and helena wilkinson, in central london.ester square, on a normal friday night the bars of the restaurants, the pubs around here would be packed full of people. the streets would be full of people. the streets would be full of people. not tonight. it's deserted apart from a few people wandering around. these are far from normal times. now, some of the venues here had closed before the prime minister made that announcement on the new restrictions. there are still a couple of them open. there are still people in some of the pubs and restau ra nts people in some of the pubs and restaurants around here, but there is evidence that these restrictions are taking effect. you walk around and you can see signs that have been put up in windows of restaurants, telling customers that they are shutting and as the closing time inches closer the owners of these venues are trying to die just the news that they will be shutting tonight with no idea at all as to when they will next reopen. these new restrictions another example of the enormous

to slow the spread of the virus. 0ur correspondent danny savage is in harrogate, but, first, helena wilkinsonhelena. well, rito, on a normal friday night here in leicester square, in the heart of london, this area would be packed with londoners and tourists —— reeta. these are not normal times so, of course, it is deserted here. there are about 20 people in the square. a lot of the bars and people in the square. a lot of the bars a nd restau ra nts people in the square. a lot of the bars and restaurants are already shut here, the cinema behind us being one of them. there are still some venues that are open, still people drinking in some of those venues as well, but the owners of these cafe is in pubs and restau ra nts tonight these cafe is in pubs and restaurants tonight are digesting the news that, from tonight, they are being told by the government that they are going to have to shot for the foreseeable future. the restrictions announced by the government tonight, another sign of the extraordinary impact that this virus is having on all of our lives. harrogate is an illustration of the disp

helena wilkinson, bbc news, at the old bailey.disappearing from around our coast. the latest research suggests up to 92% may have gone from the shallow waters around the uk in the last century, because of pollution and development. now, britain's biggest ever project to restore this marine flora, is planting a million seeds off the welsh coast — as hywel griffith explains. evolving with every ebb and flow, britain's coast is a place of natural, timeless beauty. but beneath the waves there is an ecosystem that is disappearing. sea grass grows in shallow waters, sheltering marine life, but globally it's been declining at a rate of 7% a year, the result of decades of dredging and polluted waters. poor water quality, coastal development, a lot of industrial development, all sorts of interacting factors around our coasts have resulted in a widespread loss. to try and save british seagrass, these seeds have been gathered from around england and wales. placed in hessian bags, they are lowered down on 12 miles worth of rope to form a new

from the old bailey, helena wilkinson reports.other family to heal ——to hear the prosecution open its case. the jury heard he was killed in truly shocking circumstances. it was here last august in the village of sulhamstead in west berkshire where pc harper had been with a colleague when they were called to reports of a burglary. they were off shift but went anyway. a decision the prosecution said that was to cost andrew harper his life. it was at lambdens hill, a dark country road, where the officers came across the three defendants. pc harper attempted to stop them, but his foot got caught in a tow rope that had been pulling a stolen quad bike. the court heard he was dragged for more than a mile at speeds of more than 40 miles an hour. brian altman qc, for the prosecution, told thejury pc harper had been swung from side to side like a pendulum, losing items of his police uniform along the way, the rest of it being quite literally ripped from his body. his colleagues tried in vain to save him but he died at the scene. henry long,

helena wilkinson in central london there. and now danny savage, who's been in harrogate tonight.urant has been closed for a few days now. next door, the ivy restaurant, closed yesterday. but go along the main drag here in harrogate and there are at least four bars tonight which are still open and have always been open. that's not to say drinkers in them are not socially aware, we talk to people sitting outside that said by sitting outside its socially distancing themselves, they thought they were doing the right thing by still going out for a drink. 0n the other hand, we talked to another couple outside of a pub who refused to be filmed because if their family saw them drinking outside a pub, they'd be in trouble. they'd get a lot of criticism from their own families. people are slowly dawning, this is closing down around us tonight. a part of our lifestyle, part of our culture is closing down this evening and we just don't know when it will reopen again. another impact of the coronavirus outbreak has been announced this evening — the news that all driving tests have been suspend

that was helena wilkinson there in central london for us.this evening. behind me is betty's tea rooms. that restaurant has been closed a few days now. go along the main drag here in harrogate and there are at least four bars tonight which are still open and have always been open. that is not to say that drinkers in them are not socially aware. we talked to people sitting outside that said by sitting outside, they are socially distancing themselves. that thought they were doing the right thing by going out and having a drink. 0n the other hand, we talked to a couple outside the pub who said if their family saw them drinking aside he publicly would be in a lot of trouble, it would be criticised by their own families. a part of our lifestyle, our culture, is closing down this evening and we just don't know when it will reopen again. that was danny savage there. just an update coming to us from italy. it's been reported via the reuters new to agency that italy is closing all its parks, that people can only take exercise around their homes. as pa

helena wilkinson, bbc news, at the old bailey.mination from mr salmond's lawyers. the high court in edinburgh heard her say she suffered flashbacks and waited years before coming forward to police. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith was in court and sent this report. mr salmond today heard more graphic evidence from one of the women, who described how she says she was assaulted by him in 201a. inside the court, the woman was then asked about her attempt in 2016 to get mr salmond's support for a political project. she sent a text to an snp official, saying, "would be great to be working with him again." she contacted the police in september 2018 to say she had been attacked inside the first minister's official woman h told the police she was assaulted by mr salmond after a dinner in bute house in may 201a. his lawyers argue that's not possible, because he was rarely in bute house that month, and his diary shows other events for the evenings he was there. asked if she accepted there was no incident with mr salmond in may 201a, the woma

helena wilkinson provided an update for us. here in leicester square in the heart of london, this area would be packed with londoners and tourists. these are not normal times though, of course, it is deserted here. there's about 20 people in the square. a lot of the bars and restaurants are already shut here, the cinema behind as being one of them. there are still some venues still open, still people drinking in some of those venues as well, but the owners of these cafes, pubs and restaurants tonight are digesting the news that from tonight, they are being told by the government that they are going to have to shut for the foreseeable future. the restrictions announced by the government tonight, another sign of the extraordinary impact this virus is having on all of our lives. among the changes to everyday life are all experiencing where he learned this evening that driving tests are another of the activities being suspended in response to the outbreak. suspended in response 0ur correspondentjohn mcmanus is here and can tell us

helena wilkinson in a deserted leicester square in central london.bout some really big changes there? look, it's a huge moment for the country. and i think first and foremost this is about protecting as many lives as possible. we've seen our health services and everyone getting behind the measures that the prime minister set out. but what i think is so important is what has happened over the past few days is businesses around the country, the treasury, the bank of england, the trade unions, what we've been doing is absolutely focusing on protecting as manyjobs absolutely focusing on protecting as many jobs and livelihoods absolutely focusing on protecting as manyjobs and livelihoods as we go through these coming weeks, and that is what you've seen. these are people standing together to make sure we protect jobs, people standing together to make sure we protectjobs, and the treasury will now be paying 80% of people's salaries. if businesses are ina people's salaries. if businesses are in a position where they cannot keep them in full—time work. so 80%

helena wilkinson reporting from the old bailey.to a friend who was stabbed, he's found it difficult to get treatment himself for the problems caused by the trauma he experienced. the children's commissioner for england says children are still facing a post code lottery for provision of mental health treatment — a year on from a critical report highlighting the issue. the government says its transforming children's mental health, to give 70,000 more patients in england access to services by next year. here's matthew's story. i've never seen something this bad. i've never seen something this bad. i've seen fights, stuff like that. but obviously, not a stabbing. i'm matt, i'm 16, but obviously, not a stabbing. i'm matt, i'm16, this is where my story begins. i come out of school, walked down here. my friend came up to me, panicking, something happened, someone has been attacked. crowds of people here, here, screaming, shouting. crying. like something out ofa shouting. crying. like something out of a movie. my friend was stabbed numerou

our correspondent helena wilkinson is at the old bailey. heard both of them were over their shift but responded to the incident. the prosecutor said it was a decision that would cost andrew harper his life. they came across the car which had the three defendants in, there was a stand—off and pc andrew harper got caught in a rope that was dangling off the back of the car. that car allegedly accelerated off, with pc andrew harper being dragged behind it, for more than eight mile at speeds of more than eight mile at speeds of more than eight mile at speeds of more than 40 mph. pc andrew harper was swung from side to side, like a pendulum, and he lost items of police uniform on the way, with the rest of the uniform being ripped and stripped from him, the court was told. he did become dislodged from the rope. some officers went to the scene and tried in vain to save him. he died at the scene. the qc also told the jury that this was a com pletely told the jury that this was a completely senseless killing of a young police officer in the line of d