8 London Bus Routes Face Cancellations After Operator Pulls Out Over 'Late Payments'

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A London bus operator has pulled out, leaving the future of its eight routes in the city uncertain. Sullivan Buses said in a statement yesterday (Friday, August 2) that, following a meeting with TfL, it had 'reluctantly decided to withdraw' from its contracts.

The firm added that TfL is 'working to restore services as quickly as possible'. Reports online suggested that TfL are in 'emergency out of hours talks' with all other bus companies across London to try and take on the routes. These are the 217, 298, 299, 327, 389, 399, 549 and W9.

As of 9.50am on Saturday morning, officials were advising customers that they 'may be subject to journey cancellations'. Go-Ahead announced this morning that, at TfL's request , it has started operating Route 299 (Cockfosters to Muswell Hill) from its Northumberland Park garage. But this will initially be running at 'around 70 per cent' of the usual timetable.

READ MORE: Cyclists using phones at 'dangerous' London bus stops as TfL accused of 'ignoring' blind people

The company added: ⁘Pressures on TfL's funding have clearly had a direct impact on our decision. Unfortunately, the remuneration for providing TfL's services has not kept pace with the increasing costs of service delivery. In addition, financial penalties as a result of an increase in traffic congestion post Covid has further impacted on the viability of our TfL contracts.

⁘At Sullivan Buses we have a number of contracts due to expire early next year. Under normal circumstances larger businesses would continue to renew contracts throughout the year. Therefore, the increased rates on new services would help to mitigate against any losses experienced on expiring contracts. Nonetheless despite tendering for numerous services, Sullivan Buses has not been successful in renewing our contracts. TfL have also failed to provide us with any meaningful feedback on tenders submitted.⁘

The firm also claimed: ⁘In June we met with TfL representatives to discuss this and other issues the business was facing. TfL told us that they struggled to incorporate small businesses such as ours within their corporate model. Sullivan Buses is the only small business (SME) operating bus services for TfL in London. At that meeting we were unable to agree a way forward. The meeting ended with TfL requesting a date for our business to hand back all contracts.

‘It's Everything' Cry Shoppers As They Run To Asda For Viral £28 Jacket That Takes You Perfectly From Summer To Autumn...

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So it's no surprise that shoppers are racing to Asda to get their hands on the Tan Leopard Print Quilted Cropped Jacket.

Trying on the affordable find, shopping-daft mum Claire said: ⁘George at Asda are absolutely smashing it with the leopard print this season!⁘

⁘It's got that padded feel to it without actually being padded. It is super thin. So perfect for the British summertime, but also it would be great to layer in autumn/winter too. So perfect transitional throughout the whole year.

The leopard print trend was extremely popular in the 90s - and it's definitely found its way back to the high street this summer.

And just like other items from the decade - think baby tees and disc belts - the much-loved trend is back, with Primark leading the way with budget-friendly options.

So if you fancy channelling your inner Scary Spice with the spotty style then you're in luck, as Asda has got your fashion needs covered across loads of items.

As well as their viral jacket, the supermarket is offering a tie-front waistcoat which is already sold out online, co-ord lounge set and a selection of dresses.

Map Shows Where Riots Have Broken Out In UK With Dozens More Planned | UK News

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The days following saw Liverpool , Manchester , London and Sunderland turn into chaos at similar events.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a new 'national' response to the disorder linking police forces across the country.

It comes after rioters battled police following a planned protest linked to the Southport knife attack.

British Actor Returns To Tread The Boards After 45 Years - Chinadaily.Com.Cn

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British actor Terence Wilton remembers vividly when he first visited China with the stage play Hamlet in 1979, the young actors and actresses he traveled with were so excited that they "kissed the ground" upon arrival.

Forty-five years later, the 81-year-old actor revisited the Chinese mainland to tread the boards once again as a judge in the new theatrical adaptation of the Agatha Christie thriller And Then There Were None.

As the nearly-three-month China tour of the original London West End play drew to an end last week, Wilton shares with Xinhua that his two visits felt like drastically different "spectra".

During the tour, 68 performances were staged in 13 cities from May to July, attracting over 60,000 attendees and captivating Chinese theater enthusiasts as well as Agatha Christie fans with its intricate plot and authentic British flair.

Wilton says of his second visit: "The excitement for me was that I had not only been to Shanghai and Beijing before but with the first foreign production that had ever been allowed into China since 1949, which is an enormous privilege."

As China's reform and opening-up began in 1978, the rare chance to play a Shakespearean character on a Chinese stage was an unforgettable chapter in Wilton's career.

"We must have performed Hamlet to more people in one night than was ever witnessed for a Shakespeare production," he avers.

The visit to Beijing and Shanghai in the winter of 1979 when Hamlet was staged left in his mind lingering images including "everyone in cotton-padded uniforms, in green, blue and gray", "the coal-fired cities", "people cycling in millions through the city", "everything being carried by hand or in handcarts or on bicycles", and in particular, people using the streets of Beijing as refrigerators for Chinese cabbage.

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Bridge Of Lies And Celebrity Bridge Of Lies Have Been Recommissioned For A Fourth And Third Series

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TV icon Ross Kemp will soon be back on BBC One and iPlayer to urge more teams of contestants and celebrities to "step on the truths and steer clear of the lies" as hit quiz show Bridge of Lies and Celebrity Bridge of Lies have both been recommissioned.

The nail-biting show, which has had daytime audiences gripped since launching in 2022, will start filming (25x45) later this year* for its fourth series, after a successful series three reached an audience of 1.4M. The much-anticipated celebrity version will also film for its third series which will feature some very familiar faces, and audiences will be in for a treat with some special celebratory episodes. Excitingly, Celebrity Bridge of Lies is being extended to 10x45 episodes in its Saturday night slot, with the last series reaching a peak of 2.3M.

Ross will be on hand to help steer the teams of contestants, hailing from every corner of the UK, across the famous bridge. But they'll have to be careful to step on the truths and avoid the lies, or they'll risk falling off and out the game, and could end up going home empty-handed…

Ross Kemp says: "They've made versions in America and Spain recently, but Bridge of Lies is coming home in 2025 – and I'm nearly as excited as I was when England made it to the Euros final!

Rob Unsworth, Head of BBC Daytime and Early Peak Commissioning comments: "Series four! We're so happy audiences love Bridge of Lies as much as we do, it was such an easy decision to bring it back for more. Ross does a brilliant job making contestants feel at ease when they're under pressure, and there's still time to apply to be in this series so if you think you can beat the bridge get your applications ready."

Filmed and produced in Glasgow, Bridge of Lies was commissioned by BBC Daytime as part of a competitive initiative to find innovative new quiz formats made in Scotland.

Sainsbury's Offering Shoppers Up To 1,000 Extra Nectar Points - How To Claim

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Sainsbury's is offering anyone who is signed up to its Nectar loyalty scheme the chance to earn up to an extra 1,000 points over the next seven weeks.

The supermarket giant will be running its 'Great Fruit ⁘ Veg' challenge that will provide its loyalty members with personalised challenges to complete. It marks the fifth time the challenge has been offered to customers.

Available from July 31 to September 17, shoppers with a Nectar card can complete personalised fruit and vegetable tasks to earn extra points. According to Sainsbury's, last year saw 110 million portions of fruit and veg purchased through the challenge.

To gain the points boost, cardholders can simply join the challenge via the Nectar app. They will then receive personalised portion tasks that can be completed on a variety of fresh, frozen and tinned produce.

In store, you can easily earn extra points by scanning your Nectar card when at the checkout. When shopping online or using SmartShop in store, you can make your purchases count by linking your Nectar and Sainsbury's accounts together.

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Alternatively, points can also be converted into Avios to be put towards a British Airways flight. The supermarket joined with the flight company in 2021, allowing Nectar members to put their points towards any future flights.

Saucy!: An Uproarious Re-examination Of The British Sex Comedy

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"The 1970s sex comedy was a peculiarly British institution, fuelled by a mix of Victorian prudishness and the bawdy, end-of-pier tradition" that would also manifest itself in "The Benny Hill Show" and the "Carry On..." films, said Ed Power in The Irish Times .

As we learn in the two-part Channel 4 documentary "Saucy! Secrets of the British Sex Comedy", these low-budget flicks had huge popular appeal in their day. For instance, "Adventures of a Taxi Driver" ⁘ "a blizzard of bare bums and knob gags" ⁘ apparently made more at the UK box office in 1976 than Scorsese's "Taxi Driver". This documentary doesn't really examine why this might have been the case, but it is enlightening and should entertain those who "find other people's wobbly bits innately hilarious".

"The documentary is as gregarious and cheeky as the subject matter demands", but it is not vacuous, and it allows those involved in making the films to give their take on the genre, said Rebecca Nicholson in The Guardian . Among the big questions addressed is whether the actresses were exploited ⁘ and the picture is mixed. Some say they were willing if not eager participants; others paint "a grimly familiar picture of casting couches and jobs for 'favours'".

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I'd have liked a "deeper exploration of why the British in particular are (as one contributor put it) 'obsessed with giggling about sex'", said Gerard Gilbert in The i Paper . Still, the documentary packs in a lot of information about "a largely (and some would say, rightly) forgotten slice of cinematic history".

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