Half of pupils expelled from England's schools have a mental health issue, according to analysis of official data.

The Institute of Public Policy Research suggests if excluded students with undiagnosed problems were included, the rate would be much higher.
This figure compares with one in 50 pupils in the wider population who have a mental health condition.
The government said it would be publishing plans to improve mental health services later in the year.
The research comes as the number of fixed term and permanent exclusions is rising.
Figures just published show that last year, some 6,685 pupils were excluded permanently from state primary, secondary and special schools.
Some 35 pupils were excluded every day in 2015-16 -  five more daily than in the previous year.
Eight out of 10  permanent exclusions happen in secondary schools.
Here, the rate of permanent exclusions has increased from 0.15% in 2014-15 to 0.17% in 2015-16 - equivalent to 17 pupils per 10,000.
Overall, there were 346,000 permanent and fixed-term exclusions handed out to pupils at state-funded schools in 2014-15 - the highest number since 2009.
IPPR associate fellow Kiran Gill, founder of The Difference campaign on the issue, said: "Theresa May says she is committed to improving mental health of young people.
"Addressing the most vulnerable children being thrown out of England's schools is a good place to start.
"Because unequal treatment of mental health may be an injustice, but the discrimination of school exclusions is a crime."
Her campaign aims to break the link between school exclusion and social exclusion in "a burningly unjust system", and ensure vulnerable young people get the good quality schooling they need to change their lives.
"If the government is serious about real action on mental health, there needs to be dedicated funding and thought-through solutions rather than sticking plasters in the symptoms of the problem," Ms Gill added.
Official figures showed 99% of pupils permanently excluded from mainstream schools do not get the five good GCSEs required by many employers.
According to the IPPR report, nearly two-thirds of the prison population was excluded from school at some point.
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "Any decision to exclude must be lawful, reasonable and fair and we are clear permanent exclusion should only be used as a last resort, in response to a serious breach or persistent breaches of the school's behaviour policy.
"This government is committed to working with local authorities and schools to ensure children in alternative provision receive a high-quality education.
"We are strengthening the links between schools and NHS mental health staff and have announced plans for every secondary school to be offered mental health first aid training."
But Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the rise in exclusions was a "concerning trend" and the DfE should consider what was driving the exclusions.
"NUT members tell us that as the curriculum gets narrower and children's experience of school is ever more focused on preparation for tests and exams, more students are becoming disengaged from school which in turn leads to problems with behaviour and mental health problems."


Former captain Paul McStay expects Celtic's disappointing recent record in Europe to be at the centre of any end-of-season review.

McStay, 51, deftly avoided criticising manager Ronny Deila but did say that decisions on the club's strategy should be made at the end of the season.
"There's a league to be won and we're on schedule to do that," he said.
"If you come out now and do something drastic it might have some detrimental effect on the team."
Deila's future has been the centre of much speculation since Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers.
It was the third consecutive semi-final loss for the Norwegian, who has failed to progress through Champions League qualifying in his two seasons at Celtic Park.
"European football is what it's all about just now and a massive organisation like Celtic will want to make sure they have things in place for a strong challenge next year," said McStay.
The former Scotland midfielder, who played more than 500 games for Celtic between 1981 and 1997, did stress that he does not feel any sympathy for the under-pressure manager.
"I don't feel sorry for Ronny from the point of view that he is managing one of the biggest clubs in the world," he said.
"Ronny will have been delighted to have been given that opportunity.
"He has given it his best shot and he will continue to do that I think between now and the end of the season.
"I or any coach would love to have had an opportunity like that, so I think he should enjoy it and try to achieve the best he can. That means winning the league."
Deila is on course for a second successive league title, with Celtic enjoying an eight-point lead over Aberdeen going into the last five fixtures.
"I've never met Ronny but I've got a lot of respect for the guy," said McStay. "He comes across as a really good person.
"Right now he's still in a job so I would just leave it at that and allow him to go and hopefully win his second championship."


Mae undebau athrawon yn rhybuddio gallai toriadau swyddi yn ysgolion Cymru fod yn "annheg i blant".

Mae ffigyrau diweddar gan Lywodraeth Cymru yn dangos toriadau yn lefel staffio ysgolion awdurdodau lleol.
Mae canlyniadau cyfrifiad ysgolion 2016 yn dangos bod 446 yn llai o staff cefnogol yn ysgolion Cymru i gymharu gyda'r flwyddyn flaenorol gyda 275 yn llai o athrawon.
Mae staff cefnogol yn cynnwys, cymorthyddion dosbarth sydd yn amlwg iawn yn nosbarthiadau plant iau sydd yn astudio cyfnod sylfaen Llywodraeth Cymru.
"Yn dilyn blwyddyn o doriadau, does gan brif athrawon ddim lle i edrych dim ond ar lefel y staffio sydd ganddyn nhw," meddai swyddog polisi undeb yr NUT yng Nghymru, Owen Hathway wrth raglen Newyddion 9.
"Mae rhaid osgoi hyn oherwydd mae colli cymorthyddion dosbarth yn rhoi mwy o bwysau ar yr athrawon sydd yn parhau i fod yno. Tydi hynny ddim yn deg ar y plant pan rydym yn ceisio sicrhau eu bod nhw'n derbyn yr addysg orau bosib yng Nghymru," meddai.
Rhybuddiodd swyddog maes undeb UCAC, Ywain Myfyr y byddai'r toriadau yn "effeithio pwysau gwaith yr athrawon. Mae hynny yn ein pryderu'n fawr, mi fydd hi'n anodd recriwtio yn y dyfodol," meddai.
Mae undeb Unsain yn cynrychioli staff cefnogol yn yr ysgolion a dywedodd ei harweinydd yng Nghymru Jess Turner: "Mae ysgolion angen mwy na dim ond athrawon i weithredu'n gywir.
"Pob amser mae glanhawr, gofalwr neu weithiwr gweinyddol yn colli ei swyddi, mae'n golygu mwy o bwysau ar staff yr ystafell ddosbarth.
"Mae'r rheiny sydd yn parhau yn ei swyddi yn gwneud ei gorau i gadw'r safon yn yr ysgolion. Ond gyda llai o staff mae diogelwch yn y fantol," meddai.
Dywedodd Llefarydd ar ran Llywodraeth Cymru:
"Mae Ysgolion yn ganolog i'r ymgyrch genedlaethol i wella safonau addysg yng Nghymru ac i ehangu'r cyfleoedd ar gyfer pobl ifanc.
"Rydym yn ymwybodol o'r heriau ariannol sydd yn wynebu ein hysgolion ac rydym wedi blaenoriaethu cyllid ar gyfer ysgolion o fewn y setliad rydym yn ei roi i'r awdurdodau lleol.
"Yn y flwyddyn ariannol ddiwethaf roedd £35m yn y setliad llywodraeth leol ar gyfer gwasanaethau ysgolion ac rydym wedi gosod cyllid a setliad llywodraeth leol ar gyfer sefydlogrwydd yn 2017-18 gyda mwy o arian yn gyffredinol ar lefel cenedlaethol.
"Mae newid i'r gweithlu nid pob amser o ganlyniad i newid mewn cyllid. Pob blwyddyn, mae newidiadau i'r gweithlu am resymau dilys megis newid yn niferoedd disgyblion, a blaenoriaethau ar lefel leol, ranbarthol a chenedlaethol.
"Dros y pum mlynedd hyd at 2016 mae yna ostyngiad wedi bod yn niferoedd athrawon ond mae nifer pob disgybl i phob athro wedi aros yn sefydlog (18.4-18.6)."
Mae Llywodraeth Cymru hefyd yn pwysleisio, er bod gostyngiad o 446 wedi bod yn niferoedd staff cynorthwyol yn 2016 mae yna dal 1,700 yn fwy na phum mlynedd yn ôl.


More children than ever are trying to escape the African country of Eritrea in search of a better life.

Media playback is unsupported on your device
2 March 2015 Last updated at 08:13 GMT
Some children are as young as seven and are making what could be the most dangerous journey of their lives.
The children will often leave their families behind and try to make their way to Europe.
Jenny finds out why children are trying to leave Eritrea...


Adam Armstrong scored his 20th goal of the season as Coventry concluded their season with victory at Oldham.

The Owls went close when Curtis Main's header forced an acrobatic one-handed save from keeper Reice Charles-Cook but Coventry had the better of the chances.
The Sky Blues took the lead when Romain Vincelot headed in from eight yards following Jacob Murphy's corner.
Within seven minutes, Newcastle United loan man Armstrong doubled their lead, sweeping in Murphy's square ball.
Oldham Athletic manager John Sheridan told BBC Radio Manchester:
Media playback is not supported on this device
"I wanted to win the last two games to keep the momentum going. I don't want to have two much of a downer because what we've achieved is remarkable since we've come in.
"I want to be pushing at the other end. I'll be putting pressure on myself. I'll going to try and build a team that is a John Sheridan team. That's what I'll be judged on next season.
"I've spoken to most of the present players and they all know where they stand. I've got to bring in players that are going to makes us stronger than this season."
Sky Blues manager Tony Mowbray told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire:
"There were lots of aspects to be pleased with today. Adam Armstrong got his 20th goal so, all in all, a decent day.
"I think to the supporters of the club an apology really, for the fact that we fell away at the end of the season.
"Try to stick with us as we try to build a team next year to get this club back where we want to be."


Aberdeen have made a bid for Preston North End striker Stevie May.

The 25-year-old, however, continues to train with the English Championship club, who lost manager Simon Grayson to Sunderland on Thursday.
May played under Dons boss Derek McInnes when he came through the youth ranks with St Johnstone.
Preston bought May, who earned his only Scotland cap in a 2014 friendly with England, from Sheffield Wednesday for an undisclosed fee in September 2015.
The striker suffered a serious knee ligament injury that December and did not make his return to action until this February.
He went on to make 10 appearances, scoring once, as his side finished 11th in England's second tier.
May had previously spent a season with Wednesday after being signed from St Johnstone, scoring seven goals in 41 games.
The striker, who spent time on loan to Alloa Athletic and Hamilton Academical before breaking into Saints' first-team under McInnes, has a year left on his Preston contract.
Grayson had bolstered Preston's striking options this summer by paying compensation fees to Manchester United for 21-year-old Josh Harrop and to Cork City for Sean Maguire.
Veteran forward Jermaine Beckford was among the players released.
Aberdeen have added striker Greg Stewart on loan from Birmingham City and agreed a deal to sign attacking midfielder Shaun Maloney from Hull City after Jonny Hayes was sold to Celtic and forward Niall McGinn rejected a new contract.


A man raped a 12-year-old girl telling her it was "all right", shortly after he sexually assaulted a woman, a court has heard.

James Clark, 25, of Irvine, North Ayrshire, pled guilty to the rape at his flat, which happened in April 2016.
At the High Court in Glasgow, he also admitted making indecent remarks to a 36-year-old and pinning her down.
Clark was remanded in custody and placed on the sex offenders register ahead of sentencing next month.
The court heard how Clark had told the girl: "It's all right you're over 16."
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, lied and told him she was 13 and he replied: "Are you? That's all right then, it's fine."
The girl kept telling Clark to stop and get off her.
Friends who saw the girl shortly afterwards said she looked upset.
Clark's DNA was subsequently found in the girl's underwear.
The father-of-two has previous convictions for violence.


A design for a bridge replacing a "notorious" level crossing where 11 people have been killed since 2004 has been unveiled by Network Rail.

The firm said work on the structure at Ufton Nervet, in Berkshire, would start in 2016, subject to planning permission.
The rail operator has previously been criticised for not building a bridge sooner.
It had described the site as "complicated and constricted".
Brian Drysdale had been waiting for the results of an HIV test when he parked his car on the crossing in 2004, killing himself and six people aboard a train.
A further 140 were injured, the Office of Rail and Road said.
Four people have since died at the site.
Julian Burnell, from Network Rail, said the bridge had been "specifically designed to blend in with the environment as much as possible".
He said it would be no more than 9m (29ft) high and would have earth banks on either side and be planted with native trees.
"Notoriety" and "misuse" of the level crossing had led to the need for a bridge, Mr Burnell said.
He added that it had "been in the pipeline for a very long time".
Network Rail said it had been working closely with West Berkshire Council on the plans and hoped to submit a planning application after the election.
The council said the bridge proposal was not a "joint partnership" with Network Rail, but added it had received amended plans from the firm after its "initial safety concerns".
The authority added it would "carefully assess those before responding".
Once work starts, the rail firm said it would take less than 12 months to complete.
Mr Burnell said Network Rail had closed 900 level crossings over the past five years, with 600 more expected to close by the end of 2019.


The shortlist of companies bidding to run rail networks in the north of England has been announced.

Three operators have been shortlisted for the Northern Rail franchise and three for First TransPennine Express (TPE), with the winners due to be announced in October 2015.
The Campaign for Better Transport and the RMT transport union are concerned rail services could be cut.
But, rail minister Claire Perry promised a "world-class rail network".
The franchises connect passengers travelling between the key strategic cities of Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle and Carlisle and onwards to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The companies competing for the Northern franchise are Arriva, Govia and Abellio, which has held the contract in a joint venture with Serco since 2004.
The three shortlisted for TPE are FirstGroup, Keolis and Stagecoach. FirstGroup and Keolis currently operate TPE in a joint venture.
The government said franchise bidders would need to improve customer service and passenger satisfaction on the two networks which carry more than 110 million passengers last year.
Ms Perry said: "Building a railway that is fit for the 21st century is a vital part of our long-term economic plan, connecting businesses and communities, generating jobs and boosting growth."
Over the next five years, more than Â£1bn will be spent on the rail network in the north, the government has said. This includes Â£600m for the Northern Hub project and electrification projects in the north-west and across the Trans-Pennine routes.
The RMT held a protest outside Westminster on Monday opposing plans for the Northern and TPE franchises.
Mick Cash, RMT acting general secretary, said: "This was just round one of the fight to stop the carve up of jobs and services on Northern and TransPennine Express."


Andy Murray has said becoming a husband and father has helped his tennis, after he was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year for a record third time.

The world number one and Olympic champion said his family was the most important thing in his life.
That realisation helped his tennis because it made him more resilient to setbacks on the court, he said.
Murray revealed he would have voted for triathlete Alistair Brownlee, who came second in the sports personality award.
Brownlee made headlines across the world when he selflessly helped his exhausted brother over the line at the end to the Triathlon World Series in Mexico.
In a interview with the BBC's John Inverdale, Murray said Brownlee's actions had sent out an important message.
"What they do in their career is obviously extremely tough, physical hard sport - but then at the end of something like that, it isn't just about the winning all of the time," he said.
"I think sometimes that gets lost a little bit in sport and I think that was a really important message.
"I have a brother who competes obviously at the highest level as well, so it was really nice to see that."
Murray received 247,419 votes in the award at the end of a year which saw him retain his Olympic title, win Wimbledon for a second time and become the first British player to top the world rankings since the current system was introduced in 1973.
He joined the awards ceremony by video link from Miami where he is training.
Murray was asked if he still had the same drive to succeed as he did six or seven years ago, before he had won a Grand Slam title.
He said: "I feel very different. I wouldn't say I want it more - and I think that's actually a positive thing.
"Before I used to stress myself out so much about tennis all the time. I would be really high when I won matches or tournaments and then I'd be really down when I didn't.
"Now as I've got older, obviously becoming a parent you realise that tennis is great, and sport - I love it, it's given me a lot - but family is the most important thing.
"And when I win tournaments it's really nice, it's a great feeling but I'm still looking forward to getting back to see my daughter and see my wife.
"When I lose I'm down obviously, but it's not just as drastic as it was before and I feel that's helped my tennis a lot. When I'm training and stuff I still love working hard. I still really enjoy that aspect of it but I'm not getting as much up and down based on how my results on the court go and I think that's really positive."
In his acceptance speech, Murray revealed his wife told him she voted for showjumper Nick Skelton -  who came third in the vote.
"I'm hoping she was joking," he said.
"I'll speak to her while I'm off air and find out definitely. It's my last day off before Christmas and I'm doing my Christmas shopping tonight. So if she gives me the wrong answer she's not getting anything."


A frontrunner in the race to be UKIP's next leader is probably "too extreme" to be allowed to stand, a party AM has said.

Anne Marie Waters, one of several hopefuls who face vetting ahead of the election, has described Islam as evil.
AM David Rowlands said Ms Waters was "not the image" he wanted UKIP to have but Ms Waters claimed the party was trying to "ostracise" her.
Ms Waters said she was "not a racist" at a hustings in Newport on Thursday.
About 20 people attended the leadership event.
South Wales East AM Mr Rowlands, who chaired the hustings, blamed a general public weariness with politics rather than the state of the party for the low turnout.
As well as Ms Waters, other leadership hopefuls at the meeting included London assembly member David Kurten, David Allen and former UKIP councillor Ben Walker.
Nathan Gill, UKIP's MEP for Wales and an independent AM who has said the party should not become anti-Islam, is understood to be unhappy about the prospect of Ms Waters being a leadership candidate.
It has been suggested several of the party's MEPs will resign if she wins.
Ahead of the hustings Mr Rowlands told BBC Wales: "I don't even believe she will be selected [to be a candidate]."
Asked why, he said: "Because her views are too extreme. It's not the image I would want my party to have.
"I don't want us to be politically correct but I also don't think that we are there to be provocative or to offend people in what we say or in what we do.
"It would seem to me from the comments being made [by other people in UKIP] that she wouldn't get through the vetting."
Ms Waters said Mr Rowlands was "entitled to his opinion" but added: "It is only because we have been lying for so long that the truth sounds extreme, and the fact that so many of us are terrified of telling the truth, proves me right about the censorship that we now observe in the UK surrounding this issue."
She opened her statement at the hustings saying she was "not an extremist" and had never been one.
"I am not a racist or a neo-fascist," she said. She told BBC Wales she believed she would be vetted out of the candidate list.
On the BBC Sunday Politics programme earlier this year Ms Waters said she "did not like" Islam.
"The thing is a lot of people get confused on Islam and all Muslims," she said. "A lot of people think Islam equals all Muslims. It does not.
"The religion, the scriptures and how it's practiced in most of the world I find quite frankly abhorrent."
The deadline for leadership candidates to submit nominations has passed but there will be no official candidates until the vetting is complete - which is expected mid-August.
Others who have announced their intention to run but are not at the hustings in Newport include direct democracy activist John Rees Evans, London AM Peter Whittle and Scottish MEP David Coburn.
UKIP MEP Bill Etheridge withdrew his leadership bid in July, calling for "libertarian" candidates to unite against hard-liners using the party "as a vehicle for the views of the EDL (English Defence League) and the BNP (British National Party)".


Police are investigating allegations a key witness at an Assembly inquiry was coached, in order to see if any offences have been committed.

Last month Sinn Fein's Daithí McKay resigned as North Antrim MLA.
It followed the emergence of details of secret contacts between the former chairman of the Finance Committee, another Sinn Fein member and loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson.
Mr McKay said he accepted this was "inappropriate, ill-advised and wrong".
A separate inquiry into the matter by the Assembly Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain will be suspended in order to avoid any risk of prejudicing an active police investigation.
Mr McKay chaired the committee last year when Mr Bryson used the Assembly's legal privilege to name former First Minister Peter Robinson as so-called "Person A" in relation to the Nama property scandal.
Mr Robinson has said any suggestion that he sought to benefit from the multi million pound property deal is outrageous and wrong.
In a statement, Det Supt Kevin Geddes said: "Detectives from Serious Crime Branch are investigating to see if any offences have been committed. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."


Julien Faubert wants to help Kilmarnock secure their Premiership status for next season because he knows the hardship that comes with relegation.

The former France player was relegated with West Ham United does not want to repeat the experience at Rugby Park.
"I know this situation," said 32-year-old midfielder Faubert.
"It's tough but it's good for the experience if you stay up and you need to have a strong team all together and fight for the club."
Killie currently occupy the relegation play-off place in the Scottish Premiership and are eight points above bottom side Dundee United, who have a game in hand. Hamilton are two points in front of Kilmarnock.
"I've twice battled relegation," explained the Frenchman.
"One was with Bordeaux when I was in France and one was with West Ham when we went down to the Championship.
"I realise it's not only about football or your future, it's about the future of many normal people at the club, because if you go down they may not have a job.
"Even if you don't give everything for yourself you have to give everything for people who work at the club because if you go down it's a big decision.
"I saw that with West Ham, so if you have heart you need to work and fight to stay up."
Faubert has already made many friends at Killie and feels he has seen enough from the players to suggest there will be a positive end to the season for the club.
"I believe we are going to stay up if everybody realises the importance of the situation," he said.
"After the last game [the 2-0 loss to Ross County] I didn't sleep because I feel I hate losing and always when I lose some games I think of what could I do better.
"That's why young players have to realise it's not like we play, we lose and that is it.
"You have to be hungry to do well for yourself and your team-mates."
Killie's next two matches are against the top two in the Premiership, away to Aberdeen on Saturday followed by a home fixture with reigning champions Celtic.
"They are tough games but it's good because the young players don't need any motivation," added Faubert.
"These are big games and it's a good opportunity to show what we can do as a team like fighting because it's going to be hard against Aberdeen and against Celtic.
"But if we show our commitment and how much we want to stay up and fight for our lives, it will be good."


A woman whose son was found dead weeks after she was shot by her estranged husband wants domestic violence issues taught in all schools by law.

Rachel Williams was shot at a Newport hairdressing salon in 2011, after which husband Darren, 46, killed himself. Her son Jack, 16, was later found hanged.
But the Violence against Women Bill could fail in the Senedd because a duty on schools is not included.
Ms Williams said: "If you're taught respect and love you can't go wrong."
She wants the issues to be explored in workshops and assemblies in schools, as well as being part of some lessons.
"It might not be a subject like maths and English, it's your daily living. It's about respecting not just your partner but people in general," she said.
"You should be taught to take people's feelings into consideration and that this is the norm - as opposed to battering your girlfriend or getting spat at or talked to like a piece of dirt, as happened to me".
Ms Williams suffered domestic abuse for 18 years, starting when she was seven months pregnant.
She finally left her husband and filed for divorce but he came to the salon where she worked armed with a sawn-off shotgun. She was shot in the knee and two customers were also injured.
Ms Williams is concerned that a proposal to teach issues around violence against women in schools is missing from new legislation.
It was described by Welsh government ministers at the time as "ground-breaking."
But when the Bill was introduced in the Assembly last summer, the education proposals were removed.
Now, opposition parties have told BBC Wales that unless these proposals are returned to the Bill, they will no longer support it.
Because Labour does not have an overall majority in the assembly, that would mean the Bill would not become law.
Jocelyn Davies AM is Plaid Cymru's spokeswoman on domestic abuse and chairwoman of an all-party group on the issue.
She said having "champions" for each council was not the same as all schools being duty-bound to teach healthy relationships and respect, which had been "universally welcomed" when first proposed.
"Once we saw the Bill and it wasn't in there and we were very disappointed," she said.
"I don't see the Bill achieving what it set out to achieve without it. Unless there's a change in attitude by the government I can't see me supporting the Bill."
A Welsh government spokesman said the Bill had been "significantly strengthened" since its introduction, including in relation to education.
An amendment has been added to ensure awareness raising around violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence is focused on changing attitudes.
"We have also introduced powers to require schools to report on the steps they are taking and tabled amendments to include powers to issue guidance to higher and further education institutions regarding their work in addressing this problem," he said.
"The minister is still considering what is possible in terms of additional education amendments to the Bill. Stage three is not yet complete and discussions are ongoing."
Pupils in schools are sending special Valentine's cards with messages to the Senedd urging a change of heart by ministers.


The Welsh government said it is "extremely disappointing" that a deal has not been struck to take over a Monmouthshire renewable energy factory and its workforce.

Mabey Bridge's (MB) ??38m turbine tower-building plant in Chepstow has closed after four years.
Simec - new owners of Uskmouth power station - said it was prepared to buy the plant and take on the 120 workers.
But MB said it failed to find a viable buyer despite "exhaustive efforts".
The company, whose main factory is in nearby Lydney, Gloucestershire, said no viable solution had been found despite an "extensive search and marketing process".
The Welsh government has now expressed its disappointment after it had worked closely with the company to secure new owners.
"We have actively supported two separate bids for the business, both of which would have safeguarded employment at the site and provided a secure future for the business," said a spokesperson.
"But we were very disappointed that neither of these bids were acceptable to Mabey Bridge."
MB announced last December it was looking to sell its renewable energy division but in July said those efforts had been unsuccessful and it would have to close.
In a further statement on Wednesday, chairman Juliette Stacey, said: "We have explored every avenue available to us in a bid to keep the site open,  but sadly it has not been possible to do so."
The final shift for the 120 workers ended at lunchtime on Wednesday.
Four years ago MB was expanding on a grand scale, building steel towers rather than iron bridges - which the family firm was known for since it was founded 160 years ago.
The company will now concentrate on its bridge building business.
One of those interested in buying the renewable division was Hong Kong-owned Simec, which struck a deal to take over the Uskmouth power station last December.
The coal-burning plant has been been back in operation since June.
Simec is part of a wider group of companies headed by Liberty which bought the former Alphasteel - more recently known as Mir - steelworks in Newport.
It wanted to buy the MB site and re-employ the staff whose jobs are under threat.
MB had already listed engineering equipment and other assets on a website to attract buyers.
Simec was interested and it was looking beyond coal-burning to biomass, oil and renewables to generate energy.
BBC Wales understood an offer of about ??8.5m had been made to MB but it had valued the land and buildings at ??11.5m.
Simec chief executive James Busche admitted his company had entered negotiations late but said it still hoped to strike a deal - if not in time for the last shift.
He said: "The Mabey facility in Chepstow has some very talented people, very fit-for-purpose equipment and there's the building itself.
"Our interest is to continue with some of what they've been doing - the  wind towers - but there are lots of other possibilities as well, some relating to UK and Welsh projects like the tidal lagoon and new high voltage transmission towers that National Grid and other European countries are putting in right now.
"There are lots of opportunities which fit the skill of the people."
The company made a direct appeal to MB not to close the factory and believed it was a "sustainable, profitable business".
MB said despite continued efforts to improve productivity it faced "an exceptionally competitive international market for renewables"
Ms Stacey added: "This is a difficult day for Mabey Bridge but we will now focus on building a stronger and more sustainable future for the business".
The Welsh government said it stood ready to provide support if new offers emerged.


Ten-year-old Isabella always dreamed of playing the violin.

25 April 2017 Last updated at 06:52 BST
She was born without a left hand, so she thought she would never get to play.
Her music teacher tried to teach her with a prosthetic arm - but it was too heavy and she couldn't move the bow properly.
But students from a university designed an arm specially for Isabella to play the violin with, and built it using a 3-D printer.
See how she gets on here.


The London Eye and Westminster Pier were evacuated after reports of a unexploded wartime era "ordnance".

Police were called to the area at 10:30 BST after a suspected World War One or World War Two device was found on the foreshore on the River Thames.
Cordons were in place for 40 minutes. The area has been reopened.
Police said they would return to the area at low tide to remove the device.


The deaths of a man and woman whose bodies were found at a property in Paisley are being treated as "unexplained", police have said.

Officers were called to the address in the Renfrewshire town's Gordon Street at about 20:55 on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said that a 40-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man were found dead inside.
She said post mortem examinations had been carried out and both deaths were still being treated as unexplained.


The UK has decided in a referendum vote to leave the European Union, but what do people from other EU countries think about Britain's big decision?

European leaders have expressed shock, but most have said the result should not lead to a panic.
Here, Europeans who contacted the BBC have been sharing their reaction to the result and their views on the UK's relationship with the EU.
Angelique de Leur, The Hague, Netherlands
"Congratulations to the UK for voting out of the European Union! The people showed great courage and voted against staying in the European nightmare any longer.
"Seeing this makes me wonder why in my country people never really stand up for their frustration in the EU. In the Netherlands, hardly anyone ever shows up when there is a chance to vote for anything regarding the EU.
"Furthermore do most people state that only "short-minded" people vote against the EU out of anger?
"It was a very close call. But the majority of the people chose freedom from European enslavement. Congratulations!!"
Rafael Sala, Barcelona, Spain
"The main cause of the European-wide unrest is the narrow and miserable vision that our European leaders have on the European Union.
"They have not initiated the path established by the treaty of 2012 on the economic union, they don't mention it, and the ideals of one budget, Eurobonds, euro protection for the bank accounts, are far away.
"Few people raise their voices to speak about these failures.
"My country, Spain, has to leave the EU sooner or later if the unity of Europe is not increased.
"We suffer because a currency that fits us like an Armani suit fits a homeless person; it's an austerity policy that has impoverished more than 65% of our people. The results of the entry in the EU do not deserve the suffering."
Stephanie Ayres, Kinsale, Ireland
"For goodness sake, when a referendum outcome is 48.1% remain, 51.9% leave, then I'd say that you have an undecided nation.
"The referendum is not legally binding. The UK government does not have to act on the outcome of this referendum.
"I would say that the democratic way to look at the results is that there needs to be more debate, more real information, more time spent and more opinions taken.
"Just because of that tiny margin, I don't think you can call the UK decided on the matter."
Timo Pantsari, Espoo, Finland
"Well now, this was a huge surprise to me as well as most of Europe when everyone woke up this morning.
"Terrible news in both the short and long term for the UK. This will undoubtedly make Scotland have another referendum as they did in 2014.
"Let me be the first one to warmly welcome Scotland as the next full member of the European Union and wish good luck to everyone in the newly 'independent United Kingdom'."
Anna Filipek, MilanÃ³wek, Poland
"Seriously Britain? It's sad that a majority of your people didn't realise that it's not a choice deciding about your no longer imperial country, but about commitment, devotion and enthusiasm of the whole Europe. If you voted Leave, you are selfish and you deserve to watch Scotland saying 'bye'.
"I pity well-educated people of Britain, especially youngsters, that will need to face what the 'majority' brought them.
"Of course nobody is happy about the current shape of EU. Of course EU requires lots of improvements.
"But it's like marriage, it won't work without devotion and your divorce will give you depression, a bad example to other couples and will encourage your own kids to leave you.
"As a person who truly believes in unity of European culture and heritage and supports sticking together against the odds, I feel really disappointed, even personally touched."
Georg Schlomka, Flensburg, Germany
"As a German I am truly thrilled by the UK's decision. Politicians all across Europe have, up to now, failed to grasp that while the concept of Europe is widely supported by the people, the EU in its present form is not.
"So maybe this is a wake-up call for the rest of the EU and its respective member states - I certainly hope so. The alternative could only be an EU which grows even more repressive and less democratic than it is today.
"I daresay that the UK would not have left the old EEC - so maybe it's time to go back to the roots."
Otto Vennik, Dutchman in London
"Well done Britain! Hopefully this will be the beginning of the end for the EU. Now if you will excuse me, I was looking for a NEXIT."
Compiled by David Campanale


Audiences for the new Harry Potter play in London will face tight security when the play begins previews next week.

A message being sent to ticket holders asks them to arrive at the theatre an hour before the performance to ensure they are seated in good time.
No "suitcases or large bags" are allowed into the theatre, and smaller bags will be searched on entry.
Previews of the play begin at the West End's Palace Theatre on 7 June and it officially opens at the end of July.
The two-part Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the series and the first official story of the franchise to be presented on stage.
The plot sees Harry Potter as a husband and father of three school-age children, with a job working for the Ministry of Magic.
Cast photos were released this week showing the main characters in costume for the first time.
Jamie Parker stars as the adult Harry, Noma Dumezweni plays Hermione Granger and Paul Thornley is Ron Weasley.
Sam Clemmett was announced this week as the character Albus Severus Potter - the cursed child referred to in the title.
The latest cast portraits, released on Thursday, show Draco Malfoy, played by Alex Price, and his son Scorpius Malfoy (Anthony Boyle)
An email sent to ticket holders for the first preview performances said security checks would be taking place and asked them to "aim to arrive one hour before the start time".
"All admissible bags will be searched upon each entry to the theatre. Any dangerous items, professional photography, video or audio recording equipment will not be allowed into the building.  This is a condition of entry," it said.
"Please note that you will be checked prior to admittance for both Parts One and Two, and if you leave the theatre at any point you will be checked again prior to re-admittance.
"The use of photography and recording equipment of any kind is prohibited. Unauthorised recordings will be confiscated and deleted."
A spokesperson for the production told the BBC:  "We're taking security  seriously to make sure it's an easy and enjoyable experience for theatre-goers."
She said the early arrival time was about making sure the  show started on time and would allow people to be sure about their journey home.
Patrons were advised about the bag restrictions up front, she said, because "like in most theatres, the cloakroom space is tiny".
She added that, in common with most theatres, audiences would be asked to turn off their phone and recording devices before the performances.
Last year, Benedict Cumberbatch asked theatre goers not to film his stage performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Barbican theatre in London.
The plea came after the actor was distracted by red camera lights from the auditorium during the previews.


Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to his hometown of Funchal on the island of Madeira for the unveiling of a statue of himself.

"This is a very special moment, to have a statue of me," the 29-year-old said.
The statue is part of Ronaldo's personal museum, housing mementos and awards from his career including his two Ballon D'Or titles, awarded to him as the world's best player in 2008 and 2013.
The former Manchester United striker, who lifted the Club World Cup with his current club on Saturday, is favourite to win the 2014 accolade in January.
He has scored 34 goals in 27 games for club and country this season.
"Ronaldo has never forgotten his origins," added his mother, Dolores Aveiro.


With the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and calls for the Brit Awards to be "more truly representative", there has never been more discussion about diversity in the arts.

On stage, recent major productions of Hamlet and King Lear featured predominantly black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) casts, but according to some in the industry, "you can walk onto a building site and see more diversity than in the average theatre".
Paapa Essiedu, who is currently the Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamlet, says theatre is "caught between two worlds at the moment".
"There's a lot of positivity about how we see our present and future and that's all good, but I still don't see or feel that impact.
"What is required is for people to be more bold and more adventurous in what they back."
In Manchester, the Royal Exchange's King Lear saw veteran actor Don Warrington take the lead, something which he says "should not be in any way startling".
Yet many reviews drew attention to his race, which Warrington says is "an indictment of where we are".
He says while conditions have improved since he began his acting career almost 50 years ago, that anyone wants to discuss his casting shows there is still a "problem".
"There's a higher visibility, but the question is about the quality of that visibility and the quality of the parts.
"I don't think that is where it should be."
Hamida Ali, the acting union Equity's equalities and diversity organiser, shares Warrington's unease.
"One of the things we remain concerned about is how surprised we might be when we see a black actor in a lead role, not just in Shakespeare, but in general.
"It says something in itself that that remains something of note."
She says there is definitely "a consensus that there is a problem, but what the cause is, who is responsible and what the solutions are is perhaps more in debate".
The production of Lear was put on with Talawa, a theatre company set in the 1980s "in direct response to the lack of creative opportunities for actors from minority ethnic backgrounds".
Artistic director Michael Buffong says three decades on, there is still "a rapid need for change".
"What we need is different people to reflect different aspects of the same world, otherwise we have this very narrow viewpoint."
Essiedu agrees theatre needs to be "more diverse about the stories we're telling and the people that are telling them".
"By doing that, there will be more opportunity for a more diverse group of actors.
"We're in 2016 in an international, multicultural, integrated society and we've got a responsibility as artists to reflect that in the work that we create."
Matthew Xia, an associate artistic director at the Royal Exchange, says far from getting better, theatre has "gone backwards in so many ways".
"It's not just about the art, it's also about the organisational structure.
"In the majority of organisations, the moment you get to the leadership, it drops right down with regards to proportionate representation of the cities that they are working in.
"It's beyond me, because you can walk onto a building site and see more diversity than you can see in what is meant to be the liberal end of the work spectrum."
Buffong says, as a result, there is a need to "change the gatekeepers, because that's where the power is".
"You can cast two black actors in a play and go 'wow, we've got two black actors' but that's not really the same as having a story from a particular point of view.
"Just because there is a black actor on the stage doesn't necessarily mean it's your story."
Dawn Walton, the founder of Sheffield's Eclipse - which uses "the Black British experience to create new work that will enrich the canon of British theatre" - agrees.
"There is a belief in theatre that what is on stage is what needs to be diverse, so cross-casting is always where people go - casting a black whatever - but if that solved it, we'd have beaten this in the 1970s.
She says theatre boards need to change because "they're very much into doing the same thing over and over again... but the country has shifted".
"The institution is becoming less and less relevant because it doesn't represent what goes on right outside its doors."
Xia says theatre is "still at a place where actors of colour are expected to play peripheral characters unless the play is explicitly dealing with race, which is ridiculous".
"The human experience is so much broader than that.
"I've heard quite scary things said by directors which shows a lack of understanding about roles and who can play what.
"Ultimately, people are always going to represent their world on stage, so if their world has been monocultural, it's highly likely that's how the work will be rendered."
The "diversity of theatre generally is an issue", according to Arts Council England's director of theatre, Neil Darlison.
"I think theatres are aware of it and if they're not, they should be, because ultimately it's going to affect their business."
However, he says there are some positive signs, "particularly in metropolitan centres, where the diversity of people working in organisations and running them is better than it was".
"They're starting to reflect the stories of the inhabitants of the city."
Warrington believes direct action is needed to effect change.
"We have to wake up our consciences and we can do that by having a deliberate policy, so that it becomes part of everyday life.
"It has to become something we do."
Buffong adds that he is "in favour of anything that gets an instant result".
"Targets, quotas, ringfencing money - I'm in favour of making it happen now.
"The idea of more initiatives and training is so over. There's a wealth of people who just need the opportunity to work."
Ali says those opportunities may be hampered by the law, which "in some ways" supports equality, but also has grey areas.
"There are exemptions from the duty not to discriminate where appropriate and casting is one of those.
"If you are casting for realism purposes or because of the way a character is written, that is permitted, so you could argue that exemption has worked against progress.
"I understand that we're talking about an artistic process, but we must recognise it is an industrial one, and decisions made have an impact disproportionately on working opportunities.
"It's a difficult and thorny question because there are pros and cons on both sides."
Essiedu believes the answer may be a simple one.
"We mimic what we see, so we need to put that in front of people to get that machine started.
"I'd never seen a black actor performing the lead in a Shakespeare play until I was 18 and I saw Chiwetel Ejiofor doing Othello in the Donmar Warehouse.
"Because I hadn't seen it, I didn't think it was possible and I didn't explore that avenue.
"People from whatever background are only going to be inspired to write or perform if they see it.
"If you've got an artistic director who is willing to try and fail, then you're going to get a wider palette of works.
"Some of it will probably be terrible, but some of it will be unbelievably brilliant."
Hamlet is in cinemas from 8 June and at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon 13 August.


The US Holocaust Memorial Museum has asked people not to play Pokemon Go on their phones during their visit.

A spokesman for the museum in Washington said that playing the game inside a memorial to victims of Nazism was "extremely inappropriate".
The Arlington National Cemetery, just three miles away from the museum, has also warned off Pokemon players.
Both locations feature in the new smartphone game, which has become a commercial and cultural phenomenon.
Pokemon Go allows players to search locations in the real world to find Pokemon creatures.
It topped the app store download chart on both iPhone's App Store and Google Play just days after its release in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Like many other landmarks, both the museum in Washington and the military cemetery in Virginia are places where players can come across Pokemon creatures.
They are both reportedly also Pokestops, where players can collect virtual items like snacks and medicine for Pokemon, but officials at the museum are trying to get it removed from the game.
And the cemetery has also made its move to address the new craze.
"Playing games such as Pokemon Go on these hallowed grounds would not be deemed appropriate," cemetery officials said in a statement.
Spokesman Stephen Smith said they had not experienced any problems yet but wanted to act before they potentially arose.
It would be hard to know whether someone was playing the game on their phone or using the cemetery's own app to find their way round.
There has been no response yet from game developers Niantic Labs on whether it could stop Pokemon creatures from appearing inside the Holocaust Museum.


Tributes have been paid to Tony Warren, the Coronation Street creator and writer who has died aged 79.

William Roache, who has played Ken Barlow since the first episode, said he would be "so desperately missed".
Coronation Street executive producer Kieran Roberts called Warren "a pioneer, a revolutionary, a true genius [and] a giant of British television".
Warren, who started the Granada Television show when he was 24, died on Tuesday after a short illness.
Born in Lancashire in 1936, he wrote episodes for the ITV soap until the late 1970s.
Roache described the writer, who continued to visit the soap's set in Trafford until recently, as the "father" of the soap.
"When I first met Tony, I couldn't quite believe he'd created and written Coronation Street, because he was no more than a young boy," he said.
He added the writer had a "boyish energy" that never left him: "I loved Tony's energy. He was the father of Coronation Street and he gave us all so much."
Helen Worth, who worked alongside Warren for 42 years as the character Gail McIntyre, said Warren was "a genius of our time [and] the dearest, funniest and most inspirational man of his generation".
"He brought real life into our homes for us all to relate to and enjoy. He will, of course, live on forever through Coronation Street," she said.
Coronation Street actors Kym Marsh, Anthony Cotton and Samia Ghadie were among those who paid tribute to Warren on Twitter.
Cotton said the writer left "the greatest legacy", while Ghadie said he had been "a truly wonderful man" and Marsh described him as "amazing".
Tributes were also paid to Warren from actors on other soaps, including from EastEnders' Jessie Wallace and Adam Woodyatt, and Emmerdale's Gemma Oaten.
Warren was born Anthony McVay Simpson in Eccles, Salford, in 1937, and took the stage name of Warren during his career as a child star.
He trained at Liverpool's Elliott Clarke Theatre School and was a regular on the BBC radio show Children's Hour, before acting in radio plays alongside some of the actors who would become household names because of Coronation Street, including Violet Carson and Doris Speed.
His idea for Coronation Street was commissioned for 13 episodes by Granada in 1960 and the show has gone on to be one of the UK's most successful ever, reaching viewing figures of 26.6 million for the departure of the much-loved Hilda Ogden in 1987.
The writer was made an MBE in 1994 for his services to television drama and remained a consultant on the soap until his death, with his creator credit appearing at the start of the closing credits of every episode.
A drama based on his life and the creation of the show, The Road to Coronation Street, was broadcast on BBC Four in 2010.
Daran Little, who wrote for Coronation Street before penning the show about Warren, said on Twitter that "Tony was my dad in TV".
"Without his encouragement, I would never had a career," he said.
In 2007, Warren spoke to the Manchester Evening News about the prejudice he faced as a gay man writing the soap before decriminalisation in 1967.
He said while "a lot of creative people at Granada didn't care", he faced a lot of homophobic remarks from some staff.
Describing how he confronted the abuse with the statement "you call my brothers, you call me", he said he "didn't know I felt so strongly until that moment, and from then on I never pretended to another soul that I was anything other than what I am".
Receiving an award in Salford in November last year, Warren joked that he had been "haunted" by his Coronation Street characters for 50 years.
He said the one that haunted him the most was Ena Sharples, adding he was "left wondering just what Ena would have made of this [award]".
"She'd say, 'Oh yes, yes, very nice, very nice. One more ornament to dust. Not much dusting done in your house anyway.'
"It puts me in mind of one thing and one thing only. I bet it's not occurred to you but it's occurred to me. This could be the last monument you see before the actual gravestone."
An ITV spokesman said the "legendary creator and acclaimed writer" died on Tuesday night "surrounded by his loving friends after a short illness".


SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has said the party is up for "the challenge of changing" after losing all their MPs in Thursday's general election.

The party were wiped out after former party leaders Mark Durkan, Margaret Ritchie and Alasdair McDonnell were toppled in Foyle, South Down and Belfast South.
Mr Eastwood said the party would have to "accept" the verdict of voters.
"We will not rush into any kneejerk reactions," he vowed.
"But nor will we be slow in doing what is required."
The election result has been described as the end of an era for the SDLP, particularly in Foyle where the party has held the constituency seat since it began in 1983.
The constituency is largely made up of Londonderry, a city long considered an SDLP stronghold and the birthplace of Mr Durkan, Mr Eastwood and party founder John Hume.
In his concession speech on Friday morning, Mr Durkan apologised to John Hume for the loss of the seat.
On Saturday, SDLP's Claire Hanna told BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme that the party would have to do some "very, very serious thinking" about its future.
"There's no point in pretending that it was just the mechanics (of an election) and it was just the lack of money and it was just the fact the other parties were in government and being perceived to deliver goodies."
In a statement on Saturday, Mr Eastwood said the party would "listen hard to understand what has been said to us and how we can best respond".
"As a party there are no questions we are not prepared to face.
"We will not shy away from attempting to provide answers to those questions - even if those answers include the unprecedented or the uncomfortable."
Mr Eastwood said that the result was an "undoubtedly difficult" for the party but also "damaging for our wider politics".
"For the first time in generations, we have now been left with no Irish nationalist voice in Westminster."
He added: "I want to make clear it will not be a conversation centred solely on the future of the SDLP - it will be a conversation centred on the future of the country.
"That is our only focus because it is the ultimate point of politics - a point too often lost."
Mr Eastwood pledged he would not abandon the people who continue to vote for the party.
"Northern nationalism deserves a better strategy than the one which has left us with no assembly and has now placed us at the mercy of a coalition between the DUP and the Tories," he said.
"There is no future if the north continues to be locked into a political arm wrestle which no one can win."


The jury at footballer Ched Evans' retrial for rape has started its deliberations.

The Chesterfield striker denies raping a 19-year-old woman at a Premier Inn in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, on 30 May 2011.
Mr Evans, 27, was found guilty of rape at Caernarfon Crown Court in 2012, but his conviction was quashed in April.
On Friday, Mrs Justice Nicola Davies finished her summing up and invited the jury to retire after a two-week trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
On Thursday, she told jurors to make their decision "calmly, objectively and without emotion" and not to judge the morals of anyone involved.
Mr Evans denies having sex with the woman while she was too drunk to consent.
He insists she agreed to let him "join in" while she was having consensual sex with fellow footballer Clayton McDonald, 27, after a night out in Rhyl.
His legal team argue the prosecution is "built around the myth" the complainant was too drunk to agree to sex.
But the prosecution alleges the victim did "not have the freedom or capacity to consent".
They have said Mr Evans treated her with a "callous, self-centred indifference essentially indistinguishable from utter contempt".


A study of some of the most popular app-controlled devices for the home suggests the majority of the products tested were vulnerable to hackers.

HP's Fortify security division reviewed 10 pieces of internet-connected kit.
It said the majority did not require a password of sufficient complexity and length and that most did not encrypt the data they transmitted.
One independent security expert said the findings were "shocking".
HP has not named the manufacturers involved, but has identified the 10 types of net-connected products studied:
One of the report author's biggest concerns was that eight of the devices surveyed did not require consumers to use hard-to-hack log-ins.
It said that most allowed passwords as simple as "1234" or "123456", which could then be used to access both the app and a website providing access to the owner's records.
In addition, the team said, the interfaces used by six of the devices' websites had other security flaws that could cause them to be compromised. For example, it said, in some cases hackers could exploit the password reset facility to determine which accounts were valid, allowing them to focus follow-up attacks.
A lack of encryption - the digital scrambling of data to make it unreadable without a special key - was also flagged as a worry.
HP said that seven of the devices failed to encrypt communications sent to the internet and/or a local network.
It added that six of the pieces of kit did not use encryption when downloading software and firmware updates. It said hackers could take advantage of this to intercept, modify and retransmit the code, potentially allowing them to take control of many customers' equipment.
The report also suggested that eight of the devices raised broader privacy concerns.
"With many devices collecting some form of personal information such as name, address, date of birth, health information and even credit card numbers, those concerns are multiplied when you add in cloud services and mobile applications that work alongside the device," it stated.
"And with many devices transmitting this information unencrypted on your home network, users are one network misconfiguration away from exposing this data to the world via wireless networks.
"Do these devices really need to collect this personal information to function properly?"
HP is not the first firm to highlight problems with smart home devices.
Earlier this month, another security firm revealed that wi-fi-controlled light bulbs sold by an Australian firm, Lifx, could reveal their owner's username and passwords if a hacker used a device that masqueraded as being another bulb.
In January, another report highlighted the case of a smart fridge that had been hacked and used to send out spam emails.
And last year, LG was prompted to issue a fix for its smart TVs after one owner discovered his set was monitoring his watching habits and then transmitting the information over the internet unencrypted.
Ian Brown, professor of information security and privacy at the University of Oxford, said HP's report should act as a wake-up call.
"We're used to hearing about vulnerabilities in computing systems, but those are often legacy products designed before today's greater focus on security," he told the BBC.
"It's slightly shocking to see these brand new internet-of-things devices being created with so many security holes.
"I hope device manufactures realise they have to do much better if they want to avoid damaging consumer trust in the whole sector before it even takes off."


Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has withdrawn from Pakistan's World Cup squad as his bowling action is yet to be cleared by the International Cricket Council.

Ajmal, 37, Pakistan's top wicket-taker for the past three years, was suspended from bowling by the ICC in September.
Banned Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez is to undergo checks before potentially applying to the ICC for an official test on his bowling action.
Teams have to name their final 15-man World Cup squads by 7 January.
Ajmal, who had been named in Pakistan's preliminary squad, will continue remedial work on his action and play domestic cricket until he has satisfied himself he can take the ICC test.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan said: "Ajmal withdrew himself.
"We were aware that if he took the official ICC test in a bid to make the World Cup squad and failed it he could be suspended from playing for one to two years and that would mean the end of his career."
Ajmal was Worcestershire's leading wicket-taker last season with 63 wickets to help them win promotion from Division Two of the County Championship.
Meanwhile, Naveed Akram Cheema has been appointed Pakistan's team manager for a second time for their upcoming tours, including the World Cup, in place of Moin Khan, who will remain as the chief selector.
The 2015 World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March.


Ireland full-back Rob Kearney is expected to be available for Sunday's World Cup game against Italy.

Kearney sustained a hip injury when scoring a try in Ireland's win over Romania but scans have indicated that the ailment is not serious.
Keith Earls is also in line to play against Italy despite suffering a blow to his head in Sunday's 44-10 win.
Italian captain Sergio Parisse is set to play at the Olympic Stadium after recovering from a calf problem.
The inspirational number eight had surgery to drain a haematoma in his calf three weeks ago and missed Italy's opening Pool D defeat by France and the narrow victory over Canada.
However, the Stade Francais star joined up with the Azzurri squad on Tuesday morning to hand a major boost to coach Jacques Brunel.
British and Irish Lions player Kearney underwent a scan on Monday and the Ireland management are confident that his "minor gluteal strain" will not rule him out of the Italy game.
Kearney suffered a heavy blow to the hip in scoring Ireland's fifth try in the comfortable win over the Romanians at Wembley.
Connacht centre Robbie Henshaw will train fully this week and is likely to be restored to the 12 shirt against Italy after hamstring trouble ruled him out of the World Cup's opening fortnight.
Munster's Simon Zebo will rejoin the Ireland squad later on Tuesday after travelling home to Cork to attend the funeral of his grandfather.
Zebo, usually a winger, performed impressively at full-back against the Romanians before Kearney came on as a second-half substitute at Wembley.
Flanker Jordi Murphy suffered a leg injury in Sunday's game but is expected to resume full training before the Italy contest.
Ireland will book a place in the quarter-finals if they win on Sunday.


Plans to remove restrictions on engine development will make Formula 1 less competitive, says Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey.

The move, scheduled for 2017, is aimed at producing a convergence of engine performance after two seasons of domination by Mercedes.
But Newey told Reuters it will lead to a "spending frenzy" and will mean "the gaps get bigger not smaller."
He described notions that performance would equalise as "quaint".
The engine manufacturers and governing body the FIA have agreed the move after two years of arguments about the previous system of development restrictions.
This was based on a  series of 'tokens' ascribed to various parts of the engine on the basis of their influence on performance.
The number of development tokens manufacturers could use reduced from year to year.
But senior figures decided the system was flawed and will remove it, pending official ratification by the FIA's legislative process.
Newey said: "If you look back on the original technical working group meetings and minutes from 2012-13, the agreement at that point was that the engines would be frozen but teams that were behind would still be allowed to keep developing.
"That's not happened."
He added that the amount of money being spent by the big manufacturers were "eye watering" and said that Renault, from which Red Bull get an engine, "aren't prepared to spend that sort of money".
Renault has just re-entered F1 for this season with its own team but are continuing to supply Red Bull with engines, which will be badged as Tag Heuer. Renault insists it will allocate a sufficient budget to win - and have targeted regular podiums within three years.
Newey also questioned a system that he said allowed the car companies to supply engines to customer teams that were not as competitive as the ones they use themselves.
"It's very curious to me that we have this set of regulations where the manufacturer has to supply the same hardware to other teams, but it's no under no obligation to supply the same software and therefore the same performance," said Newey.
"Nobody is complaining about this because the customer teams can't complain because their contract doesn't allow them to."
He said Renault were an exception: "They have always given the same power units in every sense of the word, including software, to their customer teams as their works teams."
Red Bull and Renault won four consecutive drivers' and constructors' titles together from 2010-13 under the previous engine formula, for 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8s.
But Renault have struggled since the new turbo hybrid V6 engines were introduced alongside fuel limits in 2014.
Red Bull and Renault fell out through 2015 but patched up their relationship after the team were unable to secure engines from Mercedes, Ferrari or Honda.
Red Bull have only a one-year contract with Renault to use the re-branded engine but Newey said it was "an option" for the two to continue working together beyond this season.
He added: "The problem of course is that if Renault are not able to compete with the spend and development race then we are put in a position where neither they nor us can be fully competitive."


Police believe a man who indecently exposed himself to two women in Grangemouth before cycling away may have carried out similar acts before.

The women were walking in Zetland Park, Drummond Place, at 18:45 on Thursday when they saw the man exposing himself.
The suspect then left on a bicycle before the women contacted police.
Officers said they believed the incident was linked to other indecent exposures in Tummel Place, Bowhouse Road, Wood Street and Myreton Road.
The man was described as white, aged 18 to 30, wearing dark clothing with his face obscured.
Det Insp. Jim Thomson said: "Over a number of months we have received similar reports of public indecencies within Grangemouth, where the suspect is seen to be in possession of a bike.
"As such, we are treating these incidents as linked and would urge anyone with information that can help us trace this male to come forward.
"None of the witnesses have ever been threatened or spoken to by the suspect, but these are upsetting experiences for them and we are keen to ensure he is apprehended as soon as possible."


Syria has agreed to allow UN investigators to visit three sites where chemical weapons have allegedly been used, the UN has said.

The inspectors will go "as soon as possible", a statement from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's office said.
They are expected to investigate three locations of suspected use, including one in Khan al-Assal, outside Aleppo.
Some 27 people were killed in attacks allegedly involving chemical weapons in the northern town earlier this year.
Khan al-Assal was at the centre of allegations in March that chemical weapons were being used, with both sides of the conflict blaming the other for the attack.
It was under government control in March, but was captured by the rebels on 22 July.
While the UN did not identify the other two sites to be investigated, they are believed to be near Homs and Damascus.
It follows negotiations over access to the sites between the Syrian government, UN disarmament chief Angela Kane and head chemical weapons inspector Ake Sellstrom last week in Damascus.
Syria chemical weapons allegations
Syria's chemical weapons stockpile
How to investigate chemical weapons allegations
UN Chief Ban Ki-moon had demanded widespread access in Syria to investigate all allegations of chemical weapons use since the 28-month conflict began.
However, the Syrian government has until now been insisting the UN probe be limited to Khan al-Assal.
The UN says it has received up to 13 reports of alleged chemical weapons use in Syria.
The UK and France sent letters to the UN secretary general in late March which reportedly detailed evidence based on witness interviews and soil samples that chemical weapons had been used on multiple occasions, including at Khan al-Assal.
In mid-June, the US said its intelligence agencies believed government forces had used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, "on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year", resulting in an estimated 100-150 deaths.
Earlier this month, however, Russia said it had gathered evidence in a separate investigation to show that the Syrian rebels had used sarin in Khan al-Assal.
Moscow's permanent representative to the UN told reporters that a projectile most likely fired by the rebels into Khan al-Assal contained the nerve agent sarin.
The mandate of the UN investigation team is to establish if chemical weapons were used, not to determine who was actually responsible for the attack.
Both sides of the conflict have denied deploying chemical weapons.


The Scottish Greens are to launch their national manifesto for May's local authority elections.

Voters go to the polls on 4 May to elect local councils, and the Greens are fielding a record 218 candidates.
Party co-conveners Patrick Harvie and Maggie Chapman will set out their priorities for the elections at a launch event in Glasgow.
These are expected to centre on the protection of public services such as schools and social care.
In the last council elections in 2012, the Greens put forward 80 candidates, securing 14 council seats.
They are aiming to build on this total and the six MSPs won in the 2016 Holyrood elections with their largest-ever local election campaign.
Party groups in local authority areas will have their own local manifestos, but over-arching national priorities to be set out will include class sizes, better bus services, affordable housing and better wages for social care workers.
The party is also crowdfunding to raise money for a television party election broadcast.
The Green spring conference in March focused on "renewed local democracy in Scotland", where Mr Harvie said the "constitutional obsession" of other parties should not distract from local services.
He said: "Our job is simple - to build on the fantastic start that our former and existing councillors have achieved, building strong local economies that are healthy to live in, making the opportunities from the new greener industries into something everyone can access a reality for everyone, and renewing real local democracy."
Ms Chapman also told the conference that Green councillors could be "champions for change" in local government.
And MSP Andy Wightman said "genuine political and fiscal power should be in the hands of local communities".
He said: "Greens at council level are fighting hard to revitalise local democracy, pushing for every community to have a say in council budgets and for councils to have the powers other European towns and cities take for granted. While some other parties are shamefully treating the council elections as a proxy for constitutional issues, Greens are clear that local services matter, communities should be trusted to decide their future, and that local democracy is worth fighting for."


It's just a small clip in a trailer for a comedy, but Benedict Cumberbatch's cameo as an apparent transgender model, All, in Zoolander 2 has stirred up an angry social media protest for alleged transphobia.

With growing public awareness and news stories about transgender people, an online petition to boycott the film had gathered 10,000 signatures by Tuesday morning, saying the "cartoonish mockery... was the modern equivalent of using blackface" - white people blacking up to mock black people.
So what is the status of blackface in acting, and is such a comparison a fair one?
When the director of a university theatre company in Ohio cast a play about Martin Luther King with a white and a black man alternating the role earlier this autumn, it made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.
It wasn't "blacking up "in the traditional sense, as no make-up was involved, and the intention certainly wasn't to mock.
The director, Michael Oatmen, who is black, said his casting of The Mountaintop was not intended as a "stunt, but a true exploration of King's wish that we all be judged by the content of our character and not the colour of our skin".
But the play's author, Katori Hall vigorously objected.
She said it wasn't the same as colour-blind casting, where black actors are cast in traditionally white roles because of the huge imbalance in the visibility of black actors in mainstream parts.
"The casting of a white King is committing yet another erasure of the black body," she wrote.
Last year Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings came under criticism for a cast dominated by make-up-tanned and black-wigged Egyptians played by non-Middle-Easterners, including Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver.
Scott argued the criticism was misplaced, as a blockbuster film needed big names to get funding.
Film writer and programmer Ashley Clark, author of Facing Blackness: Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee's Bamboozled, is unimpressed by the "funding" argument and points out each individual film or TV casting decision is part of a bigger picture in which black actors are often not seen or limited to stereotyped supporting roles.
He accepts that many black and Asian British actors have headed West for better opportunity.
But he adds: "We live in a context where the Hollywood Reporter, doing a big photo spread of leading actors, marginalised women of colour... in a climate where the cultural product is not diverse, things that are on the line and are offensive need to be held accountable whether they like it or not."
American actor Dylan Marron was so disturbed by the invisibility of black actors that he began collating "every single word spoken by a person of colour" in individual Hollywood films and found they usually amounted to a few seconds often as servants or prostitutes.
There has been widespread criticism of blacking up for at least 30 years, going back to Alec Guinness and Amy Irving playing painted Indians in A Passage To India and The Far Pavilions (both 1984).
So why is it still happening?
Angelina Jolie in curly wig and tan make-up as the mixed-ethnicity Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart (2007) is a recent "borderline" example.
The actors' union, Equity, has called for those who make commissioning decisions to make reflecting the nation's diversity core to casting on stage or on screen.
Together with the Arts Council England it strongly criticised Trevor Nunn's decision earlier this year to cast an all-white version of Shakespeare's Wars of the Roses history plays for supposed "historical authenticity".
Many people have pointed out that women and Jewish people wouldn't have been allowed to perform in Shakespearean times, and many of the characters are French.
Actress Tanya Moodie told The Stage: "And yet someone with black skin comes in, and it's like, 'Let's avoid the black people, because that's not historically accurateâ€¦ you can cherry-pick.' In any way you put it, it's offensive."
Leading TV writer Russell T Davies, creator of Cucumber and Queer as Folk, has a commitment to writing diverse parts in all his dramas.
The creation by fellow Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat of the lesbian inter-species detective duo, the Silurian Lady Vastra and Victorian human Jenny Flint, is testament to how charmingly it can be done.
On British TV, blackface casting has endured longer in comedy than in film - take for instance Come Fly With Me, Matt Lucas and David Walliams's ill-received 2010  follow-up to Little Britain.
But TV comedy is also at the cutting edge.
The acclaimed sitcom Boy Meets Girl stars transgender actress Rebecca Root as a trans woman negotiating a new relationship.
And on the big screen, the independent film Tangerine is winning plaudits for its central performances by two trans women - both non-professional actors.
A decade on from Felicity Huffman's Oscar-nominated performance as a trans woman in Transamerica (2005), could this be a breakthrough moment for the representation of trans men and women?
Film critic Juliet Jacques, author of Trans: A Memoir, says: "Higher-budget studios more reliant on 'star' actors are still using people such as Jared Leto or Eddie Redmayne as trans characters, and lots of the discourse around them focuses on how good they look, or the challenges of playing the role - the humanity of trans people gets lost in that, I think.
"That's before you get on to the use of trans bodies or identities in films from Ace Ventura (1994) to The Hangover: Part II (2011), that get laughs out of the idea that trans people are undesirable, and/or that having sex with one is shameful - the jokes about our genitalia in the Zoolander 2 trailer are nothing new."
Writers such as Jacques are helping challenge how we present diversity on screen, but she is wary of comparing portrayals of trans people to blacking up.
"I don't like the 'blacking up' analogy - trans people have different issues with 'passing' and 'stealth' in a transphobic society than people of colour in a racist one," she says.
"But many of the contemporary portrayals of trans people by cis[gender] actors look dated now - I think they're only going to look worse in a decade's time."


An animal feed shop in Suffolk has been severely damaged after being struck by a car, burgled and then set alight.

Twenty firefighters were called to the warehouse-style Copdock Country Store in Old London Road, Copdock, at 0130 GMT.
The fire took hold in the office area and took two hours to extinguish.
Owner Mark Gladwell said a 22-stone (140kg) safe was taken and a corner of the building had been destroyed.
"All the records, computers have gone," he added.
"It's going to take a few weeks to get trading again from this part of the building."


Swansea council leader David Phillips has resigned from his post.

Mr Phillips said the decision was to focus on building Swansea's regional and national profile although details of his new role are not yet known.
It comes a week after he was told to expect a leadership challenge after sacking two cabinet members in a reshuffle but he would not comment on whether his departure was linked.
Mr Phillips led the council's Labour group for 10 years.
The Labour group has been in power at the authority for the last two years.
The selection process to find a new leader begins on Monday.
He said from the back benches he will continue to give his "complete support to the new cabinet and the group as we work to continue to deliver on our manifesto commitments for the good of the people of Swansea and the wider region".
Labour group chairman Robert Francis Davies said: "David Phillips has made an enormous contribution to Swansea and to Labour and will continue to do so in the future. We want to keep his talents working for our city."


A schoolgirl who escaped Nigeria's militant Islamists is not one of the 276 Chibok girls abducted in 2014, contrary to earlier reports, a presidential aide has told the BBC.

Although this girl went to the same school in Chibok, she was abducted in a separate incident, Femi Adesina said.
The 15-year-old girl was found by government troops while she was escaping.
Boko Haram has captured thousands of people in north-eastern Nigeria.
The abduction of the 276 Chibok girls is the most high-profile case but many others have never had any media attention or support, aid organisations say.
Three years since the abduction, 113 Chibok girls remain in captivity.
A total of 103 of the girls have been released so far, including 82 earlier this month in a prisoner swap.
The 82 girls, who met Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on 7 May, are expected to be reunited with their families later this week.
They are believed to have been swapped for five Boko Haram commanders.
Last month, President Buhari said the government remained "in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence, to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed".
Aside from the Chibok girls, Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of other people during its eight-year insurgency, which is aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in north-eastern Nigeria.
The government says more than 30,000 people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes.
Aid agencies are warning of a famine in the area, as people have not been able to farm for several years.


European aerospace giant, Airbus, is going to build the world's largest satellite constellation.

The company will produce 900 spacecraft for OneWeb, a British Channel Islands-registered concern that aims to broaden internet access to the underserved.
More than 600 satellites will initially be launched, with the rest held as spares.
The deal was announced at the Paris Airshow.
The multi-billion-dollar OneWeb constellation will dwarf any previous commercial network in the sky by a factor of 10.
Airbus will be the "industrial partner" on the project. And the role represents an immense challenge, because Airbus has made its name on some of the world's highest specification and most expensive telecommunications platforms.
In contrast, its workflow for OneWeb will have to be high volume at an extremely low cost.
Each satellite is expected to be about 150kg is size, and OneWeb was reportedly looking for a price per unit of less than half a million dollars.
Airbus says it will make the first 10 spacecraft at its Toulouse manufacturing facility before shifting work to a dedicated plant in the United States.
Many rockets will be required to get the constellation in orbit, and that is likely to involve Richard Branson's Virgin Group. As well as sitting on OneWeb's board, Sir Richard is also developing a satellite launch system based on his tourist spaceplane concept.
Airbus would not give a formal interview at the airshow but issued a statement from its head of space systems.
“This partnership is a fantastic new chapter in our space story,” said François Auque.
“Teaming with OneWeb with a requirement to produce several small satellites each day has inspired us to develop innovative designs and processes that will dramatically lower the cost in large volumes for high performance space applications.
“Without doubt, this programme is challenging but we’re ready for it because we have leveraged resources and expertise across the entire Airbus Group.”
OneWeb is led by Greg Wyler, and the American entrepreneur was pictured meeting French President François Hollande at the Le Bourget showground.
Mr Wyler started the O3B satellite network a few years ago. This is a 12-spacecraft constellation providing “backhaul” telecommunications services, also in broadband-underserved countries.
But Mr Wyler’s OneWeb venture is a step-change in thinking.
The plan envisages 20 planes of low-orbiting satellites connecting to small user terminals on the ground. These terminals would act as hubs, linking phones and computers.
Satellite constellations, it has to be said, have a rather chequered history.
Even some of today’s big players, like satphone service providers Iridium and GlobalStar, got themselves into enormous financial trouble when building their first-generation networks.
OneWeb will have to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain a venture that will not be fully operational for some years.
Money was not mentioned in Monday's Airbus announcement. The description of the company as an "industrial partner" suggests it will be investing some of its own cash in the project. It did say that no launches were envisaged before 2018.


A man who was attacked in the street has died from his injuries.

Dean Anthony Evans, 31, from Kempshott, was found lying in Benham Road in Basingstoke, Hampshire, shortly before 05:30 BST on Friday.
He was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
Two 22-year-old men and a 20-year-old man, all from Basingstoke, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Police described the assault as "an isolated incident".


Diplomatic staff with immunity, working in embassies in the UK, have been accused of child sex offences and human trafficking, the Foreign Office says.

A total of 11 "serious and significant" offences were allegedly committed by such people in the past year.
Diplomatic missions and international organisations ran up nearly £500,000 in unpaid parking fines in London last year, it was also revealed.
Diplomats and some embassy staff are entitled to diplomatic immunity.
This means they can be exempt from being tried for crimes.
The allegations, contained a written ministerial statement by new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, include someone at the Mexican embassy allegedly causing a child aged 13 to 15 to watch or look at an image of sexual activity.
Someone at the same embassy is accused of making an indecent image of a child and using threatening or abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment or alarm or distress.
The statement also says a member of the Saudi Arabian embassy is alleged to have committed the offence of human trafficking into the UK for the purposes of exploitation, specifically domestic servitude.
Someone at the same embassy is said to have committed the offence of human trafficking for slavery or servitude or forced or compulsory labour.
Someone at the Gabonese embassy was accused of actual bodily harm.
Staff at the embassies of the United States, China and Kazakhstan have all been accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. There is also a string of alleged motoring offences.
The alleged offences were brought to the attention of the Foreign Office by the Metropolitan Police's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, or other law enforcement agencies.
In a written statement, Mr Johnson said: "Around 22,500 people are entitled to diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom, and the majority of diplomats abide by UK law.
"The number of alleged serious crimes committed by members of the diplomatic community in the UK is proportionately low."
He said people entitled to diplomatic immunity were expected to obey the law, under the terms of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.
He added:  "We take all allegations of illegal activity seriously.
"When instances of alleged criminal conduct are brought to our attention by the police, we ask the relevant foreign government to waive diplomatic immunity where appropriate.
"For the most serious offences, and when a relevant waiver has not been granted, we seek the immediate withdrawal of the diplomat."
People with diplomatic immunity had racked up 4,858 parking fines, totalling £477,499, the Foreign Office said in its statement.
Following a series of meetings with missions, subsequent payments and waived fines had knocked £161,328 off the bill, leaving £316,171 in unpaid fines.
The worst offender was the embassy of the Republic of South Sudan, which owed £53,708, followed by the High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which owed £41,531, and the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, which had a debt of £20,692.
The High Commission for the Republic of Zambia owed £18,212, the embassy of the Republic of Liberia owed £13,795, and the embassy of the Republic of the Sudan owed £13,429.
And Transport for London was owed £95,811,650  in unpaid Congestion Charge fees, with America alone owing £10,626,970 racked up from 89,308 unpaid fines.


Essex opener Nick Browne hit an unbeaten century as the Division Two leaders enjoyed a fine opening day with the bat at Derbyshire.

Browne lasted 282 balls for his 116 to help Essex reach 291-4 at stumps.
The 25-year-old put on 128 for the second wicket with Tom Westley before he edged Matt Critchley behind for 72.
All-rounder Ravi Bopara also made 44, with Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate set to resume with Browne on day two unbeaten on 15.


Steven Agnew joined the Green Party in Northern Ireland in 2003.

Mr Agnew has led the party in Northern Ireland since 2011 and is an assembly member for North Down.
Born in Dundonald in 1979, he studied philosophy at university, but said he was turned off by a "negative political landscape"  in Northern Ireland.
He joined the Greens after meeting the then leader John Barry at a protest march against the Iraq invasion.
Writing on his website, he said: "I was passionate about social justice but I did not see politicians in Northern Ireland representing my views."
He unsuccessfully contested the  Northern Ireland Assembly election in 2007, in East Belfast, where he took 2.2% of the vote.
However, it was a breakthrough election for the party in Northern Ireland with Brian Wilson taking its first assembly seat in North Down.
Mr Agnew, who had previously worked with the homeless for five years, became Mr Wilson's research officer.
In 2009, Mr Agnew stood unsuccessfully for the Green Party in the European election and, a year later, he contested his first general election, standing for North Down.
He was elected as an MLA for North Down in May 2011 and his first motion in the assembly was on fracking.
Recently, Mr Agnew tried to amend the controversial Welfare Reform Bill and joined with Sinn Féin and the SDLP in signing a petition of consent that meant the bill had to get cross-community support - ensuring it not go through.
Mr Agnew once said in a newspaper interview that he sits in the "naughty corner" in the assembly - a reference to his position on the backbenches with parties such as the TUV and UKIP.
A film buff, he has appeared in a movie called I Wanted to Talk to You Last Night, made by Belfast director Michael MacBroom, a personal friend.
He has also appeared as a singer for a band called The Killing Spree.
Mr  Agnew has been a member of Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth and is passionate about animal welfare issues.


England winger Jonny May has been ruled out of the rest of the season.

May suffered a knee injury while playing for Gloucester in last month's Premiership draw with Harlequins.
The 25-year-old England's first-choice left wing at the World Cup and has won 19 international caps so far, but will now miss the Six Nations.
"Following an operation on his left knee on Tuesday, Jonny May will be ruled out of the remainder of the campaign," said a club statement.
Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys described the injury as "significant" but refused to disclose exact details of what May had suffered.
"He had surgery on Tuesday, the operation went well," Humphreys told BBC Radio Gloucestershire. "It's very difficult to put a timeline on any knee injury. It's a disappointing end to the 12 months for Jonny, both at club and international level."
May's absence is a further blow for new England head coach Eddie Jones, with Bath forward Dave Attwood and Leicester lock Ed Slater ruled out of next month's championship earlier this week.
Northampton prop Kieran Brookes is also set for an extended spell on the sidelines after having an operation on his knee, as is Exeter centre Henry Slade and back row Dave Ewers.
England start their Six Nations campaign under Jones against Scotland on 6 February.
Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell featured in the World Cup and may be the likely starters at Murrayfield, while Chris Ashton and Semesa Rokoduguni are pushing for places in the squad.
Humphreys hopes to have May back for the start of next season, with the winger likely to also miss England's summer tour of Australia.
"He was very quick to text me after the operation to tell me he plans to come back fitter and stronger," added Humphreys.
"Jonny has shown in the past when he has been injured that he will work hard and I have no doubt we will see him back performing and shining in Gloucester colours."


The leader of a communist cult effectively imprisoned his own daughter for 30 years and carried out a "brutal" campaign of "sexual degradation" against followers, a court has heard.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, 75, of Enfield, convinced female followers he was "all-powerful and all-seeing", Southwark Crown Court was told.
He denies charges including four counts of rape and seven of indecent assault.
Jurors also heard Mr Balakrishnan's daughter "barely left the house".
She was unaware that one of the cult followers was her mother.
Prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC told the court that, in his youth, Mr Balakrishnan was a charismatic man who brainwashed his followers.
"This case concerns the brutal and calculated manipulation by one man, this defendant, to subjugate women under his control.
"In order to bend them to his will, he used mental and physical dominance and violence, sexual degradation and, in relation to one, his daughter, he controlled every sphere of her life to the extent that she was unable either emotionally or physically to leave his influence until she was 30 years old and was in fact very ill with diabetes."
The court heard that in the 1970s Mr Balakrishnan was at the helm of a communist group known as the Workers Institute, based in Acre Lane in Brixton, south London.
Beguiled by his charisma and radical politics, a number of people became his followers, jurors heard.
But as time went by his political influence "waned" and the group dwindled until just a small number of women were left.
Ms Cottage said: "The atmosphere within the collective was controlled by the defendant and his moods. Each woman lived a life of violence, fear, isolation and confinement."
His daughter was born into the collective in the early 1980s and "had no independent life" at all, the court heard.
She had been unaware that one of Mr Balakrishnan's followers, was her mother.
Only after her death did she learn of their true relationship.
No one outside the sect knew a child was in the house, and he cult followers lived in constant fear that she might be discovered.
Diaries she kept reveal the "unbearable tedium of her life" and brief moments of "joy at the smallest sign of affection", said Ms Cottage.
"She was bullied, beaten and separated from the world.
"She never went to school, she never played with a friend, she never saw a doctor or a dentist.
"Her freedom of movement was restrained to the extent that, even though she could have left physically, the power that the defendant exercised over her meant that she could never leave. She tried once."
In a diary entry written when she was 12, Mr Balakrishnan's daughter wrote: "We are disrespecting AB so much... I must learn to serve him more faithfully in future.
"Of course he is merciful but that is no excuse. He is my lord and master."
In 2013, she called a women's charity she had seen featured in a BBC TV documentary.
The subsequent police investigation led to Mr Balakrishnan's prosecution.
Mr Balakrishnan also denies three counts of actual bodily harm, cruelty to a child under the age of 16 and false imprisonment.
The trial continues.


A schoolboy who died after falling ill in detention ate a meal he was allergic to before collapsing, an inquest heard.

Nasar Ahmed, 14, who had severe asthma and multiple allergies, fell ill in the supervised detention room of Bow School, Tower Hamlets, in November.
Two hours before he collapsed he ate tandoori chicken made with milk, Poplar Coroner's Court heard earlier.
Staff failed to correctly administer his medication before paramedics arrived, the inquest heard.
The Year Nine pupil had asthma, severe eczema and a host of allergies to milk, fish, nuts, wheat, apples, oranges and some meats.
Staff at Bow School tried to save Nasar as his condition quickly deteriorated, with first aider Cherie Hyde putting him in the recovery position as he struggled for breath, the inquest heard.
Another member of staff brought Nasar's personal first aid box, which contained an inhaler and EpiPen.
A third staff member was on the phone to emergency services asking for advice.
However staff failed to administer the EpiPen in the five-minutes it took for paramedics to arrive, the inquest heard.
Ms Hyde told the hearing Nasar was not breathing well enough for her to administer the inhaler.
She focussed on his asthma, rather than using the Epipen, when he told her, "Miss, I can't find my pump," the court heard.
An EpiPen can help reverse the symptoms of a severe allergic reaction.
Nasar's request for his asthma pump was not passed on to paramedics.
Pathologist Dr Liina Palm told the hearing she could not ascertain from the post-mortem examination whether Nasar had died from an asthma attack or an allergic reaction.
Dr Palm gave a cause of death as bronchial asthma that led to a hypoxic ischaemic brain injury, with multiple allergies as a contributing factor.