Madeleine Jaye, 23, and Ashla Prakash, 24, travelled through eight countries in Europe in five weeks
Madeleine Jaye and Ashla Prakash’s Corsa trip around Europe(Image: Madeleine Jaye/SWNS)
A woman and her friend managed to travel through eight European countries on a shoestring budget of just £15 per day, thanks to a clever £25 car hack. Madeleine Jaye, 23, who has always had a passion for travelling, embarked on this epic road trip with her friend Ashla Prakash, 24, in July last year.
In order to save on accommodation costs, the pair decided to transform the back of Madeleine’s Corsa into a makeshift bed. This included a double mattress, duvet, pillows and space for their luggage, allowing them to sleep in the car.
The bedframe was crafted out of wood by Madeleine’s grandad, Keith Davies, 83, who also cut a memory foam mattress to size – all for a mere £25.
Madeleine revealed that they spent £450 on fuel, found free parking and saved over £4,000 in accommodation expenses. The duo travelled around Germany, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland in just five weeks, sticking to a daily budget of £15.
The avid traveller said it not only “saved money” but it was also a “vibe”.
Madeleine, a live-in carer from Nottingham, said: “I’m 5ft 7ins and I had loads of room. In Switzerland it’s €100 plus a night for a hotel or even €60 for a hostel.
“We saved so much money. We saved £2,000 and a bit each – so £4,000 combined.”
Madeleine met Ashla in Japan in 2023 while on a working visa and the pair decided they wanted to see Europe together.
She said: “We spoke about doing a road trip. But the prices of accommodation were so expensive – I thought ‘why don’t we do it in my car?’
“That’s where my grandad came into play. He’s very good at DIY – he’s a mechanic. I asked if he could help me and he ran with it.
“He went all out and made an amazing bed. He was so proud of it. He really enjoyed making it – he did it with love.”
Madeleine Jaye with her trusty Corsa(Image: Madeleine Jaye/SWNS)
Keith made the bed from three bits of wood – and even made it so the bottom plank could come out to make a table out the back of the boot. The friends set off in July 2024 in Madeleine’s 2009 silver Corsa she’d had for five years.
Madeleine did the driving and cooking and Ashla did the setting up and washing up. They used a Home Bargains gas cooker to make most of their meals so they could save their cash – but did buy the occasional Aperol or pizza.
The pals would find safe places to park up overnight before continuing their travels.
Madeleine said: “In Slovenia we tried to find a place to park using an app. We couldn’t find anywhere around Lake Bled. We rang up a campsite and that was €40 a night – just to park the car.”
Instead the duo found somewhere rural to park. She said: “You could wake up anywhere and hear the birds.”
They had a collapsible pink bucket to wash but also relied on public toilets – which they would usually rush to first thing. Madeleine said: “The public toilets are amazing in Europe.”
Madeleine said the only downside was the heat and the mosquitoes. She said Slovenia surprised her the most and she loved driving through and waking up to mountains.
She’s gearing up to tackle Scotland’s North Coast 500 in her trusty Corsa, and when it comes to day trips across the UK, she opts to kip in her car rather than splash out on a hotel stay.
She explained: “It saved money and it’s a vibe. People think you need a big van, but you can work with what you’ve got. It was the best adventure.”
Ashla Prakash in the back of the Corsa(Image: Madeleine Jaye/SWNS)
Madeleine and Ashla’s route
France
Belgium
Luxembourg
Germany
Switzerland
Italy
Slovenia
Back through Italy, France, and Switzerland
Liechtenstein
The adventure culminated at the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium
Instead, the Prince and Princess of Wales will celebrate the occasion with Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, in Norfolk.
A source close to the family previously told The Mirror: “They are choosing to spend time together as a family before the children goback to school.”
As he met with royal watchers, he joked it was “all mirrors” when someone said he was looking well.
Pat Johnson, 54, of Jarrow, South Tyneside, attracted Charles’s attention after bringing 18-month-old Pembroke corgi called Lilibet to the stand outside the service.
Kate dazzles as she joins Wills & King on Commonwealth Day after missing last years’ event during cancer treatment
She said afterwards: “He asked if she was friendly and he asked me what her name was.
“I said I named I named her after your mother and said ‘you look well and he said ‘you are very kind but it’s all mirrors.'”
Charles, who is continuing to have cancer treatment more than a year after his diagnosis, had earlier issued his Easter message saying “love” is the greatest virtue.
The King wrote: “One of the puzzles of our humanity is how we are capable of both great cruelty and great kindness.
“This paradox of human life runs through the Easter story and in the scenes that daily come before our eyes — at one moment, terrible images of human suffering and, in another, heroic acts in war-torn countries where humanitarians of every kind risk their own lives to protect the lives of others.
“There are three virtues that the world still needs — faith, hope and love. “And the greatest of these is love”.
The Prince and Princess of Wales will celebrate Easter Sunday with their kids Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, in Norfolk.
William and Kate are likely to spend Easter at their countryside home, Anmer Hall, with their three kids, who are on their holidays from Lambrook School.
A source close to the family told The Mirror: “They are choosing to spend time together as a family before the children goback to school.”
Royal insiders have claimed that Kate, 43, who is now in remission, and husband Prince William, 42, are happier than ever after their tough 2024.
They claimed: “William has been incredibly supportive through Kate’s cancer battle – he’s really proven himself to be a remarkable partner when the going gets tough.
“His big focus has been on making the most of their time and this second chance at life together.
“That means more romantic dinners, more long walks and moreholidays. They’re mapping outsummerplans right now, with the usual family trips toCornwalland the Isle of Scilly, but they’re also looking to take a romantic hideaway holiday just the two of them, and even talking about going back to the Seychelles where they honeymooned.”
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King Charles met with well-wishers after attending the Royal Maundy Service at Durham Cathedral on ThursdayCredit: AFP
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The King presented the Maundy recipients – 76 men and 76 women – with two purses: one red and one white, containing Maundy MoneyCredit: Getty
Thousands of Christians gathered in the cavernous Church of the Holy Sepulchre for a centuries-old Holy Fire ceremony.
Holding unlit candles, they packed into the sprawling 12th-century basilica built on the site where, according to tradition, Jesus was crucified and buried.
In near-total darkness, the Greek patriarch entered the Holy Edicule and emerged with two lit candles. The flame was passed from one candle to the next, the light overcoming the darkness in the rotunda. The flame was later transferred to Orthodox communities in other countries on special flights.
Eastern Orthodox Christians believe the light miraculously appears inside the Holy Edicule, built on the traditional site of Jesus’s tomb, while sceptics going back to the Middle Ages have dismissed it as a carnival trick for the masses.
Either way, the ceremony, which goes back at least 1,200 years, is a sight to behold. It has also ignited safety concerns.
In 1834, a frenzied stampede broke out in the darkened church, and the ruler of the Holy Land at the time barely escaped after his guards drew swords and hacked their way through the crowd, historian Simon Sebag Montefiore recounts in his history of Jerusalem. Some 400 pilgrims died in the melee, most from suffocation or trampling.
Israeli authorities have sought to limit participants in recent years, citing safety concerns. That has drawn protests from church leaders, who have accused them of upsetting the delicate, unwritten arrangements around Jerusalem’s holy sites known as the status quo.
On Saturday, there was a heavy military presence as thousands of worshippers passed through Israeli checkpoints to enter.
Some worshippers lamented that the turnout lacked numbers this year because of Israel’s 18-month war on Gaza. “The number of police is higher than the number of pilgrims,” said Adeeb Joude, key holder for the Holy Sepulchre.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the Old City with major sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Middle East War, and annexed it in a move not recognised internationally. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state.
The Old City has a long history of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, among different religious groups that share its hilly confines and even within certain faiths. Perceived infringements on the status quo in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have led to brawls between monks of different denominations.
Israel says it is committed to ensuring freedom of worship for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and has long presented itself as an island of tolerance in the Middle East.
In recent years, however, tensions have risen with the local Christian community, most of whom are Palestinian Christians, a population that has dwindled through decades of conflict as many have moved abroad.
Pope Francis’ delegate, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presides over the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on 19 April in Vatican City, Vatican
Christians around the world are celebrating Easter.
All Christians, from Orthodox and Western churches, are observing the holiday on the same day this year – not often the case because the churches use different calendars.
In Greece, the sky lit up with fireworks, while worshippers in Jerusalem lit candles at the church where Jesus is said to have been crucified and buried.
Here is a look at how some have been celebrating the holiday as days of festivities culminate in Easter Sunday.
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Palestinian Christians light candles during the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is said to be the place Jesus was crucified and is buried, in Jerusalem’s Old City
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People wait to have their baskets of Easter cakes blessed outside a church in Lviv, Ukraine
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In Kenya’s capital Nairobi, members of the Legio Maria Church gather at Africa Church Mission to mark Easter Sunday
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Turkish Christians gather at the Greek Orthodox Church in Mersin for the Easter Sunday service
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The head of Sri Lanka’s Roman catholic church, cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, leads an Easter Vigil at the Cathedral of St. Lucia in Colombo on Saturday
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In Bethlehem, West Bank, Orthodox Christians gather at the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus is believed to have been born
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Nepalese Catholics hold candles as they stand during the Easter Vigil in Lalitpur
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An Orthodox priest delivers a sermon to parishioners during the Easter service before blessing Easter cakes and eggs placed on tables in a St Petersburg church in Russia
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Near Mosul in Iraq, a service in under way at the Mar Yohanna Church
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In France’s Notre Dame, the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich leads the cathedral’s first Easter celebrations since it reopened after a fire
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The Fatima Church in Islamabad, Pakistan saw devotees in prayer for Easter
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In Vrontados, Greece, the sky is lit up with fireworks during their traditional Easter “rocket war”
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Coptic Orthodox Christians in Cairo, Egypt gather at the Monastery of Saint Simon the Tanner
BRITISH cycling legend Barry Hoban has died aged 85.
Hoban was an eight-time Tour de France champion and spent 19 years on the professional circuit.
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Video shows US air strikes pounding Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, just days after the US bombed Hodeidah’s airport and Ras Isa port, killing at least 80 people. The UN says it’s gravely concerned by the US campaign against the Iran-backed group, which the Trump administration argues is necessary to protect international shipping in the Red Sea.
We can expect plenty of action down Barcelona’s left side and Chelsea’s right, which is where both sides create the majority of their chances.
Ibaceta anticipates Chelsea will have plenty of space on that side – setting up the prospect of a fascinating tactical battle as the likes of Lucy Bronze and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd face off with Putellas and Salma Paralluelo.
“Essentially what Barcelona do is put a winger on the left side for decoration,” Ibaceta said.
“Esmee Brugts comes into the middle to create a midfield four and that entire left side of the pitch is left for one person.
“It is the biggest strength of Barcelona, they are able to leave an entire wing for the full-back, but that does leave the backline quite vulnerable. Against Chelsea it is not going to be the easiest thing to do.
“Mapi Leon and Irene Paredes are good but they are slow and a bit older now. They are very open to making mistakes, especially with strong players and in a physical battle, they do struggle with that.”
Barcelona typically press much higher than Chelsea but have shown in their defeats this season that they are vulnerable to conceding on the counter attack, where Chelsea’s forwards, particularly Mayra Ramirez, thrive.
“How many goals have we seen where Mayra is cutting through?” Sharples asked.
“Barcelona play such a high line, which they are used to doing in Spain because nobody is getting at them.
“But if you can get at them with speed and power, down the flanks especially, they can be exploited.”
Stevie Nicks is at work on a new album filled with “memories of mine of fantastic men.”
“I have seven songs, and they are autobiographical real stories where I’m not pulling any punches for probably the first time in my life,” the 76-year-old rock icon said. “They are not airy, fairy songs that you are wondering who they are about but you don’t really get it.”
Nicks shared details about the upcoming LP — her first collection of new songs in nearly a decade and a half — in a speech Wednesday night at the Pollstar Awards, a live-music industry event at the Beverly Hilton where she was inducted into the trade magazine’s hall of fame.
The Fleetwood Mac singer and songwriter said she’s calling the album “The Ghost Record” because it grew out of the recent Los Angeles wildfires.
“I was sitting in a hotel for 92 days,” she told the audience of music-biz insiders, “and at some point during that last part of the 92 days, I said, ‘You know what? I feel like I’m on the road, but there’s no shows. I’m just sitting here by myself because everybody else is at the house doing all the remediations and everything, and it’s just me sitting here.’ And I thought: You need to go back to work. And I did.” (Nicks spoke at January’s FireAid benefit concert about firefighters saving her nearly century-old home in Pacific Palisades.)
Nicks announced Monday that she’ll tour this year starting in August, alternating solo dates and gigs with Billy Joel, with whom she played Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium in 2023. Her most recent LP was 2014’s “24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault,” which offered new recordings of orphaned tunes she’d written as long ago as 1969; “In Your Dreams,” her last album of originals, came out in 2011.
Last year she released a single called “The Lighthouse” that she wrote about the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade. After touring with Fleetwood Mac minus Lindsey Buckingham in 2018 and 2019, Nicks has expressed doubt that the band will play again following Christine McVie’s death in 2022.
EVA Longoria has poured her curves into a slinky fitted gown for a red carpet appearance with her lookalike son.
Attending the Global Gift Gala, honorary chair Eva, who recently celebrated her 50th birthday, was seen posing on the red carpet ahead of the event.
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Eva Longoria looked sensational in the silver-hued champagne gownCredit: Getty
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She was accompanied by her son at the eventCredit: Getty
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Santiago looked as cute as a button as he posed with his momCredit: Getty
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Eva posed up a storm in the slinky gownCredit: Getty
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She and her son attended the Global Gift Gala at Hôtel Président Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland on April 19Credit: Getty
Beaming while posing for snaps, Eva looked stunning as she put her arm around her seven year old son Santiago.
Santiago Enrique Bastón attended the event with his mom at the Hôtel Président Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland.
The mom and son duo’s public appearance comes shortly after they enjoyed a Mexican getaway.
Eva could be seen wearing a dazzling dress that hugged her curves and showed off her svelte figure.
The dress, which was strapless, was in a metallic silver hue and glimmered beneath the light.
She wore a matching silver-hued necklace, which complimented the entire look.
Her brunette hair was styled in a sleek look as it cascaded over her shoulders and down her back.
Eva kept her makeup glamorous yet natural and opted for bold brows, a bronzed base, wispy lashes and a nude lip.
She completed the look with sparkling silver earrings and a huge smile across her face.
CUTE AS A BUTTON
Meanwhile, Eva’s son Santiago looked ultra cute in a dapper ensemble.
Eva Longoria fans insist star ‘doesn’t even look her age’ as she celebrates milestone birthday in belly-baring dress
Santiago looked as cute as a button as he wore a blue shirt and gray blazer complete with some navy shorts, navy long socks and some brown loafers.
The young boy could be seen snuggling up to his mother as he stole the show.
Eva shares Santiago, who was born in 2018, with her husband, José Antonio “Pepe” Bastón.
The Desperate Housewives star welcomed Santiago after being a stepmom to her husbands three other children.
All About Eva
Eva Longoria shot to fame in 1999 as a guest on Beverly Hills, 90210, but it wasn’t until five years later when she made her big break.
During her time on Desperate Housewives she was nominated for a number of prestigious awards for her performance as Gabby Solis.
She’s gone on to star in a number of blockbusters including A Dark Truth, In a World…, Lowriders, Overboard and The Boss Baby: Family Business.
On the small screen, she’s starred in The Simpsons, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Empire, Jane the Virgin and Grand Hotel.
Eva made her directorial debut in 2023 with the biopic Flamin’ Hot
Eva often shares glimpses of Santiago on her social media.
EVA’S ‘BOUGIE’ SON
The stunning actress previously opened up about her son and his “bougie” ways.
Speaking to E! News last year in the south of France at the Breaking Through The Lens (BTTL) Gala in partnership with Campari, she said: “My son is very bougie.
“It’s the first year I haven’t brought him and he’s like, ‘You’re going to the south of France without me?’.”
She then swooned that her young son is “actually very humble and really sweet”.
Eva also told the outlet that her son teaches her a lot.
“I’ve learned everything from my son.
“He’s constantly teaching me every single day.”
She added: “People think parents teach kids. Kids teach us.”
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Eva shares Santiago, who was born in 2018, with her husband, José Antonio “Pepe” BastónCredit: Instagram/Eva Longoria
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Eva often shares snaps of Santiago on social mediaCredit: Getty
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Santiago loves to attend events with his momCredit: Getty
PORTLAND, Ore. — Denis Bouanga converted a penalty kick in the 90th minute to pull LAFC into a 3-3 draw against the Portland Timbers on Saturday night.
Felipe Mora scored twice for the Timbers, who remained undefeated in their last six matches. Portland hasn’t lost since March 8 at Nashville.
Olivier Giroud scored his first goal in league play for LAFC. Los Angeles coach Steve Cherundolo was handed a red card in the second half.
On Friday, Cherundolo announced that he is leaving the team following the 2025 season. In his fourth season with LAFC, he said he plans to move with his family back to Germany, where he spent his pro career. Cherundolo led Los Angeles to an MLS Cup title in 2022.
LAFC appeared to score in the second minute of the game but it was called offside. Portland went ahead in the ninth minute when Mora converted a penalty kick after he was fouled in the box by LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Loris.
Moments later, another LAFC goal was nullified by an offside call.
The Timbers made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute with Santiago Moreno’s goal from the center of the box that evaded Loris and defender Sergi Palencia.
LAFC pulled one back before halftime with Giroud’s first MLS goal on free kick from just outside the penalty area. Afterward the Frenchman knelt to the field and pointed toward the sky with both hands.
LAFC tied the match at 2 on David Martínez’s goal in the 62nd minute, but Mora quickly answered with a header that put Portland ahead again in the 64th.
Jonathan Rodriguez made his season debut for the Timbers as a second-half substitute. He had been sidelined by a knee injury.
These are the key events on day 1,151 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is where things stand on Sunday, April 20:
Easter truce
In a surprise move, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral 30-hour Easter truce on Saturday. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted Russian “assault operations” and “artillery fire are ongoing”, adding that his country would abide by the truce.
Zelenskyy on Sunday said the Russian army was making a “pretence” of an Easter ceasefire, continuing overnight attempts to inflict front-line losses on Ukraine. He added that Ukraine’s proposal to extend the ceasefire with Russia for 30 days after Easter remains valid.
Despite the truce, early on Sunday, Ukrainian forces reported 59 instances of shelling and five assault attempts along the front line.
Landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan coincides with US astronaut Donald Pettit’s 70th birthday.
Russian astronauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner have returned to Earth along with American Donald Pettit after a seven-month science mission on board the International Space Station (ISS).
The Russian Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying the trio touched down southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 6:20am (01:20 GMT) on Sunday, the landing confirmed by the United States’s NASA and Russia’s Roscosmos space agency.
The timing of their parachute-assisted return to Earth coincided with the US astronaut’s 70th birthday, NASA said on the social media platform X.
Happy birthday, @astro_Pettit! Many happy returns (including this one) 🥳
The MS-26 Soyuz spacecraft touched down in Kazakhstan at 9:20pm ET—or, in local time, 6:20am April 20, Pettit’s 70th birthday. pic.twitter.com/qFM5fAxnA0
NASA said the crew was moved to a recovery staging area in the city of Karaganda, adding that Pettit was doing well.
The crew arrived on the orbiting ISS laboratory on September 11, 2024, spending 220 days in space during which they orbited the Earth 3,520 times, completing a journey of 93.3 million miles (150.15 million km), NASA said in a statement.
Pettit spent his time researching “in-orbit metal 3D printing capabilities” and “water sanitisation technologies” while exploring plant growth and fire behaviour in space.
This was Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, with a total of 590 days in orbit logged throughout his career. Ovchinin has notched up 595 days in space over four flights, while Wagner has reached a total of 416 days over two flights.
Space exploration has remained a rare avenue of cooperation between the US and Russia since the latter unleashed its war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier this month, the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft carried another US-Russia crew – NASA’s Jonathan Kim and Russian crewmates Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky – to carry out scientific experiments on the ISS.
However, the US and other Western countries have ceased other partnerships with Roscosmos as part of a slew of sanctions placed on Russia over the war.
Astronauts, who are trained and certified by NASA and others like the European Space Agency, are known as cosmonauts when they represent Roscosmos.
Detective Roy Grace’s estranged wife Sandy formed a huge part of the drama for five series and, even after her death, she plays a key part in the upcoming episodes
07:00, 20 Apr 2025Updated 07:18, 20 Apr 2025
Sandy is a key part of the ITV drama Grace(Image: Jonathan Browning)
Detective Roy Grace has been gracing our screens on the ITV drama for five series. For just as long, viewers have been left puzzled about Grace’s estranged wife Sandy and what really happened.
After much guessing and wondering, last series, it was confirmed Sandy had ran away and had faked her death. She returned to Brighton and in some shocking scenes last year, Grace and Sandy were finally reunited before she tragically decided to end things.
As a result, Bruno is now staying with Grace and his partner Cleo as they navigate their work and complicated personal lives. Sandy was a key part in the last five series of Grace and is still a key part now.
Grace actor John Simm has opened up to The Mirror and other press about the seeming end of the Sandy story during last series.
“I was kind of torn with it, really. Because I realised the audience… we can’t string them along forever about the Sandy thing. And it has been going on through the whole series, so it had to reach a conclusion, and they needed answers,” John said.
DS Glenn Branson and DS Roy Grace in the hit ITV drama(Image: ITV)
“But on the other hand, I really liked it. It was a kind of spectre hanging over his head. That was his thing. He was the detective with the missing wife, and he couldn’t solve it. So now that that’s gone, that jeopardy in his life has gone, I was kind of worried. We can’t just have a blissfully happy detective who’s not an alcoholic, and he’s really good at his job, and he’s a pretty nice guy, and he’s completely in love, and everything’s fine. So I was kind of worried that that was going to be exposed a little bit. But actually, with the mind of Peter James, there’s plenty of jeopardy for Roy Grace. So I needn’t have been worried.”
John also warned that “the repercussions of what happened to Sandy do carry on”.
He said the storyline with Sandy will “inform many, many episodes to come, when we actually find out what she was involved in and the reality of the situation she was in”. He warned: “That is certainly not over. There’s a lot to unravel about that.”
Zoe Tapper – who plays Cleo – added: “I have a feeling that Sandy is always going to be there in one form or another, and yeah, she’s going to live on through Bruno. And they can’t ignore that, because he’s obviously in a really traumatised state as well.
“He’s lost his mother, and they’ve got a duty to him to keep her memory alive and to try and sort of guide him through that. So yes, I think maybe physically Sandy’s not there, but she’s certainly going to have an ongoing consequence throughout their lives, I think.”
Everyone in world cricket is talking about Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the Indian player who made a dazzling IPL debut at just 14.
Shy schoolboy Vaibhav Suryavanshi is in dreamland at just 14, becoming the youngest player in Indian Premier League history and marking the occasion with an audacious first-ball six.
The fearless young left-hander is being touted as a superstar in the making after his instant impact opening the batting for Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, when he scored 34 off 20 balls in Jaipur with three sixes and two fours.
He finished on the losing side but stole the limelight as, at 14 years and 23 days, he made his debut for Rajasthan after being bought for $130,500 in November’s auction of players at the age of only 13.
An explosive free-scoring batsman, who can also bowl spin, Suryavanshi comes from India’s poorest state, Bihar, and his father is a farmer and part-time journalist, according to Indian media reports.
Mature beyond his years
The teenager’s rise has been swift. He made his domestic debut aged 12 in the Ranji Trophy in January 2024 before being selected for India’s under-19 squad against a touring Australia team. He hit a 58-ball century – the second fastest in youth Tests after England’s Moeen Ali in 2005.
But it was the bidding war at the IPL player auction in 2024 that catapulted the youngster into global headlines. Now he finds himself among the cricketing elite in the world’s most popular and lucrative T20 tournament and has been lauded by former players after his first show.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan tagged a clip of Suryavanshi hitting his first ball for six off seasoned India seamer Shardul Thakur and wrote on X: “This is incredible.”
“He is 14 but has the mind of a 30-year-old,” former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar said. “Vaibhav Suryavanshi looked confident against bowlers who have been bowling for years.”
Former India batsman Suresh Raina said, “He will rule cricket in the future. Vaibhav Suryavanshi will show what he is capable of.”
Rajasthan coach and India great Rahul Dravid was impressed by the youngster in trials before the auction, saying Suryavanshi had “some really good skills”.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi plays a shot during the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 19, 2025 [Money Sharma/AFP]
His cricket does the talking
His father, Sanjeev, expressed astonishment after what happened in the auction.
“I am speechless … I don’t know what to say. It’s a massive thing for our family,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express newspaper.
“I had a gut feeling that he would get picked, but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that there would be a bidding war.”
He believes his son is in the right team to realise his potential.
“Over the years, Royals have groomed the youngsters. Be it Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel or Riyan Parag, all are products of the Rajasthan Royals franchise,” said Sanjeev. “I sincerely hope that Vaibhav will also follow the same path.”
Vaibhav’s state coach, Pramod Kumar, described him as a quiet boy who loves his cricket.
“He is the kind of player who has come on Earth to play cricket; he settles for nothing else,” Kumar told The Times of India newspaper.
“He hardly talks. But ask him about cricket and he can go on day and night.”
Born on March 27, 2011, Suryavanshi is the first IPL cricketer born after the tournament’s inception in 2008.
Prayas Ray Barman was the previous youngest IPL player. He was 16 years and 157 days in 2019 when he made his debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
McLaren showed extremely strong race pace during the practice sessions in Jeddah but Norris said he was “going to need a bit of luck” in the grand prix.
He said that to “get close” to Verstappen, Piastri and Russell was “not very realistic”.
“It’s almost impossible to overtake around here, so I’m not expecting anything magical,” Norris said.
“But we have a good car, so if we can work our way up to the top five, six, I will say I’ll be happy.”
Norris lost control on the exit of Turn Four, his car sliding on to the kerb at Turn Five and flicking into the wall on the exit.
He swore and called himself an “idiot” over the radio to his team in the immediate aftermath of the accident.
“Makes sense,” he later said of his frustration in the car. “I agree with it. I should be fighting for pole and, especially on a Q1 lap, not taking any silly risks like I seem to have done.
“We will review it but it’s not a guarantee we would have been on pole, because Red Bull were quick the whole qualifying.
“It would have been nice to be in that fight. I was doing well until then and feeling comfortable. I shunted, so I am not going to be proud, I’m not going to be happy, I’ve let myself and the team down and the guys have a big job to do to fix it.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the crash was a reflection of Norris’ struggles with the behaviour of this year’s car.
“In Q3, when Lando tries to squeeze a few more milliseconds out of the car, the car doesn’t respond as he expects,” Stella said.
“This is a behaviour that kind of surprises him. Today it surprised him. The car understeered a bit in corner four, ended up on the outside kerb, and this outside kerb can be quite unforgiving.
“It’s an episode that I think starts from some of the work that we have done on the car. It made the car faster overall, but I think it took something away from Lando in terms of predictability of the car once he pushes the car at the limit.
“So it’s the responsibility of the team to try to improve the car and to try and correct this behaviour. Because we want Lando to be confident, comfortable, that he can push the car.”
Verstappen, eight points behind Norris in the championship, said he was surprised to have been in the fight for pole after a difficult time through the practice sessions, adding that until taking pole he had been “not very confident” for the race.
“My long runs weren’t particularly great compared to Oscar or Lando,” he said. “Naturally, with how the car was reacting today, it will be a bit better. But I don’t think it’ll be enough to be super competitive.
“But the car definitely took a bit of a step forward compared to what we were testing yesterday. So I hope that will help our tyre life out as well, but difficult to say that gives an opportunity to fight.”
At 14 years and 23 days, Vaibhav Suryavanshi made an immediate impact for Rajasthan by scoring 34 runs, including three sixes, against Lucknow.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi was thrust into the Indian Premier League (IPL) spotlight as its youngest debutant, and the 14-year-old announced himself in spectacular style with a massive six off the first ball he faced.
The Rajasthan Royals left-hander came into the squad for the clash with the Lucknow Super Giants in place of captain Sanju Samson on Saturday and was an impact substitute during their chase of 181, where he started by smashing Shardul Thakur over extra cover.
“My word, what the hell was that?” Australia’s Shane Watson said during the broadcast.
“One of the hardest shots in cricket is to gain power over cover off the front shoe … Power to burn from the 14-year-old. What a way to announce yourself to the world.”
Suryavanshi, who idolises West Indian great Brian Lara, hit two more sixes in his stunning 20-ball, 34-run innings and was dismissed after forging an 85-run opening stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal, but his team went on to lose the match by two runs.
“It was important to give him an opportunity. He batted well in the nets, his preparation was good,” Rajasthan’s spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule told reporters.
“Obviously we missed Sanju but it created an opportunity for Vaibhav and he made the most of it. He batted beautifully.
“He’s a great kid with a really good head on his shoulders. He’s got a game that’s almost 360 degrees. He’s courageous and you saw his approach. He’s dominating and wants to play his shots. His theory is, ‘watch the ball, hit the ball’.”
Suryavanshi grabbed headlines in November when he became the youngest player to earn a contract in the lucrative Twenty20 league at the age of 13 after his team outbid the Delhi Capitals and signed him for 11 million Indian rupees ($128,750).
The youngster made his debut in the domestic Ranji Trophy red-ball competition aged 12 last year and has played for India’s Under-19 side against Australia, scoring a 58-ball ton.
There were murmurs about his immense talent after he made a triple-century in a local tournament in his home state of Bihar, and fans will hope he can continue to sparkle for his IPL team.
Rajasthan Royals’ Vaibhav Suryavanshi plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 19, 2025 [Money Sharma/AFP]
On the morning of September 17, 1859, a “well-dressed and serious-looking man” walked into the offices of The San Francisco Evening Bulletin and – without explanation – handed over a document that he wished to see published. Intrigued, the paper’s editors carried a proclamation in that evening’s edition on page 3:
“At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last 9 years and 10 months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States.”
The document then asked representatives from around the country to meet in San Francisco’s Musical Hall “to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring”. It was signed, “NORTON I, Emperor of the United States”.
The proclamation of ‘Emperor Norton’ as seen in The San Francisco Evening Bulletin on September 17, 1859 [Courtesy of the San Francisco Public Library]
Norton was referring to the heightened political tension surrounding slavery. The Southern states largely depended on enslaved people for their economy, but the North opposed it. When the anti-slavery Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, Southern states began pulling out of the union – ultimately resulting in the Civil War.
The musical hall burned down just nine days before the meeting was due to take place, and although Norton rescheduled it at a different venue, apparently no one showed up.
As Tesla billionaire Elon Musk continues to influence the trajectory of the United States, it seems a good time to remember another South African who also tried to shape the national conversation, albeit not as successfully.
Musk, Trump’s appointed leader of the US government’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has cancelled $1bn worth of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion contracts, drastically reduced USAID’s funding of charitable programmes around the world, and tried to reduce the federal government workforce by two million people.
He has divided opinion, with some expressing their ire by setting Tesla cars and showrooms alight, while others appreciate him bringing his children into the Oval Office and brandishing a chainsaw on stage during Trump’s presidential campaign.
Norton didn’t have this kind of access to power, and he didn’t inspire a public backlash. But he was a cult figure, says John Lumea, founder of the Emperor Norton Trust, a nonprofit which works to promote Norton’s legacy through research and advocacy, and the leading contemporary scholar of Norton’s life. What’s more, “he was way ahead of his time on human rights issues”.
As Jane Ganahl, co-founder of the San Francisco literary festival Litquake, wrote in a 2018 endorsement of a proposal to rename part of the Bay Bridge in his honour: “Emperor Norton could have been a time traveller. A 19th-century man with 21st-century sensibilities, Joshua Norton fought for the rights of immigrants, women and those who suffered under religious persecution.”
A photograph of Emperor Norton taken in 1869 in San Francisco [Courtesy of the Collection of the Bancroft Library]
The Emperor – also self-styled as “Protector of Mexico” as he believed, rightly it turns out, that Mexico was vulnerable to the ambitions of Napoleon III of France – “reigned” for just over 20 years. Wearing a smart blue uniform with impressive brass epaulettes, he roamed the streets of San Francisco on foot, inspecting sidewalks, extracting “taxes” from his subjects, and writing imperial proclamations on a wide range of subjects for whichever newspaper would have them.
As far as taxes were concerned, these began as donations from friends and former business associates. From 1870 onwards, when many of his former benefactors had either died or moved away, he began selling promissory notes. Couched as investments in his “imperial government”, these were essentially also donations.
Many people – both old friends of Norton’s and those who saw him as a sympathetic character – went along with it: some banks even issued bank notes in his name. On one level, Norton was little more than a neighbourhood eccentric who had no real influence on politics. But he was an eccentric who is still remembered in books, films, podcasts and social clubs.
A banknote issued in the name of Emperor Norton in July 1875 [Cuddy and Hughes]
“Clearly, there was some level of psychological dislocation,” says Lumea, who estimates that Norton published at least 400 proclamations on diverse subjects ranging from the rights of immigrants to his annoyance at not being issued with skates at an ice rink. “But, despite the bluster of some of his proclamations, he was also a very kind person.”
The Emperor was still a popular figure when, on January 8, 1880, he collapsed on the corner of California and Dupont Streets and died at the age of 61, bringing an end to his 21-year reign. The San Francisco Call reported: “On the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moonless night, under the dripping rain … Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life.”
After his death, it became clear that the emperor was essentially a pauper – his small room at the Eureka boarding house contained a variety of walking sticks and hats, a few coins from America and beyond, and a sheath of fake telegrams (thought to have been sent as pranks by local people) purportedly from world leaders – so the members of the Pacific Club, an exclusive businessmen’s association, banded together to give him a fitting sendoff.
A reported 10,000 people from all walks of life came to pay their respects by viewing the Emperor “in state” in the city morgue. His body was paraded through the streets in a handsome rosewood casket as people of “all classes from capitalists to the pauper, the clergyman to the pickpocket, well-dressed ladies and those whose garb and bearing hinted of the social outcast”, as The San Francisco Chronicle reported, watched on.
A photograph of Emperor Norton dated circa 1875 [Bradley & Rulofson/Courtesy of the Collection of the Oakland Museum of California]
Humble beginnings
There is no birth record for Norton, but Jewish circumcision records unearthed in the United Kingdom suggest he was born in Deptford, southeast London, in February 1818. When he was just two years old, his parents emigrated to South Africa as part of a group of Britons known as the 1820 Settlers, brought by Britain to the Cape Colony to strengthen the frontier with the Xhosa people. The British had seized their cattle and land, angering them and sparking nine frontier wars between 1779 and 1879, five of which occurred before 1820. Norton’s father was a farmer and merchant of moderate means, but he still grew up with the political privileges enjoyed by white South Africans under British rule.
By the time he left South Africa at 27 in 1845, Norton had tried his hand at a few business ventures, none of which were particularly successful. Not much is known about his whereabouts or what he got up to – he appears to have visited Liverpool, Boston and Rio de Janeiro – until he arrived in San Francisco in late 1849, at the height of the California Gold Rush.
“Out West” his fortunes changed, and through a combination of commodities trading and real estate speculation, he became one of the wealthier members of the boom town’s emerging merchant class. “He belonged to all the right clubs and lived in the fanciest hotel in town,” says Lumea.
Emperor Norton in 1859 or 1860 [Courtesy of the Bancroft Library]
But his life of privilege and comfort was short-lived. In 1852, eager to capitalise on rice prices rising ninefold due to a famine in China, Norton put down a deposit for a $25,000 shipload of Peruvian rice. What seemed like a licence to print money soon turned out otherwise, when, days later, San Francisco was inundated with shipments of Peruvian rice – all of superior quality to Norton’s. Believing that he’d been misled by a middleman who’d exaggerated the quality of the rice, he refused to pay the balance and was duly sued for breach of contract.
“It seems to me that if he’d just let it go he might have survived as a businessman,” says Lumea. “It was his insistence on seeing justice done that resulted in his financial ruin.” When the Supreme Court finally ruled against him in 1854 and ordered him to pay his creditors $20,000 the following year ($730,000 in today’s money), all of his creditors came calling – it is thought he had interests in at least a dozen properties – and many of his friends abandoned him. By 1856, he was forced to declare bankruptcy.
For a while, Norton appears to have plunged into some sort of reclusive depression, but – with the country heading fast towards civil war – he soon began to concern himself with the issues of the day. In particular, he disagreed strongly with the Confederacy and, especially, its support of slavery. His solution to the coming clash was “an absolute monarchy, under the supervision and authority of an Independent Emperor and Supreme Council”, he stated in a proclamation.
“Norton felt that, with so many competing state, regional and party interests in the United States, the constitutional republic and representative democracy institutionalised in the US Constitution was doomed to fail,” says Lumea. “He was looking for a way the country could bring order out of chaos – to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat, as it were – and thought that monarchy offered the most efficient mechanism for doing that.” But, of course, Norton knew his proclamation would not be obeyed.
In 1858, he announced a run for Congress as an independent candidate (his name never made it onto the ballot) and in July 1859, a few months before declaring himself emperor, he published a (very brief) manifesto which lamented the “dissentions … between the North and South” and exhorted the citizens of the Union to “inaugurate a new state of things”.
An Emperor Norton banknote, November 1879 [Charles A Murdock/Courtesy of the Collection of the California Historical Society]
A friend of immigrants
While some of Norton’s proclamations were frivolous – he once issued one against the superintendent of a skating rink, threatening him with arrest for “having refused us the use of skates” – Lumea notes that many others were concerned with basic human rights. For example, Norton demanded that African Americans be allowed to ride on public streetcars and study at public schools, and he ordered that those who had wronged Indigenous American “tribes” be publicly punished in front of an assembly of “Indian chiefs”. He also argued for the separation between Church and state and supported women’s right to vote.
But it was his championing of the rights of Chinese immigrants that was most vehement and prolonged. Lumea has unearthed at least 17 proclamations that deal with the rights of Chinese people. On February 24, 1868, he ordered “the evidence of Chinese to be taken the same as any other foreign nation, in all our Courts of law and justice”. At the time, there was widespread public backlash against Chinese workers who were felt to be driving wages down. Many trade unionists, politicians and newspapers spoke out against the so-called “yellow peril” and in 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act put an initial 10-year ban on Chinese immigration. The law was strengthened in the following decades, and the ban was only lifted in 1943.
One of Emperor Norton’s proclamations on the rights of Chinese people, published in The San Francisco Daily Examiner on February 24, 1868 [Courtesy of the San Francisco Public Library]
In October 1871, Norton expressed his outrage at a race riot in neighbouring Los Angeles in which 15 Chinese men were lynched by a white mob and “commanded the prompt and immediate arrests of all persons implicated in the said wrong”. Of course, he had no actual control over the authorities.
A few months later, disgruntled by the city’s inadequate response to the riots, he proclaimed that “the authorities of Los Angeles are held responsible for the outrages perpetrated on the Chinese in that city recently if every person implicated is not properly punished”.
Emperor Norton on a street in Chinatown, San Francisco [Courtesy of Wolfgang Sell of the National Stereoscopic Association]
Bridges in the sky
One thing Musk has in common with the Emperor is his knack for reimagining the world we live in. As Musk has said, “I think it would be great to be born on Earth and die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact.”
Musk’s ambitions to colonise Mars might seem outlandish, but then so did Emperor Norton’s three 1872 proclamations ordering the construction of a bridge between San Francisco and Oakland across the bay. “Emperor Norton had his finger on the pulse of public policy,” explains Lumea. “Building a bridge spanning San Francisco Bay was not his idea. But the Emperor pushed for and popularised the idea – and he is the one most closely associated with it.”
First, some context. In 1871, the Central Pacific Railroad Company sought a $3m investment for the construction of a bridge spanning San Francisco Bay at its narrowest point. The idea never got off the ground as it was widely felt that building a bridge 30 miles south of the city would be of little commercial benefit.
While the debate was ongoing, however, Emperor Norton latched on to a much better idea. On January 6, 1872, he issued a proclamation “prohibiting” the railroad’s “scheme being carried into effect” and ordering instead that “the bridge be built from Oakland Point to Telegraph Hill, via Goat Island [now called Yerba Buena Island]”.
A sketch of the proposed San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as seen in Overland Monthly in April 1913
In the months that followed, he fleshed out plans in two further proclamations. He specified that the bridge should be “a suspension bridge” and he warned that it should be built “without injury to the navigable waters of the Bay of San Francisco”. He even ordered “the cities of Oakland and San Francisco to make an appropriation [provide the funds] for paying the expense of a survey to determine the practicability of a tunnel under water”.
A few months later, when no response had come from the cities’ authorities, in typical Norton style, he commanded “the arrest, by the army, of both the Boards of City Fathers, if they persist in neglecting our decrees”.
While the Emperor didn’t live to see his bridge built, he might have chuckled to himself had he witnessed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opening in 1936: not only did the Bay Bridge follow his route exactly, but it was also a suspension bridge.
In 1974, 102 years after Norton first floated the idea, his posthumous “I told you sos” would have been even louder with the opening of the Transbay Tube – an underwater rail tunnel connecting San Francisco and Oakland.
A perspective view of San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland showing five of the proposed bridges, in 1926 [Courtesy of Erica Fischer]A close-up photograph taken of Yerba Buena Island to document the progress of the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1935 [US Navy photograph]
The man and the myths
Norton became a prominent fixture of the San Francisco scenery. Freemasons quietly paid his rent and shopkeepers accepted his bank notes. Patrons of local saloons would stand him the price of a drink so he could “take a free pass at the free-lunch table” which was open to anyone who bought a drink, says Lumea. At political events and lectures, the Emperor would be expected to arrive to say his piece. “Even those who thought the Emperor absurd seemed to enjoy his presence,” says Lumea.
Part of the Emperor’s appeal may have had to do with his charisma and personality. But there was something more to it, suggested Oscar Penn Fitzgerald (1829–1911), a Methodist minister who counted Norton as an occasional parishioner. Fitzgerald felt that it had to do with Norton’s response to financial and mental ruin: “It was a curious idiosyncrasy that led this man, when fortune and reason were swept away at a stroke, to fall back upon this imaginary imperialism. The nature that could thus, when the real fabric of life was wrecked, construct such another by the exercise of a disordered imagination, must have been originally of a gentle and magnanimous type.”
Emperor Norton in 1871 or 1872 [Courtesy of the Collection of the California Historical Society]
With a cult figure like Norton, there will always be some blurring between fact and fiction. Mark Twain, who also lived in San Francisco during the emperor’s reign, modelled the character of the King in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on him, and Robert Louis Stevenson also mentioned Norton in his novel, The Wrecker.
Over the years there have been a few TV adaptations of his life, a couple of written biographies by Allen Stanley Lane and William Drury, and at least three organisations – the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (a historical drinking club), the Imperial Council of San Francisco (which elects an emperor and empress each year) and the satirical religion of Discordianism – have adopted the Emperor as their patron saint.
As Joel Gazis-Sax wrote in his 1997 essay, The Madness of Joshua Norton: “Most who remember and love the Emperor post-mortemly, love a myth.”
To this end, Lumea has spent the last 12 years trying to separate the man from the myth, and the digitisation of many historical newspapers has helped considerably in this regard.
Still celebrated today: ‘Emperor Norton’ makes an appearance at a parade in San Francisco on June 24, 2018 [Shutterstock]
Some of Norton’s most famous “proclamations” – the one in which he banned people from referring to his adoptive home as “Frisco” (a nickname for the city which may be a play on the word “frisk” as a word for “dance” and which was seen in print from 1950) for example – are most likely fake. Some may have been created by newspaper proprietors seeking readers or pushing their political agendas.
In 1869, The Oakland Daily News, for example, mocked San Francisco by publishing an obviously fake proclamation in which the Emperor called for an impossible bridge. The Emperor frequently issued counter-proclamations taking offence at such fake proclamations – and he took steps to oppose misinformation, such as when he appointed The Pacific Appeal newspaper, founded by African American civil rights and antislavery activist Philip Alexander Bell, as his new “imperial organ”, writing in December 1870 that “we…do hereby appoint the Pacific Appeal our said organ, conditionally, that they are not traitors, and stand true to our colors”.
Joseph Amster, centre, dressed as Emperor Norton, sings ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’ at the end of a parade to remember the great San Francisco 1906 earthquake and fire’s 110th anniversary on Friday, April 15, 2016, in San Francisco [Eric Risberg/AP]
Emperor Norton was a visionary, says Ganahl.He was also one of the first media-made celebrities. “A century and a half before we ever heard the name Kardashian, the Emp’s antics made for excellent copy, and he was hounded by the dozens of newspapers that called San Francisco home after the gold rush. What they didn’t directly observe, they made up in a very real ‘phase one’ of Fake News.
“By the time he died at the height of his ‘reign’, he was putting San Francisco on the map as a place that welcomed nuts and dreamers, anyone who coloured outside the lines. And so it remains today.”
Emperor Norton was only ever a local hero, but 150 years after his death, he remains known and loved throughout the Bay Area, says Lumea. “He is seen as a harbinger of San Francisco values, identifying with those on the margins, and fighting for the little guy. The fact that he was doing that from outside of power makes it all the more poignant.”
BRITS wanting to get their garden looking fresh ahead of summer can use a simple kitchen staple to help – but not in the conventional way.
Traditionally, gardeners are told to put teabags in their garden to boost gardenplants.
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This kitchen staple will help boost your garden plantsCredit: Getty
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Brits are being urged to rip up the kitchen staple to make it more effectiveCredit: Getty
Along with other kitchen scraps like potato peel, carrot off-cuts, and banana peels, the teabags help create a rich, nutritious compost that leads to much bigger and stronger fruit and vegetables.
However, gardeners are now being urged to make sure they rip up their teabags before putting them in the garden, pouring in the leaves directly.
This is because many of the top branded teabags sold today actually contain plastic.
Many branded teabags sold in UK supermarkets use plastic, which means they will never break down in your compost and will leave a plastic residue behind that will contaminate the compost with plastic chemicals.
This also includes plant based teabags, such as those used by Yorkshire Tea.
All teabags should be ripped open, and the bag disposed of separately and not in the compost bin.
Yorkshire Tea has advised: “PLA tea bags are sometimes called “plastic free”, but we’ve never used that label and WRAP, the people behind the UK Plastics Pact, also advise against it because plant-based plastics are still plastics.
“You can snip open your used tea bags, compost the tea inside at home, and put the bag itself in your refuse bin.”
“If you don’t want to do that, the alternative is to put your tea bag in your refuse bin.”
Consumer advice magazine Which? explains: “Tea bags have traditionally been sealed with a plastic called polyproplene, which enables their edges to be heat sealed and stop them falling apart in hot water.”
I tried ‘magic’ Lidl garden hose – you need to get it, it’s perfect for summer
“Small amounts were used, but it prevented them being composted and, due to the enormous amount of tea bags used in the UK, it generated a large amount of plastic waste.”
“The advice from the UK Tea & Infusions Association is to rip open the bags before placing the used tea leaves on your compost heap and dispose of the teabag paper separately in your bin where it will go into landfill.”
There are several benefits of putting tea leaves in your compost, as Chris at Climbing Wild Gardeners explains.
Chris told the northernecho.co.uk: “Tea bags contain beneficial compounds that improve soil structure, retain moisture, and provide plants with essential nutrients.”
“Burying used tea bags just beneath the soil’s surface helps retain moisture and supports healthy root growth.”
He added: “They also help reduce fungal infections, leading to a greener and healthier lawn.”
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Some teabags contain plastic which is harmful to plantsCredit: Getty
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Brits are being urged to rip them up before usingCredit: Getty
