England's participation in the Commonwealth Games has been thrown into doubt after a stadium bridge collapsed, two top athletes withdrew from the competition and a third threatened to pull out.
With just 11 days until the start of the Delhi Games, the head of England's team demanded guarantees of safety for competitors after 27 workers were injured, five of them seriously, when a major walkway connecting a stadium to a car park in New Delhi collapsed on Tuesday.
Team officials with Scotland and Wales are also monitoring the situation.
Olympic 400 metres champion Christine Ohuruogu announced she would not be competing for England after suffering from cramp at a training session last weekend. Lisa Dobriskey, who won the 1,500m title at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, also chose to quit the Games after suffering from injuries throughout the season.
Meanwhile, Phillips Idowu looked set to become the third high-profile English athlete to pull out. The world triple jump champion wrote on his Twitter account that he was too concerned about safety at the site to take part. However, his agent Ricky Simms said on Tuesday night that a firm decision had not yet been made and that he advised his client to sleep on it.
Head of the England team Craig Hunter, who has also highlighted concerns about the athletes' village, is demanding reassurances from organisers and warned that "time is beginning to run out" before the Games begin.
There are fears some teams could pull out of the Indian Games due to substandard accommodation, with 60 of the 260 rooms set aside for English athletes not watertight, and a major cleaning programme needed throughout.
Mr Hunter said the team remains "committed to participating", but added: "It's hard to cancel an event of this magnitude but we are close to the wire, and teams may start to take things into their own hands. Athletes will start getting on planes soon and decisions will have to be made. We need new levels of reassurance."
Sir Andrew Foster, chairman of Commonwealth Games England, said he is "very concerned" about the preparations being made for the event.
A decision about England's participation will be made on Wednesday or Thursday as the safety and security of the site is assessed.
England's participation in the Commonwealth Games has been thrown into doubt after a stadium bridge collapsed, two top athletes withdrew from the competition and a third threatened to pull out.
With just 11 days until the start of the Delhi Games, the head of England's team demanded guarantees of safety for competitors after 27 workers were injured, five of them seriously, when a major walkway connecting a stadium to a car park in New Delhi collapsed on Tuesday.
Team officials with Scotland and Wales are also monitoring the situation.
Olympic 400 metres champion Christine Ohuruogu announced she would not be competing for England after suffering from cramp at a training session last weekend. Lisa Dobriskey, who won the 1,500m title at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, also chose to quit the Games after suffering from injuries throughout the season.
Meanwhile, Phillips Idowu looked set to become the third high-profile English athlete to pull out. The world triple jump champion wrote on his Twitter account that he was too concerned about safety at the site to take part. However, his agent Ricky Simms said on Tuesday night that a firm decision had not yet been made and that he advised his client to sleep on it.
Head of the England team Craig Hunter, who has also highlighted concerns about the athletes' village, is demanding reassurances from organisers and warned that "time is beginning to run out" before the Games begin.
There are fears some teams could pull out of the Indian Games due to substandard accommodation, with 60 of the 260 rooms set aside for English athletes not watertight, and a major cleaning programme needed throughout.
Mr Hunter said the team remains "committed to participating", but added: "It's hard to cancel an event of this magnitude but we are close to the wire, and teams may start to take things into their own hands. Athletes will start getting on planes soon and decisions will have to be made. We need new levels of reassurance."
Sir Andrew Foster, chairman of Commonwealth Games England, said he is "very concerned" about the preparations being made for the event.
A decision about England's participation will be made on Wednesday or Thursday as the safety and security of the site is assessed.
Bank of England rate-setters have signalled they are leaning towards further emergency measures to prop up the economic recovery.
The minutes of this month's meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC) showed members voted 8-1 to leave interest rates at a record low of 0.5% and to keep the Bank's programme to boost the money supply at £200 billion.
But the report showed that some members thought the probability that further action will be necessary to stimulate the economy and keep inflation on track to hit the 2% target in the medium term had increased.
The report comes a day after the US Federal Reserve kept the door ajar for further asset purchases or quantitative easing should the economy require it.
Members of the MPC also considered an argument from Andrew Sentance for a "well-communicated policy of gradually increasing the rate". Dr Sentance was alone in voting in favour of an increase to 0.75%.
The minutes said stubbornly high inflation, currently at 3.1%, and weak private sector demand could create difficulties as the MPC attempts to hit the 2% medium-term target.
The Bank is worried that a prolonged period of above-target inflation will cause inflation expectations to drift up, making it more costly to bring inflation back to target.
And it is also concerned that private demand will not grow sufficiently quickly to replace the waning boost from cuts in public spending, increasing the margin of spare capacity in the economy and causing inflation to fall materially below the target in the medium term.
The Bank's report described both key risks as substantial and said members stood ready to respond in either direction as the balance of risks evolved.
"For some of those members, the probability that further action would become necessary to stimulate the economy and keep inflation on track to hit the target in the medium term had increased," the minutes added.
Royal Mail workers will benefit from the biggest employee shares scheme of any privatisation for 25 years under Government plans to attract private capital to the postal industry, the Business Secretary has said.
Vince Cable said "mutual ownership" would be promoted, spreading worker ownership alongside private capital, with at least 10% of shares going to employees.
He told the Liberal Democrat annual conference in Liverpool: "I want to announce today that employees in Royal Mail will benefit from the largest employee shares scheme of any privatisation for 25 years.
"The Liberal Democrats were the first and only party to call for an employee stake and we are now implementing it in Government."
Mr Cable said the plans did not include the sale of the Royal Mail's Post Office business, adding: "There will be no programme of closures as there were under Labour."
A postal service bill is expected next month, setting out the coalition's plans to privatise the Royal Mail, which will be fiercely resisted by the Communication Workers Union (CWU).
In a briefing note published by the Liberal Democrats on Wednesday, the party said the recent report by Richard Hooper had highlighted that the Royal Mail was a company "on the brink".
"It faces a lethal combination of challenges from falling number of letters being sent to potentially one of the worst pension positions in UK corporate history," said the briefing.
"We do not believe there is a need for Government to keep a stake in Royal Mail in the long-term - but we will retain some flexibility so that we can negotiate the best possible outcome.
"The extent of private sector investment and the speed at which we begin to divest shares will depend on market conditions, getting best value for the taxpayer and securing a sustainable future for Royal Mail."
An unemployed construction worker who microwaved his favourite hamster to death has been jailed for nine weeks.
Anthony Parker, 29, of Holyrood Way, Hartlepool, Teesside, was banned from keeping animals for five years by magistrates in the town.
When police came to his home in the early hours of February 23, he admitted putting his pet in the cooker after a drunken row with his girlfriend.
The court heard he told officers: "I didn't mean to kill her. She was the best hamster I ever had. She was called Suzie."
Parker shook his head as he was led away from the dock at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court in handcuffs.
Chairman of the bench Barbara Sutherland told him the starting point had been 12 weeks but that was reduced to nine because of his guilty plea. "You will serve half in prison and the rest on licence," she told him.
Parker admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a Syrian hamster by microwaving it, resulting in its death.
Neil Taylor, prosecuting, said the animal had been killed in a cruel way. Parker had been drinking all day and when his girlfriend came home, they rowed. The defendant told police he had not meant to kill Suzie, but admitted putting her in the cooker.
He said he wanted his lover to see the pet. He later said he had no recollection of events.
Officers found Suzie in a green wheely bin outside. "It was clear the hamster died in agony," Mr Taylor said. The animal's lips were burned and its eyes were opaque.
Football star Titus Bramble has been arrested on suspicion of rape.
The Sunderland defender was detained after the alleged rape of a young woman was reported to police in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Bramble, 29, a former England under-21 player, was being quizzed by detectives investigating the alleged attack at a Newcastle city centre hotel.
A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "Police received a report of a rape of a woman at a city centre hotel in Newcastle in the early hours.
"Two men, aged 29 and 30, have been arrested on suspicion of rape."
The former Ipswich and Newcastle defender was signed by Sunderland manager Steve Bruce from Wigan for a fee thought to be around £1 million in the summer.
It is believed the alleged rape happened at the plush, four-star Vermont Hotel, which has an entrance close to bars and nightclubs on Newcastle's quayside.
The second man arrested was Bramble's brother, Tesfaye Bramble, police confirmed.
The 30-year-old striker, who has played international football for Montserrat, a British island in the Caribbean, plays for Eastern Counties League Premier Division club Leiston, in Suffolk.
A hotel spokesman refused to comment. Sunderland Football Club has so far not commented.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has launched a searing attack on the City "spivs and gamblers" who crippled the British economy.
In a rousing speech to round off the first Liberal Democrat conference since they entered coalition, Mr Cable condemned the "outrageous" scale of bank bonuses after the credit crunch.
But he also attempted to calm business concerns over his damning critique of capitalist excess and threats to legislate against big payouts, insisting he was not seeking "retribution".
The address in Liverpool was littered with crowd-pleasing rhetoric to counter activists' anxiety over the compromises made to govern with David Cameron.
In abrasive remarks that contrasted with leader Nick Clegg's more emollient tone on Monday, Mr Cable admitted it was "not much fun" being in bed with the Conservatives. But he said it was "necessary for our country that our parties work together at a time of financial crisis".
He said the Lib Dems were "punching above our weight" in the coalition, stressing that the Tories had been forced to accept changes to income tax and capital gains as well as dropping key policies such as cutting inheritance tax.
"Ironically, we may be able to make more progress on a fairness agenda with the Conservatives than New Labour was willing to do," he said. "Labour was constantly on its knees trying to prove that it was a friend of the super-rich."
Giving Lib Dem activists a green light to criticise coalition policy, Mr Cable said the party had to "maintain our distinctive and progressive tax policies for the future".
"In government we are trying to put Lib Dem ideas into action; your job is to keep us honest," he said. "We have punched above our weight in government because we have a democratic party which has clear principles and policies."
He suggested the party had not given up hope of further tax reforms, saying he "personally regretted" that plans for a mansion tax on homes worth more than £2 million had been dropped for the coalition agreement.
The father of a man found dead in a suspected chemical suicide pact has spoken of his devastation, saying: "I thought the world of him. I couldn't have had a better son."
Stephen Lumb, 35, from Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, and Joanne Lee, 34, from Great Notley, near Braintree, Essex, were found in a car parked near an industrial estate on Monday.
It is understood the pair made contact on an internet suicide forum and had met just hours earlier.
Truck driver Mr Lumb then drove 200 miles to Braintree to meet Ms Lee.
Mr Lumb's father Melvyn, who shared a home with Stephen, said on Wednesday: "He didn't seem any different, he had the same mannerisms. I didn't know her, I knew nothing about her."
Commenting on his son's use of the internet, he added: "He used it quite a bit, he played computer games.
"He liked a beer and football, normal lad. It is a complete shock, I never expected anything like this. It is the last thing I would have expected.
"He was easy going. He seemed happy. There didn't seem anything wrong. He lost his mother two-and-a-half years ago. I thought he had got over that, everything seemed all right."
Commenting on a possible suicide pact, he added: "It is just too early. I haven't had time to think about that."
"I loved him. I will miss him every day of my life. I will miss him every minute of every day. I thought the world of him. I couldn't have had a better son."
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has insisted that boosting spending on overseas aid is directly relevant to British families.
He acknowledged that the Government needed to make the case to voters that the international development budget should be spared the kind of cuts being imposed elsewhere in Whitehall. But he maintained that increasing aid spending was not "naive altruism".
His comments came as he prepared to urge other rich nations to stick to their Millennium Development Goal commitments in a speech to the United Nations in New York.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the speech, he said: "It is not an act of naive altruism. There is enlightened self-interest at stake here.
"We can't cut ourselves off from the rest of the world. If the rest of the world is susceptible to extremism, conflict, the volatile effects of runaway environmental degradation, it affects us.
"It affects us directly. It affects the safety of British families on British streets. It affects the people who come to live in the United Kingdom. It affects our shared environment. It deprives us of economic opportunities as a trading nation.
"It's incredibly important for people to understand that this is not a commitment entered 10 years ago that can be lightly discarded when times get tough."
Britain's commitment to increase aid spending to 0.7% of gross national income from 2013 would be written into UK law by the coalition Government, he said. "We have a job to explain to people back home that this isn't only the right thing to do for all the obvious moral reasons... but that it is also in our enlightened self-interest," he added.
The Deputy Prime Minister left the Liberal Democrat conference early to attend the UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals.
The UK is one of the only nations to remain on track to deliver on its pledges from 2000 by their 2015 deadline. Mr Clegg is attending a series of summit events in New York today before travelling to Washington for meetings there tomorrow, including lunch at the White House with US Vice President Joe Biden.
Ten people died and 57 others were injured when a bomb exploded at military parade in north-western Iran.
The blast in the city of Mahabad, close to the borders with Iraq and Turkey, was blamed on Kurdish separatists who have fought Iranian forces for decades.
Most of the victims were women and children, said provincial governor Vahid Jalalzadeh.
Iranian forces in the border zone have for years clashed with Kurdish rebels from the Iranian wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which also has fighters based in Turkey and Iraq. The group in Iran has generally not targeted civilians in its campaign for greater rights for the Kurdish minority, raising the prospect that the bomb might have gone off prematurely.
A state radio report said the device was detonated on a timer and had been placed under a bush near the parade route.
Mr Jalalzadeh said the explosion was carried out by "counter revolutionaries," a reference to the Kurdish separatist group. He called the bombing "a terrorist incident".
The parade was one of several events around the country to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war. No military personnel were wounded, Mr Jalalzadeh said.
The Mehr news agency said the dead included the wives of two military officers.
"The explosion happened opposite the VIP stage among women who were present there," Mr Jalalzadeh said.
The Iranian branch of the Kurdish rebel group, the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, says it is fighting for greater rights in Iran.
Voting in the Labour leadership election has been closed with the contest thought to be too close to call.
MPs, MEPs and party members had until 5pm on Wednesday to cast their ballots after voting for members of trade unions and affiliated organisations closed on Tuesday.
Polls suggest that shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband had closed the gap on brother David as the race came to the wire.
But bookmakers Ladbrokes still made shadow foreign secretary David the narrow 4-7 favourite, ahead of his younger brother on 5-4.
Labour's complicated electoral college system and the redistribution of votes to second-preference candidates makes accurate prediction of the result all but impossible.
Around three million people are expected to have voted, and their ballot papers will be counted by the independent Electoral Reform Society before the announcement of the successor to Gordon Brown on September 25.
The candidates - also including Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott - will be informed of the result shortly before the winner is unveiled in Manchester at 4pm on Saturday.
The winner will be plunged straight into Labour's annual conference in Manchester, using his or her first leader's speech to try to rally the party's troops and restore unity after a three-and-a-half month contest which has seen rows over whether to stick to the New Labour agenda.
Meanwhile, Harriet Harman will return to the post of deputy leader, after four months as acting leader.
Voting also closed on Wednesday in the race for Labour's nomination for the London mayoral elections in 2012, with former mayor Ken Livingstone and ex-MP Oona King believed to be frontrunners. The party's choice will be announced on Friday.
Nick Clegg is set to consult US Vice President Joe Biden on how the coalition Government can improve social mobility in Britain.
The Deputy Prime Minister is keen to learn from Mr Biden about his work on the issue when they meet for lunch at the White House.
While it is outside of his direct remit, Mr Clegg told reporters he would be raising the matter alongside obvious topics for discussion like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This will be the two deputies' first face-to-face meeting, although they have had a series of discussions via video-calls since May.
Prime Minister David Cameron visited President Barack Obama at the White House in July.
Mr Clegg will be seeking to cement relations between the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition and the Obama administration.
The lunch will be the highlight of his visit to Washington, which comes on his first round of high level international diplomacy since taking up the position.
The Lib Dem leader is standing in for Mr Cameron at the United Nations in New York, where he has met UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon and Iraqi president Jalal Talabani among others.
He has also been attending meetings with charities and aid agencies alongside a string of events on the Millennium Development Goals, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bob Geldof.
He is scheduled to meet Microsoft billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates before taking the train to Washington. Mr Clegg is unlikely to meet Mr Obama during the visit to the US as the president is himself attending the UN while the Deputy Prime Minister is in Washington.
The family of a woman thought to have died after making a suicide pact with a stranger she met online said they are "devastated" to discover that she had "delved into the darker side of the internet".
Relatives said 34-year-old Joanne Lee, of Great Notley, Essex, suffered from low self-esteem, depression and had an eating disorder.
They said Miss Lee struggled with "normal social interaction" and found friends through social networking sites.
Police said post-mortem tests were being carried out on the remains of Miss Lee and Stephen Lumb, 35, of Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, and a report prepared for a coroner.
Both were found in a car parked on an industrial estate in Braintree, Essex, early on Monday.
A source close to the investigation said it was thought that the pair had formed a "chemical suicide pact" hours after making contact on an internet "suicide forum".
It was thought that Mr Lumb had driven from Yorkshire to Essex to meet Miss Lee and die.
Miss Lee's mother, Jill, and stepfather, Brian Chappell, also of Great Notley, recalled "a shy, gentle, thoughtful and caring daughter, sister, and friend".
They said recently Miss Lee had seemed "happy" and relatives thought that she was improving.
"Joanne was a shy, gentle, thoughtful and caring daughter, sister, and friend," said the couple, in a written statement.
An emergency operation had to be scrambled to save 40 people from a causeway when their coach broke down as the sea came in.
The drama unfolded at around 1pm on the causeway between Holy Island and the Northumberland mainland, 13 minutes before the safe crossing time ended.
An operation coordinated by the Humber Coastguard saw local coastguard rescue teams join the Seahouses RNLI crew, the RAF rescue helicopter from Boulmer and Northumbria Police officers.
Police rescued 38 elderly people and two others from the coach and took them back to the mainland.
Graham Dawson, Humber Coastguard watch manager, said: "Breakdowns are just one of those things that happen.
"Unfortunately it happened in the worst possible place but the police and our Coastguard rescue teams were on hand to save the day."
A 21-year-old man who murdered his partner's one-year-old daughter in "an extremely senseless and cowardly attack" has been told he must serve a minimum of 13 years in prison.
Humberside Police said Oliver Longcake pleaded guilty to the murder of baby Alisia Salter at her home in Hull.
The little girl was in Longcake's care when she was attacked by him, officers said. She was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary after the assault on March 22 this year but she did not survive her injuries.
A post-mortem examination later showed she had died as a result of internal injuries including abdominal haemorrhaging. Alisia also suffered a lacerated liver, bruising to her forehead and fractured ribs.
A judge at Hull Crown Court jailed Longcake for life and ordered him to serve a minimum of 13 years.
Longcake lived with Alisia and her mother at Davidstow Close, on Hull's Bransholme estate - where the attack took place.
After the case, senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Dena Fleming said: "This was an extremely senseless and cowardly attack on a one-year-old baby who had no way of defending herself.
"He attacked a tiny defenceless baby who has been cruelly robbed of her life and a future. Her injuries are distressing. My sympathy and that of my team go out to this baby's family."
Following the hearing, Alisia's father Gary Miller released a statement through the police which said: "Alisia's mother and I would like to thank Humberside Police for their hard work in getting justice for our daughter, Alisia. She was a much loved, adorable little girl, and we're both devastated by her loss.
"At least Ollie is now in prison, where he belongs."
A woman is planning to sue her council claiming its "unsightly" green wheeled bins have decreased the value of her property.
Judie Chisholm, 57, from Paignton, Devon, is seeking £5,000 compensation from Torbay Council, saying the large bins are "unsuitable" for her needs and have killed off her property's "kerb appeal".
She has written to the council's legal department informing them of her intention to claim compensation.
Miss Chisholm's letter came after the local authority introduced a new rubbish and recycling scheme earlier this month which sparked more than 6,000 complaints in its first day.
Her trouble began when the council replaced her seagull-proof sack used for holding household waste with a large wheelie bin.
Miss Chisholm, whose property has steps leading up to the front door, claims the bins have to stay on the street.
In her letter to the authority, she said the new green-coloured bin had "wrecked all kerb appeal in one fell swoop".
Though she insisted she does not object to recycling, she says it has now gone too far.
"I also strongly object to the area in general being turned from a beautiful tourist attraction into a slum like Bin City," she said in her letter.
"It would be bad enough if these bins were only on display one day a week, but wheelie bins are having to be stored permanently on pavements where there is no other option, and recycling is being left out for days on end because the collections are late."
A new lender has been launched to give people on low incomes an alternative to using loan sharks and doorstep cash providers.
My Home Finance, which has been launched by the National Housing Federation, will offer people who are financially excluded access to credit at lower rates than they would normally be charged.
It will lend eligible borrowers, who have had a face-to-face interview, relatively modest sums of around 500, to help them buy everyday items such as school uniforms, a washing machine or furniture.
People will repay the money on a weekly basis and will be charged interest of 29.9%, far lower than the 200% APR they would be charged by a doorstep lender or rates of 2,000% typically charged by loan sharks.
Customers will also be given debt advice and help opening a bank account, to encourage them to save.
The group, which is being run in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, Royal Bank of Scotland, 26 housing associations and the Wates Foundation, will be one of the largest ever not-for-profit financial services providers in England.
It plans to open 10 branches across the West Midlands, which has one of the highest levels of unemployment in the UK, by the end of October.
The branches, which will be run by East Lancashire Moneyline, will be located on high streets and in shopping centres.
If the pilot is successful, My Home Finance will open branches across England, with plans to advance 150,000 loans to people on low incomes during the next 10 years.
Branches have already opened in Hereford, Worcester, Walsall and Northfield, in south Birmingham, with further ones planned for Coventry, Tamworth, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Birmingham city centre and Erdington, in north Birmingham, by the end of next month.
Environmental campaigners have urged the Government to invest more in renewables, as the world's largest offshore wind farm is officially opened off the UK coast.
The Thanet offshore wind farm, off the south east coast of England, has 100 turbines which will produce enough green energy a year to power the equivalent of more than 200,000 homes.
Energy company Vattenfall, which has constructed the farm - now the biggest offshore wind site in the world - said the electricity produced substantially increases the amount of green power generated in the UK.
The total capacity of the UK's onshore and offshore wind turbines now exceeds 5GW, enough to power all the homes in Scotland.
The progress on wind power was welcomed by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne, who is attending the official launch of the wind farm.
Mr Huhne said: "We are in a unique position to become a world leader in this industry. We are an island nation and I firmly believe we should be harnessing our wind, wave and tidal resources to the maximum.
"I know that there is still more to do to bring forward the large sums of investment we want to see in low-carbon energy in the UK, and we as a Government are committed to playing our part."
Friends of the Earth warned the UK's record on renewable energy remains "dismal", and called on ministers to invest more in green power, saying it would also deliver jobs and low-carbon industry.
The environmental group wants to see the Government guarantee funding of at least 2 billion a year for the Green Investment Bank, which aims to boost private sector spending on low-carbon technology.
It is also calling on ministers to remove the barriers to developing offshore wind, for example by upgrading ports so they can ship out offshore wind turbine parts.
Generous bursaries, usually offered by the most selective universities, are failing to attract poorer students, research suggests.
A study by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) reveals that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are not influenced by the size of a bursary on offer when picking universities.
Bursaries to help poorer students were introduced in 2006, the same time as top-up fees came into effect, with the aim of ensuring that this group of youngsters was not put off applying to higher education.
A second aim was to encourage institutions who had more to do to widen the make-up of their intake - usually the more elite universities - to offer bigger bursaries to encourage poorer students to apply and take up a place.
Previous studies have found that generally, students have not been deterred from going to university on financial grounds.
But the findings reveal that disadvantaged youngsters are not more likely to apply to the universities offering the largest bursaries.
In addition, poorer students are not more likely to choose institutions with high financial support packages once they are made the offer of a place.
The study, entitled Have bursaries influenced choices between universities?, analysed millions of applications and university choices made by young people.
The report said: "Since the introduction of bursaries, disadvantaged young people - who would be more likely to qualify for bursaries - have increased their participation most rapidly in the third of institutions that offer lower bursaries.
"There have only been small increases for disadvantaged participation in the higher bursary third of institutions and overall young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are no more likely to enter these institutions today than in the mid-1990s."
More than a third of carers claim their financial situation is so dire they do not want to wake up in the morning, research indicates.
Around 59% of carers said they gave up paid work to look after a sick or disabled relative, while more than half of those who still work earn less than 10,000.
Six out of 10 carers said they spent all their savings supporting the person they care for, according to the Princess Royal Trust for Carers.
Nearly two-thirds of carers borrowed money from family and friends to meet their day-to-day living costs, while 10% took out high interest loans.
Nine out of 10 carers say they are worse off financially as a result of their caring, 39% fear they will lose their home and 37% said their financial situation is so bad, they do not want to wake up in the morning.
The research found that the added financial pressure caused 45% of carers to want to run away from their role, while the same proportion said they were depressed and could not cope and 28% were suffering from stress.
A further 15% said they were turning to alcohol or drugs to cope and 37% said they felt fearful about the future.
One woman, Karen, 42, became a carer for her husband when he was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis and chronic arthritis.
She said since her husband became ill they fell into poverty, she was declared bankrupt and lost a well-paid job, and the couple lost their home. She said she was so desperate at one point, she borrowed money from a loan shark to cover an electricity bill, despite being charged interest of 47% a day.
Half of the 800 carers questioned by the trust said they want the Government to increase the Carers Allowance, while 29% want greater support to enable them to combine caring and paid work.
