Hannah Mitchell

Police and rescue teams are searching the River Tyne and the surrounding Wylam area for 22-year-old Liam Potts, who disappeared after spending the night with friends. Police believe he entered the water after being seen near Wylam Bridge at about 00:20 BST on Saturday. He had been present when a vehicle struck pedestrians on the bridge but was not in the vehicle and was not believed to have been injured. A man and woman were seriously injured, while two men have been arrested and bailed pending further inquiries. Police have asked the public not to speculate and said Potts’s family is being supported.

A memorial in South Shields was completed with 10 metres of former Tyne and Wear Metro railway track, symbolizing the estimated two deaths for every 10 metres of the Thailand–Myanmar Death Railway. The track was installed by Nexus volunteers beside Ray Lonsdale’s sculpture of Sunderland veteran Len Gibson, who was among the Allied prisoners forced by Japan to build the railway during World War Two. The memorial was unveiled during VJ Day celebrations, with veterans and supporters highlighting the prisoners’ appalling treatment, disease, forced labor and lasting sacrifice.