Researchers have identified the genetic "switch" that triggers the flowering process in plants as they respond to warmer temperatures.

They found that a gene, known as PIF4, activated the flowering pathway when a certain temperature was achieved.
The team added that the findings could be used in future research to improve crops' resilience to projected changes in the climate.
Details of thestudy have been published in the journal Nature.
"We have known for hundreds of years that when it gets warmer, plants come into flower," said co-author Philip Wigge from the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK.
"The question then is... how is it possible that plants are able to control this process with such accuracy and sensitivity."
Dr Wigge said that there were two mechanisms that allowed plants to respond to the arrival of spring: measuring day-length and changes in temperature.
"The switch we discovered is to do with the second one, and helps shed light on how plants know when it is getting warmer," he told BBC News.
"This gene is remarkable because it is only active when it is warm. If you cool the plant down, it has no effect. The gene works in such a way that it is only on in the warm.
"When there are higher temperatures, it activates the target genes and switches on the flowering process."
For their study, the researchers usedArabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant native to Europe, Asia and northern parts of Africa.
It was the first plant species to have its genome sequenced, Dr Wigge said, making it a "terrific tool" for molecular biologists.
Out of synch
Dr Wigge explained that plants appeared to use a combination of the two trigger mechanisms but to varying degrees, which affects the characteristics of plants' flowering behaviour.
"Some plants will flower at the same time each spring, whereas other plants will flower earlier if it is warmer. Those are the plants that have an active PIF4 pathway," he said.
"Research carried out by a team in the US has shown that plants that use warmer temperatures to control when they flower are out-competing other plants to a considerable degree.
"In the past 100 years or so, many plants that have just used day-length have become locally extinct.
"Yet plants that have used temperature to control when they flower have increased their range considerably and now much more common.
"That makes a lot of sense because those plants will be able to out-compete other species in a climate change scenario."
Phenological studies have shown that plants are flowering and producing fruit earlierthan in the past.
Experts warn that the changes will lead to a breakdown in symbiotic relationships within ecosystems, such as plants' dependence on pollinators.
Protecting crop yields
"We have know for some time that wild plant populations are changing, and they are responding in different ways to changes to the climate," Dr Wigge observed.
"But what we have not understood is the underlying mechanism. So now we know some of the genes that are important in the (flowering) process, we can start to make predictions.
"We can look at ecosystems, and based on whether or not the plants use temperature-based signalling, we can start to make predictions about how ecosystems are likely to change in the future."
The findings can also help crop research, allowing scientists to consider possible ways to ensure yields are not adversely affected by projected climate change.
Dr Wigge said it has been estimated that for every 1C (1.8F) rise in mean global temperatures, crop yields would decline by about 10%.
"Many crops are already been grown near the top of their optimal temperature range," he said.
"Temperature basically has a very large and complex effect on yields. We think that the same process that works inArabidopsisalso works in wheat and barley."
This understanding could allow researchers to modify the plants' responses to temperature changes, either genetically or through breeding programmes.
"Identifying these genes gives you a very powerful tool to modify crops to make them more resilient to climate change," he suggested.


As the crisis brews over Syrian refugees trying to enter European countries, questions have been raised over why they are not heading to wealthy Gulf states closer to home.

Although those fleeing the Syrian crisis have for several years been crossing into Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey in huge numbers, entering other Arab states - especially in the Gulf - is far less straightforward.
Officially, Syrians can apply for a tourist visa or work permit in order to enter a Gulf state.
But the process is costly, and there is a widespread perception that many Gulf states have unwritten restrictions in place that make it hard for Syrians to be granted a visa in practice.
Most successful cases are Syrians already in Gulf states extending their stays, or those entering because they have family there.
For those with limited means, there is the added matter of the sheer physical distance between Syria and the Gulf.
This comes as part of wider obstacles facing Syrians, who are required to obtain rarely granted visas to enter almost all Arab countries.
Without a visa, Syrians are not currently allowed to enter Arab countries except for Algeria, Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen.
The relative wealth and proximity to Syria of the states has led many - in both social and as well as traditional media - to question whether these states have more of a duty than Europe towards Syrians suffering from over four years of conflict and the emergence of jihadist groups in the country.
The Arabic hashtag #Welcoming_Syria's_refugees_is_a_Gulf_duty has been used more than 33,000 times on Twitter in the past week.
Users have posted powerful images to illustrate the plight of Syrian refugees, with photos of people drowned at sea, children being carried over barbed wire, or families sleeping rough.
A Facebook page called The Syrian Community in Denmark has shared a video showing migrants being allowed to enter Austria from Hungary, prompting one user to ask: "How did we flee from the region of our Muslim brethren, which should take more responsibility for us than a country they describe as infidels?"
Another user replied: "I swear to the Almighty God, it's the Arabs who are the infidels."
The story has also attracted the attention of regional press and political actors.
The Saudi daily Makkah Newspaper published a cartoon - widely shared on social media - that showed a man in traditional Gulf clothing looking out of a door with barbed wire around it and pointing at door with the EU flag on it.
"Why don't you let them in, you discourteous people?!" he says.
The commander of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA), Riyad al-Asaad, retweeted an image of refugees posted by a former Kuwaiti MP, Faisal al-Muslim, who had added the comment: "Oh countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, these are innocent people and I swear they are most deserving of billions in aid and donations."
But despite the appeals from social media, Gulf states' position seems unlikely to shift in favour of Syrian refugees.
In terms of employment, the trend in most Gulf states, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE is towards relying on migrant workers from South-East Asia and the Indian subcontinent, particularly for unskilled labour.
While non-Gulf Arabs do occupy positions in skilled mid-ranking jobs, for example in education and health, they are up against a "nationalisation" drive whereby the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments in particular are seeking to prioritise the employment of locals.
Non-native residents may also struggle to create stable lives in these countries as it is near impossible to gain nationality.
In 2012, Kuwait even announced an official strategy to reduce the number of foreign workers in the emirate by a million over 10 years.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


Royal Mail has published the designs for its 2014 Christmas stamps.

Among the festive issue are scenes of children singing carols, posting Christmas cards and building snowmen.
Five different drawings commissioned from illustrator Andrew Bannecker were selected for the first and second class stamps.
The latest recommended posting dates for UK mail are 18 December for second class and 20 December for first.
There is no Christian imagery among the designs, as the theme for Royal Mail's main stamp issue alternates annually between secular and religious designs.
A spokesman for the company said stamps depicting Madonna and Child would also be available.
Christmas stamps were first issued in 1966 when Royal Mail ran a children's competition to select the design.
Since then the festive stamps have only been designed by children twice, in 1981 and 2013.
This year's issue will be available online and in Post Offices from Tuesday and - as with all British stamp designs - were approved by the Queen before being printed.
Andrew Hammond from Royal Mail Stamps said: "Christmas is a stamp issue we particularly look forward to and the charming style of these designs sets the perfect tone for the festive season."
There are no deliveries on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day or, in Scotland, on 2 January.
Royal Mail said last December it delivered 115m parcels, handling 10m on its busiest day of the month.


Pakistan's Javeria Khan has been released from hospital after being hit on the jaw during Wednesday's Women's World Twenty20 defeat by West Indies.

The opener was struck on the hand by a bouncer from Shamilia Connell that then hit the grille of her helmet, and she was carried off on a stretcher.
The 27-year-old was discharged from hospital with a broken thumb and is awaiting further medical reports.
Pakistan have replaced her with 21-year-old right-hander Ayesha Zafar.
"We were really shocked by the incident," said West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor.
"We have now been told she is fine, and that gives us relief."


Malcolm Fraser's decision in 1975 to block Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's budget was the ultimate in brinkmanship.

It eventually delivered him the prime ministership. And, although he won three general elections in a row, the dismissal of the Whitlam government that followed the budget impasse haunted Fraser for the rest of his life and overshadowed his political achievements.
During his prime ministership between 1975 and 1983, Fraser was considered patrician, aloof and arrogant, even by some of his supporters. Dubbed the "crazy grazier" by the media and an "Easter Island statue" by Labor opponent and future Labor prime minister Paul Keating, Fraser was a study in contradictions.
He was an economic conservative but a modest social reformer; a Cold War warrior and a fierce opponent of apartheid; a traditionalist with a social conscience he only gave full rein to in his later years.
Rising star
John Malcolm Fraser was born on 21 May 1930, the son of a wealthy Victorian political family. His early years were spent on Nareen Station, his family's pastoral property in western Victoria, followed by schooling at the prestigious Melbourne Grammar and then Oxford University.
He was elected to parliament in 1955 aged just 25, and the following year married Tamara Beggs, eldest daughter of another prominent farming family. By 1966 Fraser was minister for the army in Harold Holt's first government.
A rising star in conservative politics, he had a habit of over-reaching himself and setting a course not always in line with his party. But by 1975 he was opposition leader, confronting the radical and trouble-prone Whitlam government.
Titans of the Australian political scene in more ways than one - Fraser was just shy of Whitlam's 6ft 4in (1.93m) - the two men were key players in Australia's most controversial political moment: a constitutional crisis that led to Whitlam's dismissal by Australia's governor-general in November 1975.
As leader of the opposition Fraser blocked Whitlam's budget, forcing Governor-General Sir John Kerr to dismiss Whitlam as prime minister.
The country was shocked. Protest strikes and violent demonstrations followed.
In what became one of the most famous of Australian political speeches, from the steps of Parliament House in 1975, Whitlam said Fraser would "go down in Australian history from Remembrance Day 1975 as Kerr's cur".
But the Australian public wanted a steady hand after the rapid pace of Whitlam's reforms, and voted in Fraser's team in the largest win of any Australian federal election at that time.
In office, Fraser faced a post-war economic slowdown marred by stagflation, and the emergence of the so-called baby boomers who had more in common with Whitlam's progressive views on issues such as abortion, and who did not favour cuts to the public service.
Fraser focussed on trying to cut both government expenditure and taxation.
Away from the economic front, he increased the number of immigrants entering Australia, accepted Vietnamese refugees into the country - many of them arriving by boat - and promoted the concept of multiculturalism.
It was this last policy that years later, he maintained, was his government's finest legacy because of the way it helped build a cohesive community.
Refugee champion
Since the 1960s, governments had started to dismantle Australia's notorious White Australia Policy, which discriminated against non-European immigrants. Whitlam introduced legislation that allowed all migrants, regardless of origin, to be granted citizenship after three years of permanent residence.
However, the number and percentage of migrants from non-European countries didn't increase until after Fraser came to office. From 1975 to 1982, some 200,000 migrants arrived from Asia, including nearly 56,000 Vietnamese refugees.
Treatment of refugees was one of a number of issues in which Fraser clashed with his Liberal successor John Howard and others in the party. He criticised Howard's tough stance on asylum seekers and opposed Australia's involvement in the Iraq war.
Four months before his death, in a speech he gave at the opening of an asylum-seeker resource centre, Fraser said Australia's name had been damaged around the world because of the tough treatment meted out to asylum seekers by successive Australian governments.
"We are known as the most inhumane, the most uncaring, the most selfish of all the wealthy countries.  It used not to be that way," he said.
It was views such as these that made Fraser in his later years more popular with the left than the right side of politics. His departure from the conservative fold seemed complete when he resigned from the Liberal Party in 2010.
The reaction to his death by people who would once have been considered his political enemies showed how much Fraser and the public perception of him had changed over the years.
New South Wales Labor senator and outspoken union leader Doug Cameron said he was "devastated" that Australia had lost a great voice for human rights, while Leader of the Australian Greens Christine Milne said one of Fraser's hallmarks was his "compassion and dedication to building a thriving and peaceful multicultural society".


A woman called 999 to complain her nail varnish had chipped despite being told they had a three-day guarantee.

Avon and Somerset Police has been publishing details of inappropriate 999 calls to highlight misuse of the emergency number.
In another call, a man dialled 999 because staff on Weston-super-Mare pier would not let him on the rides.
And a woman told told call handlers she had no money to buy bread because her benefits had not arrived.
In a fourth call 999 made on Sunday a man told emergency operators a cash machine "had swallowed his card".
Police later took to Twitter to say people should only use the emergency number if offenders were nearby, life was at risk, an injury had been caused or threatened, or if a crime was in progress.
"For everything else call the non-emergency number 101. Although these are real calls and may generate humour [they] stop people getting the help they need."


Britain's Andy Murray will face world number one Novak Djokovic in the final of the Miami Open on Sunday.

Third seed Murray beat Czech eighth seed Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-4 to reach the final for a fourth time.
The 27-year-old Scot, who reached 500 career wins this week, won the title in 2009 and 2013.
Defending champion Djokovic overcame USA's John Isner 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to set up a meeting with Murray, whom he beat in Indian Wells last week.
Murray's convincing victory, in which he broke Berdych's serve four times, took his career record against him to 6-6.
"I did most things well; there's not a lot I could complain about," said Murray.
"My second serve was much better in the second set. I served well on the big points and got a lot of free points behind my serve.
"I've played well this week, much better than I did at Indian Wells."
The match was a repeat of the Australian Open clash in January, which Murray won in four tense sets as he went up against Berdych and former coach Dani Vallverdu.
There was another familiar face in the Berdych box in Miami after fitness coach Jez Green recently began working with the Czech, having left Murray's team along with Vallverdu last November.
In contrast to Melbourne, Murray made the sharper start on Saturday, breaking the Berdych serve either side of dropping his own.
Berdych looked unsettled, complaining about the balls and a line call as Murray saw out the set by making an impressive 77% of first serves.
A confident Murray broke to love early in the second set, but two double faults gave the advantage straight back.
Both men were stepping in and attacking returns at every opportunity, and Murray's strength in that area proved the difference when he broke Berdych for a fourth time.
He almost clinched victory with a fifth break and had to recover from 0-30 to serve it out.
Although the first set against Isner went to a tie-break, Djokovic never faced a break point as he won in an hour and a half.
"I played a terrific match," said Djokovic, who has won the Miami title four times.
"The opening set was pretty close. His resistance wilted a bit in the second set.
"Andy has been playing so well this year. He lives here and spends a lot of time practising on these courts, so he's familiar with the conditions."


A man who admitted slashing 190 car tyres in a three-day vandalism spree in North Yorkshire has gone on the run.

Julian Glew, 45, has not been seen since he failed to turn up for sentencing at Beverley Magistrates' Court on 14 October.
Humberside Police believe Glew, of Princes Avenue, Hull, may be sleeping rough in the woods near Pocklington and have appealed for help to trace him.
Glew admitted three counts of criminal damage in Pocklington last month.
A force representative said: "He is not thought to pose a threat but we are seeking help from members of the public in locating him."
Glew is described as white, 5ft 7in (173cm) tall, of slim build with receding hairline and usually has a beard and moustache.


A student who admitted throwing a fire extinguisher from the roof of a central London building during the student fees protests has been jailed.

Edward Woollard, 18, from Hampshire, was among protesters who broke into the Tory party headquarters and emerged on the roof on 10 November.
He was jailed for two years and eight months after admitting at an earlier hearing to committing violent disorder.
Police said his actions "could have resulted in catastrophic injury".
The student, who hoped to be the first member of his family to go on to higher education, was filmed throwing an empty metal fire extinguisher from the seventh-floor of 30 Millbank as hundreds of people gathered in a courtyard below.
The canister narrowly missed a line of police officers attempting to protect the looted and vandalised building from further damage on a day when 66 people were arrested.
The Brockenhurst College sixth-form student later went with his mother to a police station and admitted to throwing the extinguisher after footage of the incident was shown on television.
Woollard, from Dibden Purlieu, in the New Forest, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court.
Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC told the student the public had a right to protection from violence.
"It is deeply regrettable, indeed a shocking thing, for a court to have sentence a young man such as you to a substantial term of custody," the judge said.
"But the courts have a duty to provide the community with such protection from violence as they can.
"This means sending out a very clear message to anyone minded to behave in this way that an offence of this seriousness will not be tolerated."
He added it was "exceedingly fortunate that your action did not result in death or very serious injury either to a police officer or a fellow protester".
The judge praised Woollard's mother, Tania Garwood, saying he was taking into account her "extraordinary and courageous conduct" in persuading him to give himself up.
In a police statement read to the court, Woollard apologised for his actions, saying: "When I was told I had potentially endangered people, I felt sick.
"I was absolutely not intending that anyone in any way would be hurt."
His barrister, Hossein Zahir, said Woollard acted in a "moment of madness" and the offence had "jeopardised his future and prospects".
In a statement, Brockenhurst College said: "The college views what occurred as extremely serious and Edward Woollard has been on permanent exclusion since the incident."
Woollard was told that he would serve at least half of his sentence for violent disorder in a young offenders institution.
Cdr Bob Broadhurst, the Metropolitan Police's head of public order, said the sentence was "a significant period of imprisonment" which would have "a significant impact" on Wollard's future.
"I would ask those intent on causing violence and undermining those committed to peaceful protest to reflect on today's outcome."


South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu is to spend the next two weeks in hospital, according to a family statement.

The Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation said he was on a new course of antibiotics to treat an inflammation.
The 83-year-old Nobel peace laureate "is in good spirits and not in any pain," the family said.
The first black archbishop of Cape Town played a vocal role opposing white-minority rule in South Africa.
This is his third stay in hospital in recent weeks.
He was previously treated for an infection resulting from his prostate cancer treatment.
Details of his current condition have not been released.
Archbishop Tutu retired from public life in 2011 but continues to travel.
The archbishop deeply appreciate the prayers and good wishes of so many, said his daughter, Reverend Mpho Tutu.
"While my father was very grateful to the media for its concern, he had humbly requested journalists not to anticipate daily updates on his condition so that he could rest peacefully while receiving treatment," his daughter added.
Desmond Tutu
Profile: Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Tutu in his own words


A body has been found by firefighters tackling a blaze at a workshop in Denbighshire.

Crews were called to the building in Vale Road, Rhyl, at about 17:00 GMT on Wednesday.
Eleven neighbouring properties were evacuated and residents were moved to Rhyl leisure centre.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, which sent four pumps to the scene, has launched an investigation into the cause of the fire.


A navy officer was unlawfully killed by a junior rating on board a nuclear submarine, a coroner has said.

Able Seaman Ryan Donovan, 23, shot Lt Cdr Ian Molyneux, 36, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, at close range on HMS Astute in Southampton.
He had been on a two-day drinking binge before the attack in April 2011.
Recording a narrative verdict, Coroner Keith Wiseman said he would recommend that random breath testing for Royal Navy personnel be implemented.
Donovan was jailed for life in September 2011 with a minimum term of 25 years after pleading guilty at Winchester Crown Court to the murder of the father-of-four.
The 23-year-old, of Hillside Road, also admitted the attempted murders of Lt Cdr Hodge, 45, Petty Officer Christopher Brown, 36, and Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37.
Mr Wiseman said it was "a miracle" no-one else had died during the gun rampage during a civic visit by Southampton's mayor and also schoolchildren who had just left when Donovan started firing.
He said a culture of drinking to excess had to stop, and a system of alcohol testing prior to duty should be introduced.
The inquest at Southampton Civic Centre heard Donovan had drunk more than 20 pints of cider and lager over two days prior to the attack.
He had also drunk vodka and cocktails before being put on guard duty with a gun while more than three times above the alcohol limit for driving.
Tests revealed Donovan's blood would have contained 139mg of alcohol per 100ml - 76% above the drink-drive limit.
Police investigating the murder were so concerned about binge drinking by the crew while ashore, that the senior officer wrote to Hampshire Constabulary Chief Constable Alex Marshall to highlight the issue and it was passed to military authorities.
Lt Cdr Molyneux suffered a single gunshot wound to the top of his head, six inches above his right ear, fired from 5cm away.
Home Office pathologist Dr Basil Purdue said the position in which he was found, lying face down on the floor, was consistent with him rushing forward to tackle the gunman.
Lt Cdr Molyneux received a posthumous George Medal for his actions.
The Royal Navy has since tightened its rules on alcohol consumption before duty.
At the time sailors were allowed 10 units in the previous 24-hours with no alcohol in the 10 hours before duty. This has now been changed to five units.


A woman died when she was involved in a three-vehicle crash in the early hours of the morning.

Two men were arrested after the collision on the A6006, between Trowell Lane and Butt Lane near Normanton upon Soar, Nottinghamshire Police said.
The road was closed in both directions following the crash between a car, van and a heavy goods lorry.
The driver of the van was taken to hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
The woman who died was an occupant of the car involved, police said.


Former Southampton and Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp believes footballers are too distracted by technology.

The Derby County football advisor agreed with comments from Southampton boss Ronald Koeman that lifestyle changes mean players talk less.
Koeman revealed he holds communication sessions, focused on how social media, mobile phones and headphones put players "in their own world."
"There's not the communication there used to be," said Redknapp, 69.
Redknapp, who has also managed West Ham, Portsmouth, Bournemouth and QPR, told BBC Radio 5 live: "You don't hear people go round and talk to each other. It doesn't happen. They sit with their headphones on.
"People like John Terry and Tony Adams, who will boss people and talk and organise, these people are very few and far between now."
Redknapp was a midfielder for West Ham and Bournemouth, among others, during a playing career that lasted between 1965 and 1982 and took in almost 300 games.
"We used to get on the coach and talk about football. There was no television in those days and we certainly didn't have headphones or computers to play games," he said.
"We spoke about the game - the game coming up and the one we just played. It is very different now, I'm afraid.
"The only chance you have really got to speak to them now is on the training ground."
Koeman, whose team are seventh in the Premier League, has this week revealed how he was sending his players to weekly communication sessions to get them talking to each other again.
The 53-year-old, a former Dutch international and member of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" at Barcelona, spoke of how things were different before the advent of smartphones, when team-mates on long coach journeys interacted with each other more.
He said: "One of the problems you see now in football is there is not enough communication on the pitch. That's all about social media. Everybody goes on it straight away on their phones.
"That is maybe one of the reasons they don't talk any more on the pitch. Communication on the pitch is so important even if it is just to help your team-mates and say 'time' or 'turn'.
"That's so difficult now. To deal with this we do sessions in training, different exercises every week which are all about focus, communication and concentration."
Redknapp, who has agreed to manage Jordan for their next two World Cup qualifiers, said that banning players from wearing headphones is one option to help improve communication.
He added: "When I was at Tottenham I was giving a team meeting at 2pm at West Brom. I noticed a player in the corner with his headphones on. I couldn't tell you what I said to him. I couldn't repeat it."


The next series of The Voice UK will be the last to be broadcast on the BBC, after it was "poached by another broadcaster", the corporation says.

Mark Linsey, acting director of BBC Television, said in a statement that it "wouldn't get into a bidding war or pay inflated prices to keep the show".
The next series, which begins in January, will be the fifth to be shown by the BBC.
The show's new broadcaster has not yet been confirmed.
Mr Linsey said: "The BBC is incredibly proud of The Voice, but the fifth series which starts in January will be our last.
"We always said we wouldn't get into a bidding war or pay inflated prices to keep the show, and it's testament to how the BBC has built the programme up - and established it into a mainstay of the Saturday night schedule - that another broadcaster has poached it."
Last month the BBC said it had made a "final" bid to keep the show for two more years.
Boy George and Paloma Faith will join will.i.am and Ricky Wilson on the judging panel for the next series.
The show is currently made for BBC One by production companies Talpa and Wall to Wall. ITV bought Talpa for Â£355m earlier this year.
The Voice was singled out in a consultation paper published by the government, ahead of the BBC's charter renewal, as a format that is "similar to ITV's X Factor", and which was bought in from overseas rather than being developed in-house.
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has questioned whether such shows are "distinctive" enough from those aired by commercial rivals.
In August, the BBC's director of television Danny Cohen - who is leaving his role at the end of November - defended the corporation's right to air entertainment shows like The Voice.


One of Edinburgh's best known councillors said he wished the city's trams project had never happened.

Eric Milligan has been a councillor in the city for 40 years.
An official inquiry into the project is investigating the delays, cost overruns, redesigns, delivery, governance and management.
The Labour councillor, who was lord provost for seven years, said with the benefit of hindsight the scheme should not have gone ahead.
The trams were originally designed to run for 15 miles from Edinburgh Airport to Leith by 2011, at a cost of £375m.
But a truncated nine-mile service,  stopping in the city centre, opened in 2014, at a cost of £776m - with interest charges expected to push the final bill to about £1bn.
It was under Labour that proposals for trams were first developed. However it was not until a Lib Dem/SNP coalition from 2007 that the plans began to be executed.
The trams project then ran on through 2012 when a Labour/SNP coalition was elected.
Mr Milligan was Edinburgh's lord provost between 1996 and 2003.
Speaking to Stephen Jardine on BBC Radio Scotland, Mr Milligan said: "If all of us knew then what we know now and how difficult, how expensive and how limited the system is we probably would not have gone ahead.
"It is important that we complete what was intended between the airport and the sea port and we revitalise the waterfront area."


Northamptonshire reached 142-2 to trail Sussex by 36 runs, but rain at Arundel checked their progress on day two.

Only 29.1 overs were possible before the weather turned during lunch and play was abandoned at 17:10 BST.
Northants opener Ben Duckett missed out on a third Championship century of the season, edging Ajmal Shahzad to Chris Nash at slip to be dismissed for 72.
Duckett was the only Northants wicket to fall, while captain Alex Wakely will resume 46 not out on the third day.
Azharullah's 6-68 helped to bowl out Sussex for just 178 on day one.


Columnist Kelvin MacKenzie has been suspended by the Sun after he expressed "wrong" and "unfunny" views about the people of Liverpool.

In an article published on Friday, MacKenzie compared Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, who has a grandfather born in Nigeria, to a "gorilla".
He said men with similar "pay packets" in Liverpool were "drug dealers".
Merseyside Police are investigating whether his comments constitute a "racial hate crime".
The Sun apologised "for the offence caused" and added that it was "unaware of Barkley's heritage".
In a statement of his own, MacKenzie reiterated the latter sentiment, adding that it was "beyond parody" to describe the column as "racist".
In the article, which has since been taken off the newspaper's website, former editor MacKenzie said:
Alongside the article, the Sun published adjoining pictures of Barkley and a gorilla on their website with the caption "Could Everton's Ross Barkley represent the missing link between man and beast?" The picture was later removed.
Barkley, 23, was punched in a Liverpool bar last weekend in what his lawyer described as an "unprovoked attack".
Police confirmed they were investigating the "full circumstances".
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said he had reported the article to the police for a "racial slur".
Speaking to BBC Sport, Anderson said: "Not only is it racist in a sense that he is of mixed-race descent, equally it's a racial stereotype of Liverpool. It is racist and prehistoric."
Anderson later tweeted to say he had given a statement to Merseyside Police and reported the article to the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
And in a further tweet, he said that "ignorance simply cannot be used as a defence" and that apology is "simply not enough".
Furthermore, he criticised Everton for their failure to respond by banning Sun journalists from Goodison Park, calling it "a smack in the face to our city".
And he asked fans attending Saturday's Premier League meeting with Burnley to turn their backs on the pitch at 15:06 BST in protest.
MacKenzie was editor of the Sun when it published a front-page article headlined 'Hillsborough: The Truth' in the aftermath of the 1989 disaster at Sheffield Wednesday's football stadium.
The article claimed Liverpool fans were to blame for the tragedy, in which 96 people died. MacKenzie apologised in 2012.
Last year's landmark Hillsborough inquests recorded that the 96 fans were unlawfully killed and that Liverpool supporters at the FA Cup semi-final had played no role in causing the tragedy.
This Saturday, 15 April, marks the 28th anniversary of the disaster.
Burnley midfielder Joey Barton, who was an Everton youth player, tweeted: "Those comments about Ross Barkley, a young working-class lad, are disgusting. Then add in the fact he is mixed race! It becomes outrageous."
Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore tweeted: "Implied racism at its finest."
Football's equality and inclusion organisation Kick It Out said they had received complaints about the "insulting and offensive" comments.
"We will be contacting Everton and the PFA about their responses in providing support to Ross and his family," they said.
BBC Sport has contacted Everton and Barkley's representatives for comment.


A scheme to recruit high-calibre graduates into children's social work is to be rolled out across England.

Set up in 2013, Frontline has already trained 220 recruits in the South East and Manchester and is now selecting 180 graduates to take up posts from July.
The charity has secured government backing and aims to get 1,000 graduates into children's social work by 2020.
Government data shows there were 4,320 vacancies in 2014 for children's social workers in England.
High-profile child abuse cases such as Baby P and Victoria Climbie in London and Keanu Williams in Birmingham - where social workers were criticised for not doing more to prevent the deaths of vulnerable children - have seen them come under intense scrutiny.
Government ministers have serious concerns about the quality of many social workers and Ofsted inspections suggest widespread problems.
Bad headlines and a perception that social work is poorly paid have meant the profession is often viewed as low prestige by graduates.
Frontline is hoping to redress the situation in a similar way to Teach First which aims to recruit high-calibre graduates into the teaching profession.
Frontline, an independent charity with cross-party support, will now start its next recruitment round for 300 graduates and career changers to enter the profession in July 2017.
But the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) said schemes such as Frontline, Step Up and Think Ahead, which aim to attract high calibre individuals, were still in their infancy.
Professional officer at BASW Karen Goodman, who has more than 30 years experience in the profession, said: "None of these schemes have been going long enough for us to know if they are successful.
"We don't know about the issues of retention, and we need to think about how social workers are treated once they are qualified.
"One of the things that concerns us about Frontline is that they [the recruits] may be academically very good, but what about their emotional resilience?"
Mrs Goodman also warned these schemes tended to get priority access to student placements, which led to a shortage for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
The expansion of the Frontline scheme will be announced in a speech on Thursday by the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan.
Mrs Morgan will also announce further plans to increase and speed up the number of adoptions in England.
She will say the government will change the law to make it clear that councils and courts must place children with the person best able to care for them right up to their 18th birthday - rather than with carers who cannot provide the support these children need over the long term.
Cllr Roy Perry, chairman of the Local Government Association's Children and Young People Board, said councils were committed to finding loving homes for all children who need them and regional collaboration had been a strong feature of this success.
"However, social work practice is only one part of the solution, and it is vital that court delays are also addressed and legal proceedings sped up if we are to continue to provide much-needed homes for children.
"There is no simple one-size-fits-all approach to vulnerable children. We must take care that the ongoing focus on adoption does not distract from the importance of other types of long and short-term care."
There are 26,810 children's social workers employed in England - which is equivalent to 24,620 full-time posts.
There were 4,320 full time equivalent vacancies reported at 30 September 2014. Local authorities estimated they would need 4,570 social workers to fill these posts. The vacancy rate reported was 15%.
In the year from September 2013, 4,400 children's social workers (4,060 equivalent full time posts) were reported to have left their local authority. The turnover rate was 17%.
Source: Department for Education. Figures relate to 30 September 2014.
Frontline chief executive Josh MacAlister said: "Today's announcement is a great opportunity for the charity to go national in developing even more outstanding social workers to stand alongside those children and families who need them the most.
"This endorsement is a reflection of the quality of the work undertaken by our participants who are already changing lives for the most vulnerable children and families in Britain."
Lord Adonis, Frontline's chairman, said he was confident the national rollout would make a "real difference" to the lives of children and families.
"Social workers are crucial to improving the life chances of vulnerable children, and it is vital that we continue to address the national challenge in getting more top talent into the profession."


The well-paid traffickers push the migrants off the coast of northern Africa in flimsy, overcrowded boats, sometimes without even a compass to find their way.

But only now, after what could have been the single worst loss of life with more than 600 people feared drowned, is the European Union talking about taking urgent action to save lives.
On Sunday presidents, prime ministers and the Pope all described their horror at the massive loss of life and the need to do something quickly to stop it.
"What is happening now is of epic proportions," said Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose tiny country lies between northern Africa and Italy.
"If Europe, if the global community continue to turn a blind eye to what is happening, we will all be judged in the same way that history has judged Europe when it turned a blind eye to the genocide of this century and last century."
But will powerful and emotional statements like these lead to a new EU approach to tackling the migrant crisis, including the provision of more ships capable of search and rescue?
Deep divisions between the 28 EU member states were laid bare last year when Italy stopped its search-and-rescue operations after plucking more than 100,000 people from the sea.
The EU replaced it with a much smaller operation run by its border control agency Frontex, which has a limited mandate, a third of the budget and a fraction of the manpower used by the Italian navy.
Britain refused to give any money, arguing that providing search and rescue in the Mediterranean only encouraged more migrants to make the extremely hazardous crossing.
While southern European countries like Malta and Italy, where many of the migrants arrive, argued they could not be expected to shoulder the burden alone.
Last week as the crisis worsened, the European Commission warned it had "neither the financing nor the political support from member states" to bolster the Frontex operation.
But now the European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, has cancelled a planned visit to Spain so he can attend a meeting of EU foreign and defence ministers in Luxembourg, where the migrant crisis will be on the agenda.
Mr Avramopoulos says there's a need "to take bold actions".
It's likely to be one of a series of meetings involving senior ministers from EU member states, who will be well aware that the number of migrants trying to reach Europe will increase as the weather improves. The peak season is fast approaching.
If there is no agreement on providing more ships and planes for Frontex, a Commission official has told the BBC that it could provide emergency funding for countries like Italy to finance their own operations if they made a formal request.
It is estimated that more than 5,000 migrants from Africa and the Middle East have drowned in the Mediterranean since the beginning of last year, in their attempt to reach the shores of the European Union.


Jonjo Shelvey scored twice as second-placed Newcastle pummelled QPR to earn a fifth consecutive Championship win.

Shelvey's deflected shot rewarded early Magpies dominance and, with the tone set, Ayoze Perez made it 2-0 with a low strike at the second attempt.
A brilliant third goal arrived courtesy of Shelvey's stunning 25-yard strike.
Ciaran Clark headed a fourth and close-range efforts by Aleksandar Mitrovic and Grant Hanley ensured QPR's record home league defeat.
Newcastle's win - which takes them to within a point of leaders Huddersfield following their defeat at Brighton - was as stylish as it was emphatic and earned them a sixth victory in a row in all competitions.
And it was even more impressive given the back-to-back defeats in their opening two fixtures of the season.
QPR were second best in midfield and devoid of ideas in attack, mustering just one shot on target before the break - and three in total.
Their cause was not helped by having ex-Magpies man James Perch taken off on a stretcher but, by they that stage, they were already 1-0 down and being outplayed.
Perez had a goal ruled out offside before Shelvey's effort took a cruel deflection off Karl Henry to make it 1-0.
Matt Ritchie and Shelvey then both had chances but it was the outstanding Perez who grabbed the second of the night when he calmly found the far corner after his initial effort was saved by goalkeeper Alex Smithies.
The hosts, who have still not managed a goal from open play this season, saw Steven Caulker head their best chance over the bar.
But Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez was able to relax almost immediately after the restart when Shelvey's sensational strike - the pick of the bunch - found the corner of the net.
Smithies also had to tip a Mitrovic header on to the bar but, after Clark headed number four from Ritchie's corner, Mitrovic made it 5-0 after good work by Christian Atsu.
Hanley's simple shot completed the scoring on a wretched evening for QPR, who slip to 14th in the table.
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez:
"We can still improve. The team was playing well, everybody was pushing and working hard, but you always make some mistakes.
"The main thing for us was to get the three points so we could leave our fans happy. We also managed to get the clean sheet.
"We now have to show we can concentrate in every game. It doesn't matter if we score six goals, we get three points in the end. Now have to concentrate on the next game and not lose that concentration."
QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink:
"Newcastle are a good side and have a striker in Mitrovic, who cost £15m, Shelvey cost £12m, Matt Ritchie £11m - and I could go on.
"But I don't want to make excuses. There were things that happened out there that I wasn't happy with.
"We were very stretched and it was easy for them to counter-attack us - and it's very dangerous when they they are able to do that.
"It was easy for them to get in behind us when though we were playing deep.
"It's hard to take, but I must say that Newcastle are a great team with big players and you could see that."
Match ends, Queens Park Rangers 0, Newcastle United 6.
Second Half ends, Queens Park Rangers 0, Newcastle United 6.
Vurnon Anita (Newcastle United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Idrissa Sylla (Queens Park Rangers).
Offside, Newcastle United. Jonjo Shelvey tries a through ball, but DeAndre Yedlin is caught offside.
Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Karl Henry (Queens Park Rangers).
Foul by Christian Atsu (Newcastle United).
Grant Hall (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Joel Lynch replaces Steven Caulker because of an injury.
Corner,  Newcastle United. Conceded by Jake Bidwell.
Christian Atsu (Newcastle United) hits the bar with a left footed shot from the centre of the box. Assisted by Ayoze Pérez.
Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Karl Henry (Queens Park Rangers).
Attempt missed. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Christian Atsu.
Offside, Newcastle United. Jonjo Shelvey tries a through ball, but Matt Ritchie is caught offside.
Goal!  Queens Park Rangers 0, Newcastle United 6. Grant Hanley (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ciaran Clark following a corner.
Attempt missed. Ciaran Clark (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right following a corner.
Corner,  Newcastle United. Conceded by Karl Henry.
Foul by Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United).
Idrissa Sylla (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Isaac Hayden (Newcastle United) because of an injury.
Substitution, Newcastle United. DeAndre Yedlin replaces Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Offside, Newcastle United. Jonjo Shelvey tries a through ball, but Ciaran Clark is caught offside.
Attempt blocked. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Matt Ritchie.
Offside, Queens Park Rangers. Steven Caulker tries a through ball, but Idrissa Sylla is caught offside.
Foul by Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United).
Grant Hall (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United).
Karl Henry (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Idrissa Sylla (Queens Park Rangers) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Jordan Cousins.
Attempt saved. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jonjo Shelvey with a through ball.
Foul by Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United).
Jake Bidwell (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Substitution, Newcastle United. Grant Hanley replaces Paul Dummett.
Hand ball by Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United).
Goal!  Queens Park Rangers 0, Newcastle United 5. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
Attempt blocked. Christian Atsu (Newcastle United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Isaac Hayden.
Attempt saved. Idrissa Sylla (Queens Park Rangers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Nedum Onuoha.


Supermarket chain Lidl has announced plans to create 360 jobs after being cleared to build a new distribution centre in North Lanarkshire.

Lidl said it had been given the green light by North Lanarkshire Council to construct a warehouse at Eurocentral.
The firm will relocate its 400-strong workforce from its current distribution base in Livingston to the larger site.
The new roles will include more warehouse staff, customer services personnel and payroll employees.
Lidl said the centre would help provide support for its 92 Scottish stores.
Construction work on the new facility is due to start within the next six months.
Ross Millar, managing director for Lidl in Scotland, said: "Our new RDC (regional distribution centre) not only signifies an investment in our own infrastructure and workforce, but also highlights our wider ambitions within Scotland as Lidl UK continues to experience incredible growth."


Russian military action in Syria is increasing the number of refugees trying to reach Europe, European Council President Donald Tusk has said.

Speaking at a G20 summit in Turkey, Mr Tusk said Russia should focus more on Islamic State (IS) militants and not against "moderate Syrian opposition".
Russia has been carrying out air strikes it says target IS.
But many in the west fear the real aim is to keep Moscow's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in power.
The G20 summit of world leaders is primarily focused on economic matters, but the two-day meeting in the coastal province of Antalya has been overshadowed by the deadly attacks in Paris.
IS said it was behind the series of assaults that left 129 dead, and Mr Tusk said cooperation between the US and Russia in their action against IS in Syria was "crucial".
"We need not only more cooperation, but also more good will, especially from Russian action on the ground in Syria," he said.
"It must be focused more on Islamic State and not, because we cannot accept it, against the moderate Syrian opposition."
He warned the Russian operations would "only result (in) a new wave of refugees. And we have some signals that in fact it's started.''
IS controls large areas of Syria and Iraq, two countries that have been major contributors to the unprecedented number of refugees arriving in Europe this year.
US President Barack Obama said the killings in Paris were an "attack on the civilised world", pledging to "redouble" efforts to bring about an end to Syria's civil war.
He shared a handshake with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he has differed with on the way to resolve the conflict. The US and its allies insist Mr Assad must stand down as part of a political solution to the crisis.
The two men have been holding talks on the sidelines of the G20, television pictures showed.


Comedy creators and performers are taking part in a conference to help emerging writers this weekend.

The fourth Craft of Comedy Writing Conference is taking place at Venue Cymru, Llandudno, for anyone who thinks they could work in comedy.
Speakers include actress Sian Gibson, Radio Four commissioning editor Sioned Wiliam and Ged Parsons who writes for BBC One's Have I Got News For You.
There will be question and answer sessions and tips on working in comedy.


Doncaster's 10-game unbeaten run came to an end as Carlisle ground out a 2-1 win at Brunton Park to get their own promotion hopes back on track.

Nicky Adams fired the Cumbrians into a first-half lead and a niggly, tense affair was settled late on when defender Niall Mason just failed to clear a Jabo Ibehre effort on the line.
Tommy Rowe headed an injury-time consolation for Rovers and Carlisle had some desperate defending to do before the final whistle.
A speculative 25-yarder from Gary Liddle had Doncaster goalkeeper Ian Lawlor hurrying across his line to cover the left-hand post as the ball zipped inches wide, but Rovers' top scorer John Marquis had the best early opportunity only to slice his shot wildly over the crossbar from well inside the area.
The first half became a cagey midfield tussle with Doncaster edging possession.
But it was Carlisle who took the lead in the 34th minute when John O'Sullivan got free on the right and his cross to the far post was volleyed home by Nicky Adams.
Reggie Lambe almost doubled the advantage shortly afterwards but his close-range drive was well blocked by Lawlor.
A second goal five minutes from time clinched it for Carlisle. Adams set substitute Ibehre free to the left of goal and his cross-shot just found its way across the line despite a last-ditch effort to clear by Mason.
There was still time for Rowe to head past Mark Gillespie and Carlisle were glad to hear the final whistle as the visitors pressed for an equaliser.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Carlisle United 2, Doncaster Rovers 1.
Second Half ends, Carlisle United 2, Doncaster Rovers 1.
Attempt saved. Conor Grant (Doncaster Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Goal!  Carlisle United 2, Doncaster Rovers 1. Tommy Rowe (Doncaster Rovers) header from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Niall Mason with a cross.
Corner,  Doncaster Rovers. Conceded by Shaun Brisley.
Corner,  Doncaster Rovers. Conceded by Mark Gillespie.
Attempt saved. James Coppinger (Doncaster Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.
Corner,  Carlisle United. Conceded by Craig Alcock.
Attempt blocked. James Bailey (Carlisle United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Substitution, Carlisle United. James Bailey replaces Nicky Adams.
Attempt missed. Tommy Rowe (Doncaster Rovers) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Corner,  Doncaster Rovers. Conceded by Shaun Brisley.
Attempt blocked. Alfie May (Doncaster Rovers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Nicky Adams (Carlisle United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Own Goal by Niall Mason, Doncaster Rovers.  Carlisle United 2, Doncaster Rovers 0.
Ian Lawlor (Doncaster Rovers) is shown the yellow card.
Corner,  Carlisle United. Conceded by Jordan Houghton.
Nicky Adams (Carlisle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by John Marquis (Doncaster Rovers).
Foul by Jabo Ibehre (Carlisle United).
Joe Wright (Doncaster Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Nicky Adams (Carlisle United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Michael Raynes (Carlisle United) header from very close range is just a bit too high.
Substitution, Carlisle United. Jabo Ibehre replaces Jamie Proctor.
Corner,  Doncaster Rovers. Conceded by Michael Raynes.
Alfie May (Doncaster Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jamie Devitt (Carlisle United).
Foul by Jamie Proctor (Carlisle United).
Joe Wright (Doncaster Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Reggie Lambe (Carlisle United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution, Doncaster Rovers. Alfie May replaces Andy Williams.
Substitution, Carlisle United. Jamie Devitt replaces John O'Sullivan.
Attempt missed. John O'Sullivan (Carlisle United) left footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left.
Attempt blocked. Reggie Lambe (Carlisle United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Macaulay Gillesphey (Carlisle United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by John Marquis (Doncaster Rovers).
(Carlisle United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Craig Alcock (Doncaster Rovers).
Corner,  Doncaster Rovers. Conceded by Michael Raynes.
Attempt blocked. John Marquis (Doncaster Rovers) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.


Bayern Munich reached the German Cup quarter-finals by beating Wolfsburg.

Douglas Costa scored the only goal for the holders when his shot was deflected in by Luiz Gustavo.
Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer made two good saves to deny Yunus Malli in the closing stages.
There were also cup wins for Hamburg, who beat Cologne 2-0, Borussia Monchengladbach, who dismissed Greuther Furth 2-0, and second division Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday.
Arminia needed penalties to get past Astoria Walldorf of the fourth tier.
Borussia Dortmund host Hertha Berlin in the pick of Wednesday's last-16 ties.


Northampton Saints wing George North would be told not to play rugby again were he an amateur, says a former World Rugby medical adviser.

On Wednesday, a review panel ruled the club would not be punished despite finding North should not have played on after a head knock against Leicester.
It was the fifth blow to the head the Wales winger, 24, has had in two years.
"As an amateur you would say there is no way you must play again," Dr Barry O'Driscoll told BBC Radio Wales.
"As a professional player, and some people have very dangerous professions, it's not quite so simple.
"After four or five [concussions] you do consider it but I can fully understand because of his professional commitments, as it's his livelihood, he might be reluctant to."
Meanwhile, former Saracens captain Alistair Hargreaves, who retired in October because of a concussion injury, said the findings of the review are "a disgrace".
O'Driscoll had earlier suggested rugby union's authorities are "experimenting on players' brains" by failing to address concussion.
"They have had enough examples of how it has gone wrong to say 'enough is enough'," he said.
"If you have to take a player off to have a concussion assessment, you must suspect concussion and he must stay off. But they are experimenting in that part of the game that is the most brutal."
The Rugby Players' Association (RPA) said North's return to the field was a "significant failing", and believes sanctions would have sent a "clear message" about the "gravity of concussion management".
It added the recommendations in the report "must be adopted" to ensure North's case is an "isolated incident".
Former Scotland international John Beattie said he was worried for the future of young players, and they "have to be protected" from brain damage.
"We can't have a game where the end product is a brain-damaged super-human who's made a bit of money," the 59-year-old told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I know blokes my age and younger who have brain damage. I worry about George North. I think we need to be much more careful with players."
The report states North told medics he had stayed still after the incident, at Welford Road on 3 December, because he was "concerned about his neck".
He also "continued to deny any loss of consciousness with immediate recall of events", with the "only symptom recorded being neck pain".
Beattie said "the last person you should listen to is the player" as they are "trapped in a money-earning spiral".
The Northampton back suffered four head blows in five months between November 2014 and March 2015, leading to a spell on the sidelines that lasted from 27 March until 29 August.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Despite describing video technology in concussion assessments as "a great idea", O'Driscoll said the system of dealing with such incidents is "not fit for purpose".
"These protocols are terribly poor, they're dangerous - they're putting brain-damaged players back on the field time and time again," he said.
"In community rugby, women's rugby, school kids' rugby, there's no such thing as a protocol test because it doesn't work. It's black and white with them, if they have to come off they stay off."
Peter McCabe, chief executive of brain injury association Headway, said "serious questions have to be asked" of the existing protocols.
"This incident sends out a confusing message around the issue of concussion, particularly for children who follow the example of famous players and favourite clubs," he said.
Sports injury lawyer Ian Christian said the panel's decision was "hugely disappointing", and a missed opportunity for rugby authorities to "make a statement".
"This isn't the first time George North has played on when all those watching thought he should be off the pitch, and it proves that players need protecting from themselves," he said.
Former England international Andy Hazell - who retired in 2014 because of a concussion injury - told BBC Radio 5 live player welfare is "100%" at the forefront of decision-making by club doctors.
"People forget that the medical team and the players see each other daily," he said. "There's a bond.
"The rugby community is a tight community. These are your friends, and people would never jeopardise a player's health."


Africa's biggest basketball tournament is under way in Tunisia, after a venue change due to security concerns.

Afrobasket 2015 is being held in Rades, on the outskirts of the capital Tunis, having moved from the coast after two deadly attacks on tourists this year.
In June, an Islamist gunman killed 38 people at the beach resort of Sousse.
The winners of this year's tournament will be crowned African champions, as well as qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The other three semi-finalists will go into an Olympic qualifying tournament next year.
The opening match of the event is between Egypt and Gabon.
Defending champions Angola are favourites to win the tournament.


Three men are attempting to become the first runners to complete the Isle of Man's 100-mile (161km) Raad ny Foillan coastal footpath within 24 hours.

Manxmen Rob Sellors and Ben Scott will be joined in their record attempt by Richard Hurdle from Gloucestershire.
The current record of 25 hours and 10 minutes was set by Bob Baxter in 1985.
Scott, 42, said: "I know we'll make a pretty formidable team and if there's any chance of setting a record this is the team that can do it."
The three experienced ultra-distance runners are using the run to raise money for the Isle of Man's Children's Centre.
Sellors said the challenge was both "exciting" and "daunting."
The 48-year-old headteacher said: "The challenge of running around our beautiful island in one go has always held a strong appeal for me.
"Personally this is a challenge I would really like to attempt before I reach 50."
The men began their challenge from Peel promenade on Saturday at 14:00 GMT.


Food tests commissioned for BBC Northern Ireland have found some products labelled as cod did not contain any cod at all.

The BBC asked Belfast's Institute for Global Food Security to examine 30 foods after the recent horsemeat scare.
Beef and lamb samples were all found to be clear, but two out of 10 products labelled as cod did not contain any traces of that fish whatsoever.
The institute said cheaper types of fish were being passed off as cod.
The institute is based at Queen's University, Belfast (QUB) and its director, Professor Chris Elliott, described the findings as "fish fraud".
He said while it was not a food safety issue, it was "another example of the integrity of the food chain being shown to be substandard".
Last month, the BBC bought a total of 30 food products at random for testing from supermarkets, shops and butchers in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland.
Ten products, labelled as beef, were tested by QUB for traces of horsemeat and 10 processed lamb products were tested for cross-contamination with pork.
All samples were found to be as described on the labelling.
Queen's University sent 10 cod products that were purchased at the same time to an institute it works closely with in Scotland for DNA testing.
"Only in eight of the 10 cases they could find cod being present," said Professor Elliott.
"Does it have an impact on safety? Really, it does not. People are buying cod, which is a high value fish, and actually they are getting a low value fish."
The snapshot survey confirms evidence from other studies, some carried out recently.
Biologists at the University of Salford carried out tests in fish and chip shops, supermarkets and restaurants across the UK and discovered that 7% of the fish was not what it was sold as.
Professor Elliott said: "The industry has to take this seriously."
He described the issue as "fish fraud" where a cheaper fish species is passed off as cod.
The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, which represents many but not all of the big supermarkets, said any labelling issue was of concern.
Its director, AodhÃ¡n Connolly, said: "It alarms me it could be a knock for consumer confidence.
"We have a series of audits. Otherwise we would not be able to tell consumers what species they are buying, how it was caught, or even what region it is from.
"We are always confident those processes are in place. If you are saying there have been problems identified then we will step up to the plate."


Police investigating the murder of a man whose body was found in water in Renfrewshire are studying the results of interviews with about 30 people.

Officers spoke to dozens of people at the weekend in Bridge of Weir, where the body of Darryl Fitch was found.
The 43-year-old, from Paisley, was found in Locher Water.
It is believed he had been camping or fishing with a 37-year-old male friend in the area when he died. The other man was treated in hospital.


A man who staged a drug-fuelled roof-top siege after breaking up with his partner has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Ben Frost, 27, barricaded himself into his girlfriend's flat in Princetown on Dartmoor on 18 January.
He was arrested two hours after breaking through the roof, Plymouth magistrates heard.
Unemployed Frost admitted two charges of causing criminal damage and two of threatening behaviour.
Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to Oakery Crescent, in Princetown, after the siege began following the break-up the day before, magistrates heard.
People in the area were evacuated and cordon was put up around the scene while officers pleaded with him to come down.
Frost, of no fixed address, was jailed for a total of eight weeks suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay a total of Â£650 compensation.
Stephen Walker, defending, said Frost was a "sensitive, intelligent" man who had "mental health issues".
The siege had sprung from a "desire to free himself from a situation that had spun out of control".
Mr Walker said: "It was a miracle he did not come off the roof and kill himself."


An ice axe has been found in an area of Ben Nevis where mountain rescuers have been looking for missing Rachel Slater, 24, and Tim Newton, 27, from Bradford.

The couple were reported missing on 15 February when they failed to return from a trip to the mountain.
Another climber found the technical ice axe below the Shroud/Boomers Requiem area of the Munro.
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team has asked that if anyone had lost an axe they should contact police.
The team, which has continued the effort to find Ms Slater and Mr Newton, said this would mean it could be ruled out as clue to the location of the missing pair.


Almost 500,000 Syrians have returned to their homes this year, the UN says, describing this as a "notable trend".

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says more than 440,000 internally displaced Syrians and about 31,000 of those who fled abroad have now come back.
Most of them have returned to Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus with the aim of checking on their properties and finding out about family members.
But the UNHCR warns the conditions for a safe return "are not yet in place".
Speaking on Friday, UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said his agency was now seeing a "notable trend of spontaneous returns to and within Syria" in 2017.
"Most of these people are returning to check on their properties, to find out about the family members. This is what we know from some of the evidence that we have gathered.
"In some cases they have their own perceptions about the security, whether they are real or perceived improvements in the security situation in the areas where they are going to."
Since 2015, he said, about 260,000 refugees have already returned to Syria, primarily from Turkey.
Based on the latest figures, the UNHCR has started scaling up its operations inside Syria to better address the needs of those returning home, Mr Mahecic said.
But he warned that while there were increased hopes linked to the recent Astana and Geneva peace talks, the UNHCR "believes conditions for refugees to return in safety and dignity are not yet in place in Syria".
Mr Mahecic also said that the number of those who had already come back was a "fraction" of an estimated five million refugees hosted in the region.
Last week, the UNHCR said that about 200,000 people had fled Syria in 2016.
The agency said that since the conflict began in 2011, about 5.5 million people had left the country, and another 6.3 million had been left internally displaced.
More than 300,000 Syrians have lost their lives in the war, which began with anti-government protests.
In other developments on Friday:


Militant Islamists in Mali have cut off a man's hand as punishment for theft in the northern town of Ansongo.

A crowd in the village square pleaded in vain with the militants to spare the man, Reuters news agency reports.
Northern Mali has been overrun by Islamist and Tuareg rebels following a coup in Bamako in March.
The Islamists have vowed to implement strict Sharia law, despite strong opposition from the local Muslim population.
Last week, a couple who had sex outside marriage were stoned to death in the town of Aguelhok, controlled by the Islamist group Ansar Dine.
The group has also destroyed ancient shrines in Timbuktu, denouncing them as promoting idolatry.
Mali's weak interim government said the amputation in Ansongo - carried out by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) group - was a "vile act".
Military intervention in the north was now inevitable, it said in a statement.
'Sharia demands it'
Mujao official Mohamed Ould Abdine said the amputation was in accordance with the "law of God", the AFP news agency reports.
"Sharia demands it," he said.
A local government official said dozens of people saw the amputation, AFP reports.
"There was a lot of blood when the hand was cut. It was the hand of a thief who stole a motorbike," he said.
On Sunday, scores of protesters in the main regional town of Gao, about 100km (60 miles) from Ansongo, prevented Islamists from carrying out an amputation.
Mr Abdine said the sentence had only been postponed and would be implemented.
Officials from the West African regional body, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the African Union and the United Nations have been meeting in Bamako to discuss military intervention in the north.
They hope to come up with enough details for the deployment of a force to win the backing of the UN Security Council, which has so far refused to endorse military intervention in Mali, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says.
The Islamists took power in alliance with Tuareg rebels fighting for a separate state, but the two groups have since fallen out.


The service which treats children and young people with mental illness in Wales is in a state of crisis, according to child health experts.

A BBC Wales investigation has found that young people are often left struggling to cope without the appropriate support.
One expert said there are only half the required staff in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
The Welsh government strongly rejected the claim the service was in crisis.
However, it acknowledged that waiting lists were an issue and that it had flagged this for attention as part of its CAMHS action plan.
Dr Elspeth Webb, a reader in child health at Cardiff University, said there were many good staff in CAMHS but services across Wales were operating at between 20% and 40% of the recommended staff levels.
She said: "You can imagine it's very difficult if you are working in such an overwhelmed service to maintain quality of care.
"The big problem with CAMHS at the moment is that lots and lots of children who really need them can't access them."
Dr Webb said if money could be spent now it would stop greater problems in future.
Her view is backed by Dr Mair Edwards, a clinical psychologist who treats children privately in north Wales.
She said that in the past year she has had a steady stream of parents contacting her, concerned their children were spending too long on waiting lists while their conditions worsened.
Speaking anonymously to BBC Wales, the mother of one 15-year-old patient said the system was not fit for purpose.
"You're fighting your child's illness which you can't see," she said.
"You just know that she's fighting demons and you're there trying to fight the demons with her but you can't see them. Then you're fighting a system which is very lacking.
"As a parent you want to nurture and protect your child.
"But then you're also a policeman, who has to police the situation and you're a nurse.
"What the system does do to you is make you doubt yourself, as a person, secondly, doubt your parenting skills, makes you doubt the choices you've made, and whether it's your fault that your child is ill you ask can you help me?
"A bad day can start off with screaming, shouting, crying. Locking of doors, banging of doors, furtiveness, looking for tablets, knives, scissors, blades and if that's not accessible then it's 'where's the key to the cupboard?'
"At times you can get verbal or physical abuse. Sometimes it does result in her cutting herself. Sometimes it has to be hospital admittance because she needs stitches.
"I've taken my daughter out of school because I don't think the school could keep her safe."
In December, a report by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the Wales Audit Office found that safety concerns raised about the services in 2009 had not been addressed properly.
It said some children and young people were being inappropriately admitted to adult mental health wards. Health professionals were also failing to share information and act on their safeguarding duties.
The report also raised concerns about patients being discharged from treatment.
The Welsh government was the first in the UK to have a national CAMHS strategy in 2001, and has since introduced several action plans, frameworks and a law.
However, Bill Walden-Jones, chief executive of the charity Hafal, which represents people with serious mental illnesses across Wales, said it was time to focus on delivery of services.
"In Wales, there's a situation where the government's policy and legislative framework is quite good, quite advanced, they actually listen to patients and their families about what should be delivered," he said.
"But on the other hand, delivery falls a long way short... it's very patchy across Wales."
In a statement the Welsh government said the health minister announced an extra Â£250,000 a year for CAMHS last October,
"The minister has also been clear that savings made in reducing out-of-area placements should be reinvested into specialist mental health services for children and teenagers," it said.
"The Mental Health (Wales) Measure, which came into force in 2012, allows many more patients to be seen in primary care, meaning CAMHS services can concentrate on treating the most complex cases. Â£3.5m was invested in this new service and more than 30,000 people have been assessed by December 2013."
The national assembly's children and young people committee is currently investigating mental health services and is expected to report back within months.


Australia's former treasurer Joe Hockey has been named as the new ambassador to the United States.

Mr Hockey's appointment comes after he left politics following his removal as treasurer by Malcolm Turnbull.
He had been seen as a close ally of Tony Abbott who was ousted as PM by Mr Turnbull in a party vote in September.
Mr Turnbull said Mr Hockey was "a great Australian, he is one of the most engaging, persuasive people I've known in public life".
"He's held very high office, he's got great contacts in the United States, he's a passionate patriot," he told Australian media.
Announcing the appointment, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia's relationship with the United States was the "bedrock of foreign and defence policy".
Some in the Labor opposition questioned the move, citing Mr Turnbull's role in ousting Mr Abbott and Mr Hockey's departure from politics.
"This is a very important posting for Australia and should be done by someone with a deep interest for foreign affairs," said deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek.
"There is no doubt this is a captain's pick by Malcolm Turnbull," she told ABC television.
Kim Beazley, who has has been Australia's ambassador to the United States since 2010, will be replaced by Mr Hockey in January.


A controversial plan for development in Guildford borough has moved forward.

The council's executive committee has given a green light for consultation to go ahead, and the full council will make the final decision on whether to consult the public on 19 June.
Councillor Monika Juneja, cabinet planning spokesman, said residents were "itching" to ask questions.
During initial surveys on the draft local plan, more than 20,000 comments were made by members of the public.
Ms Juneja said she knew many people thought the council was building over the green belt and other protected areas, but she said having a local plan would safeguard areas of land.
She said the borough was "long overdue" for a plan because the last one was approved in 2003.
The plan was not just about housing, but also issues such as burial grounds, economic development and tourism, she added.
"Yesterday was my chance to ask the executive to endorse the draft local plan on a number of 652 houses a year for consultation.", she said after the executive meeting on Wednesday.
"We have not made any decisions. It's simply to ask the public where they feel we've gone wrong, whether our policies are wrong, whether the sites are wrong, and whether our number is wrong.
"I know the residents are itching to question our number, question our sites, question the reality of this local plan, and I think the only way we can do that, really, is to go out to consultation."


A man charged with murder following an alleged fight at a fishing lake in Merseyside has pleaded not guilty.

Birkenhead man Barry O'Reilly, 37, died after an incident at Claremont Farm on Clatterbridge Old Road in Spital, Wirral, on 15 May.
Christopher Davies, 28, of Town Lane, Higher Bebington, pleaded not guilty via videolink at Liverpool Crown Court.
He was further remanded in custody to await trial on 7 November.
Merseyside Police said a post-mortem examination found the preliminary cause of Mr O'Reilly's death was drowning.


On 17 July 2014, 60-year-old Inna Tipunova was with friends in her village, when they heard such a loud boom that they thought they "were being bombed".

She ran home. As she came through her gate she noticed some tiles had fallen from the roof.
Her son came out, and said: "There is a body in the kitchen."
"What body?" she replied.
But as she walked into her sparse, simple kitchen there was a pile of rubble on the floor, below a large hole in the ceiling.
And on top of the rubble, lay the barely-recognisable body of a woman.
The woman, whose name Inna never found out, was one of the 298 people killed when the Malaysian Airlines passenger jet MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine a year ago.
"When I think about it, it is like it's real, as though it's happening now", said Inna.
"The picture is vivid."
Fighting back the tears, she speaks of how she imagines the "unbearable pain" of the woman's family, and her own grief for a stranger, murdered in the sky over her home.
In total 39 bodies lay scattered around Inna's village of Rossypnoye, and some were not collected for several days.
The local mayor, Oleg Miroshnichenko, says people in the area experienced a deep sense of shock and tragedy that "resonated with every human soul".
And he says the feelings have not gone away.
"It's an irreversible pain."
Inna, who wears a silver crucifix around her neck, believes some form of justice awaits those responsible for downing the plane.
"No matter what, the people who did it will be punished," she says.
Establishing who shot down flight MH17, how they did it, and from where, is the job of a Dutch-led international investigation team, which hopes to publish some of its findings in the new year.
As well as forensic work on the wreckage of the aircraft, the Dutch prosecutor leading that investigation, Fred Westerbeke, told the BBC that investigators had been studying "billions" of internet pages, and tens of thousands of photos and videos related to the downing of the airliner.
He confirmed that his team had spoken to about 140 witnesses, and identified a number of "persons of interest", but he said it was too early to identify them as suspects, or release their names or nationalities.
What we know
MH17 crash: The 298 who perished
Dutch reporter: My revealing fragments
Special report
Getting to the truth behind the downing of the airliner is a Herculean task, given the climate of mistruths and propaganda in eastern Ukraine, linked to the conflict in the region.
To counter accusations of bias, Mr Westerbeke said his team had to properly consider all theories and all claims.
"An alternative scenario, whoever brings it out, you have to prove that that could not have been the case", he said.
"We have to clear out all of the other options."
A separate investigation, being carried out by the Dutch Safety Board, is expected to publish its full findings in October.
Its preliminary report, published last year, found that the plane broke up in mid-air after being hit by "objects" that "pierced the plane at high-velocity".
That analysis is consistent with possible shrapnel damage sustained from a surface-to-air-missile.
But for now, relatives of those who were killed are left waiting for answers.
Jeremy Pocock's 20-year-old son, Ben, was travelling on the plane.
He says it is "absolutely crucial" that those responsible are identified and brought in front of an international tribunal - an idea backed by several countries, including the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, and now also Britain.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of the first anniversary of the disaster, Mr Pocock called on the UK government to take a more robust position in the pursuit of justice for the 10 British victims on board the plane.
He also questioned why Russia had expressed scepticism about the idea of an international tribunal.
"We mustn't lose sight of the fact that there were 80 children on that plane, including many babies," he said.
"Families were wiped out. There were numerous young adults, including Ben, who had barely started their adult lives, and in a blink of an eye, it was gone."
"We cannot and must not forget that."


The rural economy, investing in young people and opportunities for women are among the issues on the Scottish election campaign trail.

Both the Scottish Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats set out how they will help rural businesses.
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy met young apprentices in Cumbernauld.
And in Midlothian, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has explained how the party will boost opportunities for women.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson visited a farm in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire.
Ms Davidson outlined her party's rural action plan, including a pledge to give rural communities a "fair break".
The Scottish Conservatives have called for freedom of contract between tenant farmers and those in a position to let land, and the removal of restrictions which limit land tenancy agreements.
The party believe this policy will ensure better use of land across Scotland.
Jo Swinson of the Liberal Democrats joined Argyll and Bute candidate Alan Reid at a local farm shop to promote her party's record in government on helping businesses.
Ms Swinson said Labour and SNP economic plans, and proposed Conservative cuts pose a grave threat to the future funding of the NHS and other public services in Scotland.
Meanwhile, Mr Murphy visited the Scottish Power Training Centre in North Lanarkshire and said Labour would invest Â£1bn to help young people, including free bus travel for Scottish apprentices.
Mr Murphy said the package would be funded through "fair taxes", such as a tax on bankers' bonuses.
The party also pledged a guaranteed job or training for all Scots aged between 18 and 24, free university tuition and a Â£100m investment in Scotland's colleges.
Ms Sturgeon explained how the SNP would boost opportunities for women through a "modest increase" in public spending when she set out her party's policy, as she joined Midlothian candidate Owen Thompson at an after-school club in Loanhead.
Ms Sturgeon said the SNP's ''50:50 by 2020" pledge will urge all public, private and third sector bodies to achieve a 50:50 gender split on boards by 2020.
What are the top issues for each political party at the 2015 general election?
Policy guide: Where the parties stand


A "reckless" restaurant owner has been jailed for six years for the manslaughter of a customer who had an allergic reaction to a curry.

Paul Wilson, 38, suffered a severe anaphylactic shock in January 2014 after eating a takeaway containing peanuts from the Indian Garden in Easingwold, North Yorkshire.
Mohammed Zaman, 52, was found guilty at Teesside Crown Court.
The court heard he cut corners by using cheaper ingredients containing peanuts.
Food safety: Five things to watch out for
Owner continued selling dangerous meals
In what is thought to be a landmark trial, Zaman, of Aylesham Court, Huntington, denied he was responsible but a jury was told he switched almond powder for a cheaper ground nut mix, which contained peanuts.
Mr Wilson, a bar manager from Helperby, North Yorkshire, specified "no nuts" when he ordered a chicken tikka masala - an instruction which was written on his order and on the lid of his takeaway, the court heard.
He died three weeks after a different customer with a peanut allergy bought a meal from one of Mr Zaman's six restaurants and had a reaction requiring hospital treatment.
The restaurateur had a "reckless and cavalier attitude to risk" and "put profit before safety" at all his outlets, the jury was told.
Zaman was almost £300,000 in debt and cut costs by using the cheaper nut powder and by employing untrained, illegal workers, the court heard.
Sentencing him, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, said Zaman had remained "in complete and utter denial" and ignored warnings from officials after 17-year-old Ruby Scott suffered a reaction to a curry, three weeks before Mr Wilson's death.
He said he had thrown away his successful business and property portfolio worth £2m "in pursuit of profit".
"You have done so in such a manner as to bring about the death of another individual", said the judge.
"Paul Wilson was in the prime of his life.
"He, like you, worked in the catering trade. He, unlike you, was a careful man."
But the judge acknowledged Zaman was of "good character" and the sentence would have an impact on his wife and four children.
In a statement read out in court, Mr Wilson's parents, Margaret and Keith, from Sheffield, said they felt "numb, shock and disbelief" over their son's death.
"I feel robbed that I won't share the rest of my life with Paul"," Keith Wilson said.
Mrs Wilson said her son was "meticulous" about dealing with peanuts after a reaction to a chocolate bar at the age of seven.
She said the smell of peanuts, or accidentally drinking from the same glass as someone who was eating them, could trigger a reaction.
Paul Wilson asked for a nut-free takeaway and tried to make himself sick when he realised he hadn't got what he ordered.
But it was too late. The anaphylactic shock killed him.
The restaurateur tried to blame everyone else but himself. Mohammed Zaman's drive to cut costs hospitalised one customer and killed another.
It's taken this case to emphasise just how serious a peanut allergy can be. Mistakes can be fatal.
De Insp Shaun Page said Mr Wilson's death was "totally avoidable" and Zaman's "lack of remorse" had been striking.
"And trying to distance himself from any involvement in his death. That had struck me through this investigation. His lack of compassion and understanding about that he's actually done," he said.
He said the case was thought to be a legal first, setting a precedent for the food industry.
Zaman claimed he left managers to run his restaurants and that included ordering stock and hiring staff, telling jurors he was not on the premises when the curry was ordered.
Until his conviction, the restaurateur had "the immigrant story to which everyone should aspire", his barrister Alistair Webster QC had said in court.
Zaman was born in Bangladesh and came to the UK aged 15. He started working for his uncle in the restaurant business, finally owning six himself in York and North Yorkshire.
His restaurants won local business honours and acclaim from the British Catering Association and the British Curry Awards, the jury heard.
The father-of-four was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and six food safety offences. He was cleared of a charge of perverting the course of justice.


There wasn't much of a party atmosphere when Jeremy Corbyn took to the stage at a crowded evening social event for Yorkshire's delegates at Labour's conference in Liverpool.

This was not one of those audiences that had hung on to his every word at big street rallies in Sheffield and York during his highly successful re-election campaign.
In the packed meeting room were veteran MPs, activists , party workers and members who had attended functions like this for decades and had listened to similar speeches from Blair, Brown and Miliband in the past .
These events are traditionally used as a chance for party leaders to show that they are really just ordinary blokes who can have a laugh with their most important troops.
The audience respond by laughing at the jokes and applauding enthusiastically when the odd political point is dropped in between anecdotes of amusing campaign visits to liberally mentioned local towns and villages.
After all, what is the point of telling a room full of people who have spent most of their adult lives steeped in Labour Party politics that grammar schools are divisive and inequality is a bad thing?
Except this time Jeremy Corbyn did just that.
As stony-faced Yorkshire MPs and senior party members looked on Mr Corbyn gave exactly the same sort of speech he had given to his new raw recruits on street corners across the country.
"Jeremy doesn't do jokes." one veteran MP whispered to me.
"And he seems to think he's the only one here who has been in this party for the past 30 years," a senior Yorkshire official added.
Of course, there was the odd spattering of applause as he hit topics patently close to any socialist heart but for the most part it was a fairly low-key response.
At one point as he wound up without mentioning the EU Referendum somebody shouted: "What about Brexit?"
He was out of the door without making a reply. Maybe he didn't hear the question.
As heckling went that was gentle, but even so it was the first I have ever heard in attending a couple of dozen events like this.
As for the rousing "Let's hear it for the next prime minister" which I remember sent Ed Miliband on his way with a spring in his step at four conferences in a row? Well, it did not happen.
Jeremy Corbyn has the overwhelming support of the members of what is now the biggest party in Western Europe but on the evidence of this lukewarm event he is a long way from winning round many of the people who have spent as many decades as he has working for the Labour cause.


A decision on charging the father and first husband of a woman believed to have been a victim of a so-called "honour killing" has been delayed.

Samia Shahid, 28, from Bradford, died in Pakistan in July.
Chaudhry Muhammad Shakeel is accused of her murder while her father Chaudhry Muhammad Shahid is being held as an accessory to murder.
A judge has adjourned the case until 29 October after Ms Shahid's second husband requested the case be moved.
Read more about this story and others from across Leeds and West Yorkshire
Syed Mukhtar Kazim has lodged a petition with the High Court in Lahore asking for the case to be moved to the city from Jhelum.
He claims in his petition that his life has been threatened if he visits Jhelum.
Lawyers for Mr Shakeel and Mr Shahid have previously claimed there is no evidence to support charges against their clients.
Ms Shahid, a beautician, married Mr Kazim in Leeds in 2014 and the couple then moved to Dubai.
Mr Kazim has claimed his wife, who died whilst visiting relatives in Pakistan, was killed because her family disapproved of their marriage.
Initially, it was claimed she had died of a heart attack but a post-mortem examination confirmed she had been strangled.