Radio Essex

Actor Micheal Ward has denied raping a woman in a car after meeting her at a nightclub, telling a court they had consensual sex.

ITV has agreed a £1.6bn deal with Sky, the owner of Sky News, for its media and entertainment arm following months of talks.

The residents of Coronation Street might have survived serial killers and tram crashes, but the biggest ITV plot twist has been unfolding in the boardroom.

The UK has entered its third heatwave so far this year, with temperatures predicted to climb as high as 35C in some parts of the country later this week.

Around 2,000 more women were admitted to mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland than previously estimated, a report has found.

The prisons watchdog has said it will keep a close eye on criminals released early from jail under a government scheme, amid concerns that rapists could be among them.