Sales of new cars fell by 0.8% in June compared to the same month a year earlier, the latest industry figures show.

The Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 255,766 new cars were registered last month.
The SMMT said the sales figures were expected, adding the market would "stabilise" following a record 2015.
It added it was too early to tell if the result of the referendum had affected sales.
The fall in new car sales was the first since October 2015 and only the second monthly fall since February 2012.
Sales of diesel cars fell 2.1% in June from a year earlier, while petrol car sales fell 0.5%.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said demand for new cars in the first half of the year overall had grown by 3.2% to a record 1,420,636 registrations.
He said: "It is far too soon to determine whether the referendum result has had an impact on the new car market.
"The first six months saw strong demand at record levels but the market undoubtedly cooled over the second quarter.
"It's important government takes every measure to restore business and economic confidence to avoid the market contracting in the coming months."
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global, said the car sector would have serious concerns that demand could be hit following the referendum.
"There is widespread suspicion - including at the Bank of England - that heightened uncertainty following the vote to leave the European Union will particularly hit sales of big-ticket items such as cars and houses."


A recording of Sean Connery's first-ever lead TV performance, which was thought to have been lost forever, has been unearthed by the film's director.

Connery played past-his-best boxer Malcolm "Mountain" McClintock in the 1957 play Requiem for a Heavyweight, which was broadcast live on the BBC.
Director Alvin Rakoff recorded the play for posterity and stored it in his attic where it remained for 55 years.
"He was tall, good-looking and had charisma from the start," he said.
Connery "was an extra" at the time, said Rakoff. "One of those guys who rang every other day and asked: 'Do you have any work for me?'
"I did a show called The Condemned, in which he played four of five parts for me - one was an old man who had been in prison for a long time and had gone a bit bonkers.
"I tried to get one of the other extras to do it and he wasn't quite right and Sean said: 'I can have a go at that, Al'."
Requiem for a Heavyweight was written for US television in 1956 by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling and starred Jack Palance in the lead role. The play won a Peabody Award.
Rakoff said it was his future wife, Doctor Who actress Jacqueline Hill - who he had cast in the BBC adaptation, who convinced him to cast Connery in the Palance role of a boxer who is told that he can no longer fight for health reasons.
He told BBC News: "I got a call from his [Palance's] agent who said: 'Jack ain't gonna show'. Something better had come up and he didn't want to come to England.
"She [Jacqueline] said, 'Have you seen Sean?... the ladies will like him', which was quite a remarkable statement but it was true, women adored him and so I called him and narrowed it to two fellows and Sean got it."
Because the play was broadcast live and no recording was made, it had been thought the performance was lost until Rakoff, 87, remembered the recording he had made during a recent interview and found it gathering dust in his London home.
Speaking on his decision more than 50 years ago to make the recording, he said: "I had suddenly thought: 'Maybe this is an important piece,' and I spoke to the man in the sound booth and asked him to do a reel-to-reel so he had an audio recording, and he did."
The British version was screened on 31 March 1957 on the BBC's Sunday Night Theatre anthology and co-starred Till Death Do Us part actor Warren Mitchell and another young actor by the name of Michael Caine.
"It went out on American television so there were commercial breaks and on the BBC there weren't any and Sean had a big costume change and I rang Rod and said we needed a new scene just to let him change.
"He said, rather nonchalantly, 'I hear you can write Alvin, you write it'.
"I cast two actors as has-been boxers who were struggling and Michael Caine was one of them. People in rehearsals watched the little scene and said: 'That guy's going to go far'."
The crackly recording of Requiem for a Heavyweight features Connery's unmistakably Scottish burr despite the character being written as an American.
Rakoff said: "We worked hard and long on the accent, he was trying but couldn't get rid of some of the Scottish-ness and in fact Michael Barry, who was the head of drama at the time came to rehearsals and he said: 'Are you sure you want to go ahead with this guy, I don't think he can do it'.
"I said: 'Michael I can assure you he can do it'."
In 1962, Connery became a household name when he played James Bond in his first big screen outing Dr No and would go on to become one of the biggest film stars of the 20th Century.
Now in his 80s, Rakoff is still working and has just written the conspiracy thriller The Seven Einsteins.


Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales and Surrey all-rounder Zafar Ansari could make their England Test debuts in the UAE after being selected in the squad for the series against Pakistan.

Hales's county colleague James Taylor is also named, after impressing during the one-day series with Australia.
There is no place for Yorkshire's Gary Ballance and Adam Lyth, with the latter dropped after a poor Ashes series.
The three-Test series begins in Abu Dhabi on 13 October.
All-rounder Ben Stokes is rested from the one-day squad, to which batsman Joe Root returns.
Lancashire spinner Stephen Parry and Sussex bowler Chris Jordan are recalled to the T20 squad.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has also announced former England limited-overs captain Paul Collingwood and ex-Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene will join the England management team in consultancy roles.
National selector James Whitaker said Hales, 26, "fully deserved" a chance at the top of the order after scoring 886 runs at an average of 52.11 in the County Championship this season.
"He has scored heavily for Nottinghamshire in first-class cricket and has shown he can play match-winning innings for England in white-ball cricket," said Whitaker.
Left-armer Ansari, 23, who has taken 44 wickets and scored more than 700 runs this season, will provide a third spin option alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.
Ansari was told he had been selected on Monday, describing the news as "a surprise".
He said: "Going into this season it wasn't on my radar. I just wanted to have a solid, consistent season with Surrey and establish myself a bit more. Things have gone my way and this is what happens when that happens.
"If the conditions prove to be very spin-friendly and I make an impression, then great. I'm there as much as anything to learn and try to develop quickly and if I get my chance, to go out and perform."
Within hours of his call-up, Ansari was forced to leave the field in Surrey's County Championship match against Lancashire and went to hospital after injuring his hand trying to take a catch at cover point.
Taylor, 25, is recalled to the Test set-up after winning the last of his two caps against South Africa in 2012.
The middle-order batsman, who may compete with Jonny Bairstow for a place in the side, enjoyed a prolific ODI series against Australia, scoring 246 runs at an average of 49.20.
"I've been desperate to get back in the Test side for a number of years now and I know that any runs in international cricket are going to count no matter what format, especially against Australia," Taylor told the BBC.
"I knew going in to the UAE there's going to be a lot of spin bowled, and that'll hopefully work in my favour as I love playing spin. Overall, it's worked out nicely and those runs will have made a big impact."
With Lyth dropped after averaging just 12.77 in the Ashes, captain Alastair Cook seems certain to have a seventh opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss, though it is not clear whether Hales, Moeen or even Ansari will be selected.
Former Scotland assistant Collingwood will join the team in November to coach batting and fielding during the limited-overs series in the UAE, and will then link up with England again for the ICC World T20 in March.
He said: "It's an exciting time for English cricket. We've got some great, skilful youngsters coming through.
"Hopefully I can create the confidence in their games that they can go and do it out in the middle without any fear."
Test squad: Alastair Cook (Essex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Zafar Ansari (Surrey), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wk), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wk), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wk), Sam Billings (Kent, wk), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wk), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Reece Topley (Essex, to join Hampshire at end of season), David Willey (Northants, to join Yorkshire at end of season), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
Twenty20 squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent, wk), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wk), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Stephen Parry (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Reece Topley (Essex, to join Hampshire at end of season), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Northants, to join Yorkshire at end of season), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).


HSBC has said it may cut an additional 14,000 jobs globally as part of a restructuring plan to reduce costs and increase profitability.

The bank is aiming to save another $3bn (Â£2bn) in annual costs as tougher regulations eat into profits.
The layoffs would cut the firm's total headcount to between 240,000 and 250,000 over the next three years.
HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver has already overseen $4bn of cost cuts since he took office in 2011.
He is aiming to streamline the bank's operations by focusing on high-growth markets in Asia. The firm has also sold or closed 52 businesses.
''HSBC is now simpler, easier to manage and ready to take advantage of growth opportunities,'' Mr Gulliver said in a statement.
"We are confident that these measures will deliver consistent and superior financial results and move us closer to achieving our ambition of being the world's leading international bank."
The first phase of HSBC's cost-cutting effort has seen the firm cull 46,000 jobs and sell its stake in China's second biggest-insurer for about $9.4bn. Other divestments include its US credit card operations and four Latin American units.
Mr Gulliver said on Wednesday that a stronger financial performance would allow it to increase dividends. He also signalled that the bank may buy back shares in 2016.
Earlier this month, HSBC reported pre-tax profits of $8.4bn for the first three months of 2013.
The profit was nearly double the figure reported for the same period a year earlier, and was boosted by a fall in losses from bad debts and provisions for other risks.


Italy's top court is expected to decide whether to uphold the convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

The Court of Cassation in Rome will hear from Sollecito's defence team before the judges give their verdict.
Former lovers Knox and Sollecito were convicted for the second time in 2014.
They have maintained their innocence throughout and have already served four years in prison.
Earlier this week, the court heard Knox's lawyer's arguments that her conviction was a grave judicial error.
The verdict was originally due on Wednesday but was delayed to hear Sollecito's defence team.
The court will either confirm the guilty verdict or overturn it - by ordering another trial or effectively bringing about an acquittal.
A definitive conviction would trigger complicated attempts to extradite Knox, who currently lives in Seattle in the US.
Sollecito, from Bari, southern Italy, has remained in the country, and attended the court with his current girlfriend on Wednesday.
The Kercher family's lawyer, Francesco Maresca, expressed hopes at the last hearing that the court's decision would bring an end to the judicial process.
"They hope that this will be the final stage of this judicial process and they will at last... be able to remember Meredith outside of the court room [process]", he said.
Profile: Meredith Kercher
Leeds University student Meredith Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was found dead in the flat she shared with Knox, now 27, in Perugia, central Italy, where both women were studying.
Her partially-clothed body was found under a duvet in her bedroom, which had been locked from the inside. Her throat had been cut.
Prosecutors claimed she was killed as part of a bungled sex game. Knox and Sollecito, 30, were convicted of the murder by a trial court in Perugia in 2009.
They were freed in 2011 after an appellate court overturned the convictions.
Profile: The two faces of Amanda Knox
Profile: Raffaele Sollecito
The Court of Cassation rebuked the appellate judge's reasoning and last year an appeals court in Florence sentenced Knox to 28 years and Sollecito to 25 years.
Rudy Hermann Guede, born in the Ivory Coast, who opted for a fast-track trial, is serving a 16-year sentence for his role in the murder.
The high-profile case has inspired books and at least two films, and Kercher's family has said Meredith, the real victim, risked being forgotten.
Originally portrayed as a fast-living partygoer, Knox came to be seen in much of her home country as a victim of a botched investigation and an unwieldy justice system.


Olympic athletes should have tailored heart screening to check for life-threatening conditions before they can compete, a leading Italian doctor says.

After running extensive tests on 2,354 elite athletes, he discovered six had potentially fatal disorders that disqualified them from taking part.
His early findings were presented at a European Society of Cardiology meeting.
But the British Heart Foundation (BHF) says screening is not yet precise enough to be offered routinely.
Heart screening is designed to pick up abnormalities that could leave people at risk of sudden death.
This is rare - but according to the BHF it is more common in athletes than the general population. Figures suggest one or two in 100,000 athletes die in this way each year.
No-one knows why this increased risk exists, though some suggest extensive exercise can sometimes put strain on heart muscles, causing them to enlarge.
But predicting which athletes will be affected is not easy.
Dr Paulo Adami from the Institute of Sport Medicine and Science of the Italian Olympic Committee, studied athletes shortlisted for the Olympic games between 2004 and 2014.
Tests included ECG tests (recordings the electrical activity of their hearts) both at rest and while doing exercise and ultrasound scans of their hearts.
They picked up worrying signs in 300 athletes.
And after further investigations they found six with potentially life-threatening conditions which meant they could no longer compete.
Some 165 were allowed to continue their careers with annual checks.
But more than 100 individuals identified as at risk on the initial set of tests were dismissed as having spurious results or changes that were unlikely to lead to problems later.
Dr Adami said: "We cannot take it for granted that elite athletes are healthy.
"This study demonstrates that a more accurate assessment is necessary for elite professional athletes than for members of the general population, in view of the intensity and stress on their cardiovascular system.
"We suggest that our model of screening is applied to all elite athletes, regardless of the sport they practise."
Dr Michael Knapton at the British Heart Foundation is hopeful that screening will one day be very useful for athletes.
But for now he argues it is not reliable enough to be offered widely.
He said: "We would have to screen an awful lot of people to save one life and in most of those people it might do more harm than good.
"We could end up stopping ambitious young athletes from following their careers and worry them for no reason.
"We might also falsely reassure people that they are fine when they are not."
But he says the case is different for people known to be at high risk - for example families with genetic conditions that predispose them to sudden death.
For these individuals the BHF supports tailored assessments by the NHS.
Some organisations already offer screening to all young people and athletes.
And the BHF says more people need to be aware of what to do if someone has a cardiac arrest in a public space.
CPR - cardiopulmonary resuscitation - involving chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth can help restart the heart in some cases.
Meanwhile the UK national screening committee is reviewing the evolving evidence behind cardiac screening.


A police officer has admitted paying a child for sex acts.

Christopher Cambray, 42, who has won awards for his work with Warwickshire Police, pleaded guilty to six sexual offences against children.
These included sexual activity with a child and making indecent images of children, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
The former sergeant, from Shrewley in Warwickshire, will be sentenced on 27 November.
Warwickshire Police said Cambray was dismissed "at the earliest possible opportunity" by a special case hearing chaired by the chief constable,
Cambray had been trying to appeal against his dismissal, a spokesman said.
Det Insp Vikki Reay said: "Throughout the investigation, our key concern has been the welfare, protection and wellbeing of the children involved."


In our series of letters from African journalists, film-maker and columnist Farai Sevenzo considers why the UN matters to Africa.

If the 70th UN General Assembly had a face, it would not only be showing its age, but it would be covered in the cuts and bruises from unending wars, new coups and the perennial problems of poverty, hunger and the new open, weeping sores that are the movements of the desperate and despairing across oceans and borders.
For African leaders, the UN in New York is the place to be seen and heard every September.
They are there under the magical veil of diplomatic immunity, not only because their leadership is recognised but also because it allows those who are older than the General Assembly to attend, as well as those who have been ostracised by international opinion, those who have been targeted by the International Criminal Court, and those who wish to plead for special attention or show that they are tackling corruption.
Small budgets are prepared from the national coffers for the delegates accompanying the heads of state and first ladies fond of shopping, who mark the General Assembly dates in their diaries long in advance.
This year's gathering has even featured a rock star Pope, and the Catholics among Africa's leadership may have wanted to touch that holy hand, though they may not have been so keen on confession.
Still, it does not help to be too cynical, for Africa needs the UN more than any other continent.
A brief scan of the UN's history will show us that while its predecessor, the League of Nations, threw South West Africa - present-day Namibia - from the frying pan of German occupation into the fire of apartheid jurisdiction, the UN has been largely present in tumultuous events in Africa these past 70 years.
A UN Secretary General - Swedish statesman Dag Hammarskjold - lost his life in a plane crash in the Zambian town of Ndola in 1961 on his way to peace talks in the Congolese breakaway province of Katanga.
Since then UN peacekeeping forces in Africa have been a regular and needed part of the continent's story:  19,000 troops are currently serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo; 12,000 are trying to restore order to the Central African Republic, another 10,000 are deployed in Mali and the UN mission in Liberia is due to end in June 2016 - having been there since 2003.
Current UN peace missions in Africa
The relationship between peacekeepers and Africa has been fraught with accusations of mineral theft and more seriously the sexual abuse of women and children by the international UN forces, but the security situation without them does not bear contemplation.
In 2015 a look at the headlines shows us that from Libya downwards, violence prevails.
It reveals that the fight for self-determination in South Sudan has resulted in increasing deaths after independence; Burkina Faso's presidential guard has become addicted to power and that economies wrecked by Ebola cannot do without international assistance.
World leaders have now agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which replace the Millennium Goals, and feature many of the issues that the 20th Century grappled with.
Farai Sevenzo:
"From rising prices, to lack of pasture for cattle to drought and floods - food and hunger remain the continent's major worry"
But paramount amongst the 17 SDGs is the struggle to end hunger.
"While the number of people suffering from hunger in developing regions has fallen by half since 1990, there are still close to 800 million people undernourished worldwide, a majority children and youth," said Mogens Lykketoft, president of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly.
Of course hunger has not arrived unannounced, the state of the planet and the effects of global warming have been playing havoc with people's crops all over southern Africa.
Malawi, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned, faces its worst food crisis in 10 years.
The WFP says 2.8 million people are at risk and that an astonishing four out of every 10 Malawian children are suffering from stunted growth.
Poor rainfall affected the crops in 2013/2014 and then floods compounded the problem in early 2015 by destroying homes and wiping out food supplies.
USAid's Famine Early Warning System has also listed food shortages in Ethiopia and Somalia, as well as in Sierra Leone and Liberia following the outbreak of Ebola.
From rising prices, to lack of pasture for cattle to drought and floods - food and hunger remain the continent's major worry.
Those attending the Sustainable Goals event spoke of its wide scope; UN chief Ban Ki-Moon said the new development blueprint was designed to "resonate with people across the world", while  UN Development Programme head Helen Clark said the goals called "for a paradigm shift in how the international society understands development".
Development, if truth be told, has sometimes been hampered by some of the very people who gather every September in the autumn sunshine.
But it is their solemn duty - and ours - to try and develop ourselves.
At its worst, the UN is a grey monolithic beast that is overstaffed with career diplomats and "angels of mercy" who run around African cities in their 4x4s on behalf of Western charities and their own ambitious career paths.
But at its best, the UN is the last refuge for the powerless, the hungry and the needy.
And Africa has far too many people in all three categories to do without it.


An eight-year-old boy can hold a pen for the first time after being fitted with a new hand printed in the colours of his favourite football team.

William Joyner was born without fingers on his left hand.
The Reading FC fan's blue and white prosthetic has been made by a senior lecturer and a PhD student at the University of Bedfordshire.
"My friends are really excited for me, I can't wait to take it home and show everyone," he said.
William from Towcester, Northamptonshire, aspires to play football in the British Paralympic team one day.
His mum Jo said: "That will really help him, especially with his football.
"It will help build his confidence and strengthen his left side because as the moment he doesn't use it much.
"Instead of people feeling sorry for him because of his hand, now they will be really impressed by his new one."
The hand was developed by senior lecturer David Jazani and technician Mark Hooper.
Mr Jazani said: "As engineers we are always looking for solutions to help people. This is only the beginning, we are looking to develop the hand as Will grows."
Mr Hooper added: "It's been brilliant watching him take to the hand so quickly and seeing the smile on his face.
"As the technology progresses, we hope to be able to help more people in the future."
William had a fitting on Tuesday for his permanent hand and will be able to take it home once some adjustments are made.


The 2014 Commonwealth Games has formally closed with a spectacular ceremony at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Kylie Minogue, Lulu, Deacon Blue and more than 2,000 performers brought the curtain down on what has been praised as the "best Games ever".
Team England topped the medals table with 174, while Scotland ended up with a record 53.
Comedian Des Clarke opened the show promising to say "cheerio with the biggest party in Scotland's history".
Lulu, wearing a tartan scarf, then performed a rousing rendition of her first hit Shout on a huge shooting star-shaped stage in the centre of the pitch.
The athletes who took part in the Games emerged from almost 700 tents dotted throughout the stadium to a thunderous Glasgow welcome from the 40,000-strong crowd.
The behind-the-scenes workers who kept Glasgow going for the duration of the Games were then celebrated.
Deacon Blue, who formed in the city in 1985 and went on to become one of its most famous and successful bands, paid tribute to them with a rendition of their anthem, Dignity.
All in all, some 220 members of the emergency services and various council services took centre stage during the ceremony.
The workers - some on foot and some in the vehicles they use day-to-day - were led into the arena by police outriders who had taken part in the baton relay and held aloft a "Let Glasgow Flourish" banner.
Local synthpop band Prides introduced the Games volunteers - known as Clydesiders - and performed their song Messiah.
Next up were representatives of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
The 240 massed pipes and drums from 12 international territories played ear-piercing renditions of Wi' a Hundred Pipers and The Bloody Fields of Flanders to herald the arrival of various Commonwealth dignitaries.
Glasgow 2014 chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin paid tribute to the athletes who "gave it their all" and the Clyde-siders, whom he described as the "lifeblood" of the Games.
He said: "We've welcomed the world to our dear green place and it has been an experience we will never forget. Thank you Glasgow and thank you Scotland. You've done us proud."
Prince Imran, of Malaysia, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), presented an award which recognises an outstanding athlete of the Commonwealth Games.
The 2014 David Dixon Award was handed to Welsh rhythmic gymnast Frankie Jones.
Prince Imran went on to describe Glasgow 2014 as "the best Games ever", adding: "Glasgow - you were Pure, Dead Brilliant."
He told the crowd: "The Commonwealth Games are known as the Friendly Games. Glasgow has succeeded in making them even more than that. These have truly been the People's Games."
The CGF flag was lowered by two military representatives to the backdrop of Robert Burns' Ae Fond Kiss, sung by Scottish folk singer Karen Matheson, lead singer with Capercaillie.
Michael Cavanagh, chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland said: "As a Games family, I believe we have entertained and inspired the watching world in the last 11 days."
Receiving the flag, Tom Tate, mayor of city of Gold Coast, said: "I am honoured to receive this flag on behalf of the people of City of Gold Coast, Australia.
"We accept this responsibility with great pride and in the spirit of the Commonwealth Games."
Vice patron of the CGF, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex formally declared the Games closed.
Pop icon Kylie, then took to the stage to begin a seven-song set, starting with Spinning Around.
The ceremony rounded off with Scots singer songwriter Dougie MacLean performing his classic ballad "Caledonia" as ceremony host Des Clarke urged everyone "haste ye back" to Glasgow.
A mass performance of Auld Lang Syne featuring all of the ceremony's performers and the thousands in the audience followed.
A Lone Piper on the stadium's roof introduced the song, before Maclean, Lulu and Kylie joined in as the crowds crossed arms in traditional style.
The celebrations were then completed with the finale fireworks.
Closing ceremony parties were also held at the Glasgow Green and Kelvingrove Bandstand live sites - with music and entertainment and the ceremony being shown on the big screens.
The closing ceremony marks the end of an almost seven-year journey for Glasgow that began on 9 November 2007 when the city was awarded the Games.
When the dust settles on Monday, the focus will begin to turn to what legacy the sporting extravaganza has left behind and whether it was worth the time, effort and huge amount of public money spent.


Phone-maker Blackberry is to stop operating in Pakistan at the end of 2015 because of government requests to monitor customer data.

The Pakistani government wanted to be able to monitor every message and email sent via its phones, it said.
In a blogpost, it said it had decided to "exit the market altogether" over the row.
It said Pakistan's demand was not to do with public safety but a request for "unfettered access".
In July, Pakistan's Telecommunications Authority told Blackberry the servers underpinning its messaging business would no longer be allowed to operate in the country, citing "security reasons".
Marty Beard, chief operating officer at Blackberry, said the "truth" of the matter was Pakistan had wanted to look at all the traffic passing across its messaging servers but the phone company would not "comply with that sort of directive".
"Remaining in Pakistan would have meant forfeiting our commitment to protect our users' privacy. That is a compromise we are not willing to make," wrote Mr Beard.
This led Pakistan to tell Blackberry its servers could no longer operate in the country.
Mr Beard said Blackberry did not support "backdoors" that would grant open access to customers' information and had never complied with such a request anywhere in the world.
"While we recognise the need to cooperate with lawful government investigative requests of criminal activity, we have never permitted wholesale access to our servers," he said.
Mr Beard said the company had regrets over leaving Pakistan because it was an "important market".
Initially, Blackberry said it would wind up its operations at the end of November. However, the exit date has now been moved to 30 December as the government shutdown deadline has been extended until that date.
Industry figures gathered by analyst company IDC suggest that, in early 2015, Blackberry had a 0.5% share of the global smartphone market. In 2014, Blackberry shipped about 5.8 million handsets - 70% less than in 2013.


Labour and Liberal Democrats MPs have vowed to fight any move to allow new grammar schools to be created.

Senior figures from both parties reacted to reports PM Theresa May may be considering lifting the existing ban in England to boost "social mobility", calling it a backwards step.
The Sunday Telegraph said a new wave of selective schools could be announced as soon as the Tory conference in October.
The education secretary has previously said she is "open minded" on the issue.
Grammar schools are state secondaries that select their pupils by means of an examination at age 10 to 11.
There are currently about 163 in England - out of some 3,000 state secondaries - and a further 69 in Northern Ireland.
But under a law created by the Labour government in 1998, no new grammar schools are allowed to open in England. Education policy is devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Why not bring back grammar schools?
Grammar schools: What are they?
The return of the grammar school?
The Sunday Telegraph quoted an unnamed government source as saying that allowing new grammars would be about "social mobility and making sure that people have the opportunity to capitalise on all of their talents".
Mrs May, who herself attended a grammar school which became a comprehensive school while she was there, is thought to be a supporter of new selective schools.
She has previously backed a grammar school's proposal to open a new "annexe" in her Maidenhead constituency, while her new chief of staff Nick Timothy has been quoted as supporting new selective schools in the past.
Responding to the Sunday Telegraph report, Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson said the party would oppose such a move, while shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said selective schools belonged "in the dustbin of history".
Labour leadership contender Owen Smith said grammar schools "entrench disadvantage - they don't overturn it", and promised he would "fight tooth and nail" against any plans to lift the ban.
And Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron tweeted: "Lib Dems will work to block any Tory attempt to create grammar schools."
Grammar schools make up around 5% of secondary schools in England; and a third of secondary schools in Northern Ireland. There are no grammar schools in Scotland and Wales.
For at least a generation, standing up for them has been a political minority sport. In this context, while the new prime minister and Education Secretary Justine Greening are coy in their language, their public willingness to be "open minded" is itself revealing.
Should the government decide to advocate an expansion of grammar schools - in whatever form - the opposition to that would be fierce.
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said "selection belongs in the dustbin of history and has no place in modern society". The Liberal Democrats are also strongly opposed.
But those in favour argue they can offer children from ordinary backgrounds an education often only available to those who can afford to pay for it.
Ms Greening has said she is "prepared to be open-minded" about school selection, but signalled that this might not mean a return to the old pattern of grammars and secondary moderns.
She stressed that education was no longer a "binary" world and that there were already a range of different types of school on offer.
Asked for comment, a Downing Street spokesman said: "Policies on education will be set out in due course."
He also said: "The prime minister has been clear that we need to build a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.
"Every child should be allowed to rise as far as their talents will take them and birth should never be a barrier."


James Forrest says the Celtic players have taken a huge lift from the news that boss Brendan Rodgers has committed his future to the club.

Rodgers, who has won the League Cup and Premiership title in his first season in Glasgow, signed a new four-year deal on Friday.
And Forrest says the news has further boosted the feel-good factor at Celtic.
"It's been a pleasure to work with him and hopefully we can continue it for years to come," the winger said.
"We just heard on Friday about the manager's new contract and all the boys are delighted.
"He didn't tell us, we only heard as we left training. But all the boys are happy and so are the staff.
"A few of us have signed a new deal this season so for him to sign up for the same length of time, it just continues the buzz about the place right now.
"We don't want to stop now, we want to keep going. It's exciting what we can achieve under him, now that he's committed long-term.
"Since he came in, it's been perfect up until now. But he's always working on us, he doesn't want to stop. That's great for the players and the fans."
Rodgers watched his Hoops side extend their unbeaten domestic run since the start of the season to 39 games with a comfortable 3-1 home win over Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Kilmarnock's Jordan Jones had levelled after Stuart Armstrong gave Celtic the lead, but Scott Sinclair popped up with Celtic's second before Forrest nodded in the third - the first headed goal of his career.
The win took Celtic on to 90 points in the Premiership, with a final game before the split away to Ross County next Sunday before their Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers on 23 April.


Some see in George Osborne a Chancellor of the Exchequer practising to be prime minister, in the way he has tried on his tour of China to set the agenda for the UK's future relationship with the world's second biggest economy.

But this afternoon, for a nano-second, I wondered whether he didn't fancy a permanent move to Beijing and a tilt at becoming Supreme Leader - because in an interview with me he set an economic target for the UK which felt quite People's Republic and five-year-plan in flavour.
He told me that it was his ambition that China should become the UK's second biggest export market within 10 years - compared with sixth or seventh now, and ninth in 2010.
Hmmm. British politicians who set themselves up to boost our export performance to particular countries have historically set themselves up to fail.
Maybe this time it will be different.
And, in fairness to him, when I said that I didn't think there were levers available to him at the Treasury to forcibly redirect British businesses more towards the products and services the Chinese actually want or need, or to compel the Chinese to remove barriers to trade, he didn't really try to talk me round.
So I fear this is more the pep talk of the manager of a struggling football team at the start of the season.
That said, governments can help a bit to boost trade by opening doors and providing finance, and few would disagree that the UK should and must sell more to the Chinese - because the latest stats show that our sales to China were considerably less than a third of those to America and were more-or-less the same as to Belgium and Luxembourg.
And in case you wondered, the population of Shanghai alone - which is where George Osborne set this trade goal - is well over twice that of Belgium and Luxembourg combined.
So if we just did better in Shanghai, that would make a lot of British businesses a lot more prosperous.
Just maybe if we were slightly better at speaking their language we would be more adept at selling to them. So he is providing £10m to train up teachers able to turn 5000 young British people into mandarin speakers.
One thing which is clear is that the Chancellor is playing to win, and isn't letting conscience get in the way of extracting cash from the great wallet of China.
This morning he announced an important manifestation of a hoped-for trade and investment convergence between the UK and China: plans to establish a revolutionary electronic connection between the Shanghai and London stock exchanges, which would allow Chinese shares to be traded in London and vice versa.
His marketing blarney is that the Shanghai market will be less vulnerable to the kind of dramatic falls it has suffered in recent weeks if it is more closely integrated with global markets - although it is not at all clear that these linkages transmit liquidity and calm, or fear, loathing and increased volatility.
Now George Osborne's sinophilia does not extend to China's one-party state or apparent contempt for civil liberties we regard as basic - as he made clear in a speech this afternoon at the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
But commerce comes first - or rather he appears to believe that getting closer to the Chinese in a commercial sense will osmotically lead China's leadership to absorb our values.
Not everyone would concur. And it is certainly striking that he is to be the first western minister to visit Urumqi, where the indigenous Uighur population feel economic and culturally discriminated against for their Islamic faith.
As for China's significant economic slowdown, which George Osborne acknowledges is real, his hope is that if China succeeds in re-tilting its economy more towards consumer spending - and away from excessive debt-financed investment - Chinese people and businesses may feel more inclined to buy British.


Sonny Bill Williams will start at centre in New Zealand's Rugby Championship opener against Australia after completing a four-match ban.

Williams, 32, was sent off in the second Lions Test and successfully appealed against a decision not to include a warm-up game in his ban.
Ex-Wasps back Kurtley Beale, 28, will make his first appearance for Australia since the 2015 World Cup final.
Australia host holders New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday at 11:00 BST.
South Africa then face Argentina in Port Elizabeth at 16:00 BST.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has made six changes to the side that drew the third Test against the British and Irish Lions in July.
Ryan Crotty partners Williams at centre, Damian McKenzie comes in at full-back, Ben Smith and Rieko Ioane are named on the wings, while Liam Squire replaces Jerome Kaino at blind-side flanker.
Williams has not played since he was red carded for a shoulder charge on Anthony Watson during the Lions' second Test victory over New Zealand on 1 July.
He was cleared to play against Australia after an independent appeal committee ruled a 'game of three halves' involving provincial sides and the All Blacks had sufficient meaning to be part of Williams' suspension.
"He's certainly raring to go - it's been an awkward time for him, it's been tough," said assistant coach Ian Foster.
"He's made sure that he has used that time smartly, he's trained well and been able to get on top of a couple of niggles."
Beale left Wasps at the end of the Premiership season to rejoin former side New South Wales Waratahs after he was advised to return to fulfil his ambition of playing in the 2019 World Cup.
He scored 12 tries in 60 Tests for the Wallabies prior to a knee injury he suffered in the 2016 Super Rugby season, which also delayed his debut for Wasps.
Beale is one of five changes made by coach Michael Cheika from the side that beat beat Italy 40-27 in Brisbane in June.
Curtis Rona makes his debut on the left wing, Henry Speight comes in on the right wing, Samu Kerevi partners Beale at centre, while Sean McMahon starts at number eight.


For a social network that only allows very brief messages, we perhaps shouldn't be surprised that some users had a short attention span.

And it's because of this Dick Costolo is stepping down. The 51-year-old announced he'll no longer be Twitter's chief executive as of next month.
He achieved a lot in his five-year tenure - Twitter, now a public company, has established itself in various countries around the world. It's far more stable than it used to be. And it's still the best place for breaking news online (when it's true, that is).
The problem Costolo couldn't solve was how to attract new users. Or, at least, enough new users to keep growth-hungry Wall Street investors happy.
And of the people that did sign up, analysts say they weren't being given enough reasons to stick around for very long.
Remarkably, some don't even bother tweeting at all - one report last year suggested as many as 44% of Twitter's users had never posted a single message.
Meanwhile, rivals like Facebook were racing away - growing healthily, and acquiring companies that kept things fresh.
Just today we were given a glimpse at the consumer version of Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset bought by Facebook for $2bn last year - an investment in the future of how we communicate, and in a different league of ambition when compared to anything in Twitter's plans.
Admittedly, Twitter is a much smaller company which is focusing on its core product. But even here it is being outmanoeuvred by the likes of ephemeral image-sharing network Snapchat - a social network that rose to fame as a way to send naughty pictures to loved ones, but has now established itself as a thriving place to communicate - especially among young people.
All this adds up to a worrying outlook for a company that is relying on advertising to provide its revenue. Despite a massive push into offering promoted tweets, it's just not attracting anywhere near the kind of spend it needs to turn its balance sheet around.
According to eMarketer, Facebook commands a 7.93% share of the $145bn worldwide digital advertising market. Google, the runaway leader, has 31.42%.
Twitter: just 0.87%.
Part of the reason is that attention span problem - people just aren't looking at the site often enough.
Twitter used to measure this using its "timeline view" metric, a gauge of how often a user visits Twitter and refreshes their timeline.
It made for miserable reading. Like overall user numbers, the average timeline views were not increasing enough. In its latest earnings report, Twitter didn't even include timeline views at all, saying it wasn't a trustworthy way to judge engagement.
These issues wouldn't be so much a problem if Twitter was seen to be innovating its way out of the hole - but some of its investors had lost confidence in Costolo's steering of the ship.
One investor in the company, Chris Sacca, was concerned enough to outline his worries in an open letter, posted earlier this month, and running to a mighty 8,500 words.
"I believe in Twitter," he began.
"I am very bullish on Twitter's future and I can't imagine life without it."
But he went on to outline several issues he said needed to be solved:
The second one on that list is perhaps the most intriguing. What is it about Twitter, you may wonder, that is making people go as far as joiningâ€¦ but not using?
For those who have been on Twitter for years, the drip-drip of new features and users has been manageable, enjoyable even. But for a newcomer, it is perhaps an overwhelming, confusing place full of journalists shouting "BREAKING!!!" whenever someone so much as sneezes.
And after a year of headlines about trolling and bullying - not to mention the regular Twitterstorms that ignite the community in fury over issues most people will forget in a day - Twitter may not seem like an altogether fun place to be.
Or perhaps there's a more basic worry, writes Chris Sacca.
"Feeling obligated to post to Twitter creates so much anxiety that it actually keeps hundreds of millions of people from sticking around. The company hears it all the time, and I have no doubt that you have heard it from friends as well."
A committee has been set-up by Twitter, led by interim chief executive and founder Jack Dorsey, to work out who should take over long term.
Their biggest task was eloquently outlined (in a tweet, naturally) by Ray Sultan, who works for Buzzfeed.
"Requirement for next CEO: find a way to explain Twitter to actual human beings."
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC


A football club is claiming to be the world's first to adopt a vegan match day menu after removing cows' milk from its hot drinks.

National League club Forest Green Rovers stopped selling meat burgers in 2011 and in July took fish off the menu to become fully vegetarian.
Cow milk has been replaced with soya or oat milk to rid the Gloucestershire club's menu of all animal products.
The move is inspired by the club's chairman, who is himself a vegan.
It is the final step in his vision for the club to go vegan, which means excluding products such as dairy, eggs and honey.
Chairman Dale Vince said: "The gap between vegetarian and vegan food is actually quite small; it's a step rather than a leap to take.
"A lot of our food has been vegan for some time now, and this season we've taken the last small step."
The Nailsworth-based club's timely transition to veganism follows the World Health Organisation (WHO) report on Monday which linked processed meat consumption to cancer.
Mr Vince added: "As the WHO report this week makes plain, meat is bad for human health, being a major cause of cancer.
"Making these facts plain and demonstrating what a plant based diet looks, and tastes like, is an important part of our work."
Mr Vince, who is the founder of the wind turbine company, Ecotricity, has also made other eco-friendly moves to improve the club's sustainability.
This has included fitting solar panels to its stadium roof, and making an "organic" pitch by avoiding the use of chemicals.
In July, the club also announced plans to create a multi-million pound green technology centre near the M5 motorway.


A table tennis coach has admitted engaging in sexual activity with a teenage girl he met at a tournament.

Matthew Morris, 29, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, travelled to hotels in Glasgow between July and November 2013 to meet the 15-year-old girl.
He was caught after colleagues at the English Table Tennis Association reported their concerns to police.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court, sentence on Morris was deferred for background reports and his bail was continued.
He was also placed on the sex offenders' register.
The court heard that Morris and the schoolgirl - who cannot be named for legal reasons - met at a tournament in Liverpool when he was 27 and she was 14.
It was heard that when she was 15 "they became involved".
Other members of staff at the Table Tennis Association found out and the police were contacted.
Morris was questioned by police in March 2014 before being released.
When police later analysed the girl's phone, they found 10 pictures involving Morris.
Some showed them on beds kissing while others were pictures of his body that he had sent to her.


Barcelona have signed Brazil midfielder Paulinho from Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande for 40m euro (£36.4m).

The former Tottenham player, 29, is the Spanish club's first signing since Neymar left to join Paris St-Germain in a world record transfer.
Meanwhile, Barca's Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez will be out for "four to five weeks" after he was injured in the Super Cup defeat by Real Madrid.
He will also miss World Cup qualifiers against Argentina and Paraguay.
Paulinho joined Tottenham for £17m from Corinthians in 2013, before moving to China in 2015.
He helped Evergrande win last season's Chinese Super League and leaves the team top of the table in the current campaign.
Paulinho said: "You have to face challenges with courage. I will try to do my job and I am prepared. It's a very satisfying moment. The dream I have been looking for has come true. I will give everything."
Barcelona are also keen on Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho and Borussia Dortmund forward Ousmane Dembele.


More than 100 people are now known to have died in flooding in the eastern Indonesian province of West Papua.

Scores more are still missing in Teluk Wondama district after flash floods and landslides that were triggered when a river burst its banks.
Hundreds of people have been injured and more than 5,000 are being housed in tents set up in emergency camps.
The National Search and Rescue Agency and military have sent reinforcements to help deal with the disaster.
The sudden flooding on Monday caught residents by surprise, officials said, contributing to the high death toll.
The local airport has now reopened and roads have been largely cleared of debris, which is helping to speed up aid deliveries to the area, reports say.
Navy warships had previously been used to carry tents, medical supplies and food to the disaster zone.
Thousands of buildings, roads and bridges in five villages have been damaged or destroyed.
The head of the the provincial relief agency, Dortheis Sawaki, said 104 bodies had been recovered, but many more people were missing and the death toll was expected to rise.
"It's a tragedy. The smell of rotting corpses is everywhere. Power is down. There's no clean water," she was quoted by AP as saying.
Many parts of the country had been badly hit by heavy rains, winds and high waves this year, meteorologists said.


A mountain biker is believed to have injured herself while trying to emulate feats by stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill's in Skye's mountains.

The woman broke a leg in a fall at Coire Lagan, which is 609.6m (2,000ft) up in the Cuillin hills.
Skye-born MacAskill made his 2014 short film The Ridge in the Cuillin. It featured stunts high in the range.
Skye Mountain Rescue Team urged people not to replicate MacAskill's daredevil rides.
The team, which rescued the woman last Friday, said it had been encountering a number of cyclists high in the mountains recently.
A spokesman: "We have been coming across people on bikes in places they shouldn't really be.
"Once they do get to these places they soon realise that in reality it is a very different prospect from what they thought it would be like.
"Our message is please don't try and be like Danny MacAskill."
The spokesman said the rescued woman appeared to be dressed for attempted stunts.
He said: "She had the helmet and the knee pads."
However, she fell a few feet close to a loch at Coire Lagan, an ice age geological feature high in the Cuillin.
It is surrounded by the rocky peaks of Sgurr Alisdair, Sgurr Mhich Chonnich and the Inaccessible Pinnacle, also known as the In Pinn.
MacAskill took a bike to the top of the In Pinn, a challenging rock formation, for the making of The Ridge.
The film has been viewed more than 50 million times on YouTube.


A man has been arrested after a train carrying 42 people ploughed into an empty car on a level crossing.

The CrossCountry train struck the car at Clay Mills near Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, at 19:25 BST on Monday. There were no reported injuries.
The car was destroyed but nobody was inside. The driver was found unhurt in nearby Meadow Lane.
British Transport Police arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of obstructing the railway.
The 39 passengers and three crew were checked by paramedics but did not need further treatment.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "On arrival, crews found the Cross Country train approximately 500 yards from the level crossing.
"The car involved had been destroyed by the impact, but fortunately the train hadn't derailed."


Cafodd achos o enwaedu neu anffurfio organau cenhedlu benywod ei ddarganfod unwaith pob tri diwrnod gan staff mamolaeth yng Nghymru'r llynedd.

Mae ffigyrau newydd yn dangos bod 123 achos o anffurfio organau cenhedlu - neu female genital mutilation (FGM) - wedi eu darganfod gan fydwragedd neu ddoctoriaid mamolaeth yn 2016.
Yr amcangyfrif yw bod 2,000 o ferched yng Nghymru yn byw gyda FGM, a 200 miliwn ar draws y byd.
Mae'r arfer hwn yn gyffredin mewn rhai cymunedau Affricanaidd ac Asiaidd a chymunedau'r Dwyrain Canol ar draws y DU, gan gynnwys Cymru.
Cafodd y ffigyrau eu darparu gan saith bwrdd iechyd Cymru yn dilyn cais rhyddid gwybodaeth gan BBC Cymru.
Maen nhw'n dangos mai ym Mwrdd Iechyd Aneurin Bevan y cafodd y mwyaf o achosion eu darganfod - 53 - tra bo 44 wedi'u darganfod yng Nghaerdydd a'r Fro.
Powys oedd yr unig fwrdd iechyd heb unrhyw achosion.
Dywedodd elusen BAWSO eu bod wedi cefnogi 788 o deuluoedd sy'n cael eu heffeithio gan FGM yn 2014-15.
Mae ymgyrchwyr wedi rhybuddio athrawon i fod yn wyliadwrus am y gallai merched ifanc gael eu hebrwng dramor yn ystod gwyliau'r haf i gael FGM, am ei fod yn cymryd hyd ar bedair wythnos i wella.
Galwodd BAWSO am agor clinig penodol ar gyfer dioddefwyr FGM yn Ysbyty Brenhinol Caerdydd.
Mae pum clinig o'r fath yn Lloegr, ac mae'r elusen eisiau gweld un yn agor yng Nghymru i ddarparu help meddygol a seicolegol i ddioddefwyr.
Mae FGM wedi bod yn drosedd yn y DU ers 1985, ond does neb wedi cael eu herlyn yn llwyddiannus hyd yn hyn.
Dywedodd adroddiad gan Gyngor Caerdydd bod Gwasanaeth Erlyn y Goron yn ymchwilio i ddau achos yng Nghymru, ond does dim gorchymyn i warchod merched mewn perygl o FGM wedi'i wneud yma.


A man is morris dancing his way from London to Norwich to recreate the journey undertaken by William Shakespeare's clown in 1600.

Rick Jones, from Catford in London, will set off from London Bridge later and dance through Essex and Suffolk before arriving in Norwich on 1 May.
The journey was first undertaken by Shakespeare actor Will Kemp.
Mr Jones' dance begins on what is believed to be the day Shakespeare was born in 1564.
It is thought the actor and clown Kemp embarked on his trip to prove how popular he was with the public, after falling out with Shakespeare.
Mr Jones intends to complete Kemp's "Nine Daies Wonder" 100-mile (160 km) journey in nine days, although it actually took Kemp about a month.
"He danced very vigorously so had to take three or four days off at a time before starting again," Mr Jones said.
"I won't be dancing like that."
In fact, he admits he has only attended two sessions with Blackheath Morris Men who taught him a "few steps".
The troupe will dance with him on London Bridge before waving him off on his solo journey.
Wearing a doublet, hose, a hat with bells and carrying his lute and ribbons, Mr Jones said he intends to morris dance on the way in and out of the towns on his route.
These will be Southwark, Romford, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Braintree, Long Melford, Bury St Edmunds, Thetford, Hingham and eventually Norwich.
"I'll sort of skip the rest of the time," he said.


Ruth Rendell was a leading member of the generation of writers who took crime fiction and turned it into literature.

In a career spanning 50 years, she wrote more than 60 novels, as well as serving as a Labour member of the House of Lords.
Her most famous creation was Inspector Wexford, who appeared in 24 books.
But she also wrote more than two dozen standalone novels, and a further 14 under the pen-name Barbara Vine - an amalgam of her middle name and her great grandmother's maiden name.
Ruth Barbara Grasemann was born in 1930, in South Woodford in Essex, the only child of Ebba Kruse, who had been born in Sweden and brought up in Denmark, and Arthur Grasemann, who was English.
Her childhood was reputedly unhappy, but she rarely spoke of it in interviews, just as she refused to talk about the mystery of her marriage and divorce. She wed Don Rendell, a journalist, in 1953; the couple divorced in 1975 but remarried two years later. They had one son.
Rendell herself started out as a journalist on a local Essex newspaper, but resigned after filing a story about an after-dinner speech in which she failed to report that the speaker dropped dead halfway through - she hadn't been there.
The first Wexford book, From Doon with Death, appeared in 1964.  It was also her first published novel: she was paid an advance of Â£75.
Wexford - played in the successful television adaptations by George Baker - shared many of his creator's convictions and prejudices, though he was a Liberal Democrat and Rendell always described herself as a socialist.  "The way he thinks, and his principles and ideas and what he likes doing, that's me," she told one interviewer.
The books were conventional crime stories, but the settings were contemporary and convincing - and while the novels' structures may have been conventional her way of writing them sometimes was not.
"I have an idea and I have a perpetrator and I write the book along those lines," she said in a BBC interview, "and when I get to the last chapter I change the perpetrator, so that if I can deceive myself I can deceive the reader."
But as well as the Wexford books, she wrote more than two dozen standalone novels, often featuring misfits and deviant characters on the margins of society.
And in 1986, she began publishing darker psychological thrillers as Barbara Vine.  They were, she said, more searching, more serious and more analytical than her other books.  And she admitted more than once to being fascinated by other people's secrets.
Many of her books did not just present readers with a puzzle but linked murder and crime with social injustice or economic disadvantage.
In Rendell's world, the conservative instincts of middle England often helped to provoke antisocial and irrational behaviour rather than keeping it in check.
That reflected her own political views.  Appointed a CBE in 1996, she was elevated to the House of Lords as a Labour peer in 1997.  She spoke out against racism, sexism and class disadvantage, and among her achievements as a working peer was the introduction of a 2003 act which made it a crime to send girls abroad to be subjected to female genital mutilation.
Fifteen years ago, her fellow crime-writer Val McDermid described her as unique among British crime writers.  "No-one can equal her range or her accomplishment; no-one has earned more respect from her fellow practitioners.
"The broad church that is current British crime writing owes much to a writer who has... consistently demonstrated that the genre can continually reinvent itself, moving in new directions, assuming new concerns and exploring new ways of telling stories."
And Ruth Rendell herself said of her 40-year friendship with another queen of the genre, PD James: "Both of us thought more about the characters than the crime."


A Cambridgeshire police officer has been sacked without notice for gross misconduct after he was convicted of an offence under the Computer Misuse Act.

Det Sgt Matthew Swash, who was based at March Police Station, was found to have breached professional standards.
In February, he was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court to two months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.
He had admitted accessing unauthorised information about a colleague on a police computer system.
Wednesday's hearing found he had breached Standards of Professional Behaviour in a number of areas, including respect of honesty and integrity, equality and diversity, confidentially and through discreditable conduct.


Plans to revive an ancient ferry crossing in Carmarthenshire have received a cash boost of £300,000.

The Coastal Communities grant has been awarded to a group which wants to restore the service between Ferryside and Llansteffan.
The crossing dates back 1,000 years and was a favourite with 19th and early 20th Century tourists from the south Wales valleys during "miners fortnight".
It was discontinued in the 1950s.
This left walkers and cyclists facing an 18 mile (29km) round trip up the estuary.
The grant will allow the group to build a "bespoke amphibious ferry boat" fitted with retractable wheels like an aircraft, to avoid the need for a jetty.
It will initially run daily for eight and a half months of the year, with the aim of an all year-round service in the future.
The project will create five jobs, including two skippers and mates and administrative posts, and it is hoped the ferry will start operating next year.
Speaking on Good Morning Wales, Les Jones from Carmarthen Bay Ferries said the Tywi estuary was a difficult place to run a ferry due to "a very high tidal range, strong currents and shifting sand banks".
He said they had looked at using a conventional boat, but would need to "improve the jetty in Ferryside and build an extremely long one in Llansteffan".
He said the amphibious boat "will be driven on land and will perform as a very fast motorboat when on the water".
It is being designed by a company in Solva, Pembrokeshire.
Rob Bamford, also from Carmarthen Bay Ferries, said they surveyed both communities and found that "there was a good interest for using a ferry if one was in place".
He said it would "bring the communities together" for both locals and tourists, and offer excursions.
The idea was the brainchild of retired Liverpool University professor Kenton Morgan.
He previously said: "It's known there are 400,000 annual visitors to Cefn Sidan beach just along the coast, and tens of thousands of visitors to Llansteffan Castle, Ferryside Castle and Laugharne, with its Dylan Thomas links.
"If the plan is approved, the ferry itself will become a tourist attraction."


Iran's conservative media love to use the phrase "the old fox" to describe Britain and remind audiences of what they see as the cunning, sly and devious actions of the UK.

The stock phrase cropped up again on the occasion of Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond's visit to Tehran to reopen the British embassy nearly four years after it was closed amid attacks by hardline protesters.
Conservative daily Hemayat carried a front page report headlined "The old fox arrived with its lights turned off". Another conservative daily, Resalat, published a report entitled "No-one is happy with the return of the old fox".
As in many other countries, foxes symbolise a cunning and sly character in Persian literature but where does the term "the old fox" come from?
In the Persian language, a poet who died in Tehran around 85 years ago was the first to promote the phrase.
Seyyed Ahmad Adib Pishavari (1844-1930) was an expert in literature and philosophy, whose work was characterised by anti-British sentiment.
Born in Peshawar, in today's Pakistan, he lost many of his relatives during the wars with British forces in 1857-58. Adib later moved to Iran where he continued his education.
There, he experienced major events such as the Constitutional Revolution, in 1905-07. The revolution led to the establishment of the parliament during the Qajar dynasty.
Despite the fact that the majority of people backed the creation of the constitutional monarchy, Adib described the revolution as a "plot" hatched by Britain.
His anti-UK feelings emerged in his poetry, particularly during World War One. In fact, he wrote several poems in support of the German Kaiser.
Throughout his works, he often likened the UK to animals - an "old fox", an "ominous raven" and a "venomous viper" - to attack British colonial policies in Iran and the region, policies which he saw as "evil". The term, the old fox, however, remains popular to this day.
The following is a translation of one of Adib's poems:
Many an ancient house
Was razed after you crept in
You seized lands through your fox games
You have escaped hundred of traps, like an old fox.
There's been an orchestrated media campaign against the reopening of the British embassy. Conservative media outlets are highlighting key moments in Iran and Britain's troubled history including Britain's complicity in the CIA 1953 coup which toppled the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq.
They also accuse Britain of helping mastermind and provoke the mass street protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which followed the disputed presidential elections in 2009. Conservatives refer to those protests as "sedition".
"Such documented historical evidence is only one part of the treason and deception of the evil British government against the noble people of Iran. That's a strong reason for the historical hatred by Iranians towards Britain and that's why they call it 'the old fox'," says a commentary from the conservative Mehr news agency.
Some hardline users also took to social media platforms to criticise the perceived thaw in the bilateral relations by posting pictures and cartoons of "the old fox".
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.


News of the retirement of one of Ethiopia's national icons caught most in the country unawares.

Haile Gebrselassie - Olympic gold medallist, winner of more than 20 sporting records, businessman and activist - pulled out of his first appearance at the New York marathon with a knee injury and told journalists afterwards that he was quitting competitive sports.
Ethiopian state television carried the announcement on Monday morning.
"We love Haile very much, every Ethiopian loves him," Eyoseyas Daniel, 23, told the BBC on the streets of the capital Addis Ababa.
He said he was sorry to hear of Haile's retirement and that he hoped he would reconsider.
"He is our hero and I don't think there is any runner who runs like him and I don't think any runner who will come like him. He is just a hero."
Abebe Abebaw said he was a model for the country, while another Addis Ababa resident Walelgn Tamir recalled how he had been at the forefront of Ethiopia's long-distance running rivalry with neighbouring Kenya.
But he recognised that Gebrselassie's career could not go on for ever.
"He is getting old, older and older, so it is getting difficult after this time for him because of age," he said.
Haile Gebrselassie, 37, leaves the sport he dominated for the last two decades with a string of records.
But he has also made a name for himself outside the sporting world, as a businessman, educator, philanthropist and art collector.
He and his wife, Alem, have three daughters and one son. He told a local magazine last year that he would like his children to become runners, to achieve more than he has and to make their own names.
The couple also own a construction business and built the country's first private cinema, which shows only Ethiopian films. Alem Cinema is in the same building that houses the gym where he trains, Alem Fitness Centre.
He has built and owns two schools, and his resort in the southern tourist town of Hawassa opened earlier this year.
Gebrselassie's influence even stretches into politics. He is one of the Elders, a group of Ethiopians who have mediated in political crises in the country since 2005.
The Elders helped negotiate the release of the people imprisoned in the aftermath of the bitterly-disputed 2005 parliamentary election.
They also helped broker the pardon and release last month of the opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa. Gebrselassie apparently allowed Ms Birtukan to recuperate at his resort, free of charge, with her mother and young daughter.
He is aware that his achievements in sports have made him an international legend, and told me last year that he would use that platform to make a difference in the world.
And so, beyond national politics, Gebrselassie is involved in international campaigns against climate change and malaria.
He feels strongly that athletes must be taught to manage their finances, and spent one week last November training with and mentoring young runners.
Ten years ago, he founded the Great Ethiopian Run, which has since become known as Africa's biggest road race.
The contest is open to amateur and professional runners and is recognised as a show of talent from the continent's next generation of runners.
So beloved is Gebrselassie in Ethiopia that in 2001, the country's best known musician Tedi Afro composed a song in his honour and with his name.
Given his status both nationally and beyond, there are some who believe that Gebrselassie may not have finished running - but that his next race may well be a political one.


A police watchdog is to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a man at a flat in Glasgow.

The 49-year-old man's body was discovered on Monday 30 January.
The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (Pirc) inquiry will focus on the response of Police Scotland after the force received a telephone call from a member of the public.
A report on the Pirc findings will be submitted to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.


A white police officer who fatally shot a black man after apparently mistaking his gun for a Taser has been charged with manslaughter.

Robert Bates, a 73-year-old volunteer sheriff's deputy, shot Mr Harris after an undercover weapons sting.
A video filmed on 2 April in Tulsa shows Eric Harris, 44, chased and brought to ground before he is shot.
It follows a series of shootings of black men by white US police officers, which have sparked a national debate.
Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler said the manslaughter charges involved culpable negligence.
It carries a prison sentence of up to four years.
Prosecutors said Mr Bates had served as a reserve deputy, a volunteer position, since 2008.
Some are questioning how Mr Bates, chief executive of an insurance firm and a major donor to the Sheriff's Office, came to be involved in such a high-risk operation.
The Harris family lawyer said he had paid big money to "play a cop".
The video of the shooting was released on the request of Mr Harris's family after an investigation.
Mr Harris was accused of trying to sell an illegal gun to an undercover officer in a sting operation.
In the video, a gunshot is heard and a man says, "Oh, I shot him. I'm sorry."
Mr Harris is heard calling out "He shot me, he shot me" and says he is losing his breath as he is pinned down.
Another voice dismisses Mr Harris's complaint using an expletive.
Mr Harris was treated at the scene but died later in hospital.
A police investigator said Bates thought he drew a stun gun, not his handgun.
For the second time in a week, a videotaped fatal shooting of a black man has provoked an outcry.
Last week Walter Scott, an unarmed 50-year-old, was shot in the back and killed in South Carolina.
The protests that followed that incident continued months of demonstrations about police use of force, ever since a black unarmed teenager was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer.


James will open the 2016 Glastonbury festival, frontman Tim Booth has told BBC 5 live.

The band, whose hits include Sit Down and Laid, will be the first act on the Other Stage at 11:00 on Friday 24 June.
"We're going to cut the ribbon and smash the champagne on the ship," said Booth.
It has become Glastonbury tradition for a big-name band to kick proceedings off. Kaiser Chiefs and The Charlatans have taken the slot in recent years.
Adele, Coldplay and Muse will headline this year's festival in Somerset.
Asked whether Adele was a suitable headliner, James' bassist Jim Glennie said: "I don't know how you judge the suitability... They always want to take a risk, which is admirable, like stick Metallica on and see what happens.
"[But] the most interesting things happen maybe not on the main stage. I look more for things that are hidden away."
Other confirmed acts include PJ Harvey, Jeff Lynne's ELO and Jess Glynne.
The festival traditionally waits until the final tranche of tickets have been sold, following the spring resale, before revealing its full line-up.
Formed in 1982, James took almost a decade to achieve fame. At one point, the band submitted themselves for medical experiments just to stay afloat.
Their breakthrough came with the student disco anthem Sit Down in 1991, and the band were swept along with the Madchester scene that also produced The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.
But they always had loftier pretensions, working with Brian Eno on the experimental album Wah Wah, which AllMusic later called "one of the more un-commercial albums any band of its stature has had a hand in releasing."
Their more successful records leaned towards mainstream rock, and the band consistently scored top 20 hits throughout the 1990s with tracks like She's A Star, Born Of Frustration and Tomorrow.
Yet they always had a sense of unfulfilled potential - perhaps because the music had showered the band with hyperbole in their early days. At one point the NME opined: "This is what The Smiths think they sound like."
It proved to be a blessing and a burden for the group.
"Most of the time I feel really blessed," Booth told music website Popmatters. "[But] on a bad day, we haven't done enough.  We haven't achieved enough.  We've been lazy."
He left James in 2001 to pursue a solo career - but the band reunited for a tour in 2007, which led to new recording sessions and several well-received albums.
Their latest, Girl At The End Of The World, was released last week and sees the band experiment with synthesizers and dance beats.


"Serious questions" should be asked of the Welsh Government over public appointments, the former vice-chairwoman of Sport Wales has said.

Adele Baumgardt was sacked alongside chairman of the troubled quango Paul Thomas on Wednesday.
Ms Baumgardt, who had worked for Sport Wales for more than 10 years, said Mr Thomas was not fit for the job - an allegation he denies
The Welsh Government said there were "lessons to be learned".
In November, the Welsh Government suspended the entire Sport Wales board, over concerns the organisation was dysfunctional.
On Wednesday Public Health Minister Rebecca Evans sacked Mr Thomas and Ms Baumgardt saying there had been "an irretrievable breakdown in relationships" in the board's leadership.
Speaking to BBC's Good Morning Wales programme, Ms Baumgardt said the board had been "well governed, managed and led" and would go from "strength to strength" under new leadership.
She claimed Sport Wales had been one of the most successful public organisations in Wales until the appointment of Mr Thomas in April 2016.
"To have ended up in this situation, I think serious questions need to be asked about how the process works with public appointments," said Ms Baumgardt.
"This is a really strong organisation with a strong board."
Ms Baumgardt, who worked at the organisation for more than 10 years, repeated claims that Mr Thomas was not fit for the job, an accusation Mr Thomas has rejected.
She insisted there was no evidence she had done anything wrong and there was no reason why she should have been sacked.
Mr Thomas has accused the Welsh Government of being "appalling" in its dealings with him, saying he had not been given the support he needed to change the organisation,
Sport Wales, originally called the Sports Council for Wales, was created in 1972 to promote elite and grassroots sport. It has an annual budget of Â£22m.
Over the last six months it has become embroiled in a series of rows over the operation of the board and the way it awards contracts.
A review of Sport Wales, by the Welsh Government, has been completed, but has not been released to the public.
A Welsh Government spokesman said a review examining Mr Thomas' appointment confirmed the proper process had been followed.
"The appointment process complied fully with the principles of merit, fairness and openness," he said.
"There are lessons to be learned from the situation that arose and what is required of individuals being appointed to a public leadership role."


Green Party leader Natalie Bennett has told anti-fracking campaigners, facing eviction in Cheshire "non-violent direct action", may be necessary.

The protesters have been camping in a field near Upton in Chester for the past 18 months, but were given 28 days to leave by a judge last week.
Natalie Bennett said the campers were "standing up for their community".
Landowner, energy firm IGas, said the camp was illegal.
The protesters have been in the field since April 2014 to prevent testing on the site by IGas.
It has planning permission to test for coal-bed methane, and last month announced it had bought the leasehold on the land.
Visiting the camp earlier, Natalie Bennett stated: "These people are standing up for their community, supporting the fight for a sensible energy policy, a sensible environmental policy for Britain's future.
"We understand that non-violent direct action sometimes is necessary when the other mechanisms fail we need to take action, and people historically have taken action to get the real kind of political change we need", but added she would "very much not" support violent action to remain on the site.
Last week a judge at Manchester County Court said the campaigners had no permission to be on the field and said there was "no reason peaceful protest couldn't take place without the occupation of the land".
Judge David Hodge QC gave the protesters until the 4 December "to pack up and vacate".
In a statement, IGas said "Whilst we respect the right to peaceful protest, we do not condone any activities that are unlawful."
Camp resident Vanda Gillett told the BBC "The community have been behind us because they don't want fracking in this area at all".


The US and Turkey have reached an agreement which will see Turkish jets join the air campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants.

American officials hailed the agreement as "a significant step forward" in the fight against IS.
Turkey is already allowing US planes to operate from two Turkish airbases.
Turkey has already conducted a handful of strikes against IS, but it will now be fully integrated into the strategy of the wider anti-IS coalition.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said it would probably take "a few days'' to put the agreement into practice.
He added that "co-operation with the Turks and the expansion of that co-operation remains a work in progress" and that talks were continuing with Turkey "with regard to border issues".
Last month Turkey launched its first strikes on IS militants since the group began its advance through Iraq and Syria in 2013.
It had previously been reluctant to take military action, but that position changed after a number of attacks within Turkey that were blamed on IS.
However, Turkey has been targeting militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq as well as Islamic State militants.
Observers say PKK fighters have been on the receiving end of far more attacks than IS.
Turkish officials deny that the campaign against the Islamic State group is a cover to prevent Kurdish gains.
The government has previously faced criticism at home and abroad for not doing enough against IS, despite being part of the international coalition fighting it.


The Northern Ireland rock guitarist, Henry McCullough, has died.

The 72-year-old died on Tuesday morning.
Mr McCullough grew up in Portstewart, County Londonderry. He recorded with a number of very well-known musicians including Sir Paul McCartney and Wings, featuring on the hit James Bond theme, Live and Let Die.
He played with Joe Cocker at the legendary Woodstock concert in 1969, the only Irishman to perform there.
Mr McCullough also toured with rock acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd.
He had received critical acclaim in recent years for albums such as Belfast to Boston and Poor Man's Moon.
Sir Paul McCartney said he was "very sad" to hear of Mr McCullough's death.
"He was a pleasure to work with, a super talented musician with a lovely sense of humour," he told the BBC.
"The solo he played on My Love was a classic that he made up on the spot in front of a live orchestra. Our deepest sympathies from my family to his."
Singer and musician Sir Van Morrison said he was "very sorry" to hear about Mr McCullough's death.
"I know he had some difficult times recently, but he will be remembered for his long and productive career in music," he said.
"My thoughts are with his friends and family at this time."
Mr McCullough spent 18 months touring and recording with Wings in the 1970s, after being invited to join the band following a number of jamming sessions with Sir Paul McCartney.
He was hailed for his guitar work on the US number one hit, My Love.
Mr McCullough later signed to the Dark Horse record label of another Beatle, George Harrison, for his solo album, Mind Your Own Business.


The fraud case against former SNP MP Michelle Thomson has been dropped due to an absence of sufficient evidence.

Mrs Thomson had been reported to Scottish prosecutors in December after a police investigation into allegations of mortgage fraud.
She resigned from the SNP whip, and was deselected by the party ahead of June's general election.
The Crown Office has now concluded that there should be "no criminal proceedings at this time".
It said this was due to an "absence of sufficient credible and reliable evidence", with the decision coming after "careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case".
Mrs Thomson had always strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The former Edinburgh West MP had been one of five people named in the report sent by Police Scotland to the procurator fiscal.
It is understood one of the men named in the report was solicitor Christopher Hales, who was struck off by the Law Society after being found guilty of professional misconduct over 13 property deals in 2010 and 2011.
All 13 of the transactions Mr Hales was struck off for were reported to have involved Mrs Thomson or M&F Property Solutions, a firm in which she was said to be a partner.
In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, Ms Thomson said: "Yesterday I received news from the Crown Office that confirmed I have been completely exonerated by the police investigation into a solicitor I used in 2010.
"I am eternally grateful to my SNP colleagues in Westminster who supported me so strongly throughout this time.
"I also thank Police Scotland and the Crown Office for their courtesy and professionalism."
She added: "I made clear before I entered politics that I wished to use my skills, drive and experience to help shape a better Scotland, and that desire remains as strongly as it did when I became very involved in the 2014 independence referendum.
"However, for the time being this will need to take a different form. I now intend to take a few days of reflection to consider my next steps."
A Crown Office spokesman said: "The procurator fiscal received a report concerning four men aged 48, 56, 59 and 59, and one woman aged 51, in relation to alleged incidents between June 16 2010 and July 26 2011.
"After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, Crown counsel concluded there was an absence of sufficient credible and reliable evidence and there should be no criminal proceedings at this time."
Mrs Thomson, who was elected in 2015, had been sitting as an independent MP after resigning from the SNP whip.
Her former SNP colleagues gave their unanimous backing in September to calls for the party to consider reinstating her.
But she was told by the SNP's national executive in April that she would not be selected as a candidate in the election, with the party instead choosing Toni Giugliano to stand in Edinburgh West.
Mr Giugliano ultimately lost the seat to Christine Jardine of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
A spokesman for the SNP said: "Ms Thomson took a dignified approach during the investigation into her financial conduct. She'll be relieved to put this affair behind her and we wish her well for the future."


Ex-TV weatherman Fred Talbot has been found guilty of indecently assaulting two teenage boys when he was a teacher.

The 65-year-old was cleared of eight other indecent assault charges by a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
He was accused of abusing four former pupils at Altrincham Grammar School in Greater Manchester and a fifth schoolboy from the Newcastle area.
Talbot was remanded in custody for sentencing on 13 March.
Judge Timothy Mort told Talbot, from Bowdon in Greater Manchester, his sentence should start immediately bearing in mind his "abuse of trust".
The Edinburgh-born former ITV star displayed no obvious reaction while the verdicts were read and nodded at the judge as he was taken down to the cells.
He had denied abusing boys aged 14 to 17, but was found guilty of two counts relating to former pupils at Altrincham Grammar School on canal boat trips.
The jury heard Talbot staged a naked orgy involving 10 drunken schoolboys on a canal barge.
He was said to have asked some of the pupils to pretend they were girls and lie on top of each other as photographs were taken.
One victim, who said he thought he was 14 at the time, said Talbot abused him after he was told to share a bed with him.
Another boy was abused on another barge trip in similar circumstances.
He said boys would take turns to sleep in Talbot's bed during the trip and when it was his turn Talbot "started talking to me about sexual stuff".
The incidents are said to have taken place on school trips in the 1970s.
It can now be reported that a number of similar complaints against Talbot have been passed by police to the Procurator Fiscal about alleged offences said to have been committed in Scotland.
Talbot was also questioned by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) about a serious sexual assault allegedly committed on a former pupil but the matter was withdrawn after the complainant died.
Talbot worked as a biology teacher at the boys' school until May 1984.
The court heard his teaching career came to "an abrupt end" following an indecent proposal he made to two pupils he invited to his home to look at his telescope.
The jury was told he was said to have been "obsessed" with teenage boys throughout his teaching career and "could not help himself" around them when under the influence of drink.
During the investigation, police seized a number of diaries Talbot kept during his teaching career.
Police found entries "highly suggestive of inappropriate behaviour".
Det Con Chris Doggart, of GMP, said: "Talbot was an extremely popular and well liked individual - both as a celebrity weatherman and formerly as a science teacher - who earned not only the trust and adulation of many of his peers and pupils, but also much of the nation.
"Now he has been exposed as an opportunistic sex offender and that reputation is rightly in tatters.
"Even when he was not committing offences against the two vulnerable young boys, his behaviour was wholly inappropriate and so far removed from his duty as a teacher to nurture and safeguard those under his care it really does defy belief."
The investigation was triggered in December 2012 following publicity into a separate historical abuse inquiry at another Altrincham school, St Ambrose College, which led to a nine-year jail term for ex-teacher Rev Alan Morris.
Nazir Afzal, chief prosecutor for the North West of England, said Talbot's offences were a "gross betrayal" of the trust placed in him.
"Parents and pupils saw him as a popular, likeable teacher who was willing to give up his time to take children away on school trips.
"In fact he used those situations as opportunities to sexually assault two teenage boys who should have been safe in his care."
In a statement, Altrincham Grammar School for Boys said: "These awful events took place over 30 years ago and naturally our thoughts go out to those former pupils who were subjected to this abuse.
"We are confident that our present pupils and their parents know that the school is totally committed to ensuring the safety of our students and staff at all times and that these historical offences have no bearing on the school's outstanding reputation today."
Talbot is best known for presenting the weather forecast on a floating map in Liverpool's Albert Dock for ITV's This Morning programme.


A 15-year-old girl has died despite being rescued after she was swept into the sea in North Tyneside.

Caitlin Ruddy had been with a group of teenagers on the north pier at Cullercoats Bay on Saturday evening.
Northumbria Police said she was rescued from the side of the bay by a member of the public.
Caitlin died in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest. Her mother, Sabrina Cook, said she had lost her "everything".
Mrs Cook has warned young people "not to take water for granted, because it is dangerous".
"I've lost my daughter through it," she said.
"She was stunning, she was my everything really, she was my friend."
Caitlin's friends and family have been paying their respects at Cullercoats Bay, writing messages in the sand and leaving flowers.
A RNLI lifeboat, a Coastguard search-and-rescue helicopter and police were called to the scene at about 20:00 GMT.
Caitlin was taken to Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington.
Another 15-year old girl, and a boy and girl both aged 14, were also taken to hospital as a precaution but were uninjured, police said.
Ch Insp Paul Knox issued a warning that "people can be taken unawares by the strength of the waves" when it is dark and cold.
"People should always be careful around water and if the sea is looking rough with waves pounding on to the pier, we would advise people to be particularly cautious and keep their distance," he said.
A Cullercoats resident who witnessed the rescue operation said the weather had been "absolutely freezing".
Newcastle University lecturer Clare Guilding said the beach was a popular place for teenagers to congregate.
"It was minus 2C, but once you get out on the front it was just bitterly, bitterly cold," she said.


A woman has died after her car left a road and plunged down a steep embankment in Aberdeenshire.

The accident happened at 16:25 on Monday on the A92 Stonehaven to Inverbervie road near the Bervie Bridge.
It involved a white Vauxhall Corsa car which landed on its roof when it came to rest about 200ft below the road.
The road was closed and local diversions put in place.
Police Scotland appealed for witnesses.


Laura Muir became the third British woman to win a Diamond League title thanks to her second-place finish in the 1500m in Zurich on Thursday.

The Scot, 23, was pipped on the line by American Shannon Rowbury but overtook Kenyan Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon in the overall standings.
Kipyegon could only finish seventh.
"I never expected anything like this," said Muir, who was seventh in the Olympic final in Rio. "I am the Diamond Race winner. This is big, big for me."
Muir beat her own British 1500m record by more than two seconds to win last week's Diamond League race in Paris. She also won in London.
The title earns the veterinary medicine student a prize of £30,000.
Media playback is not supported on this device
South African Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya won the 800m to seal the overall title.
She beat Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi and Kenya's Margaret Nyairera Wambui into second and third, a repeat of the Olympic final in Rio.
Britain's Lynsey Sharp finished 11th.
Double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson won the 200m race in 21.85 seconds, beating rival Dafne Schippers by 0.01 seconds, with Britain's Dina Asher-Smith finishing fourth.
Despite finishing second, Schippers won the overall Diamond League trophy.
French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, who was reduced to tears on the Olympic podium in Rio last month after losing his title, was crowned Diamond League champion for the seventh season in a row.
He finished joint first with Sam Kendricks of America in Zurich, with Olympic champion Thiago Braz da Silva finishing third.
Watch highlights of the Diamond League meeting in Zurich on BBC One on Saturday 3 September at 13:10-14:15 BST.


South African MPs will vote in secret on a motion of no-confidence in President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday, the parliament's speaker has announced.

Baleka Mbete made the ruling after opposition parties took the case to the Constitutional Court.
They believe that in a secret ballot, MPs from the governing African National Congress (ANC) would be more likely to vote against the president.
Mr Zuma has survived several previous votes of no-confidence.
Africa Live: Updates on this and other African news stories
The ANC has governed South Africa since the end of white-minority rule in 1994, and has a huge majority in parliament.
Ms Mbete's decision took many by surprise and injects a new element of uncertainty into the proceedings against the president, reports the BBC's Nomsa Maseko in Cape Town.
The question now is whether enough ANC MPs are prepared to make a stand against the president, she adds.
At least 50 out of the ANC's 249 MPs would need to vote against the president in order for the no-confidence motion to pass.
ANC MP Makhosi Khoza received death threats last month after she said she would vote against the president, and branded him "a disgrace".
Opposition Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane told journalists that now with the secret ballot, the ANC MPs "have no excuse".
In a statement, it added that the ANC will vote against the motion and not back the attempt to "collapse our democratically elected government".
The ANC has described the no-confidence motion as a "political ploy" designed to remove the government "outside of general elections".
This latest attempt to unseat Mr Zuma came after he fired his widely respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and other ministers in a major cabinet reshuffle in March, sparking nationwide protests.
The president has also faced allegations of corruption and accusations that he has become too close to the wealthy Gupta family, who are accused of trying to influence political decisions, including the sacking of Mr Gordhan.
Mr Zuma and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Zuma is due to step down as ANC leader in December. Several candidates are vying to succeed him as party leader, with the winner standing a strong chance of becoming South Africa's next president after elections in 2019.
The current favourites are deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and Mr Zuma's former wife, and favoured candidate, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Cyril Ramaphosa - the man who wants to make South Africa great
Zuma's ex-wife in quest for ANC mantle


Taulupe Faletau is set to miss Wales' autumn internationals through injury.

The number eight suffered a knee injury on his Aviva Premiership debut for Bath on 3 September, but it was hoped he might be fit for Wales next month.
Bath do not expect the 25-year-old British and Irish Lion to start training until the middle of November.
Wales play Australia in Cardiff on 5 November, followed by Argentina and Japan before  South Africa at the Principality Stadium on 26 November.
Faletau joined Bath from Newport Gwent Dragons in the summer, and made his debut in a friendly against Scarlets in August.
He has played 61 times for Wales, and one Test for the Lions in Australia in 2013.
Wales coach Rob Howley will also be without Gloucester's Ross Moriarty for the game against Australia because it falls outside World Rugby's international window.
Howley - in charge of the team while Warren Gatland coaches the British and Irish Lions - announces his squad for the autumn series on Tuesday.