So-called "clean-up squads" will see fly-tippers given conditional cautions by local authorities, making them clear up waste for up to 20 hours.

Currently, fly-tippers are only punished after conviction, often after lengthy court proceedings.

The government hopes this plan will speed up enforcement.

The measure is part of a major 10-point plan being unveiled by the Environment Agency on Friday, aimed at tackling both low-level fly-tipping and large-scale organised illegal waste crime.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: "If you dump rubbish on our streets, you will be joining a clean-up squad and picking up the bill, not the taxpayer.

"We are clamping down on these criminals, making sure those responsible clean up and pay up. This government is handing both the Environment Agency and local authorities the power to boost waste crime enforcement, hand out tougher sentences and tackle illegal dumping faster."

The government says there has been an 8% increase in enforcement action against fly-tippers, with local authorities carrying out 572,000 actions in 2024/25.

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The EA's enforcement budget for 2025/26 has been increased to £15.6m - but many still feel it is not enough to tackle the rapidly growing problem.

It's hoped the new clean-up squad measures will be introduced at the start of 2027.

The Local Government Association, which represents town halls, has called on the government and Sentencing Council to urgently review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping, saying court fines are lower on average than penalties handed out directly by local authorities.

Arooj Shah, chair of the LGA's neighbourhoods committee, said: "Sentencing guidelines must be reviewed so punishments properly reflect the seriousness of the offence and the harm it causes to communities."

The vehicle left the road and entered the River Nene near Wisbech at about 8.20pm on Tuesday, according to police.

There were two males and three females aged between 16 and 18 in the car when the incident happened.

On Wednesday afternoon, specialist dive teams recovered the body of a teenage girl.

Cambridgeshire Police are still searching for a male who is missing following the collision.

Two females and one male are known to have got out of the vehicle and were taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn with non-life-threatening injuries.

The vehicle was travelling southbound on North Brink in Wisbech St Mary's when it left the road, the force said.

The road is set to remain closed for the rest of Wednesday, it added.

At least a dozen emergency services personnel could be seen on the riverbank on Wednesday afternoon.

There was a white forensic tent on the riverbank and emergency service vehicles were parked along the road nearby.

Police are appealing for witnesses and those with dashcam footage to contact them.

Victor Popa, 35, lured the drunk teenager into his vehicle during the early hours of 15 January 2023 and subjected her to the serious sexual assault in the Gordon's Mills Place area of the city while she repeatedly "blanked out".

A judge told a court how the girl has since been "living a waking nightmare" and later dropped out of school due to being bullied about the rape, "mainly by the boys".

Popa denied any wrongdoing but was convicted in January following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. He was jailed on Wednesday.

Judge Alison Stirling said his actions had caused "lasting psychological and physical harm", with the girl continuing to suffer "complex PTSD, anxiety and depression".

'She has been living a waking nightmare'

Referencing a victim impact statement, the judge said: "The emotional impact of the rape was overwhelming, and she thinks it will be everlasting.

"She has been living a waking nightmare over and over and over again since she was 14 years old.

"Having to tell her mother was awful, because she knew her mother would be very upset.

"Telling the police and going for sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy tests made her feel dirty and humiliated.

"It was terrifying for her at the age of 14 to think she could be pregnant to a rapist. Fortunately, she was not pregnant.

"She returned to school but left after six months because she was bullied about the rape, mainly by the boys."

'She got into your car and blanked out'

The court heard how the teen, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, had been out drinking with friends but became separated from them so went to a taxi rank for a lift home.

Popa, who was a stranger to the girl and not a taxi driver, pulled up and offered to take her home.

Judge Stirling said: "She waited for a long time but there were no taxis. Your car appeared and she thought you were a taxi.

"She told you she was 14 years old, that she was really drunk and that she did not have any money.

"You agreed to take her home. She got into your car and blanked out."

The judge said the girl repeatedly "blanked out" during the attack and was "so drunk she could not move and could not do anything".

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said the prosecution case drew together "multiple strands of evidence", including CCTV and text messages, which supported the teen's account of what happened.

Medical evidence of an injury caused by significant force, likely inflicted while she was unconscious, was also placed before the jury.

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Popa denied any wrongdoing and claimed the girl told him she was 18 and that the sex was consensual.

The court heard that he had attended school in Romania but started to live in the UK in 2015. He moved to Aberdeen in 2018 and has worked in hotels and as a delivery driver and roofer.

As well as the 12-year jail term, Popa's name was also added to the sex offenders register indefinitely.

He was additionally banned from contacting his victim.

'Popa is a dangerous individual'

Procurator Fiscal Faye Cook said: "Violence against women and girls has no place in our society.

"This was a predatory and deeply distressing attack on a child who was simply trying to get home safely.

"The evidence presented to the jury showed the careful work of police officers and prosecutors to uncover what happened and to hold Victor Popa to account.

"I want to recognise the courage shown by the young victim and her family throughout the prosecution process. Their strength has helped bring a dangerous offender to justice."

Detective Chief Inspector Steven McDonald also praised the girl for her courage and thanked her family for their support throughout the Police Scotland investigation.

He added: "This incident was extremely frightening for the girl, who simply wanted to get home.

"Popa is a dangerous individual who posed a risk to women and girls and preyed on this young girl's vulnerability."

The statement, from a coalition of MPs, councillors and activists, comes after a major intervention from Angela Rayner, in which she criticised Sir Keir Starmer's "un-British" immigration reforms and said Labour's "very survival" is "at stake".

The former deputy prime minister was speaking at a reception hosted by Mainstream, a centre-left organisation which advocates for practical left policies and is closely aligned with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

Her language has been echoed by a new "Reset the Labour Party" statement, which calls for a change of course in the wake of the Gorton and Denton by-election disaster and potentially catastrophic local elections in May.

The statement, launching with an official website this evening and seen by Sky News, calls for bolder ideas and a more democratic culture within the party, hitting out at the "pandering to the far right" from the "top down" leadership.

It is supported by Mainstream as well as Momentum - the organisation that spearheaded Corbynmania.

The campaign also has the support of a broad group of Labour MPs, ranging from those in the Socialist Campaign Group like John McDonnell and Richard Burgon, to centre left figures from the Tribune group and Mainstream - such as Simon Opher and Paula Barker.

The collaboration is significant, as there have historically been clashes between Labour's left and centre-left.

It is part of an attempt for progressive figures to gain seats on the party's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), which is facing elections later this year.

Highlighting Labour's "growing electoral threat" the statement says: "Members from across our party's progressive majority are uniting behind a call to urgently reset the Labour Party. The upcoming National Executive Committee elections are an opportunity to do just that.

"We stand against the insular, centralising approach of the current leadership that refuses to draw on the energy, talent and ideas of our whole movement, the continued underfunding of public services and local government, and the pandering to the talking points of the far right."

Internal elections

Labour's NEC sets the overall strategic direction of the party and has an influence on party rules and discipline and candidate selection.

Nine Constituency Labour Party (CLP) representatives are up for election on the body, with Mainstream and Momentum backing a different set of three candidates.

While this is not a joint slate, all of their candidates have signed the statement, as well as independent candidates.

It is hoped this will signal to members common ground between those standing from the broad left, who will be going up against those backed by Labour to Win - a pro-leadership group.

'Choose a different path'

The NEC elections are not until the summer, but in going public now it signals the deep-rooted anger within many corners of the party about the direction of travel.

Last month's Gorton and Denton by-election saw Labour come third, behind the Greens and Reform UK in a seat they had controlled for 100 years, after the NEC blocked Mr Burnham from standing.

The party has also lost to Reform UK in Runcorn, and to Plaid Cymru in Caerphilly.

With support for Labour collapsing across the country, there is growing speculation Sir Keir could face a leadership challenge following May's local elections, which insiders expect to be a "bloodbath".

The reset statement warns Labour can "only survive...if we choose a different path", with policies such as wealth taxes and taking essential services into democratic ownership.

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It also calls for rebuilding democracy within the party, saying that means restoring "genuinely open" candidate selections, "ending the suspension of MPs for legitimate scrutiny of the government" and moving away from "top-down control".

And it also warns members are giving up on Labour in "anger or disappointment", and rebuilding membership "must be a priority for Labour's success".

The statement has been signed by councillors across the country, while other MPs names include jury trial critic Charlotte Nichols, Open Labour's Alex Sobel and welfare rebels Chris Hinchliff and Neil Duncan-Jordan.

Rayner warns Labour 'running out of time'

Ms Rayner - often tipped as a frontrunner to replace the prime minister - is not one of the signatories, but last night she made similar remarks as she praised Mainstream's "radical realism".

She said the "very survival of the Labour Party is at stake" and that the government is "running out of time" to deliver change as people have the impression it has been "defending the status quo".

As well as criticising migration reforms, she said the government must pursue a relentless battle on the cost of living if it wants to emulate the success of centre-left governments in Norway and Canada that have bounced back to win amid rising populism.

Number 10 has since declined to give the migration reforms its full backing, but insisted today that Sir Keir "shares an impatience" to deliver change and is "firmly on the side of working people".

Baby Mariam plunged 10 metres (32ft) from her family's third-floor flat in Westminster, central London, on Saturday.

Zahira Byjaouane had been due to appear at the Old Bailey on Wednesday charged with her daughter's murder, but was unable to attend the hearing.

Emergency services arrived within minutes of her husband's 999 call at 7.30am and found Mariam lying on a concrete surface between the block of flats on Great Peter Street and a high metal railing, the court heard.

Mariam was taken to hospital in a "critical condition" where she died at 9am, having suffered a fracture to the skull, prosecutor Philip McGhee said.

Police went inside the flat and found her mother sitting on a bed.

The 43-year-old was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and then charged with murder the following day.

Mariam's father was present in the flat but was said to have been in the kitchen making baby formula when the defendant allegedly threw the newborn from a sash window.

Mr McGhee said the husband had run outside but was unable to reach his child. He returned inside and called 999.

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Judge Mark Lucraft KC set a timetable for the case, with a plea hearing on 3 June and a provisional 10-day trial before him from 15 February 2027.

The judge remanded the defendant into custody.