When Sheffield United initially agreed to allow convicted rapist Ched Evans to train with the club after his release from prison, Jessica Ennis-Hill realised she had to make a decision on whether to allow her name to be assigned to a stand at the club's ground.

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The London 2012 heptathlon champion decided she didn't want one side of Bramall Lane to continue bearing her name if Evans was to play in front of it and made her wishes public.
Evans, 25, had served half of a five-year jail sentence for raping a woman in a hotel room in Rhyl in 2011 when he was released on 17 October. The club later withdrew its offer to Evans.
In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Sport, Ennis-Hill, 28, talks about her decision, the online abuse she received afterwards and how her life and career have changed since she became a mother with the birth of son Reggie in July.
She also gave her view on domestic rival Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who is returning to action after a foot injury, and allegations from German broadcaster ARD  that doping is rife in Russian athletics.
"I knew I was in a position where I was going to upset someone whether I said something or didn't.
"With my stand at Sheffield United and the association I have with the club, I really just wanted to voice my opinion.
"It wasn't about putting pressure on the club or anything like that - it was just simply about how I felt.
"I think people can be rehabilitated and if they have served time in jail can go back into society, but I just feel that when you are in a really privileged position it's quite different."
"It was definitely a shock. It was not very nice to read them but unfortunately that's the world we live in.
"You kind of have to keep focused on who you are and what you believe in, and try not to read too much into it.
"You can't spend hours going through your Twitter feed and reading everything every single person says to you. You need to get on with your life."
"The first training session since Reggie's birth was exciting.
"It was nice to get back to the track and to start running again, but definitely it's been a huge, huge change.
"It was weird training through pregnancy and then getting back without a bump.
"Sleep deprivation is the hardest bit. Your whole life changes when you have your first child and having sleepless nights is a real challenge... as every parent experiences. Then, having to get up and train and push your body is quite difficult. It's a huge challenge.
"It's quite hard to see where I am at the moment, having had a year away from training and missing a full winter season, but I feel it is coming back quite quickly.
"I know it will take time to build back my strength and my speed, but training is going well and if it is managed and balanced well with my coach then hopefully I can get back to a good level of fitness soon."
"It's hard getting up when you have not had much sleep but I really want to have this last push in my career. I'm looking forward to the Olympics, I really want to be there and want to be a contender and that's what keeps me motivated.
"I have two years to get the work done and get where I was. I'm still the competitive person I was and I really hope I can contend for a gold medal.
"London 2012 was fantastic and it will be very hard to top, but if I am able to get work done and get to Rio and win a gold medal having had a child, that would be unbelievable."
"Her progress has been incredible, I was gutted to see her suffer an injury in the summer. I know what that's like to have stress fractures when you are really ready to compete at your best, and the Commonwealths were going to be fantastic for her.
"She's an incredible athlete and has been for a number of years. She will be a true, true competitor for Rio 2016. It is exciting for this country and she is going to push me all the way."
"It's hard as an athlete to comprehend that - it's an incredible amount of athletes if true and it's disappointing because we train incredibly hard to win medals. If you think about people cheating, it's really frustrating."


A recent attack on Druze villagers by radical Islamist rebels in Syria has raised fears about the fate of the country's secretive sect.

At least 20 Druze were shot dead by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in the north-western province of Idlib.
It was the deadliest attack on Druze civilians since the beginning of the country's conflict four years ago.
Fighting has spread to areas where Druze predominate. They are the third-largest religious minority in Syria and are considered by jihadists as heretics.
The Druze religion arose from Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam, in the 11th Century.
It takes its name from Mohammed bin Ismail al-Darazi, a mystic from Central Asia who regarded the third Fatamid caliph of Egypt, al-Hakim, as an incarnation of God.
In 1021, al-Hakim disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Druze believe that he will reappear at the end of time to establish universal justice.
Al-Hakim's successor, al-Zahir, rejected his claim of divinity and persecuted the Druze, forcing them to take refuge in remote mountainous areas, chiefly in Lebanon and Syria.
Today, Druze make up about 3% of Syria's population of 22.5 million.
Most live in the rugged Jabal al-Druze region of Suweida province, south of the capital Damascus. There are also several Druze villages elsewhere in Syria, including the Jabal al-Summaq region of Idlib - the location of last week's shooting.
To avoid persecution over the centuries, Druze have been secretive about their religion. Only a small number who demonstrate extreme piety and devotion are allowed to participate fully in rituals and have access to scriptures.
And although Druze have played prominent roles in shaping the region's history, they have traditionally been considered political quietists.
For a long time, the majority of Syrian Druze remained loyal to President Bashar al-Assad - a member of the heterodox Shia Alawite sect - fearing that if he was overthrown, minorities would be targeted and communities destroyed by extremists among the country's Sunni majority.
Some Druze took up arms and formed Popular Committees to defend their homes against rebel attacks, while others joined a pro-Assad paramilitary group, the National Defence Forces, which fights alongside the army.
But with government forces suffering a string of defeats since December, signs of dissent have become more visible among Druze.
Those in the south have in particular reacted angrily to the government's efforts to stem its manpower losses by rounding up young men evading compulsory military service.
Conscription patrols have reportedly been attacked and expelled by residents of Druze villages, and last December an intelligence officer was kidnapped in an attempt to free a local man arrested for draft-dodging.
The government sought to calm the situation by agreeing to deploy Druze conscripts only in their home areas, but Druze leaders have accused it of breaking that promise.
Druze are also increasingly concerned about the threat posed by jihadists from al-Nusra Front and Islamic State, who have been gaining ground in south.
Al-Nusra fighters are currently only a few kilometres away from the provincial capital of Suweida, opening the possibility that they will soon move on Jabal al-Druze, where Druze constitute the vast majority of the local population.
Al-Nusra's leader has promised not to harm Druze, so long as they do not fight against the group and "retreat from their religious mistakes".
But after a rebel alliance that includes al-Nusra took control Jabal al-Summaq, several hundred Druze were forced to convert to Sunni Islam, shrines were damaged and graves desecrated, according to local activists.
The shooting last week in the village of Qalb Lawzah triggered outrage among the Druze communities in Lebanon and Israel.
Thousands of Druze protested in villages across Israel, calling on the government and international community to come to the aid of their brethren in Syria.
The chief of staff of the Israeli military - in which hundreds of Druze serve, many of them in high-ranking positions - said it would act if needed to prevent a massacre in the Syrian Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had "given instructions to do what is necessary", without elaborating.
In Lebanon, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt strongly condemned the shooting, but insisted it was an isolated incident.
Mr Jumblatt, a staunch opponent of President Assad, called on Syrian Druze to support the rebellion in their country, arguing that the real threat to them came from a government that killed dozens of people every day.
A Lebanese Druze politician close to Mr Assad, Wiam Wahhab, disagreed and appealed for "money, volunteers, weapons" to help those in Suweida defend themselves.
As a minority, Druze have had to negotiate centuries of conflict in the region. Once more, they are being forced to pick a side and potentially decide their fate.


Former Sale Sharks player Cillian Willis is to sue the club for alleged clinical negligence over a career-ending concussion.

Willis was twice treated for a head injury in a game with Saracens in March 2013, but was allowed to keep playing.
The 31-year-old was later substituted in the 49th minute of the match.
McHale and Co Solicitors, who are representing Willis, confirmed the existence of the lawsuit but declined to provide any further comment.
A match report on Sale's website from the game with Saracens said: "Sharks were dealt an early blow when scrum-half Cillian Willis appeared to be tackled high and was attended to by the medical team. Thankfully he got to his feet and resumed."
The report later details the former Ireland Under-21 scrum-half being replaced, as he was "struggling after his earlier injury".
Willis, a cousin of former Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll, made 31 appearances for Sale after joining the Premiership side from Leinster, having previously played for Ulster and Connacht.
Sale have been contacted by the BBC, but are yet to comment.


Britons should embrace reconciliation after a year in which Brexit caused divisions, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

In his new year message, the Most Reverend Justin Welby said the UK can flourish if it takes hold of the future "with determination and courage".
He urged people to look to the country's roots to find a path to healing those divisions.
The archbishop also praised refugees who have made their home in Britain.
He said: "The EU referendum was a tough campaign and it has left divisions.
"But I know that if we look at our roots, our history and our culture in the Christian tradition, if we reach back into what is best in this country, we will find a path towards reconciling the differences that have divided us.
"If we are welcoming to those in need, if we are generous in giving, if we take hold of our new future with determination and courage - then we will flourish."
The archbishop echoed the sentiment of Prime Minister Theresa May, who called for unity following June's "divisive" vote in her new year message.
He returned to Coventry where he became a clergyman in its cathedral, which was destroyed by the Luftwaffe during World War Two.
The archbishop said the city's wartime suffering and forgiveness served as an example to the nation.
He also referred to Sabir Zazai who arrived in the UK as an Afghan refugee in 1999 and now runs the Coventry Refugees and Migrant centre.
He said there were similar refugee success stories all over the country and "they are a blessing to our way of life".
"They are embracing all that's good and that doesn't just enrich their lives, it enriches and deepens ours too," he added.
The archbishop said welcoming strangers and living well together were the foundations of British values and traditions and can make the UK "a beacon of hope" in a "troubled world".


An Irish man caught up in the chaos in Brussels after explosions in the city has spoken of the sense of panic among commuters.

Two blasts tore through the departures area of Zaventem airport shortly after 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT).
An hour later, an explosion hit Maalbeek metro station, close to the EU institutions.
Ian McCafferty was at a station just one stop before Maalbeek when the blast went off.
He said he could feel the impact from the short distance away.
"There was a loud muffled thud and initial panic set in."
Mr McCafferty said dust and smoke rose almost immediately across the metro station.
"The initial explosion would have lifted a lot of dust all the way through the tunnels.
"The soldiers that are always on hand these days were very quick to evacuate the area. That's when people started running from the scene, there were a lot of people crying, just a lot of confusion."
A group of young people, mostly from towns around the north east of Northern Ireland, arrived at the airport to catch their flight home at the time of the explosion, but they escaped uninjured.
The group, which was on an Education Authority trip, was moved to a safe area, where direct contact was made with the authority and their parents.
The authority said it is "in constant contact with the officers accompanying the young people" and that it is "satisfied that they are safe and well".
The group are expected to return home on Tuesday tonight.
Downpatrick man Barry Magee, who lives in Brussels, told BBC Newsline he travels to and from work through Maalbeek metro station twice a day.
"Normally around nine o'clock in the morning is when I'm passing through the station, so I feel a real sense of relief that I made the right decision not to go to work today," he said.
Luke Mac an BhÃ¡ird, a University College Galway student on an Erasmus year in Belgium, was waiting for a flight to Dublin at Zaventemat airport when staff announced that a bomb attack was imminent.
"I was at my gate listening to music on my headphones when officials said there was a bomb about to go off," he said.
"It was crazy...pure panic. There were a lot of people with kids. There was a lot of crying, a lot of shouting, a lot of screaming."
"People were trying to get over one another to get out of a very narrow tunnel, so it was quite intense there," he said.
"I didn't know if there was a bomb literally directly where I was, or what was going on. Some people were confused. Others were shouting."
Bangor man Nathan Magee was in his office at the European Parliament when the explosion happened at the nearby metro station.
He said he heard the explosion "faintly, as it was on the actual metro, which is underground. I think people expected something, but after the airport the explosion on the metro is a big shock.
"At nine o'clock people were getting to work and bringing children to school. The children have been advised to stay in school as we cannot get our cars out of the parliament," he said.
Several MEPs were also in the parliament at the time of the blasts and described a sense of shock and confusion in the city.
Sinn FÃ©in's Matt Carthy said a party delegation was flying to the city for an event relating to the 1916 Easter Rising at the time. Their plane was diverted.
"There's still a lot of confusion," he said.
"Our first concern was to make sure our own staff were safe.
"Most of them had made it to the parliament by the time the news filtered through.
"We had 120 visitors arriving from all over Ireland, including 88 who were in a flight above Brussels when the first explosions went off.
"They've been diverted to Amsterdam and as far as we're aware everybody is safe."
Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson, who was also in the parliament at the time of the blasts, said they were designed for maximum destruction.
"The time these went off was when everyone was heading to work," he said.
"Everywhere in the centre of town is being evacuated, we just don't know where they're going to hit next."
Mr Nicholson passed the Maelbeek metro station shortly before the explosion occurred.
"Parliament is more or less closed down at the moment.
"I can't put [into] words what has happened."
He said he noticed heightened security when he was travelling into the city from the airport on Monday night.
DUP MEP Diane Dodds, who is also in Brussels, tweeted: "Real sense of shock and fear here in Brussels. City in lockdown. Thoughts/prayers with those caught up in these senseless acts of terrorism."
Mrs Dodds told the BBC's Stephen Nolan Show: "It is an absolutely tragic day for people in Brussels and an absolutely senseless, awful act of terrorism."
She added:  "This morning, I was actually just preparing to come up to the parliament when my staff rang to say there had been explosions at the airport.
"It seemed to be these explosions are in the departures lounge, a place I walk through on a weekly basis and then, just after I had come into parliament preparing for normal committees, there were explosions just beside the parliament at the Metro station."
The Republic of Ireland's Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Enda Kenny, tweeted: "Once again Europe is under attack.
"We stand with Belgium. Those using death and violence must and will be defeated.
The DÃ¡il (Irish Parliament) held a minute's silence to mark the tragedy.
All flights at Zaventem airport are cancelled.
Dublin Airport said passengers intending to travel to the city on Tuesday should contact their airline for latest flight information.
The UK Foreign Office tweeted a link to their advice for those intending to travel to Brussels.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has said people with concerns for Irish citizens can call +353 01 408 2000.
It said that any Irish citizens in Brussels or Belgium should exercise caution and follow the instructions of local authorities.


A £1.24m UK study has begun to examine why so many patients fail to follow medical advice or stick with treatment.

Psychologists and dermatologists at Guy's Hospital in London will question 400 patients with the rare genetic condition xeroderma pigmentosum (XP).
They have to protect themselves from the effects of daylight, as their skin cannot repair itself in the normal way.
Research suggests a third to a half of all medicines for long-term conditions are not taken as recommended.
Examples include children not using asthma inhalers to prevent an attack, and even transplant patients not taking medicine that stops their body rejecting the new organ.
Psychologist Prof John Weinman, from King's College London, told BBC News: "Medicine is waking up to this but it's a massive worldwide problem.
"Some doctors just assume a good diagnosis is enough, and treatment will be followed.
"They might not check to see how much the patient understands the condition.
"Certainly, there are major communication challenges."
Ben Fowler, 55, from Brighton, has a less harmful variant of XP - but he still needs to put on strong sunscreen and cover up, even on a cloudy day.
He has had many skin lesions removed - and had skin cancer on multiple occasions.
Specialist doctors monitor him three times a year.
Mr Fowler, who runs a furniture design business, told BBC News: "It took me a long time to recognise the importance of UV.
"I thought the doctors meant I shouldn't go sunbathing on the beach.
"Then, I noticed that some photographic paper had gone black even though I kept it in a drawer in my studio.
"This brought it home to me that UV is there all the time - and it's damaging the cells in my skin.
"I also got a letter from the doctors, expressing concern that I wasn't doing enough to protect myself.
"A doctor can tell you what's wrong with you in layman's terms - but you don't always understand the science behind it.
"Once I realised I had to avoid UV or be really careful, I recognised I needed to alter my behaviour profoundly - and I did."
Funded by the National Institute for Health Research, the study will question patients from Europe, Tunisia, Japan and the US.
A consultant dermatologist at Guy's Hospital, Dr Bob Sarkany, runs the NHS service for the UK's 100 XP patients.
Many of them put protective film over their windows to block invisible ultra-violet (UV) light, which causes permanent damage to their cells, from entering their homes.
Some children with XP have to wear visors to protect the face and neck.
The average life expectancy of an XP patient is just 32.
Dr Sarkany said: "XP is important, but a much more common problem is people without the condition who have had life-threatening skin cancers.
"A lot of those people have problems protecting their skin from the Sun after cancer - we don't understand why.
"We hope our research with XP will allow us to help these other patients."


Brighton manager Chris Hughton says it is "right and fitting" that Saturday's game at home to Hull will be dedicated to victims of the Shoreham air crash.

One of the victims, Matt Grimstone, was a member of the Championship club's ground staff team while another, Jacob Schilt, was a Seagulls supporter.
"I have have been incredibly impressed with the way the club and the community have come together, right through this period," Hughton told BBC Sussex.
"It is about us showing our respects."
Grimstone and Schilt were among 11 victims of the crash which occurred on 22 August when a Hunter Hawker jet crashed on to the A27.
There will be a minute's applause before kick-off against Hull, while Brighton are also planning other tributes before the match begins.
"Matt was highly thought of while Jacob was a very big supporter," Hughton added.
"We were at the funeral of Matt on Monday, and the turnout from the club and the local community was exceptional.
"It is a Brighton and Hove Albion day and a day we pay our respects, using it as a celebration of their lives. That is the way the family and the community would like to remember it."
Both Grimstone and Schilt played for Sussex non-league side Worthing United, who dedicated last Sunday's FA Vase match against East Preston to the duo.


Swansea City are set to appoint Paul Clement as their new manager.

The Swans, bottom of the Premier League, are hopeful of completing a deal early this coming week.
Clement, the former Derby boss and current Bayern Munich assistant, has been in talks with Swansea to become the club's third manager of the season.
He was sacked by Derby in February after eight months in charge and was interviewed by Swansea before Bob Bradley's appointment.
Clement is likely to be at Selhurst Park on Tuesday when Swansea visit Crystal Palace.
He has emerged as the frontrunner for the job in recent days, after Wales boss Chris Coleman, former Manchester United assistant Ryan Giggs and former Birmingham City boss Gary Rowett were also linked with the post.
Former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer on Match of the Day
"It's hard to have sympathy with Swansea. It looks like they'll go back to the old principle of hiring a coach.
"It's going to take a miracle from Paul Clement if he's the man to save Swansea."


England's five-wicket defeat by West Indies in the third Test in Barbados, which cost them a series win, was a hugely disappointing, disheartening result.

Before the series, the incoming England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves suggested that West Indies were "mediocre" and England should beat them comfortably - well this setback demonstrates that England are every bit as mediocre as their opponents.
They may have drawn the series, but it feels like a series loss. England dominated the three Test matches more than West Indies and they had chances to snuff the hosts out but they didn't take them.
In this match, England were guilty of not scoring enough runs in the first innings after winning the toss, making an awful mess of their second innings - with only three batsmen reaching double figures - and then failing to put the West Indian batsmen under pressure with their spin bowlers on a turning pitch.
The players have to take responsibility for these failings. It's all very well blaming coach Peter Moores, as many people will do, but I know from my own experience that as a professional sportsman, you have to take responsibility for your own performance.
However, that's not to say that Moores doesn't have questions to answer. In my opinion, he and captain Alastair Cook have consistently got the selection wrong on this tour.
In game after game they have played safe, and if you keep playing safe, eventually you are going to get caught out.
They need to be more enterprising. They were wrong to stick with the same uninspiring bowling attack - they should have added a bit of variety, either through the express pace of Liam Plunkett or the leg-spin of Adil Rashid.
Moreover, I think they erred with the selection of Jonathan Trott at the top of the order. They hung Trott out to dry. You could tell from the first Test match in Antigua that he was out of sorts, but they persisted with him and it ended in tears.
Despite that, I don't believe that Moores is in any danger of losing his job. We're expecting Andrew Strauss to be named as the new director of England cricket and he won't come in and tear things up - he's not that sort of person.
Are England improving under Moores? That's a hard question to answer, but if you look at the players on an individual basis, you would have to say many of them are getting better.
Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Gary Ballance and Chris Jordan are all on an upward curve - so the coaches must be doing something right.
However, the team is still hugely reliant on fast bowler James Anderson. He is their match-winner, and as we saw today, if he doesn't perform, they struggle to take wickets.
The lack of a wicket-taking spinner is a real concern. I don't expect it to be a huge issue in the summer Tests against New Zealand and Australia in England, but it will be a big problem when England play Pakistan in the UAE in October and November.
While I was disappointed to see England lose, I was delighted for West Indies. I know how insulted the Caribbean cricket fans were by Graves' pompous and insensitive comments.
It was a really good win for them and with players like Jermaine Blackwood and Kraigg Brathwaite, they have the nucleus of a very promising team for the future.
I really hope it sparks cricket in this part of the world, because a strong West Indies team can only be a good thing for world cricket.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's James Gheerbrant.


Van Morrison marked his 70th birthday on Monday with two concerts on Cyprus Avenue in east Belfast.

31 August 2015 Last updated at 23:25 BST
Around 3,000 people attended the shows on the street that the singer immortalised in song.
Fans travelled from across the world to attend the gigs, which are the climax of the EastSide Arts Festival.
Morrison played hits such as Moondance and Brown Eyed Girl for the crowd, which included celebrities such as actors Robert Pattinson and Kim Cattrall.
Arts correspondent Robbie Meredith reports.


Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he would "cancel" the Paris climate deal in his first major speech on energy policy.

More than 195 countries pledged to reduce carbon emissions in a landmark agreement last year.
The billionaire businessman has said before there is no evidence that humans are responsible for climate change.
He called for more drilling, fewer regulations and the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.
"Any regulation that's outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers or contrary to the national interest will be scrapped and scrapped completely," Mr Trump said.
"We're going to do all this while taking proper regard for rational environmental concerns."
Donald Trump's desire to see the end of US participation in the Paris climate agreement is increasing the pressure for a rapid ratification around the world.
But that's not easy as the process can often get bogged down in national parliaments.  The Obama administration and others believe they are well on the way to securing that level of support which they feel would then make a US withdrawal, in the face of global condemnation, much less likely. But they could be dead wrong about that.
Mr Trump though doesn't have to go to such lengths to end US involvement. He could choose to ignore or reverse or delay  Obama's initiatives on climate including the Clean Power Plan. The real strength of the Paris agreement is that it comes from the bottom up, countries decide for themselves what their emissions cutting commitments will be. But this could also be a huge weakness.
If a President Trump doesn't put emissions cutting regulations into place, no one could force him to. Would China or India and others continue to cut their carbon while the US did not? Unlikely.
Before this speech, he had said he would "renegotiate" the global agreement involving nearly all countries, but this time he went further and said the US would pull out.
The climate change deal is "bad for US business" and said the pact allows "foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use".
Under the deal, countries set emission limits themselves, not an outside panel.
Mr Trump has called climate change "a hoax" devised by the Chinese government.
It is uncertain whether Mr Trump, if elected, could actually make any changes to the deal.
The accord will have legal force once it is ratified by 55 countries that contribute 55% of global emissions.
If the deal is ratified by January, a new American president would have to wait four years to withdraw from the deal.
Why has Trump caught Clinton in the polls?
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Global climate deal: In summary
While the US is the second-largest greenhouse gas polluter, it has been instrumental in helping other countries such as India reduce emissions.
Mr Trump said on Friday that the US would stop funding these efforts.
Environmental advocates called Mr Trump's proposals "frightening".
"Trump's energy policies would accelerate climate change, protect corporate polluters who profit from poisoning our air and water, and block the transition to clean energy that is necessary to strengthen our economy and protect our climate and health," Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist, told Reuters.
On Thursday, he officially became the presidential nominee for his party, surpassing the 1,238 delegates required.


Waiting times for trials in Scotland's courts are being reduced, a report has found.

An evaluation of reforms to the court system, which were announced in 2012, said almost all trials in sheriff courts in 2016 began within 16 weeks.
Two years earlier that figure was half.
The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) said this was despite a significant increase in case levels, particularly domestic abuse and sexual violence.
The report said the closure of 17 courts - 10 sheriff and seven Justice of the Peace courts - had been successfully implemented, with savings already realised of Â£2.1m and further annual savings expected of Â£1.3m.
SCTS said while concerns were expressed that court performance would suffer as a result of the transfer of business from smaller centres, there has been "strong and improved performance".
Despite strong local opposition in some cases, the last two courts, Haddington in East Lothian and Dingwall in Ross-shire, closed in February 2015.
It said in all courts, the 16-week waiting period between the first calling availability of a criminal trial was  being achieved.
But it added this had meant some adjustment to the court programme as there was the risk of crown and defence lawyers not having not sufficient time to prepare their cases.
In civil cases, all courts were meeting the 12-week waiting period for civil proofs and hearings, and in most cases they were significantly below that.
SCTS said: "This level of performance continues to be achieved against the background of a significant increase in case levels in both summary and solemn business, particularly in relation to domestic abuse and sexual offences, with a far greater proportion of these cases proceeding to evidence-led trials.
"In April 2014 the percentage of sheriff courts setting criminal trials at the optimum 16 weeks was 50%, at April 2016 this figure is 95%."
Chief executive Eric McQueen added: "For too long it has been easy to describe our criminal courts as products of the Victorian age.
"Our task now is to bring them right into the 21st Century, not by tinkering at the edges, but by radical digital reform to improve the quality of justice for all concerned.
"Through technology we can to allow children and vulnerable witnesses to give their evidence, and have it examined, outwith the trauma and pressures of the court environment and to modernise the way we do business in summary criminal cases through a digital case management system."
Apart from the closure of sheriff and JP courts, the reform package also aimed to concentrate High Court cases in three centres - Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
In the 2016 calendar year these three sites will provide 88% (3,000) of the 3,425 planned sitting days for trials in the High Court.
SCTS has also invested in the development of two new courtrooms in the Glasgow High Court building to be operational by September 2016.
They will add an additional capacity of 500 sitting days per year, reducing the need for the High Court to sit in designated sheriff courts such as Dunfermline, Livingston and Dumbarton which have been used to hear some trials.


A series of training flights by military helicopters and other aircraft ahead of the NATO summit startled residents in Newport and Cardiff on Monday.

The elite US Marine Corps HMX-1 squadron, which provides air support to US Presidents, thundered over the cities, along with RAF Military helicopters and police air support.
Perhaps the most dramatic sight were the Osprey MV-22 aircraft, which can land and take off like a helicopter but then tilt their rotors to become conventional planes.
The Ospreys, which visited both the Celtic Manor summit venue and Cardiff city centre, were accompanied by Sikorsky VH-60N helicopters, a VIP version of the US Blackhawk.
The VH-60N, known as a "Nighthawk", will change its callsign to "Marine One" but only when the President is on board.
The Ospreys, operated by the same HMX-1 squadron, provide logistical support and carry members of the US Secret Service.
Members of the US Marine Corps squadron and several aircraft have been flown to a temporary base at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire from Quantico, Virginia.
It's understood Monday's operation was a familiarisation flight for the US crews.
RAF Merlin helicopters, which can carry 25 fully armed troops, were also training in the area at the same time.
Police had earlier advised the public not to be alarmed by the helicopter activity.
People took to social media as the aircraft circled.
Rhian Lewis tweeted: "Not every day your desk starts to shake because of the giant helicopters buzzing around."
James Knight posted: "The amount of helicopters I have heard today makes it sound like were at war, not having a NATO summit."
The four Ospreys and two VH-60N "Nighthawks" - all painted in a distinctive olive green and white - later returned to their base at RAF Fairford.
They will take to the skies again when Air Force One carrying President Obama to the UK arrives on Wednesday.


Ulster's director of rugby Les Kiss says his team must "work harder" after exiting from the European Champions Cup following Sunday's defeat by Exeter.

For the umpteenth time this season, Kiss bemoaned his team's inability to take chances after they created 11 line breaks in the 31-19 loss at Sandy Park.
"We've got to realise that because we can create chances doesn't make us a good to great team yet," said Kiss.
Sunday's defeat makes next weekend's game against Bordeaux a dead rubber.
Kiss hinted that he may rest some of his big name players for the final Pool Five game at Kingspan Stadium as his mood was decidedly downbeat after Sunday's game.
"We work hard but we've got to work harder," added the Ulster boss.
"We are able to fashion out opportunities despite the fact that you're up against it in certain areas of the game such as the scrum tonight.
"To still be able to do those things is great but it doesn't get you the result if can't convert 11 clean line breaks to the point where you put the points on the board."
Speaking immediately after Sunday's game on BT Sport, Kiss struggled to hide his frustration after Ulster's third successive failure to progress to the knockout stages of Europe's premier club competition.
"It's not good enough to keep saying: 'We'll learn and get out and do the job next time'.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"We've got to have players who are going to put their hands up and make a difference in terms of their play on a weekly basis and being more consistent.
"I've been in the dressing-room and the boys were quite frank with each other about the disappointment of not being able to do the deal."
Kiss was more measured in his subsequent post-match news conference as he focused on his team's failure to convert their chances.
"We showed some good patches tonight. We made 11 clean breaks to their three which tells a little bit of a story about not being clinical.
"I've got to take my hat off to Exeter. There is some really good ambition in their play at times.."
Kiss added that he had no complaints with Romain Poite's decision to award the decisive late penalty try, when Ulster fly-half Paddy Jackson was also yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on as Exeter looked certain to touch down.
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A hospital which was placed in special measures had no fire drills for up to three years, the BBC has discovered.

Building works at Medway Maritime could have compromised the integrity fire resistant walls, Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) found.
In a report the fire service said the hospital had no senior manager in charge of fire safety management.
The trust said since KFRS's inspection a fire officer had been put in place and fire drills conducted.
Medway NHS Foundation Trust was one of 11 in England put into special measures on 16 July 2013.
A report produced by KFRS, following a review carried out between May and July, said: "Uncontrolled building and maintenance work, particularly the routing of cables, pipes and other services through a compartment wall, may have a detrimental effect on the integrity and fire resistance of the wall."
The fire service said false ceilings, which create a hidden void above "can also hamper the assessment and management of compartment walls."
KFRS also highlighted the need for training of staff in some departments, including in the high dependency unit, and those who have special responsibilities including piped medical gases which may need to be isolated during a fire.
The report said: "There hadn't been any form of practical fire drill or fire warden training in the past two to three years."
In a statement, the fire service said: "While KFRS was satisfied at the time there was no immediate fire risk to staff, patients or visitors, significant fire safety recommendations were outlined in the report."
Darren Cattell, director of finance at the hospital trust, said: "As a result of the findings presented in the review, we are now able to tackle and address all areas of concern.
"This has also included the appointment of a permanent fire officer into post, fire drills conducted on a regular basis [and] computerised evacuation exercises for high dependency patient areas."
He said the trust was "well on the way" to being fully compliant with the fire service's recommendations.


Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt.

More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings.
Initial excavations have already confirmed some of the findings, including two suspected pyramids.
The work has been pioneered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham by US Egyptologist Dr Sarah Parcak.
She says she was amazed at how much she and her team has found.
"We were very intensely doing this research for over a year. I could see the data as it was emerging, but for me the "Aha!" moment was when I could step back and look at everything that we'd found and I couldn't believe we could locate so many sites all over Egypt.
"To excavate a pyramid is the dream of every archaeologist," she said.
The team analysed images from satellites orbiting 700km above the earth, equipped with cameras so powerful they can pin-point objects less than 1m in diameter on the earth's surface.
Infra-red imaging was used to highlight different materials under the surface.
Ancient Egyptians built their houses and structures out of mud brick, which is much denser than the soil that surrounds it, so the shapes of houses, temples and tombs can be seen.
"It just shows us how easy it is to underestimate both the size and scale of past human settlements," says Dr Parcak.
And she believes there are more antiquities to be discovered:
"These are just the sites [close to] the surface. There are many thousands of additional sites that the Nile has covered over with silt. This is just the beginning of this kind of work."
BBC cameras followed Dr Parcak on her "nervous" journey when she travelled to Egypt to see if excavations could back up what her technology could see under the surface.
In the BBC documentary Egypt's Lost Cities, they visit an area of Saqqara (Sakkara) where the authorities were not initially interested in her findings.
But after being told by Dr Parcak that she had seen two potential pyramids, they made test excavations, and they now believe it is one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt.
But Dr Parcak said the most exciting moment was visiting the excavations at Tanis.
"They'd excavated a 3,000-year-old house that the satellite imagery had shown and the outline of the structure matched the satellite imagery almost perfectly. That was real validation of the technology."
The Egyptian authorities plan to use the technology to help - among other things - protect the country's antiquities in the future.
During the recent revolution, looters accessed some well-known archaeological sites.
"We can tell from the imagery a tomb was looted from a particular period of time and we can alert Interpol to watch out for antiquities from that time that may be offered for sale."
She also hopes the new technology will help engage young people in science and will be a major help for archaeologists around the world.
"It allows us to be more focused and selective in the work we do. Faced with a massive site, you don't know where to start.
"It's an important tool to focus where we're excavating. It gives us a much bigger perspective on archaeological sites. We have to think bigger and that's what the satellites allow us to do."
"Indiana Jones is old school, we've moved on from Indy. Sorry, Harrison Ford."
Egypt's Lost Cities is on BBC One on Monday 30 May at 2030 BST. It will also be shown on the Discovery channel in the US.


A proposed pre-season friendly for a Bradford Select XIII due to take place on Sunday has been called off because they do not have enough players.

They were supposed to face Batley Bulldogs, who were reportedly planning to donate a share of the proceeds to Bradford's players and staff.
Bradford Bulls were liquidated on 3 January, and the Rugby Football League is considering bids to form a new club.
Several Bradford players have since joined other teams as free agents.
Should a new Bradford side be formed, it would compete in the second-tier Championship, which starts a new season on the opening weekend of February.
It would begin the season with a 12-point deficit and be awarded the lowest funding of all Championship clubs from the RFL, receiving just £150,000.


A "shocking" report has revealed only 1.5% of UK television is made by directors of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) origin.

The Directors UK report, which looked at 55,000 episodes across 546 shows in 2013, found that BAME directors were "critically under-represented".
Diversity Chair Menhaj Huda said the report showed working in television "is inaccessible for far too many".
"There is a failure to provide any kind of support for BAME talent," he added.
Directors UK represents more than 6,000 British screen directors. The group campaigns for the rights, working conditions and status of directors in the industry.
Statistics show BAME directors make up 3.5% of the directing community, despite 14% of the UK population coming from BAME backgrounds.
The report - Adjusting the Colour Balance - focused on the number of BAME directors employed in the five key genres of UK television: factual, drama, children's, comedy and multi-camera/entertainment.
'Equal opportunities'
Research was based on a large sample of the most popular and significant programmes made in-house at the BBC and ITV, and by the top nine independent production companies.
Statistics revealed that just 0.18% among the most popular comedy shows broadcast in 2013 were made by BAME directors - where 99.82% of directors were white. The highest figure was in factual, where just 2.46% of programmes were made by BAME directors.
Further analysis at sub-genre level found there were areas such as period drama and game shows where there was no evidence of BAME directors being employed.
"Everyone, at every level across all genres, has a significant role to play to ensure that all directors have equal opportunities," said Andrew Chowns, CEO of Directors UK.
"Our report reaffirms the need for broadcasters, as industry leaders, to work together with us and the wider industry to create new opportunities for progression and change."
Predominantly white
Many BAME directors reported that, in comparison to their white peers, their careers often took significantly longer to progress and that access to employment opportunities were far more limited .
Directors UK carried out a number of in-depth interviews with BAME members of the industry to better understand what lies behind the issues and how to tackle them.
The feedback suggested there was a widely-held perception that television production in Britain was a predominantly white industry.
A high proportion of BAME directors interviewed were given their first break into television through the publicly-funded broadcasters BBC and Channel 4.
"We are talking about British directors from BAME backgrounds whose experiences growing up in this country offer a different take on story-telling, a different perspective, but a voice that is valid which is effectively being shut out," said Menhaj Huda.
"It's great that the industry is talking about the issue of diversity but discussion does not equal action."


A retired army general, David Granger, is expected to become Guyana's new president, the election board says.

His A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition won by a slim margin.
Guyanese politics is divided on racial lines; the Indian-dominated People's Progressive Party (PPP/C) has held power for 23 years.
Mr Granger has brought together a coalition of Afro-Guyanese parties to win by 5,000 votes.
The 69-year-old had vowed to end race politics in the lead up to the election.
"The time has come for racial and national unity," the AP news agency reports.
"The time has come to end winner-take-all politics, corruption, nepotism and the squandering of our resources," Mr Granger said.
His APNU+AFC coalition, won 206,817 votes, compared to the ruling PPP/C's 201,457.
The current President, Donald Ramotar, has requested a full recount.
"I cannot concede that I have lost this election," he told the AP news agency.
When asked if he would refuse to give up power, he answered, "I have not closed any option as yet."
International diplomats say that the vote was held fairly.
Mr Granger lost the last election to Mr Ramotar in 2011.
The retired general has campaigned on a platform of increased security and fighting drug and human trafficking.
Guyana is the third poorest country in Latin America after Haiti and Nicaragua, according to World Bank figures.


The inquest of a Polish woman whose body was found off the Isle of Man coast has been opened.

The body of 33-year-old Joanna Dabrowska was pulled from the water by members of the Sea Terminal's Harbour Control on 5 July.
Douglas courthouse heard her body was missing the lower half of her arms and legs and that the cause of death is "unknown".
Coroner John Needham adjourned the inquest with a date to be set.
Originally from Poland she had been working in Dublin as a care worker for the elderly.
Isle of Man police are continuing investigations in cooperation with colleagues in Dublin.


Omar al-Shishani may now be one of the most feared jihadists in the Middle East, as a commander in the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), but his early life was very different.

He was born Tarkhan Batirashvili and grew up in Georgia's picturesque Pankisi Gorge. He lived in the village of Birkiani, where his father, a Christian, still lives in a small, simply-furnished house.
The jihad in Syria and Iraq was not Shishani's first experience with combat. He previously served with the Georgian army during the war with Russia in 2008.
But when he became ill and was dismissed from the army, things started to go wrong, Teimuraz Batirashvili says.
He found it hard to get work and was arrested after a raid on his house.
"One night a terrible noise woke me up - someone was banging at the door. It was the police. There was a bench next to the door near the stairs. I used to go past it every day," Mr Batirashvili recalls.
"A policeman called me over and took a box full of ammunition out from under it. He asked me: 'What's this?' and I told him: 'I don't know. It wasn't here before.'"
Shishani was reportedly accused of storing the ammunition.
But it was when he was sent to prison that Shishani really changed, his father says, adding that he left for Syria after being released early under an amnesty.
"He said to me: 'Father, no-one needs me here,'" Mr Batirashvili recalls.
Before Shishani left he removed all family photos in the house, in accordance with his strict new beliefs.
"I didn't notice it, but one day when I wanted to look at an album I realised there was nothing left," Mr Batirashvili says.
He says his middle son was also radicalised and has also left the country.
"I have three sons and they all became Muslim. I'm a Christian, I go to church.
"Neither my father nor my grandfather were Muslim. We've all prayed in these sacred places. And these three are Muslim radical preachers," Mr Batirashvili says.
The Pankisi Gorge had been an area of suspected militant activity.
Mr Batirashvili says poverty was a factor in Shishani's radicalisation.
"When you're desperate you'll do anything. Now he says he left because of his faith, but I knew he did it because we were poor," he says.
However, he admitted that Shishani's motivations would have changed over time. "Now, yes, money isn't the reason he's leading this war."
Now, Mr Batirashvili gets by on his pension with the help of the odd contribution from his eldest son Tengiz, who is still in the village.
He has had only one phone call from Shishani since he left.
Shishani told him he had a Chechen wife. "He said: 'I have a daughter and she looks like you, her name is Sophia.'"
Shishani asked his father if he was still praying. Mr Batirashvili says that when he replied that he was still a practising Christian, his son hung up the phone and never called again.
Among the more religious people of the gorge, Shishani has attracted respect for his actions in Syria, and some locals say that more men from the area have gone to follow his example.
Mr Batirashvili laments his family's new-found notoriety. "What need do I have for this sort of fame? I wish [Shishani] had never left. But maybe that was his fate, to go to war in Syria," he says.


Romania defender Gabriel Tamas has joined Cardiff after impressing while on trial at the Championship club.

The former Watford and West Bromwich Albion player, who has won 65 caps, is understood to have agreed a one-year contract.
The 31-year-old announced the deal by posting a picture of himself on social media posing with a Bluebirds shirt inside Cardiff City Stadium.
Tamas is primarily a centre-back but can also play full-back and midfield.
He is manager Russell Slade's third signing of the summer, following the arrival of former Arsenal centre-half Semi Ajayi and loan forward Sammy Ameobi from Newcastle United.
Tamas suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in September 2014 while playing for Watford and went on to play for Steaua Bucharest.


Police searching for missing schoolgirl Alice Gross have staged a reconstruction of her last known movements.

The 14-year-old disappeared four weeks ago, walking along the Grand Union Canal in west London.
Police are also looking for a Latvian man, Arnis Zalkalns.
Alice disappeared on 28 August but Newsbeat understands there are at least four other teenagers missing in the UK in the same time period.
It sounds like a big number but figures show 140,000 under-18s are reported missing in the UK each year.
Of course, most are found within days.
Here are some of the cases on the charity website Missing People.
Police are concerned for Demi Collins who is 16 and was last seen in Woolwich, south-east London on the 8 September and in a separate missing persons case, Jo McFarlane-Hills, aged 13, was last seen in Lancing in West Sussex on 22 September.
On the Missing People website there are 37 under-18s currently classed as missing children, including Alice.
She was last seen in Hanwell, Ealing, west London.
But there is also another girl who disappeared from London this month, Chelsea Abraham, 15, who was last seen on 8 September.
Also known to have gone missing is Shane Crawt, 15, who disappeared in Slinford, Sussex on 17 September.
The Missing People charity hopes posters, which can be printed off, from its website and police appeals will help to find these missing teenagers.
A spokesperson said the idea is that people are more likely to come home or turn themselves into a charity rather than the police.
The website carries the following message: "We are here for you whenever you are ready; we can listen, talk you through what help you need, pass a message for you and help you to be safe. Call. Text. Anytime. Free. Confidential. 116000."
Out of all these teenagers who have not been seen, Alice Gross is the only case to have prompted a widespread police investigation.
The hunt for the 14-year-old is now being described as the largest police search operation since the 7/7 bombings (2005) and it is hoped this latest staged reconstruction by police will help answer the many questions about what happened and her whereabouts.
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A football fan who attacked a police officer during a match has been banned from football grounds for three years.

Rhys Atkinson, 23, assaulted the officer during a match between Chesterfield FC and Barnsley FC, at the Proact Stadium, on 8 August.
He was fined Â£216 and ordered to pay Â£50 in compensation to the officer and Â£620 towards prosecution costs.
Atkinson, of Mansfield Road, Barnsley, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer at Chesterfield Justice Centre.
PC Roger Brown, of Derbyshire Police, said: "Mr Atkinson's behaviour at the game between Chesterfield and Barnsley has led to him being banned from all regulated football matches for three years."
The banning order covers all Premier and Football League matches.


Death rates from liver cancer increased by 52% in the last 10 years, with the disease killing 572 Scots last year.

But new figures from the NHS showed that the cancer mortality rate for all forms of the disease fell by 11% over the decade to 2015.
The mortality rate for breast cancer - the most commonly diagnosed cancer for women - fell by 21%
Lung cancer death rates were down by 15.1% and there was a 16.4% decrease for bowel cancer.
A total of 16,011 deaths in 2015 were caused by cancer, with the report noting that "although the rate of deaths due to cancer has decreased over this period, the actual number of deaths due to cancer has not".
This is thought to be due to the increase in older age groups within the population and the fact that cancer is a relatively common disease among the elderly.
Cancer mortality rates have fallen by 14% among men over the last 10 years. The decrease in the mortality rate for females was lower at 6%.
Five types of cancer accounted for more than half of all cancer deaths in 2015:
Deaths from liver cancer were up from 320 in 2005, with the mortality rate increasing by 45.6% in males and by 68.6% for females.
"The increase in the mortality rate of liver cancer over the last 10 years by 52% reflects the increase in incidence of this type of cancer," the report said.
"Survival from liver cancer is poor in most cases. The main risk factors for liver cancer are alcohol and infection with hepatitis B and C."
The figures also showed that the incidence of cancer is 31% higher in the most deprived parts of Scotland compared to the most affluent communities.
And mortality rates are almost two thirds (64%) higher in the worst-off areas than they are in the least deprived parts of Scotland.
But the report said: "There are variations in this pattern when looking at specific types of cancer.
"For example, while lung cancer incidence and mortality rates are higher in the most deprived areas of Scotland, incidence and mortality rates of malignant melanoma of the skin are higher in the least deprived areas of Scotland."
Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK's senior public affairs manager in Scotland, said: "These figures reflect that cancer is a stark reality for so many families in Scotland as increasing numbers of people die from the disease.
"But more people are surviving cancer and this is partly due to earlier detection of the disease.
"Treatment is more likely to be successful when cancer is found at an early stage, so people shouldn't hesitate to visit their GP if they notice any unusual or persistent changes in their body.
"Four in 10 cancers could be prevented and people can stack the odds against getting cancer in the first place by giving up smoking, being more active, drinking less alcohol and maintaining a healthy weight."
Trisha Hatt, from Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "Although the rate of death due to cancer has decreased, the actual number of deaths has not because more people are being diagnosed with cancer.
"Too often people are missing out on the right support and we want to make sure everyone with incurable cancer is offered an advance care plan outlining how and where they would like to be cared for at the end of life."


Firefighters across England are on a one-day strike as part of a long-running row over pensions.

Fire Brigades Union (FBU) members walked out at 09:00 GMT on Tuesday, forcing authorities to implement contingency plans.
Householders have been warned to be extra vigilant about fires as colder weather sets in.
Fire Minister Penny Mordaunt said the strike action was "completely unnecessary".
London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: "As it gets colder, the temptation is to huddle closer to your heater but that could be a fatal mistake."
This is the 48th period of industrial action since the dispute began. The last strike action, lasting four days, took place at the end of October.
Union officials say that under government proposals, firefighters will have to work until they are 60 instead of 55, pay more into their pensions and get less in retirement.
The plans will leave firefighters at risk of dismissal as their fitness declines into their 50s, the FBU said.


Ipswich Town have signed former Cardiff City midfielder Tom Adeyemi on a two-year contract.

Adeyemi had been linked with a return to Ipswich's fierce rivals Norwich City, where he began his career, after leaving Cardiff this summer.
The 25-year-old made only 23 appearances for the Bluebirds across three years, spending time out on loan at Leeds United and Rotherham.
His contract includes the option for a further year to be added on.
Last term Adeyemi scored seven goals in 30 matches for the Millers, including a strike against the Tractor Boys in April.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


All but 300 homes that lost power after a substation flooded have had their supplies restored.

Floodwater breached defences at Lancaster's main substation on Saturday night, cutting power to 55,000 properties.
Up to 70 dwellings were evacuated in the worst-hit areas.
Milk was delivered by torchlight while homeowners and businesses counted the cost of ruined food after turning off fridges in flooded kitchens.
Rocks weighing up to half a tonne were also swept up to 100yds (90m) through fields by the force of water.
Engineers worked "around the clock" to restore supplies in Lancaster.
Earlier, Electricity North West tweeted: "All supplies back on in #Lancaster".
Speaking before the power was restored, Ruth Dickson, 91, who lives in sheltered housing in the city centre, said: "It's cold because there's no heating and there's no lighting.
"We're just coping as much as we can. I can remember the war and it reminds me of it."
Milkman Mick Liver said he delivered in areas without power using torches, adding: "I couldn't see a thing but we coped."
Alison Baxter, bar manager of The Yorkshire House pub on Parliament Street, said: "We're totally flooded out so I can't see us reopening for a fair while.
"Our cellar and bottom floor, all the fridges, everything has all gone."
Geoffrey Capstick, from Dolphinholme near Lancaster, said he was having to pump water from his kitchen, adding: "The water levels are not going to drop immediately - that could take possibly up to a week.
"All the houses in this row, they all have the kitchen down in the basement so effectively we've got to turn the power off so the fridges aren't working, all the food's ruined and we have to do what we can."
The Morecambe and Lunesdale MP David Morris, who was in Gressingham, said: "I'm looking at stones here that would probably weigh half a ton each, just toppled into the field and dragged along the field by about a 100 yards.
"There's an abandoned car here, the hedges are all over the walls. On the Hornby side, the road has complete gone, it has literally gone - it's not there, it's caved in."
5.2 million
properties at risk of flooding. That's around one in six.
£2.3bn is being spent on tackling the threat of floods.
1,400 new flood defence schemes are in the pipeline.
Two main bridges over the River Lune in Lancaster - Skerton and Greyhound - were shut to traffic on Sunday.
They sustained no structural damage, although there is debris underneath that needs to be cleared, a Lancashire County Council spokesman said.
Skerton reopened to traffic just before 13:00 and Greyhound has also reopened ahead of the evening rush hour.
The bridges are the main direct route between Lancaster and Morecambe and Lancashire Police is advising people to use junctions 33, 34, or 35 of the M6.
Twenty-three schools are closed in Lancaster and Morecambe.
All routine outpatient appointments and most non-urgent elective operations have been cancelled at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Queen Victoria Hospital in Morecambe, an NHS spokesperson said.
Lancaster University has cancelled teaching until the end of term.
St Michael's on Wyre was also flooded with the village hall and the school buildings being affected.
A number of roads have been closed and motorists are unable to access the village using the A586 from the West, the council said.
Steve Cox, from Electricity North West, said there was still a "significant amount of work to do to fully repair the substation".
"Rather than wait any longer for the full repair and restoration of the site, we have chosen to provide power at the earliest opportunity," he said.
In a joint statement, the Anglican bishops of Lancaster, Blackburn and Burnley said communities were facing "tough times", adding: "We remain concerned especially for elderly and vulnerable people and those struggling to find the help they need."


A couple has told of facing "waves the size of buildings" when their yacht broke in remote seas off Australia.

Irishman Nick Dwyer, 55, and Frenchwoman Barbara Heftman, 44, were sailing from New Zealand to Australia.
Australian police rescued the pair 210 nautical miles (390km) off Sydney amid 6m swells and gale-force winds.
The sailors, on a circumnavigation of the globe, had activated an emergency beacon in turbulent seas on Tuesday, three days after their rudder broke.
"We encountered enormous seas, waves the size of buildings coming at you constantly, winds that you can't stand up in, seas breaking, whiteness everywhere," Mr Dwyer said.
Mr Dwyer said the couple's 40ft (12m) yacht "rolled" on Tuesday, prompting them to issue a distress call.
"We weren't sure whether we were going to be rolled again and each time a wave hit we thought, 'is [this] the one that's going to take us?" Mr Dwyer said.
After receiving the distress call, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) sent a jet to the remote location before asking police for help.
New South Wales Police said it took their rescue boat more than 13 hours to reach the pair amid "treacherous conditions".
"It was truly amazing, to think that somebody had to come that far to save us," Mr Dwyer said after arriving in Sydney on Wednesday night.
"I owe them my life. We owe them our lives. You can't put that into words."
AMSA had been in regular contact with the experienced sailors since their rudder failed on Saturday, police said.
The pair, who had been on a 10-year circumnavigation, will remain in Sydney while figuring out what to do next.
"Our home's gone, we're alive, I expect to live a little bit longer and that'll be okay," Mr Dwyer said.


Sales of printed books fell by almost £74m in the UK last year, according to data from Nielsen BookScan.

In total, readers spent £1.514bn on physical books in 2012, down 4.6% from 2011.
The rate of decline slowed slightly, principally because of EL James' Fifty Shades trilogy, which accounted for one in every 20 books bought last year.
E-books continued to be popular, accounting for 13-14% of book sales.
That marked an increase of about 5% from 2011, but the value of the entire book market shrank because of heavy discounting of digital titles - with many bestsellers retailing for less than a pound.
Data collected on the sales of physical books records around 90-95% of all consumer sales in the UK, but is less robust for the e-book market.
However, Philip Stone from Bookseller said figures from Nielsen/Kantar show: "In essence, people are buying more books but they are paying less for them."
The second half of 2012 was stronger for physical book sales, as blockbuster titles from authors including JK Rowling and Jamie Oliver hit the shelves for Christmas.
In the 26 weeks to 30 June, sales were down by £51m year-on-year to £624m. Between July and December, sales were down £23m to £889m.
It was only in July and December that print sales were up compared with 2011, in part due to the success of James' erotic series and the Christmas trade.
The Fifty Shades trilogy is about a steamy romance between entrepreneur Christian Grey and literature student Anastasia Steele. It sold a combined 10.6m copies in print in the UK last year, making £47.3m.
The tally beat JK Rowling's record of £42.6m from 2007, the year when the final Harry Potter novel was released.
The first book in the series, Fifty Shades of Grey, is now the best-selling novel of all time in the UK.


A 35-year-old man has been charged with kidnapping and raping a teenager on the Isle of Wight.

The 18-year-old woman was taken in a van from Sandown High Street and later assaulted in a car park in Niton on Friday morning, police said.
The man from East Cowes has also been charged with grievous bodily harm.
Hampshire Constabulary said he also faces three other charges for offences committed in September, relating to grooming and exploitation of children.
He is due before Newport magistrates on Monday.


Labour will not debate the case for scrapping Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system at its conference in Brighton this week.

A highly anticipated vote on the motion had been expected to take place on Wednesday.
But it failed to get the support it needed from activists in a ballot selecting the issues to be discussed.
Mr Corbyn will still have to convince his MPs and ministers to back nuclear disarmament when Parliament votes.
Some trade unions are against scrapping Trident because it will cost jobs but Mr Corbyn says Britain should ditch its "weapons of mass destruction".
Labour MPs are "likely" to get a free vote on renewing Trident when Parliament votes on the issue next year.
Mr Corbyn said Labour was an "open and democratic party and the members at conference have decided to discuss the issues that they want to debate this week.
"These are important issues like the NHS, the refugee crisis, mental health and housing."
Labour MP John Woodcock, who represents Barrow-in-Furness, where the Trident submarines are built, said it was a "sign many Labour supporters want to focus on public not re-run old battles that will split the party".
The eight issues selected for debate by Labour delegates are: Austerity and public services, employment rights, Europe, housing, the BBC licence fee, mental health, the NHS and the refugee crisis.
Analysis: Ross Hawkins, BBC political correspondent, in Brighton
Labour's big row about Trident has been delayed, not resolved.
A reckoning will come, probably when the House of Commons votes next year. Then, Jeremy Corbyn may well have to vote against some of his own frontbenchers, and perhaps see his view rejected by a majority of his MPs.
Would that amount to a new kind of politics, or a bitter blow to a new leader's authority? One shadow minister shrugs, baffled when the question is put.
For now, there is bad blood. Mr Corbyn is opposed not only by two huge unions but some senior colleagues. One describes a day that saw a vote on Trident talked up then axed by conference as an utter shambles. Some even thought they might have to resign over the issue here in Brighton.
So they are perplexed not to have heard more directly from their leader. There is talk of frontbenchers learning where he stands on this party-defining issue via Twitter.
As Mr Corbyn reaches out to new voters, some of his colleagues wish he would spend a bit more time talking to them, whether they are persuaded by his arguments or not.
Trident is the UK's sea-based nuclear weapons system - made up of submarines, missiles and warheads - and while the current generation will not begin to end their working lives until some time in the late 2020s, work on a replacement cannot be delayed because of the time it will take to complete.
Mr Corbyn, who is a longstanding anti-nuclear campaigner, said he hoped to do his "persuasive best" to get his deputy Tom Watson and other shadow cabinet members, such as shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer, to back him on Trident, but it would not be a "disaster" if there was a difference of opinion.
He said: "We are going to come to an accommodation of some sort."
Mr Watson, a former defence minister, told BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics: "Jeremy says he seeks to persuade us - I seek to persuade him too."
He added that in "modern politics... you simply cannot have homogeneous positions where 200 people follow a line on everything".
But former Labour leadership contender Chuka Umunna, who ruled out serving in the shadow cabinet because of differences with Mr Corbyn over issues including Trident, said it was "not plausible for us as an opposition not to have a position on the defence of the realm".
"I'm all for debate but, ultimately, we are going to have to have settled positions on things if people are to know what it is they are voting for," he told a fringe meeting.
In other conference developments:


Stagecoach has launched its new £2.1m fleet of buses in Dundee and Angus.

The seven electric-hybrid double decker vehicles will cover the Kirriemuir, Forfar and Brechin 20 and 21 routes to and from Dundee.
The Scottish government's Scottish Green Bus Fund has contributed £300,000 towards the cost of the vehicles, which include free wi-fi access.
Stagecoach introduced 18 electric hybrid buses in 2015, which run on the 73 route between Dundee and Arbroath.
Jon Oakey, Stagecoach East Scotland acting general manager said: "We're committed to improving public transport in Angus and Dundee so I'm delighted to be introducing our latest investment for the area.
"These new vehicles will complement our existing 18 electric-hybrid buses already in the area, helping reduce our environmental impact and hopefully encourage more customers to opt for our greener, smarter travel."


One of the UK's largest power firms has completed a new salmon hatchery which has the capacity to release millions of fish into a Highlands river.

SSE has spent Â£750,000 on the unit at Contin in Easter Ross.
The company has a historic responsibility to keep the Conon River system stocked with fish.
Hydro schemes built in the area 60 years ago, and now operated by SSE, destroyed important spawning beds in upriver tributaries.
To replace the lost spawning beds, a hatchery has been operating for about 50 years.
Simon McKelvey, of the Cromarty Firth Fishery Board, who is in charge of the hatchery project, said salmon played an important part in healthy river ecosystems.
He said that by operating a hatchery, it was possible to continue having salmon in the Conon River.
Egg-laden female fish are caught in fish traps and "stripped" of their eggs which are then artificially fertilised.
In February, a high proportion of the eggs are taken from the hatchery and placed in holes dug into the river's bed and they are left to incubate.
Mr McKelvey said: "At every stage we are trying to mimic what the salmon would be doing naturally."
Alastair Stephen, a biologist at SSE, said: "We are effectively filling in one part of the life cycle. We are trying to minimise the impact we are having on the genetic make-up of the fish stocks.
"We catch as many of the fish as we can in the traps we have and strip the fish, in hopefully as natural a way as possible, before putting the fish back in as eggs or fry."
Mr Stephen said it was not just a legal obligation, but a moral responsibility, to look after salmon stocks on the Conon River.


The former boss of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and the man who helped him acquire the firm have been given the freedom of Coventry.

Ratan Tata, of the Tata Motor Group, and Prof Lord Bhattacharyya, founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group, took their oaths in Coventry Cathedral.
Both have been made Honorary Freemen of the city.
The men were honoured for helping "the regeneration of the city", the city council said.
Coventry City Council leader Ann Lucas OBE, said: "The vision, leadership and commitment of Mr Tata and Professor Lord Bhattacharyya has been instrumental in placing Coventry on the world stage."
"I'm very proud that Coventry today honoured me," Lord Bhattacharyya said.
In 1980, he founded the manufacturing, education and research group at Warwick University, and remains its chairman. The department works with motor manufacturers across the UK, including Jaguar.
Tata Motors announced plans to double the size of JLR's manufacturing plant in Whitley, in March.


Telecoms giant BT is testing new technology in the Western Isles designed to increase the speed of fibre broadband over long distances.

About 20 households in North Tolsta on Lewis are the first in Scotland to use the Long reach VDSL technology.
The community was chosen due to its remoteness and because its fibre cabinet, a box of telecoms equipment, supports a cluster of long phone lines.
Significantly long phone lines can reduce broadband speeds, BT said.
The company's network business, Openreach, is running the trial.
Openreach chief executive Clive Selley said: "Getting faster speeds to rural communities is one of my biggest priorities, so testing new solutions in the field like this is a crucial part of that process.
"Our lab tests prove that Long Reach VDSL has the potential to significantly boost speeds over such lines, which are typically found in remote parts of the UK."
Mr Selley added: "I'm pleased that North Tolsta is the first Long Reach VDSL test site in Scotland and the early results are very positive. This trial will provide engineers with more information on how the new technology works in one of the UK's remotest locations."
Openreach plans to hold further trials of the technology in a number of locations around the UK.
More than 85% of households in Scotland now have access to fibre broadband, but reaching the remaining rural areas will be a challenge, according to a report released on Thursday.
Audit Scotland said it expected this figure to rise to 95% by December 2017 if BT continued to meet its targets.
However, it said extending coverage to rural areas would require "more complicated and costly engineering solutions".


Milton Keynes Dons manager Robbie Neilson says his players "appreciate the support" chairman Pete Winkelman showed them by attending Tuesday's match against AFC Wimbledon.

Winkelman stood in the stands as MK Dons directors decided not to sit in the corporate section.
AFC Wimbledon were formed in 2002 by former Wimbledon FC supporters dismayed by the club's move to Milton Keynes.
MK Dons lost 2-0 on their first visit to Kingsmeadow.
AFC Wimbledon did not name their opponents on the front cover of the programme for the match
And Winkelman, 59, left it late to decide whether to travel to the game as he is deeply unpopular among Wimbledon fans because of his part in the formation of Milton Keynes Dons.
In February, former MK Dons manager Karl Robinson was confronted by a member of AFC Wimbledon's staff when his new side Charlton Athletic visited Kingsmeadow.
Neilson said Winkelman had "stuck by" the players as "everyone wanted to be here together".
He added: "I'm really pleased he did that as the players appreciate the support he gave us."


If you want to succeed in the coffee business it helps to have been in the game for almost 130 years.

Algerian Coffee Stores in the heart of London's Soho has been trading out of the same shop since 1887 and in terms of word-of-mouth reputation, it has one of the strongest in the city.
"We don't really have to do advertising campaigns," explains Marisa Crocetta, 36, one of the directors at the business that has been in her family since 1948.
"You build up a reputation and being an old shop you appear in tourist guides, and of course everyone visits Soho and that's how they find you."
While Algerian Coffee Stores obeys the first golden rule of setting up a coffee business - find a great location - it has also nailed down the second essential ingredient; keeping the regulars coming back.
This it does by offering one of the best takeaway cups of coffee in London. And at just £1.20 ($1.80) for a cappuccino it's one of the cheapest, too.
"Our main business is in the bags of coffee beans, that's why our prices are so cheap for the takeaway coffee," Marisa explains.
The shop sells around 80 different types of coffee it sources from London-based brokers with beans that come from coffee-growing regions across the globe, including Ethiopia, Colombia and Queensland, Australia.
However, its most popular coffee is the espresso blend it produces in-house, a mixture of Brazilian and African beans. "We go through about half a ton of that a week," says Marisa.
Algerian Coffee Stores gets its names from its first owner, a Mr Hassan who was Algerian, though Algeria itself doesn't produce coffee, and the store has made a solid living for the Crocetta family over three generations - but recently it has been riding the coffee wave.
There were 18,832 coffee shop outlets in the UK with a turnover of £7.2bn in 2015, according to the Allegra World Coffee Portal, and the sector outperformed the entire retail sector with sales growth of 10.7%.
"Over the past 10 years it's really taken off," says Marisa, adding that online sales are now a growing part of the business.
"It used to be a case of come the summer months you were twiddling your thumbs because there was hardly anyone around. But now it's consistently busy throughout the year.
"It goes from busy, to chaos to mayhem and then back down to busy again. There's never a quiet period now."
The 10 staff in the tiny shop may have to fight for space, especially with its mail order business conducted straight from the shop counter, but Marisa says the shop is such an institution it would be foolhardy to move despite rising cost of rent in central London.
"The thing about the shop is that it's old and you can't buy that," she says. "I suppose you could start up somewhere else but the shop is the essence of the business.
"It's what everyone comes to see. Everything is falling down and wobbly - or patched up."
For relative newcomers such as Gavin Fernback, 31, who has run The Fields Beneath by Kentish Town West railway station for just three years, the secret to running a successful coffee shop is finding good staff.
Even though he had worked as a barista three years prior to taking the plunge and running his own shop, nothing prepared him for how time-consuming certain small details could become.
"I still made so many mistakes at the beginning," he says. "I remember looking at other places, for instance at the way they had to keep re-writing price tags because they got dirty.
"I remember thinking, 'I'll never do it that way'. But it's a bit like having children I suppose. You judge other parents before you have your own kids and then make all the same mistakes yourself."
"It's taken us two and a half years to get a training plan for our staff - that covers everything from how to make a good coffee to how to add salt to our dishwasher.
"If people are calling you all the time to ask you stupid questions - which aren't really stupid it's simply that you haven't shown them how to do them properly - it takes up a lot of your time.
"But you can't rush this type of thing."
While making a good cup of coffee with the best ingredients is the bedrock of the café business, good staff, he says, can turn a good business into a great one.
"There's a roastery called Square Mile in London which has done a lot to drive quality in London and they were asked what brings people back to a coffee shop and they said on average it is 40% coffee quality and 60% service.
"If the staff are friendly and recommend bands and ask how customers' kids are, that will drive custom more than the best coffee ever served by a stone-cold face."
Large chains such as Starbucks and Costa may have a high profile, but their brands still only represent less than half the number of coffee outlets in the UK.
While Starbucks has made its name on replicating the independent coffee house experience, providing a home-away-from-home space where customers feel they can pass time, Starbucks vice president Rhys Iley says there's no getting around quality when it comes to selling coffee.
"The first thing is that you have to be really passionate about the quality of the beverages that you produce for the customers. We invest in the coffee farms so we source the best, roast the best, and then serve the best.
"If the product isn't perfect and isn't to the highest standards then people will soon see through that."
Criticism that the chains are squeezing out independent operators in an increasingly competitive market, he says, are misplaced.
"Every statistic we see shows that the coffee market in the UK is growing every year, more and more people come into that and I think that's healthy," Mr Iley says.
"I relish competition because I think ultimately the customer benefits and everyone has to raise their game."
And what advice would he give those trying muscle in on the UK's increasingly vibrant coffee scene?
"Be curious about what's happening in the coffee world, be curious about the people you want to employ, be curious about the customers and learn from them.
"In anything you do be excellent, don't accept mediocrity and surround yourself with great people."


The scale of loss of conservation land caused by the proposed M4 relief road would be "unacceptable", a public inquiry has heard.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said the impact on sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) "could not be fully mitigated".
The Â£1.1bn M4 proposal would cross four SSSIs along the Gwent Levels.
Welsh Government lawyers argued environmental concerns had to be balanced against other interests.
The inquiry in Newport heard the scheme would mean about 105 hectares of designated land, set aside for the protection of water invertebrates, would have to be lost.
The Gwent Levels' unique network of ditches, known as reens, were dug during Roman times and have since become a habitat for a range of rare species.
The Welsh Government has pledged to replace lost reens with new ones.
Dr Jessica Poole, of conservation body Natural Resources Wales (NRW), told the inquiry discussions between the regulator and the Welsh Government meant she was content with the proposed design of the new reens.
But she said there was no guarantee they would work, and it could be some time before they supported the aquatic insects the sites are meant to conserve.
Replicating a complex ecology that has developed over centuries would be "challenging", she said.
NRW said the Welsh Government had not demonstrated the project would comply with its statutory duty to promote sustainable development.
Should the alternative blue route, suggested by transport expert Prof Stuart Cole, be adopted - the motorway's impact on SSSI land would be "significantly reduced", Dr Poole said.
But the inquiry heard several issues NRW had raised in letters responding to the project's draft plans had been addressed and it was now satisfied on matters including water quality, drainage and some protected species such as otters and bats.
Morag Ellis QC, acting on behalf of the Welsh Government, said it was for Welsh ministers to balance any potential impact on SSSI land with other public interests related to the new motorway.
Claiming adverse effects were "fully mitigated for" was to apply a standard not in accordance with the law, she said.
She described the changes NRW had made to its initial objections after extensive discussions with Welsh Government as "a major step forward".


England Women will play Denmark in their final match before this summer's Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.

Denmark, ranked 15th in the world, have also qualified for the tournament.
The two sides will meet at Copenhagen's Gladsaxe Stadium on Saturday, 1 July, at 18:00 BST.
"Denmark are a team who will have genuine ambitions of going a long way in the summer, so it will be a good challenge for us," England head coach Mark Sampson said.
England will meet up for their Euros training camp on 5 June and also play Switzerland in Biel on 10 June.
Their Euro 2017 opener against Scotland is in Utrecht on 19 July, followed by Spain in Breda on 23 July and Portugal in Tilburg on 27 July.


A pupil who was allegedly assaulted at a school in Reading on Tuesday afternoon remains in a critical but stable condition.

The 12-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital from the Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School after he collapsed in the playground.
A boy, aged 11, was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm (GBH) and has been released on bail.
The school confirmed there had been a "medical emergency" at about 13:00 BST.
On Tuesday, Det Insp Nick Watts appealed for any witnesses or anyone with mobile phone footage to come forward.


A former DUP MLA has broken ranks and criticised the party leader Arlene Foster, saying the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme is an "omnishambles".

David McIlveen, who is still a member of the party, said Mrs Foster had "seriously misjudged" public anger.
Mrs Foster set up the RHI scheme in 2012, but its lack of cost controls has left NI taxpayers with a Â£490m bill.
A DUP spokesperson said she continued to receive "overwhelming support" within the party and beyond.
"Former MLA David McIlveen is entitled to his personal opinions, however, this is the first time that he has articulated any view since losing his seat," they said.
On Wednesday, the party said the assembly may be recalled next week to approve emergency legislation to deal with the overspend.
Mr McIlveen, who is the son of Free Presbyterian minister and close friend of the late Rev Ian Paisley, Rev David McIlveen, questioned Mrs Foster's handling of RHI in an article for the News Letter.
He suggested Mrs Foster was personally responsible for turning the scheme into an "omnishambles" and said she will come under increased pressure from her own party.
He drew comparisons with the treatment of former DUP leaders Peter Robinson and the Rev Ian Paisley.
Mr McIlveen wrote that Mrs Foster was now "deeply damaged" and unlikely to lead the party into the next election after becoming an "electoral liability".
"Does a party obsessed with elections want to move forward with a leader who appears incapable of facing up to their mistakes?" he asked.
"The RHI scandal was most likely driven more by a desire to curry favour with the rural electorate than anything more sinister.
"Whilst the view in public is that Arlene's team are as loyal and happy as ever, the reality in private is something very different."
The party's East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson dismissed Mr McIlveen's comments.
He asked what was more credible: "The views of one individual who will have his own motivations, or the views of the vast majority of party members who have publicly come out and given their support to Arlene Foster.
"I think that I am maybe in a better position than David McIlveen to make an assessment of the view within the party."
However, Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said Mr McIlveen's intervention was "significant".
"I know you were reporting it as David McIlveen breaking ranks and that is true, but equally true is that he is joining the ranks of those pointing the finger of blame," he said.
"And we're not talking about bit players here, David McIlveen was an assembly private secretary for Arlene Foster, he's joining Jonathan Bell who was a junior minister and also a minister for the department of enterprise."
Mr McIlveen also criticised Mrs Foster's treatment of Jonathan Bell, who in December, made a series of allegations about the DUP's involvement in the scheme.
"When one of her own party members broke rank to express their concern about the scheme, rather than approach the issues raised with a listening ear, the default position was to attack the personal integrity of the individual raising the concerns," he wrote.
"In any other context, Jonathan Bell MLA would be called a whistleblower.
"Upon witnessing the way in which he was treated by the leadership of the party I do not see how any member of the public who sees something going wrong in the civil service would feel inspired to raise issues with a DUP-run department, upon witnessing how their own people are treated."
Last month, Mrs Foster said she had  "felt intimidated by Jonathan Bell" during an RHI meeting, claiming he had "used his physical bulk to stand over me in quite an aggressive way".
Mr Bell had claimed that Mrs Foster was verbally "abusive" and angrily "overruled" him when he tried to close the scheme.
Mr McIlveen also criticised Mrs Foster for branding some of her RHI  critics as "misogynist", saying that "rather than facing critics on the level of their political arguments yet again it descends to the personal".
Mr McIlveen, who lost his seat in last May's election, claimed the DUP was "obsessed with elections".


Expansion of Heathrow or Gatwick airports could be damaging to health, the Green Party has claimed.

Keith Taylor, the Green MEP for the South East said a new runway could be "bad news for air quality".
Both airports have said they would meet legal limits on air quality.
A consultation by the Airports Commission on the issue ends on Friday with a recommendation to the government on airport expansion due in the next few weeks.
The commission ordered a further air quality assessment after the Supreme Court set a deadline for the government to produce new plans for reducing air pollution levels.
It is due to recommend which of the three short-listed schemes - two at Heathrow and one at Gatwick - should go ahead.
However along with the Green Party, local councils in the Heathrow area and the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign have said the commission has underestimated the environmental impact airport expansion would have.
Mr Taylor said: "The reality is that building any major new runways would be seriously bad news for air quality, rule out any chance of meeting our climate change targets, and would result in an unprecedented increase in noise levels."
Stewart Wingate, Gatwick's chief executive, agreed air quality was now "even more fundamental" to expansion decisions.
"[But] Heathrow currently breaches legal air quality limits and it defies common sense that a third [Heathrow] runway will solve the problem," he said.
"In contrast, Gatwick has never breached legal air quality limits and its location means it can guarantee that it never will."
Matt Gorman, Heathrow's sustainability and environment director, disagreed with Mr Wingate's assessment.
"The commission's air quality analysis has confirmed an expanded Heathrow will go beyond meeting local air quality limits," he said.


Cameroon has deployed about 1,000 troops to its border with Nigeria to fight the growing threat of the Islamist group, Boko Haram.

A defence ministry spokesman said the troops would carry out reconnaissance missions and return fire if necessary.
The group is also said to have killed 11 soldiers and 13 police officers in the north-eastern state of Yobe, the Nigerian military has said.
Yobe is one of the three north-eastern states under a state of emergency.
Witnesses in the town of Buni Yadi said the attackers had arrived in several vehicles, including an armoured car, and told residents they were not going to kill civilians, only members of the security forces.
They also burnt buildings including the home of a traditional ruler and a police station.
Buni Yadi is a notoriously volatile area, where dozens of teenage school boys were killed in their dormitory last February, says the BBC's Will Ross in Abuja.
The almost daily attacks in north-east Nigeria show the massive task the Nigerian military faces, he adds.
More than 500 people have been killed since Boko Haram hit world headlines by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls from their remote boarding school in Chibok last month.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Nigerian military said it knew where the girls were, but would not attempt a rescue.
Retired US Gen Carter Ham, who was formerly one of the commanders of the US Africa Command, which liaises with African countries on military matters, told the BBC that the Nigerian government must now be considering its options:
"There are difficult options at best. Certainly a military or security force hostage rescue operation brings with it great, great risk, and I think there have been in public debate about Nigeria's capability to perform that, but... if they have an opportunity and see that is the right thing to do, they probably could."
The Nigerian military has rejected accusations that it is hampering efforts to find the kidnapped girls because of poor training and corruption.
Responding to an article in the New York Times, it said in a statement that the author of the article failed "to acknowledge the fact that this same Nigerian military have trained and conducted military exercises and operations alongside the military organisations of other nations in recent times and excelled".
Thousands of people have died since Boko Haram began a violent campaign against the Nigerian government in 2009 and in the subsequent security crackdown.
Who are Boko Haram?
Profile: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
Why Nigeria has not defeated Boko Haram


The Worthing International Birdman competition has been cancelled indefinitely, the organisers say.

This year's competition had been due to take place in August, with a prize of Â£10,000 for the longest leap over 100m from the pier into the English Channel.
The Worthing Town Centre Initiative (WTCI) said it would not continue to organise the event "for the time being" due to escalating costs.
The WTCI said other projects in the town needed investment.
The annual contest involves people throwing themselves off the town's pier in machines and various costumes.
The organisers posted on their website: "2015 was the last Worthing Birdman."
A spokesman for WTCI said: "The organisation has been thrilled with the success of the Worthing International Birdman over the past eight years.
"The response from the crowds and support of the businesses, together with the bravery of the competitors has generated phenomenal publicity for Worthing.
"It has also been a vehicle for huge sums of money to be raised for charity."
Last year's top prize was won by Tony Hughes who flew just over 106m (347ft) at the two-day event on the West Sussex seafront.
The 2014 competition saw Ron Freeman claim the prize with flights of 159.8m (524ft) on the Saturday and 159.4m (523ft) on the Sunday.