Seventy-five years after German bombs rained on a thriving Swansea for three successive nights during World War Two, efforts are still being made to regenerate its centre.

The city was reduced to rubble during what became known as the "Swansea Blitz".
About 35,000 incendiaries and 800 high explosive bombs were dropped during the raids which started on 19 February, 1941, killing 230 people.
The raging fires could be seen from the other side of the Bristol Channel in Devon.
Swansea was targeted because of its nearby docks and part of the Germans' bombing campaign was to cripple exports as well as demoralise civilians and emergency services.
It resulted in whole areas being completely cleared and rebuilding starting from scratch.
"Pre-Second World War Swansea had begun to look and feel like a city," said Bangor University's Dr Dinah Evans, whose research includes the impact of warfare on, and reconstruction of, Swansea.
"Hotels, restaurants and cafes abounded, together with theatres, art galleries, concert halls and shopping arcades.
Wednesday 19 February - Friday 21 February, 1941
"In the commercial centres of Wind Street, Castle Street and High Street the pavements were wide and the shops fronting onto them stylish, selling merchandise of all kinds.
"The department stores were imposing and many of a calibre usually found in London.
"However, when in 1941 Swansea came under enemy attack from the air, the face of the town was changed for ever.
"Although the town's Guildhall, art gallery and library were still standing when the bombing stopped, its social and entertainment heart had all but disappeared.
"The town centre was destroyed and Swansea people had to contend with a bleak landscape where once prosperous shops and stores had stood."
Dr Evans said the council was under pressure to produce a plan that would not only restore those areas damaged in the blitz but also ensure the future prosperity of Swansea.
She added: "Meanwhile rumours began to circulate in the press that Swansea town's reconstruction progress compared unfavourably with other bombed cities, especially that of Plymouth.
"However, when it came to the question of rebuilding a blitzed town or city centre, there were limits to what could be achieved.
"The war effort had all but bankrupted Britain and the financial stringencies of post-war Britain would conflict with the visions of many local authorities for the reconstruction process.
"Swansea was no exception; the plans of its town council for a new shopping and commercial centre were subject to endless delays, shortages and restrictions.
"The rebuilt town centre, some 20 years later, was a product of its time - functional but with little style, the outcome of inadequate funding."
Since then, plans have come and gone to regenerate the city centre on a huge scale, including the doomed Castle Quays project which was first mooted in 1994 and scrapped 10 years later.
Respective ruling councils have struggled to find an alternative option, with the most recent failure the collapse of a £1bn transformation project.
"There's been no real major investment in Swansea," said Chris Holley, who led the city's council from 2004 until 2012.
"Most development companies look at the city and say there's not enough wealth to invest in the city centre.
"After the war there was investment but we had more factories and more jobs and they've all gone now."
"Now it's the case of not having the disposable wealth which would generate sales across the patch and we haven't got a huge travel to work area."
Mr Holley pointed out the amount of investment Cardiff has received over the years and the Welsh capital is thriving both in the city centre and Cardiff Bay.
Swansea has failed to significantly move forward but planners hope the latest plans, unveiled in January, will finally give the city centre the regeneration it needs.
The £500m project will be the biggest landscape change since the blitz and work is due to start in 2017.
It will include a 3,500-seat arena, an aquarium and a new shopping area along with the creation of a city beach area with bars, restaurants, offices, 5-star hotels and homes which will open on to an extended promenade and the beach.
"I think St David's [shopping area and cafe quarter] would be great for the city centre," said Mr Holley, who is leader of the council's opposition.
"If we can build the arena, it will help the city centre with footfall.
"I'm not too sure about the civic centre development as that appears to be mostly flats."
Only time will tell.


Stevenage came from behind to secure a win over local rivals Luton thanks to Matt Godden's winner in the sixth minute of injury time.

Cameron McGeehan's 15th-minute opener was the first noteworthy chance of the game, and only found its way to goal thanks to a heavy deflection that wrong-footed Stevenage goalkeeper Jamie Jones.
The home side did not trouble the Luton goal in the first half but Hatters duo Jake Gray and Danny Hylton both struck wide as half-time approached.
Stevenage found a way back into the game early in the second half as Godden found Connor Hunte unmarked at the back post and he headed calmly past Christian Walton.
Stephen O'Donnell then rifled the ball off the underside of the crossbar before McGeehan saw his subsequent shot blocked on the line, as the visitors looked for a way back into the match.
After hitting the bar, Luton watched on as Tom Pett broke away and played the ball to Godden who converted to give Boro their first ever home win against Luton.
Report supplied by Press Association.
Match ends, Stevenage 2, Luton Town 1.
Second Half ends, Stevenage 2, Luton Town 1.
Attempt missed. Olly Lee (Luton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Goal!  Stevenage 2, Luton Town 1. Matt Godden (Stevenage) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Ben Kennedy.
Olly Lee (Luton Town) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box.
Attempt saved. Dan Potts (Luton Town) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Substitution, Luton Town. Josh McQuoid replaces Cameron McGeehan.
Fraser Franks (Stevenage) hits the bar with a header from the right side of the box.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Tom Conlon (Stevenage) because of an injury.
Ben Kennedy (Stevenage) hits the bar with a right footed shot from the left side of the box.
Luke Wilkinson (Stevenage) is shown the yellow card.
Tom Conlon (Stevenage) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Isaac Vassell (Luton Town).
Attempt missed. Tom Pett (Stevenage) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Attempt saved. Cameron McGeehan (Luton Town) right footed shot from very close range is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Corner,  Luton Town. Conceded by Charlie Lee.
Corner,  Luton Town. Conceded by Jamie Jones.
Attempt saved. Danny Hylton (Luton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.
Ronnie Henry (Stevenage) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Danny Hylton (Luton Town).
Corner,  Luton Town. Conceded by Jamie Jones.
Attempt saved. Pelly Ruddock (Luton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Substitution, Stevenage. Tom Conlon replaces Connor Hunte.
Attempt saved. Cameron McGeehan (Luton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Ben Kennedy (Stevenage) because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Pelly Ruddock (Luton Town) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Attempt blocked. Isaac Vassell (Luton Town) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Substitution, Luton Town. Isaac Vassell replaces Jack Marriott.
Attempt missed. Charlie Lee (Stevenage) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Olly Lee (Luton Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Ben Kennedy (Stevenage) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Olly Lee (Luton Town).
Attempt saved. Jordan Cook (Luton Town) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Stephen O'Donnell (Luton Town) hits the bar with a right footed shot from the right side of the box.
Attempt blocked. Dean Wells (Stevenage) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Corner,  Stevenage. Conceded by Pelly Ruddock.
Fraser Franks (Stevenage) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jordan Cook (Luton Town).


With almost all the ballots counted, results from the Greek referendum show voters decisively rejecting the terms of an international bailout.

Figures published by the interior ministry showed 61% of those whose ballots had been counted voting "No", against 39% voting "Yes".
Greece's governing Syriza party had campaigned for a "No", saying the bailout terms were humiliating.
Their opponents warned that this could see Greece ejected from the eurozone.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said late on Sunday that Greeks had voted for a "Europe of solidarity and democracy".
"As of tomorrow, Greece will go back to the negotiating table and our primary priority is to reinstate the financial stability of the country," he said in a televised address.
"This time, the debt will be on the negotiating table," he added, saying that an International Monetary Fund assessment published this week "confirms Greek views that restructuring the debt is necessary".
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But some European officials had said that a "No" would be seen as an outright rejection of talks with creditors.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the eurozone's group of finance ministers, said the referendum result was "very regrettable for the future of Greece".
Germany's Deputy Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, said renewed negotiations with Greece were "difficult to imagine".
Mr Tsipras and his government were taking the country down a path of "bitter abandonment and hopelessness", he told the Tagesspiegel daily.
The partying by the "No" camp will go well into the night here and the government will be popping open the ouzo. Alexis Tsipras has called the eurozone's bluff - and it appears to have gone his way.
But the triumphalism won't last. There is still a sizeable chunk of the Greek nation deeply unhappy with what has happened. And the government will have to unite a divided country.
More than that, a deal with the eurozone has to be struck fast.
Greek banks are running critically low and will need another injection of emergency funds from the European Central Bank.
Given the bad blood of the past two weeks - Greece's Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, calling the eurozone's strategy "terrorism" - it will be hard to get back around the negotiating table. And with the banking crisis and tax revenues plummeting amidst the instability, Greece's economy has weakened again, making a deal even harder to reach.
The eurozone's tough rhetoric will continue. But Greece's government will have its answer prepared: we put your demands to a democratic test - and they were rejected.
Greece had been locked in negotiations with its creditors for months when the Greek government unexpectedly called a referendum on the terms it was being offered.
Banks have been shut and capital controls in place since last Monday, after the European Central Bank declined to give Greece more emergency funding.
Withdrawals at cash machines have been limited to â‚¬60 per day. Greece's latest bailout expired on Tuesday and Greece missed a â‚¬1.6bn (Â£1.1bn) payment to the IMF.
Greek banks are desperately in need of a lender of last resort to save them, and the Greek economy.
And sad to say no banker or central banker to whom I have spoken believes the European Central Bank (ECB) can fulfil that function - because it is struggling to prove to itself that Greek banks have adequate assets to pledge to it as security for new loans.
There are only two options. The Bank of Greece could make unsecured loans to Greek banks without the ECB's permission - which would provoke a furious reaction from Eurozone leaders and would be seen by most of them as tantamount to leaving the euro.
Or it can explicitly create a new currency, a new drachma, which it could then use to provide vital finance to Greek banks and the Greek economy.
Greece on verge of euro exit
Greek government officials have insisted that rejecting bailout terms would strengthen their hand, and that they could rapidly strike a deal for fresh funding in resumed negotiations.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said that with a "No" vote, Greek banks would reopen on Tuesday.
He was due to meet senior Greek bankers late on Sunday. State Minister Nikos Pappas, a close ally of Mr Tsipras, said it was "absolutely necessary" to restore liquidity to the banks now the referendum was over.
Some European officials sounded conciliatory.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeted: "Now it is right to start trying for an agreement again. But there is no escape from the Greek labyrinth with a Europe that's weak and isn't growing."
Belgium's finance minister said the door remained open to restart talks with Greece "literally, within hours".
Eurozone finance ministers could again discuss measures "that can put the Greek economy back on track and give the Greeks a perspective for the future," he told the VRT network.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was consulting the leaders of eurozone member states, and would have a conference call with key EU officials and the ECB on Monday morning.
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are scheduled to meet in Paris on Monday. A summit of eurozone heads of state has been called for Tuesday.
The European Commission - one of the "troika" of creditors along with the IMF and the ECB - wanted Athens to raise taxes and slash welfare spending to meet its debt obligations.
Greece's Syriza-led government, which was elected in January on an anti-austerity platform, said creditors had presented it with an "ultimatum", using fear to put pressure on Greeks.
The Greek government's opponents and some Greek voters had complained that the question in Sunday's referendum was unclear. EU officials said it applied to the terms of an offer that was no longer on the table.
The projected turnout in Sunday's referendum was about 62%.
As the result became clear, former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who had campaigned for a "Yes" vote in the referendum, resigned as leader of the centre-right New Democracy party.


England coach Eddie Jones says Scotland will start as favourites when the two sides meet at Murrayfield in next week's Six Nations opening round.

Scotland's World Cup performances and the fact they have a settled side give them the advantage, according to Jones.
"We've only had six training sessions together so there is an enormous pressure on Scotland to perform and not so much on us," he said.
"The bookies might have us as favourites but Scotland have to be."
Scotland have lost their last seven Six Nations games.
Their only win in their last 12 championship games was a 21-20 win over Italy in Rome in February 2014.
They have not beaten England, runners-up for the last four years, since 2008.
The sides meet for the Calcutta Cup on Saturday, 6 February (16:50 GMT).
Scotland, coached by Vern Cotter, reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup, losing narrowly to Australia, while hosts England surprisingly bowed out in the group stages.
England's displays ultimately cost Stuart Lancaster his job and led to former Australia and Japan coach Jones taking over.


A footballer who died on the Somme has been commemorated on an Aberystwyth University plaque.

Leigh Richmond Roose's name has been added to a plaque at the Old College, with the names of other students and staff killed in World War One.
He became known as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his day but was killed during fighting in 1916 aged 38.
But his name has been missing from the plaque for a century.
Louise Perkins from Aberystwyth University said: "For a century, the name of Leigh Richmond Roose has been missing from the war memorial erected by the Old Students' Association to honour those from the University who had fallen in the Great War.
"We're not sure why his name was left off but we are now making good this omission and celebrating the life of one of Aber's most colourful alumni."
Born in Holt, Wrexham, in 1877, the footballer came to study the arts and sciences at Aberystwyth University in 1895 and started playing in goal for Aberystwyth Town.
During his first year as a student, he was also selected for the Welsh team and according to rumour, would insist on wearing his old Aberystwyth Town shirt under his international jersey.
He played for clubs including Arsenal, Aston Villa and Sunderland.
In 1905, Mr Roose was described by the Daily Mail as one of Britain's most eligible bachelors.
After completing his studies at Aberystwyth, he studied medicine in London.
When World War One broke out in 1914, Mr Roose joined the Royal Army Medical Corps despite never completing his medical studies because of his  football career.
He later transferred to the Royal Fusiliers and served in the trenches, winning the prestigious Military Medal for his bravery in fending off a flame-throwing attack by hurling grenades at the enemy, despite being wounded.
He was killed in action on 7 October 1916.
At the end of the war, the University's Old Students' Association acquired 10 Laura Place and presented it to the university in memory of staff, students and former students who had lost their lives during the conflict.
It also provided the original roll of honour which did not include Mr Roose's name - possibly because his name was misspelt on his recruitment papers and consequently on the war memorial to the missing of the Somme at Thiepval.
Tony Bates, chairman of Aberystwyth Town FC, said Mr Roose "still retains iconic status".
"He is perhaps the biggest character we have ever had the privilege to call one of our own.
"This is a fitting tribute to an exceptional goalkeeper, a friend to Aberystwyth and a war hero."


Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), which is also known as the Houthi movement, has experienced several major transformations in arriving at its current dominant position in Yemeni politics.

It began in the 1990s as a youth-orientated revivalist movement that wanted to defend the religious traditions of a branch of Shia Islam known as Zaidism.
By the 2000s, it was leading a stubborn military insurgency that enveloped tribal politics in the far northern governorate of Saada. Its objective was to defend itself and its allies against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's military.
When the Arab Spring began in 2011, Ansar Allah was a welcome supporter of the peaceful protests against Mr Saleh and actively participated in the National Dialogue that followed his fall. The group backed regional autonomy, respect for diversity, and the strengthening of a democratic state.
But as the interim government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi stalled in early 2014, Ansar Allah launched an aggressive military campaign in the north, defeating key military units allied to Gen Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and the Islah political party.
This culminated in its descent upon the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014.
Ansar Allah's stated aim was to install a more effective interim government to implement the outcomes of the National Dialogue. But clearly, it also sought military dominance in the north.
In the last year, an alliance with its former enemy, Mr Saleh, played a key role in transforming Ansar Allah into the dominant military and political force in the country.
For his part, the former president used the alliance with Ansar Allah to overthrow the Gulf-backed Hadi government and carve a more secure place for himself in future Yemeni politics.
The source of Ansar Allah's power is principally domestic and political, not religious.
The Zaidi "Sada" - those claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad's family, and who played a special role in the regimes of the Zaidi Imams that ruled North Yemen for almost 1,000 years until 1962 - were discriminated against by the leaders of the new republican Yemen because they were perceived as a threat.
In the liberal period of the 1990s, some of the Sada emerged to search for a place for themselves in the republic. They formed two political parties, al-Haqq (Truth) and Ittihad al-Quwa al-Shaabiyya (Union of Popular Forces).
Al-Shabab al-Muminin (Believing Youth), the predecessor of Ansar Allah, was meanwhile founded by Hussein al-Houthi to revive Zaidi tradition in the face of effective proselytising among the young by Saudi-backed Wahhabis and local Salafists.
But it was the attack of the Saleh regime on al-Shabab al-Muminin that propelled the movement to the fore of Yemeni politics.
Hussein al-Houthi challenged President Saleh's legitimacy by claiming that he was weak and beholden to the United States and its "War on Terror".
In the context of the US-led invasion of Iraq, he chanted: "Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse the Jews. Long live Islam in the Grand Mosque of Sanaa." However, the target of the chant was Mr Saleh, not America or Israel.
Mr Saleh attempted to repress the movement by force, but the tactics of the Yemeni military pursuing Hussein in the north alienated large sections of the population.
Ansar Allah's power grew from exploiting resentments against the Saleh regime, its military, and the leadership of the Hashid tribal confederation by the regime's key tribal supporters, the al-Ahmar family.
Ansar Allah knew northern Yemeni society and tribal organisation intimately, and those that fought for Ansar Allah against Saleh did not fight for Zaidi religious beliefs, but for freedom from oppression by an autocratic ruler.
Ansar Allah provided credible political and military leadership, not religious guidance.
The successful revolt of Ansar Allah in Saada was one of the key political failures of the Saleh rule.
A similar failure took shape in the south, where popular rejection of Saleh's regime was widespread, but without effective political leadership.
Ansar Allah's support was drawn from those who rejected Mr Saleh's regime in the south, in the middle regions of Taizz, in the eastern desert of Marib and the Jawf, along with the educated youth activists of Sanaa. Ansar Allah joined the other anti-Saleh forces to forge the outlines of the liberal, post-Saleh regime.
However, the interim government of President Hadi - Mr Saleh's former deputy - floundered.
The National Dialogue took longer than expected, the question of the federal division of Yemen was not resolved consensually, and the rankling among political parties jockeying for position in the post-transition elections strangled the government while the economy deteriorated.
Ansar Allah began in early 2014 to take matters into its own hands.
It appeared to distrust the interim process and aimed initially to guarantee its military dominance of the north.
Ansar Allah had been the victim of Mr Saleh's military in the 2000s and the organisation, fearing the incompetence of the interim government, moved to guarantee its own security.
Mr Saleh played a key role in this last phase of Ansar Allah's expansion.
In the interim period, the former president became an international pariah because of his interference in the transitional government.
In Ansar Allah, Mr Saleh saw a chance to change the balance of power in Yemen by defeating those that defected from him in the last days of his rule.
Ansar Allah attacked the Hashid tribal leadership of the al-Ahmar family, the Islah party, and the military units of the party's ally, Gen Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (who is unrelated to the Hashid leaders). It defeated Mr Saleh's enemies in the interim government.
But Ansar Allah made big political mistakes. Its military wing moved fast to achieve maximum advantage without, it appears, consulting the movement's political strategists. Or else, perhaps, the organisation had no political strategy.
Ansar Allah retained the support of Yemen's political leaders and international backers of Yemen's transitional government as long as it adhered to the principles of the National Dialogue.
However, it broke those rules when it tried to dictate terms to President Hadi and he refused.
Mr Hadi's resignation in January galvanised opposition to Ansar Allah in Sanaa and the southern and eastern regions of the country.
Now, Ansar Allah appears to lack a political strategy to unite Yemen's diverse political groups.
Mr Saleh may be hoping for Ansar Allah political mistakes to weaken the movement, leaving him in a key position to negotiate Yemen's political future.
However, Ansar Allah may have sufficient military advantage to consolidate its control of much of the rest of the country and repress any attempts by Mr Saleh to undermine the movement. Mr Saleh may be a prisoner of Ansar Allah.
Ansar Allah wants to consolidate its control of as much of the country as possible, particularly the oil-rich eastern portion of the country, and it wants to consolidate its political position, particularly with international recognition.
While Ansar Allah may be able to further its military gains in the south, for example, where a very divided political leadership leaves the south vulnerable to manipulation, the Gulf states and the US appear intent upon denying Ansar Allah international recognition and supporting Mr Hadi's claim to leadership.
Yemen may see a long stand-off between Ansar Allah's north and President Hadi's south and east.
Dr Charles Schmitz is a professor of geography at Towson University in Baltimore and a scholar at the Middle East Institute


Manager Dougie Freedman says Nottingham Forest hope to sign ex-Crystal Palace midfielder Andre Moritz next week.

Brazil-born Moritz, 29, played under Freedman at Palace, helping them win promotion to the Premier League in 2012-13, and he also followed the now Reds boss to Bolton Wanderers.
He is currently playing for Buriram United in the Thai Premier League.
"It's still with the governing bodies to see if he can sign," Freedman told told BBC Radio Nottingham.
"We are desperately trying to do it. It's a position that we need."
Moritz joined Palace in August 2012, scoring five goals in a 32 appearances, but just 13 of those were starts.
He joined Bolton the following season, finding the net seven times in eight starts and a total of 27 appearances.
Freedman added: "As we speak it's with Fifa and the Football Association to see if we can have the go-ahead. We want it to be done quicker.
"He is a left-footed, very gifted player. He's in good shape. He is a goalscoring, attack-minded midfield number 10 that I think we could do with."


Alf Garnett has lost his signature moustache but kept his round glasses in the first cast photo of the Till Death Us Do Part remake.

Simon Day, who has previously appeared in The Fast Show, plays Garnett in the show, which is part of the Lost Sitcoms series.
The character was originally portrayed by Warren Mitchell, who died in November..
Steptoe and Son and Hancock's Half Hour are also being revived.
The BBC is re-shooting episodes of post-war sitcoms of which no recordings survive, as they are missing from its archives.
The special episodes are being recreated by a new cast using the original scripts in front of a studio audience.
The Lost Sitcoms series will air later in the year to mark 60 years since Hancock's Half Hour first appeared on BBC TV.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Discount store Poundland's proposed purchase of rival 99p Stores for £55m faces an in-depth investigation by competition authorities.

The tie-up could worsen the position for shoppers in local areas owing to a cut in quality, fewer promotions and store closures, an initial probe found.
Poundland wants to buy its closest rival in an agreed deal worth £47.5m in cash and £7.5m in shares.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said this could hit 80 areas.
These were where the companies, which have a combined network of 800 stores, currently overlap. There was a further 12 areas where they would be competitors in the near future.
Following an initial investigation, the CMA said there was "a realistic prospect of substantial lessening of competition" in these areas.
The authority said it would now move to a more in-depth investigation unless these concerns were addressed in a "clear-cut manner" by the companies.


Energy regulator Ofgem has said Npower must "justify" to its customers why it is introducing one of the largest energy price rises for years.

The government also said it was "concerned" by the increase, while a former boss of Npower called the rise "shocking".
The company will raise standard tariff electricity prices by 15% from 16 March, and gas prices by 4.8%.
A typical dual fuel annual bill will rise by an average of 9.8%, or Â£109.
Npower said the changes would only affect about half of its customers. The other half are on fixed-term deals and will see no price rise.
The rise in electricity prices is thought to be the largest since 2008, when some suppliers increased charges by up to 19%. Some gas prices went up by a similar amount in 2011.
Comparison website Uswitch said the rise for dual fuel was the largest for a big six supplier since 2013.
Npower blamed increases in wholesale energy costs and the cost of delivering government policies such as smart meters and the renewables obligation.
The wholesale cost of electricity has risen by 36% since last April.
However, Ofgem said suppliers could easily avoid consumer prices rises by buying energy at forward prices.
"We don't see any case for significant price increases where suppliers have bought energy well in advance. Npower must therefore justify the decision to its customers," a spokesperson said.
The government too joined in the criticism, saying it was "concerned by Npower's plans to increase prices for customers who are already paying more than they need to."
The spokesperson for the Business and Energy department went on: "Suppliers are protected from recent fluctuations in the price of wholesale energy, which they buy up to two years in advance, and prices remain significantly lower than in 2014."
Former Npower boss Paul Massara - who now runs an alternative energy company - called the rise "shocking" in a tweet.
The announcement comes after three other suppliers - British Gas, E.on and SSE - announced they would keep prices on hold until the end of March.
EDF cut its gas prices by 5.2% last month, but will raise electricity charges by 8.4% from 1 March.
Npower said it was the first time it had raised prices for three years.
"This is a hugely difficult decision, and we've delayed the date this takes effect until after one of the coldest months of the year," said Simon Stacey, Npower's managing director of domestic markets.
However, 1.4 million customers on existing standard tariffs will be offered a four-year fixed-price tariff with a 4.8% discount.
Pre-payment customers will not be affected by the increase, and 80,000 people who receive a warm home discount will in effect pay no increase until May.


Eighteen people charged with violent disorder at an illegal rave in Lincolnshire have pleaded guilty.

About 1,000 people attended the event at Twyford Wood near Bourne in Lincolnshire on 23 May.
Police carried out an operation to close down the event which led to 21 officers and a police dog suffering injuries.
Lincolnshire Police said the level of violence directed at officers was "totally unacceptable".
One officer was hit by a car, while a police dog was struck by a glass bottle.
Most of the defendants, who are from various locations across the UK including South Wales, Wiltshire, Norfolk and Bristol, were charged with violent disorder.
Those admitting violent disorder at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday were:
Owens also admitted two charges of supplying drugs, a further charge of possession of cannabis with intent to supply and also illegal possession of ketamine.
Fabian Gibertoni, 19, of Sheffield, and Kirsty Wiggins, 24, of Cirencester admitted possession of ketamine with intent to supply.
They will all be sentenced in July along with three other men who admitted violent disorder at an earlier hearing.
They are Oliver Rickman-Williams, 23, of Stroud, Gloucestershire, Michael Carden, 22, of Brimscombe, Gloucestershire and Kieran Wilson, 23, of Hoveton, Norfolk.
Three other defendants face trial after denying charges.
Alan Brown ,31, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, denied an offence of public nuisance by providing a generator for use at the rave.
Jonathan Lawson, 25, of Norwich, denied two charges of possession of drugs with intent to supply.
Stephen Kelly, 26, of Bristol, denied possession of MDMA with intent to supply.


9 August 2016 Last updated at 07:22 BST
That's what's on offer at this cafe in Manchester, one of the latest cat cafes to spring up in the UK.
You can cuddle up to a kitty while sipping on a drink - but it's not everyone's cup of tea...
We sent Ayshah to investigate the feline phenomenon.


The poor take-up of girls studying and then working in science, technology and engineering has been highlighted at a campaigning conference in Cardiff.

The Princess Royal met girls from nine schools at the Celebration of Talented Women event, which involves industry and higher education.
Only one in six workers in key sectors is a woman and only 12% of engineering and technology students are female.
A new report called it "a waste of knowledge and talent".
Only 20% of women science graduates went on to work in the subject areas compared to 44% of men.
The authors of Talented Women for a Successful Wales want to see:
It was commissioned by Prof Julie Williams, chief scientific adviser for Wales, who chaired a question and answer session with industry leaders at the Senedd.
"The proportion of women working in the STEM workforce is low, despite growing recognition that recruiting, retaining and promoting talented women in STEM professions would bring considerable benefits to business and the Welsh economy," said the report.
Latest figures showed that the proportion of women working in key sectors like construction, life sciences and ICT is actually lower than it was 10 years ago in Wales.
In Wales, only 25% of people in ICT are women, compared to 51% in India.
But there has been an improvement in the energy and environment sectors.
Imogen Brown, head of wastewater networks at Dwr Cymru Welsh Water did not study sciences at A level. She originally went to university to do a journalism course and ended up training as a quantity surveyor while  working.
"We did have some career guidance - and I was advised to become a librarian," she recalled of her school years.
Ms Brown is now in charge of a team of just under 200 people - 170 are technical staff, where only 5% are women. But in the customer service area, 75% are women.
She is trying to get more women in the technical section and more men into the customer service. She said diversity of staff improves the business and customers like it.
"If we can open people's eyes to the fantastic opportunities and how exciting and interesting they can be, we can attract a lot more people, especially girls and women," she said.
Vyvyan Evans works on the technical side for Welsh Water and was a graduate entrant.
She studied humanities at A level and then international relations and Spanish at university, before working with the Red Cross in Africa where she helped bring healthy water supplies to communities.
Ms Evans works mainly with men and said she had been really encouraged and supported.
"In my day to day role [my gender] it's not apparent - I have as much fun in my role, whether I'm male or female," she said.
"Inevitably you're treated in a slightly different way because it's often male dominated culture but that's not to say it's in a negative way or that it impacts on my work."
The event was organised by the WISE campaign, of which the Princess Royal is patron.
Swansea-born Trudy Norris-Grey, chairwoman of WISE, is managing director of worldwide business development at Microsoft in Seattle.
She said: "We do a disservice if we don't bring more girls and women into science, engineering technology and maths. It's given me a good standard of living and given me the best of times.
"There are 60,000  jobs currently unfilled in the UK - they're really good jobs and well paid.
"Girls and women could really make the most of that and we know from an organisational point of view that diversity brings better results."
Julie James, Skills and Science Minister, said the under-representation of women in the STEM workforce was a "critical issue for Wales" and encouraging more women and girls to pursue STEM opportunities and careers made "economic sense".


The wreckage of a helicopter which crashed off the East Yorkshire coast, killing two men, has been lifted out of the sea.

Pilot Brian Bridgman, 58, of Canterbury, and passenger John Kent, 50, of Romford, died when the aircraft crashed near Flamborough on Tuesday.
The operation to salvage the wreckage had been hampered by its location at the foot of the cliffs and bad weather.
But parts of the fuselage have now been lifted by crane to the cliff-top.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash.
Steven Travis, operations manager for HM Coastguard in Yorkshire, said: "The wreckage is in a very, very inaccessible location at the base of very sheer, tall cliffs, so the coastguard team were there assisting [the AAIB] with specialist work in this area.
"It's being carried out in very tragic circumstances.
"However, ourselves, the Ministry of Defence, and also Flamborough lifeboat, who assisted with dropping some crew at the bottom of the cliffs to secure the equipment, have all worked to the best of our abilities in very difficult conditions."
The Agusta/Bell 206 helicopter had taken off on Tuesday from an airfield near Edinburgh and was due to refuel at Humberside Airport before continuing to its destination near Retford, Nottinghamshire.
The aircraft, operated by Kent-based Heli Charter Ltd., crashed at 13:40 BST.
Mr Bridgman, who sold his engineering firm four years ago to pursue his love of flying full-time, leaves a 31-year-old daughter Katie, and a 29-year-old son, Tim.


A Russian airliner has crashed in central Sinai killing all 224 people on board, Egyptian officials have said.

The Airbus A-321 had just left the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, bound for the Russian city of St Petersburg.
Wreckage was found in the Hasana area and bodies removed, along with the plane's "black box".  An official described a "tragic scene" with bodies of victims still strapped to seats.
Egypt's prime minister said no "irregular" activities were to blame.
Sinai has an active militant network, and on Saturday afternoon, jihadis allied to the so-called Islamic State made a claim on social media that they brought down flight KGL9268.
But Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov told Interfax news agency that "such reports cannot be considered true". No evidence had been seen that indicated the plane was targeted, he said.
Egypt's civilian aviation ministry said the plane had been at an altitude of 9,450m (31,000ft) when it disappeared.
Security experts say a plane flying at that altitude would be beyond the range of a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile (Manpad), which Sinai militants are known to possess.
But the German carrier Lufthansa said it would avoid flying over Sinai "as long as the cause for today's crash has not been clarified". On Saturday evening, Air France said it was following suit.
British Airways and easyJet said their routes were regularly reviewed, but that they had no plans to alter their routes to and from Sharm el-Sheikh.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared Sunday a day of mourning.
He has ordered an official investigation into the crash of the flight, and for rescue teams to be sent to the crash site.
Egyptian officials said 214 of the passengers were Russian and three Ukrainian.
Russian authorities say the plane was carrying 217 passengers, 17 of them children aged between 2 and 17. Most were tourists. There were seven crew on board.
A commission headed by Mr Sokolov left for Egypt on Saturday afternoon.
A criminal case had been opened against the airline, Kogalymavia, for "violation of rules of flight and preparation for them", Russia's Ria news agency reported.
Yulia Zaitseva said her friends, newlyweds Elena Rodina and Alexander Krotov, were on board.
"We were friends for 20 years," she told AP at a hotel where relatives were meeting near Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg.
"To lose such a friend is like having your hand cut off."
05:58 Egyptian time (03:58 GMT): flight leaves Sharm el-Sheikh, the Egyptian cabinet says in a statement
06:14 Egyptian time (04:14 GMT): plane fails to make scheduled contact with air traffic control based in Larnaca, Cyprus, according to Sergei Izdolsky, an official with Russia's air transport agency.
06:17 Egyptian time, approx (04:17 GMT): plane comes down over the Sinai peninsula, according to Airbus
11:12 Egyptian time (09:12 GMT): flight had been due to land in St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport
Oksana Golovin, a spokeswoman for Kogalymavia, said the company did not see any grounds to blame human error.
She told a press conference that the pilot had 12,000 hours of flying experience. Kogalymavia did not yet know what caused the crash, she said, but the plane was fully serviced.
Police are reported to be searching the company's offices.
Initially there were conflicting reports about the fate of the plane, some suggesting it had disappeared over Cyprus.
But the office of Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail confirmed in a statement that a "Russian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai".
Officials say up to 50 ambulances have been sent to the scene. Access to the area is strictly controlled by the military.
One official told Reuters news agency that at least 100 bodies had been found.
"I now see a tragic scene," the official said. "A lot of dead on the ground and many died whilst strapped to their seats."
The plane split in two, with one part burning up and the other crashing into a rock, he added.
Live flight tracking service Flight Radar 24's Mikail Robertson told the BBC that the plane started to drop very fast, losing 1,500 metres in one minute before coverage was lost.
Egyptian aviation official Ayman al-Mukadem said the pilot had reported technical difficulties before the plane went missing, the Associated Press reported.
Local weather observations in the vicinity of the rescue scene suggest relatively benign conditions.


A former Labour pollster has told the BBC that a report into why Labour lost the 2015 election is a "whitewash and a massive missed opportunity".

Deborah Mattinson completed voter research to feed into Dame Margaret Beckett's report, but says her evidence was not published.
Ms Mattinson told BBC Sunday Politics she was "very concerned" lessons from the election would not be learned.
Labour said the Beckett report had "consulted far and wide".
Ms Mattinson, whose research was conducted in marginal constituencies such as Croydon, Watford, Nuneaton and Glasgow, insists she had briefed Dame Margaret before the release of her report.
"I was somewhat disappointed not to see some of that reflected back," she said. "Yes, she picked up on the economy, but there actually was no analysis. It's reduced down to one bullet point in the report."
She added that it was "quite apologetic, lots of defensive stuff in there but nothing that really shone a light on what had gone wrong".
"I feel very concerned that these lessons won't be learned," she said.
"I can't see how they will be learned, because [the report] was the vehicle, that was the moment and if this report didn't address those issues then I am not sure when they will be addressed."
She added: "No political party has a divine right to exist and unless Labour really listens to those people it must persuade, it stands no chance of winning the next election."
The report did say that Labour faced a "huge challenge" to win again in 2020.
Overseen by the former Cabinet minister, Dame Margaret, it summarised four main reasons for Labour's defeat, indicating:
The report also said assumptions that Labour lost the election because it was too left-wing and because its policies were unpopular was overly simplistic and should be treated with caution, adding that the manifesto was an "impressive document."
Labour said the Beckett report had "consulted far and wide", taking input from pollsters, pundits and academics.


Residents of a housing estate in Hull have held a huge street parade as part of the UK City of Culture 2017 arts festival.

Giant puppets and homemade costumes were created for the event on Orchard Park in the north of the city.
Artists ran special sessions to help people design and build their creations.
Roads on the estate were closed and hundreds of people turned out to watch the event.
Kerith Ogden, one of the artists behind the parade, said it was a chance for people to bring their ideas to life.
"It's about bringing lots of different people together to make a brilliant spectacle that can be enjoyed by all," she said.


Mobile service provider Three has confirmed it will block advertising on its network for a day-long trial in June.

In February, the company said it wanted to give its customers "control, choice and greater transparency" over the adverts they received.
But the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) said Three's approach was too "broad" and would harm businesses.
The opt-in trial will take place on a day between 13 and 20 June.
Three said it was exploring ad-blocking on its network because:
In February, it announced a partnership with ad-blocking start-up Shine, in which Li Ka-shing, the owner of Three's parent company CK Hutchison, is an investor.
The mobile network said the technology would block 95% of pop-ups and adverts on websites, but the pre-roll video adverts, sponsored articles and in-feed promotions on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook would not be blocked.
Steve Chester from the IAB said encouraging advertisers to produce a "lighter, less invasive ad experience" was preferable to ad-blocking.
"We're all committed to solving the ad-blocking issue but disagree with Three's approach that network-level ad-blocking is the way to go," he said.
"It's a broad-brush approach that the largest media owners can probably survive but not the smaller ones.
"In the long-term consumers will also lose out, as they'll most likely have to pay for services that are currently free because they're supported by advertising."
Many people already choose to block adverts online by downloading browser plug-ins or mobile apps that can strip promotional content off websites.
Ad-blocking at a network level could reduce mobile data use by customers, but could also let a mobile service provider decide who can advertise to its customers, or charge fees to "white list" advertisers.
Three told the BBC it was in the early stages of testing the technology and did not know whether it would charge customers for an ad-blocking service, but said it would not "white list" advertisers, were it to launch one.
The company said it would contact 500,000 of its customers to invite them to take part in the trial.


Fans of a classic slot car racing game are vying to become this year's Scalextric World Champion in heats taking place in West Sussex and Essex.

Competitors will have their trigger fingers at the ready to try to get Maserati Trofeos, a Bentley Continental and a Chevrolet Camaro to be the fastest on the track.
Each will compete in a six car 10 lap race around a 28ft (8.55m) circuit.
Similar heats have been held elsewhere in the UK and Europe.
The final rounds are taking place at the English Martyrs Church Hall in Goring-by-Sea, and at Marquee Models in the Harvey Centre, Harlow.
Last year, Australian Peter Dimmers was crowned world champion, with Ann Bird, from East Preston, in West Sussex, the runner-up.
Ms Bird also won the event in Goring, with a time of 26.93 seconds.
Mr Dimmers' time was 23.12 seconds, which was recorded in Australia.
There were also heats in Singapore and Barbados during 2014.
Anyone can turn up at Saturday's events - which are taking place between 11:00 and 16:00 GMT - and race as many times as they want.
The winner of each has their time added to the leader board, with the fastest winning race time of the day then added to the world leader board.
Prizes will be awarded for the fastest time each hour and to the overall winner and top under-16 racer of the day.
Organiser and joint founder of Worthing HO Racing Andy Player said competitors would race on exactly the same Scalextric Digital layout as the other championship events and use the same Scalextric cars and controllers.


South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) says it will push for tougher legislation to jail anyone guilty of "racial bigotry", or "glorifying" apartheid.

Black people could no longer be treated as "sub-humans", it said.
The nation has been gripped by a racism row after Penny Sparrow, an opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) member, on Facebook called black people "monkeys".
She denied she was a racist. The DA party suspended her membership.
The racially discriminatory apartheid system ended in South Africa in 1994.  It had been introduced in 1948 by the then-white minority government and was later declared by the UN as a crime against humanity.
A spokesman for the ANC chief whip's office, Moloto Mothapo, told the BBC that current legislation was insufficient to tackle racism.
"We haven't had a single person imprisoned for racism despite many instances of racism. We don't believe it addresses the crime of racism," he said.
A statement issued by the ANC parliamentary chief whip's office said racial bigotry and apartheid should be considered a serious human rights violations punishable by imprisonment because of South Africa's "painful past".
"Elsewhere glorification of Nazism and denial of Holocaust is a crime and perpetrators are tried and sentenced to a prison term," it added.
The ANC also said it had filed criminal charges against several DA members - including Ms Sparrow and MP Dianne Kohler Barnard.
Ms Kohler Barnard was expelled from the DA in October after she shared a post on Facebook which suggested that public services in South Africa were better during apartheid and called for the return of former President PW Botha.
She won an appeal against her expulsion from the party, and was instead ordered to pay 20,000 rand ($1,320; Â£888) to a charity working with communities disadvantaged by apartheid.
On Monday, the DA said it had filed charges against Ms Sparrow "for infringing the dignity of all South Africans and for dehumanising black South Africans" as it did not tolerate racism.
On Facebook, Ms Sparrow used the word monkeys to describe New Year's revellers on the beach in the eastern city of Durban because of the mess she said they made.
She later apologised but was condemned by many on social media and the hashtag #RacismMustFall was trending on Twitter.
The South African Human Rights Commission, a statutory body, is also investigating her comments.


Former India opener Virender Sehwag has announced his retirement from international cricket and the Indian Premier League on his 37th birthday.

Sehwag, who won the World Cup with India in 2011, played 104 Tests, 251 one-day and 19 Twenty20 internationals.
He scored 8,586 Test runs at an average of 49.34 and is the only Indian to score an international triple century.
"Cricket has been my life," Sehwag, who scored 8,273 ODI runs at 35.05, said in a statement. "I did it my way."
He will continue to play first-class cricket, saying he "still has the hunger inside", and will try to help young players coming through.
Sehwag, who had a spell with Leicestershire in 2003, has not played for India since 2013.
Media playback is not supported on this device
Test cricket's record runscorer Sachin Tendulkar, who retired in 2013, said Sehwag had been a joy to watch and play with.
Tendulkar, who made 15,921 Test runs, told the BBC World Service programme Stumped: "I would say I was in the best seat when he was batting. The non-striker's end was the best view.
"I liked his mindset, extremely positive, he always backed himself to play big shots and never changed his game. The form varies but I liked his approach. He was fantastic, a true champion and I thoroughly enjoyed having him in the team."
Tendulkar played 93 of his 200 Test matches alongside Sehwag and added: "He was always full of humour, occasionally singing songs.
"He didn't like getting tense or stressed, but he would occupy himself singing songs. Playing with him was a rollercoaster ride. You didn't know what to expect and what was round the corner."
MS Dhoni, who captained India to their World Cup victory in 2011, compared Sehwag to West Indies batting legend Sir Viv Richards.
"Didn't see Viv Richards bat in person but I can proudly say I have witnessed Virender Sehwag tearing apart the best bowling attacks," Dhoni wrote on Twitter.


Vulnerable detainees held at a centre while awaiting deportation are self-harming, official figures have shown.

The Home Office revealed 61 self-harm incidents requiring medical treatment at Yarl's Wood near Bedford in 2014 - but that was down from 74 in 2013.
The centre houses nearly 400 detainees and most are women.
Medical Justice, which sends volunteer doctors and campaigns for the release of vulnerable people from detention, described the figures as "worrying".
Emma Ginn, co-ordinator at Medical Justice, said: "Our volunteer doctors visit immigration detainees and have seen hundreds of cases of seriously inadequate healthcare.
"In many cases immigration detention exacerbates existing medical conditions and in some cases has been the cause of mental illness."
Conservative MP for Bedford Richard Fuller said he wanted the Home Office to look at whether vulnerable asylum seekers who claimed to have been tortured or abused should be housed in detention centres, even if they could not prove their allegations.
"Just because you cannot prove that you were a victim of torture or rape doesn't mean it did not happen," he said.
"This is an issue I would strongly urge the Home Office to look at."
The figures were revealed by Home Office Minister Lord Bates in response to a written parliamentary question but he said they were a "collation of incidents".
"They do not necessarily equate to the number of detainees requiring medical attention as one individual may have received medical attention on more than one occasion," Lord Bates said.
Home Secretary Theresa May has ordered a review of detainees' welfare and former prisons ombudsman Stephen Shaw is due to report back in August.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said women who have been sexually abused, tortured or are pregnant should not be detained.


A man and woman have died in a crash between their car and a vehicle transporting horses in Gloucestershire.

The 67 year-old driver of a Kia and his 58-year-old female passenger, both from Banbury, died in the collision on the A436 near Stow on the Wold.
The crash happened at about 14:30 GMT on Saturday, blocking the road and Sheep Street. A horse was also injured.
Gloucestershire Police said the next of kin of man and woman have been informed.
The roads that were affected have now been reopened after the vehicles were recovered.


Aldershot booked their place in the National League play-offs with a victory that also condemned Braintree to relegation.

With both sides fighting for their lives, the first half was a tense affair with few chances, but Aldershot seized control with two goals in four minutes after the break.
Will Evans broke the deadlock with a bullet header from Nick Arnold's corner after 55 minutes, before Bernard Mensah made it four goals in as many games soon after to put the result beyond doubt.
Aldershot finish the season in fifth place and will face Tranmere in the play-offs, while Braintree go down in 22nd place having needed to win and hope other results went their way on the final day.
Match report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Aldershot Town 2, Braintree Town 0.
Second Half ends, Aldershot Town 2, Braintree Town 0.
Substitution, Aldershot Town. Matt McClure replaces Kundai Benyu.
Substitution, Aldershot Town. Anthony Straker replaces Bernard Mensah.
Substitution, Braintree Town. Craig Braham-Barrett replaces Sean Clohessy.
Substitution, Braintree Town. Lee Barnard replaces Harry Lee.
Substitution, Aldershot Town. Jake Gallagher replaces Idris Kanu.
Substitution, Braintree Town. Sam Corne replaces Kyron Farrell.
Goal!  Aldershot Town 2, Braintree Town 0. Bernard Mensah (Aldershot Town).
Goal!  Aldershot Town 1, Braintree Town 0. Will Evans (Aldershot Town).
Second Half begins Aldershot Town 0, Braintree Town 0.
First Half ends, Aldershot Town 0, Braintree Town 0.
Nick Arnold (Aldershot Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Jack Midson (Braintree Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


A new modern re-telling of Compton MacKenzie's book Whisky Galore in Gaelic is to be taken on a tour of village halls and arts centres.

The sinking of the cargo ship SS Politician off Eriskay in 1941 was the inspiration for MacKenzie's story.
The book was later adapted for a famous Ealing comedy of the same name.
The story has now been turned into a play by Iain Finlay Macleod and will be performed across the Highlands and also in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
It will be performed almost entirely in Gaelic, with English subtitles, and adult audience members will be offered a dram at lunch-time and evening performances.
The production will also mark the launch of a new Gaelic theatre company, Robhanis.
The play will debut at the Sunart Centre in Strontian on 10 April.
Performances will follow at other venues including in Stornoway, Ullapool, Plockton and Inverness.
The National Theatre of Scotland, Robhanis and A Play, A Pie and A Pint are staging the production.
As well as its work with the play, the National Theatre of Scotland has celebrated Whisky Galore in its Belong season, a photographic essay that included an image of Mary and Alistair Johnston in the Am Politician pub on Eriskay.
The Johnstons were born in Eriskay and moved to Clydebank, but return to Eriskay every summer.
Thousands of bottles of whisky were among the cargo of the SS Politician, which was headed for Jamaica when it ran aground on the northern side of Eriskay in bad weather.
Islanders recovered hundreds of cases of whisky from the wreck and some of the bottles were buried to keep them hidden from customs officers.
Other bottles have since been found washed up on the island's shores and also recovered by divers.
Two out of eight bottles recovered in 1987 sold for Â£12,050 after an online auction in 2013.


Violinist Vanessa-Mae's four-year skiing ban has been overturned.

The 36-year-old Thailand skier was suspended by the International Ski Federation (FIS) in November after results were manipulated to help her qualify for the Sochi Winter Olympics.
But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) said there was no direct evidence to implicate her in the fixing.
However her 67th-place finish in the giant slalom will not stand because the qualifying events were "so defective".
The Cas panel said "a number of irregularities" occurred in the "organisation and management" of the four races which raised Vanessa-Mae's racer status.
Five officials involved in the qualifying event were banned by the FIS.
Vanessa-Mae, a British citizen, competed in Sochi for her father's native country under the name Vanessa Vanakorn.
She can now try to qualify for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.


Murdered model Sally Anne Bowman's remains had to be exhumed after "cruel people" repeatedly desecrated her grave, her mother says.

Linda Bowman said they acted after her 18-year-old daughter's burial place attracted "absolute fruit loops".
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Mrs Bowman said the grave was targeted four times in six months.
Mark Dixie, 46, was jailed in 2008 for stabbing Miss Bowman then raping her as she lay dead or dying in south London.
Sally Anne's remains were removed from her grave four years ago, Mrs Bowman said, because "someone kept destroying her grave and her headstone".
Killer Mark Dixie admits other attacks
'He got what he deserved', model's family say
The secret history of Sally Anne Bowman's killer
"We used to have funny men hanging around over there," said Mrs Bowman.
"Myself and her dad had to go through the Ministry of Justice to have it exhumed."
Other incidents involved dirt and dead flowers being spread across the grave, the trauma of which brought memories of her daughter's death "flooding back", Mrs Bowman said.
Last month Dixie, who killed Sally Ann in Croydon in 2005, admitted two further attacks, one involving the rape of a woman when he was aged 16.
On 26 July, prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told Southwark Crown Court Dixie revealed the attacks to police after confessing in January 2015 to the murder of Sally Anne.
During his original three-week trial Dixie claimed to have found Miss Bowman dead and proceeded to have sex with her lifeless body after he had been on a drink and drugs binge.
The 18-year-old's body was found next to a skip in September 2005.
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Rotherham secured their first win since August with a 1-0 victory over QPR in the Championship.

Isaiah Brown's first-half goal handed the division's bottom side just their second three points of the season.
The breakthrough came in the 24th-minute when Brown, a Chelsea loanee, collected Danny Ward's ball to surge through the QPR defence and fire home.
Millers' goalkeeper Lewis Price kept his side ahead, before Joe Newell should have killed the game off.
Rotherham's first victory in 112 days moves them to within eight points of Wigan, and 10 points off safety.
It was a thoroughly deserved win for caretaker boss Paul Warne's side as they created a host of chances and kept only their second clean sheet of the season.
Ian Holloway's QPR, who have now won just one of their last seven league matches in the Championship, fall to 18th place in the table and sit just three points off the drop zone.
Rotherham caretaker manager Paul Warne: "It's a better feeling, winning. For them to win gives me great pride, they left nothing on there, they should be proud of themselves.
"They are buzzing like we have won a cup final. I want good, proper, football players and they are a group of lads that have got a bit closer and I think that was shown in the performance.
"I think you could see at the final whistle how much it meant to everyone.
"It would have helped my heart rate no end if we would have got a second but it was nice to get the win."
QPR manager Ian Holloway: "It is very, very disappointing, but we have to take the positives.
"A goal has changed the course of the game, it gave them a lift and they held on to it far easier than I would have liked. I saw too many shoulders drop.
"It's early days to get what I want, unfortunately it's not going for them.
"When I look back at that I can't believe we didn't take a point. I am far more encouraged than I ever have been, I believe in what we are doing, these results are impostors."
Match ends, Rotherham United 1, Queens Park Rangers 0.
Second Half ends, Rotherham United 1, Queens Park Rangers 0.
Attempt missed. Sebastian Polter (Queens Park Rangers) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Massimo Luongo.
Substitution, Rotherham United. Stephen Kelly replaces Joe Newell.
Jake Bidwell (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lee Frecklington (Rotherham United).
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Pawel Wszolek replaces Tjaronn Chery.
Corner,  Rotherham United. Conceded by Nedum Onuoha.
Attempt blocked. Jon Taylor (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Anthony Forde.
Attempt saved. Joe Newell (Rotherham United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Danny Ward.
Anthony Forde (Rotherham United) is shown the yellow card.
Foul by Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers).
Will Vaulks (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Rotherham United. Jon Taylor replaces Isaiah Brown because of an injury.
Substitution, Rotherham United. Will Vaulks replaces Tom Adeyemi because of an injury.
Attempt saved. Anthony Forde (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Lee Frecklington.
Lee Frecklington (Rotherham United) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt saved. Richard Wood (Rotherham United) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Anthony Forde with a cross.
Attempt blocked. Richard Wood (Rotherham United) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Anthony Forde with a cross.
Corner,  Rotherham United. Conceded by Alex Smithies.
Attempt saved. Joe Newell (Rotherham United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Anthony Forde.
Foul by Tjaronn Chery (Queens Park Rangers).
Lee Frecklington (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Joe Newell (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is too high.
Danny Ward (Rotherham United) hits the left post with a left footed shot from the left side of the box. Assisted by Isaiah Brown.
Foul by Grant Hall (Queens Park Rangers).
Danny Ward (Rotherham United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt missed. Danny Ward (Rotherham United) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Lee Frecklington.
Sebastian Polter (Queens Park Rangers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Sebastian Polter (Queens Park Rangers).
Darnell Fisher (Rotherham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Queens Park Rangers. Ben Gladwin replaces Sandro.
Corner,  Queens Park Rangers. Conceded by Richard Wood.
Attempt blocked. Tjaronn Chery (Queens Park Rangers) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jordan Cousins.
Attempt blocked. Tjaronn Chery (Queens Park Rangers) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jordan Cousins.
Joel Lynch (Queens Park Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Danny Ward (Rotherham United).
Attempt missed. Richard Wood (Rotherham United) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Anthony Forde with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Rotherham United. Conceded by Sandro.
Corner,  Rotherham United. Conceded by Jake Bidwell.


The cases of unsolved arson attacks on holiday homes in Wales during the 80s and 90s should be closed by police, an author has said.

Over a 12-year period from 1979, 228 properties were damaged across Wales.
Dubbed the Meibion Glyndwr campaign, it was thought to have been a protest against rural homes in Welsh language heartlands being sold to people from England as holiday cottages.
North Wales Police said unsolved investigations were never closed.
Only one person was ever convicted of being connected to the fires, which often saw empty properties completely destroyed.
Sion Aubrey Roberts was jailed for 12 years in 1993 for posting firebombs.
Now retired journalist Alwyn Gruffydd, who has written extensively on the arson attacks, said it was time for the inquiry to end.
Mr Gruffydd, who reported on the Meibion Glyndwr attacks for the BBC, said that 25 years since the last attack it was "about time the case was closed".
"The only way to do that is for the police or authorities to state that they will not accuse anyone else of being involved in the campaign," he told the BBC's Post Cyntaf programme.
The attacks began with the arson of four properties in the Gwynedd village of Nefyn and Pembrokeshire.
Targets were not just properties used as holiday homes but also estate agents offices, boat yards and caravans.
Mr Gruffydd also called on the authorities to release any files related to the campaign to the public.
Interviewed as part of a celebration of 40 years of Radio Cymru, Mr Gruffydd said police should "draw a line underneath the whole campaign and publish a final version of what happened".
Mr Gruffydd wrote a book - Mae Rhywun yn Gwybod, or Somebody Knows - about Meibion Glyndwr, which translates as Sons of Glyndwr.
In 2004, North Wales Police reopened an investigation into the arson campaign.
A spokesman for the force asked for anyone with information relating to the attacks "to come forward and tell us what they know".
"Unsolved investigations are never closed and are reviewed periodically," the spokesman added.
"A review presents an opportunity to revisit the investigation and to identify if there is any new forensic evidence that can add anything to the investigation."


Jersey tennis player Scott Clayton faces up to six months out of the sport as he prepares to undergo surgery on a longstanding shoulder injury.

The 20-year-old has managed the injury for about 18 months, but has now been forced to arrange an operation.
"I'm not looking forward to this, but it has to be done if I want to continue my career in the best possible way," Clayton told BBC Radio Jersey.
"I probably missed five events with it, so it will help in the long run."
Clayton - who, along with James Connelly,  - first suffered the injury at the Under-18 British Championships in 2012, an event he went on to win.
He had painkilling injections in his shoulder, but the problem flared up again during pre-season and after his first tournament of the year, he has decided to follow medical advice and have the operation.
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"My specialist said the rehab programme was really good and I've been doing the right things.  I built up the muscles well and it's down to that that I kept playing for so long.
"But my serve was really affected by it in the tournament I just played and I was struggling to generate pace. The serve is one of, if not the, biggest part of the game so I really need to sort it out," he said.
"I'm still young and I don't have points to defend until the end of the year really, so it's the best time to do it, even though there's never a good time to have it happen.
"I'm in a better place than I was this time last year mentally, physically and in terms of my playing ability, so I'm going into it with the right frame of mind and I just need to get it sorted."                                        ."


Bafta show host Stephen Fry appears to have deleted his Twitter profile in the wake of his controversial comments during Sunday night's show.

Fry faced strong criticism online for comparing costume designer Jenny Beavan to a "bag lady" when she picked up her Bafta for Mad Max.
Twitter users demanded Fry apologise for his comments over her clothes.
But Fry, a prolific Twitter user, said online afterwards Beavan was "a dear friend" who had "got" the joke.
The comedian and broadcaster underlined the point by posting a photo of the pair at the Bafta after-party.
He wrote: "Jenny Baglady Beavan and Stephen Outrageous Misogynist Swine Fry at the after party."
But on Monday morning, Fry appeared to have removed himself from the site.
Fry has been presenting the show for 11 years and audiences have become used to his cutting wit in the course of his role, often involving risque quips about many of the stars involved.
Beavan, who won the Bafta for Best Costume Design for Mad Max: Fury Road, came onto the stage at London's Royal Opera House wearing a black leather jacket, white t-shirt and dark trousers.
After her acceptance speech and she had left the stage, Fry said:  "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards dressed like a bag lady."
The joke however was not well-received and Twitter was soon alight with angry reaction and demands that Fry apologise.
Twitter user Wendy Evans was one of many others who felt Fry overstepped the mark when she wrote: "Stephen Fry's 'bag lady' comment was vile. Once again the achievement's of a female overshadowed by comments on her appearance."
But Fry hit back by first posting the photo of himself and Beavan at the party and then by angrily telling his critics they were "tragic people".
Nonetheless,  Fry also received support from others, including several celebrities.
Radio 1 Scott Mills DJ wrote: "I thought Stephen Fry was an excellent host tonight. Dealing with the biggest stars in the world is scary. I find this. He is a natural."
Comedian Matt Lucas joked: "Stephen Fry Didn't you get the memo? No-one is allowed to do jokes anymore."
British singer Adele - who has 25m followers - announced she was leaving Twitter in 2012 due to comments about her new-born son. She since returned, but revealed last year that she no longer sends her own messages due to "drunk tweeting".
Girls creator Lena Dunham said she was leaving Twitter last year to create a "safe space", after receiving online abuse for posting a picture on Instagram in a sports bra. Although her account is still active, it's believed to be run by a member of her creative team.
Actor and writer Matt Lucas left Twitter four years ago after a joke was tweeted about the death of his former civil partner, Kevin McGee. He has since rejoined the site.
US singer Chris Brown deleted his account in 2012 after receiving a barrage of tweets following a heated exchange with comedian Jenny Johnson. He was back on the site less than a week later.
In 2012, Kanye West quit the site by deleting all his tweets except for one announcing the release date of his Yeezus album and the words: "Be Back Soon." True to his word he was back, after a short break.
On Monday morning, following the sudden shutdown of Fry's Twitter account, calls to his agent were not answered.
The reasons for Fry leaving Twitter are not as clear as they may first appear as the comedian has shut his profile before - or threatened to do so.
In 2015,  he left the social media site in February until May without giving reasons.
He also pleaded for fans to stop sending him direct messages saying "it was impossible" for him to look at them if he wanted to have "anything close to a life."
In 2014,  Fry quit the site saying it was "unsafe" for him to tweet, adding he was filming "in a place whence I've been advised it is safest not to tweet".
And in 2009, he said he was going to leave after another user called his posts "boring".


New Zealand coach Steve Hansen has played down the war of words with Lions counterpart Warren Gatland, and insists there is no animosity between the pair.

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The build-up to the second Test has been dominated by the two coaches exchanging views in the media.
On Sunday Gatland accused the All Blacks of using dangerous tactics, with Hansen calling his fellow Kiwi "desperate" in response.
"I've got a lot of respect for him," Hansen said.
"You guys [the media] are having a field day between Gats and I so I'm not feeding it. I haven't lashed out at Warren Gatland at all.
"I'm looking forward to having a beer with him and a chuckle. We have a lot of common interests. He likes racing horses, so do I. He coaches Wales, I have been through that experience myself."
Gatland told the media on Sunday the All Blacks had targeted scrum-half Conor Murray during their 30-15 first Test defeat in Auckland and could have caused a career-ending injury.
But New Zealand flanker Jerome Kaino insisted there was no malice or intent behind his challenge on Murray.
Hansen also turned on his national newspaper The New Zealand Herald, who mocked up a picture of Gatland as a clown on their front page.
"It's one thing to have a bit of banter and [the media] to beef that up to make it bigger than it really is," Hansen added.
"[But] you are ridiculing someone who doesn't deserve it. To ridicule someone is not right, so it's a bit disappointing really."
Meanwhile, Gatland says there has been "no hostility" from the Lions towards Hansen and the All Blacks.
"I think I've been pretty mild and have tried to be complimentary of the All Blacks, obviously they are the best team in the world," Gatland added.
"It's been a great experience for us as a team. Hopefully we can have a good game of rugby and maybe enjoy a beer together afterwards."


Stevenage manager Darren Sarll says he has experienced loneliness during his first year in football management.

Sarll, 34, replaced Teddy Sheringham at Boro, and the club are now seven points off the League Two play-off places.
"Experienced managers say to you try to switch off and have your family life," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.
"I don't know if it's my first year and I'm young, but for me that's impossible. It's very lonely, especially in defeat."
He continued: "I just want to hide away and get my head around what is next. I don't want to hide away and sulk or melt in the corner, but I want to refocus.
"But that means isolating your family and pushing them to one side in the times when you should be really with them."
Sarll also admitted to sleepless nights since he stepped up from Boro first-team coach to replace former England striker Sheringham in February last year.
His own playing career was spent mostly in the non-leagues of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, before he moved into youth coaching roles at Stevenage and Brentford.
"For me, being different to other managers as I never played professionally and had other jobs that our supporters work in, to relate what you do nine to five Monday to Friday, or whatever your shift work is, to a managerial position is impossible," he said.
"I get why we're harshly criticised when things aren't going well. There's only 92 managers and my thought is there's always someone wanting to do it for five minutes longer for a fiver cheaper. There's always someone out there ready to take your job.
"You have to always be on your guard and never rest. It's tough, the loneliness is tough. But I quite like a fight and challenges, so I quite enjoy that bit of it."


A man has died and his two-year old daughter is in a critical condition after a family of five were swept off rocks and into the sea by a large wave.

It happened at South Fistral Beach in Newquay at 17:20 BST on Friday, the coastguard said.
An RNLI sea scooter was used to rescue the victim's wife while a lifeboat was deployed to recover the man and girl.
Police said two other children managed to get back on to the rocks and were located by the coastguard.
They suffered minor injuries and shock.
The family, from Surrey, were on holiday in the Newquay area.
The father, in his 30s, and two-year old girl were airlifted the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, where he was pronounced dead.
His wife, also in her 30s, received hospital treatment for minor injuries.
The RNLI said the sea conditions changed considerably between 16:00 and 17:30 and crews were called to three rescues.
James Instance from Falmouth Coastguard said: "At about 16:00 BST, there were normal conditions.
"By 17:00, the swell had picked up to eight to 10ft and that massive increase in such a short period has caught quite a few people unawares."
Ken Wilkins, who was in nearby Portreath at the time, said the state of the sea was unusual for the time of year.
"Today was the biggest summer swell we'd seen for several years," he said.
"It came up from almost nothing and forced the stoppage of the National Seniors Surf Life Saving Championships."
Police have begun an investigation into what happened and would like to speak to any witnesses who were on the beach.
Det Con Jarrod Yewen said: "This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time."


The mother of a man believed to have left the country after a four-year-old girl was killed by a car has pleaded for her son to contact police.

Violet Grace Youens died after being struck by a stolen vehicle while walking through St Helens, Merseyside, on Friday.
Police are trying to trace Aidan McAteer, 23, who is believed to have left the country hours after the crash.
His mother Alicia contacted police after seeing his photo on the internet.
"I... knew it was him, so as soon as I got my head round it I phoned the police," she said.
"I was heartbroken. I'm his mum, but you have got to think about that little girl's family. It's not not right what happened to [her]."
The mother of four - who has another son, 18, and two daughters aged 11 and 20 - said she would usually hear from Mr McAteer every day, but had not heard from him since before the crash.
She added: "I need him to come home. He's running scared.
"I feel awful, but it's not about me. That family have lost a little girl, it must be horrific for them."
Another man, Dean Brennan, 27, appeared at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with assisting an offender, theft of a motor vehicle and being carried in a stolen vehicle.
A third man, aged 23 and from Prescot, Merseyside, was arrested on suspicion of being carried in a stolen vehicle but released pending further inquiries.


Down in the crypt underneath the vast bulk of St Paul's Cathedral, down there where London started, there is a handsome memorial stone with a haunting inscription.

"Lord Thomson of Fleet," it says. "He gave new direction to the British newspaper industry."
And then the sentence that gives pause: "A strange and adventurous man from nowhere, ennobled by the great virtues of courage, and integrity, and faithfulness."
Roy Thomson died in 1976 at the age of 82, and his was indeed a remarkable business story. The plaque made me remember it again.
He was born to a pretty poor family in Toronto in 1894, and was hindered by poor eyesight. Or maybe helped, increasing his doggedness. He dabbled in small businesses from his teens onwards, with little success.
He tried farming, and failed. He went back to Toronto and had several undistinguished jobs. Then he started selling radios in small towns deep in northern Ontario, the only territory left.
And there began a remarkable media story. Rural radio users in the 1930s had little to listen to. So Roy Thomson bought someone else's neglected radio licence, and his station CFCH began broadcasting in the town of North Bay in March 1931; the inaugural programme had music by the Battery Boys and a speech by the mayor.
Roy Thomson, odd job man, was on his way. In 1934 he bought a small local paper, the Timmins Daily Press, beginning what soon became a diverse media empire. By the end of the 1940s, Thomson owned 19 newspapers and was president of the Canadian daily paper publishers' association.
But the old country beckoned. In 1952, seeking his Scottish roots, Roy Thomson moved to Edinburgh. The next year he bought the Scotsman, giving him some status but a lot of criticism as he applied commercial instincts to a venerable paper.
Then came television. The government introduced what was called, in typical British look-down-the-nose way, "commercial" television. Roy Thomson with his Scotsman credentials led the consortium which won the franchise for Scottish TV, launched in 1957.
In a much-quoted (but maybe inaccurately quoted) phrase, he described television as a licence to print money. It was.
But print was at the heart of his increasing empire. As he put it: "I buy newspapers to make money, to buy more newspapers to make more money."
Like Beaverbrook before him and Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch after him, Roy Thomson was a wild colonial boy who cut a swathe through traditional owned British newspapers.
He used the profits from STV to buy a raft of Kemsley newspapers from the Kemsley family in 1957, including the Sunday Times.
When the family owners of what used to be termed The Times of London panicked over tiny losses in 1966, Thomson was there to snap it up. His newspaper empire grew to embrace more than 200 papers in Britain, Canada and the USA, and a host of other publishing interests.
Every time he met another newspaperman, he would ask if their paper was for sale. It was brash, vulgar, persistent.
Not just publishing, either. With its Scottish perspective connection, the International Thomson Organisation (as it was by then called) joined a consortium that successfully struck oil in North Sea fields.
Much of the group's flair was due to a canny chief executive, Gordon Brunton, now Sir Gordon. He had been at the London School of Economics with Vladimir Raitz, the man who revolutionised post war British travel.
In 1950 Mr Raitz had organised what was effectively the first modern package holiday, flying fellow Russians to Corsica for a holiday in the sun for Â£32 all round, at a time when harsh official limits on taking sterling abroad severely restricted foreign travel from the UK.
Mr Raitz founded the pioneering Horizon Holidays and later helped Sir Gordon launch what became Thomson Holidays, one of the main travel companies of its time.
I saw Roy Thomson once, coming in through the revolving doors at the Sunday Times in London, where he moved around by public transport.
His pebble thick spectacle lenses glinted in the sun, and he was on his way upstairs to his office, probably to get out his ruler and measure the amount of advertising in his own newspapers and that of his rivals.
This overt preoccupation with the commerce of newspapers was scorned by superior journalistic types, but it was he, not they, who got a barony named after Fleet Street, where his newspapers never had offices.
But for all Roy Thomson's commercial instincts, he failed to transform the impossibly tangled way that newspapers were produced.
A year-long strike of production workers at the Times and the Sunday Times in 1979 changed little, and not long afterwards his son Kenneth (Lord Thomson in Britain, Ken in Canada) sold those two papers to Rupert Murdoch, who then took on the print unions in a decisive encounter that transformed Fleet Street.
Many other papers followed that sale. But though print has little or no part in it, Roy Thomson had created a continuing huge business empire.
At one time his late son Ken (also Lord Thomson, but only in Britain) was named by the magazine Forbes as the ninth richest man in the world.
Roy Thomson's grandson David inherited the leadership of the company in 2006 and continued the evolution of the business by buying the venerable news agency Reuters two years later. He's now chairman of the company named Thomson Reuters, the biggest business information provider in the world.
It is a remarkable family story, based on the man who was still a failing jack of all trades at the age of 36, still known only in Canada at the age of 54, who became a national known figure in Britain only in his 60s. Roy Thomson's autobiography is called "After I was 60".
That's what the plaque means by calling him a strange and adventurous man from nowhere. It is striking to see him so memorialised in St Paul's.


Newport Gwent Dragons lock Rynard Landman was "more gutted" by their 26-30 defeat by Newcastle than September's 33-13 home Pro12 loss to Glasgow.

Landman took over as Dragons captain when Lee Byrne limped off early on in the European Challenge Cup game.
South African Landman said Falcons tries after two Hallam Amos kicks were charged down cost them dear.
"We made two mistakes and it cost us dearly - two charge-down tries," said summer recruit Landman, 28.
"We can't blame the ref. We can't blame anything, just ourselves - we made those two mistakes and it cost us."
That left the South African to ponder what might have been on a night when he felt Dragons held the upper hand against Dean Richards' side.
After a memorable 38-22 win against Stade Francais in Paris to open their European campaign, Lyn Jones' men had hoped to enhance their chances of making the knock-out stages by beating Falcons.
"I'm more gutted now with a loss like this than we were at the Glasgow game because we really played well," said Landman.
"And to play well and lose a game like this when I thought we had the upper hand most of the time, that hurts."
And while Landman was happy at progress in performance standards, he felt it was in vain.
"We played a lot better than we did three, four weeks ago with ball in hand and getting out of our own half.
"But if you don't win the games, what does it help really? We targeted this game.
"You have to win your home games and the away win in Paris gave us a real chance of getting to the play-off stages.
"We want to get to there so every game is vital for us now."
Dragons face Stade Francais' round two opponents Bucuresti twice in December before finishing the pool stages with rematches against the French club and Falcons in January.


A man arrested as part of an inquiry into the murders of two police officers almost 30 years ago has been released pending a report to prosecutors.

Royal Ulster Constabulary detective constables Michael Malone, 35, and Ernest Carson, 50, were killed in an IRA gun attack on 26 August 1987.
Another officer and a civilian were wounded in the shooting in the Liverpool Bar on Donegall Quay.
The man who was arrested, 54, was questioned in Belfast on Wednesday.
Det Insp Stuart Griffin said: "Although these murders happened a long time ago, police would continue to appeal to anyone with information about the shooting and those involved to come forward."


Astronaut Tim Peake enjoyed a spectacular view of the UK as the International Space Station orbited overhead on Saturday night.

Passing over London, Tim photographed the bright lights of the capital and said: "I'd rather be up here... but only just!"
Tim's shared photos of the other countries he's seen, as well as his view of the aurora borealis, but this is the first time he's shared photos of home.
One of his images shows the channel between France and England, as well as the capital cities of the UK, France and Belgium all sparkling brightly in the dark.
When Tim saw the south of England, he tweeted to say: "Hey, I recognise that place!".


The effect of constant stress on a deep-lying region of the brain explains the increased risk of heart attack, a study in The Lancet suggests.

In a study of 300 people, those with higher activity in the amygdala were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease - and sooner than others.
Stress could be as important a risk factor as smoking and high blood pressure, the US researchers said.
Heart experts said at-risk patients should be helped to manage stress.
Emotional stress has long been linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which affects the heart and blood vessels - but the way this happens has not been properly understood.
This study, led by a team from Harvard Medical School, points to heightened activity in the amygdala - an area of the brain that processes emotions such as fear and anger - as helping to explain the link.
The researchers suggest that the amygdala signals to the bone marrow to produce extra white blood cells, which in turn act on the arteries causing them to become inflamed. This can then cause heart attacks, angina and strokes.
As a result, when stressed, this part of the brain appears to be a good predictor of cardiovascular events.
But they also said more research was needed to confirm this chain of events.
The Lancet research looked at two different studies. The first scanned the brain, bone marrow, spleen and arteries of 293 patients, who were tracked for nearly four years to see if they developed CVD. In this time, 22 patients did, and they were the ones with higher activity in the amygdala.
The second very small study, of 13 patients, looked at the relationship between stress levels and inflammation in the body.
It found that those who reported the highest levels of stress had the highest levels of amygdala activity and more evidence of inflammation in their blood and arteries.
Dr Ahmed Tawakol, lead author and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said: "Our results provide a unique insight into how stress may lead to cardiovascular disease.
"This raises the possibility that reducing stress could produce benefits that extend beyond an improved sense of psychological wellbeing.
It's the part of the brain that prepares you for fight or flight, becoming activated by strong emotional reactions.
The amygdalae (because there are two of them - one on each side of the brain) are almond-shaped groups of cells located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain.
In humans and animals, the amygdala is linked to responses to both fear and pleasure.
The term amygdala - which means almond in Latin - was first used in 1819.
Dr Tawakol added: "Eventually, chronic stress could be treated as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is routinely screened for and effectively managed like other major cardiovascular disease risk factors."
Commenting on the research, Dr Ilze Bot, from Leiden University in the Netherlands, said more and more people were experiencing stress on a daily basis.
"Heavy workloads, job insecurity or living in poverty are circumstances that can result in chronically increased stress, which in turn can lead to chronic psychological disorders such as depression."
Emily Reeve, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke from stress normally focused on controlling lifestyle habits such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol and overeating - but this should change.
"Exploring the brain's management of stress and discovering why it increases the risk of heart disease will allow us to develop new ways of managing chronic psychological stress.
"This could lead to ensuring that patients who are at risk are routinely screened and that their stress is managed effectively."


A prison should be working harder to reduce violent outbreaks and stop newly-released inmates from reoffending, according to a new report.

The HM Inspectorate of Prisons report suggested boredom and the availability of drink and drugs at HMP Stoke Heath were among reasons for poor behaviour.
The jail, near Market Drayton in Shropshire, had high levels of violence and "some concerning finds of weapons".
Stoke Heath houses 745 prisoners, 40 of them young offenders.
It is a category C "closed" prison - where inmates are not trusted in open prison conditions but are considered unlikely to try to escape.
The report criticised the fact that one prisoner, a foreign national, was being held solely on immigration grounds despite his jail term being completed two years ago.
A high proportion of prisoners had been involved in domestic violence offences, but there was no work done at the jail to address this behaviour.
The inspectorate said: "Many prisoners were under-occupied and boredom contributed to poor behaviour.
"We found 40% of men - unemployed, part-time workers and domestic workers - milling about aimlessly on the wings during the working day."
Chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick said HMP Stoke Heath's priorities for the future should include "a focus on tackling violence, keeping men fully occupied and doing more to reduce the risks that they will reoffend after release".
Michael Spurr, chief executive of the national offender management service, said: "The Governor and his staff have worked hard to make real improvements at the same time as managing significant change.
"The prison will now use the findings of this report to develop and improve further, including through an enhanced strategy to tackle and reduce prisoner violence."


The Jordanian government says it has blocked more than 300 unregistered and unlicensed news websites in a bid to curb "sensationalised" reporting.

The Press and Publications Department said access to 304 domestic online sites had been cut.
Another 102 sites remain accessible because they were licensed or seeking registration, it said.
The department said a law had set a January 2013 deadline for site owners to "rectify their situation."
But a number of the news website said they did not register with the department to protest against amendments to the controversial 2012 law, calling it "a government-led effort to restrict free speech online."
Registering and obtaining a department licence, they argue, places them in the same strait-jacket that governs the kingdom's print media which is often viewed as practising self-censorship.
"The preconditions in the law were impossible to implement because Jordan's press syndicate refused to accept electronic press as part of its members," said Jordanian political analyst Labib Kamhawi.
"So how could they abide by the law's requirement that their editors-in-chief must be syndicate members?"
Critics also say the law unfairly holds online news sites accountable for readers' comments and requires them to archive all readers' comments for at least six months.
Hashem Khalidi, chief editor of the blocked SarayaNews, accused the government of having "zero tolerance" and "wanting to silence everyone" with the ban.
Information Minister Mohammad al-Momani argued that the government had a "moral obligation" to protect minority and individuals rights.
A free, independent national media is part of Jordan's reform strategy, he told the Associated Press, saying that Jordan sought the "highest standards of professionalism and credibility".
"What we will not allow is conducting personal attacks against individuals, or attacks against any groups or minorities," he added.
But Naseem Tarawnah, who blogs on his Black Iris of Jordan site, sees Jordan's media laws as designed to "create an environment of fear that encourages self-censorship" which will now expand to online content.
"It's easy to enact a law that is very biased and then accuse people of not implementing it," said analyst Labib Kamhawi.
"How can you reconcile what King Abdullah says about democracy and the rule of law, and what is happening to freedom of speech," he asked.