Lionel Messi has led the Argentina squad in a media boycott following "grave" press reports about the team and their recent form.

The 29-year-old announced the ban after scoring in the side's 3-0 World Cup qualifier victory over Colombia.
A radio report alleged that forward Ezequiel Lavezzi smoked marijuana after a training session, which he denies.
"We've received many accusations, a lot of lack of respect and we never said anything," Messi said.
Messi and the 25-man squad walked out of the news conference following the Colombia game.
It was also announced that Lavezzi is taking the radio reporter to court over the accusations.
"We know there are lots of you who are not in the game of not showing us respect, but getting into one's personal life is very grave," Messi added.
Argentina were criticised following their 3-0 defeat by Brazil on Friday but their win over Colombia moved them up to fifth place and back into qualifying contention.
The top four in the South America group move straight into the finals, while fifth place qualifies for an intercontinental play-off.
Elsewhere in the group, Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez scored twice as Chile beat Uruguay 3-1 to stay third.
Chile had been warned by Arsene Wenger that it would be "suicidal" to play Sanchez unless he was fully fit after he injured a muscle in training.
However Sanchez played 85 minutes and looks set to be fit for Arsenal's Premier League match against Manchester United on Saturday (12:30 GMT).
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The Queen has unveiled a new memorial to those who died while serving with the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.

She laid a wreath at the Lion of England bronze statue at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire after a service earlier.
Since the regiment was set up in 2006, its soldiers have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan where 32 have died.
The dedication service was attended by wounded veterans, Army personnel, families and friends.
The infantry regiment was formed after the merger of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment, the King's Regiment and the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.
The lion faces north-west England in tribute to the origins of the regiment, of which the Queen, who holds the title of Duke of Lancaster, is Colonel-in-Chief.
It recruits soldiers Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.
Stonemason Nick Johnson and sculptor Georgie Welch crafted the lion from clay before it was cast at a foundry.
Ms Welch said: "The Queen said it was very life-like and that it had a real look of power. She also said it looked fearless."
The new statue is one of more than 300 dedicated memorials in the 150-acre site in Staffordshire.
For those whose loved ones are remembered by the new memorial, today was a day of pride and poignancy.
Naturally, there was was sadness recalling lives cut short too soon. But there was pride too in the fact they died for Queen and country.
Tracy Dunn-Bridgeman, from Liverpool, was among those who made the journey to the National Memorial Arboretum. She lost her son Jason to the Afghanistan conflict in 2009.
She said: "They say the Regiment's its own little family, and although the lads have all got their individual headstones, this is a family headstone for want of a better description."
Darren Deady, from Westhoughton near Bolton, had wanted to be a soldier from being a boy. He was injured in Afghanistan and died in 2010.
Today his mum Julie Hall and bother Daniel watched the Queen dedicate the new memorial to the fallen of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment with a deep sense of pride.
"It's beautiful," said Mrs Hall. "It remembers all the boys and all the boys are together."


Worcester Warriors boss Dean Ryan says that Leinster centre Ben Te'o, one of the club's signings for 2016-17, already has the potential to play rugby union for England.

Ryan was responding to speculation that the 29-year-old rugby league convert is being viewed as an England possible.
"He's got the quality and potential to do that," Ryan told BBC Sport.
"But to play for England he's going to have to play well in an area that's got stronger over the last few weeks."
Auckland-born Te'o, who played one rugby league international for Samoa in 2008, qualifies for England through his mother, who was born and raised there.
He is currently in his second season with Irish provincial side Leinster, who he joined from Australian rugby league side South Sydney Rabbitohs, where he had been a team-mate of Sam Burgess, who was about to make the same switch.
He is not scheduled to join Worcester until the end of this season, but already Ryan has been asked about what path lies ahead for the second of this winter's five pre-agreed signings.
"He's a player of quality and he's English qualified but I've not had any conservations outside that," Ryan told BBC Hereford & Worcester.
"I know he's ambitious and that he's got aspirations to play Test rugby and I know he wants to do that through playing for Worcester. But I have no idea whether anyone else shares that line of thought.
"He's a real talent, a real athlete and is really driven to be successful. He's very direct. There's still things we think we can add to his game, but he's still got a lot to learn. The fact that we are bringing in a player of his quality, that he wants to come and that he sees what we're doing here is more important to me."
The speculation about Te'o comes on top of this week's revelation that Wigan and England winger Josh Charnley plans to switch codes to join Sale.
But it also comes at the end of a season in which the fate of Burgess in England's ill-fated Rugby Union World Cup campaign served as a warning to the dangers of over reliance on cross-code converts.
Worcester Warriors have so far have made five signings for the 2016-17 season.
They will also be bringing in another centre, New-Zealand-born Jackson Willison from French side Grenoble.
They have also signed three forwards, South Africa-born Northampton hooker Matt Williams, Bath lock Will Spencer and Bristol flanker Marco Mama.


New Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore says he has been eavesdropping on fans' pub conversations to get their views on the club - before they recognise him.

The Liverpool-born 62-year-old, a former EA Sports executive, starts his new role on Thursday, succeeding Ian Ayre, who left in February after 10 years at the club.
"I wandered down the road looking for a pint on Sunday and I just sat in the pub listening to three guys on the next table dissecting every position for 45 minutes. It was compelling," he said.
"They didn't have a clue who I was."
But Moore told BBC Sport any transfer targets the fans had in mind would be unlikely to influence the club's policy as those responsible for buying players - manager Jurgen Klopp and sporting director Michael Edwards - were "trusted implicitly".
"There's two Peter Moores," he said. "There's the fan who has his own opinions about what needs to happen and that Peter Moore stays in a box somewhere.
"And then there's the Peter Moore that trusts implicitly what Michael Edwards and Jurgen Klopp and their staff are doing right now. We've got that well under control."
Liverpool-born Moore, who is currently based in the United States, will move back to the city this month to take up his new role.
He has 40 years of experience working for large companies and has held various positions at Electronic Arts over the past 10 years.
But Moore still remembers his first game in 1959 and says he can empathise with those who go to Anfield.
"It's part of my DNA. I can still feel being on The Kop in the old days and moving 15 steps up and down depending on what was going on on the pitch.
"We're in this together, we are a collective. The socialist beliefs that are core to this club all pulling together here. It's very unique and very different.
"If you grew up here in the sixties as a kid and a family these were tough times. There were very few things you had to hang on to or look forward to - for all of us it was three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon at Anfield."
Moore says fans will drive his decision-making.
"When I think about what we need to do here there's a mentality that I have that I will call fan first, which is when we make decisions 'what does this mean for the fan?'" he said.
For Moore, fans are not limited to those attending matches, but those global fans "sitting at 4am in San Francisco with my red shirt on and living and dying with every kick from 5,200 miles away".
Liverpool have already begun their transfer business, agreeing to sign 19-year-old Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke for a fee of around £3m.
But Moore would not be drawn on the club's spending plans for this transfer window: "Who do we need to buy? That's not how it works around here.
"There's a constant process of identifying talent, looking at the opportunities, and like any good business what you do is you say 'we've got a weakness here or we need to invest there build for the future'."
Liverpool secured their return to Champions League football for the 2017-18 season with victory over Middlesbrough on the final day of the season.
Klopp's side finished fourth in the final Premier League table and will have to negotiate Champions League qualifying at the start of next season.
"We have deserved to get back and that is building a better platform for us to be more attractive to players," said Moore.
"It's obviously worth money, and that's public, but we become more of an attractive club again.
"Players who want to play in Champions League - let's not forget this is a World Cup season at the end of next year and players want their national team managers to see them on the big stages."


Film-makers are to be encouraged to consider using studio facilities available at a Gaelic college in Skye.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the Scottish government would seek to raise greater awareness of the facility at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Sleat.
She was responding to a call from MSP David Stewart for more support for what he described as a "first class" studio.
MSPs have been debating for several months the need for more film-making facilities in Scotland.
There have also been calls from within the film industry for a national film studio for Scotland.
Ms Hyslop said she had visited the studio at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, adding that it was used regularly for the making of the Gaelic drama Bannan.
She said: "I shall undertake to make sure we do everything with other agencies as we can to help publicise it."
Earlier this month the Scottish producer of the multi-Oscar-winning film Mad Max: Fury Road said it was a "disgrace" more progress had not been made on a national film studio for Scotland.
Iain Smith said Scotland's film industry was "under-performing" in comparison to other parts of the UK.
A plan is being considered for an expansion of a studio in Cumbernauld, at a site currently used by the TV series Outlander.
Proposals have also been submitted for a complex at Straiton in Midlothian.


The BBC Trust has insisted that the terms of its pay-off to former director general George Entwistle were the "best available in the circumstances".

The Public Accounts Committee said in December that the Â£450,000 paid to Mr Entwistle after 54 days in the job was out of line with public expectation.
The Trust responded that, as it had explained on several occasions, there was no lower cost alternative.
It expressed dismay at the Committee's criticism in the face of the evidence.
Mr Entwistle left the BBC in November 2012, in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. His Â£450,000 pay-off was double the amount specified in his contract - and came with a year's health insurance and money for PR advice.
A response set out by the Trust said it understood the sum was "substantial", but the terms reached were "the best available in the circumstances given our contractual position".
"The evidence we provided to the Committee clearly shows that we were not in a position where the former Director-General would have left the BBC immediately in exchange for six months' pay - Â£225,000.
"We provided the Committee with a copy of the Compromise Agreement reached between the former Director-General and the BBC, a summary of the events leading to this agreement and a letter from the BBC Trust's legal advisers setting out the legal reasons why the payment was appropriate."
The Trust repeated that the only other options available to them were terminating Entwistle's contract, which would have automatically led to a 12-month pay-off, or seeking his immediate dismissal, which could have prompted a costly legal battle.
Policy change
In its report last month, the Public Accounts Committee said the Trust should not have agreed to pay the former director general 12-month's private medical cover or contributed to the cost of legal fees and public relations advice connected with his departure.
Responding, the trust said the overall package "was less than the director general's representatives had asked for but allowed us to conclude matters quickly, avoid any uncertainty and to focus on resolving fundamental issues of trust in BBC journalism".
The Trust denied that it had hindered parliamentary scrutiny into the proceedings by blocking an earlier NAO review of Entwistle's pay-off, reiterating that it was the Trust which had suggested a wider study of severance payments at the BBC by the National Audit Office (NAO).
The conclusions of such a review could prompt a change in BBC policy, the trust said.
It added that it had complied with all parliamentary requests, submitting all relevant documentation and giving evidence at the Public Accounts Committee and Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee hearings.


Germany's Bayer has raised its offer for Monsanto to $65bn (£49bn), or $127.50 a share, in a bid to create a global seeds and pesticides giant.

Bayer said it was in advanced talks with Monsanto, but warned there was no guarantee a deal would result.
Its initial offer of $122 a share in May was rejected by the US firm for being "financially inadequate".
The record all-cash offer valued Monsanto at $62bn (£43bn at the time).
Bayer raised its offer to $125 a share in July but was again rebuffed.
Combining Bayer and Monsanto would create the world's biggest agricultural supplier and be a market leader in the US, Europe and Asia.
Bayer's farm business produces seeds as well as chemicals to combat weeds and insects, but it is better known for its healthcare products such as Aspirin and Alka-Seltzer.
Monsanto is primarily known for its genetically modified seeds for crops including corn, soybeans, cotton, wheat and sugar cane. Such seeds have attracted criticism from some environmental activists.
The higher offer comes amid a wave of mergers in the agriculture sector.
Rivals including Dow Chemical, DuPont and Syngenta have all announced tie-ups recently, although some have yet to be cleared by regulators.
The drop in commodity prices has put pressure on companies such as Monsanto, with farmers' cutting orders for supplies.
However, a Bayer takeover of Monsanto could raise US competition concerns because of the sheer size of the combined company and the control it would have over the global seeds and sprays markets.
Farming groups have raised concerns that such mergers could lead to fewer choices and higher prices.
Insiders said that although the two companies were close to reaching an agreement on price, they had yet to agree on a strategy on how to deal with potential regulatory hurdles.
Shares in Bayer have fallen by close to a fifth this year and ended at €94.24 on Monday, valuing the company at €78bn.
Monsanto has risen 9% since the start of the year and closed on Friday at $107.44, making it worth just over $47bn. Wall Street was closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.


Leicester Tigers winger Sam Yawayawa has joined Championship side Nottingham on a year-long dual-registration deal.

The Fiji-born 18-year-old has represented England Under-18s and is a regular in the Tigers' second team.
Nottingham head coach Ian Costello said: "Sam is an exciting young player with enormous potential.
"He has extremely quick feet, he's powerful in contact and dangerous with ball in hand. We're looking forward to the contribution he'll make."


A blaze at a derelict knitwear factory which damaged up to 35 cars is being treated as arson.

It is the seventh time the former Corah factory in Leicester has been targeted in the last two years, according to the fire service.
A spokesman said if action was not taken soon someone could be killed.
About 45 firefighters fought the flames, which was of "such intensity" it spread to another building and caused damage to a dealership.
Roads near St John Street were closed for several hours after the fire started at 02:40 GMT
More on this story and other news in Leicestershire
About 60 cars in the compound were saved despite "severe" damage to another 35.
A spokesman said repeated incidents at the site were a serious problem.
"This is despite attending this site on eight occasions in the past six months as part of our preventative strategy to reduce the risk of further fires occurring.
"Our main fear is that it is only a matter of time before we are reporting the death or serious injury of a firefighter or a member of public."
Corah closed in the mid 1990s. A joint investigation between the fire service and the police has begun into the cause of the blaze.


Mae cwmni bysiau o Wynedd wedi colli ei drwydded ar ôl i ymchwiliad gan Asiantaeth Gwasanaethau Cerbydau a Gweithredwyr ddod i'r casgliad bod rhai o'u dogfennau cynnal a chadw wedi eu ffugio.

Fe benderfynodd y Comisiynydd Traffig, Nick Jones na fydd Express Motors, o Benygroes ger Caernarfon, yn gallu gweithredu fel cwmni bysiau o ddiwedd Rhagfyr.
Mae cyfarwyddwr y cwmni, Ian Wyn Jones wedi'i wahardd rhag cael trwydded i yrru bws am 12 mis am ffugio dogfennau cynnal a chadw, ac mae'r rheolwr trafnidiaeth, Kevin Wyn wedi ei wahardd rhag gwneud ei waith oni bai ei fod yn gwneud cwrs arbenigol o'r newydd ynglŷn â'i rôl.
Er mwyn i'r busnes teuluol barhau bydd yn rhaid i endid newydd gymryd rheolaeth o'r gwasanaethau y maen nhw'n eu cynnig, meddai'r Comisiynydd Traffig.
Mae Eric a Jean Wyn Jones hefyd wedi colli eu trwyddedau ar gyfer gwasanaeth ar wahân, oedd yn rhannu cyfleusterau gydag Express Motors.
Haf y llynedd fe wnaeth un o fysiau Express Motors wyro oddi ar draffordd yn Ffrainc gan anafu 15 o bobl ifanc.
Roedd y disgyblion o ysgol Bourneside yn Cheltenham ar eu ffordd i Dora Baltea yn Yr Eidal ar gyfer gwyliau.
Mae heddlu Ffrainc yn parhau i ymchwilio i achos y digwyddiad, ond doedd yr ymchwiliad gan Asiantaeth Gwasanaethau Cerbydau a Gweithredwyr ddim yn gysylltiedig gyda'r gwrthdrawiad yma.
Dywedodd llefarydd ar ran Cyngor Gwynedd ei bod yn ymwybodol o benderfyniad y Comisiynydd Traffig ac y bydd swyddogion yn cyfarfod gyda'r cwmni i drafod y ddarpariaeth maent yn gynnig i bobl Gwynedd "yn yr wythnosau nesaf".


Newcastle won their third successive Championship game as they cruised past Brentford at St James' Park.

Brentford's Scott Hogan headed over from close range, before Jonjo Shelvey crossed for Ciaran Clark to nod in the opening goal for the hosts.
Dwight Gayle's shot doubled the lead and he tapped in a second after the break from two yards out.
Hogan turned in after a corner to reduce the deficit, but Newcastle were rarely troubled in the later stages.
The result lifts Newcastle to second in the table, though the result took longer to secure than it ought to have, with Christian Atsu firing just off target and Ayoze Perez having a goal ruled out for offside in a dominant first-half showing.
Gayle's two goals lifted him above Hogan and Bristol City's Tammy Abraham as the Championship's top scorer on nine, following his move from Crystal Palace in a reported £10m deal in July.
Brentford fell to eighth in the table as they lost their fourth game in their past five league meetings with Newcastle.
The Bees face Derby on Tuesday, but will be without centre-half Harlee Dean for the trip to the iPro Stadium after he was shown his fourth yellow card in five games and his fifth of the season in total.
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez:
"We did everything we wanted to do - we controlled the game and had good chances.
"I'm not watching the table because it's too soon. I said the other day I was convinced we could improve; I'm pleased but we can still improve.
"The team is doing a lot of good things and we have a striker who is confident in front of goal and scoring."
Brentford manager Dean Smith:
"With the quality that they have they don't really need a helping hand but unfortunately we gave them one with a two-goal lead.
"We're not renowned for that - defensively we're normally very good.
"We came here with a game plan but when you give away goals like that it goes out the window. There were good things as well - we competed well enough."
Match ends, Newcastle United 3, Brentford 1.
Second Half ends, Newcastle United 3, Brentford 1.
Grant Hanley (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Scott Hogan (Brentford).
Attempt missed. Ryan Woods (Brentford) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Sullay Kaikai.
Attempt missed. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Dwight Gayle.
Attempt missed. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Jonjo Shelvey following a set piece situation.
Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Romaine Sawyers (Brentford).
Corner,  Newcastle United. Conceded by Maxime Colin.
Attempt blocked. Achraf Lazaar (Newcastle United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jonjo Shelvey.
Foul by Dwight Gayle (Newcastle United).
John Egan (Brentford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Ryan Woods (Brentford) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Romaine Sawyers.
Substitution, Newcastle United. Achraf Lazaar replaces Yoan Gouffran.
Attempt saved. Dwight Gayle (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Yoan Gouffran.
Substitution, Brentford. Alan McCormack replaces Nico Yennaris.
Yoan Gouffran (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Josh Clarke (Brentford).
Substitution, Brentford. Yoann Barbet replaces Andreas Bjelland.
Attempt missed. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.
Ryan Woods (Brentford) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Ryan Woods (Brentford).
Substitution, Newcastle United. DeAndre Yedlin replaces Christian Atsu.
Romaine Sawyers (Brentford) is shown the yellow card.
Corner,  Brentford. Conceded by Ciaran Clark.
Attempt saved. Ayoze Pérez (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Christian Atsu.
Substitution, Brentford. Sullay Kaikai replaces Lewis MacLeod.
Offside, Newcastle United. Ayoze Pérez tries a through ball, but Christian Atsu is caught offside.
Corner,  Newcastle United. Conceded by Andreas Bjelland.
Substitution, Newcastle United. Grant Hanley replaces Jamaal Lascelles because of an injury.
Attempt blocked. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Christian Atsu.
Corner,  Newcastle United. Conceded by Harlee Dean.
Attempt blocked. Yoan Gouffran (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jack Colback.
Attempt missed. Nico Yennaris (Brentford) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Ryan Woods following a corner.
Corner,  Brentford. Conceded by Ciaran Clark.
Goal!  Newcastle United 3, Brentford 1. Scott Hogan (Brentford) header from very close range to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Romaine Sawyers with a headed pass following a corner.
Corner,  Brentford. Conceded by Yoan Gouffran.
Corner,  Brentford. Conceded by Vurnon Anita.


A woman who died after being hit by a bus in Swansea city centre has been named as Sgt Louise Lucas.

The off-duty police officer from South Wales Police was hit by the X11 bus on The Kingsway shortly before 11:25 BST on Tuesday.
The 41-year-old mother-of-three was airlifted to the city's Morriston Hospital where she later died.
Her eight-year-old daughter suffered minor injuries in the incident.
Sgt Lucas was based at Llanishen police station in Cardiff where she ran neighbourhood policing teams.
Warm tributes have been paid to the popular officer.
Steve Trigg, chair of the South Wales Police Federation who had known her for a number of years, said: "She was really well respected.
"It is just a huge loss to her family, her friends and to South Wales Police."
"Our thoughts are with all her family and friends at this difficult time."
Earlier on Tuesday, a spokeman for First Cymru Bus said: "The exact cause of the incident is not yet known, but this will be fully investigated. Our team is currently working with the police to establish exactly what happened."
A business owner, based near the scene, said the current road system was "confusing" with a two-way carriageway one side and a one-way carriageway the other.
Swansea council dropped the speed limit to 20mph last year as an initial response to calls for improved safety.
More than 2,200 people signed a petition calling for changes, including a return to a traditional two-way system on The Kingsway.
There have been a number of accidents on the road over the last few years and in September 2013, Daniel Foss, 37, from Reynoldston, Gower, died after being struck by a National Express bus.
South Wales Police is continuing to investigate and witnesses are asked to call 101.


Wasps centre Elliot Daly is set for his England debut after being named in Eddie Jones' 23-man squad for Saturday's match against Ireland.

Daly replaces lock Courtney Lawes in the only change from the squad that beat Italy.
"Elliot Daly has impressed in training and is now ready to be part of the matchday 23," Jones said.
England won their opening two matches and top the table, while Ireland lost to France and drew with Wales.
Daly, 23, has played four times for England Saxons and also represented England at under-18 and under-20 level.
Ireland could also bring a debutant into midfield, with Ulster's Stuart McCloskey in contention for a first cap if fitness-doubt Jared Payne is ruled out.
Backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath Rugby), Alex Goode (Saracens), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Jack Clifford (Harlequins), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Wasps), Paul Hill (Northampton Saints), Maro Itodje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens).
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Parents should use pram covers to protect babies and young children from harmful air pollution during the school run, researchers suggest.

Traffic lights and bus stops were pollution hotspots and there were higher levels of pollution in the morning compared with the afternoon, the University of Surrey study said.
Young children are more at risk because their bodies are small and developing.
And they could be breathing in damaging substances, the study said.
A recent World Health Organization report said that 570,000 children under the age of five died every year from illnesses that could be linked to pollution.
The Surrey research, published in Environmental Pollution, was based on measurements from air monitoring equipment inside toddlers' prams being pushed to and from schools during drop-off and pick-up times.
Scientists looked at pollution levels in prams during 64 trips, covering about 50 miles (80km), in Guildford.
Bus stops and traffic lights were the worst places for being exposed to the tiny particles from exhaust fumes and tyres that can get into the bloodstream.
And there were more of these harmful particles in the air during morning drop-off times, when traffic was at its busiest.
Dr Prashant Kumar, lead study author from the University of Surrey, said his findings were a warning to parents.
"Young children are far more susceptible to pollution than adults, due to their immature and developing systems and lower body weight," he said.
"Essentially, children could be at risk of breathing in some nasty and harmful chemical species such as iron, aluminium and silica that form together the particles of various size ranges."
Dr Kumar said the best way to stop this happening was to use a barrier between children in prams and the emissions from vehicle exhausts, especially at traffic lights, crossroads and bus stops.
He said his research team was also trying to find a way to clean the air around children sitting in their prams.


Thousands of people have turned out on the streets of Leeds for the 49th West Indian Carnival.

The celebration of food, music and culture - among the oldest events of its kind in Europe - took over Potternewton Park for the bank holiday weekend.
The highlight was Monday's carnival parade on the streets of Chapeltown and Harehills.
Organisers estimated 120,000 had attended this year's celebrations.
The parade left Potternewton Park at 14:00 BST, turned left down Harehills Avenue before heading towards the city centre. It then looped back on itself and returned to the park.
An early-morning 'pyjama party' kicked-off the day's festivities at 06:30.
Arthur France, who helped to start the the carnival in 1967, said he was feeling "overwhelmingly great".
"We have some great costumes, great weather and Leeds is bustling - we upstage London and the rest of Europe," he said.


A former Sinn Féin councillor has been filmed torturing a man in his garage.

Jonathan Dowdall, 40, and his 60-year-old father, Patrick, of Navan Road in Dublin, admitted falsely imprisoning and threatening to kill a man in January 2015.
Videos played in court show them interrogating, threatening and waterboarding the victim, who came to the house to buy a motorcycle.
The victim said he was tortured to the point of "death's door".
The hearing took place at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin on Friday.
The victim is seen tied to a chair in the Dowdalls' garage as Jonathan Dowdall, who was wearing a balaclava, put a tea towel on his face and poured buckets of water over him.
Patrick Dowdall took out pliers and threatened to pull off the victim's fingers, starting with the smallest.
The victim is heard pleading for his life as the Dowdalls threatened to chop him up and feed him to the dogs.
He was tied with cable ties and told "one more twist and you're dead".
The court heard that he was also told he was "stupid" and "dumb" to mess with the IRA" and that Jonathan Dowdall was a good friend of Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald.
The court also heard the victim was a convicted fraudster.
Defence counsel said Jonathan Dowdall had searched the internet and discovered the victim had paid a man for a car with a bounced cheque.
He said he was under huge pressure and as a businessman his whole life was built on his credit rating.
He said he wanted to frighten the victim not to use his bank details but now realised he was totally wrong and is sorry.
In a statement, the victim said the psychological injuries will never completely heal.
Sentencing will take place next month.
Deputy leader of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald, said: "I welcome the conviction of Jonathan Dowdall in court today.
"The details of the attack perpetrated by him are deeply shocking. I hope the sentence delivered by the court reflects the seriousness of the offence and the trauma endured by his victim.
"Jonathan Dowdall left Sinn Féin some years ago. He subsequently worked with, and supported, a political opponent of Sinn Féin in the Dublin Central constituency."


There has been a squirrel pox virus outbreak among red squirrels at Tollymore Forest Park in County Down.

The Department of the Environment (DoE) said it had been five years since the first recorded death due to the virus in Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) said there appeared to be "little natural resistance to the virus within the local population".
It said sick squirrels tend to die within 10 days to two weeks.
NIEA Wildlife Inspector Declan Looney said red squirrels in Tollymore Forest had "recovered well" following the outbreak of the virus five years ago, but this was a "further blow".
"Sick red squirrels will appear lethargic, approachable, with painful sores on their faces and paws," he said.
"Unfortunately there appears little natural resistance to the virus within the local population and sick animals tend to die within 10 days to two weeks.
"If you have squirrels entering your garden to feed at bird feeders, please either remove these or clean them daily to reduce the spread of the virus."
The DoE said the disease "does not affect people or their domestic pets".
A spokesperson from the Forest Service said it was "not unusual" for the virus "to re-emerge some years after the initial outbreak".
"The fact that the red squirrel population recovered in the intervening years gives us great encouragement that working in partnership with the NIEA and the Tollymore Red Squirrel Group on the implementation of control measures will once again produce a successful outcome," they added.


Newport Gwent Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones says more players at the region deserve national dual contracts (NDC) with the Welsh Rugby Union.

Backs Tyler Morgan and Hallam Amos are the only current Dragons who are among the 16 players on dual contracts.
Former Wales captain Jones says centre Jack Dixon, hooker Elliot Dee and flanker Ollie Griffiths are in line for consideration.
"They're certainly players I think can go on and play for Wales" Jones said.
"The Welsh Rugby Union have to look carefully at it.
"I would look to centrally contract the main core players and then, as they have done with Tyler and Hallam, to keep the periphery in Wales for the future."
Dixon and Griffiths, both 20, and 21-year-old Dee have represented Wales at Under-20 level.
The total of players on a NDC is now 16, with salaries funded 60% by the Welsh Rugby Union and 40% by the regions.
Dragons number eight Taulupe Faletau turned down a dual contract in May 2015 and Bath's recent bid to sign him was vetoed by Wales coach Warren Gatland.
Jones has not given up hope of Faletau signing for the Dragons and Wales despite his aborted move to the English Premiership side.
"Of course there's a chance, this is his home," Jones added.
"The market-place in England and France is difficult to compete with but let's hope he gets a central contract."
Faletau is a slight doubt for the Sale Sharks game in the European Challenge Cup with a sore knee, while fellow backrower Nick Crosswell is available after suspension.
Former Wales hooker and Dragons captain Rhys Thomas may play for the Dragons' British and Irish Cup side against Connacht in his comeback from a foot injury.


A body has been found by police searching for 12-year-old Owen Jenkins who fell into the water at a marina.

The emergency services were called to Beeston Marina in Nottinghamshire at 18:00 BST following reports the boy had gone into the River Trent off Riverside Road.
Police said that a body was found in the water at about 22:00.
The Nottinghamshire force said in a statement: "Our thoughts are with the family during this time."


The news that a father has won a High Court ruling for taking his child on holiday during term-time has led to a huge response on social media.

Magistrates ruled that  Jon Platt had no case to answer as, overall, his daughter had attended school regularly.
Campaigners say the case could redefine the way the law is applied in England.
People have taken to social media to comment on the result of the case.
Joe Niinemae suggested parents of children with poor school attendance should be the ones penalised in future.
Term-time holiday: What are the rules?
BBC News website readers have also been commenting on the verdict.
Marianna Ali from London was fined last month for removing her two daughters from primary school.
"I am so happy with this result," she said. "I have just paid a Â£240 fine for taking my two daughters abroad for my brother's wedding.
"They missed five days of term time at school.  Before that their attendance was excellent.
"We were trying to fight it at the time and we had a meeting with the chair of governors but we were unsuccessful.
"I did all I could to resolve the situation but I was penalised. What should have been a happy and exciting time became stressful and emotional.
"The school only seemed bothered about the harm it might do to their outstanding classification.
"This result is amazing and now I won't think twice about removing my children for a few days if necessary."
But not everyone welcomed the verdict.
Some people think tour operators should not raise their prices during school holidays.


The introduction of a written English language test for private hire drivers has been delayed after Uber won the right to appeal against the plans.

Transport for London (TfL) had wanted to revoke licences if drivers had not passed the test by 30 September.
Uber lost a High Court battle in March against the policy.
But the Court of Appeal has said it would hear Uber's case after it argued 33,000 drivers out of 110,000 in London might not be able to renew licences.
TfL will now not introduce the policy until 9 April, depending on the result of the appeal hearing which will be heard on 20 February.
"We maintain that all licensed drivers must be able to communicate in English at an appropriate level," a TfL spokesman said.
"We will continue to robustly defend this position at the appeal."
Uber's London general manager Tom Elvidge said the company was pleased to have "secured this appeal to defend tens of thousands of drivers who risk losing their livelihoods because they can't pass an essay writing test."
In March, the 15 members of the London Assembly said passing a written English test was an unnecessary requirement for drivers and the ability to communicate verbally was more important.


More than six million workers have now been signed up automatically to a pension savings scheme but fears remain over how much is being set aside.

The latest stage of the government's auto-enrolment programme has seen a 95% compliance rate among small businesses.
All employers will eventually need to offer pensions to anyone who is over the age of 22 and who earns more than Â£10,000 a year.
The introduction is a gradual process with 66% of employees now signed up.
The latter stages are widely seen as the most challenging as employees such as nannies, care workers, plumbers and bar staff are enrolled into a pension.
This means employers who only have one or two staff may need to add a pensions policy to their pay and conditions. This group represents more than a third of those who will be required to comply with the rules from now.
Employees have the option to opt out of saving.
The auto-enrolment system was started in 2012, and aimed to ensure that workers save to enable them to top-up their state pension on retirement. This has reversed falls in workplace pension saving.
The full roll-out is taking years to complete, but MPs and regulators have welcomed a successful take-up by workers and compliance by employers - both of whom pay into the pension pot.
"The compliance rates achieved have been consistently at the top of our expectations and the savings landscape has been transformed. But we know the job is not yet done and there are still significant challenges ahead," said Charles Counsell, executive director for automatic enrolment at the Pensions Regulator.
Those challenges include a question over whether enough is being put into these pension pots. There is concern that some workers may feel that the pensions box has been ticked, only later to find that their pension does not offer them the standard of living they are expecting.
New figures from the Pensions Regulator show that the average contribution from employers is 3% a year of an employee's salary.
Steve Webb, now director of policy at Royal London insurance company, was pensions minister when the system was created. He said such contribution rates were "woefully inadequate to provide a decent retirement".
"The fact that the average employer contribution rate among firms so far is just 3% shows the mountain that we have to climb," he said.
"Getting the combined rate of contributions from employers and employees to realistic levels as quickly as possible should be the central focus of the 2017 review of automatic enrolment.  Without this, millions of workers in generations to come will simply be unable to afford to retire."
Minimum contribution rates will increase from 2% to 5% in April 2018, and from 5% to 8% in April 2019.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions, said: "We want to make it as easy as possible for businesses to manage automatic enrolment which is why we made the decision to gradually increase the amount employers contribute to workplace pensions. We also know that people will need to save more and we will be considering how to get people to do this as part of our 2017 review."
Concerns also remain about certain trusts that administer these pensions for small firms, as revealed by a BBC investigation.


Babies born after labour is induced have less risk of dying but a higher risk of admission to a special-care unit, a study suggests.

The
          British Medical Journal analysis of 1.2m births in Scotland between 1981 and 2007
 also found no increased chance of a Caesarean section - contrary to previous findings.
The study looked at full-term births where inductions happened for non-medical reasons - such as a mother's choice.
But one expert said the paper would "not change practice".
Inductions are carried out in around 20% of pregnancies in developed countries.
Using Scottish birth and death records, researchers analysed data for more than 1.2 million women who gave birth to singleton babies after 37 weeks' gestation between 1981 and 2007.
They took into account the mother's age, whether she had given birth before, her social status and the baby's weight.
They then looked at results for births at each week of gestation between 37 and 41, comparing women who had inductions for non-medical reasons with those whose pregnancies continued.
They conclude that a planned induction of labour at each weekly stage was linked to lower death rates before, during or after birth, but did not increasing the need for a Caesarean.
And they said the idea that inductions raised the chance of a C-section had become "obstetric dogma".
The researchers calculate that, for every 1,040 women having a planned induction at 40 weeks, one newborn death may be prevented, but there would be seven more admissions to a special-care baby unit than if inductions had not taken place.
Dr Sarah Stock, of the University of Edinburgh's Tommy's Centre for Reproductive Health, said: "Women have the choice of induction or waiting.
"There were concerns about inducing birth, but we didn't find an increased risk of complications or operational delivery. However, we did see an increase in neonatal admissions."
She added : "We are aiming to give more information to women and their care-givers about the options that are there."
Daghni Rajasingam, a consultant obstetrician and spokeswoman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said there were problems with relying on retrospective data to come to these conclusions because it may not have been entered properly at the time.
She said there were "good prospective, well-designed studies showing the link between inductions and Caesarean sections, which is why it's become 'dogma'".
And she said: "Inductions where there are indications are absolutely the right way to go. But this paper is not going to change practice."


The first travelling exhibition of objects from Auschwitz is set to go on tour in the hope it will become "a warning cry" to future generations.

The exhibition is due to visit 14 cities in the US and Europe, and will be made up of more than 600 objects from the Nazi German camp in Poland.
It will include a freight wagon, like the ones that transported people to the camp during World War Two.
More than a million people, mostly Jews, were killed at Auschwitz.
The items on show are not just the belongings of the victims - which also included Poles, Sinti and Roma and Soviet prisoners of war - but also items from those who ran the camp, the German SS.
The exhibition, which is entitled "Not long ago. Not far away", will have its first stop in Madrid, Spain, before the end of the year.
It says it aims to reach people who may not be able to make it to the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, and act as a reminder of what happened during the Holocaust.
"Today, the world is moving in uncertain directions," Dr Piotr Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, said.
"That is why we need to rely more and more on the strong foundations of our memory. Auschwitz and the tragedy of the Shoah [Hebrew for Holocaust] are part of those foundations, which cannot be bypassed in creating a new face of the world."
He added: "Nothing can replace a visit to the authentic site of the biggest crime of the 20th Century, but this exhibition, which people in many countries will have the opportunity to see, can become a great warning cry for us all against building the future on hatred, racism, anti-Semitism and bottomless contempt for another human being."
However, the museum has also been at pains to play down fears of trying to profit from the exhibition, which is being organised with the Spanish company, Musealia.
Luis Ferreiro, the company's director, told the New York Times the exhibition had cost $1.5m (£1.15m) so far, acknowledging they needed to "earn an income to sustain ourselves and keep the enterprise going".
"Our goal is to focus on larger social goals such as enlightenment and education," he added.


Jack Lew, former US treasury secretary, has told the BBC the world remains at risk from financial threats.

He says loosening regulation would not be a good idea: "We should not disarm at a moment when we're out of the last financial crisis, but still in a world with substantial financial risks.
But Mr Lew, an adviser to Barack Obama during the financial crisis in 2008, says no to tighter rules.
"I don't personally believe we should do more than we need to."
Looking back on the unfolding financial crisis, he told the BBC's Today Programme the bad news had kept on escalating.
"I have never seen a situation where every single day the numbers were so much worse than the day before that you literally had to keep revisiting how much fiscal stimulus the economy would need in order to stimulate a recovery," he said.
He said action taken then, both in supporting the financial system and tightening up regulation, had borne fruit: "What our reforms of Wall Street after the crisis did was, for the first time since Great Depression, give us the tools to safeguard the evolving financial system."
The Dodd-Frank Act was the key piece of law-making designed to ensure there would never be another 2008-style meltdown.
Its aim is to keep a closer eye on the institutions that are "too big to fail" and to limit the risks they take.
President Donald Trump thinks regulation of the financial sector is now too onerous.
One part of the Dodd-Frank act is the Volcker Rule, which is designed to prevent banks from using their own money to trade.
Last week, that was officially opened up for review, after Trump appointee Keith Noreika announced he wanted views on how to define better which activities are prohibited by this rule.
Mr Lew gave a warning on making significant changes to the rules: "There's been a big push back saying this has gone too far.
"I fear that as the memory fades, some of the simple nostrums about clearing away regulation start to take on salience, as if the stakes weren't high enough in 2007-08."
But although he thinks the level of regulation is currently sufficient, he says there are no guarantees that these existing rules will prevent a new major financial shock.
"The risks in the future are unlikely to come from the places they've come from in the past," he said.
"We all know crises will come in the future, what we don't know is when and how."
Are we, the taxpayers, safe from having to bail out a bank ten years on from the credit crunch? The short answer is: safer than we were ten years ago. But not 100% safe.
Reforms brought in since the global financial crisis are supposed to mean a bank could simply go under without causing a collapse of the financial system or requiring the government to bail them out. The idea is that banks should be like normal private companies which take their own risks; if executives screw up, shareholders and creditors might lose money - but taxpayers shouldn't.
But buried in the Bank of England's recent financial stability report is an admission that that's not yet the case. We are merely "on course" to achieve that by 2022. The implication is that if a bank went under now, taxpayers would still probably have to intervene.
Is that at all likely? For a bank to go under, its losses would have to exceed its capacity to absorb them. Post-crisis reforms have required banks to have more capital set aside to absorb losses. The Bank of England's highlighted the fact that they now have to hold "10 times" more capital in case things go wrong. Which sounds reassuring until you realise how little they had to hold before the crisis. Under the old regime (known as Basel II) there was no "leverage ratio" - no cap on the amount banks could lend for every £1 they had in loss-absorbing capital. Now there is a cap of 3.25% - so that, put simply, banks have to have £3.25 set aside in capital to absorb potential losses for every £100 they lend.  Ten times hardly anything is still not a vast amount.
Having said that, for banks to chalk up losses of £3.25 for every £100 they have lent would require an economic calamity on a scale to beat even the crisis of 2008. That risk seems comfortably remote - or at least, we had better hope it is.


A murder investigation is under way after a man was stabbed to death in Greater Manchester.

Police discovered the 23-year-old after they were called to a property in Brightmeadow Close, Breightmet, Bolton, at about 04:15 GMT.
The victim was taken to hospital, where he later died.
Greater Manchester Police is yet to make any arrests and the force is appealing for anyone with information to come forward.
Ch Insp Carol Martin said: "First and foremost our thoughts go out to the family and friends of this young man.
"We are currently trying to piece together what happened before police arrived at the scene, and we will be doing everything we can to find the person or persons responsible.
"I would like to appeal to anyone who may have witnessed the disturbance or seen anything suspicious before or after police arrived to get in touch."


Police have been accused of "institutional racism" for portraying a suicide bomber as an Islamist terrorist, a protest meeting heard.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) apologised for racial stereotyping for using a fake terrorist shouting "Allahu Akbar" in the mock terror attack.
Organisers of the meeting at Longsight Saath Saath are demanding an inquiry.
GMP said it has no plans to issue any further statements on the training exercise staged at the Trafford Centre.
The scenario for the mock suicide bombing was by an extremist Daesh-style organisation although GMP had said the event was not linked to any specific terror threat.
Syed Azhar Shah, who chaired the meeting attended by about 30 people, said GMP assistant chief constable Garry Shewan's apology was not enough and "only acceptable" if those responsible resigned.
He said while the training exercise was a good idea but it was "shocking to portray Muslims as terrorists" and that only one group would commit terrorist acts.
He said: "It is also shocking what our children and community who live in this country will see themselves as; terrorists or British citizens?"
Mr Shah said further events would be held to "condemn this" and "ensure this would not happen again".
He said one apology "would not mend so many hurts".
One of those at the meeting said using a Muslim as a terrorist sent out "the totally wrong message" and "puts a wedge" between the community and GMP.
"We are all British citizens. As far as Islam is concerned it does not permit any killing."
Greater Manchester's police and crime commissioner Tony Lloyd, said it was "frustrating" the operation had been "marred by the ill-judged... and unacceptable decision" to have the terrorist shout 'Allahu Akbar' before setting off fake bombs.
Other locations in the three-day counter-terrorism exercise include Redbank Community Home in Newton-le-Willows.


Australian opposition senator Sam Dastyari has resigned his frontbench role over a foreign donation scandal involving Chinese companies.

The Labor senator was heavily criticised for allowing the Yuhu Group to pay for a legal bill in late 2014.
He also admitted asking a Chinese government-linked group to pay a personal travel debt of A$1,670 ($1,280; Â£956).
The payments were first reported by Australia's Fairfax media.
There is now an investigation into whether the New South Wales senator broke federal and state political party rules.
"It is clear that the ongoing examination of my behaviour is taking attention away from bigger issues facing Australia and Australians," he told a news conference on Wednesday.
"I made a mistake and I'm paying the price".
Labor leader Bill Shortern had said he would not sack Mr Dastyari and that he deserved a second chance.


It's 70 years since people from the Channel Islands were freed from the Germans during World War II.

7 May 2015 Last updated at 07:26 BST
The Channel Islands are made up of four smaller islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and Sark.
People on the islands were under the control of the Germans for nearly five years, until May 9th 1945, when Germany surrendered and they were freed.
That day is known as Liberation Day.
Martin went to Guernsey to talk to Pauline, who was just 5 years old on Liberation Day, to talk about the importance of remembering the war.


An average of 1,250 tonnes of Welsh rubbish - about the weight of 155 double-decker buses - is sent to landfill every day.

The total amount has dropped from 641,000 tonnes in 2012/13 to 453,000 tonnes in 2014/15 - a 30% fall in three years - with the amount spent on landfill having fallen by at least 23% in the last four years.
However, £130,000 is still being spent on Welsh landfill every day, according to figures obtained by BBC Wales.
So, what happens to a piece of recyclable rubbish after it is dropped into a bin bag headed for the dump?
Take, for instance, an empty aluminium drink can.
It gets binned at a home in Ruthin, Denbighshire, before being put out for refuse collectors on a Tuesday.
From there, it is driven to a transfer station half a mile (0.8km) away, where it is moved to a lorry with about 20 tonnes of other waste.
The articulated lorry drives its load 20 miles (32km) to Cory Environmental's Hafod Landfill site, near Johnstown, Wrexham.
It is then tipped on to the enormous dunes of rubbish - the site receives about 110,000 tonnes a year - and is ploughed with the surrounding junk into layers of waste by a giant £250,000 compactor.
How long will the can remain there before it eventually breaks down?
"It'll probably be there forever," said Ian Craven, Cory's area manager.
Scanning the mind-boggling channels of waste, you can see more crushed and twisted cans scattered around it. Lots of them.
Cory has planning permission to fill the site until 2043, with three million cubic metres of space still vacant.
The firm plans to make the site as green and attractive as possible, with trees and wildflower planting to create wildlife habitats, attractive for species such as the great crested newt.
The contaminated water - or leachate - and gasses are extracted from the waste mass, before finished areas are sealed with a capping layer of clay and topped with soil.
"People think it's just a hole in the ground but hopefully we will produce something that is of benefit to the environment and that people can eventually use and enjoy," Mr Craven said.
But the scale of the public cost of sending recyclable and compostable waste to landfill remains unappealingly massive.
Denbighshire council spent more than £1.4m on landfill and incineration last year.
Alan Roberts, senior waste officer at the authority, said it could save up to £500,000 a year if people put all their waste into the correct bin.
"Our recycling is at a very high level, comparatively, but it could be higher. Currently, around about 63% of the rubbish is recycled.
"A very significant proportion of what we collect in people's black wheelie bins is still recyclable material which has been put in the wrong container."
He estimated 20% of black bin waste collected was food and a further 20% was paper, cardboard and other items, all of which could all be recycled.
65.9%
Denbighshire
65.4% Pembrokeshire
63.2% Monmouthshire
61.6%  Ceredigion
There is, he explained, still a "yuck factor" when it comes to storing food waste separately.
"People don't appreciate that they do really have food waste," he added. "But of course, things like bread crusts, vegetable peelings, even tea bags and coffee grounds actually do tend to come out of most kitchens."
Overall, the annual amount of biodegradable municipal waste (food, paper, and garden waste) from Wales sent to landfill has dropped from over 850,000 tonnes in 2005/6 to  256,000 tonnes in 2014/15 -  a 70% reduction.
But how do you "nudge" - as Denbighshire puts it - people into being even more disciplined with their unwanted leavings?
"The approach we have taken has really been about removing the barriers to recycling and also, at the same time, making it somehow less convenient to choose not to recycle," Mr Roberts said.
Measures include smaller refuse wheelie bins and larger ones for recycling and, occasionally, enforcement action and even prosecution.
Mr Roberts said Denbighshire gets "massive support" from residents, but there are some individuals who simply will not cooperate.
For 2014/2015, it had the highest rate of any Welsh council for the percentage of its overall waste that was reused, recycled or composted - 65.9%.
But, like four more Welsh councils, Denbighshire's annual spend on landfill actually rose over the last four years. This, it said, is largely due to increases in landfill tax.
The Welsh government has targeted councils with recycling 58% of their waste by 2016, with that eventually rising to 100% by 2050.
Seven authorities had achieved the 2016 benchmark as of August, with Blaenau Gwent having the lowest rate of the rest, at 50%.
Denbighshire sends about a third of its non-recyclable waste to landfill, with the rest processed into a refuse-derived fuel, which is then burned to generate electricity and heat.
Some councils, such as Monmouthshire, dispose of almost all of their non-recyclable rubbish using these kinds of methods, such as energy from waste systems.
But for those areas still relying heavily on landfill to swallow their imponderable supply of waste, there remains an ignominious and airtight time capsule marking their legacy below ground.
"There are stories of old landfill sites that have been dug into from Victorian times and it is still possible to read the newsprint," Mr Roberts added, explaining that even  organic waste takes much longer to degrade inside landfill.
"The waste will sit there."
By Michael Burgess and Philip John


A jeweller has said he "chased" an armed robber out of his shop with a baseball bat.

Police launched a manhunt after a man armed with a weapon tried to rob Coopers Jewellery in Barnstaple on Thursday afternoon.
Owner David Bruce said he "cracked the man on the wrist" with the bat when a gun was pointed at him.
Nothing was stolen from the shop and the police are continuing to investigate.
Four firearms units, a dog handler and local officers were among police looking for the man after reports of a robbery.
Mr Bruce said the man "came marching straight in and slapped a big fat bag on the counter and asked me to fill it".
"I told him you picked the wrong guy, he thought I was going to the safe but I got my baseball bat.
"He pointed the gun at me and I instinctively cracked him on the wrist with the baseball bat and the gun fired."
Mr Bruce was not injured by the shot and said he then hit the man again twice with "real force behind the blows" before chasing him out of his shop.
He said the man "was caught totally unawares" and added: "I come from a school of hard knocks. I wasn't scared."
The raider was described as short and wearing a sandy or khaki coloured long trench coat.
Mr Bruce said he had a full latex mask on with a scarf and sunglasses and "looked weird, like a cyborg with sunglasses".
Devon and Cornwall Police said they believed the would-be robber's "weapon was some kind of blank firing firearm" and "certainly don't think there's any risk to the public from the weapon he had".


Track cycling sees competitors battle it out at high speeds along the steep wooden banking of the velodrome.

Riders use special bikes and ride anticlockwise around the track in a range of events, from endurance-based pursuits over several kilometres - the aim being to outpace a rival rider or team - through to the cagey, strategy-based individual sprint.
Why is it good for you?
Track racing is an exciting and physically demanding sport, with an hour-long session likely to burn approximately 782 calories per hour.
The strain of keeping the bike in motion at speed increases the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and improves endurance.
As the thigh, calf and hip muscles are in constant use, it is an effective way to help build lower-body strength.
Unlike other high-energy sports, bike riding has a much lower risk of injury as there is none of the physical contact between athletes found in football or rugby, while it is much gentler on the knee and ankle joints than long-distance running.
As training for track racing is often a team-based pursuit, it is an excellent way to develop communication skills and learn to work effectively with other people.
Clubs also offer a variety of social events beyond just riding.
Approximately two million people in Britain cycle at least once a week, and there are more than 80,000 members of cycling clubs.
Before taking to the track, it is essential to wear safety equipment.
Some clubs allow members to hire bikes and helmets. A decent starter track bike costs from £600, and it is important to buy a track bike as mountain, road and hybrid BMX bikes are ill-suited to ride on velodrome circuits.
Visit the British Cycling, Cycling Ireland, Scottish Cycling and Welsh Cycling websites for more information.
For parents looking to get their children started in competitive racing, British Cycling are running a number of events for under-16s throughout the United Kingdom this year. Visit the Go-Ride Racing website for more details.
Track cycling was first established in Great Britain in the 1870s when wooden indoor tracks, consisting of two straights and slightly banked turns, were laid.
The sport proved a popular attraction and early races at venues in Birmingham, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester and London attracted crowds of up to 2,000 people.
Track cycling events have been organised at all the editions of the Olympics since 1896, with the only exception being the 1912 Games in Stockholm, when only the road race was staged.
Track bikes have no brakes: riders stop by putting pressure on the pedals.
Between 1924 and 1992, the range of events at the Olympics were usually a sprint, time trial over one kilometre, tandem and team pursuit. The individual pursuit was added in the 1964 Olympic in Tokyo, and the tandem was dropped after the 1972 Games in Munich.
Women first competed in a sprint track event in 1988, and the individual pursuit was added in Barcelona four years later.
In February 2011, the London Olympic Velodrome became the first competition venue in the Olympic Park to be completed.
More on the IOC website
Are you inspired to try Track Cycling? Or maybe you are an enthusiast already? Get in touch and tell us your experience of the activity by tweeting us on @bbcgetinspired or email us on getinspired@bbc.co.uk.
See our full list of activity guides for more inspiration.


New powers for the National Assembly means politicians will be "very stretched" but making the case for more assembly members will be difficult, says its presiding officer.

Elin Jones has called for the number of AMs to be increased, and asked an expert panel to examine the issue.
But speaking to BBC Wales, she accepted winning the argument was challenging.
A former Welsh Government adviser said persuading two-thirds of AMs to vote for an increase may not be easy.
There are currently 60 AMs, but with more powers soon to be devolved to Wales there have long been calls for that number to be increased.
Last week the Wales Act 2017 was given Royal Assent paving the way for the next stage of devolution, including a degree of control over income tax.
Provisions in the act will allow the assembly to expand, if two-thirds of AMs agree.
Speaking to BBC Wales' Sunday Politics programme, Ms Jones said: "It's always difficult to make the case in any country in the world that there should be more politicians, but democratic systems require elected members.
"We have to remind ourselves always of the fact that the National Assembly is taking on more powers, and that means current assembly members and assembly members in the future will be very stretched in their workload."
She said: "People when they're stretched in their workloads don't do their work as effectively as they could.
"We need to make sure our democratic system in Wales is working at its most effective and we do that for the benefit of the people of Wales."
The presiding officer has asked the expert panel to report back in the autumn so the assembly can discuss the findings and make any changes before the next election in 2021.
Under the Wales Act, the legislation would require a two-thirds majority in the assembly which means ultimately the Labour group would have to back the proposals.
But former special advisor Cathy Owens, now a political consultant, told the programme: "I don't for one minute doubt that quite a lot of the Labour AMs would like there to be more AMs, but that doesn't necessarily mean that getting two thirds of the Assembly to vote for more AMs is going to be an easy thing.
"It's quite difficult for the Labour party at this time, given everything that's happening in the world, to say 'what we want to do now is increase the number of assembly members'.
"Let's not assume this is definitely going to happen.
"A huge amount of work is going to have to go into persuading people this is a good thing to do, to vote for more AMs."
In an interview with The Wales Report last week, the First Minister Carwyn Jones said the current arrangement works but is "under strain".
The Welsh Labour leader said he did not want, within weeks of getting the powers, to say "the first thing we're going to do is increase the number of politicians", arguing that would "make us look ridiculous".
Sunday Politics, BBC One Wales, 11:00 GMT, 5 February


An FBI agent has revealed details of the alleged plot to overthrow The Gambia's president during the festive season and it reads like a Hollywood script.

A 22-page affidavit submitted to a US court following the arrest of two of the alleged conspirators tells of coup plotters crossing continents, stuffing weapons in barrels and hiding in bushes, using codenames like "Fox" as they tried to keep their identities secret.
But it also suggests that the plotters were naive, thinking the autocratic ruler's guards would flee or switch sides, helping them to gain power without much bloodshed.
Instead, the guards put up a spirited fight, thwarting the coup attempt launched in the early hours of 30 December by men wearing night vision goggles and armed with with semi-automatic rifles allegedly bought in the US.
Agent Nicholas Marshall suggests in the affidavit that the plot was hatched in the US in August, ostensibly to restore democracy in The Gambia - a tiny West African state ruled by Yahya Jammeh since he staged a bloodless coup in 1994.
Allegedly led by 57-year-old Texas businessman Cherno Njie, it had a core of 10-15 members living in the US, UK and Germany - with the US as their headquarters.
"They hoped they would be able to take over the country without having to kill any Gambians. They [had] also expected to be joined by up to 160 members of the  local Gambian military who supposedly agreed to the coup," Mr Marshall says.
Mr Njie - a US citizen of Gambian origin - was alleged to be the main financier and he would have been installed, according to Mr Marshall, as The Gambia's leader if the coup succeeded.
One of the Texas businessman's co-conspirators was allegedly Papa Faal, 46, a US-Gambian national who assumed the nom de guerre Fox. He handed himself to US authorities after the plot failed - and allegedly spilled the beans to the FBI.
Both Mr Njie and Mr Faal have been charged in US courts with conspiring to overthrow President Jammeh, but they they have not yet been asked to plead.
"The group's Operation Plan was stored online where only members of the conspiracy could view it," the FBI agent says.
"Faal did not believe anyone outside of the group, including the US government, knew of their plans. Nor did Faal believe that any of their conspirators let their wives or families know about the coup attempt ahead of time."
US nationals of Gambian origin are alleged to have bought weapons from gun shops across America.
"Most, if not all of the members of the group, had served in The Gambian or US military, and were avid  shooters," Mr Marshall says.
"Faal enjoyed going to the firing range in the US for practise, but did not go shooting specifically for operational purposes."
Mr Faal spent $6,000 (Â£3,950) on buying eight M4 semi-automatic rifles in Minnesota, hid them in four "50 gallon barrels" and stuffed clothing around the "disassembled weapons to conceal them", the FBI agent adds.
"The barrels were 'containerized' and shipped under an alias fabricated by Faal."
Night vision goggles, black military-styled uniforms and other equipment were also bought, with each of the alleged plotters given $4,000 for expenses in The Gambia.
"Faal left the US on 3 December via South African Air[ways] and arrived in Senegal. Faal then immediately travelled to The Gambia overland where he stayed until the coup attempt. Once the rest of the group arrived in The Gambia, the group spoke by phone and rarely met with each other,"  according to Mr Marshall.
The group then carried out reconnaissance missions and "mental dry runs" with the aim of targeting Mr Jammeh while he travelled by road around Christmas and New Year, the FBI agent adds.
"Their plan entailed blocking the president's convoy and ambushing his vehicle. They planned to fire shots into the air to cause his bodyguards to flee.
"They hoped the president would surrender but were willing to shoot him if he fired at them."
After learning that Mr Jammeh was abroad, the group was forced change their plan, deciding to attack the presidential palace.
They met in woods near the palace and split into two units - Bravo and Alpha.
"There, they changed into their assault gear and put their other belongings into the rented cars they were going to use in the assault," Mr Marshall says.
The plan was for the Alpha team to breach the front door of the palace with a vehicle, while Bravo would secure the back of the building.
"The group believed The Gambian army soldiers at the State House would drop their weapons and flee, being unwilling to die for President Jammeh.
"The group expected that while the two teams took control of the State House, a battalion of Gambian soldiers sympathetic to the conspirators would arrive and offer support."
Instead, the Alpha team found the palace had been fortified with additional guards, who fought back until the coup plot was thwarted.
"Faal believes all of the Alpha team members were killed," the FBI agent says.
Refusing to concede defeat, a member of the Bravo team then attempted to drive a car into the presidential palace, but was killed, according to information the FBI gleaned from Mr Faal.
"Faal fled and took refuge in a nearby building, removed his body armour, boots, and military-style clothing and changed into clothes obtained from a man in the building," Mr Marshall says.
The next day, Mr Faal took a ferry to Senegal, but was refused entry because he did not have a Gambian exit stamp on his passport.
"He was then forced to return to The Gambia on the ferry and obtain an exit permit - which Faal did accomplish. Faal then boarded the ferry again and accomplished his escape to Senegal," the FBI agent says.
Mr Faal then went to the US embassy, where he was questioned on the alleged coup plot, leading to his arrest and that of Mr Njie, the alleged mastermind who had flown back to the US on 3 January via Senegal, according to Mr Marshall.
Their arrest, some analysts say, puts the US in an awkward situation.
It is a staunch critic of Mr Jammeh, accusing him of human rights violations, but it now appears to be helping to tighten his grip on power.


A cat started a fire by switching on a kitchen hob while its owners were out.

Crews were called to High Street, Wallingford, after the alarm was raised by the pet sitter on Wednesday.
In a scene reminiscent of a Sainsbury's TV advert starring a cat called Mog, the fire service said the puss knocked a plastic bag onto the electric hob and pushed the control with its paw.
A spokesman advised pet owners not to leave items near their cookers and to switch off hobs at the mains.
There were no injuries following the fire and there was minimal damage to the property.
Watch manager Terry Coupar said the owners were "lucky" the pet sitter arrived when they did because no smoke alarms were fitted at the property.
Mog, which also starred in Judith Kerr's book Mog's Christmas Calamity, accidentally turned on an oven, burnt the turkey and destroyed a Christmas tree.


Everton manager Ronald Koeman fiercely criticised his players and demanded action from the club's hierarchy in the transfer market after the FA Cup exit at home to Leicester City.

Koeman was furious after the 2-1 loss ended the Toffees' hopes of challenging for a trophy in his first season.
"I know what is needed to change," the 53-year-old Dutchman said.
"If everybody opened his eyes maybe we will get further in our improvement - because that is what this team needs."
Everton paraded new £11m forward Ademola Lookman, 19, before kick-off, but negotiations continue to drag on to secure Manchester United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin.
It is not bad luck. We did it ourselves
Koeman wants major improvements to his squad and said: "I have that in mind and the board knows because we speak together about what we and the team needs and that is the job of [director of football] Steve Walsh.
"I hope everybody realises what the team needs to get results that are the expectation of this football club.
"I can explain more but I don't like to because that's really talks we need to do [internally]."
He added that the fact teenage Everton midfielder Tom Davies was one of the best players on show against Leicester "says enough" about the squad at his disposal.
Koeman also refused to put the cup exit down to ill fortune after seeing Romelu Lukaku's opener quickly cancelled out by two goals from Leicester substitute Ahmed Musa.
"It is not bad luck," he said. "We did it ourselves and it was just unbelievable how we dropped back.
"It was a lack of concentration at 1-0. I just can't see how they score the goal to make it 1-1. No pressing on the ball, a pass inside Seamus Coleman and Musa is faster - three defenders for us and it is 1-1.
"If you play like we did at 1-0 you ask for goals against. That is not the way you need to play at 1-0."
And with a Premier League match against Manchester City next up, Koeman warned his players they risk being on the end of a result similar to the 5-0 FA Cup drubbing Pep Guardiola's side dished out to West Ham on Friday.
"If we play like the last 30 minutes it can be the same result as against West Ham," he said.


When photographer Charles Fox unexpectedly found himself heading to the US with his original plans in tatters, he decided to make the most of the opportunity and set out to travel coast to coast in that time honoured tradition of the photographic road trip.

Starting on the west coast, he spent five weeks making the journey. Sometimes he would linger in a particular state, at other times just pass through, the landscape little more than a blur through the window as he laid down the miles.
"It was an experience of freedom but also isolation," he says.  "The road in winter is a lonely place and interactions were fleeting."
His route developed as he drove, changing plans to stay south of the cold weather, interacting with those he met along the way and eventually passing through 19 states.
Of course, like many of us, he grew up with an idea of America shaped by film and television, and you can't embark on a trip like this without reference to those who have passed that way before.
It is 60 years since Robert Frank set out on his 10,000-mile road trip around America and produced what is arguably the greatest photographic study of all time.
Treading in those footsteps is no easy thing, yet one or two frames have hints of Fox's homage to Frank.
Here is a selection of the work.
You can see more of Charles Fox's work on his website.


Cleveland Cavaliers beat Golden State Warriors 112-97 to reduce the deficit to 3-2 in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving each netted 41 points to become the first team-mates to score more than 40 points in the same NBA Finals match.
Steph Curry scored only 25 points and the Warriors also missed the suspended Draymond Green as they failed to clinch the title on their home court.
Warriors return to Cleveland, where they won the 2015 title, in game six.
No side has come back from 3-1 down to win the Finals but the Cavaliers will feel they now have the momentum on their home court on Thursday to take it to a decider on Sunday.
They hit 10 of 24 three-pointers to hand the Warriors their fourth home loss this season.
It was level at 61-61 at half-time, but Cleveland then outscored their hosts 51-36, with Curry particularly wasteful as the Warriors hit just three of 21 three-points during that period.
It is now 26 consecutive series for James with at least one road win, extending his NBA record.
Find out how to get into basketball with our special guide.


A man and woman have been injured after a car crashed off the A90 road near Stracathro on Sunday morning.

Emergency services were called to the scene at about 11:00, when a green Vauxhall Corsa left the northbound carriageway.
A man in his 20s and a woman in her 30s have been taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. The extent of their injuries is not yet known.
Crash investigations are under way and Police Scotland appealed for witnesses.


Stars including Emeli Sande, Pixie Lott, and Stormzy have gathered to record a Grenfell Tower charity single.

The cover of Simon and Garfunkel's hit Bridge Over Troubled Water was organised by Simon Cowell.
Other stars including Rita Ora and Leona Lewis recorded parts for the song on Saturday.
Sande said:  "It's really inspiring to see people come together. It gives you hope in humanity."
Cowell, who lives in the same London borough as the now burnt-out tower, called the blaze "heartbreaking".
At least 58 people are believed to have died and hundreds more made homeless.
Those taking part in Sunday's recording at Sarm music studios, close to the tower in west London, included singer and former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos and the show's 2015 winner Louisa Johnson.
They were joined by Pitch Battle choirmaster Gareth Malone and Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones.
Pixie Lott said: "It's an honour to be involved and to come down and record today.
"Anything that we can do to help, we should."


Qatar Airways is confident that its new long-haul service from Cardiff Airport will be ready to launch next year.

The airline met Welsh business leaders on Tuesday to outline the benefits of the new route to the capital Doha.
Since the new route was announced, sanctions have been placed on Qatar by its Middle East neighbours.
"We're operating 90% as normal - apart from the four countries affected," said Glen Mintrim, the airline's vice president for northern Europe.
The sanctions include a refusal to allow Qatar Airways flights access to the region's air space which could add hours to journey times.
The country has also been accused of supporting terrorist organisations.
But Mr Mintrim does not anticipate problems.
"Last week we had our Dublin launch which started as planned, it's business as normal - nothing's changed."
But he would not be drawn on the launch date, the frequency or cost of the flights.
Attracting a long-haul route has been one of Cardiff Airport's main ambitions.
It will be a key factor in its target of having two million passengers a year within the next five years.
Airport bosses believe the regular flight to Doha will offer significant business opportunities not only for south Wales but also the south west of England.
Deb Barber, chief executive of Cardiff Airport, said: "It's transformational. It's been a long time part of our strategy to bring direct, long-haul flights to Wales and it's the only region not served at the moment, so there has been a huge gap in the market we have been looking to fill."
Latest figures show that exports from Wales to Qatar amounted to Â£26m in 2016.
James Bennett, sales and marketing director of Caerphilly-based aircraft parts company AerFin, is looking to more international growth.
"For us, if you look at the Middle East, it's a critical, strategic region," he said.
"It will see 3,500 aircraft deliveries over the course of the next 20 years. We, as a components support provider and lease services and solutions provider, will want to be a part of that growth.
"Anything that enables an easier link with that region will be a positive."
Doha would also be a tourist destination in itself as well as allowing passengers access to a hub that provides flights.
Qatar is one of the richest countries in the Middle East and will host the 2022 World Cup.


The escalation of the war in Syria and the approach of winter have given added urgency to an EU summit on migration - the fourth one this year to focus on the crisis.

The Brussels talks on Thursday will look especially at the problems faced by Turkey, hosting more than two million Syrian refugees.
The EU is anxious to stem the record influx of refugees from Turkey, as 350,000 reached Greek islands between January and September this year.
The migrant crisis has severely strained the goodwill between EU states.
The inconsistency in asylum policy across the EU has led to bitter arguments.
Hungary, Slovakia and some other countries are reluctant to take in non-European refugees, arguing that they have much less experience of integration than countries like Sweden and Germany.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel also faces growing opposition at home to her welcome for refugees, as the number of asylum seekers in Germany this year is forecast to reach at least 800,000.
Opinion polls suggest her popularity has suffered. But across Europe there is also sympathy for refugees fleeing war and persecution, and some anxiety that EU solidarity - fundamental to the bloc's consensus politics - is now crumbling.
The first few refugees have been relocated from Italy and more flights will follow soon from there and Greece, but progress is slow. Even if the target of 160,000 is met, it will take at least two years to transfer them.
So a key short-term priority is to improve the filtering of migrants when they arrive, so that only those in genuine need of international protection get asylum.
So-called "hotspots" are being set up in Italy and Greece, where EU teams are trying to speed up the registration process and ease the pressure at overcrowded reception centres.
A draft of the summit conclusions, seen by the BBC, calls for strengthening of the EU's external borders and a more determined "return" policy - that is, ensuring that economic migrants are sent home.
The EU border force Frontex is to get more staff and a wider mandate, so that it can help national authorities to deport migrants.
Currently fewer than 40% of those refused asylum are sent back.
The leaders will also discuss setting up a European coastguard service.
The European Commission is ploughing in extra funding - the total EU budget for the migration crisis is nearly â‚¬10bn (Â£7.4bn; $11.5bn) for 2015-2016.
But the 28 member states' governments are lagging behind, the Commission complains.
They are far from fulfilling their aid pledges - including aid earmarked for the UN and other humanitarian organisations.
"Even if the influx of refugees slows down during winter, we must be ready for spring and the threat of bigger waves flowing to Europe," said summit chairman Donald Tusk in a letter to fellow EU leaders.
There are expectations that Russia's air strikes in Syria in support of a government offensive, as well as further gains by so-called Islamic State (IS), will displace more Syrians - on top of the 11 million already uprooted.
The EU is offering more aid and resources to Turkey to improve conditions in the refugee camps.
That is a priority before winter, as severe hardship there - and in other countries on Syria's borders - could push more refugees to make the hazardous journey to Europe.
An EU-Turkey joint action plan is being finalised, to ease the refugees' plight, crack down on people-smuggling gangs and help Turkey repatriate migrants to countries deemed to be safe.
The migrant crisis will dominate this summit, so little time will be spent on the UK government's push for EU reform and the rule changes that Prime Minister David Cameron wants.
Mr Tusk says the leaders will "take stock of the next steps with regard to the UK referendum on its membership of the EU, and confirm our commitment towards seeking viable solutions".
A December EU summit is expected to be the forum for more detailed debate of the UK's renegotiation.


BT has condemned "excessive" new business rates, which it says will push up the cost of broadband services.

The charges start from 1 April 2017 and will increase BT's annual valuation fourfold, from £165m to £743m.
"We are extremely disappointed by the new rateable values, which are clearly excessive," BT said.
On Friday, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) published revaluation details of 1.96 million non-domestic properties in England and Wales.
But BT said: "It is highly likely that an increase of this size would lead to higher prices for consumers and businesses."
The telecoms giant warned that if the proposed new rates are brought in, "it could have a negative impact on future investment in the network".
That point was echoed by Virgin Media chief executive Tom Mockridge, who said: "The Chancellor Philip Hammond is choosing to side-step responsibility for a huge increase in infrastructure taxes, at the very moment after the Brexit vote the UK needs to maximise investment into its digital fibre network."
BT said it will challenge the VOA's "method and assumptions".
"The Government has made it clear that it wants companies such as BT to invest heavily in the UK. We have stepped up to that challenge but we need a more joined up and logical approach from the public sector if there is to be a more conducive environment for investment," the company said.
The proposed rates will be welcomed by many small businesses, which will see a drop in their charges.
That is because they have overpaid in recent years, as rates have been based on 2008 valuations which are now out of date, said the Federation of Small Businesses.
Chairman Mike Cherry said: "Many businesses across the country will be getting some relief from years of overpayment or see their rates remain steady.
"In other areas, there will be a big jump between the old valuation and the new one. To avoid such big discrepancies in payments, we believe more frequent valuations are necessary."
But he added that transitional relief plans, which were announced by the government earlier this week, will help reduce some of the pain for those facing a big rate hike.
Under proposed changes to Small Business Rate Relief announced in the March 2016 Budget, small firms with a rateable value of less than £12,000 will pay no business rates at all, with further assistance handed to those with a rateable value of under £51,000.
"It means that today's revaluations could have big consequences, especially for those firms on the margins of these cut-off points," said Mr Cherry.
Local Government Minister Marcus Jones said: "Local firms also need to be confident that the rates they pay are accurate and fair, no matter where they are in the country, and these updates will give them that reassurance.
"We are committed to helping all businesses flourish and as we make the system fairer up and down the country, nearly three quarters of companies will see no change, or even a fall, in their bills - including 600,000 who from next April will have their bills cut altogether.
"But for the small minority of businesses that do face an increase, we're putting in place £3.4bn of transitional relief to provide vital support as they adjust to these changes."


A man suspected of murdering a six-year-old boy is back in the UK after leaving the country while on bail.

Rikki Neave's naked body was found in woodland near his Peterborough home in November 1994. He had been strangled. The investigation reopened last year.
James Watson, 35, from Peterborough was arrested and bailed in April and re-arrested in Portugal on 2 August.
Officers from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire travelled to Lisbon to fetch him.
He was initially bailed until June and re-bailed until September, but last month police confirmed he had left the country.
He was traced to Portugal where local police detained him in the capital. He did not resist extradition.
Rikki Neave was last seen leaving his Welland estate home for school on the morning of 28 November 1994.
His body was found the next day in a wooded area about five minutes walk away.
He had died as a result of compression to the neck, post-mortem tests found.
Rikki's mother, Ruth Neave, was cleared of his murder at a trial in 1996. She later admitted child neglect and cruelty and was jailed for seven years.
A Crimewatch appeal broadcast on the 20th anniversary of Rikki's death led officers to release an e-fit of two teenage boys they wanted to talk to in connection with the case.
The pair had been seen walking out of the woods where Rikki's body was found on the morning of 29 November.


Nineteen of David Bowie's albums have entered the UK album charts, after fans sought out his classic hits in the wake of his death.

His new album, Blackstar, reached number one, selling almost 150,000 copies since its release last week.
It had already been on course to top the charts before news of his death was announced on Monday, said the Official Charts Company.
Thirteen Bowie tracks also entered the top 100, led by Heroes at number 12.
The song, which originally peaked at 24 in 1977, is joined in the top 40 by Life On Mars, Starman, Let's Dance and Space Oddity.
In total, Bowie sold 241,000 albums and 167,000 singles over the course of the week, while his songs were streamed more than 19 million times on services like Apple Music and Spotify, which said streams jumped by 2,822% following news of his death.
The star accounts for 25% of this week's Top 40, with the best-sellers including greatest hits collections Nothing Has Changed and Best Of 1969/1974.
Hunky Dory was the most popular of the Bowie's classic albums, charting at 14. The 1971 record includes the singles Life on Mars and Changes, as well as Kooks, an ode to Bowie's son whose lyrics went viral earlier this week.
BBC 6 Music is celebrating the music of David Bowie this weekend with specials from Steve Lamacq and Adam Buxton.
Elsewhere, Justin Bieber maintained his grip on the top five singles, with his Ed Sheeran-penned ballad Love Yourself spending a sixth week at the top.
His previous singles Sorry and What Do You Mean each slipped one place - to three and four respectively - pushed down by Shawn Mendes' new single Stitches.
The top five was rounded off by Sigala's dance track Sweet Lovin', up from number eight last week.
Elsewhere, Little Mix scored their 13th top 40 hit with Secret Love Song a duet with US singer Jason Derulo, which entered the chart at 34; while Craig David's career comeback continues apace, as the grime collaboration When The Bassline Drops, featuring Big Narstie, climbs 21 places to Number 15.
In doing so, it gives the British singer his first top 20 single since 2007's Hot Stuff (Let's Dance).
In the album chart, Elvis Presley holds firm at number two with If I Can Dream, featuring orchestral arrangements of his biggest hits. Adele's 25 fell to number three, giving up the top spot for the first time since its release last November.
Justin Bieber's Purpose is at four, while Stevie McCrorie - who won last year's edition of The Voice UK - scores a new entry at 35 with his first post-victory release, Big World.
Watch a special tribute programme David Bowie: Sound and Vision on the BBC iPlayer


One of the  biggest ever web attacks - in which more than one terabit of data was fired at a website to knock it offline - has been reported.

Web hosting company OVH said it had been attacked by a botnet (zombie army) of hacked devices such as webcams.
The previous largest attack was thought to be one on security expert Brian Krebs' website which hit 620Gbps (gigabits per second).
That was also thought to be mounted via a botnet of compromised smart devices.
It is not known whether the attacks were mounted by the same botnet.
Both were so-called distributed denial of service attacks - in which websites are hit by massive amounts of data.
They have thrown the spotlight once again on the security of IoT (internet of things) devices.
According to a recent report on IoT malware from security firm Symantec, cybercriminals are increasingly looking for vulnerable smart devices - such as TVs, home security systems and webcams.
"Cybercriminals are interested in cheap bandwidth to enable bigger attacks. They obtain this by hijacking our devices and stitching together a large web of consumer devices that are easy to infect because they lack sophisticated security," said Nick Shaw from Symantec's Norton division.
OVH founder Octave Klaba has been tweeting about the ongoing attack, updating followers on the number of devices that are joining the botnet, which at one point including more than 145,000 devices : "+15,654 new CCTV participated in the DDoS last 48H," his last tweet reads.
Mr Krebs' website was offline for nearly a week and, according to Akamai - the security firm that supported the site -  the attack was nearly double the size of any previous one it had seen and was "among the biggest assaults the internet has ever witnessed".
Dave Larson, chief technology officer at security firm Corero, said that IoT botnets were disrupting the industry.
"The tools and devices used to execute the attacks are readily available to just about anyone; combining this with almost complete anonymity creates a recipe to break the internet."