WETHERSPOONS fans may have to find a new local soon as even more venues are set to close for good.

Punters could lose as many as 20 Wetherspoons drinking spots as another venue prepares to close its doors.

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The Sir Norman Rae in Market Street, Shipley, West Yorkshire, will call for final orders on March 24 after finding a buyer.

It was one of 11 additional pubs that Wetherspoons put up for sale in September last year – a year after it initially put 32 pubs up for sale.

Reacting to the online news, one punter said: “So disappointed to see this Wetherspoons closing. It will be missed.”

Another wrote: “Another nail in the coffin of Shipley town centre. Very sad.”

A third added: “Bang is going to our regular dinner on a Thursday night, a few pints for me and a few wines for the wife.”

And a fourth shouted: ‘Too bad. Good breakfast there. Cheaper than Bingley and Bradford.

“Shipley doesn’t have much left for it.”

One regular customer describes the branch as “gloriously presented” in Google reviews.

A spokesperson for Wetherspoons said: “The last trading day for The Sir Norman Rae is March 24.

‘It’s a pub that Wetherspoon put on the market a while ago and have now traded to sell.

“We will not reveal who it was sold to.

“Wetherspoon occasionally sells off some pubs and that is the case here.”

The pub will remain open until the closing date and trade as a Wetherspoons.

Dozens of other Wetherspoons locations remain up for sale.

The Foot of the walk bar in Edinburgh Leith comes on the market after a sewer pipe burst beneath the property.

Plus The Sun exclusively revealed that The Quay in Poole, Dorset and The White Hart in Todmorden would be coming onto the market.

The chain – which has 827 pubs in the UK – warned in September 2023 that it would put dozens of pubs up for sale.

There are as many as 20 pubs still for sale, with 15 locations currently on offer.

This means that a buyer has made an offer that is being considered by the seller.

This does not mean that the sale is guaranteed, and the sale may remain open if not completed.

The five pubs up for sale are:

• The Pontlottyn, Abertillery
• The Ivor Davies, Cardiff
• The Market Cross, Holywell
• Rochester Castle, London
• Foot of the walk, Edinburgh

There are currently 15 Wetherspoons locations on offer:

• Asparagus, Battersea, London
• Wrong one, Bexleyheath
• The Gatehouse, Doncaster
• Jolly Zeeman, Bristol
• The Mockbeggar Hall, Moreton
• The Alfred Herring, Palmers Green
• The cross keys, pebbles
• Mr Norman Rae, Shipley
• The White Heart, Todmorden
• Spa Lane Vaults, Chesterfield
• Lord Arthur Lee, Fareham
• The Regent, Kirkby in Ashfield
• The Sir Daniel Arms, Swindon
• The Hain Line, St Ives
• The Quay, Poole
• Thomas Drummond, Fleetwood

It comes as several British pubs have closed their doors for good amid a turbulent economic backdrop.

Rising energy and labor costs are putting further pressure on companies.

But Wetherspoons continues to sell and excite its loyal fan base.

From March 6, punters will have the chance to sample a range of 30 different real ales, including five from overseas brewers.

The festival lasts 12 days from Wednesday March 6 to Sunday March 17.

Wetherspoons fans will have the opportunity to taste beers from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Taiwan and the US.

Do you have a money problem that needs to be solved? Get in touch by emailing money@the-sun.co.uk.

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The husband of Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins placed a simple sprig of rosemary on his wife's coffin during her funeral as he was accused of running her over in his car.

Rohan Dennis was refused entry at the main entrance to the chapel where Wednesday's removal service was held at Perth's Fremantle Cemetery.

He was sent away by an messenger and slipped in through a side door before sitting with his two young children in solemn silence near the front of the chapel.

Dennis was not called to speak at the emotional ceremony as he awaits trial for his alleged role in her tragic death.

Instead, he had to make his simple gesture to her coffin – after Mrs Hoskins' parents and her sister laid their tributes on their daughter's coffin.

After the service, he left again through a side door, flanked by supporters and carrying his daughter, who held a sunflower that had decorated her mother's casket.

In his eulogy, Mrs. Hoskins' father Peter noted that, among other things, she was a “woman.”

'Melissa is not just our daughter. “She was a sister, a granddaughter, a wife, a mother… and a friend to so many people,” he said.

Mr Hoskins also mentioned how his 32-year-old daughter supported her young family while her fellow athlete husband continued his career until recently.

He said that when she retired, she reset her life goals and told her family, “It's time to become a champion mom.”

Mr Hoskins described her as a rock to her family.

“When your partner is no longer competing, you become a thread of continuity… and you just have to get it done. She did just that,” he said.

The young family only recently returned to Australia after years living abroad.

“She was so looking forward to coming home, being close to family and friends and sharing the same time zone,” Mr Hoskins said.

Crying during the eulogy, Mr Hoskins described his daughter as a beautiful and genuine soul.

“She was a giver and lent everything to everyone,” he said.

'She was fun, she was sassy, ​​she loved music, she loved to dance and had a zest for life.

“She hated her feet and toes, and one day out of the blue she posted a photo of a tattoo she got on her right foot… 'Jess' in honor of her sister.

'From that moment on she loved her feet, maybe not her feet, but she felt more comfortable.

“She loved cooking and entertaining.

“She loved gin and tonics, so please treat yourself to one tonight and make a generous splash.”

Mr Hoskins also described his daughter as down to earth and said she had time for everyone.

“I will forever miss her bright laugh and big smile, and our family gatherings will never be the same,” he said.

Mr Hoskins said they were celebrating a life cut short.

“We are sad, all of us,” he said.

'We are sad, all of us.

'There should have been more. There will be nothing more, but we will be left with a lifetime of memories.

“Melissa was just warming up. Her best performances were yet to come.'

Following the Tour Down Under cycling event, a memorial service will also take place in Adelaide.

Ms Hoskins grew up in Kalamunda, in the Perth Hills, before embarking on her professional cycling career, which took her around the world.

Her life was tragically cut short on December 30 when Mr Dennis allegedly hit her with a luxury car outside their $2.45 million home in Adelaide.

Mr Dennis, a former world champion cyclist and Olympian, has been charged with causing the death of his wife by dangerous driving, careless driving and endangering life.

The 33-year-old, who has not yet entered pleas to the charge, has been released on bail and will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on March 13.

Police have not released details of Ms Hoskins' death, but it is reported that she jumped onto the hood of the $70,000 dark gray 2022 Volkswagen Amarok Highline V6 and grabbed the door handle before the vehicle sped off and fell to the ground .

It is further alleged that she may have been dragged by the vehicle, with the incident captured on a neighbour's security camera.

Ms Hoskins and Mr Dennis became lovers on the track during the 2012 London Olympics.

They married in February 2018 and split their time between Girona in Spain, La Massana in Andorra and Adelaide.

Their son was born in 2018, followed by a daughter in 2021.

The young family recently settled into their colonial mansion in Adelaide, which they bought in 2019 but rented out for a few years.

Ms Hoskins was part of Australia's bid for bronze in London, but the team of three riders were defeated by the US.

Four years later, the four-rider Australian team was expected to challenge Great Britain for gold at the Rio Olympics.

But she suffered an injury and although she completed the first two rounds, she sat out the final where the team finished in fifth place.

Ms Hoskins won gold in the women's team pursuit at the 2015 World Championships.

The release of US court documents accusing Prince Andrew of taking part in an ‘underage orgy’ on Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island and groping the ‘boobs’ of an alleged sex slave ends any hope he has of returning to royal duties, experts told MailOnline today.

The Duke of York has been again dragged into the sex scandal surrounding his paedophile friend, just over a year after he settled the multi-million dollar case brought by Virginia Giuffre in 2022.

As well as being accused of ‘acts of sexual abuse’, documents released in New York overnight claim that Andrew would call Epstein weekly and jetted to his private Caribbean retreat, nicknamed the ‘Island of Sin’. 

Royal expert Phil Dampier told MailOnline today that the Epstein files are ‘the final nail in the coffin’ for Prince Andrew’s reputation – and Prince William in particular will make sure his uncle does not return to the royal fold.

Mr Dampier said: ‘The big danger for him is that another woman could make specific allegations against him and want a day in court or a pay off as well’.

Royal biographer Tom Bower said the the Royal Family need to ‘bury and forget’ Prince Andrew as he’s in ‘self-denial’ about his association with Jeffrey Epstein. ‘It’s a danger for the Palace, they don’t know what more bombs will be dropped. He’s not telling them’, he said. Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams says any rehabilitation of Andrew’s image is an ‘impossible task’.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment today because they only speak for working royals. The duke stepped down from duties in 2019 over his links to convicted paedophile Epstein. In 2022 his mother the Queen stripped him of his royal patronages and military titles before he settled the multi-million dollar case with Ms Giuffre. 

Today it emerged that one of Epstein’s alleged sex slaves, known only as Jane Doe 3, claimed that she was told to have sex with Prince Andrew during an orgy on Epstein’s island, Little Saint James, in the US Virgin Islands. 

A 2014 court filing alleges that she was ‘forced to have sexual relations with this Prince when she was a minor in three separate geographical locations.’ The newly unsealed docs claim Epstein told Jane Doe 3 to ‘give the Prince whatever he demanded’. Jane Doe 3 claims that Ghislaine Maxwell ‘facilitated Prince Andrew’s acts of sexual abuse by acting as a ‘madame’ for Epstein’.’ 

The Duke of York was with his family at Sandringham for Christmas, but only because Charles felt ‘sorry’ for him, Phil Dampier has said.

Mr Dampier claimed William would never let his uncle return to royal duties, with this now even more unlikely after the Epstein files came out in NYC last night.

He said: ‘These latest revelations will do nothing to help Prince Andrew’s hopes for a return to royal duties.

‘That was always very unlikely anyway but this could be then final nail in the coffin of his reputation.

‘It’s important to remember he has never been found guilty of any crimes and denies them.

‘But I can’t ever see him setting foot in the USA again. Indeed, for someone who used to travel the world he has only been abroad once or twice since the scandal erupted.

‘There is seemingly no end in sight for him and therefore I can’t see him making a comeback.

‘I think the King feels sorry for him and has made it clear he is still very much part of the family, as we saw at Christmas.

‘But Prince William would certainly be against any attempt by him to take up any sort of public duties’.

The documents released in New York also reveal: 

Jane Doe 3 is not named in the documents. Virginia Giuffre claims she had sex three times with Andrew in around 2001 when she was 17 and 18. The age of consent in the US Virgin Islands is 18, for example, but is lower in the UK where it is 16. The age of consent in Florida is 18 and is 17 in New York. 

The legal documents do not say when the orgy allegedly involving Prince Andrew took place.

Virginia Giuffre gave written evidence in 2015 to a Florida court and said: ‘The third time I had sex with Andy was in an orgy on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.

‘I was around 18 at the time. Epstein, Andy, approximately eight other young girls, and I had sex together. The other girls all seemed and appeared to be under the age of 18 and didn’t really speak English’.

She added that Epstein, who killed himself in prison while awaiting trial on further child abuse charges in August 2019, had ‘laughed about the fact they couldn’t really communicate, saying that they are the ‘easiest’ girls to get along with’.

Former US President Bill Clinton ‘likes them young’, one alleged Epstein victim has also claimed in almost 1,000 pages of evidence released by a US court, and there was an allegation that Professor Stephen Hawking participated in a sex party.  

The names of more than 170 people who were either associates, friends or victims of Epstein are made public following a US judge’s order last month.

In 900-plus pages of documents released last night, Prince Andrew is mentioned 69 times.  

The first tranche of documents was released on Wednesday evening with high-profile figures such as the Duke of York and former US President Bill Clinton featuring heavily. There are also mentions of Donald Trump, Michael Jackson, Stephen Hawking, David Copperfield, Alan Dershowitz and many more.

Mr Dershowitz has said that he wants all the documents released because it will prove that he ‘did nothing wrong’. Others have also released denials, including Prince Andrew himself. Mr Copperfield has also denied wrongdoing and said he regrets his association with Epstein.

Following the release of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein by a New York court, Virginia Giuffre, one of the paedophile financier’s victims, posted to X, noting one site where the files were being released had crashed.

She wrote: ‘We broke the website’.

Court documents show that Ms Giuffre said during a 2016 deposition that she had been told by Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex with several men, including Andrew.

After asking Ms Giuffre in turn about each of the men, Laura Menninger, a lawyer who was part of Maxwell’s legal team at the time, asked: ‘Other than Glenn Dubin, (redacted), Prince Andrew, Jean Luc Brunel, Bill Richardson, another prince, the large hotel chain owner and Marvin Minsky, is there anyone else that Ghislaine Maxwell directed you to go have sex with?’

Ms Giuffre replied: ‘I am definitely sure there is. But can I remember everybody’s name? No.’

The unsealed documents include the transcript of Virginia being questioned over the whereabouts of the photograph showing her with the Duke of York.

Asked during her deposition in 2016 where the picture was, she said: ‘I probably still have it. It’s not in my possession right now.’

Ms Giuffre added it may have been in storage boxes at her mother and father in-law’s in Sydney, Australia.

She also said documents related to the case may have also been in the storage boxes which were ‘full of Nerf guns, my kids’ toys, photos.’

During the deposition, Ms Giuffre said she had given the picture to the FBI in 2011 but had last seen it before she packed up her home to emigrate to Australia from Colorado.

The deposition of a woman named Johanna Sjoberg was also published as part of the documents.

She previously claimed Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaire’s Manhattan apartment in 2001, while giving testimony in May 2016.

The incident is alleged to have taken place when Ms Giuffre and Ms Sjoberg, were at Epstein’s house off Fifth Avenue in New York.

Ms Sjoberg’s deposition made reference to a puppet being placed on Ms Giuffre’s breast at the same time – believed to be Andrew’s Spitting Image puppet.

A 2014 filing Epstein trafficked victims ‘for sexual purposes’ to powerful men including a ‘well-known prime minister’ and other world leaders, according to a 2014 filing.

Paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein was ready to reward one of his victim’s friends if they could ‘prove her allegations false’ – including that Professor Stephen Hawking participated in an underage orgy, court documents have revealed. 

An email from Epstein to disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell showed he was content for her to ‘issue a reward’ to any of Virginia Giuffre’s friends to counter her claims, shortly after she filed a civil claim in the US in 2015.

The email read: ‘You can issue a reward to any of Virginia’s friends, acquaints, family that come forward and help prove her allegations are false.

‘The strongest is the Clinton dinner, and the new version in the Virgin Islands that Stephen Hawking participated in an underage orgy.’

Also published among the court documents as part of Ms Giuffre’s civil claim against Maxwell was the transcript of the socialite’s videotaped evidence given under oath.

During her interview, known in the US as a deposition, Maxwell claimed she could only recall Prince Andrew on Epstein’s island once.

Andrew stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with Epstein and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case to Ms Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.

The duke was cast out of the working monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.

He strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

Asked whether any girls under the age of 18 were present on that one occasion, Maxwell replied: ‘There were no girls on the island at all.

‘No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house.

‘Girls meaning, I assume you are asking underage, but there was nobody female outside of the cooks and the cleaners.’

In other documents, Maxwell could be seen sending an email in January 2015, shortly after a civil claim had been filed against her, in which she described herself as ‘out of my depth’.

She added: ‘I have already suffered such a terrible and painful loss over the last few days that I can’t even see what life after press hell even looks like – statements that don’t address all just lead to more questions… what is my relationship to Clinton? Andrew on and on.’

Johanna Sjoberg also said Epstein had told her that former President Bill Clinton ‘likes them young, referring to girls’.

Ms Sjoberg said: ‘I knew he had dealings with Bill Clinton.

‘I did not know they were friends until I read the Vanity Fair article about them going to Africa together.’

Asked if Epstein had ever talked about the former president, Ms Sjoberg said: ‘He said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls.’

In 2019, Mr Clinton’s spokesman said he knew ‘nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to’ and that the pair had not spoken ‘in over a decade’.

The spokesman also said Mr Clinton had never been to Epstein’s island, called Little St James, his ranch in New Mexico nor his house in Florida.

We see relatively little of him, but Peter Phillips has the honor of being the eldest of the late Queen Elizabeth’s eight grandchildren.

Peter, who turns 46 today, is the son of Princess Anne and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and older brother of Zara, 42.

Unlike their cousins, neither Peter nor Zara have a title – which would be in line with Princess Anne’s wish that her children would have had as normal a life as possible.

While Zara has followed their parents in making a name for themselves as a leading equestrian, Peter has delved into a series of business ventures – not without the occasional controversy.

Peter was fifth in the order of succession at birth, but has steadily moved up as Prince Edward and Prince Andrew have had families of their own.

Yet the 46-year-old is a central figure in the Windsor family and played a major role in the funerals of both his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.

He walked through the streets of London behind Her Majesty’s coffin in September with his cousins, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Peter’s younger sister Zara Phillips Tindall arrived in May 1981. He also has two half-sisters, Stephanie Phillips and Felicity Tonkin, Mark Phillips’ other children.

Both Peter and Zara spent a lot of time growing up with their cousins, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Peter attended Port Regis Prep School in Shaftesbury before later going to Gordonstoun in Scotland.

It was this school that his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, and his uncles King Charles III, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward attended.

After school, Peter spent time traveling in Sydney and working for former motorcycle racer Jackie Stewart, who was a friend of Princess Anne and part of the Queen’s inner circle, as part of the F1 racing team.

Peter later studied sports science and played varsity rugby at the University of Exeter.

He got a job in hospitality management at Jaguar Land Rover, before moving to the Williams racing team as a sponsorship account manager.

Peter met his future wife, Canadian-born Autumn Kelly, at the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix while Peter was working for Williams F1.

He left racing in September 2005 for a job as a manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Two years later, in July 2007, Peter and Autumn announced their engagement and were married in May 2008 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

In December 2010, Autumn gave birth to the Queen’s first great-grandchild, Savannah, followed in March 2012 by the couple’s second daughter, Isla.

After 14 years together, the couple confirmed the news that they had split in February 2020. Their divorce was finalized 16 months later in June 2021.

Their statement read as follows: ‘After informing HM The Queen and members of both families last year, Peter and Autumn mutually agreed to separate. They had come to the conclusion that this was the best course of action for their two children and their continued friendship.

‘Both families were of course saddened by the announcement, but fully supported Peter and Autumn in their joint decision to raise their children together. Both Peter and Autumn will remain in Gloucestershire to raise their two children, where they have lived for a number of years.”

He has since found love again with Lindsay Wallace, an old school friend from his £40,000-a-year Gordonstoun days.

The pair were first photographed together when Lindsay joined Peter at August Brooksbank and Lucas Tindall’s double royal christening in November 2021.

The seriousness of their relationship became clear when Ms Wallace joined her royal pal at three separate Platinum Jubilee events last year: the Epsom Derby, the Platinum Party and the Platinum Pageant.

And most recently the pair were pictured laughing together at the Coronation concert in May as they watched from the royal box in the grounds of the Windsor Estate.

Peter is not a ‘working royal’ and does not receive state support. He recently returned to F1 as head of partner acquisition for sports and entertainment rights agency CSM Sport & Entertainment.

But in 2020, Peter had turned to other means of raising money, using his royal status to sell Jersey-produced milk in China.

In a television advertisement for Bright Dairies, shown on the country’s Dragon TV, Peter was seen being brought a glass of milk by a butler.

“This is what I drink,” he says to the tagline: “British Royal Family Member, Peter Phillips.”

The episode raised eyebrows.

Princess Anne’s son was paid £750,000 for a two-year ‘commercial services contract’ to organize the Queen’s 90th birthday street party.

Those wanting to attend the picnic lunch on the Mall to celebrate the Queen’s birthday had to pay £150 per head, a price tag her grandson Peter defended.