Southend United have sacked their head groundsman of 27 years after Saturday's League One match against Bolton was postponed because of a frozen pitch.

Ken Hare was dismissed after the game at Roots Hall was called off, following freezing temperatures overnight.
"People generally lose their position as a result of not doing their job," said a club statement.
"The necessary decision surrounding Mr Hare was a disappointment and of course not taken lightly."
The statement added: "Very few people have been dismissed at this football club over the past 20 years and that even extends to managers."
The Shrimpers said following the postponement that covers and heaters were put in place on the pitch but the temperature in Essex dipped to well below freezing and the referee decided the game would be called off in the interests of player safety.
Saturday's game was the first to be postponed at Roots Hall since January 2013.


There will be no criminal proceedings or fatal accident inquiry over the deaths of twin brothers who drowned in a fish tank at a house in Fife, the Crown Office has confirmed.

Two-year-olds Rhys and Shaun Scott were found in the garden tank at the rented house in Dalgety Bay on 12 March 2016.
They were taken by ambulance to hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
The owner had run a business breeding carp at the property.
A Crown Office spokesman said: "Crown Counsel have concluded that there should be no criminal proceedings following the tragic deaths of Rhys and Shaun Scott at their home in Dalgety Bay in March 2016.
"After carefully considering the reports that were submitted to the procurator fiscal, Crown Counsel have also decided that there should be no fatal accident inquiry as the reasons for the tragedy were established during the course of the investigation.
"That investigation was carried out by Police Scotland, the Health and Safety Executive and Fife Council with oversight from the specialist Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit of the Crown Office.
"The family of Rhys and Shaun have been informed of Crown Counsel's instructions."


Seven sawfish in Florida have become the first virgin-born animals ever found in the wild from a sexually reproducing species.

The discovery suggests that such births may be a natural response to dwindling numbers, rather than a freak occurrence largely seen in captivity.
It was made by ecologists studying genetic diversity in a critically endangered species of ray.
They say that births of this kind may be more common than previously thought.
The findings appear in the journal Current Biology.
There are many species, particularly invertebrates, that naturally reproduce alone; some types of whiptail lizard, meanwhile, are bizarrely all-female.
But for an animal that normally reproduces by mating, a virgin birth is an oddity.
And yet a number of captive animals have produced virgin births. This roster of surprise arrivals includes sharks, snakes, Komodo dragons and turkeys - all species that normally use sexual reproduction.
And in 2012 a US research group reported two pregnant pit vipers, caught in the wild, each gestating baby snakes (inside eggs) that appeared to be fatherless.
But the smalltooth sawfish, a strange-looking beast that grows up to four metres long, is the first sexually reproducing species whose virgin-born babies have been found roaming free and healthy in their native habitat.
Andrew Fields, a PhD student at Stony Brook University in New York and the study's first author, said the find was entirely unexpected. It came during a survey of the sawfish population in the estuaries of southwest Florida.
"We were conducting routine DNA fingerprinting of the sawfish found in this area in order to see if relatives were often reproducing with relatives due to their small population size," Mr Fields said.
"What the DNA fingerprints told us was altogether more surprising: female sawfish are sometimes reproducing without even mating."
Of the 190 individual sawfish that Mr Fields and his colleagues surveyed, seven had DNA that indicated they only had one parent. Specifically, these seven historic fish had identical copies of at least 14 of the 16 genes that the scientists looked at; if they had arisen from normal sexual reproduction, the team calculated that the chance of the animals being "homozygous" for all those genes was less than one-in-100 billion.
So they concluded that the seven sawfish - all of them female, five of them sisters - were produced by "parthenogenesis": a process by which an unfertilised egg develops into an embryo. Researchers believe this takes place in vertebrates when the egg absorbs an identical sister cell.
Because the resulting offspring have much less genetic diversity than normal sexual offspring, their chances of survival are usually thought to be very low. But the seven fish in Mr Fields' study were up to one year old, normal in size and apparently getting on fine.
"Occasional parthenogenesis may be much more routine in wild animal populations than we ever thought," said Dr Kevin Feldheim of the Field Museum of Chicago, a co-author of the study.
The researchers suggest it might be a last-ditch evolutionary strategy that takes hold when a population goes through an extremely lean patch - such as that presently faced by the smalltooth sawfish, whose numbers have plummeted to less than 5% of what they were a century ago.
But for this to make sense, the "parthenogens" themselves would have to be fertile, so that they could help the species to bounce back. It is too early to know whether that is the case for the seven sawfish.
Dr David Jacoby is a behavioural ecologist and marine biologist at the ZSL Institute of Zoology. He told the BBC that the Florida findings were "interesting and groundbreaking", particularly with regard to the question of whether virgin births are a natural adaptation.
"We kind of associate parthenogenesis with invertebrates: corals or crustaceans or things things like that. There are instances of this happening in vertebrates - birds and reptiles, and some shark species - but it's all been in captivity.
"The fact that this has not only been inferred in the wild, but also in a species that is seeing critically low levels of population - it definitely raises the question as to whether this is a strategy which has evolved."
But Dr Jacoby cautioned, as did the researchers themselves, that although this remarkable ability might slow the demise of the sawfish, it is unlikely to halt it altogether.
"It doesn't seem as though this type of adaptation is going to be a way of restoring population levels," he said. "It's not a get-out clause."
They might have produced a natural miracle, but the sawfish of the Florida estuaries still need human help to avoid extinction.
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Five NHS hospital trusts in the south of England have been designated as major trauma centres to treat the most severely injured patients.

The trusts, in Plymouth, north Bristol, Oxford, Southampton and Brighton will have consultants available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The new system is for patients with complex or multiple injuries.
Patients will be taken to one of the centres if it is in within a 45-minute ambulance drive.
If it is not possible to get to a major trauma centre in that time, or if a patient need to be stabilised quickly, they will be taken to the nearest hospital with a local trauma unit for immediate treatment.
The hospitals involved are Derriford in Plymouth, Frenchay and Southmead in Bristol, John Radcliffe in Oxford, Southampton General and the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
The new major trauma centres are part of an England-wide network of 22 currently being set up.
The first four hospitals were designated in London two years ago.
Two of them, St George's in Tooting and King's College in Denmark Hill, are the major trauma centres for patients in Surrey, Kent and Medway.
A report by the National Audit Office in 2010 suggested the centres could save an extra 450 to 600 lives in England every year.
"Trauma patients will have better access to highly-skilled and experienced trauma clinicians and the most advanced treatments in the world," said Dr James Mapstone, clinical director of acute care for NHS South of England.
"A huge amount of work has gone into developing this new model of care.
"All the ambulance services in the south have carried out enhanced training of their staff so they can take major trauma patients straight to the nearest major trauma centre.
"I am confident that having the highest level of expertise, experience and equipment in one place will help us save more lives."


Wales surpassed all of my expectations by reaching the semi-final of Euro 2016, but I think there is a lot more to come from this team.

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Their next target is to reach the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, but we can look at the next two major tournaments after that too - many of them are young enough to be around in six years' time.
The average age of the Welsh squad in France is 27.3, but the only regular starter over the age of 30 is captain Ashley Williams, who turns 32 in August.
Most of them have got a lot of international experience already but there are plenty of years left in this team - that was the idea when they were given their chance so early in the first place.
Looking at our qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup - and knowing only the top team is sure of making it - you have still got to fancy our chances.
It will not be easy - there are five other teams we have to finish above and we will have to win most of our games to do that.
We were top seeds so do not have a super-power in our group, but Austria, Serbia and Republic of Ireland will all fancy their chances of qualifying too - plus they know all about us now, and will approach us with caution.
I also know from personal experience that going to places like Moldova and Georgia will not be easy - after Wales had just missed out on the 1994 World Cup, both of them beat us at the start of our qualifying campaign for Euro 96.
We fell away badly then and did not get near those next finals but we are coming at it from a very different perspective this time.
Not only do we have players who have the experience of getting through a qualifying campaign, they will also be hungry for more of the feelings they have had in France.
Even coming away with the national team for a month rather than the usual 10 days, and playing at neutral grounds, will have been novel and they will want to taste it again in Russia in two years' time.
After what I have seen from Wales in France, I am even more confident we have a bright future.
As well as being a young team, we are an adaptable one.
It is not just the fact we reached the semi-finals that was impressive, more the way we did it.
Chris Coleman's selections and tactics were pretty much spot on in each of our six games at Euro 2016 - it was only in the second half against Portugal that he could not find the right answer, and even then he will have learned a lot.
I thought we were a counter-attacking team but we showed in the wins over Russia and Belgium that we can actually take the ball to the opposition, control games and create chances.
We keep finding out new things about our players and what we can do as a team - look at Hal Robson-Kanu's goal against Belgium as an example.
There were times in that game just after we had gone a goal down when all of a sudden - the way we were passing the ball around - we looked like Real Madrid.
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Chris Coleman's stock is so high at the moment because he has shown what a clever manager he is. The question now is can we keep him?
Chris signed a two-year contract extension in May, that lasts until after the 2018 World Cup. He will know he has an excellent chance of taking Wales to Russia, but if the Premier League comes calling, I think he will go.
Salary-wise, the Football Association of Wales will not be able to match what top-flight clubs can offer and the only thing that might mean Coleman will stay is that he is Welsh - he loves managing Wales and he has got massive loyalty to his country.
I know he loves his job but he will know from his experience at Fulham that you do not get many opportunities to manage in the Premier League.
He is 45 and will probably be thinking to himself that he will never be in a better position than this in his managerial career.
It will be his decision - we just have to hope that nobody comes in for him because, if we lose him, we will have to start all over again.
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We are a small country and building for the future by thinking five or six years ahead is what brought us success this time around. It is vital we do not stop doing it now.
Wales have made around £15m in prize money for reaching the semi-finals and we have to invest it to make sure young players keep coming through the pipeline like they have been.
As I've said, this current team has plenty of time left but we must already be thinking about who will follow them.
My son Callum has come through the different Wales age groups and was part of the Under-21 squad last season. I have watched what is going on with the whole youth set-up and they are doing well.
We need to keep pushing players through from there to the senior team and, on top of that, we have to keep doing what Brian Flynn started by finding more players who are eligible to play for us.
That includes looking in Wales itself - in north and mid-Wales, as well as the south where a lot of the current team is from.
We have to make the most of the talent in the north of the country too - when I was a player, legends like Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Neville Southall were some of the stars of the team.
I would argue we should build a proper training facility in the north because when I was Wrexham manager I saw how many kids were coming through in that area.
We should not neglect their development. It sounds simple but we have not done it yet and now is definitely the time.
Dean Saunders was speaking to Chris Bevan in Paris.


More than 150 people have complained to TV watchdog Ofcom about the Comic Relief telethon.

Most took issue with the content of Friday's show. Ofcom is now considering whether to launch an investigation.
Language used before the watershed by Steve Coogan, a game of Innuendo Bingo and a sketch by Reeves and Mortimer have come in for particular criticism.
The BBC pointed to the fact that the event has raised more than Â£73m for charity so far.
One of the most controversial moments saw comedy duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer interview TV presenter Susanna Reid - with Reeves apparently brandishing a prosthetic penis from under a kilt.
Reid later tweeted: "Well. That was an experience" - complete with a red-faced emoji.
She added that she "wasn't looking" when Reeves sat with his legs open while asking innuendo-laden questions about whether or not she had seen new film Kong.
Another moment that sparked social media complaints was comic Russell Brand swearing live on air after a technical glitch.
Others complained about sound problems - but Ofcom said most complaints it had received were about the content of the broadcast, rather than technical issues.
Highlights of the show included a 12-minute "sequel" to Love Actually, showing what the characters - played by stars including Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln - had been doing since the original film.
Take That joined James Corden for Carpool Karaoke, Ed Balls was seen reprising his Strictly Come Dancing routine to Gangnam Style, and there were previews of Mrs Brown's new chat show and the second series of Peter Kay's Car Share.
Press reviews described the show as being "dreadful and unfunny" - with the Love Actually special accused of having "lousy jokes" and "texted-in performances".
Ofcom said: "We have received 151 complaints about Comic Relief 2017 on the BBC. We will assess these complaints before deciding whether or not to investigate."
The BBC declined to say how many people had complained directly to the corporation.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The Red Nose Day 2017 broadcast was a live studio environment enjoyed by a peak audience of 7.6 million which raised over Â£73m.
"This will go a huge way to help improve the lives of many people both here in the UK and in some of the world's poorest countries."
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Fernando Torres scored twice as Atletico Madrid ended life at the Vicente Calderon with victory over Athletic Bilbao.

The boyhood Atleti fan, who is out of contract this summer, scored twice in the opening 11 minutes, netting from close range and hooking home a volley.
The 33-year-old scored more La Liga goals at the Calderon than any other player in the 21st century - with 54.
Inaki Williams pulled one back before Angel Correa's 89th-minute strike.
After the game, Atletico manager Diego Simeone stressed that he would remain at the club next season.
The Argentine had two spells as an Atletico player and has enjoyed a successful five and a half years as manager during which he has won La Liga (2013-14) and reached the Champions League final twice (2013-14 and 2015-16).
"The journalists ask me constantly if I am going to stay. Yes, I am going to stay," Simeone told the crowd inside the stadium.
"And do you know why I am going to stay? I am going to stay because this club has a future and this future is all of us.
"There are other teams that may have more money, a few trophies more than us, but they will never match the feeling you have for Atletico."
Correa's goal for Atletico, moments after coming off the bench, is the last league goal to be scored at the Calderon.
The final competitive match at the stadium, which is going to be knocked down to build flats, is next Saturday's Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Alaves.
Atletico, who played there for 50 years, now move to the 67,000-capacity Wanda Metropolitano, which is 10 miles away.
Torres, in his second spell with Atletico, has previously said: "My life and my memories are all connected to the Calderon, my greatest days as a supporter and as a player are in that stadium.
"Whenever I visit the area in the future, with the stadium not there, it's going to be difficult."
Match ends, Atlético de Madrid 3, Athletic Club 1.
Second Half ends, Atlético de Madrid 3, Athletic Club 1.
Attempt missed. Yeray Álvarez (Athletic Club) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Markel Susaeta with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Athletic Club. Conceded by Lucas Hernández.
Attempt missed. Thomas Partey (Atlético de Madrid) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box misses to the right. Assisted by Saúl Ñíguez.
Attempt missed. Saúl Ñíguez (Atlético de Madrid) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ángel Correa.
Foul by Muniain (Athletic Club).
Nicolás Gaitán (Atlético de Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!  Atlético de Madrid 3, Athletic Club 1. Ángel Correa (Atlético de Madrid) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner.
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid) hits the left post with a left footed shot from the left side of the box. Assisted by Thomas Partey.
Substitution, Atlético de Madrid. Ángel Correa replaces Tiago.
Attempt missed. Lucas Hernández (Atlético de Madrid) header from the left side of the six yard box is too high. Assisted by Koke with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Atlético de Madrid. Conceded by Yeray Álvarez.
Corner,  Athletic Club. Conceded by Stefan Savic.
Muniain (Athletic Club) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Lucas Hernández (Atlético de Madrid).
Corner,  Atlético de Madrid. Conceded by Yeray Álvarez.
Attempt blocked. Kevin Gameiro (Atlético de Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Koke with a cross.
Mikel San José (Athletic Club) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Dangerous play by Tiago (Atlético de Madrid).
Hand ball by Tiago (Atlético de Madrid).
Attempt blocked. Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Foul by Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Club).
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Mikel Rico (Athletic Club) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Markel Susaeta.
Foul by De Marcos (Athletic Club).
Tiago (Atlético de Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Athletic Club. Mikel Rico replaces Beñat Etxebarria.
Offside, Atlético de Madrid. Koke tries a through ball, but Kevin Gameiro is caught offside.
Foul by Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club).
Koke (Atlético de Madrid) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Goal!  Atlético de Madrid 2, Athletic Club 1. Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by De Marcos.
Substitution, Atlético de Madrid. Nicolás Gaitán replaces Yannick Carrasco.
Aduriz (Athletic Club) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Tiago (Atlético de Madrid).
Markel Susaeta (Athletic Club) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Thomas Partey (Atlético de Madrid).
Foul by Beñat Etxebarria (Athletic Club).
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Atlético de Madrid. Kevin Gameiro replaces Fernando Torres.


Plans for more than £200m of improvements to the North Wales Expressway are to go on public show.

The proposed investment aims to tackle congestion on the A494 and A55 around Queensferry and Deeside in Flintshire.
The Welsh Government said the road was "below modern standards" and that the investment would be the largest since the roads were built.
The first of four public exhibitions starts on Tuesday at Ewloe Social Club between 10:00 GMT and 20:00.
It is part of a 12-week consultation looking at two proposals - either improve the existing A55 and A494 or upgrade the A548 over the Flintshire Bridge between Connah's Quay and The Wirral and construct a new link to the A55 at Northop.
Original plans to widen the road at the eastern end of the North Wales Expressway to a seven-lane highway in 2008 were abandoned after a public inquiry.


An album of lost songs from the evacuated Hebridean archipelago of St Kilda has gone straight to the top of the classical album chart.

The Lost Songs of St Kilda sold out within a few hours of its release and has become the fastest-selling posthumous artist debut in history.
The album was recorded on a Â£3 microphone in an Edinburgh care home by pensioner Trevor Morrison.
The tracks have been reworked by a number of leading composers.
They include Sir James Macmillan, Craig Armstrong, Mercury Prize nominee Christopher Duncan, Rebecca Dale and Teenage Fanclub drummer Francis Macdonald.
To celebrate the release of the album, Sir James undertook the eight-hour boat journey to perform a special piano concert on the islands - the first time music had been heard on St Kilda since its evacuation in 1930.
It was also the first time a piano had ever been taken there. The instrument had to be dismantled for the journey, then reassembled.
Sir James said: "It has been a delight being involved in this project. Trevor Morrison's playing of the old St Kilda songs are genuinely poignant and haunting.
"He plays with a true musician's sensitivity, and communicates the beauty and simplicity of this lost music.
"It was marvellous that so many Scottish musicians and composers from different genres have responded to the originals with their own unique perspectives."
As a 10-year-old child on the west coast island of Bute during World War Two, Trevor had been taught piano by a former resident of St Kilda.
While living in a care home and suffering ill health, Trevor managed to remember the tunes his teacher had shown him.
And Stuart McKenzie, who had been volunteering in the care home, offered to record them.
Before Trevor died in 2012, he wrote a letter thanking those who helped him record the songs which he said had haunted him all his life, conveying his wish "that these few tunes from the long-forgotten isles can be preserved and given a future".
The last islanders left St Kilda on 29 August 1930 because life on the remote archipelago had become too difficult.


West Ham have agreed to sell Upton Park to London developer the Galliard Group once they have completed their move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016.

The Hammers said they chose the group for its "close links to the community".
Vice-chairman Karren Brady said the deal demonstrated the club had kept its promise to regenerate two areas of east London through its stadium move.
The developer plans to build new homes on the site as well as retail and leisure facilities by 2018.
It has also been in talks with the family of former West Ham and England captain Bobby Moore about the possibility of placing a landscaped garden named in his honour at the centre of the site, as well as a statue of him.
In a statement, Moore's daughter Roberta Moore said: "I have always believed that there should be some form of permanent West Ham United presence at the Boleyn Ground site after the team leave and I'm really pleased that the centre point of the development is planned to be named in honour of my father."


Premiership club Bristol have given professional contracts to seven academy players ahead of the 2017-18 season.

Prop Tom Rowland, England Under-18 back Iwan Hughes, lock James Dun and centre Matt Welsh have all signed on.
Joining them are Wales Under-18 hooker Nick Freeman, back row Dan Thurston an versatile wing Tom Hargan.
"This is one of the strongest age groups to have come through the academy set-up for a long time," academy boss Mike Hall told the club website.


The owners of an Edinburgh park which was visited by six dogs who later had to be put down have been told there is no reason to close the area.

Two of the animals suffered internal bleeding following visits to Forthquarter Park in Granton.
Environmental health officers are in talks with the dead dogs' owners.
However, there are no plans to carry out tests at the park, which is owned by the National Grid and sits beside a former gasworks.
Extensive ground decontamination work was carried out before the park opened 10 years ago.
John Young, whose dog Holly had to be put down, said: "I was in the park with her last Sunday and we did our usual walk and went home.
"As I was getting into the house she slumped on the floor. I thought it was strange but helped her up and she slumped again.
"I kept an eye on her that day and she wasn't getting better so first thing on the Monday I took her to the vet.
"She was kept in overnight and put to sleep the following morning.
"It was awful, the vet told me she had severe internal bleeding so I told him to put her to sleep."
A spokeswoman for the National Grid said they were in contact with the City of Edinburgh Council's environmental health team, and their advice was that there was no need to close the park.


Oil prices have fallen again, sinking below $28 a barrel.

The price of Brent crude fell to $27.67 a barrel at one point, its lowest since 2003, while US crude fell as low as $28.36.
Many analysts have slashed their 2016 oil price forecasts, with Morgan Stanley analysts saying that "oil in the $20s is possible", if China devalues its currency further.
Economists at the Royal Bank of Scotland say that oil could fall to $16, while Standard Chartered predicts that prices could hit just $10 a barrel.
What are the factors have caused the price to sink below $30 a barrel - and what could spark a recovery?
In a nutshell, it's down to too much supply and too little demand.
China's economic slowdown has curbed appetite for commodities in general, while Saudi Arabia, which produces a third of the Opec cartel's output, is keener on preserving its market share than it is on cutting production to boost prices.
At the same time, the rise of the US as a shale oil producer means it now imports less oil, adding to the glut on world markets.
This makes life harder for other non-US, non-Opec producers, who are facing cutbacks, particularly in the North Sea.
Big oil companies such as BP, Shell, Total and Exxon Mobil have weathered the storm by cutting back on billions of pounds of investment, and thousands of jobs have been cut.
However, Jeremy Batstone-Carr, chief economist at Charles Stanley, warns that further price falls could really start hurting the big firms.
The first clue that they are starting to suffer, he suggests, will be cutting dividend payments to investors - something they have avoided so far.
Meanwhile, Alan Gelder, of oil analysts Wood Mackenzie, says many North Sea oil operators are "beginning to really feel the pain" at current prices.
He says firms can just about survive as many North Sea operators have already cut costs. But Mr Gelder warns that "there is no money left for future investment".
Paul Stevens, professor emeritus at the University of Dundee, and a Middle East specialist, says the price of oil could theoretically fall to as little as $20 to $25 per barrel.
Why? It may be an unusual view but he thinks most US shale oil producers can tolerate current oil prices.
They may make a small loss - he estimates the cost of production at about $40 a barrel for shale producers - but until the price falls to around $25 a barrel they will keep producing, Prof Stevens says.
Mr Gelder, however, does not think many US shale operators can continue production with prices below $50.
"There are some sweet spots in the US where some operators are able to keep production going at lower levels, but it's not economic at under $30," he says.
There is also another much bigger problem than the future of fracking in the US.
"An awful lot of oil producers can't survive at these levels," Mr Gelder says. "Venezuela, Algeria, Nigeria are facing serious financial problems and political unrest with people out of work and prices rising."
There is so much oversupply globally that countries are running out of storage. The US, which is thought to have among the largest storage facilities in the world, has nowhere left to keep it, says Prof Stevens. And it's not the only country.
"Storage is pretty much full and people are already talking about buying tankers as floating storage," he says. "But if supply continues to outstrip demand, then the only thing that you can do with the oil is sell it, which inevitably pushes the price down."
Mr Gelder takes a different view, suggesting it is not entirely clear whether US storage is completely full. "We know about US and European storage levels, but India and China are strategically storing oil for supply disruptions."
Mr Batstone-Carr adds:  "Without a marked reduction in output nothing will change, and we have to wait until June for the next Opec meeting before we might see a reduction in quotas. And all of this comes at a time when economic activity is on the back foot, signalling there's not a lot of demand out there."
Professor Stevens warns that the collapse in prices is the result of oil being "freely traded for the first time since 1928".
That, he says, is because Saudi Arabia has decided not to cut production to support prices - unlike during previous oil gluts.
It is just over four years since the US imposed sanctions on oil imports from Iran, helping to bolster prices and allowing Saudi Arabia to grab market share that it is now very reluctant to surrender.
A report from Wood Mackenzie says that the Saudis would not cut output to make room for Iran, which could begin exporting oil in the next few weeks, according to some sources.
"Unless other producers such as Russia, Iran and Iraq agree to reduce their oil production, Saudi Arabia has consistently stated since the November 2014 Opec meeting, it has no intention of cutting its supply to support oil prices," the report says.
"The current ramping up in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran only further confirms our view that Saudi Arabia is unlikely to cut its output to help Iran regain market share."
Prof Stevens says tensions in the Middle East are "as high as you could have them without having outright war. I don't think things have been as bad since 1918 and the fall of the Ottoman Empire."
Such uncertainty normally sparks an oil price spike. But apart from a rise over the New Year, prices have continued to slide.
Mr Gelder says most oil traders shrugged off the possibility of Saudi Arabia and Iran squaring up to one another in a way that could seriously affect supplies.
And with demand for oil weakening, especially in China and emerging markets, there seems little reason to expect that prices are set to rise any time soon.
It means lower petrol prices, although what you pay at the pump may not fully reflect the oil price drop. Bear in mind that excise duty and VAT make up nearly 60% of the price of a litre, and that isn't coming down any time soon.
Obviously if people are spending less at the forecourt, they have more money to allocate elsewhere, and that is a potential boost to the economy.
However, if petrol-driven cars cost less to run, that means there's less incentive to invest in alternatives, such as electric vehicles, so in the long run, low petrol prices could be bad for the environment.
Additional reporting by Tom Espiner.


An MP wants a change in the law after the collapse of the UK's biggest investigation into alleged abuse at old people's care homes in south Wales.

Operation Jasmine started in 2005 and cost Â£11.6m, but was put on hold after Dr Prana Das, the homes' owner, suffered brain damage in a burglary.
Charges against him have been left on file.
Blaenau Gwent MP Nick Smith hopes the UK government will back his proposal, which he said had cross-party support.
The decision was made to leave the charges on file after a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court in March.
In April, after a criminal trial, a man and a woman were jailed for 15 and 10 years respectively for assaulting and robbing Dr Das and his wife Nishebita, also a doctor, in their home in Newport.
The court was told that Dr Prana Das, 66, was hit about the head so violently that he will never practise medicine again.
He had faced charges relating to neglect and fraud at two care homes - Brithdir Care Home in New Tredegar, near Bargoed, and The Beeches in Blaenavon.
Gwent Police have already welcomed the decision that proceedings could restart if his condition improved.
Mr Smith told the BBC's Sunday Politics Wales that when he raised the matter at Prime Minister's Questions, fellow MPs recognised there were many issues of "neglect of old people at care homes across the UK".
He will table a Ten Minute Rule Bill at Westminster later this week as a first legislative step.
"I think that this is an important topic," he said. "The families and the residents there want justice and I'm going to keep up the campaign to make sure that we have a public inquiry but also try and change the law.
"There's going to be a social care bill and I want to make sure that we can get an amendment put through to that to make sure that if there are issues of neglect they can prosecuted properly by the authorities".
Operation Jasmine spanned seven years, involved 75 police staff, and 4,126 statements were taken.
Mr Smith said: "Lots of people recognise it is an ongoing issue and a fight worth seeing through".
The MP has spoken about his shock at hearing details of the case and what had happened to 103 alleged victims, 63 of whom have since died.
Operation Jasmine was an inquiry funded by the Home Office into six care homes in south Wales.


Afghanistan's progress in reopening schools is irreversible and will survive any political upheavals, the country's Education Minister, Farooq Wardak, has said.

Mr Wardak said local communities were driving the demand for education and would protect schools after the withdrawal of overseas forces.
He said the Taliban were guaranteeing the safety of schools in some regions.
The minister said by 2020 every child would have a primary place.
Mr Wardak promised that an equal number of boys and girls would be being enrolled, by the same date.
Speaking in London, Mr Wardak said there had been a major grassroots change in support of the campaign to widen access to schools across Afghanistan.
He said there had been a "revolution" in the way that groups of local leaders, parents and religious scholars were now actively defending the right to education.
"People who themselves are illiterate want an education for their children."
This popular pressure for schools had a momentum all political sides would have to accept, he said.
There are 700 schools that had been shut down by attacks but have now reopened.
The Afghan education ministry says that pupil numbers have risen from 900,000 in 2001, with few girls in attendance, to 10.5 million pupils, including 42% girls.
A decade ago, only 400 teachers were being trained - but now, Mr Wardak said, there were 77,000, most of them women.
A report last summer from the United Nations highlighted the scale of the challenge, saying there were 167 separate documented attacks on education, including intimidation, abduction, killing of staff and the destruction of buildings.
These were attributed to a range of armed groups, not only those linked to the Taliban.
And Mr Wardak said opposition from the Taliban was changing in some places.
He told of a local Taliban leader summoning head teachers to say that he would hang anyone who attempted, using the name of the Taliban, to disrupt their schools.
The minister said investing in education was vital to Afghanistan's economic and political stability.
Tackling illiteracy was the starting point for much wider changes, such as stopping people being used as suicide bombers, he said.
Mr Wardak said his goal was to see Afghanistan as a "mainstream member of the world community", providing support for other countries rather than being a recipient.
A particular expertise, he said, was that Afghanistan had had to learn how to deliver education in a conflict zone.
"We've had to work with conflict for 35 years," he said. Mr Wardak himself became a refugee in Pakistan after the Soviet invasion.
There have also been drives against corruption. He said a policy to check teacher proficiency was also a way of detecting so-called "ghost teachers", where salaries were being claimed for non-existent staff.
This saw about 2,000 names disappearing from the payroll.
"We can't tolerate the stealing of money from innocent children," he said.
Mr Wardak's campaign for education has been supported by the Global Partnership for Education.
This international body, funded by governments including the UK, has allocated $3.25bn (Â£1.97bn) in the past decade to help improve education in 59 developing countries.
Mr Wardak made an impassioned case for the future of Afghanistan's education system.
He said the country's long tradition of scholarship had become the "victim of international wars" and needed to be restored for a prosperous and peaceful future.
"We are the product of our education, but we forget to pay it back," he said.


A delivery driver jailed for life for plotting to kill US personnel outside an air base has had a new sentence imposed by the Appeal Court.

Junead Khan, 25, of Marlow Avenue in Luton, downloaded a bomb-making recipe and browsed the internet for a knife used by British militant "Jihadi John".
He was jailed for life in May for preparing a terror act.
This has now been replaced with a 20-year jail term with five years on licence.
The Appeal Court heard Khan opened the bomb pack computer file "only once" and, although he looked for a knife, he never placed an order.
Although he went close to US military bases in East Anglia, including RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, he never deviated from his planned route.
"There is no doubt about the heinous nature of the crime, which Junead Khan formed an intention to commit," the judge said.
"In terms of steps actually taken, he did not carry his intention far."
He had committed a serious crime but not one that needed a life sentence, the panel of judges including Lord Justice Treacy and Mr Justice Leggatt, concluded.
The judges also dismissed an appeal by Khan and his uncle Shazib Khan, 24, also of Marlow Avenue in Luton, against their sentences of seven-years jail, with five years of extended licence, for preparing terrorism offences.
The pair had planned throughout 2014 and 2015 to travel to Syria to live under the so-called Islamic State regime, but failed to raise enough money for the fare and to buy all the kit their IS contacts had asked them to bring.


Two senior staff members unfairly dismissed by the National Library of Wales received payouts totalling £153,848, annual accounts show.

Arwel Jones and Elwyn Williams were demoted by two grades over concerns about the way a tender had been awarded and managed for promotional work.
They won their cases at an employment tribunal last year.
The payouts have been revealed in the annual accounts for 2014-15 for the library in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.
One was paid £71,890 in compensation and the other received a redundancy payment of £53,498 and £28,460 in compensation.
Included in the total, a sum of £88,000 is listed in the accounts under "exceptional items", and refers to the cost of fighting the employment tribunal.
In addition to the £153,000 the library has said it's legal costs were £53,000, giving a total cost of £206,00.
The accounts also reveal the library paid out £601,544 to nine staff who accepted its voluntary severance scheme last year with a further 18 due to share £752,230 this financial year.
The library also says that the costs resulting from a fire in April 2013 have had a "significant impact".


Thousands of small businesses in England who were promised financial help to ease the burden of hikes in business rates are still waiting.

The chancellor announced a package of measures in the March Budget, including a cap for the most vulnerable firms who were facing huge hikes in their bills.
Business rates are a property tax based on rental values.
Changes to the rates came in in April after a revaluation of property values for England and Wales last year.
Although most businesses overall have seen their bills either stay the same or decrease, the government was forced to act following reports that some small companies faced rate rises of up to 3,000%.
These are the so called "cliff edge" businesses which Philip Hammond promised to help.
He announced that firms losing small business rate relief - a discount given to businesses with properties below a certain rateable value - would not see their bills increase by more than £50 a month.
The government set aside £25m this year to pay for the pledge.
Whitstable florist Jane Antoniades felt a huge wave of relief when she heard her rates bill would not go up by more than £50 a month, having faced a 353% increase over five years.
But nearly three months on since the start of the new tax regime in April, she's still waiting for her bill to be adjusted.
"So far I've had to pay £437.08 per month, instead of just over £200. It's a huge difference.
"We haven't got the capacity to pay this extra money. It's going to have a real impact on our business if we can't claw this money back soon and start paying the right amount," says Jane.
She's not alone.
According to rates specialist, CVS, 24,986 small businesses have lost all, or part, of their small business rates relief.
Despite Mr Hammond's announcement, the money has yet to flow to most, if not all, of these businesses which are in need of the greatest support.
So why the delay?
For starters, the government's U-turn on rates was announced after the new bills were already printed and just days before they were posted.
Canterbury Council said it was working to update its system to enable new bills to be sent out.
But councils across England have told the BBC that they are awaiting further guidance from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
Although local authorities are legally able to go ahead and adjust existing bills, without the necessary published guidance from government they have no guarantee they will receive the money back from Whitehall.
And the general election has held things up.
"A common sense approach here is needed," says Mark Rigby, Chief Executive of CVS.
"The money to help those most in need is coming from the government and there is no reason why revised tax demands shouldn't have been sent out by local councils by now.
"These delays are simply causing panic, confusion and alarm for small firms,"
Councils have been left in limbo and have been pushing the government for guidance.
But within the last few days, the DCLG has reportedly written to local authority chief financial officers in England with the necessary paperwork.
A Local Government Association spokesperson said: "After receiving guidance, councils have now been able to begin working with businesses in their local areas to identify those eligible for this new discretionary relief funding."
A spokesperson for the DCLG also confirmed that help should soon be on the way.
"We have also published guidance on the additional relief available to support small businesses and have encouraged local authorities to inform businesses that are eligible as soon as possible."
That can't come soon enough for Jane and her small flower shop. Like other rate payers, she's got another big bill in the next few days.
"How long are they going to hold on to my money?
"We need this relief now. The rates system is such a problem for the whole High Street, and it's small independent traders who are bearing the brunt."


Officials from the European Union and the US will spend this week in Brussels trying to make progress negotiating a controversial trade deal.

The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) aims to stimulate commerce by reducing barriers such as tariffs and differences in regulation.
Critics say the agenda is driven by international business and will be bad for European and American citizens.
It is a little over a year since the talks were launched at a G8 summit.
It was the UK Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Obama and top EU officials, who set the ball rolling at the summit at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland.
At the time, Mr Cameron said there was no more powerful way to drive economic growth and prosperity than by boosting trade.
The agenda for doing that includes the standard stuff of trade liberalisation - reducing or even eliminating tariffs, taxes that are applied only to imported goods.
The negotiators are also trying to reduce the barriers to trade that arise from different sets of regulations.
They can impede trade because it's more expensive for business to export if it has to go through all the hoops involved in complying with two lots of rules and standards.
Campaigners fear that could lead to lower levels of consumer and environmental protection.
The talks are also covering how governments treat foreign investment.
One of the most controversial elements is the idea of allowing investors to take governments to international tribunals to seek compensation if they think those rules have been broken.
Campaigners say this could make governments reluctant to regulate in the public interest if they think a foreign investor could be affected.
The concerns about these provisions led the European Commission to conduct a public consultation which has just closed.
British critics of TTIP are particularly concerned that the National Health Service (NHS) could be affected if a future government wanted to reverse any decisions to contract out services to private sector businesses.
That was one of the issues for protesters opposing TTIP who took to the streets across the UK on Saturday ahead of the Brussels talks.
Organisers say that more than a thousand protesters involved in an event in London occupied the square where the European Union has its UK office.
According to the World Development Movement there were other demos in Cambridge, Manchester, York, Newcastle, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brighton, Bradford, Bexhill, Derby, Cardiff, Sheffield, Swindon, Norwich, Reading, Birmingham and Dublin.
The union Unite wants the NHS specifically exempted from any TTIP agreement.
The European Commission says the specific fears about possible constraints on future NHS policies are misplaced.
This week of talks in Brussels will be the sixth occasion when the two sides have sat down for detailed official negotiations.
There is no formal timetable for concluding the exercise, but the two sides would probably like to get it all done while the Obama administration is in power in Washington.
In practice that means getting the substance of an agreement done by early 2016. For such complex and contentious stuff that's a substantial challenge.


Theresa May and Ruth Davidson have made a pledge to stand up to the Scottish National Party at the launch of the Scottish Conservatives' manifesto.

They were speaking at an event in Edinburgh.
Scottish party leader Ms Davidson told the gathering that the election on 8 June was about "bringing the SNP down to size".
Prime minister Mrs May said the Conservatives were the "only party" able to stand up to the SNP.
Ms Davidson set out her proposals 24 hours after the launch of the UK Conservative manifesto.
The Tories are hopeful of gains in next month's election, having made significant progress in May's local elections. The party won just one seat in the 2015 general election.
Scotland's main opposition parties criticised the Conservatives about their stance on the constitution, Brexit and Scottish independence.
The SNP, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats are expected to launch their manifestos next week.
Mrs May began her address by saying the election was defined by "one question, and one question only - who can lead us through Brexit and get a deal that works for the whole of UK?".
She explained: "This manifesto is my plan for a stronger union and a better Britain. My plan to build a country that works for everyone, not just a privileged few."
The politician said there were challenges ahead but she believed she had a "credible, deliverable programme for government around which the whole country can unite".
Mrs May added: "Unlike the offerings of other parties, we are being upfront and honest with the British people about the scale of the task we face.
"Because leadership means being straight with people about the challenges ahead and the hard work required to overcome them."
She went on to attack the SNP, accusing the party of letting Scotland's young people down because of its "tunnel-vision obsession with independence".
Page 34 of the Scottish manifesto said that "now was not the time" for another referendum and that in order for one to be be held;
ANALYSIS
By Brian Taylor, BBC Scotland political editor
There is always room in politics for targeting the other lot.
The Scottish Tory launch featured two conjoined elements where the party talked explicitly about matters concerning their rivals - beyond the customary rhetoric of decrying them as useless, damaging and inept.
Firstly, the Tories in Scotland want to "bring the SNP down to size", to curb their ambitions to hold a further referendum on independence. Secondly, they want to borrow Labour votes in Scotland to help achieve that ambition.
But how about that issue of an independence referendum? The Conservatives have cited two criteria before indyref2 would be feasible.
Read more from Brian
Ms Davidson said the Scottish Conservatives were "back in the centre ground of Scottish politics".
She insisted that her party had the "ideas and plan" to turn "our faltering education system" around, to "champion" the fair work agenda and to "invest" in the next generation of family homes.
Ms Davidson added: "And, at this election, we are offering to do something else too.
"And that is to send the SNP a clear and unequivocal message - no to their unwanted plan for another referendum on independence.
"Enough of the endless division and uncertainty they have imposed on our country - it is time for them to get back to the day job. And it is time for the country to come back together.
"It is time to work with family, friends and neighbours across the UK to boost our security and our prosperity. We know Nicola Sturgeon doesn't want to hear that. So at this election we say this: let's bring the SNP down to size, to make her listen."
Former SNP first minister Alex Salmond accused the Tories of being "mired in complete and utter confusion" over the constitution.
He said: "There is already a cast-iron democratic mandate for Scotland to have a choice, based on last year's Holyrood election and the subsequent vote of the Scottish Parliament.
"The Tories want to deny and to block that mandate, but they haven't the got the guts or the gumption to say how. That lack of clarity betrays the weakness of their position - they know that their behaviour is antidemocratic and that it will not hold."
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said the Conservatives were to blame for any constitutional turmoil.
He said: "It is the Tories' reckless Brexit gamble that has given the SNP the excuse it has been looking for to try to force another divisive independence referendum.
"Rather than fix the problems they have created in our country, the Conservatives are intent on continuing to divide our country and increase the risk of a second independence referendum."
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie also attacked the Tories over Brexit.
He said: "Their cuts to pensions, social care and free school meals shows that the Conservative Party is mean spirited and cold hearted. It is lurching to the right to capture votes from UKIP.
"The Conservative-UKIP pursuit of a damaging hard Brexit will be damaging to our security, jobs and the NHS."


Several UK banks and building societies are offering savers returns as low as 0.01%, the City regulator has revealed.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a name-and-shame list, as part of its review of the savings market.
Six organisations, including HSBC, offer rates on cash of 0.05% or less, even before tax is taken into account.
A further six banks or building societies, including Santander, offer rates as low as 0.1%.
The FCA pointed out that the institutions named do offer higher returns on other accounts, and urged savers to switch to better deals.
The return on cash accounts available in-branch was the poorest, followed by Individual Savings Accounts (Isas) in-branch.
For those with Â£1,000 to invest, some will therefore be getting as little as 10p a year in interest.
Among Isa accounts, the lowest interest rate was 0.1%, offered by Santander. Another ten banks offer 0.5% or less.
The FCA is calling it "sunlight data" - as the figures shine a light on the lowest rates being offered.
As a trial, the list will be published every six months for the next year and a half.
At the same time as publishing the list, the FCA announced new measures to force firms to provide clearer information on interest rates.
From December 2016, banks and building societies will have to tell consumers when interest rates change, and when introductory offers run out.
The new rules will include:
"With many savers never switching because they don't think it will make a difference, our rules will help consumers get the information they need to shop around," said Christopher Woolard, director of Strategy and Competition at the FCA.
"In a good market, providers should be competing to offer the best possible deal and should a consumer wish to move accounts, they should be able to do so with the minimum of fuss."
The consumer association Which? described the announcement as a step forward.
"These reforms, when they're eventually in place, should inject some much needed competition into the market and help consumers move away from savings accounts with dismal rates," said Richard Lloyd, the executive director of Which?


An aerobatics display by the Red Arrows has been cancelled because it was no longer considered appropriate in the wake of the Shoreham air disaster.

The team's Farnborough Air Show performance has been dropped in favour of flypasts, organisers said.
An RAF spokesperson said the "high speed and dynamic nature of the traditional Red Arrows' display is no longer appropriate".
The team is due to fly at the show between 15-17 July.
The RAF's statement said the routine had been changed "due to the large amounts of local housing, business areas and major transport links underneath the planned display area."
The announcement comes following an assessment of the risk associated with the team's flying display at the biannual air show.
Aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has imposed new restrictions on air shows in the wake of the disaster at Shoreham.


Jack Garratt, who has come top of the BBC Sound of 2016 list, seems to embody most of the qualities a pop star should need to survive and thrive in the fickle 21st Century music industry.

He is a one-man multi-skilled music-making machine - he sings, writes, plays numerous instruments and produces his own records.
His songs combine classic melodies with the warps and beats of cutting-edge music, as if he has fed the influence of idols like Stevie Wonder, Tom Waits and Stevie Ray Vaughan through a modern pop super-computer.
He also jumps between genres with glee, flipping between the haunting electronica of James Blake and the soulful guitar-based balladry of Ed Sheeran. His voice, meanwhile, can go from a Tom Waits growl up to a Sam Smith soar.
And he has a very hip beard.
The combination of these qualities means he has found himself riding the zeitgeist. As well as topping the BBC Sound of 2016 list, he has won the Brits Awards Critics' Choice prize and the BBC Introducing trophy at the BBC Music Awards.
Never in this history of music tips has one artist been so vigorously feted. Now, with his debut album Phase due out in February, all that is left to do is to prove the tipsters right.
He was born, to be precise, on 11 October 1991 in High Wycombe Hospital in Buckinghamshire.
His mum was a primary school music teacher and dad a police officer. "The thing that was most constant when I was growing up was just complete support and adoration from my parents," he says.
He admits to being a show-off as a child, so his parents tried to channel that attention-seeking streak into activities like acting and singing.
"I would sing around the house and I would always play on things just because instruments were always there, but I didn't show any genius as a child. I wasn't a prodigy or anything like that.
"I just really enjoyed making noises and really enjoyed the reaction that I got from making those noises. So they put me on music lessons to encourage me to hone in on that talent rather than show off."
"My mum would play Stevie Wonder around the house and I remember just loving the songs and feeling so blown away by how much was going on," Garratt recalls.
"At that age, I mentally couldn't fathom the amount of detail. I just loved the tones and the melody and Stevie Wonder's energy behind his singing.
"That was the first real awakening. Then the first time I discovered Tom Waits for myself. He became, and still is, a very, very important voice and inspiration to my lyric-writing and my songwriting."
Garratt was also into Californian singer Jackson Browne at the time. Although the two troubadours have very different vocal styles, he heard similarities between Waits and Browne.
"I genre-hop quite a lot," he explains. "I love manipulating genre and deconstructing it and making it irrelevant. Genreless music is great because it means you get to write in any genre that you like.
"That was a really inspiring moment for me, to see folk music be completely blown apart by two completely separate voices, but still be able to find the tangible link between them."
As a cheeky 13-year-old, Garratt tried to be the UK's entrant at Junior Eurovision with a composition called The Girl.
The national qualification was broadcast on ITV2 - but his song came last.
"That was the first time I tried to achieve anything as a musician, but my intentions were wrong," he said recently. "I did it more for attention rather than for a love of what I was doing."
That disappointment did not put Garratt off, and he kept writing and performing while he worked as a teaching assistant with a boy with cerebral palsy during a gap year after secondary school, and then training to be a teacher at university.
At the time, he was working on an album with an independent label. Thanks to YouTube, we can see him in his bluesy pre-beard days.
But then he called it all off - his training and his album.
He disagreed with much of what his course was teaching him, and at the same time lost confidence in his music.
"I dropped out of uni and had to re-evaluate everything because I wasn't happy in what I was doing," he says.
"I was trying so hard to achieve something for the wrong reasons. I wasn't proud of the songs I was writing, and I was performing the music because I liked the way that people reacted rather than because I was proud of the songs.
"When I dropped out of uni I had a real self-destructive moment where I had to break myself apart.
"I felt like I was going through a quarter or a midlife crisis, but I was not even 20, and that freaked me out even more. But thankfully I had to make some harsh decisions and I think I made the right ones."
One of the decisions was to enlist one of his best friends as his manager. He went back to square one.
"I could go up on stage and play guitar fast and sing loud and people were impressed by that, but until I knew I had the right songs under my belt I was just using loud singing and fast guitar playing as cheap tricks, gimmicks, to fool people into thinking I'm a better musician than I actually am," he says.
"So instead, what I actually needed to do was to lock myself away and spend the year writing the best songs that I could.
"The minute I started to treat music with a totally different level of respect and integrity, everything changed and suddenly things started to fall into place.
"I found my way back to a path that I felt was very familiar, but knew I'd never walked on before."
That process brought him to the attention of the management company that launched the careers of previous Sound Of... winners Ellie Goulding and Jessie J, and then Island Records.
The big breaks
Garratt points to appearances on the BBC Introducing stage at the 2014 Reading Festival and at BBC Radio 1's Future Festival last January as key moments, after which people started to sit up and take notice.
He also supported Mumford and Sons on their recent UK arena tour, before now being showered with these pre-emptive awards.
"I am still fixed firmly onto the ground," he insists. "I have got a small but very good team of people around me. Things are going very, very well but I am just seeing it as that. I am trying to stay as grounded as possible.
"It is difficult because I don't ever want to give the impression that I'm not grateful because I am so unbelievably, overwhelmingly grateful for this.
"But I also have to be dangerous about how personally I take it because I know who I am as a person, and I have worked very hard on myself to not let this kind of success get to my head in any other way other than what it is, which is so utterly complimentary."
The rest of the Sound of 2016 shortlist:
More on the Sound of 2016:


Steven Shingler's controversial 75th-minute penalty gave Scarlets a narrow victory in Treviso to top the Pro12.

Number eight Morgan Allen crossed in either half on his competitive debut while wing DTH van der Merwe scored their other try.
But a second try for Sam Christie 10 minutes from time, following an opportunist effort by Edoardo Gori, threatened to derail Welsh hopes.
The result takes the Scarlets ahead of Connacht at the top of the table.
Both sides started with attacking intent on a fine sunny afternoon in northern Italy and the home side struck after just six minutes with a try by Kiwi centre Christie, created and converted by Jayden Hayward.
But the Scarlets' decision to kick to the corner five minutes later paid dividends as Allen forced his way over from close range for Aled Thomas to convert.
The visitors then took advantage of two successive line-out mistakes by Treviso, allowing a floated pass from prop Rob Evans to free Van Der Merwe in the corner after 26 minutes.
Treviso saw lock Jean-Francois Montauriol held up next to the post, but had to settle for a Hayward penalty to make it 12-10 to the Scarlets at the break.
Treviso crossed the line early in the second half through Tommaso Iannone but the final pass was forward, and a penalty advantage judged to be over by Irish referee Dudley Phillips.
Allen charged over for his second try after 51 minutes after a Scarlets scrum strike against the head, with Thomas' conversion giving them a two-score lead.
It only lasted seven minutes as Gori pounced on a Scarlets handling mistake to run in from 35 metres.
With 10 minutes left, Christie squeezed over at the corner to give Treviso hope of a first win of the season.
But Hayward could not find the target with either conversion and that allowed the Scarlets one last chance.
Full-back Luke McLean was penalised for offside even though replays appeared to show the ball had been knocked backwards in open play by a Scarlets player.
Shingler made the most of a difficult angled opportunity from 40 metres with his only effort at goal, and the visitors managed to deny Treviso any territory in the remaining five minutes.
Scarlets captain John Barclay told BBC Wales Sport:
"Since I've been here we've always come away to the Italian teams and struggled a little bit. We started well, we didn't expect them to play with so much width, but we've come away with the win, so we're pretty happy.
"They came back into it but when they scored and there was 10 minutes left, we felt if we could get down there we could score. Fair play to Steve Shingler, he stood up for it [the winning penalty].
"It's nice to be top of the table but you don't get anything for being top after nine games. We've worked hard to get there, we haven't probably played our best rugby but we're grinding out good wins. Pleased to get there, but it's still early days."
Treviso: Luke McLean; Andrea Pratichetti, Tommaso Iannone, Sam Christie, Edoardo Gori; Jayden Hayward, Chris Smylie; Matteo Zanusso, Ornel Gega, Filippo Filippetto, Teofilo Paulo, Jeff Montauriol, Francesco Minto,  Alessandro Zanni, Dean Budd.
Replacements: Roberto Santamaria, Alberto De Marchi, Simone Ferrari, Tom Palmer, Marco Barbini, James Ambrosini, Enrico Bacchin, Simone Ragusi.
Scarlets: Steff Evans; Michael Tagicakibau, Regan King, Hadleigh Parkes, DTH van der Merwe; Aled Thomas, Aled Davies; Rob Evans, Emyr Phillips, Samson Lee, Jake Ball, Lewis Rawlins, Aaron Shingler, John Barclay (capt), Morgan Allen.
Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Dylan Evans, Rhodri Jones, Tom Price, Maselino Paulino, Rhodri Williams, Steve Shingler, Gareth Owen.
Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Giuseppe Vivarinni, Simone Boaretto (Italy)
Citing commissioner: Alberto Recaldini  (Italy)
TMO: Carlo Damasco (Italy)


One of the UK's top female skiers has suffered a broken back while training in Sweden.

Charlie Guest, the UK number one female alpine slalom skier, fractured vertebrae in her spine after falling and landing on a boulder.
The 20-year-old, from Perth, spent eight hours strapped to a backboard during the 250km (155 mile) journey to hospital from the remote slope.
She said she was lucky to be alive following the crash.
Ms Guest and her team initially feared her injuries could be career-ending, and doctors do not know when she may be fit to compete again.
However, she credited her coach's insistence she wear a back protector on the day of the crash for the fact her injuries were not more severe.
She said: "The accident happened in quite a remote area, so after eight hours strapped down to a board I was pretty terrified about how serious my injuries were.
"Whilst I'm devastated that I'm going to have to take time out to recover, I realise how extremely lucky I am that my injuries are not more severe.
"I owe my coach Stefan Moser the biggest thank you of my life for his insistence that I wear my back protector."
The run was only the third time Ms Guest had worn her back support while training for the giant slalom, and she now wants to see the safety gear become compulsory for all skiers.
She said: "This was a massive reality check for me. I won't be skiing again without wearing the correct safety gear.
"As someone who spends so much time dedicating myself to my sport, it is easy to forget just how dangerous skiing can be.
"It is so important to think about safety and I want to help other people avoid career-ending and even life-threatening injuries. It could so easily have been a different story for me."


The owners of Australia's Dreamworld theme park have announced they will demolish the water ride where four people were killed last month.

Two of the victims were thrown from a raft at the Thunder River Rapids ride and two others were trapped inside.
Ardent Leisure said decommissioning the ride was "the only respectful and appropriate course of action".
Dreamworld, on Queensland's Gold Coast, has been closed since the tragedy on 25 October.
The firm says it will not reopen until an independent safety review has been completed.
Kate Goodchild, 32, died alongside brother Luke Dorsett, 35, his partner, Roozbeh Araghi, 38, and Cindy Low, 42.
Dreamworld CEO Craig Davidson said every ride was undergoing a thorough safety check.
"From today, we will begin to move towards the re-opening of Dreamworld," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"Please be assured that as we begin this process, families who lost their loved ones will remain our first and foremost focus."
Friends and family have paid tribute to all four victims over the past week at a series of funeral ceremonies.
"Out of respect for the memories of Cindy Low, Roozbeh Araghi, Kate Goodchild and Luke Dorsett, and their deeply affected families, the ride will be permanently decommissioned," the company said in a statement.
The company also indicated that the victims' families would be invited to help create a "fitting and permanent" memorial.


British number ones Andy Murray and Johanna Konta will begin their Wimbledon tournaments on Tuesday.

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Konta, 25, arrives at SW19 as the 16th seed after reaching the Australian Open semi-finals in January and will face Puerto Rico's Monica Puig.
World number two Murray, 29, meanwhile, faces another Brit in 22-year-old Liam Broady - ranked 235th in the world.
Britain's world number 772 Marcus Willis stole the headlines on day one, setting up a tie with Roger Federer.
Murray's meeting with Broady, who has been seen hitting with high-profile names such as Milos Raonic and the Canadian's coach John McEnroe this week, will take place on Centre Court after defending champion Serena Williams opens day two against Swiss Amra Sadikovic at 13:00 BST.
"It's an opportunity for him to play on one of the biggest courts in the world with a huge audience and try to cause an upset," said Murray, champion in 2013.
There will be added scrutiny of world number two Murray as he embarks on his first Grand Slam since reuniting with coach Ivan Lendl, who formed part of his camp when he won his two majors.
Fresh from becoming the first British woman to reach the semi-finals of Eastbourne's Aegon International since 1976, Britain's highest ranked woman Konta faces Puig, whose appearance in the last four at Eastbourne was her second grass-court semi-final of the summer.
They will follow Stan Wawrinka and Taylor Fritz on Court One.
In all there are seven British players in action on day two.
Wildcard Katie Swan, 17, will hope to upset Hungarian Timea Babos, Heather Watson takes on Germany's Annika Beck (around 17:00 BST), Tara Moore plays Belgian Alison van Uytvanck, and British men's number two Aljaz Bedene faces French seventh seed Richard Gasquet (11:30 BST).
Away from the home interest, Swiss fourth seed Stan Wawrinka plays American 18-year-old Taylor Fritz, while Australian 15th seed Nick Kyrgios faces a fascinating contest against 37-year-old Czech Radek Stepanek.
In the women's draw, third seed Agnieszka Radwanska plays Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova and two-time former champion Petra Kvitova faces Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
Qualifier Willis stunned world number 54 Ricardas Berankis, to become the lowest-ranked player to reach round two since 1998, where he will earn £50,000, having won £220 all year.
Willis, 25, faces seven-time champion Federer, who beat Guido Pella.
Dan Evans overcame Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets and Britain is guaranteed three men in round two as Murray faces Broady.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic - seeking a calendar Grand Slam having already won the Australian and French Open titles this year - produced 21 unforced errors but was in no mood for an upset as he overcame Britain's James Ward in straight sets on Centre Court.
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The Serb has not lost at a Grand Slam since his defeat by Wawrinka in last year's French Open final, a run of 29 matches.
South African Kevin Anderson, seeded 20, and Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, seeded 21, were the best-ranked players to go out on day one.
There were also wins for David Ferrer, Marin Cilic and David Goffin in Djokovic's half of the draw, while sixth seed Milos Ranoic served 27 aces to advance in straight sets.
Fifth seed Kei Nishikori faced a 142mph serve - the fastest of day one - from Australian Sam Groth but won through 6-4 6-3 7-5.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza provided an early show of grit on day one as she faced a tough test against Italy's Camila Giorgi before progressing 6-2 5-7 6-4.
The number two seed is in the same half of the draw as five-time champion Venus Williams, who equalled Amy Frazier's record of appearing in 71 Grand Slams as she overcame Croatia's Donna Vekic in straight sets.
Williams, 36, has not won a Grand Slam singles title since 2008 - in which time her sister Serena has secured 13.
The 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was the first notable scalp in the ladies' draw, citing an injured wrist after defeat by 21-year-old qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova, who hit 19 winners.
Germany's Sabine Lisicki, a finalist in 2013, blasted nine aces - including three in a 52-second opening game - to beat Poland's Magda Linette.


Comedian Frankie Boyle has been given his own series on Channel 4 as part of its comedy-heavy autumn 2010 schedule.

Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights is a six-part series described as "no-holds-barred stand up with pre-filmed sketches".
Peep Show also returns for a seventh series, making it the longest running comedy in Channel 4 history.
One of its stars Robert Webb will also front a show offering an alternative take on the week's online news.
Comedian Boyle, a former panellist on BBC 2's Mock The Week, was criticised for several controversial jokes he told on the comedy news quiz.
Unknown comic Morgana Robinson has also been handed a five-part sketch show on the back of a taster tape of her material.
Channel 4's head of comedy Shane Allen described Robinson as "warm, daft and infectious" with a style of performance "reminiscent of Kenny Everett in his prime, but without the beard".
The season also features docu-soap Seven Days in Notting Hill, in which viewers will be able to follow the lives of people as they actually happen, and Wedding House, where a team of experts take over a country manor house to host wedding ceremonies for 50 couples.
New drama includes William Boyd's adaptation of his novel, Any Human Heart, starring Jim Broadbent and Matthew Macfadyen, and Shane Meadows' TV debut This Is England '86.
The channel has also bought the rights to screen new US conspiracy thriller drama The Event.
Chef Gordon Ramsay returns with a new food series hunting for the UK finest restaurants and Jamie Oliver will front a new series, Jamie's Thirty Minute Meals.
Channel 4 documentaries is promising "unprecedented access" to four police forces, a Peter Tatchell profile of the Pope and a four-part Katie Piper series on disfigurement.
Julian Bellamy, acting chief creative officer said: "This is an exciting time for Channel 4 as we enter a period of creativity and innovation with more freedom to try new things."


The Conservatives' Alison Hernandez has been elected as Devon and Cornwall's police and crime commissioner.

She took the seat with 91,036 votes with her Labour rival Gareth Derrick on 87,242 votes after both went through to a second round.
There was a turnout of 22.8%, up from 15% in the election of November 2012.
The area's first police and crime commissioner, Conservative Tony Hogg, who was elected in 2012, confirmed last year he would stand for re-election.
Ms Hernandez said: "I'm just delighted that the people of Devon and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have put their faith in me to get the best out of Devon & Cornwall Police and keep us all safe."
BBC News App users: tap here to see the results.
More information is available on the Choose my PCC website.


Double-glazing comedy White Gold is going abroad as it returns for a second series next year, the BBC has revealed.

The Essex-based show charts the lives and loves of a group of salesmen in the 1980s.
White Gold was BBC2's biggest comedy launch of the year, and the second highest request on BBC iPlayer with more than five million requests.
The new series will see the trio try their luck with the timeshare market in Spain.
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Writer and director Damon Beesley, who grew up in Stanford-le-Hope, near Basildon, said it was "an honour and a pleasure to be working with the BBC again on a second series of White Gold".
"I like to think of it as selling them a series two conservatory to go with their series one patio doors," he added.
The hit programme sees former Gossip Girl actor Ed Westwick as foul-mouthed, Thatcher-era double glazing salesman Vincent Swan, with The Inbetweeners stars James Buckley and Joe Thomas as his sidekicks.
All three will be back when the series returns for another six half-hour episodes in 2018.
Shane Allen, controller of comedy commissioning for the BBC, said: "The reaction to the first series has been terrific, with an enormous audience boost from the iPlayer box set release.
"In series two, the swindles spread abroad to cover the Spanish timeshare apartment gold rush.
"Expect to see Ed Westwick in some tight swimming trunks."


Leicestershire chief executive Wasim Khan has denied speculation that the players are unhappy with head coach Pierre de Bruyn.

They are still without a Championship win this summer and lost to Notts by an innings and 280 runs on Wednesday, the county's worst defeat in 85 years.
Khan told BBC Radio Leicester their problems were not a reflection of dressing room tensions.
"There are no issues with Pierre de Bruyn. It's 100% nonsense," he said
"These things take time, to understand how people want to work, and Pierre understands the players.
"This is purely around performance. When you step to that white line, I can't help and Pierre can't help the players. These guys are pro cricketers and they've got to go out and do it for themselves."
All-rounder Neil Dexter did not feature against Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire but Khan said his absence was because of "personal issues".
He continued: "People will like to spin conspiracy theories and rumours like he's fallen out with the coach over this and that but it's not the case.
"Pierre and I speak to Neil on a daily basis and we're supporting him through a difficult personal situation that he's got from a family point of view.
"As soon as he is back and he is firing, he will be back playing."
De Bruyn, 40, was promoted to head coach in 2016 after predecessor Andrew McDonald left to coach Australian side Melbourne Renegades.
Despite Leicestershire's winless run this campaign, Khan insists de Bruyn can turn the club's fortunes around.
"I believe in Pierre in terms of his coaching ability, his philosophies and he's passionate about the Foxes," he added.
"He's doing everything he can and he has my full support. Nothing will change overnight so now's not the time to panic."


Shares in mainland China led the way in an otherwise cautious day of trading in Asia, as investor sentiment there was boosted by rumours of more stimulus from Beijing.

The Shanghai Composite closed up 2.33% at 3,536.91 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed up 0.44% at 22,479.69.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks were mixed despite a strong lead from Wall Street.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.4% to 19,938.13 points.
The benchmark breached the key 20,000 level for the first time since August on Tuesday.
Reports were swirling that the Chinese government would unveil tax incentives to encourage more home purchases to stimulate the once red-hot property market.
Australian shares were lower despite third quarter growth figures coming in above expectations on rising exports.
The economy grew 2.5% in the three months to September from a year ago, compared with 1.9% in the previous quarter and above forecasts of 2.4%.
But investors seemed to ignore the positive economic data with the S&P/ASX 200 index ending down 0.2% to 5,258.3.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi index finished lower by 0.7% to 2,009.29 after data showed that imports rose faster than exports in the export-driven economy.
Exports in October rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6% from September, while imports jumped 6.1%.


The family of Formula 1 test driver Maria De Villota are considering claiming compensation over her crash.

De Villota lost her right eye at Duxford Airfield while testing for Marussia and died a year later aged 33.
On Tuesday the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it would take no action against Marussia for the crash.
But the family said they would analyse the report "to evaluate the next legal steps to claim the corresponding civil compensation from those responsible".
Manor Grand Prix Racing, which operated Marussia and now runs the Manor team, has declined to comment on the HSE's decision or the possible legal claims.
De Villota, the daughter of 1980s F1 driver Emilio de Villota, was injured when the MR-01 race car she was driving hit a support truck on 3 July 2012.
She had been driving at up to 200mph (322km/h), but was travelling considerably slower at the time of the crash.
It was the first time the Spaniard had driven the car for Oxfordshire-based Marussia, which folded in 2014.
Despite losing her eye, she was cleared to drive again in early 2013, but died the following October "as a consequence of the neurological injuries she suffered".
One Tuesday the HSE said its investigation was complete and "no enforcement action is being taken".
Ms De Villota's family said they had been aware of the HSE's decision, adding: "To date, we are still waiting to see the contents of the report, and therefore the findings of the investigation, which are crucial to learn from.
"As soon as we have seen the report we will analyse this in order to evaluate the next legal steps to claim the corresponding civil compensation from those responsible, in order - as Maria herself always wanted - to ensure that accidents of this type never happen again."


Indian newspapers continue to produce claims and counter claims about the two sisters filmed beating three men allegedly sexually harassing them on a bus in the northern state of Haryana.

Several media have cast doubt on the initial version of events in the video, which went viral and generated a wave of support for sisters Aarti and Pooja Kumar.
Another video has since emerged showing the pair apparently attacking a man in a park in a separate incident.
Now The Times of India reports that five other women passengers on the bus in the initial film have testified to police that the fight was caused by a dispute about seats and that no sexual harassment was involved.
One of the alleged witnesses is quoted telling local media that the girls had lashed out at the men after being asked to vacate a seat to a woman passenger who was feeling unwell.
According to another villager, the sisters have a reputation for picking fights, while a third is quoted saying that there was "no molestation".
Pooja Kumar has told the BBC that the men had attacked and abused her sister. The three men were arrested and have now been released on bail.
Further muddying the waters, an article the Deccan Herald attributes the testimony of other women bus passengers to a "fierce mudslinging campaign" against them.
Meanwhile, The Hindustan Times reports that two witnesses of the park incident have emerged who say the sisters had attacked the man after he had chided them for wasting their time in a park rather than attending college.
For G Pramod Kumar, writing in Firstpost, however, the new revelations - even it true - in any case do nothing to disrupt the narrative of two women bravely challenging male dominance and ingrained stereotypes of women.
"For a change, they have provided a new example of expressing female anger," he says. "It's an eruption of anger arising out of helplessness and loss of patience because the country has cheated them and oppressed them."
"Its time men got scared of women's anger and ability to hit back. It's time to amplify female anger in its raw form.
Papers also focus on the task ahead of the new head of India's troubled top investigative agency.
According to the New Indian Express, Harvard graduate Anil Sinha, 58, has a "tough task to restore the credibility of the agency".
The CBI has been under a cloud since his predecessor, Ranjit Sinha (no relation), was found to have allowed a minister to edit the agency's report into a high-profile scandal surrounding the government's allocation of coal fields.
He was subsequently removed from an investigation into a multi-billion-dollar scandal relating to the handing out of 2G mobile licences.
Like his predecessor, Sinha is from the central state of Bihar, where both men served in the state police force, according to Firstpost.
The Economic Times describes as Anil Sinha as "low-profile and hard-working" man who "managed to retain his reputation as an honest officer" during investigations in yet another scandal - the 2013 collapse of the Saradha Group ponzi scheme.
Whatever Mr Sinha's virtues, the Hindustan Times argues that the CBI needs wider structural change, in particular greater financial autonomy to insulate it from political interference.
"An ambitious country like India cannot continue to have its leading investigation agency dogged by controversy and inefficiency," the daily says.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


A man has been shot twice in both legs in west Belfast in an apparent paramilitary-style attack.

It happened on Tuesday at about 22:00 GMT on the Monagh Road in Turf Lodge.
The man, who is in his 20s, was taken to hospital to be treated for gun-shot wounds.
Hours before, the PSNI had been carrying out enquiries in the area into the shooting of a husband and wife last Thursday.
It is the third paramilitary style shooting in Turf Lodge since the start of January.
Police are appealing for witnesses.


A campaign highlighting water safety is being hosted in Durham following the deaths of three university students in the River Wear in 18 months.

Sope Peters drowned in October 2013, Luke Pearce died in May 2014 and Euan Coulthard was found dead in January. All had been out drinking.
Measures, including the provision of late-night taxis and student wardens have since been introduced.
Now fire chiefs are targeting 16 to 30-year-olds in a week-long campaign.
The events, run by County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service from Monday, will highlight the dangers of low water temperatures, underwater hazards like shopping trolleys and riptides and eddies.
Andy Bruce, assistant community protection and prevention manager, said: "As we know only too well in this region, water safety is of the highest importance.
"We hope that by highlighting the fatal five dangers during Drowning Prevention and Water Safety Week, we will stress the importance of taking care near inland waterways.
"The events the service has planned also aim to remind young people, in particular, to look out for themselves and their friends to prevent any more lives being cut short in such tragic accidents."
Since the deaths, up to 50 Durham University students have taken up roles as volunteer wardens.
They have received basic life-saving and alcohol awareness training and are equipped with radios, first aid kits, water and blankets.


The Republic of Ireland's statistical agency is to produce a new measurement of the country's economic performance, which removes the distorting effects of multinational companies.

There was widespread mockery when official figures showed gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 26% in 2015.
That was three times the previous estimate.
The distorted figure was the result of multinationals using Dublin as a centre for financing and taxation operations.
Their operations involve flows of billions of dollars, which are captured by GDP measurement, but have little impact on the real economy.
When the figure was published last year, economist Paul Krugman described it as "leprechaun economics".
The Financial Times said it was on a par with the works of James Joyce and Flann O'Brien.
Now the Central Statistics Office (CSO) says that GDP and GNP "no longer provide a sufficient understanding of the domestic economy".
It said it will now produce a measurement known as adjusted gross national income (GNI), which will subtract the retained earnings of global firms that have their headquarters in Dublin.
It will also adjust for the depreciation of categories of foreign-owned domestic capital asset, such as intellectual property rights.
The changes were recommended in a report by an expert group chaired by the Governor of Ireland's Central Bank.
It made a total of 13 recommendations, including the need for better communications by the CSO.
The GNI  measure will be phased in by the end of 2018.


The government says it has held "constructive talks" with the union representing drivers on Southern rail.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said he hoped the meeting would "pave the way for the reopening of negotiations" between Aslef and Southern.
In a statement, Aslef described the talks as "proactive", adding: "Further talks are planned with both the company and then the minister."
The union called off three strikes on Southern in August ahead of the talks.
It also lifted a ban on overtime and rest day working.
Strikes on the same dates by members of the RMT union representing guards and drivers were also suspended after both unions were contacted by Mr Grayling inviting them to a meeting, subject to the action over staffing and pay being halted.
The transport secretary is due to meet the RMT on Friday.
Following the talks with Aslef, Mr Grayling said: "We're doing everything we can to resolve the situation on Southern and get passengers the high quality rail services that they deserve.
"I was pleased to have a constructive meeting with Aslef today and I hope it paves the way for the reopening of negotiations between the union and Southern so we can sort out this situation and get services back to normal for passengers."
Earlier this month, members of the train drivers' union voted overwhelmingly to take strike action after rejecting a pay offer.
Both unions are embroiled in a long-running dispute with Southern's parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) over the decision to replace conductors with "on-board supervisors".
Since January a number of routes have been operating this way, with extra responsibilities - including the closing of train doors - switching to drivers.


Spanish skateboarder Ignacio Echeverría, who died from Saturday's terror attacks in London, has been posthumously awarded one of Spain's highest honours.

The country's government has deemed him worthy of the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit for his bravery.
Echeverría reportedly tried to fight off the terrorists with his skateboard to save a stabbed woman.
He became one of eight victims of the assault on the London Bridge area.
Earlier in the week, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy praised his "heroic and exemplary act" and recommended that he receive the award.
The foreign ministry in Madrid said: "His bravery in standing up for a defenceless person is a reminder of the need to remain united in the face of the scourge of terrorism."
On Saturday night, Echeverría, 39, was passing through Borough Market after an evening skateboarding with friends nearby.
Guillermo Sánchez, a friend who was with him at the time, told El País newspaper that they had been on their way to dinner when they saw a man on the street and assumed they had stumbled into a drunken brawl.
They then saw a police officer fall to the ground and a woman being assaulted.
"I'm focusing on her and then, suddenly, I see that Ignacio's there, starting to hit [the attackers] with his skateboard," Sánchez told the paper.
Shortly afterwards, Echeverría was attacked himself and he was last seen lying on the ground, the family said.
His friends managed to get away.
His death was confirmed on Wednesday after his family had waited several days for information.
On Thursday, Las Rozas, his hometown on the outskirts of Madrid, held a vigil in his honour, which was attended by thousands.
El País reported that a new skateboarding park will be named after him.
"My brother Ignacio tried to stop the terrorists and lost his life trying to save others," his sister Isabel said on social media.
Echevarría worked for the HSBC bank in London, as part of their team fighting money laundering.
His body is due to arrive in Madrid on Saturday, said Spanish news agency EFE.
The same Spanish state aircraft will also carry some of Echevarría's relatives.
The British ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley, and Spain's Deputy Foreign Minister, Cristóbal González-Aller, will meet the plane when it arrives.
The three attackers were killed by police shortly after they began their assault.
In that time, they had driven a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and then proceeded to neighbouring Borough Market, where they got out and began attacking people with large knives.
Eight people died in the attack and 48 people were injured.


A forensic artist could be used to help identify a severed head found in a quarry.

The remains were discovered by a quarry worker at Mepal, Cambridgeshire on Monday.
It is thought the head came from a site 40 miles away in Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, and the victim died before 2015.
The National Crime Agency's Missing Person's Bureau's database of found remains will be used in identification.
A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Police said it was not yet clear whether the head belonged to a man or a woman.
A spokeswoman for the NCA said: "Our Missing team here at the NCA has been in touch with the force.
"In cases like this, the bureau will conduct searches and checks to see if there are any other partial remains that could be linked to the incident, or any missing persons, to assist the force with identifying the individual.
"We will ensure that relevant information is gathered such as a sample for DNA and dental information in order to aid this process.
"Depending on the outcome of enquiries, we would also recommend a forensic artist is engaged to create an impression of what the person may look like in order to aid identification."
The Mepal site where the head was found is used for landfill and recycling, as well as the supply of aggregates such as limestone and gravel, and mixing concrete.


Lincolnshire County Council's computer systems have been closed for four days after being hit by computer malware demanding a £1m ransom.

Ransomware encrypts data on infected machines and only unscrambles it if victims pay a fee.
The authority said it was working with its computer security provider to apply a fix to its systems.
Chief information officer Judith Hetherington-Smith said only a small number of files were affected.
She said the authority took action once the malware was identified and shut its systems down.
This meant some services were affected, including libraries and online booking systems.
Mrs Hetherington-Smith said: "People can only use pens and paper, we've gone back a few years."
Talking about the attack, she said: "It happened very quickly. Once we identified it we shut the network down, but some damage is always done before you get to that point - and some files have been locked by the software.
"A lot of the files will be available for us to restore from the back-up."
The council is "hopeful" most systems will be back working early next week.
It described the ransomware as "the biggest attack" it had ever experienced, adding it was "zero-day malware", meaning it was previously unknown to security experts.
The authority said it was "unfortunate to be the first victim", and was confident it had appropriate security measures in place.
Lincolnshire Police have confirmed they are investigating the attack.
The Information Commissioner's Office, which is responsible for the enforcement of the Data Protection Act 1998, said it was aware of the incident.