A car ended up on its roof after being involved in a collision outside the Coaches & Horses pub in Clapham last night.

Emergency services were called to reports of a two-car collision on the A27 at around 8.55pm on Saturday, July 1.

One of the vehicles overturned and appears to have taken out a tree and the pub’s sign.

Police, ambulance and fire crews all attended and a spokesman for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said no one was trapped in either vehicle but that one person was taken to hospital for treatment.

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Mum Sara Spells has started a year of fundraising in memory of her daughter Hope.

She wants to raise £2,500 for the charity Tommy’s, which funds research into pregnancy problems and provides pregnancy health information to parents.

Sara and husband Andrew, of Shirley Close, Worthing, have three children, Scarlett, nine, Georgia, eight, and Alfie, two, but there has been much heartache along the way, with three miscarriages and the loss of daughter Hope.

Sara explained: “I am very fortunate to have three healthy, happy children but it hasn’t been easy becoming the family we are today and there were times I thought that our story would have a different ending.”

She started running in February last year to complete her weight-loss journey and has now lost the 5st 9lbs she put on after her miscarriages.

On July 15, she will start the two-day, 100k endurance event Race to the Stones and will then run for Tommy’s in the London Landmarks Half Marathon in March next year, followed by the London Marathon in April.

In-between, Sara plans a summer event, where people can pay £5 to complete a two-mile distance by running, walking or cartwheeling, either in one go or in sections. Everyone who enters will receive a medal designed by her daughter.

Having had two consecutive miscarriages, Sara was diagnosed with the autoimmune condition Antiphospholipid syndrome. Following treatment, Scarlett was born and Georgia followed 21 months later.

When Georgia was two, Sara became pregnant again but at almost 24 weeks, baby Hope was born sleeping.

Sara said: “She was beautiful, perfect and very small and had the softest skin. All of our immediate family met her and we had her blessed.

“The first year after she was born was the hardest year I have ever had to live. But we found strength and never gave up and decided that we wanted to try again for a final child.”

August 2013 should have been Hope’s first birthday, falling on Sara’s 40th year and her tenth wedding anniversary. The family needed a focus and so Sara and Andrew renewed their vows.

Sara said: “We had a lovely ceremony and party but instead of making a special announcement, we were hiding a sadder secret. Only a handful of close friends and family knew that I was going through another miscarriage.”

Their son has since been born and now that Sara is feeling stronger, she is working hard to raise money for Tommy’s in Hope’s memory but also for Scarlett, Georgia, Alfie and the ‘three little stars’ she was not able to have.

“I have always wanted to do something big to honour her and help other families,” she explained.

“Tommy’s was the obvious choice because they invest into research to help ensure more babies are born safely.

“I could never fully explain the pain, feelings, thoughts and how hard it has been to be as strong as we have become and hope that any money I raise will help other families not suffer as we have.

“I also truly believe that without research, disorders such as mine would not be understood and the children we have today might never have been born.

Visit the Facebook page Sara’s Fundraising for Tommy’s for more information and visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SaraSpells to make a donation.

It is ten years since the smoking ban was introduced in England and in the South East it has led to the lowest number of puffers on record.

The number of smokers in the region is at record low of 14.6 per cent, Public Health England said.

Saturday, July 1 marked the tenth anniversary of the ban, which made it illegal for people to light up in pubs and restaurants, train stations and all other enclosed public places in England.

The South East now has one of the lowest smoking rates in England and one of the lowest rates of hospital admissions due to smoking.

The year following England’s smoke free legislation, there was a 2.4 per cent reduction in hospital admissions for heart attack alone.

In the three years following the law’s introduction, there were almost 7,000 fewer hospital admissions for childhood asthma, public Health England said.

Angela Baker, deputy director for health and wellbeing at Public Health England South East said: “The indoor smoking ban in public places was one of the greatest reforms to public health in this country.

“The move, coupled with quit smoking initiatives such as Stoptober and the work of local authority public health teams, has helped to drastically cut the number of smokers by facilitating quit attempts and smoke free lifestyles.

“And not only has the health of smokers benefitted but so too has the health of non-smokers who no longer have to breathe second-hand smoke in pubs, restaurants and bars.

“In the south east of England smoking rates continue to fall across the region and are now the lowest on record at less than 15 per cent.

“Tobacco sales are also in decline as record numbers of people quit smoking. This is good news but there is more work needed to encourage more smokers to kick the habit and give themselves a better chance of staying healthy and avoiding conditions such as lung and oral cancers, coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and strokes.”

The most recent figures also show a significant drop in smoking among younger adults with smoking at an all-time low in those aged 18 to 24 years – an important move towards establishing the first tobacco-free generation.

Dr Mark Signy, consultant interventional cardiologist at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “This is a genuine game-changer. For those of us, particularly in cardiology and chest medicine who daily see and treat the horrible and mostly avoidable diseases and consequences of cigarette smoking, it is terrific to see how rapidly public health innovations such as this have been effective and the degree of improvement over such a short period.

“We are beginning to dare to hope that with both the smoking ban and the use of smoking substitutes we may be moving towards a real non-smoking generation with massive reductions in heart attacks, angina and heart failure as well as lung and other cancers.”

Public Health England says it is working with local authorities and the NHS to enable more hospital trusts to go completely tobacco-free.

More than half of parents in Sussex feel like a taxi service to their children, a survey has found.

Some 63 per cent of mums and dads in the county said they felt this way, while admitting they spend 30 minutes every day ferrying their kids to an average of five activities a week.

The survey, done by sandwich brand Subway, also found:

Parents will drive up to 20 miles to the furthest after school activity.

67 per cent help out driving their friends or relatives kids to clubs.

60 per cent of parents said they miss out on the things they love doing because they are constantly giving lifts.

Nearly half of parents (46 per cent) feel like ‘passing ships in the night’ with their partners.

And this dedication to making sure the kids get to enjoy their after-school activities is taking its toll on families’ lifestyles, with 43 per cent of parents in Sussex admit they give their children food on these journeys but not themselves.

Half of parents admit they miss dinner completely or eat late because they are taxiing their kids to clubs, the survey of 2,000 parents in the South and South East regions of the UK found.

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A motorbike and another vehicle have reportedly been involved in a collision in Fittleworth.

Police are said to have closed the B2138 Lower Street at the junction with the A283, close to the Saint Mary the Virgin church, following the accident today, Sunday, July 2.

Police are reportedly on the scene.

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Suicide prevention measures put in place as part of a partnership between Samaritans, Network Rail and British Transport Police are continuing to reduce deaths on the railway.

On Network Rail’s South East route, which operates and maintains lines from South London to Kent and Sussex, potentially life-saving interventions increased by 32 per cent, from 188 in 205/16 to 253 in 2016/17.

Sussex increased from 63 to 125, Kent from 125 to 163, Network Rail said.

Both areas include their respective routes into Central London.

Network Rail manager Ben West, from Sussex, intervened in a potential suicide in South London.

He said: “I was in the right place at the right time and the Samaritans gave the right things to look out for.

“The Samaritans training was very, very important.

“It really gave me structure and context and showed me how people can get into the frame of mind when they are suicidal.

“It also showed me how to approach them, and how to potentially bring them out of that cycle.”

At the same time, suicides and suspected suicides on the rail network as a whole have dropped from 253 to 237 since April 1, 2016, showing a steady decline in rail suicides for the second year in a row.

This means that rail suicides have fallen by 18 percent in two years and 2016/17 represents the lowest yearly figure since 2010.

Rail companies, British Transport Police and Samaritans are continuing to work in partnership to encourage more people to open up and talk about mental health issues and suicidal feelings.

As the new figures are released, the partnership is marking the 15,000th member of rail staff trained in suicide prevention.

Ian Stevens, who manages the suicide prevention programme on behalf of the rail industry, said: “It’s encouraging to see the number of suicides on the railway fall for the second year in a row, and hopefully this trend continues in line with our ongoing suicide prevention work.

“It’s great to be able to say that around one in six rail staff are now trained in suicide prevention, and that their commitment to preventing suicides on the railway is translating into actual lives saved on the ground.

“Put simply, we are now more likely to intervene and prevent people being injured or killed through suicide attempts on the railway.”

Samaritans CEO Ruth Sutherland added: “The reduction in suicides on the railway shows that the partnership between Samaritans, Network Rail, BTP and the wider rail industry is making a real difference.

“But suicide is everybody’s business and we want to see the same dramatic reduction in suicide figures in general.

“We look forward to taking this learning to a wider audience and having an even greater impact on suicide numbers in the coming years.”

Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 and those from deprived communities are particularly vulnerable.

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Many years of research and writing have gone into a new book on the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron in the Second World War.

Robert Hilton has written Freddie Gough’s Specials at Arnhem and its quality and attention to detail have been quickly praised by The Arnhem 1944 Fellowship, of which he is a life member.

The fellowship said: “If you think you are a serious student of Arnhem then this book needs to be in your collection.”

This new book follows R.N. Sigmond Publishing’s classic work Remember Arnhem, by John Fairley, and tells the story of the squadron in all the areas it fought.

Robert lived in Shoreham as a child, having moved with his family in 1970. He attended the Glebe School and Kings Manor School.

He always wanted to join the Parachute Regiment and in 1982, he went to war with 2 Para Falklands.

His dad, Dave Hilton, of The Gardens, Southwick, said: “Many readers will remember the reports featured in the Shoreham Herald at the time of the Falklands Conflict. He continued to serve and completed 22 years in the Parachute Regiment in 2003.

“He was always interested in the history of airborne forces and developed this in the later stages of his career. He became particularly involved with the Recce Squadron veterans and was made their honorary historian.

“Over the years, he gathered many stories and much information, he got to know many veterans and was made an honorary member of the Arnhem Veterans Association.

“He has written this book as a tribute to all those who fought and died, also for all those who survived and became his friends.”

On Armed Forces Day, Robert attended a special book signing event at a bookshop in Oosterbeek, The Netherlands.

He signed a considerable number of books, which was put together using official records and personal accounts from members of the squadron.

Dave added: “It is a very good-quality book, consisting 256 pages, with 288 black and white photos, pictures and documents, and 14 maps.

“It is the culmination of many years’ research and hard work, which has been welcomed by the airborne community.

Enquiries for the book can be made to Niall Cherry at niall.cherry@baesystems.com for the UK or Robert Sigmond at robert.sigmond@planet.nl for Europe.

Community groups in the South East are being invited to apply for a slice of £82,000 funding by the UK’s fourth largest building society.

Skipton Building Society’s Grassroots Giving community funding scheme has 164 pots of £500 to give away in 2017 and is urging organisations to put their name forward before the deadline on July 31.

The award-winning Grassroots Giving is now well into its 2017 campaign in a bid to give a financial boost to dozens of groups across the country.

Now in its fifth year, the programme was first launched in 2013 as part of the Society’s 160th anniversary.

While offering community funding as part of the scheme, Grassroots Giving also provides support, guidance and public profile for every single group that enters.

So far, Grassroots Giving scheme has given £323,000 to 646 small community groups.

Roy Prenton, from Skipton’s Grassroots Giving team, said: “Grassroots Giving is all about helping small community groups that usually struggle to gain any kind of financial support.

“Our scheme has far exceeded our expectations, demonstrating that many local community groups need this help and support.

“The application process is really quick and straightforward, so I’d like to appeal to anyone who is a member of a small local club, group or organisation in London to visit the Grassroots Giving website and apply for a share of our funding.”

Full details and online applications can be made at the dedicated website www.skiptongrg.co.uk

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Flights at Gatwick Airport were temporarily suspended twice on Sunday evening after reports of a drone in the vicinity.

A spokesman for Gatwick Airport said: “Due to reports of a drone observation in the vicinity of the airfield, runway operations at Gatwick were suspended between 6.10pm and 6.19pm and again from 6.36pm to 6.41pm, resulting in a small number of go-arounds and diverts.

“Operations have resumed and the police continue to investigate.”

Patricia Slatter, who was on a British Airways flight from Valencia, had to be diverted to Bournemouth.

She said: “We were about to touch down when the landing was aborted and we took off again – climbing very quickly. “There’s an EasyJet flight here (Bournemouth) too.

“The drone was spotted at 1,00 feet by the flight ahead of us.

“We’ve been told we could be here for some time.

“BA (British Airways) staff are being very good.”

The mayor of Worthing honoured soldiers from the town who lost their lives in an infamous First World War battle which became known as ‘The Day Sussex Died’.

Councillor Alex Harman laid a wreath at a commemorative service on Friday – the 101st anniversary of the Battle of Boar’s Head, a diversionary offensive at Richebourg in northern France on the eve of the Battle of the Somme.

In less than five hours in 1916, more than 1,300 ‘pals’ from the three Southdowns Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment were either killed, wounded, captured or missing. Of the 366 who died, 22 were from Worthing.

The commemoration, organised by Armed Forces Champion councillor Tom Wye, took place at the Boar’s Head Memorial in Beach House Park, where 22 crosses had been placed to represent each of the Worthing soldiers who died.

Councillor Wye said: “It is right that we remember the 22 Worthing men and boys who made the ultimate sacrifice on June 30th, 1916.

“Worthing lost more of its finest on this day than on any other day of the war. The town remembers them with pride at the fine memorial erected by Chatsmore Catholic School last year for the centenary commemoration.”

At the service, Councillor Harman read out a message from the Mayor of Richebourg, and Councillor Wye the names of the 22 Worthing soldiers. A wreath was also laid by Julian Morgan, of Chatsmore Catholic High School.

Perfect petals and wonderful weeds sat alongside each other at Goring Gardening Society’s summer show.

There were plenty of visitors to St Mary’s Hall on Saturday and lots of colourful displays to enjoy.

Chairman Carol Sullivan described it as one of the society’s best shows.

“It was a perfect summer’s day,” she said.

“Everyone enjoyed the homemade cakes and tea, in fact we sold out.

“The hall was a colourful picture with roses, sweet peas, garden flowers, fruit and vegetables. We even had a quirky class for a vase of attractive weeds.

“The cookery classes were well supported and members exhibited photos of their favourite holidays and cute cats.”

The top prize winner was Peter Webb. Other members who won cups for their efforts were Valerie Hayden, Sue Dawes, Ann Niven, Pat Blackham and Ron Sullivan.

The society is now planning its autumn show on September 2.

‘Wedding season’ sets the average adult back almost £800, a study found.

Research revealed the typical adult will attend three ceremonies this year, spending a total of £266 each time on accommodation, gifts, drinks and travel.

Grandparents will end up with the largest bill, around £430, while the best man will end up with a £313 dent in his bank balance.

The study also found four in ten have gone over budget at a wedding.

However, the value of seeing loved ones walk down the aisle far outweighs the cost for many, with two thirds saying they feel it’s a real honour to be asked to attend a wedding.

Paul Stokes of M&S Bank, who commissioned the study of 2,000 adults, said: “We know the privilege of attending a wedding far outweighs the cost for many of us, but with wedding season totalling nearly £800 on average, we wanted to look at the costs and see where guests could make some savings.”

Buying gifts was one of the most expensive elements of attending a wedding, costing guests an average of £79 a time, with people most likely to spend more on their best friends than siblings.

Proud mothers of the happy couple will spend £307 on a new outfit, including more than £100 on a new dress, £51 on shoes, £30 on jewellery and £59 on hats and fascinators, as well as other accessories.

Paul Stokes added: “Despite the cost, being part of a loved one’s special day is hugely important to most of us, so we wanted to show how guests can make the experience a little more affordable.”

New M&S Current Account customers who switch using the Current Account Switch Service will receive a £125 M&S gift card, which can be used to cover the average cost of a wedding outfit, or a gift.

A passenger whose flight was forced to divert to Bournemouth after a drone was spotted flying near Gatwick Airport has spoken of the ordeal.

Runway operations at Gatwick Airport were suspended on Sunday evening between 6.10pm and 6.19pm and again from 6.36pm to 6.41pm after a drone was spotted nearby, resulting in a number of diversions.

Patricia Slatter, from Felbridge, East Grinstead, was on board a British Airways flight from Valencia with her daughter Niamh before it was force to divert.

She said: “On approach to Gatwick we were told that we would be circling while reports of a drone at 1,000 feet were investigated.

“We were due to land ten minutes early at about 6.30pm.

“After ten to 15 minutes, the captain said that he’d been given the all clear to land.

“We had passed over the M23 and could see the long term car parks when the plane started to climb again quite steeply.

“When we levelled out the captain explained that the aircraft immediately ahead of us had reported seeing the drone again so he had been told to abort the landing.”

Patricia’s flight had to be diverted to Bournemouth due to the considerable congestion at Gatwick Airport.

She added: “That took about 25 minutes and we were on the tarmac there (Bournemouth) for over an hour.

“We couldn’t disembark since immigration had closed for the day.

“It was quite hot so the doors were opened to allow some air into the cabin.

“The crew were great. They kept us informed throughout and provided soft drinks. The captain (Andy Hoffman) came through the cabin to talk to the passengers.

“There was a large group of Spanish school children on board. At about 8.30pm we were told that we could take off for Gatwick and we landed there about 9.10pm.”

Patricia said an EasyJet flight was also diverted to Bournemouth whilst others had been diverted to Southend and Standsted.

She added: “It would be good to find out what happened about the drone. If it was flying at 1,000ft it wasn’t a toy.”

Sussex Police is currently investigating the incident.

Police and social services failed to act on three years of warning signs before Littlehampton men were brought to justice for child sex crimes, an investigation has found.

A serious case review has been conducted into how the case of Osman Koroma and Max N’Gasa was handled. See below for a special report.

Organisers of a family fun day to raise money for a friend with cancer say the support was ‘phenomenal’.

The Meds4Miggy fun day at Worthing Rugby Club on Saturday raised £7,200 for Findon Valley dad Michele Ammolla.

Sara Banks, who helped organise the event, said: “It went brilliantly. The sun was shining, we had a great turnout and managed to raise a whopping amount.

“This completely exceeded our expectations and will really help towards Miggy’s treatment.

“What an amazing day we had – the support was phenomenal from start to finish.”

Worthing mayor Alex Harman started the two races, a mini mile followed by a 5k family fun run, organised by Foxy Ladies Running Club.

The action-packed day of fun and activities also included a dog show, live music, arena performances and many stalls and games.

It was all in aid of Michele, who was told in March this year that he has terminal rectal cancer.

He has stayed very positive and has investigated a range of treatments so that he can have as long as possible with his wife Georgina and their sons William and Henry.

Since some of the treatment Michele wanted to try were not available on the NHS, his friends and family rallied to start the Meds4Miggy fundraising campaign, including a dedicated website.

Michele said: “All was going well until the scan in early March, which determined that not only had the multiple lung nodules grown but were secondary cancer and there was further spread to my liver.

“Avastin is a cancer medicine that interferes with the growth and spread of cancer cells in the body. Unfortunately, this drug is not currently available on the NHS and will cost me £1,500 every two weeks.

“Thank you to my friends and family for their continued support in helping me raise the necessary funds to enable me to have this drug.”

The fun day was the biggest event so far.

Alpro has recalled its Alpro Growing Up Drink (1-3+yrs 1 litre UHT pack) because of insufficient sterilisation..

The plant-based soya drink from the Belgian company is intended for toddlers aged from one year onwards.

However, the sterility of batches coded AB2310 XX:XX has been compromised.

As a result the microbiological safety of these batches has also been compromised and this poses a risk to health, if the affected product is consumed.

Customers may also recognise affected batches by an unpleasant texture, taste and smell.

The product concerned has been sold only in Sainsbury’s stores. The one litre packs have a Best before date of 05 March 2018.

No other Alpro products are known to be affected.

Anyone having purchased any of the listed products should not drink it. Instead, it should be returned it to the store from where it was purchased for a full refund.

The blaze was started at the La Tana restaurant in Ladies Mile Road, Patcham, at about 12.30am on Sunday, June 18.

Police said East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service put out the fire, and no one was in the property at the time, however the occupants of the flat above the restaurant were evacuated as a precaution.

The footage released by police shows two men outside the premises. Sussex Police said one appears to be pushing something through the door while the other acts as a look out. The men then fled the scene.

Police said the suspect who appeared to start the fire was wearing a light coloured jacket, dark trousers and a trilby style hat, and his accomplice was wearing light coloured jacket and trousers and a beany style hat.

Detective Inspector Andy Wolstenholme said: "We are keen to trace the two men seen in the CCTV footage. If anyone recognises them or has any information please contact us."

A Hove man was arrested on suspicion of attempted arson with intent to endanger life, two counts of criminal damage, blackmail, possession with intent to supply class A drugs and released under investigation.

Police are appealing for anyone with any information about the incident to report it online or call 101, quoting serial 50 of 18/06.

The restaurant, which had to close following the blaze, reopened on Friday (June 30).

A wanted Worthing man has been arrested, police have said.

Lewis Miller, 41, from Worthing, was wanted in connection with an assault on a man in the town.

He was arrested earlier this afternoon (July 3), on suspicion of committing grievous bodily harm, police have confirmed.

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A worried son whose 92-year-old deaf and blind mother has been without a life-saving emergency phone system for two weeks has hit out at Virgin Media.

Grandmother Phillis Biggs lives in a flat South Avenue in Goring, over an hour’s drive from her son Robin’s home in Newbury.

Until recently, Robin had felt safe in the knowledge that an emergency system would automatically call the emergency services if Phillis suffered a fall or the fire alarm went off.

But the phone line it uses has now been broken for two weeks, which Robin said has forced him to move his mother into a £1,000-a-week care home and give up work to investigate the problem.

Robin, 66, said: “She’s 92, had two strokes and she’s deaf and blind.

“She has to have the phone working because she can’t get help if she falls over or has another stroke.”

He said before the phone line broke he would often get calls at night from paramedics telling him his mother had fallen but they were looking after her.

He added that without the emergency system his mother could die if a fire broke out in her apartment.

Robin discovered the problem when he could not get through to Phillis on the phone on Tuesday, June 20.

Virgin Media, which runs the phone line, sent someone out to fix it the following day, but the line failed again soon after.

Unable to leave his mother in her flat, Robin moved her into a care home in Worthing at a cost of £1,000 a week to ensure her safety.

Robin, who has had to give up his job as a business development manager so he can fix the situation, said: “It is an appalling way to treat our old people.

“These people have been in a war and paid taxes all their lives.

“She’s confused, she doesn’t know what is going on.”

A spokesman for Virgin Media said: “We apologise to Mrs Biggs and her family for the inconvenience they have experienced as a result of the issue with her landline.

“We take these matters very seriously and are working with the family to resolve it as a priority.”

The company told Robin an engineer will be visiting tomorrow to fix the issue.

West Sussex County Council has also been in touch with Robin, and is assisting with the situation, including funding much of Phillis’s stay at Hollywynd Rest Home in St Botolph’s Road.

With the warmer weather, households in Sussex could miss out on significant savings to their fuel bills by failing to correctly prepare their heating system for summer.

That’s the warning from OFTEC, the trade body for oil heating, which has highlighted the five most common mistakes people make with their heating during the hotter months, along with some money saving tips to ensure your budgets go further.

The five most costly mistakes are:

1. Forgetting to adjust timers or turn off individual radiators. Make sure you aren’t heating rooms that are already warm enough when you are not in the house.

2. Turning your boiler off for the whole summer. This can cause the circulating pump and valves to seize up and potentially create a problem when you use it again in winter. Ensure you turn the boiler on for short busts every couple of months.

3. Not having your boiler serviced. Summer is the perfect time to have your heating system checked over by an OFTEC (for oil) or GasSafe (for gas) registered technician as you are less reliant on your boiler if there are any problems.

4. Waiting until winter to purchase heating oil. Oil is currently the cheapest form of heating fuel but prices are typically even lower over summer. You can also avoid the winter rush when the weather turns colder by topping up early.

5. Ignoring your oil tank. Whilst these are normally very reliable, you should still regularly check your tank for any signs of corrosion or leakage.

Malcolm Farrow, from OFTEC, said: “With the weather getting warmer and holiday preparations underway, it might seem an odd time to think about your heating. However, for many households in Sussex, even with the low price of oil, heating is still their biggest expenditure. By avoiding the typical mistakes people make and taking the time to prepare your system during the summer, you can enjoy further savings on your fuel bills.

“The most important step is to have your boiler serviced by an OFTEC (for oil) or GasSafe (for gas) registered technician who can give you peace of mind that the whole system is working correctly and efficiently. If you have an older boiler, you might also wish to consider upgrading to a modern, condensing type, which will help to cut your energy costs even more.”

For more information and advice, visit www.oilsave.org.uk.