a huge diversity of wildlife, and environments – so it is vital we act now,” the prime minister will say, urging all Commonwealth countries to participate.