An investigation is under way after a fire on board a ferry in the North Sea forced it to return to Newcastle.

Police are questioning those on board, while a person suspected of starting the fire was detained by the crew.
RAF helicopters winched two passengers and four crew off the MS King Seaways, which was sailing to Amsterdam, when it was 30 miles off Flamborough Head.
The DFDS ferry, which had 946 passengers and 127 crew, returned to North Shields early on Sunday.
Insp Andrew Dixon of Humberside Police said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) had called them at about 23:00 GMT and had said a passenger was "believed to have set fire to a cabin".
"As a result of this incident, the person suspected of causing the fire, or the person from the cabin where the fire occurred - be it deliberate or accidental - has been detained by ship staff," he added.
Some 15 passengers and eight staff were checked on the ferry by a doctor, DFDS added in a statement.
It said the fire had started at about 22:45 GMT on Saturday but had been extinguished within 15 minutes.
Serge Chamuleau and his family, from Arnhem in the Netherlands, were on board the ferry.
He told BBC News: "We first discovered about the fire when we heard a loud noise that kept going for 10 minutes or so.
"We got out of the cabin to check what was going on and we were told about the fire by another passenger. We got dressed and the alarm signal was given and we had to go outside.
"There was a lot of smoke - you could smell it."
Gert Jakobsen, DFDS vice president, said the ferry had been boarded by police and fire investigators, who were speaking to crew members and passengers.
"The ship has arrived back in Newcastle and police are now on board and in control of it," he said.
"They are investigating the cause of the fire and speaking with senior crew members as well as passengers who were close to the incident."
Passengers have begun to leave the ferry.
Earlier, Steven Basford, one of the passengers, said: "We've been told we can't get off until the police have finished their investigation. They're going door-to-door so we just have to wait."
The 28-year-old from Northumberland, who had been travelling to Amsterdam with his partner to celebrate the new year with friends, described his experience of the fire alarm.
"We were in our room at about 10.40pm last night when they raised the general fire or emergency alarm with seven high-pitched siren noises," he said.
"We were told to evacuate outside the ship and when we got outside they asked us to converge around the lifeboats.
"The fire was on our floor but on the other side of the ship. When we climbed up to the communal area we could see the smoke. It wasn't thick but it was definitely noticeable.
"People were generally pretty calm."
The MCA said it would survey the vessel for any lasting damage.
The MCA's Jo Rawlings told BBC News that conditions for the rescue had been "fairly calm".
Those winched off the ferry had been airlifted to Scarborough and no-one was seriously injured, she said.
Helicopters from RAF Leconfield and RAF Boulmer were sent to the scene.
Sqn Ldr Dave Webster said that when the RAF had been called for assistance, it was initially thought 23 people would need to be winched to safety but that figure was later downgraded.
The RAF crew had lifted those affected off the ferry within an hour.
Ferry operator DFDS Seaways runs a daily 17:00 GMT service from North Shields, arriving in Ijmuiden, the Netherlands, at 08:30 GMT (09:30 local time).
According to its website, the 26-year-old MS King Seaways has room for more than 1,500 passengers and 600 cars. It was renovated in 2006.
It offers entertainment including restaurants, bars, a nightclub and a casino.


The mother of a 16-year-old who took her own life by overdosing on anti-anxiety pills has told MSPs there is a fault in Scotland's healthcare system.

Annette McKenzie wants the law changed to prevent under-18s being prescribed medication without parental consent.
She said the current system was "letting young people down".
She found out her daughter Britney Mazzoncini had been prescribed Propanol by her GP after she died of an overdose of the tablets in July last year.
Ms McKenzie has lodged a petition at the Scottish Parliament.
Speaking at the Public Petitions Committee, she said her campaign was not a "witch-hunt" against the doctor who treated her daughter.
"When this happened with Britney, yes I was devastated, I was broken, but it also let me find a fault in the system where it is letting young people down," she said.
Britney, from Glasgow, suffered from depression and anxiety and was having suicidal impulses. She was prescribed a month's supply of the drug by her doctor last June.
Sixteen days later, she took an overdose.
Ms McKenzie said she had been unaware of the prescription and had mistaken side-effects, such as tiredness, as her daughter being lazy.
She explained to MSPs: "My daughter didn't understand at 16 years old the severity and strength of the medication she was given.
"She went to the doctor that day to ask for help. She didn't go expecting to be given pills."
She added: "I know a lot of people have concerns that my petition in particular will discourage young people from going to seek help from their doctor.
"To say that a child won't go to the doctor to ask for help, I don't believe that, because a child at that age isn't going to a doctor to ask for pills, they are going to speak out, to be asked to be helped."
GPs do not need to seek parental consent to prescribe medication if the young person is deemed to be able to understand the nature of the treatment and potential consequences of the treatment.
Ms McKenzie said the strength and effect of some mental health medications made it important that parents and guardians were "fully involved and aware of the circumstances, allowing them to support treatment" and safeguard their children by taking control of pills and dispensing them as required.
"We're not just talking about my daughter being 16 here, we are talking about there being no age of consent," she said.
"If they deem you to be wise enough, they will send you away with medication."
The committee agreed to contact the Scottish government, the Scottish Association for Mental Health, the General Medical Council and a range of other relevant organisations.


An Ottawa police officer is facing criminal charges in the death of a Somali-Canadian man who died in a confrontation with police last July.

Constable Daniel Montsion, 36, has been charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon in the death of Abdirahman Abdi, 37.
The charges were announced by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) following a seven-month investigation.
The incident sparked a debate about policing and race in the city.
Lawrence Greenspon, the lawyer for Abdi's family, said on Monday that they met the SIU and two Crown lawyers early in the day and were advised that Mr Montsion would be facing charges.
Mr Greenspon said the family is pleased by the charges after the lengthy SIU investigation.
"They anxiously await the results of what will be an even longer criminal justice process," he said.
Abdi's family is also considering taking civil action in the case.
On a Sunday morning last July, police responded to an emergency call from an Ottawa coffee shop. Witnesses there at the time alleged that Abdi had groped at least one woman in the cafe.
Abdi fled on foot, a chase that ended in a confrontation with police a few blocks away. During that interaction, Abdi suffered what the SIU called "medical distress". He later died in hospital.
Witness video shot after the confrontation with police and posted on YouTube shows Abdi handcuffed and bleeding on the ground.
Mr Montsion was one of two Ottawa police officers involved in that altercation.
His death led to several protests in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto and calls for the SIU - which investigates incidents involving police that result in death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault - to publicly release the results of their investigation.
Hundreds of people attended the funeral at an Ottawa mosque, including Mayor Jim Watson.
According to his family, Abdi arrived in Canada from Somalia in 2009.
Mr Montsion appears in court 29 March.


A miniaturised, wireless pacemaker that can be inserted into the body without invasive surgery has been given approval for use in the European Union.

Developed by US start-up Nanostim, the device is designed to be implanted intravenously directly in the heart.
It is less than 10% of the size of a conventional pacemaker and uses a built-in battery.
Experts said it was an "exciting development" but at a very early stage.
The pacemaker has yet to receive full US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
Conventional pacemakers require a patient to be cut open and a pocket created in the body to house the pacemaker and associated wires.
Such wires are regarded as the component of pacemakers most likely to fail. The pocket created for the pacemaker is also liable to infection.
By contrast the Nanostim pacemaker is delivered via a catheter inserted through the femoral vein near the groin.
It has a built-in battery, smaller than an AAA battery, that lasts between nine and 13 years. Eliminating the need for wires lowers the risk of infection or malfunction and means that patients are not restricted in the amount of activity they do, the firm behind the device claims.
The procedure to fit the pacemaker typically lasts around half an hour. The device is designed to be easily retrievable so that the battery can be replaced.
Because the device is delivered intravenously, it also means patients will have no scarring.
One doctor, involved in its trials, described it as "the future of pacemaking".
"For the past 40 years the therapeutic promise of leadless pacing has been discussed, but until now, no-one has been able to overcome the technical challenges," said Dr Johannes Sperzel of the Kerchhoff Klinik in Bad Nauheim, Germany.
"This revolutionary technology offers patients a safe, minimally-invasive option for pacemaker delivery that eliminates leads and surgical pockets," he added.
But others were more cautious.
Prof Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This is a potentially exciting development but it's early days.
"Before this leadless pacemaker becomes widely available, we need a better understanding of how long it will last, as well as how easy it is to replace if necessary. As our knowledge of this new pacemaker widens, so too will the expertise needed to fit this potentially exciting device."
The company behind the device has recently been bought by global medical device firm St Jude.
It has had several wire-based pacemakers recalled in recent years.
Other device makers are also planning to go wireless. The Wireless Cardiac Stimulation system has been developed by US start-up EBR Systems and UK-based tech firm Cambridge Consultants and uses a tiny wireless electrode no bigger than a grain of rice powered by an ultrasonic pulse generator, inserted lower down in the chest.
In 2011 the device was implanted in 100 patients in hospitals across Europe.
Cardiac pacemakers are used to treat slow heart rates. The devices monitor the heart and provide electrical stimulation when the heart beats too slowly.
The first pacemaker was fitted in 1958. Currently more than four million people around the world have some sort of cardiac rhythm device with an additional 700,000 people getting one each year.


A man has died in a crash in County Down, police have confirmed.

The incident occurred when the victim was walking along the Rostrevor Road in Warrenpoint at 10:30 BST on Wednesday.
Police have not given any other details about the circumstances of the crash and officers are appealing for any witnesses to get in touch by calling 101.
Rostrevor Road was closed while police investigated and diversions were in place but it has since re-opened.
Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident to get in touch with police on the number 101.


Look, I'm not a total naÃ¯f. I know the race for the Republican nomination means garnering support from your base, the different clans who will decide which of the hopefuls becomes the candidate.

And one of those groupings is the evangelical wing - a deeply conservative grouping that will play such an important role in Iowa, the first state to vote in February next year - and therefore disproportionately important. So you are going to say things this Christian community in the Midwest state wants to hear. You are going to do things that are none too subtle. You might even do a bit of pandering to them.
Donald Trump went on stage this weekend clutching the bible his mother had given him. It was a new prop for him to use. That's politics. You do what you need to do. But equally there are lines you just do not cross. And in the past two days, two of the Republican hopefuls, it seems, have done just that - one stumbled across the line, the other leapt across it so egregiously that it is causing reverberations.
The slight trip across the line came from the aforementioned Mr Trump who failed to correct a questioner who alleged that Obama wasn't American, wasn't a Christian - but was a Muslim.  Mr Trump, under fire, countered that it wasn't up to him - he had no moral responsibility to stand up for the president. OK, but you can correct a downright lie. No?
The full scale leap across the line that would have made an Olympic long jumper proud came from the mild-mannered, hitherto Mr Nice of this race, Dr Ben Carson. He was asked on Meet the Press whether his faith should matter. If you haven't heard it I am going to reprint here the full exchange with Chuck Todd the interviewer, just so you can see that the comments aren't being taken out of context.
TODD: Should a president's faith matter? Should it matter to voters?
CARSON: I guess it depends on what that faith is. If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America. And of course, if it fits within the realm of America and consistent with the constitution, no problem.
TODD: So do you believe that Islam is consistent with the constitution?
CARSON: No, I do not. I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.
And just so we can deal with the substantive point that Dr Carson raises, let us just detain ourselves for a moment longer on what is and what is not constitutional. Article 6 is just about as explicit a statement as you're ever going to find: no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
I don't know whether Dr Carson's words will bolster his position among the base after a somewhat lacklustre performance in the Republican debate last week at the Ronald Reagan Library - but what about the feelings of the three million Muslims who live in America? How is it going to feel to have a serious political figure, someone who aspires to lead this nation, essentially saying being Muslim is un-American?
These people who day in, day out serve their communities, support their families, enrich the lives of fellow citizens and make America the successful melting pot that it is. Kids who recite the pledge of allegiance in the morning at their schools and go to their mosque or church or synagogue in the evening at the weekend? Isn't that what America is all about?  Which bit of "one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" doesn't Dr Carson get?
Indeed, how different are Dr Carson's comments from previous generations of bigots, racists and apologists who would say there could never be an African-American as president, or Catholic, or any other minority you could single out.
It is worth looking back at the major piece of work that the Republican leadership undertook after the party's defeat in the 2012 general election, and the reasons why people had shunned it. One of the conclusions of this major piece of research, called the Growth and Opportunity Project, was as follows:
"Public perception of the Party is at record lows. Young voters are increasingly rolling their eyes at what the Party represents, and many minorities wrongly think that Republicans do not like them or want them in the country. When someone rolls their eyes at us, they are not likely to open their ears to us."
I was in California for the second Republican debate last week, and to be honest I thought Dr Ben Carson was sailing in a bit of an empty vessel. I couldn't remember anything noteworthy that he had said. Well, we now see that there is something in that vessel, aside from him. And it is not very pleasant. It will be interesting to watch how much pressure there'll be for him to walk the plank, or chart a very different course.


One of Wales' most wanted criminals was caught after he blundered into BBC cameras filming in the Netherlands.

Drugs smuggler Terrence Earle was spotted in Amsterdam as the crew filmed the new Fugitives series on BBC One.
Earle and his brother Michael, from Merseyside, had tried to smuggle Â£500,000 of drugs into south Wales before going on the run in 2015.
They were jailed for three years in July 2016 at Cardiff Crown Court.
Detectives with the Welsh Regional Organised Crime Unit first received a tip-off about a shipment of cannabis resin leaving Merseyside for south Wales in early 2015.
A lorry carrying 179kg of the drug was stopped on the A449 dual carriageway near Newport and the driver was arrested.
Inquiries suggested the Earle brothers were responsible for organising the shipment on behalf of drug gangs in the north west of England and south Wales.
As part of their investigation, detectives went to Liverpool in August 2015 and carried out a series of dawn raids.
Det Insp Julian Bull, of the Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: "There was only going to be one outcome for me and that was success. Unfortunatelyâ€¦ my worst dreams came true. They'd gone on the run."
He turned to the public for help and in November 2015 an appeal was made on the BBC's Crimewatch programme.
He said: "We had a number of calls. One call in particular pointed us to the fact that the Earle brothers may well be overseas, in particular in Holland."
A year after the drugs bust, a BBC crew was filming in Amsterdam with Dutch police for the Fugitives series.
A Dutch police lieutenant who was being filmed told the programme: "While we give the interview, three men pass the camera and one of our crew, one of the police officers, thought he recognised somebody who is wanted by the British police.
"We break the interview and we follow that guy."
Officers approached a car containing the men and suspicions were raised as one of them was not carrying identification. Checks then confirmed that he was in fact Terrence Earle.
Michael Earle, the youngest brother, was thought to be in Spain and three months later was in custody, having tried to travel through Madrid airport.
"It's the old adage within my world that we only have to be lucky once, they have to be lucky all the time, and it's true when it comes to both Terrence and Michael Earle," added DI Bull.
"They probably felt they were untouchable but unfortunately for them they weren't."


Donald Trump's top aide has denied receiving "payments" from the former Russian-backed Ukrainian government.

"I have never received a single 'off-the-books cash payment,'" Paul Manafort said in a statement.
The New York Times reported finding ledgers pledging $12.7m (Â£9.8m) in undisclosed cash payments to Mr Manafort between 2007 and 2012.
Hillary Clinton's campaign has called for Mr Trump's team to disclose any pro-Russia links.
"The simplest answer is the truth: I am a campaign professional. It is well known that I do work in the United States and have done work on overseas campaigns as well. I have never received a single 'off-the-books cash payment' as falsely 'reported' by the New York Times," the statement reads.
The New York Times article said Mr Trump's campaign manager and his business played a key role in advising Ukraine's former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled after an uprising in November 2013.
Mr Manafort's work advising Mr Yanukovych's pro-Russia political party, ended when the country's parliamentary elections were held in 2014, he said in his statement.
The New York Times report said Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau had discovered the listed payments in the ledgers of Mr Yanukovych's then governing Party of the Regions - allegedly part of "an illegal off-the-books system".
The bureau is also investigating business deals worth millions of dollars put together with the help of Mr Manafort's business.
However, the bureau is yet to determine if Mr Manafort actually received any of the $12.7m.
The Times quoted Mr Manafort's lawyer, Richard Hibey, as saying his client had not done so.
"It is difficult to respect any kind of allegation of the sort being made here to smear someone when there is no proof and we deny there ever could be such proof."
Mr Yanukovych fled to Russia after the uprising, miring Moscow and the pro-Western government in Kiev in bitter conflict since.
Russia seized and annexed the Crimea region in 2014, and violence is continuing between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, where some 9,500 people have been killed in more than two years of clashes.
The Democratic Party insisted questions had to be answered given the "pro-[Russian President Vladimir] Putin policy stances adopted by Donald Trump".
Mrs Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook said: "Donald Trump has a responsibility to disclose campaign chair Paul Manafort's and all other campaign employees' and advisers' ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities, including whether any of Trump's employees or advisers are currently representing and or being paid by them."
The Democrats have accused the Russians of trying to aid Mr Trump's campaign.
Mr Mook referred to Russian hackers believed to be behind a security breach that targeted key Democratic party bodies this year.
At the weekend, a hacker reportedly linked to Russia also posted personal contact information online of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and hundreds of other Democratic party officials. Ms Pelosi said she was flooded with "obscene and sick" messages.
After the earlier leaks, Mr Trump drew fierce criticism for apparently inviting Russians to find emails that Mrs Clinton had sent via a private email server, contrary to US government rules, while secretary of state.
The FBI recommended no charges be brought. Mrs Clinton says about half of the 60,000 emails have been turned over to the state department, while the others were private.
"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails", Mr Trump had said.
Mr Trump also drew fire by saying Russia would not enter Ukraine. When it was pointed out it had already annexed Crimea, he said he meant Moscow would not dare go further.
Mr Trump has seen a downturn in opinion polls recently, following a string of controversial remarks.
On Sunday, he tweeted: "If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%."


An arrest warrant for a third Irishman is being sought by Brazilian police in their investigation into the alleged illegal sale of Olympic tickets.

Detectives said they want to question Martin Burke, the sports director of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI).
Two other Irishmen, Pat Hickey and Kevin Mallon, are facing charges as a result of the investigation which began as the Games opened in Rio last month.
Both men, who were arrested, imprisoned and released on bail, deny wrongdoing.
Mr Hickey, 71, was the most senior Olympic official in Ireland before his dramatic arrest in a Rio hotel room on 17 August.
He has since temporarily stepped aside from his roles as OCI president, president of the European Olympic Committee and his post in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) while the investigation continues.
An OCI spokeswoman told the BBC the organisation was "aware of press reports" that Brazilian police were now seeking a warrant for Mr Burke's arrest.
"The OCI has not been contacted by the Rio authorities with regard to Mr Burke nor indeed has Mr Burke been contacted by the authorities," she said.
"Mr Burke returned to Ireland from the Rio Games with the Irish Olympic team."
The BBC is seeking a response from Mr Burke to the police statement.
On Thursday, Brazilian police said they also wanted to speak to the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, but were treating him as a witness, not a suspect.
It followed the discovery of emails from Mr Bach to Mr Hickey.
Police alleged that the IOC president received personal requests from Mr Hickey for hundreds of high-value tickets for the Olympics opening ceremony, the 100m final and the football final.
They added that Mr Hickey received 296 tickets after his written request to the IOC president.
Mr Bach cancelled a planned appearance in Rio this week at the opening of the Paralympic Games, for personal reasons.
On Tuesday, a Brazilian state prosecutor, said he had decided to charge Mr Hickey and nine others with ticket touting, conspiracy and ambush marketing.
Mr Mallon is facing the same charges and both men had their passports confiscated until the investigation is complete.
The eight other suspects are businessmen who are not in Brazil.


Police are hunting an intruder who assaulted a sleeping man in his bed before stealing his car.

The victim was attacked in his home in Ross Drive, Airdrie, at 04:30 on Tuesday.
The 46-year-old was assaulted by a man who stole the keys to his white Audi A6 before driving off in the car.
The car was found burnt out in Stonedyke Road, Carluke, at about 05:50 that morning. The victim sustained face and body injuries in the attack.
He was taken to Monklands Hospital for treatment.
Det Con Clare Cassidy said: "This was a very traumatic experience for the victim, who was sleeping in his bed when he was callously attacked, leaving him with injuries that required medical attention.
"I'd like to speak to anyone who may have seen the suspect hanging around the vicinity of Ross Drive in Airdrie around 04:30 hrs on Tuesday 20 June or anyone who witnessed suspicious activity in Stonedyke Road, Carluke, afterwards."
The suspect was described as being white, 5ft 8in tall, of heavy build, with short dark hair. He was aged between 16 and 20 years and was wearing a grey hooded tracksuit.


Thousands of Londoners took part in events to show support for those who may have felt threatened or unwelcome since June's Brexit vote.

In west London the local council organised a march and rally to demonstrate unity.
And in South London a local park became a focal point for messages of support.
It comes after "racist" graffiti was scrawled on a Polish Cultural centre in Hammersmith in the immediate aftermath of the European referendum.
Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter told BBC London Sunday's protest and rally were something that local people "wanted to do".
"It was undoubtedly provoked by a terrible racist attack on the Polish centre which is a hugely popular local institution that has been there for 50 years," he said.
"But this reflects a much wider concern that what has happened as a result of the EU referendum and Brexit is that people who previously would have kept their offensive racist opinions to themselves, a tiny minority of people, but they now feel emboldened to speak out."
Meanwhile, resident Michael Roach said he attended the protest march because he felt it was "his duty".
He said: "There's so much division in the world that we need to come together as just one family, one world family.
"I'm here because black lives matter as well, and as a white man, an older white man,I need to show that I care for my grandchildren's future and also for my children's future and my future."
The Metropolitan Police said it received 771 reports of racial or religious hate crimes between 24 June and 5 July.
A spokesman said it did not have readily accessible statistics for the period immediately before the European referendum vote.
But in the 12 months to May reports of racial or religious hate crime had risen 13% to 14,540 from 12,864 a year earlier.


Hundreds of people have signed a petition opposing plans to put a synthetic surface sports pitch on part of a Borders park.

Scottish Borders Council agreed last month to take forward the plans for Victoria Park in Peebles.
It said that consultation and studies had shown it was the most suitable location for the facility.
However, Fiona Dalgleish, of the town's community council said, while the pitch was needed, it was not the right site.
SBC agreed last month that a planning application should be submitted for the third generation synthetic surface (known as 3G) with a view to completing construction in August next year.
Opponents, however, do not want to see part of the park turned over to the pitch.
"I totally understand and support the need for a 3G pitch, however I don't believe that public green space that is used by everybody should be compromised," said Ms Dalgleish.
"If the pitch goes in there, over a third of the green space in Victoria Park will become inaccessible to people who don't pay.
"It sort of goes against the grain of Scottish access laws - we should be encouraging people to utilise green space rather than fencing it off and making them pay for it."


Detectives investigating the suspected murder of a Cardiff woman have found a body on an allotment.

Sameena Imam, 34, was last seen in Coventry on Christmas Eve.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said the body has yet to be formally identified but Ms Imam's family has been informed.
Searches were conducted this week on the allotment off Groby Road, Leicester, and the body was found on Friday.
A post-mortem examination will take place on Saturday to establish the cause of death.
Roger Cooper, 40, of Coventry, and David Cooper, 38, of Leicester, appeared via videolink at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday charged with her murder.
They have been remanded in custody with a provisional trial date set for the end of June.
Ms Imam was last seen outside wholesaler Costco in Coventry at about 16:00 GMT on 24 December.
She was visiting the store as part of her job as a regional marketing manager for Costco.


Legal costs for the families at the inquests into the deaths of the 96 Hillsborough victims totalled £63.6m.

They were paid by the Home Office, which also spent nearly £20m on lawyers for the former chief constable of South Yorkshire Police and eight ex-officers.
The inquests concluded in April that fans were unlawfully killed in the 1989 disaster.
The inquests, running between 31 March 2014 and 26 April 2016, were the longest in British legal history.
The £83.6m total includes costs of solicitors, experts, counsel, and disbursements between 31 December 2012 and 30 June 2016.
Lawyers for the families received the same rates as police counsel, the BBC understands.
The inquests into the deaths of 96 fans - after a crush during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest - followed a 27-year campaign by victims' families.
In April, it was reported South Yorkshire Police's legal bill for the inquests was £25.1m, with £20m of this paid by the Home Office.
Figures released by the police and crime commissioner showed the force had paid about £4.3m of the total legal bill.
Of the £63.6m cost for representing the victims' families, £34.3m went to the firm Birnberg Peirce while Broudie Jackson Canter received £19.8m.
The rest was spent on six other legal firms representing the families.
For nearly a quarter of a century the Hillsborough families fought for justice - but they were also forced to campaign for money, to fund the process of achieving it.
Many felt it put them at a disadvantage, when pitted against police officers and organisations with corporate or state backing.
Things changed in 2012 when the families felt they had learned the truth about the disaster after the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report.
But it opened up a new journey to justice which threatened to be long and costly.
The then Home Secretary Theresa May acknowledged their fears and promised a level playing field.
She committed the government to covering the families' costs under a new fund - the Hillsborough Families Legal Representation Scheme.
It meant they could be represented by top lawyers throughout the longest inquests in British legal history.
Survivors of the crush were not given funds for legal representation at the inquests.
Two criminal investigations are being conducted into the 1989 disaster and its aftermath - one into the fans' deaths, the other into police conduct - with future prosecutions possible.
The Home Office has said that its financial support for the victims' families will continue.
Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram, Labour's mayoral candidate for the Liverpool City Region, said: "The public purse could have been spared this cost and the Hillsborough families the heartache of a two-and-a-half decade delay in reaching the right verdict, if they had received sufficient legal funding for the first inquest in November 1990.
"If they could have afforded the best lawyers 26 years ago, the injustice wouldn't have happened.
"It shows yet again why, when bereaved families are up against public bodies at inquests, they need fair legal funding."


"A bit of a punt" - the BHS business plan.

That's how one financier described Dominic Chappell's plans for acquiring and reviving BHS to MPs today.
Andrew Frangos of Cornhill Capital was approached by the three-time bankrupt Chappell to raise money secured against property to use as working capital - the money you need for day to day running of a company.
Mr Frangos said that BHS was not the limit of his ambitions and that Chappell had plans to one day buy Arcadia - the parent company run by Sir Philip Green. Ultimately, Chappell didn't use Cornhill Capital and the two of them are in dispute over unpaid bills.
He was joined in the commons by representatives from accountants Grant Thornton and lawyers Olswang to explain their involvement as advisers to Mr Chappell.
Both made extensive use of client confidentiality protection but several important themes emerged.
Retail Acquisitions Limited did not delve very deeply into the pension problems. Meetings between Chappell and the Chris Martin, chair of the BHS pension scheme, totalled less than half an hour and Grant Thornton's Mark Byers said he was denied the usual access to the pension trustees and their advisors.
On the bigger picture, MPs asked what the professional advisers made of this "punt". Why did they believe that a retail novice with a chequered financial background could succeed in turning BHS around when a feted retail tycoon had failed? We got two interesting answers.
First, a central part of the turnaround plan involved getting the landlords for the 164 stores to agree to reduce the rent. Mark Byers, from Grant Thornton said it would be difficult to have that negotiation, for BHS essentially to plead poverty, as long as BHS was part of the bigger Arcadia group.
Second, it wasn't their job.
So far there is no smoking gun. What is emerging from these sessions is that lots of professional firms were tasked with making sure small bits of the deal ticked a number of boxes. No one, it seems, was there to look Mr Chappell in the eye and judge whether he had the ability, or even the intention, of making BHS work.
MPs will no doubt suggest that role fell to Sir Philip Green himself as the seller. He appears before the committees on 8 June.


A 14-year-old girl was told she would be shot if she did not obey a man she then had sex with in a park, a court has heard.

The girl is one of six alleged victims of nine men accused of grooming and exploiting children in Oxford.
She described being taken to parks and flats where she was given drugs and alcohol and had sex with men.
The men, from Oxford and Berkshire, deny 51 counts relating to girls aged between 11 and 15 from 2004 to 2012.
The alleged victim told jurors at the Old Bailey she was living in a children's home when she was 14.
She said she would run away with a friend to meet a group of Asian men in Oxford that she knew as K-Dog, Jammy, Khan and Acter.
The jury heard the men were nice to the girl at first but later became "demanding" and "threatening".
When asked why she did it the girl said: "I felt I didn't have a choice".
On one occasion the jury heard she had been drinking in a field with one of the men.
She told the court: "He started pulling his zip down on his trousers.
"He said that if I didn't do as I was told he knew someone that would shoot me."
The court heard she would be taken to places where other men would have sex with her.
Jurors were told that in August 2006 she went to a flat with a friend. The friend left and 11 men arrived.
The alleged victim said she went to the bedroom and had sex with a man who is not before the court.
She told jurors the man said he was going to "bring another man in", adding: "They told me if they ask, to say I was 16."
The court heard the girl thought she was going to have to have sex with all 11 men so she tried to jump out of the window, but it was too small.
Instead she called police, but the next day withdrew her statement.
She told the jury: "I was scared and I didn't want any trouble."
The trial is expected to last until April. The defendants are all in custody.
The defendants are:


NHS Grampian needs to make millions of pounds of cuts to balance its budget, the health board has said.

It needs to save Â£18.5m in the year ahead.
NHS Grampian wants to see a reduction in the use of locums and agency nurses, as well as cutting back the reliance on the private sector to help meet treatment time guarantees.
The health board will hear it faces financial challenges replacing Â£44m of ageing medical equipment.
It is also predicted that Â£100m will need to be invested in GP practices in the coming years to cope with a potential rise in patient numbers.


Two people are dead and four injured after an accident at an amusement park in south-eastern Zhejiang province in China, say local officials.

The incident happened in the city of Wenzhou in Pingyang county, the county's official Weibo account said.
A number of people fell from the ride and others were flung, said Xinhua state news agency citing witnesses.
Reports said the machine started moving before passengers had properly buckled themselves into it.
Pictures posted by news outlets on social media showed blood and people lying on the floor. They also showed the ride which has two passenger capsules that spin in a circular motion.
The capsules appeared to be more than three stories high at their highest point.


A prison officer went for a cigarette when he could not find a teenager who was supposed to be in his cell, an inquest heard.

Officer Phil O'Neill did not consider the fact he could not see Daniel Adewole an emergency situation and returned 18 minutes later.
The 16-year-old, who had epilepsy, was later found unresponsive in his cell at Cookham Wood in Rochester.
Asked if he thought he should have gone back sooner, Mr O'Neill said: "I do."
Another officer, Sharon Bignell, told the inquest she had not unlocked Daniel's cell because the teenager "could have been hiding" and could have attacked her.
The inquest, being carried out by coroner Patricia Harding, continues.


A local NHS restructuring plan to save Â£600m over the next five years includes a move to cut 200 hospital beds despite current overcrowding.

The cuts proposed - totalling 11.8% of beds at Nottingham's two main hospitals - would happen over the next two years.
Health leaders said the bed shortage was caused by patients who could not leave hospitals because of a lack of community support.
The proposed cuts are part of the county's NHS "sustainability" plan.
The bed reduction is "contingent on other models of care being put in place", a spokesman for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said.
The plan also called for "taking beds out of the active care setting by moving them into the community".
Trust chairman Louise Scull said the current was sustainable unless changes were made.
"The status quo is simply not an option if we are to deliver a financially and clinically sustainable health and social care system for our patients in Nottinghamshire.
"Our hospital services are operating under relentless pressureâ€¦ demand is rising inexorably year on year, she said."
Figures from early 2016 show that Nottingham's accident and emergency four-hour admission rate was 74.7% - missing the national target of 95%.
Mrs Scull said in a blog published to coincide with the release of the NHS Sustainability and Transformation plan for Nottinghamshire: "Without different community services being in place as an alternative to hospital care and without work to reduce demand on our hospitals, this won't be achievable."
Phil Teall, of Healthwatch Nottingham, said cutting 200 hospital beds was "hugely ambitious" and it could not happen without "investing in community-based services".
"People are going to be concerned when their hospital is already under huge amounts of pressure as to how that number of beds can be removed from the system," he said.


The SNP has said it will not support air strikes in Syria unless the prime minister is able to address "key questions" that "remain unanswered".

David Cameron outlined his case in the Commons for allowing the RAF to bomb the Islamic State terror group in Syria as well as in Iraq.
But the SNP's Angus Robertson said there was no effective ground support in place to take and hold territory.
And he said there was no fully-costed reconstruction plan in place for Syria.
Mr Cameron had said that there were about 70,000 "moderate" Free Syrian Army (FSA) troops as well Kurdish fighters who could work with the UK to "help eliminate" IS.
But Mr Robertson, the SNP's leader at Westminster, questioned how many of those FSA fighters were on the frontline against Daesh - another name for IS - in the north east of Syria as opposed to countering Syrian regime forces elsewhere in the country.
He also asked Mr Cameron what the UK was doing to plan and secure long-term stability and reconstruction in Syria.
Mr Robertson said: "The UK spent 13 times more bombing Libya than on its post-conflict stability and reconstruction. So how much does the prime minister estimate the total cost of reconstruction will be, and does he think that the amount in his statement today will be sufficient?
"Two years ago the prime minister urged us to bomb the opponents of Daesh in Syria. That would probably have strengthened this terrorist organisation. Today, the prime minister wants us to launch a bombing campaign without effective ground support in place or a fully-costed reconstruction and stability plan.
"The prime minister has asked us to consider his plan. We have listened closely. However, key questions posed by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee remain unanswered.
"And unless the prime minister answers these questions satisfactorily, the Scottish National Party will not vote for airstrikes in Syria."
Mr Robertson said the SNP shared concerns about the "terrorist threat" from IS, and that the party strongly supported a ceasefire in Syria and a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is also the SNP leader, has previously said that the party would listen to what the prime minister had to say before making a decision on whether or not to support airstrikes.
Her predecessor, Alex Salmond, has said that the party believes a United Nations resolution would be required before it was able to back Mr Cameron on airstrikes.
Last month, the SNP conference unanimously backed a motion which was opposed to airstrikes in Syria.
A Commons vote is expected within weeks on whether to authorise a bombing campaign, with the SNP's 54 MPs having the potential to play a crucial role.
Speaking in the Commons after publishing his response to a recent Foreign Affairs committee report on air strikes, Mr Cameron said that there was a "clear legal basis" for military action against IS in Syria.
He said this was because the UN Security Council had passed a resolution stating that IS "constitutes a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security", and calling upon member states to take "all necessary measures to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed" by the group and to "eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Iraq and Syria".
The prime minister argued that it was in the national interest of the UK to carry out air strikes against IS militants in Syria.
He said that military action should be part of a "comprehensive strategy" to tackle IS, which would also require a "full political settlement".
The prime minister dismissed fears that that UK would become a bigger target for terror attacks if it was to bomb in Syria by saying that the UK was already a major target for IS - and that the only way to deal with that was to "take action" now.


A stuntman is thought to have become the first person to jump out of a helicopter and land safely without deploying a parachute.

Gary Connery, 42, used a "wingsuit" to make his descent from 2,400ft (730m) above Oxfordshire.
The 42-year-old said he felt "elated" after landing on a pile of 18,600 cardboard boxes.
He was fitted with a parachute for the jump, which saw him accelerate to 80mph, but it was not deployed.
The entire flight took less than a minute to complete.
During the flight, father-of-two Mr Connery dropped for three seconds before his suit "started to fly".
He used a landing strip of cardboard boxes, known as a box rig, covering about 350ft (100m) by 45ft (15m).
Cameraman Mark Sutton also jumped from the helicopter in a wingsuit but deployed a parachute before landing.
Minutes after landing, Mr Connery said: "I feel incredible, just completely elated.
"I have been training and planning for this record attempt for many years now and I am so proud to have achieved a world first.
"I want to thank everyone involved for their support and belief in me because this really has been a team effort.
"Tonight will be all about celebrating with friends and family. Tomorrow I will be plotting my next daring challenge.
"I was absolutely fine afterwards. I was completely buzzing."
The jump had been planned for early April but had to be postponed due to poor weather conditions, he said.
Mr Connery, who has worked on films including Die Another Day, Batman Begins and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, said performing stunts was "his life".
He has already completed about 880 skydives and 450 base jumps.
Before carrying out the flight in countryside near his home in Henley-on-Thames, Mr Connery, whose wingsuit has the ability to dramatically reduce speed on descent, said he was "100% confident" he would be successful.


Russia has stopped using an Iranian airbase to bomb targets in Syria, both countries have said.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said the operation was "over for now" and the planes had gone.
Iran's Defence Minister Hossein Deghan had earlier criticised Russia for publicising the raids last week, saying it had exhibited a "show-off" attitude.
Russia for its part has confirmed that all of its planes used from Iran for Syria strikes are now back in Russia.
Russia. like Iran, is a key ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
Last Tuesday, Russia's defence ministry announced that Tupolev-22M3 long-range bombers and Sukhoi-34 strike fighters had used the Shahid Nojeh airbase near the western city of Hamedan to carry out air strikes on "terrorists" in Syria.
The raids were the first carried by Russia from a third country since it began an air campaign against Mr Assad's opponents almost a year ago, and also the first launched from Iranian soil by a foreign military since World War Two.
Russia now says that aircraft which were based at the Hamedan air base are no longer located there and have returned to the Russian Federation.
Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that future use of the base will now only take place "on the basis of mutual agreements between the two countries on the fight against terrorism and will depend on developments in Syria".
The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, previously lauded the "strategic" co-operation with Russia. But some MPs complained that it breached the Islamic Republic's constitution, which prohibits allowing foreign militaries to be based on its territory.
In an interview with state TV on Monday, Gen Deghan stressed that Russia would only use the Nojeh airbase "for a very short and fixed span, corresponding [to an] operation in Syria".
Gen Deghan was asked why Russia had chosen to reveal its presence there whereas Iran had not.
"The Russians are interested to show they are a superpower to guarantee their share in the political future of Syria and, of course, there has been a kind of show-off and ungentlemanly [attitude] in this field."
Gen Deghan explained that Russia had "decided to bring in more planes and boost its speed and accuracy in operations".
"Therefore, it needed to refuel in an area closer to the operation. That's why they used the Nojeh base. But we have definitely not given them a military base."
Hours later, Mr Qasemi announced that Russia's deployment had ended.
"It was a specific, authorised mission and it's over for now. They conducted it and they are gone now," he was quoted by the official news agency as saying.
The US, which backs the opposition to Syria's president, had said Russia's use of the Iranian base was "unfortunate but not surprising".


A man missing from his home in East Dunbartonshire since the weekend has been found.

Stuart Teese had not been seen since leaving his home in Bearsden on Saturday evening.
Police Scotland appealed for information on Monday after becoming "increasingly concerned" for his welfare.
But officers said he had been traced "safe and well" in the Loch Lomond area on Tuesday afternoon.


Scarlets flanker James Davies has apologised for his "unforgiveable actions" in their European Champions Cup defeat at Toulon on Sunday.

The 2016 Rio Olympics GB Sevens silver medallist appeared to use a gesture and swear at referee Greg Garner.
Scarlets have condemned Davies' "abusive language or actions".
In a statement, the player said: "I would like to apologise to my team-mates, the fans, the Scarlets, my family and the rugby community."
In the 28th minute at Stade Felix Mayol, Garner called over Davies and Scarlets captain Ken Owens and told Davies: "If you use that language again on the pitch, I'll send you off."
Davies said he had apologised to English official Garner during and after the game.
He added: "During the heat of battle I lost my composure and said and did things I deeply regret.
"I apologised to referee Mr Garner both during and after the game but would like to reiterate my sincerest apologies publically."
A Scarlets spokesperson said: "The Scarlets hold the unique values of rugby union in the highest regard.
"Our players are all aware of their responsibility as role models and custodians of those values.
"We unreservedly condemn any foul or abusive language or actions like those displayed by James Davies on Sunday."
Davies could now face disciplinary action that could affect his chances of facing Toulon in their rematch at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli on Sunday.
Scarlets say they will comply fully with "disciplinary procedures" and conduct an internal investigation into the incident.


Wales wing George North says Northampton's style of play "isn't really helping my game".

The 23-year-old has scored 23 tries in 55 Test matches since his international debut in 2010, but has crossed just three times for his club this season.
North is with the Wales team as they prepare for their Six Nations opener in Ireland on Sunday (15:00 GMT).
"Wales want to play a quick game and an open game and that suits me down to the ground," said North.
"I want to be on the wing. I want to have that space to run at people and have the opportunity, rather than carrying straight into a wall.
"Sometimes you need to be that guy, which I don't mind doing.
"But when you've got the opportunity to have 50 metres of space and you can open the taps, there's nothing better in the world than doing that."
North added he preferred more "freedom".
North left Scarlets for Frankin's Gardens in 2013 and signed a contract extension in November 2015.
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But he is looking forward to being back with Wales after helping them reach the World Cup quarter-finals last year
"For me it would be nice to step away from Northampton now, get a different stimulus," said North.
North has scored 25 tries in 51 appearances for Saints, 14 of them in 16 games during the 2014-15 season.
In 2013-14, his first season at the club, he touched down eight times in 23 matches.
Northampton are sixth in the Premiership and have reached the European Champions Cup quarter-finals, where they will face English rivals Saracens.
But North is currently focused on Wales as he looks to match the expectations of coach Warren Gatland and backs coach Rob Howley.
"Always more is the key. Always one more," said North, who is given a target for the number of times he should touch the ball.
Wales have won Six Nations titles in the year after the past two World Cups, and North hopes that run will continue.
"We've got great history in the Six Nations post-World Cup year. Hopefully we can continue that," he said.
North's Welsh girlfriend Becky James hopes to be part of Great Britain's cycling team at the Rio Olympics this summer.
North was asked if he would like to be part of the GB Sevens team for the Games.
He said: "I'm hopefully going to go anyway if Becky is selected.
"I'll take my boots with me. For me it would be: World Cup pre-season; World Cup, full season, Six Nations, full season.
"It might be worth just taking a chill pill - 23 and feeling 44.
"I don't even know my schedule for next week, let alone for Rio, so let's see."


A mournful procession of about 1,500 Latvians winds its way through Riga's medieval Old Town singing traditional Latvian songs.

Elderly World War Two veterans lead the crowd. And many of the participants are carrying flowers to lay at the Freedom Monument, Latvia's symbol of national independence.
They have come here to commemorate those who died defending Latvia against the Soviet Union in the war.
But with Russian troops now in nearby Ukraine, many in the Baltics are alarmed that history may be about to repeat itself.
"If Ukraine falls, then Russian ambitions won't stop with this. I believe we will be next in Russia's list of actions," said one young man who had come to take part in the procession.
"It shows the attitude of Russia - how it goes into another country very easily and acts in an aggressive manner," said another.
But this annual memorial service is highly controversial. These elderly veterans fought against Russia - but for Nazi Germany.
The Baltics have spent much of their history being buffeted between neighbouring imperial forces.
And in WWII, having already suffered severe oppression under Stalin, many Latvians saw Hitler's forces as the lesser of two evils - Latvia's only chance of not slipping back into Stalinist oppression.
But the veterans and their supporters are accused of being Nazi sympathisers - particularly by Latvia's large Russian-speaking community.
About 1,000 Russian-speakers have gathered behind police barricades near the monument to protest. "Fascists go home!" shout some. "Shame! Shame!" shout others.
This year security is particularly tight, with as many police officers as participants, amid fears that the instability in Ukraine will spark ethnic tensions here.
It is a similar dynamic to Ukraine: pro-Moscow local Russian-speakers accusing pro-Western nationalists of being right-wing extremists. And like Ukraine, some Russian-speakers here say they are discriminated against by mainstream society.
"I feel like a person who is second-class," says Aleksandr Gaponenko, a Russian-speaker who moved to Soviet-era Latvia with his parents 59 years ago, when he was a one-year-old.
"We want equal rights for our languages, and we want equal social and economic rights."
Latvia country profile
According to the Latvian authorities, throughout the 20th Century people from elsewhere in the USSR were resettled in the Baltics as a deliberate Soviet policy to water down Baltic culture and destroy local national sentiment.
And still today Russian-speakers are sometimes pejoratively called "occupiers".
So when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Mr Gaponenko, like many Russians, was not automatically granted Latvian citizenship, and lost his job in Riga city council.
Today he is classed as a "non-citizen" - which means he is still not allowed to work for the state and does not have the right to vote.
Around 300,000 Russian-speakers, or 13% of Latvia's population, are so-called "non-citizens". And they live in an EU member state and member of Nato.
To become Latvian, they have to prove their knowledge of the Latvian language and culture in a citizenship test - even if they were born here.
Some Russian-speakers, such as Mr Gaponenko, refuse to take the test, saying that the country where they have spent all their lives should grant them citizenship automatically.
Others, particularly older people, say they do not speak Latvian well enough to pass the test.
But the Latvian government says it is encouraging all residents of Latvia to become citizens. And it accuses the Kremlin of using the issue to stir up resentment within the local Russian-speaking population and create political instability.
"There's massive propaganda, even an information warfare - not only here, and not only using Russian-speaking media, but also using other channels," says Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics.
Russian-speakers often live very separate lives from their Latvian neighbours, living in different neighbourhoods, often socialising in different places.
In Riga city centre, one bar might be full of local Russian-speakers, next door packed with ethnic Latvians.
Estimates of numbers of Russian-speakers vary. According to Latvian pollster SKDS, Russian-speakers make up 42% of the population in Latvia, with 58% described as ethnic Latvian.
This split in society is exacerbated by the political system.
The parties popular with ethnic Latvian voters manage to form convoluted governing coalitions to stay in power. Meanwhile Harmony Centre, a party voted for mainly by Russians-speakers, is stuck in opposition - despite having won more votes than any other single party in the last parliamentary elections of 2011.
Most problematic, says political analyst and pollster Arnis Kaktins, is that Russian-speakers often consume all their news from media produced in Moscow, while ethnic Latvians tend to get their information from Latvian or Western news outlets.
So the two communities are developing opposing views about who is to blame for the crisis in Ukraine.
"When so many people rely heavily on Russian news sources, it means that Russia has an instrument to change their minds if it would like to," says Mr Kaktins.
There is a fear that the Kremlin could encourage Latvia's predominantly Russian-speaking border regions to follow Crimea's example and break away from Latvia to join Russia.
All three Baltic States are in Nato, so it is seen as unlikely that the Kremlin would send in troops, and start a conflict that the West would feel obliged to respond to militarily.
The real worry is that the crisis could increase divisions within Latvian society.
Since independence in 1991, Latvia's two communities have lived side-by-side peacefully.
But if the conflict in Ukraine gets worse, the rift could grow between Russian-speakers who support Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and ethnic Latvians who support the West.


George Clooney has received an apology from the Mail Online "for any distress caused" by a story about his upcoming marriage to Amal Alamuddin.

It follows its publication of a report claiming Alamuddin's mother objected to their marriage on religious grounds.
The story, published earlier this week, led Clooney to accuse the Mail of "irresponsibility".
"We accept Mr Clooney's assurance that the story is inaccurate," said a statement from the Mail Online.
"We have removed the article from our website and will be contacting Mr Clooney's representatives to discuss giving him the opportunity to set the record straight."
Earlier this week, the Mail claimed Alamuddin's mother, Baria, wished her daughter to be married within the relatively small Druze sect.
The Druze are a religious sect with an estimated 700,000 members, mostly in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan, whose beliefs are based on Islam but also incorporate elements of other religions.
The report, published online on Monday and then in print on Tuesday, in an amended form, said "close family friends" had told them that Baria Alamuddin had been "telling half of Beirut" that her daughter "could do better".
In a piece published by USA Today, Clooney denied his fiancee's mother was a member of the Druze community and asserted that she was "in no way against the marriage".
He went on to accuse the Mail of putting his family and friends "in harm's way" and potentially "inciting violence" with its "completely fabricated" story".
"The irresponsibility, in this day and age, to exploit religious differences where none exist, is at the very least negligent and more appropriately dangerous," the actor wrote.
Clooney's engagement to Alamuddin, a London-based barrister who specialises in human rights cases, was confirmed by her chambers in April.
In its statement, the Mail Online insisted its story had not been "a fabrication" but had been "supplied in good faith by a reputable and trusted freelance journalist".
"She based her story on conversations with a long-standing contact who has strong connections with senior members of the Lebanese community in the UK and the Druze in Beirut."
"We only became aware of Mr Clooney's concerns this morning and have launched a full investigation."
MailOnline is the world's most-read English newspaper site and receives more than 11 million visits each day.


Nicole Bolton scored an unbeaten century as Australia beat West Indies by eight wickets in their Women's World Cup opener at Taunton.

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The match began in confusion, with West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor winning the toss and electing to bat, then changing her mind before being told her first choice must stand.
Australia took control as the West Indies collapsed to 204 all out.
Bolton's 107 not out helped them canter home with 11.5 overs remaining.
Bolton struck 14 boundaries and shared in an opening stand of 171 with Beth Mooney (70) as the defending champions powered to victory.
Having initially chosen to bat first, Taylor changed her mind during her pre-match interview with broadcasters.
But Australia skipper Meg Lanning objected, and match referee David Dukes ruled that, under ICC regulations, Taylor's initial decision must be enforced.
Taylor hit 45 - a score only bettered by opener Hayley Matthews (46) - but none of the West Indies' last six batters reached double figures.


(Close): US markets fell on Tuesday as a spike in returns on government bonds rattled investors.

Wall Street nearly clawed back all the way from an early slump that dragged the Dow Jones down as much as 180 points in the first half-hour of trading.
The Dow ended just 36 points, or 0.2%, lower at 18,068 points.
The S&P 500 lost 6.2 points, or 0.3%, to 2,099, while the Nasdaq dropped 0.4% to 4,976.
The sell-off in government bonds, a trend partly blamed on rising inflation expectations, has sent yields - which move inversely to bond prices - higher.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose as high as 2.36%. The selling eased by late afternoon and the yield fell to 2.25%, down from 2.28% late Monday. The yield was below 2% as recently as 28 April.
The yield on the 10-year German government bond rose to 0.67% from 0.61% the day before. It traded as low as 0.08% last month.
"Bonds had been at such lofty prices that a sell-off was somewhat expected," said Chris Gaffney, president of EverBank World Markets.
Investors also had their eye on the latest batch of corporate results and some headline-grabbing deals.
Verizon agreed to buy AOL for about $4.4bn - a 15% premium to its closing price on Monday. Shares in AOL jumped 18.6% to $50.52, while Verizon fell 0.4% to $49.62.
The lack of progress in the Greek debt crisis was also unsettling.
It emerged on Tuesday that Greece had used its emergency reserves at the IMF to make the latest  â‚¬750m (Â£538m) payment to the Fund.


Radja Nainggolan scored a late equaliser as Roma drew with Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico.

Ivan Perisic's left-footed shot had given Inter a 53rd-minute lead before Nainggolan poked home Edin Dzeko's miskick six minutes from time.
The result ended Roma's run of eight consecutive Serie A wins.
They are third in the table, though, which is Italy's final Champions League qualifying place, and five points clear of Inter in fourth.


West Ham have signed striker Ashley Fletcher from Manchester United.

The 20-year-old, who scored nine goals in 27 appearances while on loan at League One Barnsley last season, has signed a four-year contract after his United deal expired.
"I think West Ham is a club with a lot of ambition," the England Under-20 International told West Ham's website.
"They are a club built on traditions of giving youngsters a run and hopefully I can get my chance as well."


Queensferry Crossing engineers are using every available break in the weather to ensure the bridge can be completed by the end of this year.

The project directors insist confidence remains high the deadline will be met.
Plans are already under way for a series of events which will give the public access to the £1.4bn crossing before it opens to traffic.
The crossing was ordered by ministers because of cable corrosion on the main suspension of the Forth Road Bridge.
About 1,300 workers are now employed on the project which is scheduled to be completed by December 2016.
Michael Martin, project director for the construction joint venture, said: "I believe we can get traffic over the bridge by the end of the year. It's not a guarantee as it will depend on the weather but I believe it is possible.
"I believe I've got a team of people here who are capable of doing that and who are committed to achieving that if it is possible.
"We programme optimistically and then we face the conditions that arrive.
"When we simply can't do anything we have to accept it's not possible but we don't accept that willingly."
David Climie, the project director for Transport Scotland, said: "We are on target for the end of 2016 to have traffic on the new crossing providing we get average weather."


Juventus do not want to play Leicester in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, says the Italian team's keeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon.

The Italian champions beat Porto to reach the last eight, while the Foxes also progressed by overcoming Sevilla.
The Italy captain, 39, said: "Who do I prefer not to play? Leicester.
"They are a dangerous and passionate team who can cause trouble for opponents who take the initiative. We would have everything to lose."
Real Madrid, who have won Europe's premier knockout tournament a record 11 times and five-times winners Barcelona and Bayern Munich are among the sides already through to the last eight.
English champions Leicester reached the last eight in their maiden Champions League campaign with a 2-0 home victory over Spanish title hopefuls Sevilla to go through 3-2 on aggregate.
Juventus, who are two-time European champions, managed a routine 1-0 home win against Portuguese leaders Porto to complete a 3-0 aggregate victory.
They are widely ranked as fourth favourites to win the Champions League by many bookmakers, who also make Leicester the rank outsiders.


A former Argentine political prisoner and her son have met for the first time since she gave birth in the cell of a clandestine detention centre in 1976.

Mario Bravo was given for adoption to a non-communist family, a common practice during the military dictatorship.
He was reunited with his mother, Sara, by campaign group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, after taking a DNA test.
"My mother is alive and that is a miracle," he said at an emotional press conference in Buenos Aires.
Most pregnant women arrested by Argentina's secret police were killed shortly after giving birth.
Mr Bravo was brought up in the north-eastern province of Santa Fe.
He decided to take a DNA test in 2007, after having doubts about his identity.
His DNA was compared with a bank of genetic samples collected by the Grandmothers from families searching for their children.
The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo was formed to reunite families with their missing children, who had been stolen by the military junta, which was in power in Argentina from 1976-83.
"I saw my life pass through my mind like a black-and-white film," he said at the group's headquarters.
"We now have to be positive, to think ahead," he added.
"What happened was very ugly, but it's done."
His mother, Sara, was so traumatised after being released from prison in the northern province of Tucuman that she asked the Grandmothers to withhold her surname.
Mario Bravo is the 119th child to be identified by the Grandmothers.
The announcement was made on Monday and he said he counted the hours and minutes until he met his mother on Tuesday morning.
"This comes to show that we need to have faith in ourselves and in the other," said the founder and president of the organisation, Estela de Carlotto.
She was reunited with her grandson, Guido, last year.
Some 30,000 people are estimated to have been killed during more than seven years of military rule in Argentina.


How did a man who took office espousing a new era of engagement with the world end up a spectator to this century's greatest humanitarian catastrophe?

Barack Obama was not against using force to protect civilians. Yet he resisted, to the end, a military intervention to stem Syria's six-year civil war, even as it killed or displaced half the country's population, brutally documented in real time on social media.
Part of the answer to this vexing question has been clear from the beginning. President Obama was elected to end America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by a people tired of paying the cost in blood and treasure. He was extremely reluctant to get sucked into another messy Middle East conflict.
But when the siege and bombardment of cities like Aleppo placed the violence on the genocidal scale of atrocities set by Rwanda and Srebrenica, inaction by the US and its allies mocked the international community's vows of "never again".
Despite the pressing moral imperative, Obama remained convinced a military intervention would be a costly failure.
He believed there was no way the US could help win the war and keep the peace without a commitment of tens of thousands of troops. The battlefield was too complex: fragmented into dozens of armed groups and supported by competing regional and international powers.
"It was going to be impossible to do this on the cheap," he said in his final press conference of 2016.
But that was not the conclusion of some senior military and cabinet officials, nor did they even propose a mass ground deployment, according to former defence secretary Chuck Hagel.
They argued that a more limited engagement could have effectively tilted the balance of power against President Bashar al-Assad. Among the options: arming the rebels and setting up a safe zone from where they could operate early in the conflict, or military strikes on the Syrian air force to push Assad to the negotiating table.
Instead, the Obama administration focused on providing humanitarian aid, and on promoting a ceasefire and political negotiations aimed at Assad's departure.
"There is no military solution" became the mantra in briefing rooms at the White House and state department, but spokespeople were unable to explain how a political solution was possible without military leverage.
"If there is to be any hope of a political settlement, a certain military and security context is required," former CIA Director David Petraeus told a Senate committee last year. "We and our partners need to facilitate it, andâ€¦have not done so."
Obama's caution was reinforced by lack of support for military intervention from key allies such as the UK and Germany. That influenced his decision to back away from his famous "red line" threat of force in response to Assad's use of chemical weapons.
It was also part of a larger pessimism about what the US could achieve in the Middle East, sealed by a Nato intervention in Libya that was carefully planned but still left the country in a mess.
"The liberal interventionists seem to have forgotten that it is no longer the 1990s," wrote two of Obama's former national security officials, Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson, in October last year. "Disastrous forays in Iraq and Libya have undermined any American willingness to put values before interests."
Indeed, to fully understand President Obama's reticence, it is important to also understand that despite his liberal instincts and his soaring rhetoric about a more peaceful global order, he was a foreign policy realist with a keen sense of the limits to American power.
Although he campaigned to restore US moral authority after the disaster of the Iraq War, he rejected what he saw as the moralising interventionism of the president he replaced, George W Bush.
Instead, his emphasis was on measured diplomacy and progressive multilateralism.
That included a willingness to engage with repressive regimes, rather than consign them to an "Axis of Evil" - giving them "the choice of an open door", he told the Nobel Peace Committee when accepting its prize at the end of his first year in office.
Above all, he was not willing to prevent humanitarian tragedies by expending American lives and military power unless he saw a direct security threat to the United States.
The agreement on Iran's nuclear deal is an example of this doctrine at its most effective.
Obama ably used diplomacy to force an issue around which there was a high degree of international consensus. He marshalled broad support for crippling sanctions, and then stretched out his hand to America's most enduring Middle East foe and negotiated an achievable deal - one that limited a threat rather than transformed a relationship.
Cuba also walked through that "open door", propelled by an economic crisis at home and drawn by a less hostile political climate in America, as did the junta in Myanmar.
Damascus did not. And Obama decided against trying to push it through.
US administrations have tended to bridge the gap between values and interests when the moral choice is also strategic. But Obama calculated early on that the Syrian civil war did not directly endanger America's national security.
Instead he focused US military might against the so-called Islamic State (IS), which he did eventually see as a threat to the homeland.
Again, he was able to organise an international coalition that has had considerable success in achieving a limited goal.
Dividing his Syria policy in two, however, meant inevitable contradictions. The White House held that the only way to stop the spread of IS was to end the rule and brutality of the Assad regime. But America's absence from the civil conflict served to strengthen the Syrian president.
Obama did grudgingly approve some covert military aid to moderate Syrian rebels to diffuse the power of Islamist fighters. But it wasn't enough to shape them into a force that could defeat Assad.
So the vacuum was filled by the better-supplied Islamist groups, feeding into Assad's narrative that the world had to choose between him or terrorists.
The presence of Islamist rebels, along with the momentum of the anti-IS campaign, also began to colour views of the regime within the administration, according to a US official who worked closely with these issues.
"Everything was done through a counterterrorism lens," he says. "This is a bunch of people who wanted Assad to stay because they were terrified of political Islamists taking over."
Obama argued that the regime's supporters, Russia and Iran, had more at stake in Syria than the US and would be prepared to fight harder to defend it. So any American intervention would only escalate the conflict. It's the same calculation he made in his approach to Ukraine.
Russia did enter the war to reverse rebel gains in 2015, turning the tide. Its anti-aircraft weapons closed the door on even the remote chance of a US intervention. Its air force solidified Assad's grip on Syria's cities, culminating in the military victory over Aleppo and giving Moscow new leverage in the Middle East while sidelining the US.
Many in the American foreign policy establishment believe Obama erred in defining US interests too narrowly in Syria.
"Syria exploded in strategic ways," says Vali Nasr, who's written a book arguing that the president's policies have diminished America's leadership role in the world.
"It empowered Russia and Iran, produced ISIS, strengthened al-Qaeda and created the refugee crisis which became a strategic threat to Europe."
Obama's critics have also faulted him for a detached, analytical leadership style they say is unsuited to geopolitical jousting.
"He wasn't good at brinkmanship, it wasn't his inclination," says Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk firm Eurasia Group.
"I've always thought [George W] Bush was a leader who didn't like to think, and Obama a thinker who didn't like to lead."
Obama has taken the lead on combating what he sees as one of the biggest threats, climate change. And he hasn't hesitated from unilaterally ordering force when he felt America's security was at stake, as shown by his prolific use of drones against terrorist suspects.
But in Syria his administration left a perception of American weakness.
Stepping back from his red line on chemical weapons damaged US credibility, shaking the confidence of allies and, some argue, emboldening its adversaries.
"Some in the administration thought that the longer we continued to engage the Russians in a facade of ceasefire and political negotiations the more we were providing political cover to the regime and Russia and Iran as they continued to pursue a military victory," said the US official.
"It's hard to understand why the state department is going along with it," a European diplomat told me as the talks became about managing that victory. "It's supporting the Russian narrative."
Although Obama says he came to understand that very little is accomplished in international affairs without US leadership, he doesn't talk about it as a strategic asset, says Nasr.
That sets him apart from his predecessors who "believe US leadership is important for the world and important for America's hardnosed interests. Obama believes we can selectively lead where we have clear definable interestsâ€¦ but American leadership as a free-floating independent idea doesn't have value to him".
Despite the personality chasm between the cerebral lawyer exiting the White House and the reality TV star entering it, Barack Obama and Donald Trump are on the same page when it comes to non-interventionism.
In that sense, Trump's "America First" foreign policy is expected to be an extension of President Obama's.
But it would be a stripped-down version without Obama's attachment to international law and institutions or his moral commitment to universal rights, argues Max Boot, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
And although neither would seek foreign quarrels, Trump would be more disposed to "clobber anyone who messes with" the United States.
Would that make major powers such as China and Russia less likely to mess with America?
Boot suggests Trump's "menacing unpredictability" could be more effective than Obama's reasonable predictability in confrontations with Beijing. The President-elect's call with the Taiwanese president shows a penchant for brinkmanship that has certainly put China on alert.
Against these uncertain advantages, however, stand Trump's inexperience, his intemperate nature, and his hostility to some of the building blocks of US power, such as free trade in Asia.
Crucially, his uncritical support for Moscow, along with allegations that it has compromising information about him, have put America's Russia policy into uncharted territory.
Some of the President-elect's key cabinet officials can be expected to try and temper his extreme impulses and outlier positions, while taking a more muscular approach than Obama.
In confirmation hearings, Trump's choices for secretary of state and defence advocated a conventional hard power policy, that included checking Russian moves on the geopolitical chess board.
But the nominee for top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, echoed Trump's hard line on China by proposing an unusually aggressive stance against Beijing, raising eyebrows and concerns amongst many lawmakers and diplomats.
History could very well judge Obama positively on Iran, Cuba and climate change. But the most important test of his foreign policy philosophy will be Syria, because it has been the crucible for the kind of realism he believes in.
He argues that he's saved the US from getting trapped in another disastrous Middle East war that would sap America's power. His critics charge he has diminished US power in a crucial region, and weakened American global leadership in the process.
The factor that shapes his legacy will be the same one that tests Trump: the extent to which either sustain, or reduce America's role in the world.


A 17-year-old boy has died after a Ford Escort car being pursued by police failed to stop and collided with a BMW and a garden wall in Essex.

The accident happened in the early hours of the morning near Glendale Gardens in Leigh-on-Sea.
Another 17-year-old boy in the Escort has been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
Two other teenagers, who were also hurt, have been arrested.
An IPCC spokesperson said: "IPCC investigators have been deployed to the scene to oversee evidence collection and to a local police station where the officers are participating in a post-incident procedure."


Almost 500 people died during the six days of the 1916 Easter Rising.

More than half of the 485 who were killed were civilians.
They came from a cross-section of society, a mixture of wealthy and poor, from the very young to the very old.
The youngest recorded civilian death is a child of 22 months, while the oldest fatality was 82-years-old.
Most of those who died were interred at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
According to the Glasnevin Trust, 16% of all fatalities of the Rising were rebel forces, 29% were crown forces and police and 55% were civilians.
More than a third of all military deaths were Irishmen enlisted in the service of the Crown to fight in the Great War, who were either at home on leave, or stationed in Dublin barracks.
Although the number of female victims was high, most of those who died were working class men. Their families were, according to a local merchant speaking to the Irish Independent, "left in a destitute situation".
While the bereaved spouses of rebels would later be able to claim a widow's military pension from the Irish Free State (as documented in the Irish Military Archives), the widowed spouses of general labourers would not.
Not all of those who died in the Rising were ever formally identified. Two of those 'unknowns' were taken for interment from the City Morgue. At least one is known to be interred in the poor plot in Glasnevin Cemetery in the north of the city.
In 1929 a memorial headstone to the rebels was erected at Glasnevin, where 13 rebels, Irish Volunteer and Citizen Army, were buried in a mass unmarked grave.
Nearby lie a greater number of the civilian dead of the Rising, many of them sharing unmarked graves; some of them identified by a plot number.
While Dublin was in lockdown, and the movement of people restricted, normal funerary arrangements could not keep up with the rising death toll, and many of those killed were not laid to rest for several days.


Andy Murray saw off the threat of Australian rising star Nick Kyrgios with a clinical performance to reach his ninth Wimbledon quarter-final.

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The Briton, seeded second, won 7-5 6-1 6-4 on Centre Court and will next face French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday.
After matching Murray for 40 minutes, Kyrgios' challenge faded quickly under sustained pressure from the Scot.
Murray, the 2013 champion, is into the last eight without dropping a set.
The 29-year-old has now won eight matches in a row on grass, and joins Pete Sampras and John McEnroe in reaching nine consecutive Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Murray had beaten Kyrgios at the other three Grand Slams - and he brushed aside any thought this might be the Australian's time with a brilliant display.
The world number two was focused throughout, winning 80% of points on the Kyrgios second serve and denying the 21-year-old a single break point.
"The first set was very tight. I managed to get the break at 6-5 but it was tight up to that point," Murray told BBC Sport.
"The second set was much more comfortable, Nick lost his focus a bit. I was able to dictate a lot of the rallies."
Asked about the growing expectation of a second title following top seed Novak Djokovic's defeat on Saturday, Murray added: "Every year I play here it's the same.
"I try my best to win my matches and go as deep as possible.
"The matches, as you progress, get tougher. Tsonga is next who is a tough grass-court player and I'll have to play very well to win that one."
Kyrgios said: "As soon as I lost the first set, I just lost belief. It obviously felt like a mountain to climb after losing the first.
"He played pretty well, as well. I don't think he missed too many balls either."
It is a measure of how sharp Murray is looking that he won the opening set despite Kyrgios making 30 of 34 first serves - the bedrock of his game.
There were flashes of brilliance all over the court from the Australian and a tie-break appeared inevitable after 11 games without a break point, but Murray grabbed the initiative with a brilliant return game.
A backhand pass gave the Scot a 0-30 lead before a clever cross-court chip drew a loose volley from Kyrgios, who suddenly found himself staring at three set points.
Two were saved with big serves but Murray drilled a cross-court forehand on the third that Kyrgios could only divert into the net.
If the first set was a tight, tense contest, the second disappeared in just 26 minutes as Murray maintained the quality of a tournament favourite, while Kyrgios' belief appeared to drain away.
Murray was now peppering the baseline with his returns, drawing Kyrgios into rallies, and he made the breakthrough with another pass that the Australian could only net.
Two games later and the pair's much-discussed friendship appeared briefly on hold as Murray slowed the quick-fire Kyrgios serving pace, prompting the Australian to thrash a wild forehand out and hand over another break.
Murray crunched down his sixth ace to clinch a two-set lead and broke again early in the third set thanks to three thumping forehands.
By now there was little prospect of the close contest many had predicted, and there were murmurs from the crowd at some careless play from the Australian, but nothing was going to distract Murray.
John McEnroe, three-time Wimbledon champion: "Murray took Kyrgios completely out of the match. He did not look under any stress at all. Considering what he was up against in Kyrgios, it was very impressive. The outcome was never in doubt.
"Kyrgios went through the motions in the second set. The truth is I don't think he would have won anyway, even if he played his best. The level Murray played at was extremely high. Everyone respects him - and the level he has reached - more than they ever have."
Pat Cash, 1987 Wimbledon champion: "That was a real test for Murray. Nick served nearly 90% in the first set and still didn't get to a tie-break. Sometimes you think about Nick and think he needs some rewiring. I don't think he is trying sometimes, there's no doubt about it, but that's the way he plays.
"People are watching that match and think what's going on? They might come away from it feeling a bit short-changed."
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Tributes have been paid to a "gentle giant" who died while swimming near a waterfall in a north Wales village.

Steffan Roberts Vernon, 33, from Caernarfon, died at the Llanberis beauty spot in Gwynedd, on Sunday alongside Alexander Hadley, 21, from nearby Dinorwig.
Two others, aged 27 and 25, were treated in hospital and later released.
Police believe the men got into difficulty while swimming in the "extremely cold" water.
Friends have been posting tributes on a Facebook page called 'Steffan Vernon and why we all love him'.
Debbie Ann Williams wrote: "So sad such a lovely smiley soul the gentle giant who always had a big hug 4 everyone rip steff xxxx"
Eve Maria posted: "Xxx always ready for an adventure full of smiles and a beautiful crazy laugh xxx"
Emma O'Neill said: "Some souls leave the world a far better place than when they arrived....just by being a part of it."
The coroner for north west Wales has launched an investigation into their deaths and an inquest will be opened at a later date.


A lost pigeon which landed on a North Sea oil platform has had to be flown back to land by helicopter.

The bird was found on Talisman Sinopec's Clyde platform, about 160 miles offshore.
The pigeon, that was nicknamed Pedro by workers on board, was flown by helicopter to Aberdeen.
It was given to the Scottish SPCA's National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross. It's now making a good recovery.
Animal rescue officer Kirsty McQuade said: "It was my boyfriend Kevin Mitchell who found Pedro. He crash landed on deck. Kevin caught him and took him inside.''
"Pedro appeared to be exhausted and extremely thin. I told him on what to feed Pedro and he was kept safe in a box on board.''
''It was fantastic that Pedro was able to ride in the helicopter with the crew who were coming back to the mainland and we would like to thank everyone for their assistance."


Householders are mopping up after heavy rain caused flash flooding in parts of Powys.

Firefighters were called to Park Avenue in Kerry, near Newtown, after properties were hit by rising flood water on Friday evening.
Incidents were also reported at Forden, Knighton, Llanfyllin and Montgomery.
A Met Office warning of heavy rain remains in place for parts of eastern Powys and the south eastern corner of Wales.
Around five properties were affected in Park Avenue, Kerry, following heavy rain.
Resident Gwyneth Down said: "You could just see the corner of the lawn, the rest was covered in water.
"It was quite scary for a while - it was getting deeper and deeper. It was getting up over my wellies and I was starting to worry.
"The fire brigade were very good, they came very quickly."
Heavy rain on Saturday morning in the south and east was expected to gradually clear but showers will affect most areas throughout the day.
Flooding was also reported near Holywell, Flintshire, on Friday evening as a fire crew spent two hours pumping water from a road.
Chepstow Racecourse's ladies' night was cancelled following heavy rain and concern about further wet weather later.
Environment Agency flood warnings have been stood down for Afon Vyrnwy, Afon Tanat and Afon Cain and their tributaries; the rivers Llynfi and Ogmore; and river Ewenny and Vale of Glamorgan west.
The latest incidents follow weeks of wet weather which saw major flood damage in villages around Ceredigion last month.
The Prince of Wales last week met victims of the flooding and emergency services involved in the rescue operation.


Warrington Wolves head coach Tony Smith has demanded an improvement from his side despite winning their Super League opener against champions Leeds.

Tries by Chris Sandow and Kevin Penny secured a 12-10 victory at Headingley, but Wolves spent long periods of the game without the ball.
Smith named five debutants in the squad after they finished sixth last season.
"We've got to better than that with the ball, we did it the hard way," he told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"You give a team like Leeds that much ball most of the time they're going to beat you.
"I feel for my boys, they were just defending all night - they've come up with an effort and a few really special plays as well.
"You have to come up with a super effort defensively and fortunately we did that."


People in parts of North Lanarkshire have been being advised not to cook, drink or wash with tap water.

The precautionary measure was put in place following concern over the taste and smell of their mains supply.
The alert affects about 2,000 homes and businesses in parts of Carfin, Newarthill, Chapelhall, New Stevenston and Dalziel Park.
Scottish Water said it was investigating the issue.
It has advised people not to use boiled tap water, and to only mains water to flush toilets.
Bottled water was distributed to the affected properties overnight.
A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: "After receiving contacts from customers about the taste and smell of tap water, we investigated thoroughly and examined our network.
"We have advised customers in Carfin, Newarthill, Chapelhall, New Stevenston and Dalziel Park not to use their water for any purpose - other than flushing toilets - as a precautionary measure.
"We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and we have been distributing bottled water to affected properties during the night."
She said teams had been out in the affected areas all night helping customers, with extra support also being given to elderly or disabled people, care homes and hospitals.
Scottish Water said further updates would be issued when more information becomes available, and affected residents will be told when their water is back to normal.
Customers seeking more information can check Scottish Water's website or call its customer support number on 0800 0778 778.


Shares in the French construction giant Vinci fell by more than 18% after a fake press release said the firm would restate its accounts and sack its chief finance officer, Christian Labeyrie.

The hoax claim was first published late on Tuesday afternoon by the Bloomberg website, according to Vinci.
The false statement said the company would revise its 2015 and 2016 accounts after supposed accounting errors.
"This is false, totally false. We deny it," said a Vinci spokesman.
Shares in Vinci, which has businesses in more than 100 countries, are traded on the French stock market.
After the denial was issued the company's share price swiftly recovered to end the day down just 4% at ???58.8.
"Vinci denies formally all the information contained in this fake press release and is investigating all legal actions in furtherance thereof," said the firm.
The hoax said the company had uncovered irregularities which had been hiding losses amounting to 3.5bn euros.
France's AMF financial market regulator said it would look at the situation and might stage a full investigation.