Moors Murderer Ian Brady has appeared in public for the first time in decades, at a hearing considering his sanity as he seeks to end his own life.

Brady, 75, has been on hunger strike since 1999, but is being fed by tube at Ashworth Hospital, Merseyside.
He claims he faked psychotic episodes and wants the mental health tribunal to allow a move to a prison in Scotland.
He and girlfriend Myra Hindley murdered five children in the 1960s, burying some on moors in Greater Manchester.
The tribunal is being held in Ashworth and relayed by video to Manchester Civil Justice Centre, where the public and press are able to observe proceedings.
BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani tweeted a description of Brady "sitting in court wearing dark glasses, curly/wavy grey hair. He's got a feeding tube. He speaks with a very soft voice".
Brady was sitting between two female members of his legal team at the hearing.
Judge Robert Atherton stressed that the tribunal would not consider Brady's crimes or the whereabouts of the body of missing victim Keith Bennett.
Brady's current state of mental health was the only matter being considered, he said.
By Dominic CascianiHome affairs correspondent
This is the first time Ian Brady has been seen in public since he was jailed for life almost 50 years ago.
As the tribunal at his maximum security hospital got under way, the camera relaying the proceedings to the public in Manchester turned briefly to show the detainee.
He was sitting quietly next to his lawyers, looking down.
Brady still has wavy hair, albeit now grey. He wore dark glasses and had a feeding tube attached to his face.
He spoke briefly to the judge about how the hearing would be conducted, his voice soft and quiet, and his accent a mixture of Scottish and north-west England.
The task for this tribunal is to decide whether, under the Mental Health Act, Brady should still be detained at Ashworth or returned to the normal prison estate.
Even if the tribunal decides that Brady is not mentally ill, under specific legal tests, it could still recommend that he be kept at Ashworth.
Either way - hospital or prison - there is no chance he will be ever be released.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Cameron Boyd gave the hearing an outline of what was said during four interviews he conducted with Brady in recent months.
When asked about his crimes, Brady had said that "in some way his behaviour was petty compared to politicians and soldiers in relation to wars", said Dr Boyd.
He added that Brady had denied being psychotic and said he had been "acting".
Sectioned under the Mental Health Act, Glasgow-born Brady has continued to be tube-fed during years of refusing food.
He wants to be judged sane by the tribunal and moved to a prison in Scotland, where there is no precedent for feeding a prisoner on hunger strike against his will.
The hearing heard that Brady had a "fairly solitary existence", with watching TV and writing letters his main activities.
Another expert witness, Dr Adrian Grounds, was called to give evidence about the mental health notes made about Brady since he was first jailed in the 1960s.
He said Brady has "spoken on a number of occasions about wanting to go to prison so he would be able to die".
He said there had been "very occasional" but "striking" episodes in the past where Brady appeared to be hallucinating, including in February this year.
But Dr Grounds said Brady claims to have learned how to simulate psychotic episodes while working as a cleaner in prison.
He said in the 1980s Brady displayed mental illness with psychotic symptoms but evidence of psychosis was "equivocal" and he had not "reached the threshold for compulsory treatment".
Dr Grounds added that, in his opinion, Brady has a very severe personality disorder, describing it as "paranoid narcissistic".
He said it was "characterised by superiority, self-centredness, contempt, hostility."
Questioned by Eleanor Grey QC, representing Ashworth Hospital, Dr Grounds said he did not accept its view that Brady had schizophrenia.
The high-security hospital is against Brady being transferred back to prison and Ms Grey said since 1967 medical experts had expressed "concerns" that he was suffering from psychotic symptoms, possibly since his teens.
The tribunal at Ashworth had been due to take place about a year ago but was postponed because Brady was too ill to attend.
It is scheduled to last about eight days, with the judgement then due to be reserved to a later date.
Brady and Hindley tortured and murdered five children aged from 10 to 17, burying some of their victims' bodies on Saddleworth Moor.
They were convicted and jailed for life in 1966. Hindley died in prison in 2002, aged 60.


Firefighters have put out a fire on a bus in the centre of Cardiff, which has caused part of a main road to be blocked.

Crews were called to Castle Street, near the Angel Hotel, at 20:35 BST and the blaze was under control by 21:15.
South Wales fire service said there were no passengers on board at the time and nobody was injured.
The fire caused plumes of black smoke, with Castle Street partially blocked at its junction with Westgate Street.
The fire service said the cause was accidental.


The trust running hospital and community services in South Tyneside "requires improvement", a watchdog has found.

An inspection by the Care Quality Commission raised concerns about staff shortages and a lack of beds in A&E.
But it found that South Tyneside NHS Trust's staff were "caring" and rated end of life and cancer care "outstanding".
The trust said it had an action plan in place to tackle the issues.
The inspection was carried out in May.
The CQC team found that areas needing improvements included critical care, surgery and services for children.
The report said: "There had been a recent increase in nursing staff on some wards.
"However, there were not enough doctors and on some wards the number of nurses was below safe levels. The trust was using agency nurses and locum doctors to address their staffing requirements."
Staff at South Tyneside must take heart that their compassion and care of patients is outstanding - but overall the trust has been told to improve and one of the main problems is they don't have enough beds.
This means longer waits in A&E and patients needing intensive care being treated in the wrong places.
The inspectors found there were not enough doctors, and on some wards the number of nurses was below safe levels.
This means the trust is having to pay agencies and more for locum doctors but what options does it have?
Medical recruitment across the North East and North West is a huge and growing problem.
Added to the staff shortages are ongoing financial pressures and increasing demand as patients grow older and their medical problems are more complex.
Social care cuts mean more patients will be in hospital beds - when they should be back in their own, or perhaps in a care home.
Overall, it's a worrying report, and it shows that without the resources, staff and the beds, all the love and care in the world isn't enough to make a struggling health service better.
It added: "In both the hospital and community services inspectors found that arrangements were in place to manage the prevention and control of infection. All areas visited by the inspection team were clean."
Steve Williamson, chief executive of the trust, which provides care for 153,000 patients including some in Sunderland and Gateshead, insisted the service was "safe".
"Nearly two-thirds of CQC hospital inspections across the country since the start of the new inspection process have resulted in an overall assessment of 'requires improvement', which does not mean that services are unsafe but that CQC have identified areas where further improvements can be made," he said.
"In our case, we have had action plans in place for some time to improve in areas identified."


Fourteen Polish far-right activists have been arrested in Sweden on suspicion of planning to attack asylum seekers with axes, iron pipes and knives, police say.

They were detained on Monday after police said they received a tip-off.
The group was thought to have targeted an asylum centre in Nynashamn, about 60km (37 miles) south of Stockholm.
Some 163,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015, the highest number in Europe by population size.
Sweden opened its doors to Syrian refugees in 2013, but decided last November to tighten its borders because it said the numbers of migrants and refugees arriving was "unsustainable".
The 14 Poles were detained on Monday evening in raids on cars in the Nynashamn area, police said, a short distance from an asylum centre.
Aged between 20 and 35, some live in Sweden permanently while others are only visiting the country, according to Swedish reports.
"They are Polish citizens, and seem to be part of the far-right scene. Three of them were involved in a demonstration against refugees two weeks ago and were arrested for assaulting someone," southern Stockholm police spokesman Lars Alvarsjo told Radio Sweden.
The suspects were thought to have discussed the attack on Facebook.
Swedish Television reported that they may have planned the attack in retaliation for a previous dispute on a commuter train.
Last month up to 100 masked men, dressed in black, gathered in central Stockholm to attack people from immigrant backgrounds.
Witnesses said the men had physically assaulted people they believed were foreigners amid heightened tension in Sweden over the migrant crisis.
There were scuffles between pro- and anti-migrant demonstrators.
Tensions have increased after a 22-year-old woman working at a centre for young asylum seekers was stabbed to death at the end of January in Molndal, near Gothenburg. A 15-year-old asylum seeker was arrested.
Along with Germany, Sweden has been a prime destination for refugees and migrants entering the EU illegally.
More than one million refugees and migrants travelled to Europe last year, most fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The numbers arriving in Sweden have fallen significantly since it imposed tighter border controls at the start of the year.
Last month Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said the country would prepare to deport up to 80,000 migrants whose asylum applications were rejected.


Slow rural broadband has prompted one man to get his internet from a satellite 22,000 miles above Africa.

Prof Christopher Spry, 79, who lives in Heol Senni in the Brecon Beacons, had download speeds of about 500Kbps
He runs a community website and uploads weather data and nature videos, so paid £620 for satellite broadband, which comes from over the Democratic Republic of the Congo, via Luxembourg.
"It's an astonishing technological achievement," he said.
Where Prof Spry lives also has sporadic 3G coverage so he researched his options and decided to invest in satellite technology.
A BT spokesman said: "Heol Senni is in scope to benefit from the scheme and work to provide access to superfast broadband to this rural community is anticipated to be completed in the early autumn."
The retired professor of immunology pays £420 a year for his satellite internet, which gives him download speeds of up to 28Mbps.
His broadband signal travels about 50,000 miles from a dish in his back garden to the ASTRA 2F satellite over the Earth's equator and back, via a company in Luxembourg.
Companies such as Sky also use satellites similar to this to broadcast their TV signal.
"I'm interested in what's going on in the world, I'm a very inquisitive person, I'm asking questions all the time and I need to know so the web is a wonderful resource for all of us who need to know what's happening," he said.
He also pays £250 a year for BT broadband, which he uses as a backup as heavy rain or snow can block the satellite signal and leave him cut off.
But the nearest exchange is in Sennybridge - about five miles by road - so his broadband slows down when making the switch.
"It really makes all the difference in the world, without it I think my life would be quite difficult up here... but it does need a satellite 24,000 miles above the surface of the earth over the Congo - it does seem ridiculous doesn't it," he said.
"Without broadband we're living in a dark age, so let's hope everybody can have high speed broadband soon and they'll be able to use it for whatever they want - entertainment, education, research - it's a wonderful tool for everybody."
Despite his best efforts, nature can still throw a spanner in the works when it comes to his satellite connection: "It's pretty adequate for most of the programmes I need so I'm a happy rabbit - the only difficulty for me is that there's a tree in the way and I have to trim that!"
BT said more than nine out of every 10 homes and businesses in Wales were able to put in an order for superfast broadband.
The Welsh Government also runs a scheme called Access Broadband Cymru which helps provide funds for satellite connectivity for properties not covered by the Superfast Cymru scheme.
Nearly 600 homes and businesses have taken up the option since it started in January 2016.
The UK Government announced on Sunday that homes and businesses from all parts of the UK are set to benefit from universal high speed broadband.


Armenia's President Serge Sarkisian has urged gunmen holding four hostages at a police station in Yerevan to free their captives and lay down their arms.

The gunmen seized the compound five days ago and have been demanding the release of an opposition leader arrested last month on weapons charges.
Supporters of the gunmen have staged rallies nearby and clashed on Wednesday with police, who fired tear gas.
Mr Sarkisian urged the gunmen to "sober up" and end their "provocative" action.
In comments reported by Armenian Armenpress news agency, he said: "No problem will be solved in Armenia with the use of force, raids and hostage-taking. The resolution of the problem will be an important test for Armenia and the maturity of our society."
Mr Sarkisian said the government would act "in line with Armenia's laws" if the gunmen persisted, but he gave no further details.
The hostage-takers have been demanding the release of Jirair Sefilian, a military veteran of Armenia's conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, who has been accused of illegally possessing weapons and preparing to seize government buildings.
In taking control of the police station in Armenia's capital on Sunday, the gunmen killed one police officer and injured two others. They later released five hostages.
Those still being held include a deputy police chief.
Mr Sefilian has criticised Mr Sarkisian over his handling of the conflict involving pro-Armenian separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has an ethnic Armenian majority. A bloody war erupted after the end of Soviet rule in 1988, and there has been frequent unrest since, the latest in April, when clashes left dozens dead.


China has launched two men into orbit in a project designed to develop its ability to explore space.

The astronauts took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northern China.
They will dock with the experimental Tiangong 2 space lab and spend 30 days there, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts.
This and previous launches are seen as pointers to possible crewed missions to the Moon or Mars.
An earlier Tiangong - or Heavenly Palace - space station was decommissioned earlier this year after docking with three rockets.
The astronauts on this latest mission were Jing Haipeng, 49, who has already been to space twice, and 37-year-old Chen Dong.
From a remote launching station in Inner Mongolia, I watched the rocket tear through the sky.
It will take the astronauts about two days to reach the orbiting laboratory where they will live for a month. They will spend this time analysing plant growth in space and giving themselves ultrasounds to scan their bodies' performance.
Only a handful of foreign journalists were allowed into the high-security base to view the launch. But why let any of us in?
Well for one this country is proud of its space programme. At a time when Beijing is being criticised for flexing its ever-growing muscles, especially in the South China Sea, this is something different.
China can portray itself not only as a powerful nation, but one which is contributing to the body of knowledge.
Along the road into the launch centre are several huge billboards featuring President Xi Jinping giving himself a little clap as a "Long March" rocket sends yet another team into space.
He knows that China's ambitions in the stars may play well overseas but that means nothing to him compared to the credit he can take for them back at home.
The spacecraft, Shenzhou-11, took off from at 07:30 local time on Monday (23:30 GMT), lifted by a Long March-2F rocket.
The astronauts will spend the next month conducting experiments on the Tiangong 2.
$2.2bn
China's estimated annual spending on space programmes
181 Chinese satellites in space
11 Chinese people have travelled in space - often known as taikonauts
2003 The year of China's first crewed space mission
2020 The year China plans its own  space station
In a pre-mission interview with online portal China News, Mr Jin said: "There is definitely some pressure with this mission. I've even been dreaming about it at night."
"I'm not thinking about the bouquets, the applause or the glory. What I've been thinking more about is whether I have grasped all the knowledge and skills, whether I have addressed the weak areas."
In a congratulatory statement to the astronauts carried by state media, President Xi Jinping said he hoped they "vigorously advance the spirit of space travel".
He added that the mission would "enable China to take larger and further steps in space exploration, and make new contributions to building up China as a space power".
China has poured significant funding and efforts into its space programme, and plans to launch at least 20 space missions this year.
It is only the third country - after Russia and the US - to carry out its own crewed missions. In 2013 it successfully landed its un-crewed Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, rover on the Moon.
It was excluded from the International Space Station due to concerns over the military nature of its space ambitions.
China has since embarked on plans to create its own permanent space station, expanding Tiangong 2 over the next few years by sending up additional modules. It is expected to be fully operational by 2022.
Authorities said last month that its predecessor, Tiangong 1, was due to crash back to Earth in 2017.


An exhibition of a Dundee artist's celebrity portraits featured in music newspaper Melody Maker has opened in the city.

Jimmy Thomson contributed about 700 drawings of celebrities, including Elton John and Freddie Mercury, to the publication over 14 years.
A selection of the original drawings will be auctioned following the exhibition at the McManus Galleries.
Mr Thomson began his career with Dundee publisher DC Thomson.
The auction will be in aid of McManus 168, the museum's supporters' group.
Its chairwoman, Sue Moody said: "This is the first time Dundee has hosted a civic exhibition of Jimmy's work.
"Thousands of people will remember his drawings, bringing back memories of the swinging Sixties and disco Seventies."
Other celebrity portraits featuring in the exhibition include President Richard Nixon, Ringo Starr and a cartoon of John Lennon, which featured on the cover of Melody Maker in 1973.
Mr Thomson said: "Funds raised will be used on a community project celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the McManus which is next year.
"I'm delighted that my drawings are linked in this way with Dundee's galleries, which have provided such a rich source of inspiration to me as an artist."
The exhibition runs until Saturday 26 November, with the auction taking place that evening.


A four-week-old baby boy was attacked by a fox in his home in south London, the Metropolitan Police have said.

He was treated for a hand injury and taken to St Thomas' Hospital after the attack on 6 February in the borough of Lewisham.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "This sort of attack, though terrible, is rare, but we must do more to tackle the growing problem of urban foxes."
Police said their inquiries into the incident were continuing.
St Thomas' Hospital is not commenting on the incident.
But the BBC's John Andrew said: "The mother was at home and heard this awful scream, went next door where the baby was, found it had been dragged from the cot onto the floor and the baby's hand was in the jaws of the fox.
"She was obviously in a terrible panic and did what she could to get the fox off, including kicking it. Eventually it did let go but the baby was found with quite serious injuries."
Our correspondent said it was believed one of the baby's fingers was severed but later re-attached by surgeons in a "delicate and difficult" three-hour operation, although it has not been confirmed by the hospital.
Mr Johnson said his thoughts were "with the baby boy and his family".
He added: "They may appear cuddly and romantic but foxes are also a pest and a menace, particularly in our cities.
"This must serve as a wake up call to London's borough leaders, who are responsible for pest control.
"They must come together, study the data, try to understand why this is becoming such a problem and act quickly to sort it out."
Mr Johnson has previously urged councils to take action over foxes following an attack in 2010 in which two baby sisters were mauled while sleeping at their home in Hackney, east London.
Both had to undergo surgery and were left scarred by the attack. Isabella Koupparis suffered arm injuries while her twin Lola suffered injuries to both her face and arm.
Richard Moseley, from the British Pest Control Association, told the BBC attacks by foxes inside a house were "incredibly rare".
He said: "What we are finding is that as people feed foxes and encourage foxes to come closer to their properties... they are becoming tamer and people do have to remember that at the end of the day they are still a wild animal."
Asked whether there would be calls for a cull, he said: "A cull would be very expensive and an awful lot of work. Public opinion is very divided over foxes. If you ask the public there is probably a 50/50 split between those who love them and those who want them eradicated."
An RSPCA spokeswoman also said it was extremely unusual for foxes to attack people, and that the animal would only do so if it was afraid.
She added: "It's not typical fox behaviour at all. Foxes will come closer to a house if there are food sources. Then they can become quite bold, but they usually do back off and run away when there's people around."
A Lewisham Council spokesperson said: "Although rare, fox attacks can be devastating as this tragic case shows and our thoughts go out to the family at this difficult time.
"Local authorities and animal welfare organisations have been advising residents on ways to make their homes and back gardens less attractive to foxes. These can include repellents and making sure that waste food is always disposed of in secure, lidded bins and containers.
"Residents should always be careful when leaving doors and windows open. We must all do this together for it to be effective in discouraging foxes from our neighbourhoods."


World champion Para-cyclist Kadeena Cox says she has more to learn in order to improve ahead of the Paralympics.

Cox, 25, won gold and set a new C4 500m time trial world record in the UCI Para-cycling Track Worlds on 17 March.
"I'm not at the top of my game as I'm still really new to it so there's lots to learn. There is more I can do in cycling," she told BBC Radio Leeds.
"I didn't know how I was going to get on but it's 500m so I went out there and rode round twice like I always do."
Cox was reclassified from the C2 to the C4 event just a day before competing in the Track Worlds, meaning she was racing against less-disabled riders, but set a world record time of 37.456 seconds on the way to winning gold.
"I wasn't sure who was in the class because I've never had to look that high up," she added. "I didn't know what the competition was like but I knew it was going to be a lot stronger because they are more able."
After also winning gold in the T37 100m at the IPC Athletics World Championships last October, Cox is hoping to be the first GB Para-athlete since Isabel Newstead, who was successful in shooting and athletics in Seoul 1988, to win medals in two sports at one Paralympic Games.
She continued: "It's only been 10 months and I am still relatively new to cycling. I've had a great coach, John Norfolk, who has taken me from a novice to a great cyclist.
"The preparations are different from athletics. It takes me a lot more to mentally prepare for cycling just because it's totally new and it's not something I'm very comfortable with yet.
"I still think 'am I going to get out of the gate in time?' There's so much more to think about."


Eleven men have been convicted of sex offences against an underage girl in West Yorkshire.

The group, all from Bradford and Keighley, had denied assaulting the teenager between 2011 and 2012.
The jury heard the girl, aged 13 and 14 at the time, had been exploited and used for sex in various locations including an underground car park.
Three others were acquitted following a five-week trial at Bradford Crown Court.
The girl was described in court as leading a "chaotic existence" at the time and had been reported missing from home on more than 70 occasions over a two-year period.
The jury heard her meetings with the men had been arranged by "drug dealer" Arif Choudhury, who was not on trial.
The men had all denied the charges which related to the same girl apart from one charge of rape:
The group was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in February.
Speaking after the verdicts, Det Ch Insp Chris Walker, from West Yorkshire Police, paid tribute to the victim who had "shown great courage" in speaking up.
He added: "This has been a very challenging, complex and sensitive investigation.
"Child sexual exploitation is one of the most important challenges facing the police.
"It is totally unacceptable and it is the responsibility of all agencies, communities and individuals to identify those responsible and help bring them to justice."
Rohail Iqbal, 22, of Skipton Road, Beechcliffe, Keighley, Rohail Hussain, 18, of Hawk Street, Lawkholme, Keighley and a 17-year-old youth, were all cleared of rape by the jury.


The Syrian opposition figure tasked with forming an interim government to administer rebel-held areas has resigned, citing an inability to do so.

In a statement, Ghassan Hitto said he would "continue working for the interests of the revolution".
His decision follows a leadership overhaul by the National Coalition.
Ahmed Jarba was named leader of the main opposition alliance on Saturday as Saudi-backed candidates defeated those allied with Qatar in several elections.
On Monday, Mr Jarba warned that there was a "real humanitarian disaster" in the central city of Homs and said he was prepared to offer President Bashar al-Assad a truce during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to stop the fighting there.
As government forces continued an offensive on opposition-held districts of Homs, state media said the army had killed "terrorists" in several areas, including Bab Houd in the Old City and several outlying towns.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Bab Houd and al-Safsafa had been hit by heavy artillery and tank fire on Monday.
The UK-based activist group said troops had also captured about a fifth of the besieged northern district of Khalidiya. A government official had earlier claimed that the entire district was under army control.
A car bomb also exploded in the predominantly Alawite and Christian area of Akrama, killing at least four people, officials and activists said.
Profile: Ahmad Jarba
The violence in Homs and elsewhere in Syria has left civilians in rebel-held areas in dire need of humanitarian assistance, opposition and humanitarian activists say.
In March, Mr Hitto was tasked by the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces with forming an interim government to administer so-called "liberated" zones, co-ordinating the provision basic services and supplies.
However, Mr Hitto was mistrusted by many members of the opposition alliance, who saw him as too close to the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar, and he has been effectively side-lined since.
The National Coalition's former president, Moaz al-Khatib, believed the creation of an interim government was premature and announced his resignation five days after Mr Hitto's appointment.
On Monday, Mr Hitto said he was standing down as prime minister after being unable to form an administration.
"I emphasise I will continue working for the interests of the revolution and towards achieving its objectives," he added.
Mr Jarba, an influential tribal figure with close links to Saudi Arabia, meanwhile said he expected advanced weapons supplied by Saudi Arabia to reach rebel fighters "soon" and that they would change the military balance in Syria.
He also said the National Coalition would not attend peace talks in Geneva planned by the US and Russia unless its military position improved.
"If we are going to go to Geneva, we have to be strong on the ground, unlike the situation now, which is weak," he told the Reuters news agency.
In a separate development on Monday, Syria's ruling Baath Party announced that it had elected a new regional command, replacing its ageing leadership, including Vice-President Farouq al-Sharaa.
State TV said the 16 members of the top decision-making body were chosen during a meeting of the party's  central committee.
"The Baath Party must develop to strengthen a culture of dialogue... and deepen interaction with citizens to overcome the negative effect of the crisis," President Assad was quoted as saying.
Among the new members of the regional command are parliamentary speaker Jihad al-Laham and Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi.
During nearly five decades in power in Syria, the Baath Party has evolved from an Arab nationalist movement into a vast organisation that has infiltrated every aspect of public life.
Although a large number of low-ranking officials have publicly left the party since the start of the uprising in March 2011, its main leadership bodies have remained steadfastly loyal to Mr Assad.


A dog found wandering in a country lane has been reunited with its owner three years after it went missing.

Dasha the greyhound disappeared in Derbyshire during the summer of 2014. Owner Jessica Miller claims it was sold without her permission.
The dog was spotted by a farmer almost 100 miles away in Herefordshire and has since returned home.
Ms Miller, who had used social media to find Dasha, said: "I genuinely believed I would never see Dasha again."
See more stories from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire here
Dasha was last seen in Alvaston, near Derby, and on 9 May was spotted wandering down a country lane in Staunton-on-Arrow, in Leominster.
Herefordshire Council enforcement officer Dave Poolton found the dog to be microchipped and managed to trace Ms Miller.
Mr Poolton said: "When I saw that the dog was last registered in Derbyshire several years ago, I naturally assumed that the microchip was out of date. Nevertheless, I called Jessica, and the first thing she did was burst into tears. I have to admit, I welled up a little myself."
Ms Miller was thrilled to be reunited with her dog and said Dasha had "been through the wars" and had a laceration on his front paw, but was now "on the mend".


A boy has died two days after he received electrical burns on a railway line in West Yorkshire.

The 12 year old was on tracks in South Elmsall, Pontefract, at 18:15 BST on Monday when he was electrocuted, British Transport Police said.
The boy was treated by paramedics and taken to hospital, but he later died.
Officers said they continued to investigate how the boy came to be on the railway line, but his death was not being treated as suspicious.


An East Lothian man who caused his cat unnecessary suffering has been given a community payback order of 85 hours unpaid work and has been disqualified from owning any animal for 10 years.

Frith Mitchell, 44, from Musselburgh, pleaded guilty to causing Tiga unnecessary suffering by failing to provide a suitable diet.
He also failed to seek veterinary treatment.
He was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this week.
Highlighting the case, Stephanie McCrossan, of the Scottish SPCA, said, "Tiga was in a very poor skeletal condition, he was dragging his leg, which was protruding at an awkward angle, across the floor as he walked and it was clear he was in urgent need of veterinary treatment.
"After taking Tiga to the vet we found out that he had several health issues which would have caused him to suffer unnecessarily for a prolonged period of time due to his owner failing to seek the necessary veterinary treatment he clearly required.
"Unfortunately the vet made the decision to put him to sleep due to the severity of his conditions.
"We are pleased that Mitchell has been dealt with by the courts and hope he will give serious consideration to his ability to care for animals in the future."


Xiang Yanmei secured China's ninth gold of the Rio Games as she lifted a combined 261kg to win the women's -69kg weightlifting title.

Yamei overcame a bump to the back of the neck to lift 116kg in the snatch and 145kg in the clean and jerk.
Find out how to get into weightlifting with our special guide.
Zhazira Zhapparkul won silver for Khazakstan after lifting a combined weight of 259kg, while Egypt's Sarah Ahmed took bronze.
Great Britain's Rebekah Tiler finished in 10th place.
"It was just an amazing experience, just getting on that platform with everyone screaming your name," said Tiler, who is competing in her first Olympics.
"I'm going to get in the pool, meet a lot of other athletes and get a load of selfies. I want to get one with Usain Bolt - I've been trying for ages!"
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A south Belfast family has been struggling to deal with a plague of rats that has infested their home.

Eighteen rats have been caught and killed recently at their terraced home on Edinburgh Street, off Lisburn Road.
The family, which includes three young children, has said more rats are in and around the property and they need help to deal with problem.
The landlord has hired workmen to track down the rodents but more have appeared.
Traps have been set and poison laid but the rats keep coming.
The landlord said the tenants "keep the house very well" but the rats were causing serious damage to the property.
"They're eating the concrete floor in the kitchen, they're eating through the cavity walls, they disconnected the electricity in the shower," he said.
"It's just a matter of time until the lights go out, we would think."
The property owner has criticised Belfast City Council for being slow in responding to call for help over the problem.
"I've been on to various departments - pest control, environmental health, the Department of the Environment," he said.
"And the best reply that we can get is that these people will come out in about 10 to 14 days.
"We just think that's totally unsatisfactory when there are children in our city and they're having to endure rats running over their bed during the night."
He added: "The people of this community have complained in the past but their complaints haven't been listened to.
"They have become somewhat resigned to this problem, but it should be taken very seriously."
A council spokesperson confirmed the issue had been reported to them but explained there is a waiting list for its pest control services.
The council said rats are a particular problem at this time of the year.
The family has been told that pest control officers will try to get to the property as soon as possible.


Withdrawal from the EU would have a "catastrophic effect" on Northern Ireland's peace process, a barrister has told Belfast's High Court.

Ronan Lavery QC was speaking as a landmark legal bid to halt the UK's planned departure from the European Union got under way on Tuesday.
Separate proceedings have been brought - one by Raymond McCord, the father of a loyalist paramilitary murder victim.
The other has been brought by a cross-party group of MLAs.
Mr McCord's son, Raymond Jnr, was murdered by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in 1997. , and Mr McCord is taking the case amid concerns that European peace money, which goes towards victims of the Troubles, may be discontinued.
His barrister, Mr Lavery, argued that the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 ceded control of the sovereignty of Northern Ireland to the people of Northern Ireland themselves.
Major constitutional changes such as leaving the EU could not therefore be imposed by a Westminster government, he said.
Even though the UK voted overall to leave the EU, a 56% majority in Northern Ireland wanted to remain.
Mr Lavery said leaving the EU would affect the peace process and "that delicate constitutional balance which we have reached".
He also argued that Brexit could see the repeal of the Human Rights Act and withdrawal from the European convention on Human Rights, upon which his client, Mr McCord, had relied.
He suggested that, post-Brexit, the creation of a united Ireland would require the consent of all the other 27 EU members states because it would mean readmitting Northern Ireland to the EU.
Later, arguments will be presented on behalf of the cross-party group of politicians, including Alliance MLA David Ford, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, Sinn FÃ©in MLA John O'Dowd and Steven Agnew of the Green Party.
In a separate legal challenge to Brexit, their legal team will argue that Northern Ireland could not leave the EU without parliamentary authorisation.
The MLAs, backed by representatives of the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland, are also contesting the legality of the process.
They have identified a series of obligations that must be satisfied before Article 50 can be triggered, including requirements for parliamentary legislation and the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
On Sunday, the prime minister said she would trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017.
Similar legal challenges are already under way in London.
The hearing is expected to last two days.


A woman accused of forcing young girls have sex with older men "wanted to pimp everyone", a court has been told.

A witness in the Rotherham child sexual exploitation trial said Karen McGregor, 58, told her to "earn her keep" while being fed and clothed at her home.
Ms MacGregor is standing trial in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of children in Rotherham over a period of more than 10 years.
She and six other defendants deny more than 60 charges.
The witness, who cannot be named due to the nature of the allegations, told Sheffield Crown Court Ms MacGregor "was always bringing back Asian men".
The witness said Ms MacGregor was "very nice at first, helpful and friendly, after time that changed and she indicated girls needed to earn their keep".
She continued: "I took that to mean sleep with Asian men, she wanted to pimp everyone out."
The witness told how on one occasion she had woken up to find five or six men in the bedroom where she was sleeping.
"I remember one of them sat over me instigating sex," the court heard. "Karen said 'Don't worry, it'll be all right - I'll sort it'".
Asked by prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC how she reacted, the witness said: "I was freaking out".
Arshid Hussain, 40, High Street, East Cowick, Goole, faces 30 charges, including five counts of rape.
Qurban Ali, 53, Clough Road, Rotherham, faces four charges, including rape and conspiracy to rape.
Majid Bostan, 37, Ledsham Road, Rotherham faces one charge of indecent assault.
Sajid Bostan, 38,  Broom Avenue, Rotherham faces seven charges, including four counts of rape,.
Basharat Hussain, 39, of no fixed abode, faces 15 charges including two counts of rape.
Karen MacGregor, 58,  Barnsley Road, Wath, South Yorkshire, faces four charges, including conspiracy to rape.
Shelley Davies, 40, Wainwright Road, Kimberworth Park, Rotherham, faces three charges, including conspiracy to rape.
Defending Ms MacGregor, Robert Wynn Jones questioned the witness's ability to recall the events in question saying her memory was "fuzzy" and that the alleged incident did not take place.
He said: "Social Services knew you were living at Karen's house and you had regular contact with social workers, the police and your mother knew where you were".
Prosecutors allege the seven people on trial played roles in the sexual exploitation of children between 1987 and 2003.
It is claimed the children were "targeted, sexualised and, in some instances, subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature".
The trial continues.


Security firm G4S has reported a £4m rise in profits to £185m for the first half of 2015 due to new contracts and growth in emerging markets.

G4S provides healthcare for the UK's Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre, deemed a "place of national concern" after it was found to be failing vulnerable women.
Emerging markets' revenue rose 5.7% to £1.18bn but UK revenue fell by 3.2%.
G4S's operations span 110 countries and it employs 611,000 staff.
Its operations include providing services for airports and restocking cash machines.
It also has outsourcing contracts from companies and governments to place, for example, police and prison officers where there are shortages, and "supports justice and security strategies" for governments of countries in conflict, says G4S.
Revenues were £3.2bn, up 2.8% compared with the same period last year. However, the company said that during the period, it took a charge of £16m for restructuring.
New contract sales were £1.4bn.
Chief executive Ashley Almanza said: "Demand for our services was robust, particularly in North America, Latin America and Asia Middle East. As anticipated, revenues were lower in UK & Ireland."


An Irish woman who found a rare five-pound note engraved with a portrait of Jane Austen has donated it to charity.

The note, worth an estimated £50,000, was found in Northern Ireland by a woman known only as "J".
She sent the fiver back to the Scottish gallery it came from, and asked for it to be used to benefit a charitable cause.
"£5 note enclosed, I don't need it at my time of life. Please use it to help young people," she wrote.
The anonymous benefactor is known to be from County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.
The Tony Huggins-Haig Gallery, in Kelso, Scotland, told BBC News NI the five-pound note would likely be auctioned off in aid of Children in Need.
The gallery created the notes in conjunction with Birmingham micro-artist Graham Short.
Just four notes were specially engraved and spent in each of the home countries.
The first was found in a café in south Wales in December, with the second discovery coming in Scotland inside a Christmas card the same month.
England is now the only area yet to discover its jackpot Austen note.
However, it is Ireland's anonymous donor who is causing the biggest stir after she discovered the rare fiver - and handed it back.
According to the gallery, the woman got in touch in mid-January to tell them she had found the note while visiting Enniskillen in County Fermanagh.
The artist, Graham Short, had previously told the BBC that he spent it "in a small bar called Charlie's Bar".
When the gallery asked the woman to prove her find, she sent them a picture of the note, verifiable through its serial number, along with a dated copy of her local newspaper, the Donegal Democrat.
Michael Huggins, the gallery's assistant manager, said the woman then asked for a couple of weeks to "mull over" what she might do with it.
"Then we received this note in the mail along with the fiver," he told BBC News NI. "The note just said she wanted it to be used to help young people."
There are few clues as to the identity of the unidentified Donegal donor.
The woman spoke on the phone to gallery artist Tony Huggins-Haig, Michael said, who described her voice as "soft" and "older".
"With that and the note when she refers to her age, we think it's an older woman," he added. "But, all we know is that she is from County Donegal and that she wants the money to go to benefit young people."
He added that the gallery had been in touch with Children in Need, and it's likely the note will be auctioned with an added bonus.
"It seems we'll auction it off, but we've also spoken to the artist Graham Short about creating another one-off note as well. So we'll auction both off together."


A cyclist who was thrown from his bike when it hit a pothole has been awarded nearly £70,000 in damages.

Alan Curtis, 57, from Bushey in Hertfordshire, suffered a "severe head injury" in the crash on The Drive, Rickmansworth, in 2009.
He sued Hertfordshire County Council for failing to fix the pothole, which he said was a "real source of danger".
The council said it was "disappointed" the High Court had ruled in Mr Curtis's favour.
Mr Curtis, a charity fundraising director, was cycling with two friends when a "defect" in the road surface caused him to lose control, fall from his bike and hit his head.
Kevin O'Sullivan, from Levenes solicitors, said Mr Curtis had experienced "pain, suffering and loss of amenity".
"Potholes tend to cause [cyclists] more serious injuries than accidents involving motor vehicles and this is a classic example," he said.
The claim stated the pothole could be seen on a Google Street View image from October 2008, but the council failed to note it and order its repair during a scheduled inspection the following March.
Mr Curtis fractured his skull and damaged his brainstem, which led to "significant deafness", the claim stated.
His left arm was also broken.
Mr Chambers, who had been wearing a safety helmet, was given emergency treatment at Watford General Hospital.
A report from neuropsychologist Dr Yvonne McCulloch said "cognitive impairments" caused by the brain injury had hampered Mr Curtis in the workplace since the accident.
He has since switched to a similar, but less stressful, job which has meant a loss of earnings.


Mixu Paatelainen says he is planning to be Dundee United manager next season - and to help the club rebuild - no matter if they are relegated or not.

United are eight points adrift at the foot of the Scottish Premiership with five games remaining.
"I have a contract and we have spoken about the budgets for next season and I plan accordingly," Paatelainen said.
"There are quite a few issues that need to be sorted, but I won't go public about these things."
Former Finland coach Paatelainen took over at Tannadice in October after the sacking of Jackie McNamara and his side have remained at the foot of the table.
He insists that his players remain "fighting and hopeful" that they can escape relegation and that he has not turned his thoughts to what he would do if United were in the Championship next season.
But the United boss said: "It gives us a chance to maybe make a few changes and have a clean table and build an even stronger base.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"That's how I would - and will - think about it.
"We've had discussions about these things already. There are a few issues we need to correct and touch.
"Whether changes need to be made, that's not always entirely my decision. We want to make sure we are better off no matter if we stay in the Premiership or go down."
United face Hibs in the Scottish Cup semi-final on Saturday at Hampden and Paatelainen insists that he does not view it as an unwelcome distraction.
"Obviously last weekend was a disappointment because we didn't perform," he said of the home defeat by Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
"A couple of results didn't go our way, but they have a chance now to play in a semi-final and get to the final - a glorious opportunity to bounce back and play well.
"We know we have plenty of boys in the dressing-room who will think like that.
"It would give us a boost to look forward to a cup final."
Hibs will themselves head for Hampden having suffered a slump in form during their bid for promotion from the Championship, but Paatelainen stressed that his former club, who beat United 3-0 in the Scottish League Cup quarter-final in November, "have the quality to hurt us".
"They have very good players," he added. "Their squad is fit for the Premiership - and to do well in the top flight.
"That's how good their players are - and they have a good management team."


Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt has not recovered from an ankle injury so Jeffrey Schlupp is expected to start at left-back on Saturday.

Striker Loic Remy has been ruled out until after the international break.
Watford midfielder Etienne Capoue has been suffering from a fever this week and will be assessed.
Nordin Amrabat is available after an ankle injury for the first time since New Year's Day, while Daryl Janmaat makes his return from a groin problem.
Jonathan Pearce: "This is the first of four huge home six pointers for Palace against relegation rivals. They'll need 10 points from them. They also have all of the top six to play as well!
"Back-to-back wins have given them hope of staying up but they must win this.
"Watford can make themselves safe in three successive winnable games before a big summer clear out that could include the head coach. Walter Mazzari probably needs to better last season's points tally to survive.
"Big Sam Allardyce got in a tizz about the Hornet's mascot at Xmas. He'll be hoping to avoid a nasty sting in the tail this time."
Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce: "For me it's about trying to go undefeated for as long as possible now. We're disappointed if we draw matches, but it's still a point.
"We have to be at our very best, 100% every game between now and the end of the season. We can't let that drop off."
Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri: "Palace are one of those teams that, when you look at their squad, nobody thought when we started that it would have fought relegation.
"We will play them in their best moment as they come from two positive results.
"They've got an important fan base so it won't be easy. We go to the pitch knowing we cannot commit any mistakes."
Watford conceded four goals at home to Southampton last time out, when they paid the price for giving Saints far too much time and space to play. I am going to go with another Palace win.
Prediction: 2-0
Lawro's full predictions v boxer Anthony Crolla
Head-to-head
Crystal Palace
Watford
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.


The former RTÉ broadcaster and PR executive, Bill O'Herlihy, has died.

The Cork man, who was 76,  retired from RTÉ last year, at the end of the 2014 World Cup, after a 49-year broadcasting career.
He had worked in broadcasting since the 1960s, and had been RTÉ's chief sports presenter for major events.
Mr O'Herlihy covered 10 World Cups, including Brazil 2014, and 10 Olympic Games.
In 1973, he founded the O'Herlihy Communications Group.
He began his journalism career at the age of 16 when he joined the Cork Examiner.
His first broadcast for RTÉ was a piece on commemorations of the sinking of the Lusitania, off the Cork coast, for Newsbeat in 1965.
He also worked on the programme 7 Days.
Mr O'Herlihy presented the first Rugby World Cup on RTÉ television, as well as co-presenting the very first Sunday Game with Jim Carney in 1979.
He had a heart attack in 1984 and had an operation in 2007 due to a colon cancer tumour, but recovered to resume his place as anchor of RTÉ's soccer coverage.
He won a Jacob's award for his presentation of the 1990 World Cup, Irish Sports Journalist of the Year 2003, and in 2007 he was named the Irish Film and Television Academy's Television Personality of the Year.


Plans to scrap the time bar on child sexual abuse survivors suing for damages have been backed by Holyrood's justice committee.

The Scottish government wants to end the three-year limit on bringing a civil action.
It would mean that cases from as long ago as 1964 could be heard in court.
A justice committee report has now supported the government bill, which it is hoped would "remove a barrier" for survivors to access civil justice.
It said : "Survivors have been let down by the justice system and denied the opportunity to have their voices heard."
The Limitation (Childhood Abuse) Bill is due to be debated at Holyrood next week.
It would:
The committee called on the government to "explore what other options for redress could be made available" for victims abused before 1964.
Its report said civil action would not be the right course for all survivors.
But it said support should be given about whether to claim, and continue throughout the legal process.
Concerns were raised that the government estimate of 2,200 potential cases was "conservative" and the cost of the bill may have been underestimated.
The committee said the financial impact on bodies such as local authorities and charities facing historic claims and requests for information also needed to be looked at.
Committee convener Margaret Mitchell said: "It became clear to us that the time bar had created a barrier to access to justice for cases involving historic childhood abuse. The bill will help remove that barrier and give survivors a voice.
"That said, our evidence sessions raised serious questions in a number of areas that the committee considers the government must take on board before the final bill is put to parliament.
"In particular, the committee asks the government to address concerns around ensuring affected organisations have the resources they need and how those survivors who won't be covered by this bill may still find a remedy."
Annabelle Ewing, minister for community safety and legal affairs, welcomed the committee's "support for the general principle of the bill".
She said: "The government has been taking forward a range of measures to help right the wrongs committed against those who as children were failed so badly by the very individuals and institutions who should have cared for them most.
"This report raises a number of important issues which the government will reflect on and I look forward to a constructive debate next week to examine these in further detail."


The Welsh Conservatives are "ideally placed" to fill the centre ground of Welsh politics, assembly party leader Andrew RT Davies has said.

In a piece for the Sunday Times at the start of Conservative party conference, Mr Davies accused Labour and Plaid Cymru of a "left-ward lurch".
He claimed Plaid Cymru was a "nationalist comfort blanket" for First Minister Carwyn Jones.
Plaid called the attack "bluster", while Labour said it was "tired".
Mr Jones has "struggled to put forward a clear vision for Wales", the Welsh Conservative leader wrote, accusing him of having "flip-flopped" on freedom of movement and becoming "increasingly reliant" on Plaid Cymru.
"It's abundantly clear that Nicola Sturgeon is no longer alone in posing a danger to the future of the union," he said.
Alleging there was a disconnect between Mr Jones and Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood's "post-Brexit vision for Wales versus the will of the electorate", he accused the two parties of a "violent leftward lurch".
He said this was "compounded this week by the first minister's endorsement of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and by Plaid's repeated calls for independence".
Mr Davies said it had "left a vacancy in the centre ground of Welsh politics which Welsh Conservatives are ideally placed to fill".
His comments are understood to refer to an exchange between Mr Davies and Mr Jones in the Senedd last Tuesday, when the Welsh Tory leader asked the first minister if the best interests of the UK would be served by having Jeremy Corbyn as the next prime minister. Mr Jones said: "Yes".
A spokesman for Carwyn Jones said: "Under the leadership of Andrew RT Davies the Tories in Wales have moved steadily but assuredly towards total irrelevance. Now the third party in Wales, the Tories have no policies to showcase, no victories to celebrate - just tired old attack lines which are utterly meaningless outside the Cardiff Bay bubble.
"The Welsh Tories' decision to ditch their own grammar school policy just days before [Prime Minister] Theresa May's first conference shows they are a party in deep confusion and in search of genuine leadership."
Steffan Lewis, Plaid Cymru's external affairs spokesman, described the attack as "characteristic fumbling bluster".
"The only coalition that exists on Brexit is the coalition of the Westminster establishment, both Labour and Conservative, who seem determined to lead our nation towards a dangerous isolationism," he said.
Meanwhile David Jones, minister for exiting the EU and Clwyd West Conservative MP, said he was "determined to make a success of Brexit for Wales, and for all parts of the United Kingdom".
"The public gave their verdict at the referendum. It is a national mandate, which we will deliver in the national interest," he added.


Leyton Orient have appointed Danny Webb as manager following Andy Edwards' decision to take up a youth coaching job with the Football Association.

The much-travelled lower league defender, 33, the son of Chelsea legend David Webb, has been placed in charge until the end of the season.
He becomes the 10th man to take charge of the East London-based League Two club since the summer of 2014.
The struggling O's are at risk of relegation from the Football League.
Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Mansfield Town saw them drop into the relegation zone after a run of just two wins in nine games under Webb.
Edwards, 45, who had a two-game spell as caretaker manager when Andy Hessenthaler left in September, was himself put in charge until the end of the season after the sacking of Alberto Cavasin in November after a run of eight defeats in 10 games.
"It is with regret that I have made the decision to stand down as manager of Leyton Orient," said Edwards, "It has been a very difficult decision, but I feel that it is in the best interests of my career and my family.
Webb, who was appointed Orient first-team coach this summer, became assistant manager when Edwards was appointed on 23 November and now takes a further step-up, starting with next Saturday's home game against automatic promotion contenders Carlisle United.


House price growth picked up in February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Across the UK, prices rose by 5.8% in the year to February, up from 5.3% in January, it said.
More recent figures from the Nationwide and the Halifax have suggested that house price growth is slowing down.
At the same time, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported very strong borrowing in January and February.
The ONS figures - which include cash sales - show that the average price of a property has risen to a record high of Â£217,502.
Within the English regions, prices are rising fastest in the East - up 10.3% in the last year.
At the other end of the scale, prices are rising by just 2.2% in the North East.
According to the Nationwide, average prices fell during the month of March. And last week the Halifax said annual house price inflation was at its lowest for four years.
The CML said borrowing in January and February was the strongest for 10 years. In all, 93,200 loans were taken out in the first two months of the year, the highest number since the financial crisis.
"Seasonal factors traditionally keep the market quieter in winter months, but 2017 began relatively strong on the house purchase side," said Paul Smee, the CML's director general.
"Borrowers took out more loans to purchase a home in the first two months of 2017 than any year since 2007."
That number was driven by an increase in the number of first-time buyers. However, the number of existing homeowners needing a new mortgage to move house has fallen.
Where can I afford to live?


The search for the missing Malaysian plane is entering a "new phase", Australia has announced, after the initial undersea search found nothing.

PM Tony Abbott said that "a much larger" area of the ocean floor would now be targeted.
But he said it was "highly unlikely" any surface wreckage would be found, and suspended aerial searches.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing on 8 March as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The plane, carrying 239 people, disappeared off radar over the South China Sea.
Officials say that, based on satellite information, they believe it ended its journey in seas north-west of the Australian city of Perth, far from its planned path.
By Jon DonnisonBBC News, Sydney
Investigators have given no reason yet as to why the plane flew so far off course. Finding the "black box" flight recorders is seen as key to understanding what happened.
Mr Abbott made his announcement at a news conference in Canberra.
"It is now 52 days since Malaysia Airlines Fight MH370 disappeared and I'm here to inform you that the search will be entering a new phase," he said.
By now, he said, most debris would have become waterlogged and sunk, so operations would now focus on "searching the ocean floor over a much larger area".
So far, a robot submersible called the Bluefin-21 has been scouring the seabed in the location of acoustic signals heard on 8 April believed to have originated from the plane's flight recorders.
Bluefin-21 has been searching a circular area with a 10-km (6-mile) radius, some 4,500m below the surface.
Planes and ships from multiple nations have also been searching the sea for signs of debris, based on where it might have floated from the possible impact point.
So far, however, no sign of the missing plane has been detected.
Mr Abbott said there was still "a considerable degree of confidence that the detections that were picked up" in early April were from a flight recorder.
He said the new phase of the search would involve commercial contractors with additional sonar mapping equipment - an operation towards which Australia would be seeking contributions from other countries to help meet the estimated $60m (Â£36m) cost.
Getting this equipment in place could take several weeks, he said, and in the interim the Bluefin-21 would continue to search.
Mr Abbott also promised that while the operation was changing, "it certainly is not ending".
"We will do everything we humanly can... to solve this mystery," he said.


There have been big celebrations in Sierra Leone in West Africa to mark the end of the Ebola outbreak.

7 November 2015 Last updated at 14:34 GMT
Some people lit candles, others danced with joy.
More than four thousand people have died because of the virus over the past 18 months.
But there's been 42 days without any new cases.
An official announcement is expected  from the World Health Organisation tomorrow.
BBC reporter Tulip Mazumdar joined in the celebrations.


A British model who was allegedly kidnapped in Milan and held captive for six days has returned to the UK.

End of Instagram post  by chloeayling
The 20-year-old woman, named in reports as Chloe Ayling, had travelled to the city to attend a photo shoot.
Italian police said she was attacked by two men on arrival on 11 July and drugged and abducted, apparently to be sold in an online auction.
The officers said they had arrested Polish national Lukasz Herba, who lives in the UK, on kidnapping charges.
Ms Ayling said she feared for her life throughout the "terrifying experience", according to the Telegraph.
Italian police said the model was drugged with ketamine before being locked in a bag and transported in a car to a house in Borgial, north-west of Turin.
She was handcuffed to a wooden chest of drawers in a bedroom for six days until she was released taken to the British consulate in Milan, they added.
It is alleged the kidnappers attempted to sell the model online for £230,000 ($300,000) and demanded her agent pay a ransom fee.
Investigations into the case are being carried out by authorities in Italy, Poland and the UK.
A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said an address in Sampson Close, Oldbury, had been raided on 18 July in connection with the inquiry.
A National Crime Agency (NCA) spokesman said: "The NCA and the East Midlands Special Operations Unit have been providing support to the Italian authorities during this investigation."


Community leaders in the home town of a West Yorkshire teenager who reportedly carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq have spoken of their shock.

Talha Asmal's family say he was groomed online, and Downing Street described the case as "deeply concerning".
But a pupil at the same school as Asmal, 17, has told the BBC he believes the sixth former was persuaded to join Islamic State by someone in Dewsbury.
Asmal travelled to Syria in March with the brother of a convicted terrorist.
Hassan Munshi, who is also 17 and from Dewsbury, is still in Syria.
His brother was detained for two years in 2008 after being  convicted of making a record of information likely to be used for terrorist purposes.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, a friend of the Asmal family also said he believed the teenager must have come under "some kind of peer pressure".
"You just can't go out and cross borders and go into another country and do whatever," Zubair Patel said.
"It makes you think that there might be something here."
But Iqbal Bhana, a Home Office adviser on hate crimes, played down the suggestion.
"If there is somebody like that we would like to know who it is. I'm absolutely certain that if we found out there was someone planting these kind of ideas into the minds of young people, converting them... we would want to confront and challenge them."
At least 11 people were killed in the car bombings carried out by four suicide bombers near the city of Baiji, north of Baghdad, on Saturday.
Social media reports linked to militant group Islamic State (IS) said Asmal, going by the name of Abu Yusuf al-Britani, was among the attackers.
Confirmation would make Asmal Britain's youngest known suicide bomber.
Another West Yorkshire teenager, Hasib Hussein, was 18 when he blew himself up on a London bus in the 7 July 2005 attacks.
The stories of those who have died, been convicted of offences relating to the Islamic State conflict or are still in Syria or Iraq
Dewsbury councillor Masood Ahmed said there had been no signs Asmal had been radicalised.
Lorraine Barker, executive principal of Mirfield Free Grammar and Sixth Form, where Asmal was studying, told the Times he was a "conscientious student".
In a statement issued on Sunday, his family said he had been a "loving, kind, caring and affable teenager".
They said he had been "exploited by persons unknown who, hiding behind the anonymity of the world wide web... engaged in a process of deliberate and calculated grooming of him...
"We are all naturally utterly devastated and heartbroken".
Alyas Karmani, an imam and independent councillor in Bradford, says the community is failing to do enough to counter the appeal of Islamic State to some young people.
"What they're not doing is engaging their young people in terms of the emotional issues that they're affected by, engaging them in discussions around foreign policy - young people want to talk about these big political issues that are taking place globally," he said.
By Dominic Casciani, home affairs correspondent
Talha Asmal's family say he was groomed. That makes him, in their eyes, a teenage victim, rather than a criminal or terrorist.
Ten years ago, the UK had the same debate about suicide bombers from Yorkshire who killed 52 people in London in the 7/7 attacks.
Today, the UK's police and security agencies have a wide range of powers and techniques to disrupt would-be terrorists.
But the police can't arrest everyone - and evidence shows it is difficult to bring someone back from the edge, once they are radicalised.
In two weeks' time, public bodies, including schools, will be under a controversial but groundbreaking new legal duty to prevent people being drawn towards terrorism.
Critically, it is directly linked to other legal duties of "safeguarding" the young from harm.
So this really thorny question of "prevention rather than cure" is where the debate is now shifting.
Shahid Malik, former MP for Dewsbury and a family friend of the Asmals, said it was "disturbing" to see how relaxed Talha looked in the IS photographs allegedly taken prior to his suicide mission.
"This is a clear indication of just how successful the evil Isis groomers have been in poisoning and brainwashing," he said.
He added: "Mosques need to confront this evil ideology head-on... I would say that up and down the country that is not happening at the moment."
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper also urged a "stronger plan" for community-led action.
The former independent reviewer of terror laws Lord Carlile told BBC Radio 4's Today programme MPs should be "working together" to produce solutions to the issue of radicalisation.
He criticised some social media companies for not co-operating enough with the government and security services.
Downing Street said the government wanted to work with social media firms to stop young people being targeted, but rejected the idea of compelling firms to co-operate through legislation.
David Cameron's official spokeswoman said the prime minister felt the case "underlines the need to do all we can to prevent young people being radicalised and, if they are thinking of travelling, to stop them from doing so".
It comes as Kenya says a Briton was among 11 al-Shabab gunmen killed in a failed attack on a military base.
Thomas Evans, 25, a Muslim convert from Buckinghamshire, joined the Islamist group in Somalia three years ago.
At least 700 people from the UK have travelled to support or fight for jihadist organisations in Iraq and Syria, with the majority joining IS.
The Home Office said since 2011 it had trained more than 160,000 people to identify and prevent extremism; excluded nearly 100 "hate preachers" and taken down more than 90,000 pieces of terrorist-related material from the internet.
It had also removed or refused 30 passports in 2013 and 2014 where people were considered to be at risk of travelling to Syria or Iraq.


A teenager has been charged with the murder of a 15-year-old boy found stabbed in the chest.

Koy Bentley was fatally wounded on the fifth floor of flats on Water Lane in Watford on June 5.
A 15-year-old from Willsden, London, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will appear at Hatfield Remand Court on Monday.
A 24-year-old man from Greenwich who was arrested on suspicion of murder has been bailed.


Plans to move an exclusion zone for dogs on Swansea's seafront has prompted responses from more than 1,800 people.

One section which bans dogs between May and September each year runs from near St Helen's rugby ground to west pier near the marina.
Swansea council wants to shift it west to start at Brynmill Lane and end at the marina's observatory.
It has extended its consultation until 31 October.


Mark Selby made the most of a tentative start by Marco Fu to build a 5-3 lead in the opening session of their World Championship semi-final.

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World number one Selby, the 2014 champion, looked impressive as he went 3-0 ahead with half-century breaks in frames two and three.
Hong Kong's Fu hit back with a 72, and the pair shared four frames after the mid-session interval.
China's Ding Junhui leads Alan McManus 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Both Ding and Fu are hoping to become the first Asian player to win the sport's showpiece event.
But Fu's chances appear fainter than Ding's after a characteristically dogged effort by Leicester's Selby in the best-of-33 contest.
World number 14 Fu began anxiously, perhaps affected by the late jitters that saw him surrender a 9-1 lead in his 13-11 win over Barry Hawkins.
Selby won a scrappy opener in which both men wasted a couple of chances, and he also took the second frame with a diligent 56.
At 3-0 behind Fu made the most of a decent opening to score a well-constructed 72 before pinching a thrilling fifth frame full of incredible escapes, missed chances and numerous flukes.
A 31-minute frame then went Selby's way for him to lead to 4-2 before they shared the final two frames, Fu with a fluent 89 and Selby scoring 69.
Fu fought back impressively to keep alive his chances of going one better than Thailand's James Wattana - the first player from Asia to reach the last four at the Crucible.
In 1993, the same year as the first of Wattana's two appearances, McManus graced that stage of the event for the second time
But, 23 years on, the veteran Scot's hopes of progressing further look slim.
Ding was in intimidating form from the start, opening with a break of 100 and scoring two further tons and two half-centuries to go 5-0 up.
McManus, at 45, the oldest man to reach a Crucible semi-final since Ray Reardon in 1985, had scored just 47 points.
But he showed his tactical nous to win two lengthy frames and get back to 5-2, before Ding ended with a 128.
McManus did little wrong in the first five frames, but had every minor mistake punished by the world number 17.
Ding had to win three qualifying rounds to reach this stage, but seems to have benefited from the extra table time.
The 29-year-old has looked increasingly sharp, and has stayed fresh thanks to his fluent form which earned him an extra day's rest for beating Mark Williams inside two sessions in the quarter-finals.
John Parrott, 1991 world champion: "Ding was superb. His break building and his match play has been fantastic. But I think he needed to win the last frame. The way he dominated the session, if he hadn't come out of it at least 6-2 he would have been kicking himself."


Shaun Murphy believes he is a marked man as he begins the defence of the Masters crown at Alexandra Palace.

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Murphy thrashed Neil Robertson 10-2 in last year's final and faces Mark Allen in the first round on Sunday.
"Everyone wants to beat the world champion and defending champion of an event," Murphy told BBC Sport.
Five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan returns to tournament action and faces Mark Williams, while world number one Neil Robertson plays Marco Fu.
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O'Sullivan, who recently compiled the 800th century break of his career, has not taken part in the main draw of a  tournament since losing in the quarter-final of the 2015 World Championship.
He did take part in qualifying for the German Masters in December, but suffered a shock defeat by Stuart Carrington.
Murphy became only the 10th player to complete the Triple Crown of World Championship, UK Championship and Masters after his success in London last year.
"I go into all the events now as someone who has won the Triple Crown," he added. "That is a very exclusive club of some very good players. To be in the group and to be the most recent addition is something I am extremely proud of.
"Seeing the trophy everyday and being introduced everywhere as the current Masters champion is a great feeling."


Three football pitches and seating for 3,500 spectators will be installed in George Square later this year when Glasgow hosts the Homeless World Cup.

The event, which is set to run from 10 to 16 July, will feature 48 men's and 16 women's teams from 52 countries.
Glasgow is hosting the 14th edition of the tournament. The first took place in Graz, Austria, in 2003, with Scotland last hosting in 2005, in Edinburgh.
The tournament's aim is to inspire homeless people to change their lives.
The Homeless World Cup was set up by the International Network of Street Papers and Mel Young, founder of the Big Issue in Scotland.
Mr Young said George Square would provide a "unique location" for the 2016 tournament.
"Our mission is to bring the tournament to the centre of the cities we visit, because homelessness isn't something that should be tucked away," he said.
"We need to talk about it, therefore being here was very important.
"The nature of the site means it's an interesting build which has involved a real multi-agency approach...but we're confident that when the wrappers come off for real in July, Glasgow will be amazed and ready to join a real celebration."
Tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on George Square for the duration of the tournament.
The venue will also be adapted to host music and merchandising.
Paul Bush, events director at VisitScotland, which is managing the Scottish government's investment in the tournament, said the Homeless World Cup was "an incredibly important event" for the country.
"It puts Scotland at the heart of a global movement and will ensure that the eyes of the world centre on Glasgow, which we believe will be the most inspiration place on the planet over the course of the tournament."
Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council, Councillor Archie Graham, added: "George Square will come alive as thousands of fans cheer on teams from across the globe during what is shaping up to me an inspiring and unmissable festival of football."


Nicola Sturgeon has accused the Conservatives of having a "constitutional obsession" ahead of the forthcoming elections.

Ms Sturgeon was speaking as Tory leader Ruth Davidson accused her of presiding over 10 years of failure on education.
Labour leader Kezia Dugdale later said Ms Sturgeon had used "Tory arguments" to justify not increasing taxes for high earners.
The exchanges came at first minister's questions in the Scottish Parliament.
The session was held on Wednesday in order to avoid clashing with Thursday's council elections.
It also fell on the 10th anniversary of the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, which saw the SNP win a historic first term in office after finishing one seat ahead of Labour.
The session saw Ms Davidson press the first minister on falling teacher numbers and a decline in numeracy and science, which she said meant "our schools can no longer be classed as world-leading".
She asked the first minister: "Tomorrow we elect the councillors whose job will be to support our schools on the ground and the SNP says education is their top priority, but doesn't their 10 years of failure tell an entirely different story?"
The Conservative leader highlighted a fall in the number of P4 and P7 children doing well at numeracy between 2011 and 2015, and a "pronounced and sustained" decline in how well pupils are doing at science under the SNP.
Ms Davidson also accused the Scottish government of having "delayed and delayed again" its response to a review of school governance ordered by Education Secretary John Swinney.
She added: "Jam tomorrow just doesn't cut it because with this SNP government it's not just one statistic or two or three, it is a 10-year record of failure."
Ms Sturgeon responded by holding up a Conservative election leaflet, which she said had been put through her letterbox.
The first minister said: "This leaflet mentions me, or the SNP, or independence, a grand total of 43 times.
"It mentions Ruth Davidson or the Tories just nine times, one of those is her signature. It mentions her policies on education zero times.
"In this election, they haven't put forward a single policy on our schools, on social care, on roads, on transport, on anything. They have a constitutional obsession."
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish government would shortly announce what recommendations it was taking forward from the review of school governance.
She also predicted opposition leaders would criticise SNP ministers regardless of what changes were made.
The first minister was later questioned by Ms Dugdale over her apparent hint that the SNP will go into the general election campaigning for a 50p top rate of income tax rather than the current 45p.
Ms Dugdale said: "In 2015 the first minister said she supported a 50p top rate of tax for those earning more than Â£150,000 a year.
"In 2016 she changed her mind, she didn't support it when she had the power to deliver it. Now in 2017, without any sense of irony, the first minister claims to support it again.
"Does she really expect people to believe her this time around?"
Ms Sturgeon responded: "In 2015, I said I supported that across the UK.
"In 2016 I said that if we only did it in Scotland without the powers, which we don't have, to tackle tax avoidance because they lie at Westminster, then the advice we had taken was that that could potentially lose revenue.
"I don't think that anybody in this chamber seriously would stand up and argue that we should put up a tax if the advice says that it would actually lead to a reduction in the revenue."
But Ms Dugdale said the SNP had voted against bringing in a 50p top rate eight times since 2015, and claimed Ms Sturgeon has "plenty of principles when she's campaigning, but nothing but a list of excuses when she's in power".
She added: "I've just heard the first minister say we shouldn't bother trying to tax the rich because they'll just find a way round it - the same argument the Tories have been making week in, week out for years."
Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie urged Ms Sturgeon to increase resources for schools in order to "reverse the decline" in the number of teachers, additional support needs staff, librarians and classroom assistants.
And he said it was time to "make sure that people like the first minister and myself pay a bit more tax into the pot to produce the resources that will go into education that will make a difference in the life chances of every child in this country."
Ms Sturgeon responded: "Because of decisions we've taken, higher-rate taxpayers, which account for the top 10% of income earners in Scotland, are paying a bit more than higher-rate tax payers elsewhere.
"These are the right, balanced tax decisions that, I think, it is appropriate to take."
Speaking outside the Holyrood chamber, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie urged voters to back his party's "local champions" in the council election.
He said: "Despite the Greens and the SNP wanting to put independence back to the top of the agenda, Liberal Democrats will serve to deliver the improvements to local services that we need."


Cuban prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to 20 years for officials accused of stealing eight million eggs from state companies.

State newspaper Granma reported that the scam had cost Cuba more than $350,000 (Â£230,000) in lost revenue.
Prosecutors accuse 19 officials of using false accounting, fake receipts and unauthorised delivery routes to run a black market in eggs.
President Raul Castro launched an anti-corruption campaign in 2009.
He declared at the time that corruption was a cancer in the communist-run country.
The "criminal network" succeeded "thanks to unobservant and/or corrupt supervisors, deficient or absent monitoring mechanisms and complicit or tolerant attitudes", said Granma.
The Cuban authorities said the scheme operated between January and October 2012.
They have not said when the trial for the 19 officials will he held.
Last month Cuba freed the president of a Canadian transport company after more than three years in jail.
Cy Tokmakjian was arrested in 2011 as part of an anti-corruption operation and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on bribery charges.


The eruption of Star Wars mania helped send Lego's sales up 25% last year, led by sales of the Millennium Falcon.

The Danish-maker of the perennially popular plastic bricks said the Star Wars set was one its best-selling products in 2015.
It was topped only by sales of Elsa's Sparkling Ice Castle from the Disney film Frozen.
Revenue for the year rose to DKr35.7bn (Â£3.72bn) from DKr28.5bn in 2014 on pre-tax profit up 29% at DKr12.1bn.
Lego said it had achieved sales growth across the majority of its regions, though it said that while most of the Asian toy markets reported solid growth, it has slowed compared with more recent periods.
John Goodwin, chief financial officer of Lego, told the BBC that the Chinese market continued to generate sales: "Domestically we are still seeing a continual very strong growth and importantly for us the aspiring middle class within China continues to grow, and they are showing a great degree of interest in these great play materials that we think bring a high degree of creativity to those children.
"We continue to be very excited and bullish about the Chinese market."
The new Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, was released towards the end of 2015 and its box office takings have so far reached $1.9bn (Â£1.3bn) worldwide.


Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticised the killings in its ally Syria sparked by the government's violent crackdown on dissent.

In his most outspoken comments yet, Mr Ahmadinejad told CNN: "Nobody has the right to kill others, neither the government nor its opponents."
He said Iran would encourage all sides to reach an understanding, but warned the US not to intervene in Syria.
Syria has close ties with Iran, which suppressed its own protests in 2009.
Iran has also put down or prevented about a dozen protests since the wave of anti-government uprisings in the Middle East began earlier this year.
"We are going to make greater efforts to encourage both the government of Syria and the other side, all parties, to reach an understanding," Mr Ahmadinejad said in the interview with CNN.
He warned against any outside intervention in Syria, in particular by the US.
"The positions of the United States are not going to help. They have never helped," he said.
Iran has been muted in its criticisms of Syria, its most important ally in the region.
However in September, Mr Ahmadinejad spoke of "needed reforms", while the Iranian foreign minister called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "be accountable to his people's legitimate demands".
Shia Iran is regarded with suspicion by its Sunni Arab neighbours. Syria's government is dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam.


Roger Federer continued his Wimbledon preparations by reaching the Gerry Weber Open final with a hard-fought win over young Russian Karen Khachanov.

The 35-year-old, who is bidding for a record eighth title at Wimbledon next month, won 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in Halle.
Khachanov missed two set points to take the match into a decider, with Federer hanging on before taking the tie-break.
The Swiss top seed will play 20-year-old German Alexander Zverev, who beat Richard Gasquet, in Sunday's final.
Fourth seed Zverev, who beat Federer in the semi-finals last year before losing to Florian Mayer in the final, won 4-6 6-4 6-3 against France's Gasquet.
Eighteen-time Grand Slam winner Federer lost to 39-year-old Tommy Haas at the Stuttgart Open last week, his first match in two months, but is yet to drop a set as he bids for a ninth title at Halle.
However, he was given a stern test by 21-year-old Khachanov in their first meeting.
While Federer is considered one of the greatest grass-court players of all time, 38th-ranked Khachanov was playing in his first tournament on the surface.
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Federer took an early advantage after the opening three games all produced breaks of serve, going on to seal the first set at the second attempt before Khachanov pushed him in another tight set.
Federer took his opponent's serve for 5-4, leaving the world number five serving for the match, only for Khachanov to break back and level.
After missing his chances to win the set at 6-5, Khachanov fought back from two mini-breaks in the tie-break, but fired long after his own serve on match point.
Federer has already won three titles this season, including the Australian Open - his first Grand Slam success in five years.
Federer also won the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in March and, two weeks later, the Miami Open.
In May, he announced he would be missing the French Open and the rest of the clay-court season to concentrate on the grass and hard-court seasons.
Another success at Wimbledon will put Federer clear of Pete Sampras' joint-record seven men's singles victories in SW19.


Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a body was found under a bridge in south-east London.

The 29-year-old victim was found dead near Plumstead Station at about 14:00 BST on Wednesday.
He had suffered serious head injuries and was pronounced dead by paramedics.
The three suspects, aged 35, 45 and 46, remain in custody.  Post-mortem tests showed the man died from blunt force trauma to his head and neck.
Detectives believe they know the victim's name but are waiting for a formal identification to be made.
His next of kin have been informed.


A heavily pregnant woman was pinned to the ground by two men who sprayed a noxious substance in her eyes before stealing her car, police say.

They approached the eight-month pregnant woman after she parked her VW Golf in a car park in Birmingham. Police said they were "lying in wait".
The victim tried to run away but was dragged to the floor. The men stole her keys and smashed her phone.
She went to hospital and police say she and her unborn child are "doing well".
Sgt Philip Poole, from West Midlands Police, said the woman was treated for minor injuries after the incident near Yew Tree car park, opposite Frogmoor Lane, on 11 December.
More updates on this and other stories in Birmingham and the Black Country
"Nevertheless, it was a shocking attack against a heavily pregnant woman and the outcome could have been far worse," he said.
"We need to identify the offenders before they are able to attack again."
CCTV images of the offenders, described as Asian, have been released by police.
Her vehicle, which has an on-board tracker, has since been recovered and is being forensically examined.
"We've secured CCTV and recovered the car, but we're still appealing to anyone who was in the area at the time and saw anything suspicious, or has any other information which they believe will assist the investigation to come forward," Mr Poole added.


Experienced striker Darren Henderson has signed a one-year deal to help Portadown's push for promotion.

The ex-Coleraine and Glentoran forward, 31, was among six players to be released by Ballymena United at the end of the season.
He joins Kyle McVey and Andy Kilmartin in signing for the relegated Ports and their manager Niall Currie.
Stephen McBride, Denver Gage, Gavin Taggart, Daniel Wallace and Michael Kerr were also released by Ballymena.


Plans for hundreds of homes in Bangor have been refused because of concerns over the effect on the Welsh language.

The application for 366 houses in Penrhosgarnedd - the biggest considered by Gwynedd Council - was refused using new planning rules designed to protect Welsh.
Developer Morbaine described the decision as "frustrating".
But the Welsh Language Society said housing developments should "put communities' interests first".
Planning officers had recommended the Pen y Ffridd development go ahead, on condition that Morbaine made 30% of the homes "affordable" and paid £1m for the development of local schools.
But Gwynedd Council's planning committee blocked the application on Tuesday using new Welsh Government rules introduced on 4 January.
Residents had organised a petition against building at the 35.36 acre (14.3 ha) site raising concerns about overdevelopment and lack of infrastructure.
Councillor Gareth Roberts, who was part of the campaign group, said: "As well as our concerns about the language, local schools are at breaking point and the roads are clogged up."
Bethan Ruth of the Welsh Language Society said the status of the Welsh language in the planning system has been strengthened adding: "Any housing developments should reflect local need, rather than the interests of developments," she added.
According to the 2011 census, 52.6% of residents in the Pen y Ffridd area speak Welsh, compared to 65.4% across Gwynedd.
A 245-home development is being constructed nearby and planners have said Bangor needs another 802 new homes.
Keith Nutter, planning director of Widnes-based Morbaine said he had not decided whether or not to appeal the decision.
He said: "We provided a report that said the development would have a positive impact on the language.
"A third of the development was designated as affordable homes, and the majority of affordable homes are sold to Welsh speakers."
He added that Morbaine had been prepared to install Welsh street signs and advertise the homes locally.


It would appear that size really does matter when it comes to Christmas trees in Wales.

By now, most public Christmas trees have been erected and the lights switched on. But not everyone is happy.
Trees in Cardiff, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire have all drawn criticism, either for their size or the railings around them.
Cardiff council apologised when its Â£30,000 tree fell short of expectations.
The council said it had ordered a pre-decorated 40m - or 131ft - tree from China for outside Cardiff Castle.
But when it went up it was revealed to be just 12m (40ft).
A council spokesman said: "We apologise to everyone who was expecting a bigger tree and are cutting the person responsible down to size."
Commenting on Facebook, Doreen Richings said it looked like a "Ferrero Rocher tower", while Adele Morgan Parry said it was an "absolute monstrosity."
Helen Davies said she could not believe how "cheap and trashy it looked" and that she would "prefer no tree at all."
Size was not so much of an issue with Caldicot's tree in Monmouthshire, rather its direction.
Dylan Griffiths owns a tattoo business opposite the tree and was concerned "a gust of wind would send it through his window, or worse on top of somebody".
He said the tree "made him chuckle" because of how little effort appeared to have gone in to it.
Posting on Facebook, he said: "I'm sorry but I can't stop laughing at this abomination."
Caldicot Town Council said it had not received any complaints about the tree, but confirmed it would be replaced.
A spokesman said: "Following a routine inspection, it was identified that the tree had tilted and town council agreed to get the tree replaced.
"This has been arranged and will take place as soon as possible."
In Neath, residents have taken it upon themselves to improve the town's Christmas tree.
After seeing this year's offering by Neath Town Council, local resident Darren Bromham-Nichols organised a collection of Christmas decorations, but was told they could not be put on the tree for health and safety reasons.
Instead volunteers plan to decorate the metal railings around it on Saturday.
Speaking of the tree, Mr Bromham-Nichols said: "There's no excuse.
"I understand there are budget cuts, but you have to make the best of what you've got.
"The fence around it looks like something from Guantanamo Bay, and it has understandably let to some negative comments, which puts the town in a bad light.
"We are a beautiful, historical market town and although the council has fallen short, I want to encourage people in to shop and support the traders."
Neath Town Council has been asked for a comment.
At 10m (33ft), Llanelli's tree is bigger than last year, but some residents are still suffering from tree envy.
Joanne Yeo from Llanelli said: "The tree is pitiful and the people of Llanelli deserve better, much better.
"For a town of our size, the tree is simply inadequate. Carmarthen has beautiful, full, larger trees."
Llanelli AM Lee Waters said: "There's already a widely held view that Carmarthen gets a better deal than Llanelli, and it doesn't help when something as daft as this happens.
"This isn't the first time that our tree is the poor relation. I don't understand why they don't just buy the same tree for every town."
Carmarthenshire council's executive board member for leisure services, Cllr Meryl Gravell, said the authority had received "positive comments" about Llanelli's Christmas tree.
She said: "The Christmas tree is an annual addition to the naturally growing trees in Spring Gardens that carry the main display lights.
"Fencing around the base that has been the subject of criticism this year is required for health and safety reasons because it is not naturally growing and does not have the stability of roots."


About 80 musicians staged a silent protest at Swansea's Guildhall after councillors agreed to end the music partnership with Neath Port Talbot.

Swansea council's cabinet agreed a music service for Swansea would remain and joint orchestras would continue.
It said this would give the area the chance to develop a sustainable and professionally-organised service.
But campaigners said the system of operating from a large pool of talent meant access to "genuine expertise".
A Swansea schools' music service will be launched in September to replace West Glamorgan Music Service.
The council had originally proposed removing its music service subsidy by April but agreed to continue with a reduced subsidy for another year while a service review is undertaken.
Parent and former student Rowland Gibbs said: "The current working practice is we have expertise shared across a large pool that means you get genuine expertise.
"The minute you take the pool of teachers down, the expertise is diluted."
Jen Raynor, cabinet member for education, said: "By continuing with it [the service] in its current state we would risk losing it forever which no-one wants.
"We will be improving music offers to schools and families who are unable to fund private tuition."