Scrum-half guides playoff-chasing Bears around at a whirring tempo and he also has his eye on an England Test recall

Trying to catch lightning in a cider bottle would be only slightly harder right now than containing Bristol’s dazzling attacking game. The Bears have been averaging 50 points per match in winning five successive league fixtures and, before Saturday’s crucial visit to Leicester, are playing with a freedom and momentum few of their playoff-chasing rivals can match.

Setting the pace has been their pocket dynamo Harry Randall, who guides his team around the field at such a whirring tempo they are blowing opponents away. Last week they put 85 points on a hapless Newcastle and when Randall last played at Welford Road a couple of months ago he starred in England A’s 91-5 win over Portugal, underlining his credentials as a classy catalyst who could add a further spark to the senior England team.

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Marcus Hanlin swallowed conkers hidden in rice after being left unsupervised in Bristol home

A man with Down’s syndrome, severe learning disabilities and poor eyesight, who died after swallowing conkers hidden in rice as part of a sensory activity at a nursing home, had been left unsupervised though staff knew he was fascinated by food, an inquest has heard.

Marcus Hanlin, 57, was on a regime at Cheddar Grove nursing home in Bristol that included him only eating pureed meals and being kept away from food preparation areas because of a risk of choking and swallowing issues.

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Research reveals ‘long-lasting effects’ caused by pressure from parents, families, bullies and the media

Parents who tease their children about their weight are putting them at greater risk of feeling bad about their bodies decades later, regardless of whether they grow up to have obesity or not, a groundbreaking study has found.

Thirteen-year-olds who felt pressure from family members to shed pounds and endured weight-based teasing showed higher levels of internalised weight stigma when they turned 31, according to research by the University of Bristol published on Tuesday in the Lancet Regional Health Europe journal.

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Low-cost airline Wizz Air puts in 525,000-tonne order for product of Firefly’s proposed refinery in Essex

Aircraft could one day take off on fuel made from human waste under plans revealed by Wizz Air and the British sustainable aviation company Firefly to build a commercial refinery in Essex.

Firefly, based in Bristol, said it had developed a process to convert treated sewage into sustainable aviation fuel , or SAF.

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After ‘bonkers gig’ at Huddersfield town hall paired doom metal bands with pipe organist, churches are keen to get in on the act

It was a “bonkers gig”, pairing heavy metal with a pipe organ – a musical curiosity that the bands thought would surely seldom be repeated, if ever.

But Pantheïst and Arð, the doom metals bands who performed the concert at Huddersfield town hall last year, have been inundated with requests to repeat the performance – with churches leading the way.

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As the largest group on the council the party’s hopes of victory are high and candidates are relishing the battle to win power

The start of the council election campaign in Bristol has not been without challenges for Green party activists. They have endured cold, pounding rain while out canvassing, the shock of a dog bite that cost a candidate part of a finger and some pretty fierce swipes from Labour rivals.

But Emma Edwards, the leader of the group on Bristol city council, said they were relishing the battle to win power in May. “It’s a really exciting time for us here. It feels like we’re ready to make another leap. We’re enjoying being out, speaking to voters, telling them about our policies.”

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Poll predicts Green co-leader Carla Denyer will win in new Bristol Central seat by siphoning off votes from disillusioned left

Simon Heavisides frets and sighs on the doorstep of his flat in the Clifton Down area of Bristol. Like many in the new Bristol Central constituency, he is torn between the Labour and Green candidates. “I’m a lifetime Labour voter but I’m a bit disillusioned,” he explains to Green canvassers out doorknocking. “It’s really tough for me because I feel a loyalty to them.”

Heavisides, 57, is desperate for a change of government but he feels Keir Starmer’s moves to the centre ground have blurred the differences between the Conservatives and Labour. “I want the Tories out but as a Labour voter, you often feel like you are being required to vote Labour just because the alternative is horrific. Take immigration, I feel like Labour offers more of the same as the Tories but slightly more politely done.”

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• Forwards were selected in last year’s Rugby World Cup squad
• Bristol prop Sinckler has 68 caps, Saints flanker Ludlam 25

England forwards Lewis Ludlam and Kyle Sinckler will join Toulon at the end of this season, ruling them out of selection for the national team.

Prop Sinckler, who has 68 England caps, will leave Bristol Bears and Northampton flanker Ludlam, who has made 25 England appearances, will sign three-year contracts with the Top 14 club, the BBC reported.

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London-based artist raises copyright infringement issues when artworks go viral online and are recreated without credit

It began as a story about a mysterious plaque on a Bristol bench – but the strange tale of an engraved tribute to a deceased adulterer is now raising wider questions about copyright and who gets credit for creativity in the art world.

Photos of the brass plate paying tribute to a supposedly deceased adulterer called Roger went viral last week, after it was affixed to a wooden bench on Royal York Crescent in the upmarket district of Clifton.

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