this is bbc news. i'm christian fraser live in windsor, as the excitement builds with less than 48 hours to go until the royal wedding. prince harry and meghan markle made a surprise appearance arriving at windsor castle earlier today. but meghan markle‘s father will not attend the wedding, and she appeals for him to be given space to focus on his health. and hundreds of people lined the streets in the sunshine to see the military rehearsal through windsor. i'm martine croxall. the other main stories on bbc news at eight. the government says it could still ban combustible cladding, despite a review after the grenfell tower fire suggesting an outright ban is not needed. a woman is found guilty of throwing acid over her former partner as he slept, he later died in a euthanasia clinic. and the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals is to be slashed tojust £2. the gambling industry claims it will cost thousands of jobs. welcome back to windsor. the sun is

setting behind the castle, and you can see people walking up and down, just taking in the atmosphere. it is still a long 48 hours, orjust the under 48 hours, but already some enthusiasts camping alongside the barricades, trying to get the best positions. well, the countdown is well and truly under way now to saturday's royal wedding here in windsor between prince harry and meghan markle. the couple were spotted by well—wishers going into the castle a little earlier. and a full rehearsal for the big day took place in front of an already sizeable crowd,

many of whom have bagged a spot along the route. and after much speculation it was confirmed that meghan markle‘s father will not be attending her wedding. he had been due to walk her down the aisle. but in a statement she said he would not now be doing so to focus on his health. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. time to end the uncertainty and focus on the wedding. harry and meghan travelled up the long walk to windsor castle for a private rehearsal ahead of saturday. it had finally been confirmed that thomas markle will not be at his daughter's wedding. just 48 hours ahead of the service, kensington palace issued this statement from ms markle. their special day. in windsor this morning,

preparations for saturday, rehearsal of the military involvement. around 250 members of the three armed services, the most visible part of which will be the mounted escort provided by harry's old regiment, the household cavalry. they'll accompany the newly—married couple on saturday, weather permitting, in what will be an open carriage as they make their way through the centre of windsor. also rehearsing has been the choir of st george's chapel, and preparing for his role presiding over the wedding service, the dean of windsor. my impression is that they love one another very much. they are very committed to each other. they are very serious about the relationship. and that is why i think they particularly wanted to see it grounded in a religious ceremony, in a christian ceremony. the wedding appears to be back on track. who will walk her down the aisle?

the obvious choice is her mother. it might be prince charles, who is married to the duchess of cornwall, might he escort his new daughter—in—law to the altar? we should know tomorrow. nicholas witchell, bbc news, windsor. plenty of speculation. let's see if we can pick up with any clues. lets go to our royal correspondent daniela relph who's at castle hill. are there any clues? not confirmed, i think you have to presume that the candidate most likely is meghan mother. they're very close, and meghan markle who is, over the past

few months, has talked about gender equality, and she is someone who would be bound by tradition and protocol. whatever the officials at the palace might think of breaking tradition, she will not really care about that. prince harry will support her and that is that is what she wants. you had to say the most likely candidate is her mother. the prince of wales, another possibility. again, someone very familiar with this kind of environment and the tradition and the pressure that will come on the wedding day. he could be a big support for her, so he could be someone support for her, so he could be someone who walked her down the aisle. there has been a suggestion that she could go alone. could she walk with just her bridesmaids or walk with just her bridesmaids or walk by herself? another possibility, but at this stage, you have to presume the most likely candidate is her mother. have to presume the most likely candidate is her motherlj have to presume the most likely candidate is her mother. i cannot noticing, that the royal standard is flying. the queen is in residence.

do we know what her movements are likely to be? the queen is here. she came here this afternoon. the royal standard going up is the indication we have that the queen is in residence. what we do know is that tomorrow, the queen will meet meghan markle's mother. they have not met so markle's mother. they have not met so far, even though the queen was here this afternoon, but they will meet tomorrow. the queen, meghan markle, prince harry, will meet here at windsor castle. today, meghan markle's mother met, prince george and princess charlotte who will be at page boy and a bridesmaid on saturday. we also know, fresh from the flight from la, took tea with prince charles, and camilla. she is getting a crash course in meeting members of the royal family and getting to seek royal palaces and castles. it must be quite a moment

for her to take all of the sin. tomorrow, meeting the queen is a really significant and important moment in terms of everything that is happening over the course of the next few days. i was going to say, when you step fresh off the flight, she has come in from la, whisked off, and then she is with the queen. it isa off, and then she is with the queen. it is a total whirlwind. she has to maybe get used to the idea that she is going to walk her daughter down the aisle. i suspect that, it has beena the aisle. i suspect that, it has been a difficult week for meghan, with speculation around her father, and now she has drawn a line under it, she plays quite an important role. giving her daughter some confidence and reassuring her.|j think that is the other reason you have to presume she is the most likely candidate to walk meghan markle down the aisle on saturday, because it has been a rough week, there is no question. however, you look at it now, it has been difficult, upsetting, the mood music, she has been extremely upset

over her father, and music, she has been extremely upset over herfather, and in her work, the statement issued in her name, talking about how she cares very much for herfather talking about how she cares very much for her father and she hopes he is now giving the time to work on his health. it is obvious how upset she has been by this entire escapade over the past days. anybody who has got into a wedding understand must how difficult it must be, and i think as you say, her mother plays an important part in giving her daughter security, the comfort and support, going into this absolutely monumental occasion for her. yes, meghan markle has been an actress, she is used to hollywood and red carpet moments, but it is absolutely nothing compared to what she is going to do on saturday. a global audience, millions of people, everybody watching her in the chapel, all eyes on her. it isjust ata chapel, all eyes on her. it isjust at a different level. i think her mother, is a very significant figure in helping with her. yes, quite. i

do not think anybody prepares you fori billion viewers online. of course there are always last—minute hitches. maybe not on the scale of what has happened this week,. i'm joined by hamish shephard, founder of bridebook.co.uk, a wedding planner app. hamish was also a classmate of prince harry at eton. you know all about that. things a lwa ys you know all about that. things always go wrong in a wedding. tell us always go wrong in a wedding. tell us about yourapp, always go wrong in a wedding. tell us about your app, would it apply. would it be useful to harry in a situation like this? definitely. we are actually hoping over 2000 couples get married on saturday, along with harry and meghan. we help over 100,000 weddings get planned a year, that is one in three uk couples. as you say, every wedding have last—minute changes and this

one .net do you build that into the software ? one .net do you build that into the software? yes. there are obviously a few more details to this wedding, that they are redirecting heathrow, and cleaning the outside of the castle, and security checking, but every other detail, we are helping people, most of our couples, their grandparents do not own the castle, but we are helping them find one, or a barn or whatever venue they want. there is lots of speculation, does it affect what people will want for the weeks and months to come? definitely. this is one of the most iconic weddings in history, there is expected to be 2 billion people watching, the most watched wedding in history. more than the royal wedding, and that has huge influence, we saw immediately from that that middleton, within 24 hours, we saw different trends

coming from it, people chasing her style. saying i want that dress. yes. we have 373 castles that you can rent, and already, we can see the trend coming. the trend up until i'iow the trend coming. the trend up until now has been more as a bohemian festival, definitely a sort of classic theme will be inspired by harry and meghan. you talk about the planning that goes into an event. obviously, this is a slightly higher bar, but the person who is doing it, what will they be thinking about come saturday? what will they be doing in the last 24 hours? as the couple, both of them should be planning their speeches, meghan is doing a speech, which is great. and then relaxing, and calming down, and they can have a calm before the storm on their big day. meanwhile, behind the scenes, hopefully, it is not chaos. there is going to be huge

arounds of silver work, and people out there collecting, huge amounts of prep and it is bigger for this wedding than any other wedding, the security we have seen. thousands of checks, making sure this global interest, and everything is safe and goes without a hitch. the public they will beat their profession, the ceremony, and then there will be the reception. but just over ceremony, and then there will be the reception. butjust over here to our right, there is an evening reception. we think there might be a second dress. very likely. that is standard. so is there a sort of load of planning that goes into the night as well? yes. normally you would see, a wedding would be revolving around one venue, see, a wedding would be revolving around one venue, this is involving three, the hall is ten times the size of the average british home. back on its own is enormous, and then moving onto other venues.

generally, at a wedding, you might see people moving the flowers from the church to the venue to save money, they will not be doing that. there will be different themes, and the house will have a different theme. this is a private party where they can let their hair down away from the public eyes, and traditional and protocol do not need to be followed. that is very private, and the more traditional and prominent protocol events in the presence of the queen and the eyes of the world during the day. everyone has been talking about meghan. it is just so difficult for her, coming into the royalfamily, and everything she has faced, and i remember being the group. it is pretty nerve—racking as a groom, no matter how much training you have had as the royal family. it is usually emotional, often a stressful occasion. hopefully they're getting rid of that stress. but every wedding is as important as another. every wedding is as expensive, and

imported. can you put a cost on a wedding like this? everyone tries to speculate on the final bill. we plan over £1 billion of spending per year, so over £1 billion of spending per year, so we over £1 billion of spending per year, so we know extremely well, the average uk wedding costs around £17,000, a london wedding costs around £31,000. this one is going to cost about £2 million, so 100 times the cost of the average wedding, and there is £30 million on security, which most weddings do not involve. on top of that, there is going to be about £1 billion boost to the british economy, so return on investment is fantastic. not to mention what it does for the wedding industry. the uk wedding industries involves 139,000 companies and 500,000 people are involved, and we are excited. come saturday, are you

are excited. come saturday, are you a bit ofa are excited. come saturday, are you a bit of a magpie? are there things that you learn even with all the experience you have? definitely. all brides and grooms, around the world, it will hopefully be doing the same thing. ilike it will hopefully be doing the same thing. i like the idea that, maybe they will not be having a huge half an hour carriage door, but there are elements they want to take. already, we have seen meghan is not having aduu we have seen meghan is not having adult bridesmaids and just having little ones. that is what pippa did, kate middleton did very similar, and thatis kate middleton did very similar, and that is definitely a trend we will see. meghan making a speech is very exciting. meghan's mother likely walking her down the aisle. that is breaking tradition. queen victoria actually walked of her daughters down the aisle, so it is not a huge break in protocol, so i hope meghan can deal with all this. great fun talking to you. where will you be watching it from? i will be watching

in the middle of the action. let's go into town. nowell phillips is in town. what is going on now?m has been years since the last wedding, so there is royalfever. as you see, the sun begins to set, people are getting ready for bed. i am joined by this family, they have come all the way from canada. they have mum, daughter, dad, dennis, and charlotte, the daughter. you have been telling me about this energy for the monarchy. you all see this wedding as significant. explain to me why you have come all the way, and why you are celebrating? one, it

is exciting, they are an new glamourous and love couple, but also it is living history. the monarchy goes back so far and it has been a pa rt of goes back so far and it has been a part of all of our lives. my life, my mum about life, and we want to be pa rt my mum about life, and we want to be part history. we have been talking about the appeal of meghan markle and prince harry, and charlotte, you we re and prince harry, and charlotte, you were telling me, the fact that they are both young, that is a big deal. it is pretty cool. there are more relatable than some of the older ones. just being a part of that, being. the monarchy, that is really vital. and you had seemed, this is your second wedding. tell our audience why are you doing this? with your sleeping bag, and you're about to his sleepy or the entire

night, just to get clips of the happy couple. it is to please my daughter will stop. my mother was a war bride, and my mother and my father, when they went back to canada, they put royalty and endless history as it so much a part of our lives, so my daughter, is a tribute to my grandparents, just bringing a little bit of history into our lives and my parents. just very quickly, if meghan markle is watching this, as she prepares for her big day, what would you say to her? that is a good one. do not trip on your dress, hopefully not. and just look fabulous and i hope you have the most wonderful life with prince harry. thank you. you guys, get ready for bed. they are not moving

from here at all. it is worth saying, the last couple of months have been extraordinary for meghan markle and prince harry, and they have done a lot to re—energize the monarchy and to get people like this family out in the streets. light and atmosphere. i cannot actually believe some of the setups, particularly the american networks. one of the network has taken over a small hotel and staged on the roof and spent fortunes on it, 1 billion people around the world are going to be watching on saturday. it does tell you the sort of interests that the royal family generates. tell you the sort of interests that the royalfamily generates. it tell you the sort of interests that the royal family generates. it is still in the popular around the world even among the republics. i just say that over my right shoulder are more of the thrones of different variety. you cannot have too many of those kinds of brown's. i have been looking for one myself today. this will be full of people, come saturday. they are talking about

100,000 people coming into windsor. it is the biggest operation that they have ever mounted. the security has been in place for several weeks already, but we have seen tighter security in windsor today. i would imagine that this is the last opportunity people have to walk up and down the long walk, because tomorrow they will start to lock it down in preparation for the big day. who knows? if you are here tomorrow, you mightjust who knows? if you are here tomorrow, you might just see who knows? if you are here tomorrow, you mightjust see harry and meghan and maybe her mother, because they might be going up to the castle to see the queen. if you are here early, you might see a bit of that. we would have more from windsor shortly, but for now, i will take you back to my colleagues who is in the studio. when it is time for sport now, and i do not have a lot to do. young he said his players should be

free from inhibition, and he says it is not fair to write off their chancesin is not fair to write off their chances in this tournament. we have great faith in them. we know that they lack a bit of experience, but however, the only way is to put them into that environment. we think they aren't the best players we have available. they can be very exciting now and we think they can be even more exciting in the future. but i do not want to limit what they think is possible either, because they are young and hungry and want to have a go at things. i think that is what we have to do in this tournament, is enjoyed the ride, be positive, in the way we want to play, and embrace attornment. i do sense a fresher

excitement, even the announcement yesterday and some of the reactions to the names, some of the younger players, and we have got manchester city, four players from there, so we have players who had succeeded in a champions league and succeeding at the highest level with the best coaches, so there is an opportunity to progress further in russia. if it does not happen, i hope everyone holds their nerve, and sticks with southgate, and hopefully we will carry on with this plan. manchester city, has tonight signed a new deal which will keep him at the club until 2021. the spaniard led the city with a record 100 points. his deal with the club is the longest commitment that the former barcelona and munich boss has made since starting his managerial career in 2008. now, there is a big game taking place in scotland this

evening, with teams vying for a place in the scottish premiership. in the first leg of the playoff, they are round half in and it is 1-0. he they are round half in and it is 1—0. he glides swiftly for livingston. meanwhile, exeter have taken the lead against lincoln city in their league to playoff second leg. that is after the first leg finished goalless. he has been knocked out of the italian open, and he gave him a run for his money. the german won the first set, but edmonds saved seven match points in the second set tie—breaker. the british number one did everything to try and force a decider vote, but eventually, came through a marathon 24 point tie—break. both players giving a standing ovation at end.

britain's number one is also out after losing french open champions, it got off to a very good start. taking the first set games to. but she was on top from then on. the decider, six games to form. the williams venus williams. symons gate has successfully defended the leadersjerseys, a sprint has successfully defended the leaders jerseys, a sprint finish was a lwa ys leaders jerseys, a sprint finish was always expected on stage 12, but the pouring rain met a lot of the specialist sprinters had been left behind. sam bennett powered to the stage win while yates finished just behind in the name badge. all the leading writers were rewarded at the same time, which means he still

leads by 47 seconds with nine stages to go. and finally, after a record—breaking debut season, he has had yet another honour bestowed upon him. already, the premier league winner with a record number of goals, he was voted players player of the year, but now, the egyptian is having his boots displayed alongside objects from ancient egypt at the british museum in the run—up to the champions league final. that is all the sport for now. i will have more for you on sports day at 10.30. we will see you in a while. the government is considering a ban on flammable cladding for high—rise buildings after the grenfell tower fire which left 72 people dead. ministers announced that a consultation would take place just hours after the publication of an official review, into the grenfell fire, which had stopped short of recommending an outright ban. a year after the fire, survivors say they're disappointed that more hasn't been done.

the labour mp and grenfell campaigner david lammy called the review a whitewash. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds reports. this disaster triggered a housing crisis. the realisation that the building regulations had failed. enter dame judith hackett, building regulations had failed. enter damejudith hackett, the senior engineer called on to review the building regulations. under pressure for weeks to ban materials which burned from tall buildings. but she did not. if people look at this report and say it does not go far enough because it did not ban cladding, andi far enough because it did not ban cladding, and i will accept that as a criticism. that is a criticism. what i would say in response to that is what i found is a problem with

the building of high praise buildings which goes far beyond people putting cladding on the building which is not compliant. but if she does say the government banned it, iwill support if she does say the government banned it, i will support it, if she does say the government banned it, iwill support it, 11 months after grenville, the secretary rose to his feet in the commons. having listened carefully to concerns, the government will consult on banning the use of combustible materials and cladding systems on high—rise residential buildings. a consultation that knocked the decision campaigners wanted. yellow that it was good for the government to be able to take this step into realising what they need to do. however, they should have done it today. cladding is being removed from some buildings, but banning it completely would mean changing the complex system of guidance that the industry uses to meet the building regulations. the report does not go there. instead,

she takes aim at the culture of the industry. she says it is a race to the bottom. jobs done as quickly and cheaply as possible. ignorant of the rules and in different to the safety aspect. she recommends a new authority to oversee safety will stop more rigorous enforcement, simpler rules, more powerfor residents, and the industry itself to lead the change. but can it be trusted? to lead the change. but can it be trusted ? take a to lead the change. but can it be trusted? take a look at what has been going on with fire tests in recent yea rs. been going on with fire tests in recent years. manufacturer designers broke desktop studies, based on results, when they want to know how one brand of cladding performs next to another installation. a new fire testis to another installation. a new fire test is not needed. another desktop study can be produced, assessing how the new material would have performed in the original fire test. if that happens repeatedly, the designs being assessed on paper

eventually their no were similar to the one originally tested in the real world. both the hackett review and the government will tighter rules on desktop studies. her reforms could take years, but thousands of people like her will awaiting to hear what happened on dangerous cladding on the outside of their homes. think at the moment, there is so much uncertainty for me, and for the people on the rest of the blog as well. we have no idea what the financial impact of this is going to be. it looks like we are being left to sort out this problem by ourselves. the anniversary of rental tower approaches. a murder investigation is under way in sutton coldfield after a 16—year—old boy died from his wounds following a stabbing. west midlands police were called to an incident at around 3.30 this afternoon in the town centre. the teenager was confirmed dead at the scene despite the efforts of the emergency services to say his life. detectives are appealing

for witnesses to come forward. an eruption has rocked hawaii's kileauau volcano sending an ash plume thousands of feet into the air. so far the eruption has destroyed 37 homes in the southeast of the island and forced around 2,000 people to evacuate their homes. time for a look at the weather with ben rich. good evening. as a go through tonight, things are once again going tonight, things are once again going to turn white chilli. you can see from the shading on our temperature profile, these green and blue colours for parts of eastern scotla nd colours for parts of eastern scotland and wales, that is where you're going to see the lowest of the temperatures. very close to freezing, but not quite as cold as northern ireland, because they will

be more in the way of cloud cover. that will make for a cloudier day across these northwestern areas, perhaps some outbreaks of rain, but down towards the south and east we will see plenty of sunshine. once again, justa will see plenty of sunshine. once again, just a bit of patchy clouds, and temptress a touch higher than they have been today. bent into the weekend, the royal wedding it looks dry, and sunshine, with highs of 21 degrees. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. preparations gather pace for the royal wedding at windsor castle — but it's confirmed that meghan markle's father will not be attending. the government says it could still ban combustible cladding, despite a review after the grenfell tower fire suggesting an outright ban is not needed. a woman is found guilty of throwing acid over herformer partner as he slept, he later died in a euthanasia clinic. the maximum stake on fixed odds

betting terminals is to be slashed to just two pounds — the gambling industry claims it will cost thousands of jobs. in meet the author this week my guest is the novelist david hewson who has taken may be the most famous love story in the world and turned it into a novel. juliet and romeo. president trump says the united states has not been told anything regarding a much anticipated meeting with north korea's leader — after kim jong un has appeared to back off the planned summit scheduled for the two leaders in singapore next month. trump has been talking to reporters as he met the general secretary of nato. let's cross to our correspondent in washington. gary o'donoghue for more details on what the president has been saying. and it's a year to the day since mueller started — if north korea deliberately keeping

them in the dark? the president also said they were still talking about dates and times that it was his impression that it was still going to go ahead. what he saw was a sort of attempt to reassure the north koreans his national security adviser has been talking about a libyan model for denuclearization in the last few days. that alarmed pyongyang because they seem to have co nflated pyongyang because they seem to have conflated libya's giving up of its nuclear bits and pieces with the demise of the kernel into the 11 and 12. what president trump hasjust said is that we are only going to look at that if the talks fail. what we are looking at is giving them protection. the us giving them protection. the us giving them protection and giving the military strength and keeping kim jong—un protection and giving the military strength and keeping kimjong—un in place. and assurance by the sound of

it from the us president that if north korea did indeed in d nuclear rise that he would give them some sort of guarantee, some sort of guarantee protection and a guarantee of military strength. it's a year to the day since robert mueller was appointed the special counsel. what has he been saying about that? he has he been saying about that? he has on twitter this morning as you can expect saying that they are entering the second year of the biggest witchhunt in history as he has called it before. what we have at the moment is a helping hand from at the moment is a helping hand from a couple dozen indictments and people who have pleaded guilty to cooperating with the investigation. do we have public proof that there was direct collusion between the trump campaign and russia? no we do not only have a lot of big questions hanging over the trump campaign.

notably that meeting back injune of 2016 in trump tower with the russians there, and also other contacts with his advisers as well. still a long way to go on this, i think. the question for the investigation is how long they can keep going and retain public support for the investigation because the public has a sort of habit of getting fed up with you sort of things from a drone on for too long. thank you very much. a woman charged with killing her ex boyfriend in an acid attack has been found not guilty of murder. mark van dongen was left with such catastrophic injuries that he decided to take his own life at a euthanasia clinic in belgium more than a year after the attack. berlinah wallace was acquitted of causing his death — but she was found guilty of throwing a corrosive fluid with intent. jon kay reports. six foot five, athletic, a dutch engineer, but mark van dongen was left paralysed, blinded and suicidal

when his jealous girlfriend attacked him with acid. these police pictures show how it burned the bed sheets. translation: when it happened and i first went to the hospital, i didn't even recognise him. mark van dongen's father told me his son was in agony for more than a year before he was granted euthanasia at a belgian hospital. it was very hard. but he was in so much pain. it was unbearable. he had no life left. we had explored every avenue. and in the end, ijust had to agree and accept his decision. as for the south african fashion student he treated like a daughter, and who has now been convicted of throwing the acid. to me, she's the devil incarnate. what happened to mark, all that suffering.

mark van dongen's pain can be heard in this 999 call, as neighbours rang for an ambulance. he'd staggered out of the couple's bristol flat, begging for help. this has been a highly unusual trial. berlinah wallace was charged with mark van dongen's murder, even though he chose to end his life more than a year after the acid attack. but the jury concluded she was not responsible for his death and guilty only of throwing the liquid. acid is one of the most deadly weapons out there and this case is proof of the devastation it can cause. i don't want this to happen to anyone else, to any other father or mother.

no one else should go through this pain and misery. berlinah wallace will be sentenced next week. jon kay, bbc news, bristol crown court. the father of two boys killed in a hit and run crash in coventry has been found dead in a hotel room in greece. west midlands police say the death of reece platt—may in corfu is not being treated as suspicious. his sons — casper and corey, who were aged two and six — died in february. the driver of the car that hit them is serving a nine—year prison sentence. a man has beenjailed for life for the murder of a barmaid in north london last christmas. iuliana tudos disappeared after leaving the pub in camden on christmas eve. her body was found three days later. our correspondent frankie mccamley sent us this update from outside the old bailey. many will rub this case specifically because it happened around christmas last year. she was on her way home

and work in north london on christmas eve to pick up some belongings before meeting some friends. however, she never made it home. police launched a huge surge operation, but her body was found three days later and in a disused building ina three days later and in a disused building in a parkjust minutes from her house. the courtroom was packed with their friends and family as 31—year—old kassim lewis pleaded guilty to her murder. the courtroom heard how he bound her arms and used a broken bottle to her. now since sentencing, thejudges a broken bottle to her. now since sentencing, the judges said this was a horrendous and barbaric killing. he said what you did to her was wicked beyond belief. medicine hat a statement from the leading officer from the metropolitan police who saidi from the metropolitan police who said i am no doubt that london is safer now that he is behind bars. i also spoke to her stepfatherjust

after sentencing who told me he is now locked up which will save other innocent lives just like my daughter. the gambling industry is warning that tens of thousands ofjobs are at risk, after the government decided to reduce dramatically the maximum stake on fixed—odd betting terminals. currently, people can gamble up to £100 every 20 seconds on electronic casino games. but that's been cut to just pounds in betting shops across the uk. the terminals generate almost billion pounds in revenue for the betting industry. amol rajan reports. these high—stakes, high reward machines are a key feature of the 8,500 betting shops on british high streets. such shops employ over 50,000 people and pay over £1 billion in tax. for over a decade they have allowed punters to bet £100 every 20 seconds. as a result, there were 233,000 occasions last year in which over £1000 was lost in a single session.

that is why many victims campaigned for the maximum stake to be reduced to £2. sarah grant from cardiff lost everything on the machines. she lost herjob and became homeless. when i was using them, i was in a really bad time in my life and to me, they were like somewhere i could go that i was accepted. there were people willing to want to speak to me. they were offering me drinks and different things. itjust felt like someone wanted to spend time with me. dominic ford owns roar betting. he owns six shops. it is pretty catastrophic. it means the end of my business. we are a marginal business, the high street is tough at the moment. take away 50% of our income, and we are not sustainable. everything about these machines is designed to excite

and reward the senses. defenders say in a free society, responsible adults should be allowed to spend their money as they see fit, provided they don't harm others. but the government is now persuaded that the harm caused is immense, notjust to individuals but to those around them. isn't there a point of principle that in a liberal society, responsible adults should be able to spend their money as they choose, and aren't you in danger of punishing a majority for the sins of a minority? all the evidence was that the people who could least afford to lose thousands of pounds at a time were losing money on these machines. when you find a social blight like that, i think it is our duty to stop it. i have lost relationships, kids, everything. i think it will help. you walk up this road now in rochdale, it is

nearly all betting shops. you will never beat a bookie. as you can see, the main streets are full of bookies. but are they looking in the right place? more than one in every £3 lost in gambling is now online. high street, on—location betting and the national lottery are only around a quarter each. as with so many industries, new laws are struggling to keep up with digital innovation. once upon a time, punters had to go to the bookies. now bets come to them 24/7 and through smartphones. children are exposed as well. there are no clear and public metrics for what the government deems success from this move. the timetable remains unclear. while high street bookies are clobbered, obtaining digital gambling is the next imminent frontier. motherca re has announced it wants to close more

than a third of its stores putting 800 jobs at risk. the retailer says it's in a "perilous" financial position after posting annual losses of more than 70 million pounds today. it wants to shut 50 stores across the uk as part of a rescue package. mothercare is just the latest big high street name that's been forced to make drastic cuts. our business correspondent emma simpson has more. mothercare, it's been a one—stop shop for mums to be and their little ones for decades, but it's in trouble. not least because these days shoppers have a lot more choice. they've got really good ranges as well. what about motherca re? no, too expensive. it sounds like mothercare has more competition these days. years ago, because i'm older obviously, mothercare was the first shop that just did baby things and it was very, very popular. ican remembergetting

a little book and looking at what i wanted and i loved it. it used to have hundreds decades ago. it's got 137 shops today, and now it wants to close 50 of them by next summer to cut costs. mothercare's problem is it has too many underperforming stores. the uk business hasn't made a profit since 2012 and with tough conditions on the high street its troubles have finally come to a head. parallels is how they described it today. they are confident the rescue plan will keep it out of hot water. will it be enough? business is on a cliff edge at the moment. it's got a very strong brand name that does well internationally but it has to produce a compelling offer for the uk consumer