Twenty-three people are being treated in hospital after a tour coach came off the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll and overturned.

The coach, owned and operated by Lochs and Glens Holidays, is thought to have been blown off the road by a gust of wind and came to rest near a small loch at about 14:10.
A total of 51 people were on board.
The 23 being treated at three NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde hospitals are all said to be in a stable condition.
About 20 others were described as "walking wounded".
Road Policing Inspector Adam McKenzie said: "A tour bus which was heading through Argyll was struck by a very strong gust of wind which unfortunately blew it on to the muddy verge, causing the bus to flip on its side and roll down the hill coming to a rest at the side of Loch Restil."
Ch Insp Fraser Candlish added: "This has clearly been a terrifying experience for all of those involved and officers have been working closely with our partners to provide support to those effected and ensure everyone's safety.
"All 52 people on board the coach have been accounted for and we are currently working to ensure those who have not been taken to hospital are transported to a suitable location to spend the night.
"Inquiries are ongoing to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, however early indications would suggest that the high winds may have been a factor.
"We are currently working to recover the vehicle and reopen the road."
Police said a multi-agency response had been "critical" in the aftermath of the crash.
Officers were joined at the scene by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Ambulance Service, Argyll and Bute Council, the Royal Navy and the Mountain Rescue team.
BBC presenter Euan Mcllwraith, who was at the scene shortly after the crash, said emergency services cut the side off the coach to help passengers inside.
"Although there have been injuries, and serious injuries, these people are very, very lucky," he told BBC News.
Some of the more seriously injured passengers were taken to hospital by Royal Navy helicopter.
They are being treated at the Southern General, Western Infirmary and Royal Alexandra hospitals.
An RAF helicopter from Lossiemouth was also at the scene along with a mountain search and rescue team. The A83 is closed and a lengthy diversion is in place, along the A82.
A spokeswoman for Lochs and Glens said: "We are providing all necessary support for those passengers who were on board and the relatives of those who have been injured.
"The driver and the company are co-operating fully with the police investigation to establish the exact cause."
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: "Scottish ministers have been kept fully informed of this serious incident across the afternoon and our immediate thoughts are with the passengers who have been transported to hospital.
"The emergency services have been working closely with helicopters from both Prestwick and Lossiemouth as well as mountain rescue teams and a rest centre has been set up in Three Villages Hall in Arrochar to help the walking wounded."
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The family of a woman murdered in her own home in Glasgow last year has lodged a petition at the Scottish Parliament to press for longer prison sentences for violent reoffenders.

Isabelle Sanders, 51, was stabbed to death by Paul McManus, 20, during a robbery at her home in Crookston.
McManus was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 26 years.
Ms Sanders' brother James Dougall says whole life terms would protect the public from violent criminals.
During a trial at the High Court in Glasgow last year a jury heard that Ms Sanders was stabbed 37 times during the robbery.
McManus was also convicted of attempting to murder her partner, Norman Busby, 86, and two robbery-related stabbings.
After the trial, it emerged McManus had been released from a previous sentence just weeks before the murder.
The judge who sentenced him highlighted his "significant" criminal record, which included convictions for theft, assault and robbery and the use of weapons.
Lord Armstrong pointed out that the 20-year-old had already served seven sentences of detention.
Ms Sanders' family has lodged a petition with Holyrood's petitions committee which they hope will attract widespread public support.
Her brother, Mr Dougall, told BBC Scotland: "It is maybe not applicable for every violent offender, but certainly for violent reoffenders who get the chance of early release and then go on to reoffend and who disregard that chance they have been given and go on to commit violent murder specifically.
"I think (in these cases) the whole of life sentence is an appropriate option for the judiciary and guidance should be given to them that they will be allowed to impose that type of sentence.
"So the petition we have started is 'life means life' - that judges have that option for whole of life sentencing in specific circumstances."
Though not used in Scotland, whole life sentences are used by judges in England.
The Scottish government has highlighted the fact that judges already have the power to impose a sentence which will exceed the rest of a person's life.
A government spokesman said: "Scottish courts have the power to impose the equivalent of a 'whole life tariff' in any given case.
"The independence of Scotland's judiciary is a fundamental part of the Scottish legal system. As such, sentencing is a matter for judges who operate independently of Scottish ministers and it is for our courts to decide what sentence to impose in each case before them.
"The Scottish government has previously announced the creation of a specific Scottish Sentencing Council which will promote consistency and transparency around sentencing and encourage better understanding of sentences across Scotland, as well as producing sentencing guidelines for the judiciary."


As the US debates whether the security risks of resettling Syrian refugees outweighs the desire to help those fleeing a brutal civil war, a look at some of the key statistics.

Millions of Syrians have fled their homeland during the past four years of conflict.
The majority poured into UN-run refugee camps in neighbouring countries at first, but in recent months many have taken dangerous sea journeys to Europe to seek asylum, prompting a migration crisis on the continent.
Facing pressure to do more, the Obama administration announced in September that it would increase the number of Syrian refugees it allows to resettle in the US over the next year. Here's what we know so far.
4,289,792 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR
2,370 Syrian refugee arrivals in the US
55.69% under 20
30.73% age 21 to 40
12.10% age 41 to 64
1.48% over 65
47.05% female
52.95% male
Step 1 - Leaving home
Step 2 - Referral by UNHCR
Step 3 - US security checks
Step 4 - Arrival in US
Fleeing the ongoing violence in Syria, refugees leave their homes to find camps that are often run by the UNHCR.  In order to qualify for international resettlement, the refugee has to leave his or her country.
The UNHCR then determines which refugees qualify for resettlement. At that point, qualifying refugees are referred to specific countries.
Refugees referred to the US then begin a lengthy screening process that can take from 18 months to two years.
If the refugee passes all security screenings, he or she is then referred to one of nine NGOs that assist in placing them in the US.
For more detail: Step-by-step: how a Syrian refugee gets to the US
A note on data sources: Most data is from the Worldwide Refugee Admissions Processing System (WRAPS), endorsed by the US State Department.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.


The planned merger of mobile networks O2 and Three should be blocked or severely restricted by EU regulators, the UK competition watchdog has said.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressed "serious concerns" to the European Commission about the deal.
It warned the merger could cause "long-term damage" for UK consumers as it would leave only three mobile networks.
CK Hutchison, the owner of Three, said it was "very disappointed" the CMA had published the letter.
The European Commission has until 19 May to make a decision on Three's proposed £10.5bn takeover of O2.
Hutchison said: "It is no surprise that CMA opposes the merger. It always has, and so has Ofcom. But it is for the Commission to assess any competition concerns, on the basis of the facts and proposed remedies."
Sky, Virgin, Tesco and UK Broadband have agreed to use Three-O2's share of UK airwaves to offer their own mobile packages, the company said.
"The entry of so many diverse, strong and committed players will ensure that there is plenty of competition in the UK market and plenty of counter offers to any supposed price increases post-merger," it said.
Three's owner added that it would invest £5bn in UK mobile infrastructure and that new entrants would add a further £5bn.
The planned purchase of O2 by Hutchison, which is owned by Asia's richest person Li Ka-shing, was announced early last year.
If approved, the deal would leave just two other major UK operators: EE and Vodafone.
Hutchison sent its suggested remedies to the European Commission last week to smooth the takeover.
The CMA said the remedies "fall well short" and insisted the Commission should instead force most of O2 or Three's mobile network to be sold off after the deal.
"Absent such structural remedies, the only option available to the Commission is prohibition," Alex Chisholm, chief executive of the CMA, said in the letter to the European Commission.
European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager will make the final decision on the deal, rather than UK regulators.
"At best we see UK deal approval odds at 50/50. The risk, here, is the decision could become increasingly political (from a UK perspective it already is) as it's so close to the Brexit vote," said Mandeep Singh, a partner at Redburn analysts.
Campaigners for a British exit from the EU - known as "Brexit" - have already raised concerns about the European Commission having the final say instead of the CMA or Ofcom.
The Commission has previously approved deals in Ireland, Austria and Germany that reduced the number of mobile networks from four to three.
The UK telecoms market is going through significant change, with broadband, mobile and subscription TV providers increasingly competing with each other.
BT re-entered the mobile market earlier this year after its £12.5bn takeover of EE was approved by the CMA.
Tom Mockridge, Virgin Media chief executive, said: "A combined O2-Three would provide a counter balance to the strength of BT/EE, offering an alternative source of capacity to other providers who will drive competition in their own right."


Few TV casting announcements can have been as long awaited as the name of the new Doctor Who and when the revelation finally came it sent social media into a frenzy.

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world joined the debate about the news that Jodie Whittaker is to star as the first female Time Lord.
The social reaction was as varied as the hashtags used to share them which included Doctor Who, Dr Who, #doctor13 and #jodiewhittaker.
While some people talked about the great role model the new Doctor would be for girls and women, others wondered why it had taken so long and some were firmly in the camp that the Doctor was only ever meant to be male.
People with young girls in their families appeared to be delighted at the announcement including David Owens who wrote: "My 8-year-old daughter pumped her fist and shouted "yes!" when the new @bbcdoctorwho was revealed. Think that tells you all you need to know."
Simon Tucker responded saying: It's great mate. My nieces can grow up in a world with a good Wonder Woman, a female Jedi, female ghostbusters & a female Dr Who."
And @BlackRyu82 wrote: "My youngest daughter loves new Ghostbusters. We watched it together almost daily at one point. Super excited to watch Dr Who with her!"
One user applauded the move saying; "The lack of women, and lead women, in sci fi is embarrassing. Doctor Who just made a step in the right direction".
And the casting milestone made some people feel quite emotional like Carla Joanne who tweeted: "Wow. I don't even watch #DrWho & this made me choke up a little. I will def be tuning in".
Giving Jodie Whittaker the lead role could pull in more new viewers including @Laidback_Blake who wrote: "Ooh a lady Dr. Who this time. I may have to watch this season."
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The news was greeted in an apparently tongue-in-cheek way by some including @plewis16 who tweeted: "A woman as Dr Who ? I can't believe it - outrageous. Send for the Daleks! And change the locks on all police boxes. What would Hartnell say?"
But not everyone was happy. On Facebook Nicki Murphy wrote: "I like Jodi, I think she is a terrific actor but I'm sorry, this is an exercise in pleasing the PC brigade. How about writing some new, quality roles for females... this is an attempt to meet some quota!!!"
And a female Doctor was all too much for life-long fan Wendy Roberts who posted: "No disrespect to the actress chosen but the producers have brought my Dr Who history and memories to an abrupt end."
Si Stringer took a more nuanced view of the Facebook discussion posting simply: "People who accept a shape-shifting, time-travelling immortal character unable to accept female lead in a television show."
The conversation will no doubt not end here but as one Twitter user pointed out, whatever your view about a female Doctor, one thing is for certain: "The world hasn't ended."
By Annie Flury, UCG and Social News


Police in Mexico have arrested the father-in-law of the country's most wanted man, the drug boss Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.

Ines Coronel grew marijuana in the northern state of Sonora to smuggle into the United States, officials say.
The father of Mr Guzman's third wife was reportedly detained with guns, ammunition and drugs.
Joaquin Guzman is the leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel and there is a $5m (Â£3.2m) US reward for his capture.
Mr Coronel, 45, was detained in Agua Prieta, near the border with the US state of Arizona, along with four other men including his son, Interior Deputy Secretary Eduardo Sanchez told journalists.
The US Treasury Department issued financial sanctions against Mr Coronel in January, when the investigations that led to his arrest are said to have been started.
At the time, officials described him as a key figure in the Sinaloa cartel.
Guzman has been on the run since escaping a Mexican maximum security prison in 2001.
The city of Chicago named him its first public enemy number one since Al Capone.
He has been indicted on federal trafficking charges and US officials want him extradited if he is ever captured.
Forbes magazine has estimated Guzman's fortune at about $1bn.


Raiding the fridge or downing glasses of water after a night of heavy drinking won't improve your sore head the next day, Dutch research suggests.

Instead, a study concluded, the only way to prevent a hangover is to drink less alcohol.
More than 800 students were asked how they tried to relieve hangover symptoms, but neither food nor water was found to have any positive effect.
The findings are being presented at a conference in Amsterdam.
A team of international researchers from the Netherlands and Canada surveyed students' drinking habits to find out whether hangovers could be eased or if some people were immune to them.
Among 826 Dutch students, 54% ate food after drinking alcohol, including fatty food and heavy breakfasts, in the hope of staving off a hangover.
With the same aim, more than two-thirds drank water while drinking alcohol and more than half drank water before going to bed.
Although these groups showed a slight improvement in how they felt compared with those who hadn't drunk water, there was no real difference in the severity of their hangovers.
Previous research suggests that about 25% of drinkers claim never to get hangovers.
So the researchers questioned 789 Canadian students about their drinking in the previous month and the hangovers they experienced, finding that those who didn't get a hangover simply consumed "too little alcohol to develop a hangover in the first place".
Of those students who drank heavily, with an estimated blood alcohol concentration of more than 0.2%, almost no-one was immune to hangovers.
According to lead author Dr Joris Verster, from Utrecht University, the relationship was pretty straightforward.
"The more you drink, the more likely you are to get a hangover.
"Drinking water may help against thirst and a dry mouth, but it will not take away the misery, the headache and the nausea."
Dr Verster said part of the problem was that scientists still do not know what causes a hangover.
"Research has concluded that it's not simply dehydration - we know the immune system is involved, but before we know what causes it, it's very unlikely we'll find an effective cure."
He said the next step was to carry out more controlled trials on hangovers.
Dr Michael Bloomfield, from University College, London, said the economic costs of alcohol abuse ran into hundreds of billions of euros every year.
"It's therefore very important to answer simple questions like, 'How do you avoid a hangover?'
"Whilst further research is needed, this new research tells us that the answer is simple - drink less."
The paper is presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology conference.
What strategies do people use when they have drunk too much alcohol?
Find out why alcohol can make you feel awful the morning after.
BBC iWonder - How can I avoid a hangover?


Robot Wars reached it's epic conclusion on August 28.

1 September 2016 Last updated at 09:24 BST
Forty robots entered the competition and after six weeks of battles, just one emerged victorious.
We went to meet the team behind mean-machine Apollo to find out what made it a winner.


A propeller manufacturer has resumed production in Bristol after its factory in Gloucestershire was devastated by a major fire.

The Dowty site in Staverton had to be demolished after it was severely damaged by the blaze in February.
The firm said it is utilizing the National Composites Centre (NCC) on a temporary basis until "an interim facility is up and running".
Eight Dowty employees are now based at the NCC site making propeller parts.
Spokeswoman Jessica Ensan said the NCC "came to our rescue" by lending factory space and autoclave machines used in the manufacture of de-icer boots which decrease ice accumulation during flight.
Dowty's main production line makes propellers for the C130J Super Hercules and the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.
The cause of the Staverton site fire is still being investigated.


Two routes are being considered for the £127m Midland Metro tram extension in Birmingham.

The first of the proposed routes in Digbeth would run along Fazeley Street and Liverpool Street.
The second would run along New Canal Street, Meriden Street and High Street in Deritend. Both routes would finish in Adderley Street.
People are being asked for their thoughts on the plans before the deadline on 31 October.
A tram route from Bull Street to the proposed HS2 high speed rail station at Curzon Street has already been agreed.
Transport chiefs secured extra government money in the summer to take the extension further into Digbeth. It could open by 2023.
Centro chairman John McNicholas said: "This project will help shape the future of our region and the views of the public are an important part of the process."
The tram extension is part of a wider plan drawn up by the city council and Centro for land around the HS2 station.


Following Friday's opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium, the Olympic Games in Rio are now in full swing, with 10,500 athletes representing a record 207 teams in action during the next fortnight.

But what if one of those teams was a single county in the north of England?
Four years ago, Yorkshire's athletes were leading Team GB to a record medal haul, and would have finished 12th if it were an individual country - ahead of Jamaica, Brazil and Spain among many others.
Further medals in the Paralympics, including two golds for wheelchair sprinter Hannah Cockroft, capped off a brilliant sporting summer for the White Rose.
With London 2012 now a distant memory, what legacy has Yorkshire been left with?
Recent BBC analysis showed that despite Great Britain and Northern Ireland's success in London, there are 8,700 fewer people who now play sport or exercise once a week than there were in 2012.
Participation in Yorkshire and the Humber fell by 1.7%, the steepest decline in the country, with Doncaster the worst-affected area as it saw a fall of 13.2%.
Those figures are in spite of a number of events being introduced to the region since 2012.
The Tour de Yorkshire was seen by over 1.2 million people in its inaugural year in 2015, the World Triathlon Series visited Leeds for the first time in June and the First Direct Arena in Leeds has provided a home for high-profile boxing bouts.
Despite the statistics for the county as a whole, the leader of Leeds City Council believes holding these major events has inspired her city.
Councillor Judith Blake said: "One of the biggest aspects of bringing the Tour de France to Leeds was legacy, but we couldn't anticipate how much the communities engaged in the event.
"It unleashed a phenomenal pride in Yorkshire and gave an opportunity to showcase to the world what a fabulous county we are - it also did an incredible amount for confidence in the region.
"The Tour de France, Tour de Yorkshire and the Leeds Triathlon have really contributed to Leeds being regarded and recognised as one of the most active cities in England."
In all six sports where Yorkshire athletes won medals at London, funding has gone up, with triathlon seeing a 29% increase in investment.
Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium was knocked down in 2013 and the athletics track torn up, but a £3.5m basketball arena will be built in its place at the 35-acre Olympic Legacy Park, which will also house a 3G pitch for rugby league side Sheffield Eagles and a research centre for sport.
"There's some major performance centres based in and around us in Sheffield," explained Lorenzo Clark of Sheffield International Venues, which is responsible for the facilities where some of South Yorkshire's leading athletes train.
"Yes, they are supported financially, but I think there's further potential for Sheffield to compete to be one of the key centres for sport in the UK."
Sport England say that investment from local councils in sport has fallen by £389m since 2010, with Sheffield City Council claiming "unprecedented" cuts to council budgets was forcing them to find alternate sources of funding from external agencies.
"There's a whole range of indicators where we don't get our fair share in funding. It's not just sport - it's transport, it's culture," added Blake.
"It's a major challenge - we have conversations with the elite athletes, who tell us how much more we could do with better facilities."
With even greater success predicted for Great Britain in Rio, how can the county ensure the legacy of London 2012 is carried over in the build-up to Tokyo 2020 and beyond?
"I'm always going to say we need more money and better facilities in the county," said former Sport Minister Richard Caborn, who is now chair for the Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield.
"Let's get the elites working with their local clubs - that doesn't happen as effectively as it could do, and that's a real challenge.
"If people feel they can be the next Nicola Adams then it's inspirational, that's what Olympic legacy is all about."
UK Sport rules mean money is distributed to sports according to their chances of winning medals - something Blake feels could be reconsidered.
"Funding is so closely linked to elite performance," she told BBC Sport.
"After Rio, I think we need to look at how we can make the funding regimes work for us to encourage more participation from young people coming through."
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A former Cancer Research UK assistant manager has pleaded guilty at Londonderry Magistrates Court to stealing over £600 from the charity.

Nicole Ferguson, 27, from Fergleen Park in Derry, pleaded guilty to stealing the money from the Ferryquay Street branch of Cancer Research UK.
The offence was committed between 21 March and 24 July 2014.
Ferguson has been released on bail until she is sentenced in February.
She also pleaded guilty to a second charge of abusing her position as an employee to expose charity to a risk of financial loss.
A defence solicitor told the court that full restitution would be available when Ferguson is sentenced.
As part of her bail conditions Ferguson must co-operate with the probation service and must reside at her Fergleen Park address.


The leader of a group of armed protesters occupying a wildlife refuge in the US state of Oregon has refused a sheriff's offer to end the stand-off.

Ammon Bundy turned down the offer by Harney County Sheriff David Ward to escort the occupiers out of the state.
The group took over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge centre near Burns to support father and son ranchers who have been ordered to return to jail.
The case has riled right-wing activists who resent government interference.
Mr Bundy briefly left the centre with other occupiers on Thursday to meet Sheriff Ward on a roadside nearby.
The two sides plan to talk again on Friday, the sheriff's office said.
Ranchers Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven, 46, were convicted of arson on federal land in 2012, but a court ruled their original sentences were too short.
The men say they set the fires to contain wildlife.
The Hammonds' lawyer has said the family does not want the protesters' support.
However, those occupying the wildlife refuge centre say they may use violence if police try to evict them.
Correspondents say the incident is part of a decades-old conflict between ranchers and the federal government over the use of public land.
Critics of the federal government argue that it often oversteps its authority over land use.
Ammon Bundy's father Cliven was involved in a stand-off with the government over grazing rights in 2014.


Truro City manager Lee Hodges has praised the way Andrew Neal has adapted to life in National League South.

The forward joined City from South West Peninsula League side Bodmin Town in the summer and has scored eight goals, including four in the last five games.
"It took him as little bit of time to settle and get used to it.
"But over these last few weeks he's starting to find his feet and with his work rate he's also adding the goals to that which is great," Hodges said.
"When things aren't going well he has to carry on doing this hard work and this never give up attitude, which is what we want at the club.
Meanwhile, Hodges says he will be looking to replace player-coach Rory Fallon after the New Zealand international left the club earlier this week.
"I'm sure something else will happen for Rory during the course of the season, I don't think he's finished with football.," he told BBC Radio Cornwall.
"We're always looking to bring in players. I don't think anything's going to happen in the next game, but over the coming weeks hopefully we'll get some more players in."


A 30-year-old man, who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl he met online, has been jailed for 12 months.

Aiden Hughes, with an address of Balmoral Road, Bangor, posed as a teenage boy before meeting his victim in a Belfast park.
During the meeting, he touched the girl over her clothes. He later admitted the charge against him.
Belfast Crown Court heard Hughes had marriage problems and took to the internet to "escape the stress".
A prosecution lawyer told the court that Hughes met the girl on a social networking site, while pretending to be a 14-year-old called Matt Smith.
They began exchanging emails which soon became sexual.
Hughes asked the girl for meetings and later told her he was 20, and not 14 as previously stated, and admitted his name was Aiden.
His victim reported that he made her feel "a little bit sorry for him".
A defence solicitor for Hughes said he was a young man who did an extremely stupid thing and was deeply ashamed of his actions.
The judge ruled Hughes be put on the Sex Offenders' Register for ten years and also made him the subject of a ten-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order, disqualifying him from working with children and restricting his use of the internet.
On his release from prison, he will be required to live at an address approved by the authorities.
The judge told Hughes the impact on the then 14-year-old could not be ignored or forgotten and that adults deliberately making contact with young children for sexual activity would not be tolerated.


Engineers are to investigate how to tackle one of the most challenging sections in a project to upgrade the A9 trunk road between Inverness and Perth.

The Slochd Summit, south of Inverness, is the second highest point on the A9 after the Drumochter Summit at 401m (1,315ft) above sea level.
The road at the Slochd is one of 12 sections of the A9 being upgraded from single to dual carriageway.
Ground investigation work there is due to start early next week.
A traffic management system will be in place during the work which is expected to take five weeks to complete.
Transport Scotland's A9 dualling project is to be completed in 2025 at a cost of Â£3bn.
Economy Secretary Keith Brown said: "Building on the vital ground investigation work that has already taken place across the dualling programme this year, this latest ground investigation contract will take place along a very challenging part of the route totalling over 15 miles which includes the dramatic rockface at Slochd.
"We hope to identify the preferred route for this section next year and these investigations will help inform the design work at the next stage."


The wreckage of a plane that disappeared with 116 people on board on a flight from Burkina Faso to Algiers has been found in Mali, officials say.

French troops based in the region are on their way to secure the site, about 50km (30 miles) from the border with Burkina Faso, French officials said.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane early on Thursday after pilots reported severe storms.
The passengers on the Air Algerie flight included 51 French citizens.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 - Flight AH 5017 - had been chartered from Spanish airline Swiftair.
French President Francois Hollande expressed solidarity with the friends and families of those on board.
"A French military unit has been sent to (the area) to secure the site and gather evidence," his office said in a statement (in French).
The statement went on to say that the plane had "disintegrated", without giving further details.
France's Interior Minister said it appeared likely the plane had crashed due to bad weather.
The crash site was identified on Thursday by the Burkina Faso army near the village of Boulikessi, officials said.
Gilbert Diendere, a Burkina Faso army general, said Mali had agreed to their cross-border search which was launched after a resident in Gossi described seeing a plane go down to the south-west of the town.
"Sadly, the team saw no-one on site. It saw no survivors," he told reporters.
"They found human remains and the wreckage of the plane totally burnt and scattered," he added.
Malian state radio said shepherds had been the first to spot the wreckage and had informed the authorities, the BBC's Alex Duval Smith reports from the Malian capital, Bamako.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told French radio network RTL that "the aircraft was destroyed at the moment it crashed", meaning that it did not appear likely that the plane was attacked mid-flight.
"We think the aircraft crashed for reasons linked to the weather conditions, although no theory can be excluded at this point," he said.
Earlier, French fighter jets and UN helicopters had been hunting for the wreck in the more remote desert region of northern Mali between Gao and Tessalit.
Contact with Flight AH 5017 was lost about 50 minutes after take-off from Ouagadougou early on Thursday morning, Air Algerie said.
The pilot had contacted Niger's control tower in Niamey at around 01:30 GMT to change course because of a sandstorm, officials say.
Burkina Faso authorities said the passenger list comprised 27 people from Burkina Faso, 51 French, eight Lebanese, six Algerians, two from Luxembourg, five Canadians, four Germans, one Cameroonian, one Belgian, one Egyptian, one Ukrainian, one Swiss, one Nigerian and one Malian.
The six crew members are Spanish, according to the Spanish pilots' union.
Flight AH 5017 flies the Ouagadougou-Algiers route four times a week, AFP reported.
BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says it a route often used by French travellers.
France sent troops to Mali in January 2013 after al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened to overrun the capital, Bamako.
It ended its military deployment in Mali in July, but agreed to keep troops in the region as part of a new military operation based in Chad, focused on targeting Islamist extremists in the Sahel region.
France has strong ties to many west African countries. Mali, Algeria and Chad were all former French colonies.


Glasgow's Willow Tea Rooms is to leave its Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed building in Sauchiehall Street.

The building is to close for a two-year refurbishment after being taken over by the Willow Tea Rooms Trust in 2014.
The Willow Tea Rooms inside, however, is a separate business and will not re-open there when the revamp is complete.
Its owner, Anne Mulhern, confirmed she would be recreating the Tea Rooms, which she has run since 1983, inside the nearby Watt Brothers store.
The Sauchiehall Street building and interiors were designed by Rennie Mackintosh and built in 1903 for Kate Cranston, who ran several tearooms in the city.
Ms Mulhern transformed the Tea Rooms back to their original use in 1983 after the building had been used as a retail unit.
She did not own the building, however, which was acquired by the Willow Tea Rooms Trust in 2014.
The trust now aims to close the building on 22 June for a two-year refurbishment which aims to restore the structure to its former glory.
Ms Mulhern, who also operates the Willow Tea Rooms on Buchanan Street, said it was necessary to move to secure her business.
"When we found out that the repairs to our existing building meant that we would have to close for two years, we were devastated," she said.
"We still have the Willow Tea Rooms in Buchanan Street but were keen to open near Sauchiehall Street and secure the jobs of our fantastic staff.
"It's great that we can remain open with the same staff, same menu, same interiors and same great waitress service - just a few blocks down the street."
Ms Mulhern said the Sauchiehall Street Willow Tea Rooms would be recreated on the third-floor of the nearby Watt Brothers department store.
It is hoped that the new premises will be ready for customers in July.
Watt Brothers, which has operated as a family-run business in Glasgow since 1915, is located at the corner of Sauchiehall Street and Hope Street.
Managing director Willie Watt said the addition of the Willow Tea Rooms to the Glasgow store would work for both businesses.
He said: "We are a company proud of its history and we're particularly pleased to be working with Anne and her team in including a high-quality, prestige tea room which will complement both our business and the Willow Team Rooms' business which pays tribute to one of our city's great architects.
"What could be more appealing for shoppers than a stop-off in our store where they can enjoy a cuppa and some fine food?"


The number of women playing sport regularly in England has reached an all-time high of 7.21 million, research published by Sport England shows.

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The Active People Survey found the number of participants has increased by 250,000 since the organisation launched its This Girl Can campaign in 2014.
The difference between the number of men and women playing sport has narrowed to 1.55 million.
Overall, there were 229,400 more people playing regular sport than last year.
That increased the total number of over-16s playing sport in the 12 months up to 30 September 2016 to 15.97 million.
The figure is 1.88 million higher than that of 2005, when London won the right to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Sport England chief executive Jennie Price said: "These figures are really encouraging, especially the substantial increase in the number of women playing sport and being active every week.
"Our This Girl Can campaign set out to tackle the gender gap, so to reduce it significantly in just two years shows we are making a difference."
Sport England said going to the gym remained "hugely popular" with 7.10 million going on a weekly basis, an increase of 286,400.
It added: "Exercise classes, like spinning, pilates and boxercise continue to attract large numbers of people, especially women."
Find out how to get into just about any sport with our special guides
Other sports to have seen a rise in participation include netball, up 25,400 to 180,200, hockey up 4,500 to 92,700 and gymnastics, up 13,400 to 65,100.
Swimming saw an increase of 11,000 following several years of decline to reach a total of 2.52m people swimming at least once a week, while participation in football rose by 29,900 to 1.84 million.
However, Sport England said there had been a decline in two sports which had grown strongly in the past: athletics and cycling.
Athletics is down 5% to 108,400, while cycling participation fell 4% to 85,200.
It said both sports "remain popular with people in midlife", but were struggling to attract people under the age of 25.


A Bolivian investigation into a plane crash that killed 71 people last month, including dozens of Brazilian football players, has concluded that the pilot and the airline were directly responsible, an official says.

The plane, operated by Bolivian airline LaMia, plunged into a mountainside near the Colombian city Medellin. Only six people survived.
An audio recording of the pilot suggested the aircraft ran out of fuel.
A Colombian investigation continues.
LaMia's chief executive, Gustavo Vargas Gamboa, and his son, Gustavo Vargas Villegas, a former official with Bolivia's aviation authority, are being held pending trial. They deny wrongdoing.
The pilot, Miguel Quiroga, who was also a co-owner of the airline, died in the crash. In a leaked tape, he can be heard warning of a "total electric failure" and "lack of fuel". However, he did not make a formal distress call.
"The evidence is conclusive, the direct responsibility of this event falls on the pilot and the airline company," Bolivia's Public Works and Services Minister Milton Claros told reporters. He oversees the country's aviation authority.
The aircraft had been transporting Brazil's Chapecoense soccer team to the biggest game in its history, the final of the Copa Sudamericana.
LaMia announced compensations of $165,000 (Â£134,000) to the victims' families and survivors, Brazilian website G1 reported.


Fifa's corruption problems are a result of officials staying "too long" in key positions, according to the governing body's head of audit and compliance.

Domenico Scala announced an eight-part reform process, which includes a limit of three terms of four years for the president and the executive committee.
He said: "A number of issues have their root cause in the fact that people have stayed for far too long."
Sepp Blatter was Fifa president for 17 years before stepping down in June.
The 79-year-old, who will leave Fifa in February 2016, was in power for a total of four terms and was elected for a fifth before resigning.
Senior vice-president and executive committee member Issa Hayatou has been in place for 25 years with Spain's Angel Maria Villar Llona also an ex-co member for 17 years.
Swiss-Italian Scala was set to be appointed as head of a Fifa taskforce set up to tackle corruption following the start of two ongoing criminal investigations.
But after questions over the independence of the reform process, former International Olympic Committee director-general Francois Carrard was assigned with the role.
After delivering his proposals, Scala, who has acted independently and wants Carrard's reform panel to adopt his ideas, also said: "If Fifa does not move, public opinion will not change.
He added: "I made it very clear when Mr Blatter laid down his mandate that it was not only about the change of presidency but that there were certain systemic issues that need to be addressed.
"We need reforms now, we can't wait. Fifa works very well operationally and has not come to a halt. But this is a watershed in terms of role and perception going forward."
In addition to term limits, he announced plans for:
The development comes after Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan said Fifa "must overcome deep-seated corruption" as he announced he will stand in the Fifa presidential election.
Uefa president Michel Platini has also declared that he wants to stand for Fifa president.
Former Fifa executive Chung Mong-joon of South Korea has also indicated that he will run in next year's election, as has Liberian FA president Musa Bility.


The Belfast Giants' season finished with a 2-0 defeat by Sheffield Steelers on Saturday in the Elite League play-off semi-finals.

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It was a game they dominated, out-shooting the Steelers 31-18 but as their coach Paul Thompson succinctly pointed out after the game: "I didn't care less about our performance, it was only the result that counted."
Twenty-four hours later his team was skating around the National Ice Centre with the play-off trophy after a dramatic 6-5 double overtime win over the Cardiff Devils, ending the Welsh side's Grand Slam ambitions.
For the record the Giants finished third beating up the Dundee Stars 15-8 in an unnecessary and embarrassing spectacle for the Elite League. Did anyone really celebrate?
It left the Giants without a trophy for the third consecutive season, something that has never happened before. It shows how successful the Giants have been in their short history for this to be their longest drought but it also means their fans demand and expect success. Three years seems like a lifetime.
In ice hockey only the winners are remembered. Unlike the Premier League in football there are no celebrations for fourth place.
It was a good season for the Giants and certainly an improvement on the previous campaign. League runners-up, Challenge Cup semi-finalists and Final Four in the play-offs show they were in contention for all three trophies.
Disappointingly however, the team failed to bring its 'A' game to the biggest and most important contests.
They held a one-goal lead going into the home leg of the Challenge Cup semi-final against Cardiff and after dragging back a 14-point deficit to the Devils in the league they had a home double-header against the Welsh side and a 3-0 lead going into the final period of the first game.
They lost all three games…at home…coupled with another defeat at the SSE Arena to Sheffield shortly afterwards and two trophy chances disappeared in the space of two weeks…at home.
Head of Hockey Operations Steve Thornton has some difficult decisions to make. Some players will be told they won't be offered new contracts; others such as Blair Riley, Steve Saviano, Stephen Murphy and Jim Vandermeer are on two year contracts and provide a solid foundation to build from.
But the key decisions involve Derrick Walser and Adam Keefe.
The Giants were Walser's first coaching appointment and having arrived new to the league two seasons ago he learned from early mistakes and his second season in charge was very different and more successful than his first.
He's also worth his place in any side as a player but admitted after Saturday's game that now might be the right time to hang up the skates.
If Walser doesn't return the natural solution from within the club would be Adam Keefe but he would be another rookie coach and could the Giants justify bringing a firm fans favourite back as a player?
No-one questions Keefe's 100% commitment to dropping the gloves to defend a team mate or throwing himself in front of the puck to block a shot. But he only scored one goal this season and admitted this had been a "tough season" for him.
The option of a player-coach allows the club to divert money to other personnel but it's worth noting that three of the four Giants league titles have been won by bench coaches.
Who leads the Giants next season will be the most important decision Thornton makes as the pressure to win silverware grows.
Bench coach or player coach? Keep Walser or promote Keefe? Hire from outside the organisation?
The long off season begins….


Saudi Arabia's King Salman has reinstated bonuses and special allowances for civil servants and military personnel that had been cut last September as part of austerity measures when oil revenues were low.

The king fired his civil service minister and put him under investigation for abuse of office.
He also named his son Prince Khalid as new ambassador to the US.
His decrees saw a new national security centre created under the Royal Court.
The king also ordered two months extra salary be paid to frontline military personnel taking part in Saudi-led operations in Yemen.
Prince Khalid, the new ambassador in Washington, is a fighter pilot who has trained in the US and carried out air strikes against the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.
The decree said the pay cuts for ministers and government employees - the first in the country, where about two-thirds of working Saudis are employed in the public sector - had been in response to falling oil prices, which sank to a low of $28 (£21) a barrel last January.
The price of oil has since risen to about $52 a barrel and ministers said budgetary performance had been better than expected in the first quarter of this year.
Under the cuts, ministers had their salaries reduced by 20% and housing and car allowances for members of the advisory Shura Council were cut by 15%.
Wage increases for lower-ranking civil servants were suspended, and overtime payments and annual leave capped.
Salaries and allowances accounted for 45% of government spending in 2015, or $128bn (£99bn), and contributed to a record budget deficit of $98bn.


Mark King's gambling addiction had briefly got the better of him.

The Essex snooker pro was in a Bulgarian casino in 2012 and his guilty chip was going into overdrive. His body then joined his mind in ganging up on him.
"I only spent about £30, but I was in there sweating because I knew I was doing wrong," King told BBC Sport a few days after winning the Northern Ireland Open, the first ranking title of his 25-year career.
"The reason I lapsed that time was because I stopped going to my Gamblers Anonymous meetings for six months."
Gamblers Anonymous was and remains King's salvation. The 42-year-old first went in 1998, but it was five years later that he started going "seriously" - as he puts it. And he has barely looked back since.
"I have had three or four lapses, but it's been silly things like putting a pound in the fruit machine," he said.
The experience in Bulgaria taught him "a massive lesson".
"I know if I want to carry on not gambling, I have to go to my meetings," added King.
At the height of his addiction, King was betting on all sorts - horses, dogs, card games, it did not matter. His addiction was all-encompassing and it would not be tiny sums either - he could and did lose thousands of pounds in minutes.
He once sold a snooker table for £1,000 and blew the money immediately. And he would chase his losses with disastrous effect. That was why he realised the man staring back at him in the mirror needed to change.
King's marriage to Sally was also becoming increasingly strained and he even considered stealing to get his gambling fix.
The financial cost of his addiction is hard to estimate and King does not really want to think about how bad it actually is, but he did say it could be around the £200,000 mark. Money, however, is just one part of the story.
The Romford-born potter explained: "It gets to the stage where you can either stay compulsive gambling, losing all your money, lying to your wife, not treating her very nicely, going out when you are not supposed to and arguing over nothing because you want to go and gamble.
"Or you think, 'do I really want this life? I have a decent life playing snooker, do I want to waste my life and be a no one?'"
Thirteen years after starting his recovery, King's victory in Belfast on Sunday was all the sweeter considering the journey he has been on. It was also a magnificent moment in his career - for a multitude of reasons.
The world number 35 was "skint". His 83-year-old dad Bill paid his tournament entry fee, and he had to borrow money for the hotel, travel and expenses from one of his best mates. The £70,000 prize money was more than handy.
"We had a big hug and a few tears when I saw my dad," said King, who now lives in Braintree.
"He said all he wanted was to see me win [a ranking title]. I just wanted that one thing for him to see before he eventually passes away. To know that he has seen it is amazing for me."
But having his wife and three children present in Belfast was even better than the victory itself.
"The winning is fantastic but the bit where I potted game-ball and they come over and we all hugged and kissed, that was it - that was the actual dream," said King, who has also twice been a ranking event runner-up.
"No matter what happens in our lives now we have got those memories in the bank. I hope there is more to come. The first few minutes after I had won still send shivers down me. It was awesome."
The former top-16 player exited this year's UK Championship after a 6-2 loss to Sam Cragie on Wednesday, including a docked frame for forgetting his cue after the mid-session interval.
But King feels his game is as consistent as it has been in years and wants to use his recent success as a starting point to get back near his best ranking of 11, which came in 2002.
His approach is all about looking to the future, but the past and a few stark warnings do serve a purpose.
"It's hard when you are doing well and see players who have earned the same money as you and have paid off their mortgage," explained King.
"But the good thing about GA is that you can't look back. I can't get money or time back but I have not missed out on any of my kids' stuff and they have never seen me gamble.
"New people come in, which in a horrible way is nice for us because it reminds us of the pain - it reminds us how bad it can be and keeps you on your toes."
He said gambling was simply "a horrible way of life".
"When you are a compulsive gambler, you are not your true self; you are horrible, you lie, you steal off your own children. You do anything to try to get money," added King.
"The last 13 years my life has been good. Financially it hasn't but the love me and wife and my children have got together as a family is amazing and I could easily throw that all away.
"So that is why Wednesday is GA day every time."


Josh Strauss calls it a "happy-sad" thing, a mix of emotions flitting between regret that he has to move on from Glasgow, where his two young daughters were born, and excitement about a new life in Salford with Sale, an underachieving club that he hopes will come to life on his watch, as the Warriors did.

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"Rugby's a business," says Strauss, from a balcony of the Scotland hotel in downtown Singapore. "I got word at the end of last year that I wouldn't be kept on and that was it.
"I had to phone my agent and tell him to start looking for something.
"There's no hard feelings. Glasgow will always be special to be my because of the boys I played with and because my two girls were born there. They're little Scottish lassies now."
Strauss' journey to Scotland began in Cape Town, where he surfed and dearly wanted to spend his life as a veterinary surgeon.
Then his path took him to France as a young rugby player, then back to South Africa, first with Boland and then, his big break, with the Golden Lions.
He was a bruising number eight, a guy who liked to get on the ball and carry, who liked to bring a huge physical dimension to proceedings. He could lead as well.
He wasn't long in the door at Scotstoun when Gregor Townsend made him a vice-captain to Al Kellock. That was the impact he had. It wasn't just his rugby that stood out, it was his personality.
Strauss told a story back then that endeared him to everyone, a story against himself in many ways, one that punctured a hole in the image of him as a fearless warrior.
It was the day in South Africa when he'd planned to propose to his girlfriend, Tami-Lee. He had it all prepared; the car journey to the outskirts of Johannesburg, the hot-air balloon at Meerhof by the Hartbeespoort Dam, the moment when he took the ring from his pocket as they soared majestically over the Magallies River Valley.
As the balloon went up, Strauss felt his nerve plummet in the opposite direction, not because of the enormous significance of the proposal but because of the enormous distance he was from the ground. "I lost my bottle," he laughed.
Once he returned to earth, the question was popped. Tami-Lee said yes and Sadie and Josie are the little Glaswegians he talks about now.
"At the end of the season, so many players were moving on from Glasgow and we had so many farewell dinners," he says.
"It just felt like you were mouthing-off cliches, but it's true, I've loved my time there. When I first arrived, I couldn't believe the humility of the group and how everyone was so down to earth. I can honestly say that it's the tightest-knit group I've ever worked with.
"Coming into the club at first, the one thing they hammered home was about how close they were as people. I don't know if my new club will be the same or different, but I'll definitely miss that bond.
"I don't tend to think about things until they smack me in the face and I never gave any thought to leaving until I was told it was happening.
"I'm sad about going but looking forward to new challenges. It's good to get out of your comfort zone sometimes."
Strauss is back in the Scotland team to play Italy on Saturday. That'll mark the end-point of his 17-week journey back from a lacerated kidney sustained in Paris in the Six Nations.
His form pre-championship hadn't been stellar, but he found something in those early games against Ireland and France that marked him out as a man reborn, a player who was once again delivering powerhouse ball-carrying performances that shot him to prominence in the first place.
The cruelty was that the injury seemed like nothing to him at the time. "It was tough," he says. "I had those two starts and you feel like you're getting a head of steam going.
"Then I got the injury and it was a weird one. I felt like I'd just broken a rib and didn't think anything was wrong beyond that. It was a freak accident.
"Rest is the only thing that would fix it. You know, in weeks like this in Singapore, it looks like you've just popped back into the mix, but there's a lot of hard work that goes into coming back from injury.
"It's a bit tedious. The first few days are gut-wrenching. 'Why did this happen to  me?' But it's like anything in life, there's no use crying over spilt milk. There's nothing you can do about it."
Sale finished a dismal 10th in the English Premiership last season. As such, they're a club that just hangs about in the league without doing a whole lot.
Their one title was 11 years ago, when they were inspired by Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto and chums. Charlie Hodgson and Richard Wigglesworth were in that side. So too, Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, Sebastien Chabal and Jason White.
Changed days now. "They're a proud club and I hope I can bring something to the place," says Strauss. "It's a great league and they're making some good signings, so there's a plan there."
That's for the future though. For now, it's all about this tour and trying to nail down the jersey that he laid claim to in the opening games of the Six Nations.
On Wednesday morning, Scotland trained in the most humid conditions that any of them had ever experienced in their playing lives. People continue to look at Strauss in wonder that he can get through the stifling heat without taking a blade to his beard to give his face a break.
He's insistent - the beard is staying where it is. The challenge for Saturday is to make sure his place in Townsend's pecking order remains every bit as secure.


It was the best of times, it was the worst of times - well, sort of.

There were definite highs and lows to James Fowler's time in charge at Queen of the South which came somewhat unceremoniously to an end on Monday night.
It was, in classic football parlance, a bit of a game of two halves.
His first season, thrown in at the deep end after Jim McIntyre's departure for Ross County, brought some fine displays and a play-off place.
But that tricky second season syndrome saw his team stutter and their form plummet after a cracking start to the campaign.
Last term, it looked like the club had made the smoothest transition possible.
Inheriting a strong squad, Fowler gradually put his own mark on the side and turned in a series of memorable displays.
A couple of tremendous wins over Rangers at Palmerston were the icing on the cake in a season which ultimately saw them lose out narrowly in a play-off to the Ibrox side.
They gained plaudits for the passing style and adventurous approach which made Dumfries a tough place to visit for anyone.
It looked like the club had once again worked its magic and picked up a quality manager who had originally been signed in a player-coach role.
The way he adjusted so quickly to his new role was impressive.
But the summer brought some harsh realities home at the Doonhamers.
The team which qualified for the play-offs was slowly picked apart as a string of key young players departed for pastures new.
Goalkeeper Zander Clark went back to parent club St Johnstone, Hearts snapped up Gavin Reilly, Ross County took Ian McShane, Kevin Holt left for Dundee, Hibs signed Danny Carmichael and Mark Durnan was Dundee United-bound.
The spine of the side had been systematically removed and any manager would have struggled to cope.
Initially, they appeared to suffer few ill effects with three wins out of three in their opening Championship fixtures.
But the points dried up and so did the goals and hopes of another play-off season began to fade.
It speaks volumes about the progress that the club has made that failure to secure a top four finish could be seen as unsatisfactory.
A number of players signed in the summer struggled with injuries while others found their form was intermittent at best.
There were the odd flashes of good performances, but they were far fewer than they had been in recent campaigns.
How much you blame the manager for that depends on your point of view.
Some will think that anyone would have found it tough to lose so many players in the transfer window and he deserved another season.
Others will argue that the replacements he brought in were not up to the job and he should carry the can.
Whatever your viewpoint, he deserves recognition for taking up his position much earlier in his career than he can ever have imagined at Palmerston Park and delivering some memorable moments - particularly in that first campaign.
He never made any secret of the fact that he was still learning the job in Dumfries and was entitled to make a few mistakes.
That managerial education will now have to continue elsewhere, while the Doonhamers begin the search for someone to keep the club knocking on the door of Scottish football's top division.


Attempts to cajole primary schools in Lancashire to accept academy status could adversely affect children's education, the leader of Lancashire County Council has said.

Geoff Driver said the government was applying undue pressure.
He has written to Education Secretary Michael Gove describing the situation as "unacceptable".
The Department for Education (DfE) said it "cannot just stand by if a school is failing children".
Mr Driver said: "Things are developing in a way that none of us want and I really hope that Mr Gove will arrange a meeting where we can get together and discuss the best way forward.
"For some time I've been concerned that this could be having an adverse impact on the education of the children of Lancashire.
"It's taking too much time of the managers of the schools."
Tony Roberts, secretary of the Lancashire branch of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said: "We have no problem with a school that chooses to become an academy, but it's not a popular route.
"We will continue to support schools to resist this."
A DfE spokesperson said: "Ministers are clear that the best way to turn round under-performing schools is with the strong external challenge and support from academy sponsors.
"Academies have already turned around hundreds of struggling schools across the country.
"If we think that a struggling school would benefit from the support of an academy sponsor, we always hold a full consultation with the local community.
"Ministers carefully consider the consultation report and any other representations before making a final decision."
There are 480 primary schools in Lancashire, of which four are academies.
Government officials have offered primary schools up to Â£40,000 plus Â£25,000 to cover legal fees to change to academies.
Grants have been available since 2010 for schools becoming academies.


A woman has been threatened with a £2,500 fine for flying an "unapproved" Santa flag outside her suburban home without planning permission.

Janis Patterson, 64, from Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, put up an 18ft (5.5m) high pole in October and has flown poppy and Father Christmas designs.
Broxtowe Borough Council said her flags were not on an approved list, but admitted the rules sounded "barmy".
Ms Patterson said: "I can't imagine how my flags are causing any offence".
She told the Nottingham Post as an RAF veteran she had been around flags all her life.
She was bought the pole and flags as a present.
No restrictions:
Some restrictions:
Full rules here
The council's letter came as a complete surprise to Ms Patterson.
"I was just so shocked. First of all I never considered myself to be a criminal in my life," she said.
"And then a £2,500 fine when I'm on a state pension - I wouldn't know how I'd get the money for that.
"But I can't see that these flags are advertising.
"All they are is a bright colourful display on a gloomy day."
Council leader Richard Jackson said there had been a complaint and officials were obliged to enforce the law.
"It does sound a bit barmy to regard a Santa flag as advertising but those are the rules.
"But we are really keen to work with Ms Paterson to see if there is a way to get planning permission," he said.


Rory McIlroy returned to the top of the world rankings after winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio by two strokes from Sergio Garcia.

The Northern Irishman trailed the Spaniard by three shots at the start of the final day in Akron but clawed back the deficit inside four holes.
The Open champion signed for a four-under 66 to finish on 15 under, while Garcia closed with a scrappy 71.
Tiger Woods was forced to quit midway through the round with a back injury.
McIlroy's first WGC title will see him overtake Australian Adam Scott at the top of the world rankings, regaining the position he last held in March 2013.
The 25-year-old was hugely impressive at Hoylake last month and was keen to show there would be no hangover when he arrived in Ohio this week.
"I'm really proud of following up the Open with a performance like this. I wanted to keep going and keep performing until the end of the season," McIlroy said.
"It's great to come to one of my favourite tournaments of the year and to perform like this, I am pretty satisfied."
McIlroy opened with three straight birdies to take a one-shot lead. He never trailed the rest of the way and took the lead for good with an eight-foot birdie on the 11th hole.
Garcia's final-round return of two bogeys against one birdie was some way short of his exploits on the second day.
Garcia played the back nine in just 27 shots in his record-equalling second round of 61, and hit a total of 16 birdies over his first three rounds.
But his failure to press his advantage home on Sunday means the 34-year-old has now won just three times on the 16 occasions he has held the 54-hole lead.
Woods withdrew after eight holes with back pain sustained jumping into a bunker as he played a shot on the second hole, in what was only his third event since returning from back surgery.


The Joint Mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations has outlined its plans for the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons.

The UN Security Council issued a resolution calling for the complete elimination of its chemical arsenal by 30 June 2014 after Syria agreed to join the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in September.
It came after rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin were fired at towns in the Ghouta agricultural belt around Damascus on 21 August, killing hundreds of people. Western powers said only the government could have done it, but President Bashar al-Assad blamed rebels.


Stevenage have further boosted their squad ahead of the new season by signing striker Danny Newton from non-league Tamworth on a two-year deal.

The 26-year-old scored 29 goals last term as the Lambs finished ninth in National League North.
A statement on the Stevenage website said he "had been linked with a number of EFL clubs over the past few months".
Newton is the club's fourth summer signing following the arrival of Harry Beautyman, James Ferry and Alex Samuel.
He recently spent time at Jamie Vardy's V9 Academy.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


A nurse has been charged with terrorism offences after he voluntarily returned to Australia from Turkey.

Adam Brookman, 39, says he was carrying out humanitarian work in Syria when he was forced to work with Islamic State (IS) militants.
He was detained at Sydney airport on Friday after surrendering to officials in Turkey.
Mr Brookman has been charged under new anti-terror laws with knowingly providing support to IS.
The offence carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
He also faces a second charge of "performing services with the intention of supporting a person, or persons, to engage in a hostile activity in a foreign state".
The nurse made no application for bail when he appeared briefly at Melbourne Magistrates' Court. He was remanded in custody pending a hearing on Monday.
Police said that although there was no evidence that Mr Brookman posed a threat, they had acted to protect the community.
Mr Brookman, a Muslim convert, has told Australian media that he travelled to Syria to do humanitarian work but was forced to work with IS when he was injured in an air strike and taken to a militant-controlled hospital.
His return to Australia had been negotiated with Australian government and international agencies, police said.
New Foreign Fighters legislation has made it a crime to assist militant groups in the Middle East.
Australia is on high alert for attacks by radicalised Muslims, including those returning home from fighting in the Middle East.
In December last year, the country specifically banned travel to Syria's Raqqa province, which is held by IS.
It means anyone entering the area could face up to 10 years in prison unless they have a legitimate reason, including family visits, journalism or aid work.
According to the government, at least 100 Australians are fighting with terror groups in the Middle East, and another 150 people in Australia are known to be supporting such groups.


It is only a matter of time before an English manager wins the Premier League title, says Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

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It is 25 years since Howard Wilkinson led Leeds to the 1992 title, the year before the Premier League was formed.
"I don't think it will last another 25 years," said Wenger, referring to "many promising young English managers".
Wenger also defended his players after they were criticised for being too friendly with the Manchester United team prior to Sunday's game.
And he offered sympathy to striker Lucas Perez over his lack of first-team action.
The Gunners face Southampton in the Premier League at St Mary's on Wednesday, knowing a win will left them above Manchester United into fifth in the table, three points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
To mark 25 years since the last English manager won the top flight, at 19:30 BST on Tuesday a BBC Radio 5 live special asks if an English manager will ever win the Premier League.
Wenger, who has won the title three times with Arsenal since taking over from Bruce Rioch in 1996, said: "I don't think it is especially an England problem, it is down to the fact the Premier League has attraction power internationally and today all the big clubs have foreign managers.
"Before, many Scottish people have won the championship in England. We have many young English managers who are promising.
"The English federation has done a good job in educating coaches and you will see a change in that.
"When I arrived I remember there were articles saying foreign managers can never win the championship.
"It will change again, I'm convinced, we are at a turning point in English football history and some English managers will win the Premier League."
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Match of the Day 2 pundits Phil Neville and Martin Keown criticised Arsenal and Manchester United players for hugging and laughing in the tunnel before the Gunners' 2-0 victory at the Emirates on Sunday.
The former suggested that Nacho Monreal looked like he was "going to a christening".
When asked about the incident, Wenger responded: "I understand the pundits are a bit surprised. Ten, 15 years ago that didn't exist but it is an international thing now - you watch Real Madrid versus Barcelona and it is the same.
"It doesn't stop making players focused. It is pictures we're not used to seeing but it is part of the modern game. Maybe it happened 10, 15 years ago but you didn't have cameras in the tunnel."
Arsenal signed Perez for £17.1m from Deportivo La Coruna in August 2016 but the 28-year-old Spaniard has made just 21 appearances for the Gunners this season, starting only twice in the Premier League.
He has scored seven times, including a hat-trick in the Champions League group game at Basel.
"He is a top quality striker, I couldn't give him the games he wants and deserves and I feel sorry for him," said Wenger.
"Don't take anything away from his quality. I would love to [keep him] if I am the manager but we have to sit down together and see if he has a reasonable chance to play or not."
Wenger's contract expires at the end of the season and the club has offered a new two-year deal. However, the 67-year-old has yet to declare his intentions.
He has been criticised by some fans, who are unhappy at the club's performance this season.
They were knocked out in the last 16 of the Champions League by Bayern Munich and are currently sixth in the league table, while they face Chelsea in the FA Cup final at the end of May.
It was reported in Tuesday's Daily Telegraph that Borussia Dortmund director of football Michael Zorc has been approached about taking a job with Arsenal.
When asked about the story, Wenger said: "What does it mean? Is it someone who stands on the road and directs the player right and left, I have never understood what it means?
"I'm not prepared to talk about that, I'm the manager of Arsenal Football Club and as long as I am the manager I will decide what happens on the technical front."


Joe Calzaghe says he has never been tempted to come out of retirement since hanging up his boxing gloves in 2009.

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The undefeated former world super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champion says he could not face getting down to his fighting weight.
"Losing the weight and getting punched in the head - nope, don't fancy it. I've done my bit," said the 43-year-old Welshman.
But Calzaghe is keen to become a manager and has applied for a licence.
"Promoting is a no-no - that's hard work. Training is a full-time job, but I don't have time to do that full-time," he said in an interview for the BBC Sport Wales programme.
"But managing is something I'll be good at. I was self-managed for a lot of my career as well so I know both sides. That will be perfect for me."
Calzaghe reigned as a world champion for more than 11 years, and quit the ring with a glittering record of 46 wins from 46 fights.
That career is the subject of a new feature-length documentary called "Mr Calzaghe" which goes on general release on 23 November.
"It looks at my career, my relationships with my father Enzo and my sons. It was quite emotional for me watching it," he added.
"It crams 25 years into 90 minutes - it's surreal."
Calzaghe hopes the film shows the importance of his family played in his success and the role "people that support you even when you're down" had when he was still an active fighter.
That is a role Calzaghe himself wants to fulfil now that his eldest son Joe Jr, who is 21 years old, has decided to take up boxing.
"I never really really pushed my boys into boxing but I guess it's in the blood," he said.
"I don't mind as long as he takes it seriously and he's happy.
"I can see he's got the dedication then I encourage him. Because there's a lot of pressure on him anyway because of who is father is, so I just say be yourself and just have fun and do your best."
Calzaghe stands alone as the most successful boxer to come out of Wales.
He announced his retirement after comfortably outpointing Hall-of-Fame boxer Roy Jones Jnr in Madison Square Gardens in 2008.
The Welshman says he knew before that fight that he would not step into the ring again.
"Before the Roy Jones fight I knew I was going to retire because I couldn't train, my hands had gone and the hunger had gone," he said.
"If you know you're just fighting for the money and you're not fighting for the championship you're going to lose, so I thought 'it's time for me to quit'."
He regrets the fact that Jones has continued to fight - and is attempting to fight for a title in Russia against Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli in Russia in December.
"Roy Jones Jr should have retired a while back," added Calzaghe.
"He was one of the best fighters pound-for pound and that's what I say about it's not nice to see fighters still fighting when they shouldn't be."
Current IBF world featherweight champion Lee Selby from Barry has impressed Calzaghe.
Selby, 28, took the crown from Evgeny Gradovich in May this year, but surprised the former super-middleweight champion by choosing to make his first defence in America.
That turned out to be a tough points win over Fernando Montiel.
"Having just won the title and to just jump straight into the States that's a wake-up call," said Calzaghe.
"And that's a tough division he's in, so I think he should take it gradually. I've been impressed; he had to dig deep in that last fight. He didn't fight his best, but a win's a win and that's all that matters."
Calzaghe was also impressed with the latest performance by former world light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly.
The Caerphilly fighter lost on points to former world champion Andrzej Fonfara, but gave a gutsy display despite of suffering a facial injury.
"It's a fight he could have won," said Calzaghe. "He showed that he's got a massive heart, a lot of courage.
"If he hadn't have broken his nose in the seventh round he could have won the fight just if he'd used his boxing skills a bit more.
"And if they have a rematch I think he'll win."
Watch Joe Calzaghe's interview with Steffan Garrero on Sport Wales, 19:00 GMT, BBC Two Wales on Friday 20 November.


East Kilbride beat ENC Onyx 65-40 to win netball's Scottish Cup final for the fourth successive year.

With Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games stars Lynsey Gallagher and Samantha Murphy in their ranks, East Kilbride were 28-21 ahead by half-time.
ENC, with Gemma Sole as player-coach, began to make some unforced errors and slipped further behind by full-time.
In the Under-17 Scottish Cup final, Avon cruised to a 65-37 triumph over Holyrood Celts.
Avon players Ann Fleming and Niamh McCall are also part of Netball Scotland's Under-21 squad that will feature in the World Youth Cup in Botswana in July.
Saturday's matches, held at Oriam in Edinburgh, were part of Netball Scotland's National Finals Day.


A Labour MP who struggled to pay for her son's funeral is "delighted" the UK's largest undertaker firm is to waive fees for all children's funerals.

Co-op Funeralcare is extending its free service to cover 16 and 17-year-olds, meaning for some parts of the UK there will be no cost to bereaved families.
Like many independent funeral directors, the Co-op already offers free services for under 16-year-olds.
Carolyn Harris had to borrow money so she could bury her eight-year-old son.
She said: "This compassionate response by the Co-op reaffirms my faith in the funeral industry that has always maintained great respect and compassion at this most dreadful time.
"In reality this means that in some parts of the country, where compassionate local authorities have scrapped fees, there will be no cost to a bereaved parent."
The MP for Swansea East was forced to take out a loan to cover the costs after her son was killed in a road accident in 1989.
She is campaigning for an end to council burial charges for children.
Some local authorities - including Cardiff, Swansea and Plymouth - have already scrapped charges for child burials and cremations.
The government says help is available for those who cannot afford the charges through a social fund for funerals.
Carolyn Harris: End child funerals council charges
Corbyn calls for end to child funeral charges
The average cost of a funeral in 2015 was Â£3,817 including third party fees, according to the Co-op.
The Co-op will cover the costs for the undertakers, embalming, coffin and transport.
It will not pay for third party fees, which include burial and cremation fees, the doctor certification and the minister or celebrant fee.
Richard Lancaster, chief executive of Co-op Funeralcare, said: "Dealing with the death of a child is a devastating experience for any parent and having to comprehend this as well as sorting out the funeral and associated costs makes this experience even more traumatic.
"We hope that others will now improve and extend their own policies on child funeral costs, meaning that funding support across the UK goes much further to assist bereaved parents."
William Eccleston, the managing director of the National Federation of Funeral Directors, welcomed the announcement saying many funeral directors, crematoria and burial grounds have traditionally had a 16-year-old cut off for free services.
He called on all funeral-related services to follow suit - including council-owned crematoria and cemeteries - to ensure costs are not passed on to families.
The children's cancer charity, CLIC Sargent, said the death of a child was something that parents were often financially unprepared for.
Chief executive Kate Lee said: "We know that a child's cancer diagnosis can place a huge financial burden on families, with parents spending an additional Â£600 per month on expenses such as travel, hospital parking and energy bills.
"For the families we support that go through the devastating experience of losing a child, the funeral expenses they face simply add to this burden."
In the year ending 31 March 2016, there were 3,665 child deaths in the UK.


People around the globe have been toasting the birth of the second child for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Celebrations have stretched from the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, across the UK, to the other side of the world.
And, of course, British political leaders could not avoid weighing in with congratulations five days ahead of the general election.
Katrien Grobler, the historical visitor
I'm from South Africa, I've been in London for four months.
I thought I'd go along and arrived about five minutes before the announcement.
I'm shaking with excitement, the atmosphere is amazing! There are at least 1,000 people here. Most of them are photographers!
There are people with flags; people just want to be part of it. It's part of history and I just want to be here!
Meanwhile @zach_dovey, working at the hospital, was caught out by the announcement, tweeting: "Turning up to do an A and E shift at St. Mary's Hospital and had forgotten about #theRoyalBaby shenanigans".
Julie Lischer, the anglophile abroad
I live in Marietta, Georgia, in the USA. Congratulations on the new baby girl!
We held a shower for the royal baby. I served scones and cucumber sandwiches and all kinds of Royal treats. I invited my friends. Everyone came in their finery and hats.
We took up a collection of five US dollars per person and I send that money to one of Kate and Will's favourite charities.
We also had a shower for baby George and did the same. I received a lovely thank you card from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. When I opened my mailbox and saw the Buckingham Palace postmark I almost fell over.
We were on assignment in Cobham, Surrey, with my husband's job in 2007-2010. I fell in love with your country.
I flew back for the Royal wedding in 2011. I was one of the thousands of people out on the mall cheering and snapping photos!
Rebecca Henley and Jeremy Maynard, the accidental tourists
We went to the see the canal boats at Little Venice, but we stumbled on the Lindo Wing and all the hype. There were hordes of people.
We saw Wills, he was waving to the crowd. We chatted to a police lady. She said she was there when George was born.
It was exciting, thrilling. The crowd was hilarious. It was funny to see so many people out in support.
The people from the press were arguing among themselves and trying to attach cameras to the hospital walls.
There's also been a huge reaction on social media generally, with journalists, politicians, businesses and the public sharing #royalbaby facts, tributes and well wishes.
The BT Tower in central London displayed a message announcing it was a girl, and Tower Bridge is set to be lit pink later this evening in celebration of the birth of the princess.
The party leaders were out in force on social media too, offering the good wishes to the royal couple... the reception the politicians got on Twitter, however, was less warm.
The bonhomie even seemed to have spread north of the border with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon adding her congratulations to the list, and being received with equal disdain from her constituents...
Some were tweeting more than others, but even that didn't stop people weighing in and offering their thoughts on perhaps more political issues in response.
And finally UKIP Leader Nigel Farage urged UKIP candidates to take an hour out to toast the arrival of the new royal.
Written by Kerry Alexandra and Richard Irvine-Brown


Human life spans may be limited to a maximum of about 115 years, claim US scientists.

Their conclusions, published in the journal Nature, were made by analysing decades of data on human longevity.
They said a rare few may live longer, but the odds were so poor you'd have to scour 10,000 planet Earths to find just one 125-year-old.
But while some scientists have praised the study, others have labelled it a dismal travesty.
Life expectancy has been increasing relentlessly since the nineteenth century - due to vaccines, safer childbirth and tackling killers like cancer and heart disease.
But can that go on forever?
The team in New York analysed data from the Human Mortality Database and the deaths of super-centenarians (those over 110) in France, Japan, UK and US.
The data showed increases in life expectancy were slowing in centenarians and that the maximum age of death had plateaued for at least two decades.
Prof Jan Vijg, one of the researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told the BBC News website: "In people over 105 we make very little progress, that tells you we are most likely approaching the limit to human life.
"For the first time in history we've been able to see this, it looks like the maximum life span - this ceiling, this barrier - is about 115.
"It's almost impossible you'll get beyond it. You need 10,000 worlds like ours to end up with one individual in a given year who will live until 125 - so a very small chance."
Jeanne Calment came close. The oldest ever person, whose age can be backed up by official documents, was 122 when she died in 1997.
The French icon of longevity was born before the Eiffel Tower was constructed and met the painter Vincent van Gogh.
Nobody has since got near her venerable age.
Prof Dame Linda Partridge, the director of the UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing, said a limit to lifespans "logically has to exist".
But she told the BBC: "Although this really interesting paper describes what is happening, it doesn't describe what will happen."
The crop of centenarians in the study were affected by malnutrition and infectious diseases in their childhood back in the late 19th Century. Remember smallpox was declared eradicated only in 1980.
"It was certainly very different to what the current birth cohort will go through, but it could yet be rather negative as a lot of children have grown up obese and that could bring lifespan down quite a lot," Prof Partridge added.
The 115-year claim is too much for Prof James Vaupel, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research.
He described the study as a dismal travesty and said scientists had in the past claimed the limit was 65, 85 and 105 only to be proven wrong over and over again.
He said: "In this sorry saga, those convinced that there are looming limits did not apply demography and statistics to test hypotheses about lifespan limitsâ€”instead they exploited rhetoric, deficient methods and pretty graphics to attempt to prove their gut feelings.
"[This study] adds nothing to scientific knowledge about how long we will live."
Experiments, which look after animals in ideal conditions, have suggested lifespans do have a limit.
Prof Jay Olshansky, from the University of Illinois, said mice tend to live for about 1,000 days, dogs for about 5,000 days and "humanity is approaching a natural limit to life".
The challenge with tackling ageing is that we have not evolved to live to extreme old ages.
Millions of years of natural selection has honed us to survive, grow and reproduce in our youth.
What happens to our bodies half a century or more later - at ages we have never reached in our evolutionary history - are a side-effect of the instructions in our DNA that are important in youth.
So any attempt to really increase lifespan will need an approach that goes beyond treating diseases and tackles ageing inside every cell of the body.
Prof Jan Vijg added: "To get maximum life spans of 120, 125 or 130 maybe, we need to do something very fundamental here.
"We need to change the whole genetic make-up of the human species, you would have to develop thousands or tens of thousands of different drugs.
"The ageing process is so complicated that it will not be possible to substantially change this limit to human life."
Follow James on Twitter.


Plans to fine rough sleepers in Chester are "not appropriate", Cheshire's police and crime commissioner has said.

Cheshire West and Chester Council originally proposed to introduce a public space protection order, which would ban sleeping on the streets.
Following public consultation, however, a report recommends councillors should scrap the proposal, which would also have prohibited unauthorised busking.
Under the plans, anybody in breach of the rules faced a fine of up to Â£1,000.
Of the original idea to fine rough sleepers, police and crime commissioner John Dwyer said: "I don't think it's appropriate - I think there needs to be a proper discussion about how we deal with people who sleep rough.
"Clearly you've got to feel sorry for these people. Some of them aren't genuine... but for genuine rough sleepers, genuine people who've got nowhere else to go, I think we need to have a discussion properly at all sorts of levels as to how we deal with that problem."
Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) were introduced under last year's Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.
The Chester plans, which were outlined in July by the council and Cheshire Police, would have "controlled and restricted" seven activities, including rough sleeping.
Activities that could be "controlled and restricted":
Activities removed from proposals:
A council consultation found 58% of respondents were against the rough sleeping proposals, while 77% of respondents recommended the council scrap the plans to fine unauthorised buskers and instead introduce in a code of conduct.
Councillor Nicole Meardon said: "We have responded to this feedback by recommending that these measures are removed from the proposals and I look forward to continuing discussions about the measures where public opinion is mixed."
Cheshire West and Chester Council said it would also improve emergency provision for rough sleepers.
A final decision on the proposals will be made in early 2016.


A Dundee couple who subjected a pregnant woman to three days of abuse and attacks have been jailed.

Chantelle Murray suffered a miscarriage after climbing out of a window to escape from Jennifer McIlravey and Roderick Cuthbert.
A court heard McIlravey threatened and punched Ms Murray after being told Cuthbert was the baby's father.
Sheriff Tom Hughes jailed Cuthbert for 15 months and McIlravey for nine months.
The sheriff called the offences "appalling".
Dundee Sheriff Court was told Ms Murray had begun a relationship with Cuthbert and was around eight to 10 weeks pregnant.
The trio were living together in the same flat at the time of the offences.
The court was told that McIlravey had given her blessing to the relationship but was unaware Cuthbert was the father of the child.
Depute fiscal Alan Kempton said: "Upon awakening on 27 January, the complainer saw blood, which she assumed was to do with her pregnancy. She was advised to get medical attention.
"McIlravey shouted through from the bedroom for a cigarette and Ms Murray said she would get one.
"McIlravey said "get out of my face", jumped out of bed and pushed Ms Murray with both hands."
Later, Ms Murray experienced further bleeding and asked McIlravey for advice, telling her Cuthbert was the father.
McIlravey "did not respond well" and threatened her with violence.
The court was told Ms Murray attended Ninewells Hospital with Cuthbert and doctors recommended she be admitted.
However, Cuthbert insisted on taking her back to the flat and stole medical supplies, including scalpels, from the hospital.
When they returned home, McIlravey and Cuthbert threatened Ms Murray.
Mr Kempton added: "On January 28, Ms Murray was slapped four or five times by McIlravey shortly after she got out of bed.
"She was also repeatedly punched on the head and body.
"Thereafter, on January 30, Ms Murray left the locus â€” she stood on the bath and sink and squeezed out of a window."
Cuthbert, 37, admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner and stealing medical items.
McIlravey, 35, pled guilty to assaulting Ms Murray and acting in a threatening and abusive manner.
Sheriff Hughes told Cuthbert:  "You have an appalling record of convictions and no signs you are trying to change your ways."
Sheriff Hughes told McIlravey: "I accept you have a limited record but you have pleaded guilty to an appalling offence quite knowingly doing what you did."


The board of trustees at the centre of the alleged "Trojan Horse" Muslim takeover plot has resigned.

Park View Educational Trust chairman Tahir Alam said the decision had been made in the interests of the children.
The trust has been in the spotlight since allegations emerged about hardline Muslims trying to extend their influence in schools.
It ran Park View Academy, Nansen Primary and Golden Hillock schools in Birmingham.
Mr Alam said he and his colleagues were proud of the work they had done to "turn failing east Birmingham schools around".
But he said a "co-ordinated and vicious" attack by former Education Secretary Michael Gove and the Department for Education had left the three-member board with no choice but to step down.
"We have no regrets, nor do we make any apologies for being part of a dedicated team of professionals who have substantially raised standards," he said.
Mr Alam blamed Mr Gove as "the driving force" behind Park View school being put into special measures and said his "profound mistrust of Islam is a matter of public record".
He said Mr Gove's "demotion today provides us with some reassurance that the Prime Minister has finally acknowledged the profound damage that has been caused by his divisive approach".
He said the removal of Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw should also be considered.
Mr Alam said in four months "the proud reputation of Park View School" had been brought "to the point of destruction".
A statement from the trust said three new members, mutually agreed with the Department for Education, would be appointed to replace Mr Alam, Dave Hughes and Nicola Benyahia.
Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne said Waverley School head teacher Kamal Hanif, Greet Primary head teacher Pat Smart and King Edwards VI Five Ways head teacher Yvonne Wilkinson, had agreed to serve on the new trust.
"It was right for the current governors to step down so we can get cracking with a brilliant new team of outstanding education experts and parents to take the school forward," he said.
News of the board's resignation comes after a survey of 72 Golden Hillock workers revealed 57 wanted to sever ties with the Park View Educational Trust and 60 thought the governing body did not represent the views of staff.
The survey was conducted by union representatives.
Ofsted inspected 21 schools in response to the Trojan Horse allegations and branded Park View, Nansen and Golden Hillock inadequate.
The inspectors' report said head teachers had been "marginalised or forced out of their jobs", and there was evidence of an "organised campaign to target certain schools".
Sir Michael said "a culture of fear and intimidation has taken grip" in some schools.
A Department for Education statement said: "We are aware of the decision of the Park View Educational Trust to stand down.
"There will be three outstanding heads on the trust, whose immediate task for the new trustees will be to address the areas for improvement raised by the Education Funding Agency and Ofsted reports and move it towards a successful sponsor."


Ministers will be told by Theresa May they should be keeping cabinet discussions private, Number 10 says.

Following several leaks and briefings over the weekend, ministers will be "reminded" of their responsibilities when cabinet meets on Tuesday.
On Sunday Chancellor Philip Hammond suggested colleagues opposed to his approach to Brexit had been briefing against him.
It followed press reports of his cabinet remarks on public sector pay.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said several factors were at play, including some ministers' belief Mr Hammond was trying to slow down the Brexit process, and Mrs May's weakened position after the general election.
"With the PM's authority so reduced it's like the teacher has left the classroom and the teenagers have started a big rumble - and they are partly scrapping with each other because several of them fancy taking the controls themselves," she added.
Mrs May's spokesman declined to discuss the content of the leaks, but told reporters: "Of course, cabinet must be able to hold discussions of government policy in private and the prime minister will be reminding her colleagues of that at the cabinet meeting tomorrow."
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling attempted to play down suggestions of cabinet splits over Brexit and criticised those who have been briefing about its meetings.
"I don't see these great divisions that are suggested to me in the Sunday newspapers and I have to say I think all of this is somewhat overplayed," he added.
One backbencher, Nadine Dorries, tweeted that she would rather see ministers sacked than another leadership contest.
Responding to the leaks on Sunday, Mr Hammond refused to comment on newspaper reports that he said public sector workers were "overpaid" and told his colleagues to "focus on the job at hand".
Another minister, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, attacked the "self-indulgence" of those doing the leaking, adding that it had left Tory backbenchers "furious".