More than 300 people have contacted the BBC with allegations of racism, corruption and bullying of victims by police after a Panorama undercover investigation.

The secret filming over seven months revealed evidence of racism, misogyny and officers revelling in the use of force at one of London's busiest police stations.

One of the main themes among the hundreds of people getting in touch was misogyny when they reported domestic abuse and sexual violence - with some saying reporting their rape to police "was like being raped again".

In response to the latest allegations, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said it was "working hard to build a culture based on integrity and trust" and improving vetting and misconduct procedures.

We have spoken to many of the women who contacted us with stories of mistreatment, whose experiences span police forces across England - from rural counties to big cities. We have changed their names to protect their identities.

A police officer allegedly told Joanna to "grow a pair" when she reported being punched in the face by her partner several months ago, she told us.

Her partner had been drinking excessively when he returned home and angrily attacked her, she says. She found herself at the local police station in tears.

"I was devastated and the police made it 10 times worse. My face had a bruise from the punch and one of the officers looked at me as if I was exaggerating the whole thing," she said.

"He told me to grow a pair... followed by a chuckle. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It took so much to go there in the first place and then I wished I hadn't."

• Unmasked: Secret BBC filming exposes hidden culture of misogyny and racism inside Met Police
• Why BBC sent undercover reporter into a busy London police station
• Met officers face fast-track hearings after Panorama investigation

One woman was motivated to get in touch with the BBC by a scene Panorama filmed of a Metropolitan Police officer being dismissive of a pregnant woman's allegations of rape and domestic violence. The officer said of her account to a colleague: "That's what she says."

Ava was also pregnant when she fled her abusive partner, who she says repeatedly raped and hit her. She said the treatment and attitude of the officers she met that night meant she would never turn to the police in future.

She said she was devastated that they did not believe her, telling her that "nobody gets raped more than once".

"It was like being raped all over again," she said. "What they put me through was worse than what I was going through before".

Ava says evidence that would have supported her case was "willfully ignored" and she was told that without CCTV evidence of an attack, "it is just your word against his".

She believes being a black woman made matters worse.

"The colour of my skin meant everything was stacked against me. The language they used and how dismissive and mocking they were, was both misogynist and racist," she said.

"They asked why I thought he was doing it to me - as if I was the problem, as if I'd brought it all on myself."

Policing Minister Sarah Jones told the BBC that the government would not tolerate these "sickening comments" and urged people to report them.

She said police chiefs had been given new powers to dismiss officers who commit gross misconduct. "We will root out those unfit to serve the public," she said.

Another woman, Claire, told us how she escaped her abusive former partner, who had coercively controlled her for 12 years, only to find that police did not want to get involved when he breached court orders to stay away from her.

On one occasion, her former partner entered her home and locked her out, despite an injunction banning him from the property.

She said it took the police more than seven hours to arrive and then "they just stood laughing and chatting with him". She and her three children ended up having to stay with a friend for months.

"I felt even more afraid and more isolated after speaking to the police. It's a boys' club - a network across police stations, police forces and county lines," Claire said.

"I would never call the police and I still worry he'll find me and show up."

A training programme called Domestic Abuse Matters was developed by the College of Policing in 2016. It is used by 37 out of 44 police forces in England and Wales to improve the way they deal with victims of sexual and domestic violence.

And part of the NPCC and College of Policing strategy on violence against women and girls says that one of its priorities is to challenge sexism and misogyny among officers.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Millichap, NPCC lead for violence against women and girls, told the BBC police chiefs were working with survivors of domestic abuse and sexual offences to continue to reform training, "with a key focus on first responders' understanding of the dynamics of abuse and their empathy with victims".

She said "officers must feel confident in calling out misogyny and sexism within policing" but that improved vetting and misconduct procedures were "having an impact in identifying and dismissing those who should not be in policing".

One of the women who contacted the BBC said that having watched the Panorama programme, she was shocked that nothing had changed in the decades since she was raped as a teenager.

"I have never had a night without a nightmare as a result, I've buried a lot of what the police officers asked me. They spoke down to me - like I was part of the problem," the woman, now in her 40s, said.

"Watching Panorama, I realised I must be one of thousands, I'm not the only one. They made me feel I was."

Gaza is experiencing a health "catastrophe" that will last for "generations to come", the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that a massive increase in aid is needed to begin to address the complex needs of the Strip's population.

Israel has allowed more medical supplies and other aid to cross into Gaza since a ceasefire with Hamas came into effect on 10 October, but Dr Tedros said levels are below those needed to rebuild the territory's healthcare system.

His intervention comes as the US attempts to shore up the ceasefire it helped to broker following an outbreak of violence at the weekend.

The agreement has been described by the White House as the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that includes an increase to the amount of aid entering Gaza, and supplies distributed "without interference" from either side.

Dr Tedros told the Today programme he welcomed the ceasefire deal but said the increase in aid that followed has been smaller than expected.

Asked about the situation on the ground, he said Gazans had experienced famine, "overwhelming" injuries, a collapsed healthcare system, and outbreaks of disease fuelled by the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure.

He continued: "On top of that, [there is] restricted access to humanitarian aid. This is a very fatal combination, so that makes [the situation] catastrophic and beyond words."

Asked about long-term health prospects in Gaza, he added: "If you take the famine and combine it with a mental health problem which we see is rampant, then the situation is a crisis for generations to come."

Tom Fletcher, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said earlier this week that aid groups are "turning the tide on the starvation crisis" but that "far more" was needed.

On Tuesday, the UN's World Food Programme said lorries carrying more than 6,700 tonnes of food had entered since 10 October, but that was still considerably below its 2,000-tonnes-a-day target.

Six hundred aid lorries a day need to be arriving in Gaza but the average is between 200 and 300, Dr Tedros said, as he called on Israeli authorities to "de-link" aid and the wider conflict.

On Sunday, Israel temporarily halted aid deliveries after it said two Israeli troops were killed in an attack by Hamas gunmen in Gaza. Hamas said at the time it was not aware of the clashes.

The Israeli military responded with a series of air strikes across the territory, killing dozens of Palestinians.

The aid deliveries resumed the following day after heavy international pressure.

Dr Tedros said aid should not be "weaponised" and called on Israel not to impose conditions on its delivery, including over the return of the remains of dead hostages still in Gaza, which has become a key point of contention during the ceasefire.

Hamas has committed to returning the bodies but so far has transferred only 15 of 28, saying it has not been able to retrieve the rest.

Twenty living Israeli hostages were released by Hamas last week in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails.

Dr Tedros told Today: "There should be full access, there should not be any condition, especially after all the living hostages were released, and a good part of the remains are transferred. I did not expect there would be additional restrictions."

Asked about the role the US should play, Dr Tedros said "since the US has brokered the peace deal it has the responsibility of making sure that all sides are respecting" it.

Israel is currently operating two crossings - Kerem Shalom in the south-east, and Kissufim in central Gaza - but it has continued to face calls from aid groups for all the access routes it controls to be restored.

Dr Tedros said "all available crossings" were needed to get enough aid into Gaza, and called on Israel to allow aid groups previously been denied registration back into the territory, saying: "You can't have a scaled up response without those who can deliver on the ground."

He also said supplies intended be used to restore Gaza's health system have been confiscated at the border because Israeli authorities say they could have a military use.

"If you are going to build a field hospital, you need the canvas and the pillars [for tents]," he continued. "So if the pillars are removed, because of an excuse that they could be dual-use, then you can't have a tent."

Thousands of Palestinians are waiting for weekly medical evacuation flights, Dr Tedros said, though none have taken off for two weeks due to religious holidays in Israel. He said 700 people have previously died while waiting for medical evacuation and called on the number of flights to be increased.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others as hostages.

At least 68,229 have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

In July, a UN-backed body concluded that famine had occurred in Gaza, though Israel disputed the findings, saying there was "no starvation".

The UN has previously estimated it will cost $70bn (£52bn) to reconstruct Gaza. Dr Tedros said around 10% of that figure would need to be spent on its badly damaged health system.

He continued: "We have been saying for a long time that peace is the best medicine.

"The ceasefire we have is a very fragile one and some people have died even after the ceasefire because it was broken a couple of times.

"What is very sad is many people were cheering in the streets because they were very happy there was a peace deal. Imagine, [some of] those same people are dead after they were told the war is over."

Israel has received two bodies that Hamas says are two more deceased hostages who had been held in Gaza.

The Israeli military said two coffins were handed over to troops in the Palestinian territory by the Red Cross, which had earlier received them from Hamas.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the coffins - which were escorted by the military - had crossed into Israel and will be taken to be formally identified in Tel Aviv.

Confirmation of their identies would mean that Hamas has transferred 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire deal earlier this month. All 20 living hostages were released shortly after the agreement was reached.

Hamas has handed over a Palestinian body in a previous hostage transfers, which it said was accidental due to difficulties locating the bodies.

The IDF urged the Israeli public on Tuesday evening to "act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families of the hostages".

It also stressed that "Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages".

Israeli officials said the families of the hostages will be notified once the bodies are identified.

There has been outrage in Israel that Hamas has not yet returned all the deceased hostages.

The Palestinian group says it is trying to do this but that it faces difficulty finding bodies under rubble of buildings bombed out by the IDF in Gaza.

Under the ceasefire and hostage release agreement, Israel has freed 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza, and returned 15 bodies of Palestinians for every Israeli hostage's remains.

The first phase of the agreement has also seen an increase of aid into Gaza, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a halt in fighting - though deadly violence flared up over the weekend as both sides accused one another of breaching the terms of the deal.

The IDF launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.

More than 68,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.

Irish police have come under attack at a protest outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Dublin.

Footage from the scene at the Citywest Hotel showed a police vehicle on fire.

Broadcaster RTÉ is reporting that several thousand people have gathered outside the hotel.

Ireland's Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said there was "no excuse" for the violent scenes.

O'Callaghan said people threw missiles and fireworks at gardaí (Irish police).

"This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the gardai," he said. "Those involved will be brought to justice.

"It is clear to me from talking to colleagues that this violence does not reflect the people of Saggart. They are not the people participating in this criminality, but rather the people sitting at home in fear of it.

"Attacks on gardaí will not be tolerated. Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not."

The head of global theme park giant Merlin Entertainments says its "biggest competition" is people choosing to stay at home on their phones and other devices.

Fiona Eastwood says a day out at one of its UK attractions - which include Legoland, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers - was the "perfect antidote" for spiralling screen time.

In a wide-ranging BBC Big Boss Interview, the chief executive reflected on challenges in the forthcoming Budget, big brand partnerships, and how its customers were responding to cost-of-living pressures.

Eastwood also highlighted the importance of seasonal attractions to its customers - with Halloween now rivalling its summer season in driving profits at some attractions.

Having been in the job since February, Eastwood has taken over at a time when her industry is facing challenges from a dip in consumer confidence.

Her company's latest half-year update flagged concerns over a "softening of demand" in the UK theme park sector and fewer international visitors.

Last year the company's overall revenue was down slightly to just over £2bn, with an operating loss of £132m.

Despite the challenging environment, Merlin drew just shy of 63 million people to its attractions in 2024. Escapism was something people were willing to spend on, Eastood says.

"The moments to be together are increasingly precious, and what we provide is quite distinct," she says. "It's all about families coming together to play."

Talking about its UK attractions, which include Madame Tussauds, Sea Life and the London Eye, Eastwood says seasonal windows are key.

Its major theme parks have hosted Halloween events, like Scarefest at Alton Towers and Fright Nights at Thorpe Park, since 2002.

"We're a very seasonally led business," says Eastwood. "So you have spring break, Easter, summer and Halloween.

"Halloween, that we're in now, we're seeing some really strong performance. That's in view of the amazing product we have. You take Thorpe Park, increasingly Halloween is almost half of its annual profits."

Along with seasonal offerings, big brand partnerships are also a key part of Merlin Entertainments' strategy - creating rides themed around children's tv hits to tempt families away from their screens and into the parks.

Next year it will open its first Bluey ride at Alton Towers as part of CBeebies land, as well as PAW Patrol land opening at Chessington World of Adventures.

One of next year's biggest launches is a collaboration with video game Minecraft - an enduring mega hit since it was launched in 2009, spawning one of the highest grossing films of 2025.

With Eastwood citing screen time as Merlin's toughest competition, it hopes an £85m investment in immersive experiences will attract Minecraft fans with themed rides, restaurants and accommodation in the UK and US during 2026 and 2027.

"What I'm really excited about in terms of Minecraft is bringing [the game] to life in a physical way that will mean the massive fans of that game can then be in the game with their friends, their parents," says Eastwood.

Call for a VAT cut

Eastwood is on the board of Hospitality UK, an industry trade body which has been calling for VAT on hospitality to be cut from 20% to 12.5%.

"What we really want is a growth-led Budget," says Eastwood.

She adds that cutting VAT would put the UK on a "level-playing field" with its European neighbours - where hospitality businesses often face a rate of about 10%.

Making the case for this, Eastwood pointed to a period during Covid when VAT was cut to 12.5%.

"We saw a bump, and we saw demand, and we saw people wanting to spend," she says.

In a statement, the Treasury said the government was supporting all UK businesses and the upcoming Budget would aim to encourage growth and investment.

"We are a pro-business government that has capped corporation tax at 25%, the lowest rate in the G7, we're reforming business rates, have secured trade deals with the US, EU and India, and have seen interest rates cut five times since the election, benefiting businesses in every part of Britain."

While Eastwood has been CEO for less than a year, her time with Merlin stretches back a decade, with her joining shortly after Alton Towers Smiler rollercoaster crash in 2015.

Coming into the chief executive role, she says her focus was trying to take an "outside view" of the company - aware that she could have bias and blind spots.

She adds one of the best parts of her role is getting out to visit the sites.

"Nothing beats going to the theme park, that is my job," she says.

"Spending time with the team, seeing kids having an amazing experience at our attractions."

However, asked about getting to the front of the queue for Nemesis - the Alton Towers ride that is one of the best known in the country - Eastwood did not have any concrete advice, despite joining front-line workers on the ride last year.

"I'm not a big fan of Nemesis," she says.

"My favourite's actually Wicker Man, I love Wicker Man."

Israel has received two bodies that Hamas says are two more deceased hostages who had been held in Gaza.

The Israeli military said two coffins were handed over to troops in the Palestinian territory by the Red Cross, which had earlier received them from Hamas.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the coffins - which were escorted by the military - had crossed into Israel and will be taken to be formally identified in Tel Aviv.

Confirmation of their identies would mean that Hamas has transferred 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire deal earlier this month. All 20 living hostages were released shortly after the agreement was reached.

Hamas has handed over a Palestinian body in a previous hostage transfers, which it said was accidental due to difficulties locating the bodies.

The IDF urged the Israeli public on Tuesday evening to "act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families of the hostages".

It also stressed that "Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages".

Israeli officials said the families of the hostages will be notified once the bodies are identified.

There has been outrage in Israel that Hamas has not yet returned all the deceased hostages.

The Palestinian group says it is trying to do this but that it faces difficulty finding bodies under rubble of buildings bombed out by the IDF in Gaza.

Under the ceasefire and hostage release agreement, Israel has freed 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza, and returned 15 bodies of Palestinians for every Israeli hostage's remains.

The first phase of the agreement has also seen an increase of aid into Gaza, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a halt in fighting - though deadly violence flared up over the weekend as both sides accused one another of breaching the terms of the deal.

The IDF launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.

More than 68,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.

Mosquitoes have been found in Iceland for the first time after the country experienced record-breaking heat this spring.

Insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjaltason encountered the mosquitoes over several nights last week while using wine-soaked ropes to observe moths, local media reported.

Mr Hjaltason found two female mosquitoes and one male which were later confirmed to be Culiseta annulata, one of few species that can successfully survive winter.

Iceland was one of only two mosquito-free havens in the world prior to the discovery, partly due to its cold climate. The only other recorded mosquito-free zone is Antarctica.

The mosquitoes were found in Kjós, a glacial valley to the South West of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.

Mr Hjaltason shared the news of his discovery on a Facebook page for local wildlife alongside pictures of the insects, describing "a strange fly on a red wine ribbon", according to Icelandic media.

"I could tell right away that this was something I had never seen before" he said in the post, which was screenshotted and shared by Iceland's Morgunblaðið news site, adding "the last fortress seems to have fallen."

Mr Hjaltason sent the insects to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History to be identified, where entomologist Matthías Alfreðsson confirmed his suspicions.

The species are common across parts of Europe and North Africa but it it isn't clear how they reached Iceland, Alfreðsson told CNN.

Iceland's cold climate and lack of stagnant water in which the insects can breed are key contributors to the country's former lack of mosquitoes, the World Population Review said.

But this year, the country broke multiple records for its high temperatures.

Typically, Iceland rarely experiences highs of more than 20C (68F) in May, and when it does those heatwaves will last for no more than two to three days, its Met Office notes. That threshold was exceeded for 10 consecutive days this year in different parts of the country, though.

Iceland also saw its hottest ever day in May, with temperatures reaching 26.6C (79.8F) at Eglisstaðir Airport.

A June study published by the Global Heat Health Information Network noted that such shifts could have "significant" impacts on delicate ecosystems, which have adapted to the cold climate and are sensitive to temperature shifts.

Last year was the world's hottest on record, and the UN's climate body has established that human influence has "unequivocally" warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land.

Further monitoring will be required in spring to see if the mosquito species has "truly become established in Iceland", Alfreðsson added.

Hjaltason, meanwhile, has speculated on the origin of the specimens he observed.

"One always suspects Grundartangi - it's only about six kilometers from me, and things often arrive with ships and containers, so it's possible something came in that way," he told Morgunblaðið.

"But if three of them came straight into my garden, there were probably more."

The focus of the national grooming gangs inquiry "will not change" or be "watered down", Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has insisted.

Writing in the Times newspaper, Mahmood said the wait for the appointment of the inquiry's chairperson will "not be much longer", adding that the government "must get this right".

Her intervention comes after three abuse survivors quit their roles in the inquiry this week over fears that its scope could be widened beyond grooming gangs - and concerns about who would chair the inquiry.

In her resignation letter, survivor "Elizabeth" - not her real name - said the process felt like "a cover-up" and had "created a toxic environment for survivors".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced in June there would be a national inquiry into grooming gangs covering England and Wales, with a panel of survivors set up to oversee the process.

But three abuse survivors have accused officials of trying to water down the inquiry by broadening its scope to wider issues of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

There is also frustration around the length of time it has taken to appoint a chairperson, with some seeing this as a delay tactic because of fears of what might be exposed.

Survivors have raised concerns about the suitability of the candidates shortlisted to chair the inquiry - including Annie Hudson, a former senior social worker, and Jim Gamble, a former deputy chief constable.

Fiona Goddard, who was abused by gangs while living in a Bradford children's home, said policing and social work services had "contributed most to the cover-up of the national mass rape and trafficking of children".

Another survivor, Ellie Reynolds, suggested having "establishment insiders representing the very systems that failed us" as potential chairs was a conflict of interest.

Ms Reynolds, who was abused by a gang of Pakistani brothers in Barrow, told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour: "If they were that serious in appointing a chair that was actually going to succeed in this inquiry they would not have picked a police officer or a social worker.

"It should have been a judge - it should have been somebody that was completely impartial and non-biased."

Ms Reynolds said the "final turning point" in her decision to quit was a move to widen the inquiry "in ways that downplay the racial and religious motivations behind our abuse".

Elizabeth said she had seen "selective narratives being promoted - ones that appear to serve particular agendas, especially around issues of race and the narrative of widening the scope".

She told the BBC she had wanted a chair who was "legally" trained and "impartial".

Annie Hudson has withdrawn her candidacy for chair, the BBC has been told.

In her article for the Times, Mahmood said it was with "a heavy heart" that she learned some members of the panel had stepped down.

"Should they wish to return, the door will always remain open to them," Mahmood wrote. "But even if they do not, I owe it to them – and the country – to answer some of the concerns that they have raised."

She also said the inquiry will "explicitly examine the ethnicity and religion of offenders".

"I know that some are frustrated that they are still waiting for this inquiry to begin. I understand that frustration. And I feel it myself," Mahmood added.

Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips had earlier said it was "untrue" the government was seeking to dilute the focus of the inquiry.

Responding to the resignations of Ms Goddard and Ms Reynolds in the House of Commons, Phillips said she regretted the departure of the two women but added: "My door is always open to them."

She also insisted "not all victims are of the same opinion" and she would continue to engage with all survivors.

Phillips added that the inquiry panel of victims from which Ms Reynolds and Ms Goddard resigned was not managed by the government, but by a grooming gang charity.

But Ms Goddard said the safeguarding minister's denials were a "blatant lie", and later told GB News that she would "consider" returning to the panel, but only if Phillips resigned.

Ms Goddard said there were "many" members of the survivors' panel who were not victims of grooming gangs but different types of child sexual abuse and exploitation, and that only these individuals were pushing for a wider inquiry.

A Home Office spokesperson said the inquiry "will remain laser-focused on grooming gangs", as Baroness Casey had recommended when calling for a national inquiry to be set up.

"In order to meaningfully consult with victims and survivors about the terms of reference, we need to ask them questions and listen to their responses." the spokesperson added.

"That is not expanding the scope - it is ensuring their voices shape the inquiry."

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the government's inquiry was "descending into chaos".

He said that ministers had been "forced" into holding the inquiry in June adding: "Perhaps that is why, months later, the government has said nothing substantive publicly."

The Conservatives have called for the inquiry to be chaired by a senior judge to guarantee impartiality and restore faith in the process.

Phillips rejected that suggestion, arguing that Baroness Casey had said she did not want a traditional judicial-led inquiry.

The minister also stressed the difficulty of finding a chair who was not attached to an institution "that didn't fail these girls over the years, including our courts who took the children away from grooming gang victims, who criminalised some of them".

"There is no institution in our country that hasn't failed," she added.

Gambling advertisements featuring Formula 1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton and the Chelsea football club logo have been banned in the UK over concerns that they would influence children.

The adverts published by two gambling firms, Kwiff and Betway, were banned after investigations into the complaints, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said on Wednesday.

Betway's YouTube advert, seen in May, featured football fans wearing clothes with the Chelsea badge, while Kwiff's post on X in July promoted the British Grand Prix with Hamilton's picture.

Both betting companies were warned not to include any character who had a strong appeal to viewers under the age of 18.

The BBC has contacted the two betting firms for comments. Separately, the BBC has also reached out to Hamilton's team for comments.

In its ruling on Kwiff, which is run by Eaton Gate Gaming, ASA said that a researcher from the University of Bristol had lodged a complaint over concerns that the firm's post on X would likely appeal to under-18s.

Kwiff's post featured an image of Hamilton with text highlighting a "huge weekend" for him at the British Grand Prix in the Silverstone race, accompanied by an "18+" symbol and the BeGambleAware.org logo, ASA said.

The post also included a link to an article on Kwiff's website about the race, it added.

Eaton Gate Gaming had said that its data indicated that Hamilton appealed to an older audience rather than those aged under 18, ASA wrote.

The post was meant to drive traffic to their their company blog, which was an "editorial commentary" on a website separate from their gambling platform, Kwiff told ASA.

Kwiff has since reviewed its social media accounts and removed any content that displayed mainstream sportspeople, ASA said.

"We considered Sir Lewis Hamilton was a notable star within the sport, with a significant public profile and social media following," the ASA ruling said.

The authority also cited Hamilton's 150,000 Instagram followers who were under 18 and based in the UK as a sign of his appeal among youths. It also said Hamilton had appeared in the F1 24 video game - which had an age rating of three years old and above - and was a storyteller on a programme aired by the BBC's CBeebies last year.

"As such, we considered that Kwiff would have been aware of the possibility that Sir Lewis Hamilton would have strong appeal to under-18s," it added.

Separately, ASA also ruled that Betway's advertisement breached its code.

YouTube, according to ASA, was an unsuitable platform for the advert, as advertisers could not guarantee that their content would exclude under-18 viewers.

"It was likely that there was at least a significant number of children who had not used their real date of birth when signing up to YouTube," ASA said.

Betway told ASA it had the contractual right to use Chelsea's logo in its role as the club's official European betting partner.

Betway said that YouTube's own ad policies offered further safeguards against under-18s being exposed to age-restricted content, according to ASA's statement.

Banning the advert could set a "damaging precedent for gambling sponsorships in sport", Betway told the report.

Author Sir Philip Pullman has called on the government to change copyright laws on "scraping", where writers' books are used to train artificial intelligence (AI) software to understand and generate human language.

Writers whose work has been scraped don't get compensation or recognition, something authors including Kate Mosse and Richard Osman have criticised, saying it could destroy growth in creative fields and amount to "theft".

Sir Philip, author of the hugely popular novels about Lyra Silvertongue, the heroine of His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust trilogies, thinks writers should be compensated.

"They can do what they like with my work if they pay me for it," he told the BBC's culture editor Katie Razzall. "But stealing people's work... and then passing it off as something else... That's immoral but unfortunately not illegal."

Last December a consultation on the UK's legal framework for copyright around the AI sector and creative industries was launched, attracting 11,500 responses.

The government has set up expert working groups on AI and copyright. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been contacted for a response to Sir Philip's comments.

Sir Philip said: "As far as I know everybody's work has been stolen, scraped like a trawler... at the bottom of the sea. Prawns, oysters, starfishes, mermaids, whatever. You name it, it's all killed.

"It's a wicked system and I'm profoundly against it."

Sir Philip says he wants the government to act now, change the law and fight back.

"Of course they should change it at once," he said. "Don't you steal anybody else's work."

Sir Philip's latest novel, The Rose Field, completes the second trilogy about Lyra. The first five books have so far sold 49 million copies globally.

Lyra lives in a universe parallel to our own, where people have a daemon - a companion spirit in animal form.

Early on she uncovers a conspiracy using kidnapped children, and uses a truth-telling device called an alethiometer.

"She's always curious and inquisitive," he says. "I think it's a very important quality. We should praise people who are curious. We should encourage it in children."

The books see her grow from an 11-year-old girl into a woman in her early 20s, with her world ruled by the Magisterium, a shadowy religious and political organisation.

In The Rose Field, the Magisterium is waging war on imagination, which it calls a false, seductive and dangerous doctrine.

Former English teacher Sir Philip, 78, goes on to describe what he sees as real-life enemies of imagination.

He highlights "the education policy of the government, which insists on learning things off by heart, sitting in rows and walking silently down corridors", along with learning about the grammar of language "before you can use it", calling this "nonsense".

The writer, who is clearly a fan of using the imagination, as evidenced in his writing, calls it "a form of perception".

He explains that his final book in the trilogy is about the the realm of the "Rose Field, in which things exist that you can only see with your imagination".

"They're there but you can't see them if you don't imagine them, for example, ghosts, wishes, hopes, memories...

"Things you can't necessarily weigh, measure or analyse chemically, but which are there nonetheless, such as love, fear, hope. That's what Lyra has discovered in the course of this book."

He's also an outspoken critic of organised religion.

"The arguments I have are with people in power who use religion to make other people do things... religion gives them a sense of extra certainty when they do that because they believe that they're fulfilling the will of God," he says.

Final farewell to Lyra?

Despite writing about other worlds, realms and creatures, he insists he is not a fantasy writer, unlike JRR Tolkien, the author of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books.

"I don't think there's any comparison at all between me and Tolkien. He was a writer of fantasy, and I'm not writer of fantasy."

Despite his books containing magical objects, talking animals and mythical griffins, he insists he is "writing about the real world through a little filter".

He adds that after saying farewell to Lyra and all the other characters in his books, he will "miss them a little bit".

But for his millions of fans, there is a glimmer of hope.

This might not be the end of Lyra's story.

"I can't say that," he says. "It might happen."

He is now writing a memoir about his "unusual childhood" and a picture of the world he grew up in.

His final thought is about the daemons in his books, and he muses over what animal form his own might take.

"I think she'd be a corvid," he says. "I love ravens. They're not very well loved. I don't care.

"Their flying is extraordinary, their aerobatics turning upside down and zooming so close to the ground.

"They're wonderful birds to watch, they're very clever.

"And In some mythologies, the raven is the storyteller."

The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three will be published on 23 October, including the audiobook, which is read by actor Michael Sheen.