the person behind his account was, in fact, a scammer preying on the vulnerable to get cash. it was all going well, but he was flying out to dubai on business, cos he had his own business drilling minerals etc, so he says, "i'll come and see you when i come back." there was an accident, so then he started asking for money. when you kind of totted it all up, how much money had you transferred across? so it was over 50,000, which was my retirement money. cheshire police contacted lyn in october 2021 to alert her that she was being scammed. it was a shock. iwasjust, like, numb. the thought, oh, my god, how am i going to manage now, how am i going to do stuff around the house when that money was to do those big jobs? lyn eventually got her money back with the help of her bank. but she's not alone. romance scams have been

on the rise in recent years, with cases increasing by almost 60% across england and wales between 2019 and 2023, according to action fraud. the bbc estimates that romance frauds have cost victims more than £320 million over the last five years. it's a crime that santander�*s break the spell team, based in bootle, are all too familiar with. the romance scams often are the ones that take the longest for us to break the spell on. if you think you're in a relationship with someone who's asking you for money again and again, maybe over a year, longer, to the point at which you've taken even loans out to pay some of that, if you've never met that person in real life, no—one�*s ever going to ask you for money to pay for emergency care or whatever else, and the fraudster will play on your emotions to do that. it takes a lot of time, a lot of effort to obviously try and coach them round and to make them realise that they are actually a victim in all of this and it isn't somebody that actually loves them. cieran mcnamara was jailed for seven years at chester crown court

in february after he manipulated four women out of £300,000. a woman from cheshire, who briefly dated mcnamara, told us about his methods. you know, he was promising me holidays to france, skiing, wanted me to go and have a look around houses, all sorts of things. very kind of like... very over—the—top, very intense. the woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she understands how people can get sucked in. he was a complete master of this, a master of manipulation, i would say. he was so persistent. i can see how, you know, i now know it as love bombing. it's just made me want to share my story. but also being a bit more careful about, you know, who you kind of meet up with. cos you just don't know. you just don't know who's out there.

the number of people working beyond the age of 65 has doubled since the year 2000. one in ii pensioners still works to earn wages, according to the centre for aging better. 0livia richwald has spoken to three older workers to find out why keep they keep on clocking in. would you like a coffee, sir? meet granny annie. aged 89, and still dishing out the refreshments at elland road. it's the atmosphere and the people you meet and the staff. it's just lovely. i'd mark you for nothing, but don't tell the manager. annie does about two shifts a week during events and on match days. she's worked here for 23 years and in case you were wondering, yes, she is a leeds fan. the main thing is you get a lot of walking, you know, when you're laying out for matches and you're laying out tables you're walking all the time and if it's pouring rain outside, you still get the exercise for walking up and down. so i think that's what keeps me healthier. according to the centre

for ageing better, one in nine people is now working past their 65th birthday. that proportion has doubled over the past 20 years. shoulders i7 and a half. alan thornton is a bespoke tailor in bradford. length, 28. now 80, he worked in the industry for decades and once owned this very shop himself. now he works a couple of days a week. well, i get enormous satisfaction from it when you see a person going out and is thrilled to bits, and you know, itjust looks... you feel good. the majority of older workers choose part time employment. keep here, 0k, look at the clock. peggy fallon is different. she still works full time at st luke's hospital in bradford. she's 6.29 kilos, mummy. peggy is 81 years old. it's great, yeah, i enjoy working here. what else do you do, if i retire? staying at home ? i might as well come to work.

peggy gets up at three in the morning, arrives at work at six, and officially clocks on at 8am. she's very funny, she's very generous, she's very kind. she makes us cups of tea in the morning, so she gets the team going in the morning. the patients, the families love her here. some of them, she's actually looked after the parents and now she's looking after their children as well. peggy says she keeps on working to fund her adventurous lifestyle. and you must have everyone asking you what your secret is all the time. i always tell them, if i were to tell you, i've got to kill you. no, there's no secret. i think it's the cod liver oil myself. 0livia richwold, off to the shop to buy some cod liver oil. isn't peggy amazing? 0dd —— cod liver oil, i must remember that! businesses in one of the most

popular north yorkshire seaside villages fear they won't be able to cope with the busy summer period due to staff shortages. hospitality vacancies in robin hood's bay have more than trebled over the last three years, according employers say they have been forced to reduce opening hours because they don't have enough workers. cathy killick reports. clinging to the clifftops, five miles south of whitby, robin hood's bay is one of the jewels of the east coast. its fishermen�*s cottages make romantic holiday lets. so much so that fewer than 50 permanent residents remain living here. and that means the village has almost no workforce. in these stores, chris bancroft relies on his wife and son to keep the shop going. he just can't find the staff. so last year we offered a bonus. we said if anyone came and they stayed till september would offer them an extra £3 an hour to take it to £15 an hour for every hour they'd worked and we still couldn't get anyone on that. so i don't know what more we could have done.

it's notjust the shops. pubs, hotels and restaurants are struggling to recruit, too. carolyn frank works for the federation of small businesses. their last confidence index showed one in eight hospitality businesses is looking to close in the next 12 months, a figure she describes as horrifying. in areas like this on the coast, there's a number of structural issues. so transport difficulties, affordability of housing, the sheer number of people who live here for the number ofjobs and seasonality as well. so busy summer months and less busy in the winter. but i also think there's a short pipeline of people wanting to come into the sector and that's such a shame because it can be a great career opportunity. jamie chiltern recognises the career opportunities. he'sjust got thejob of general manager at the victoria hotel in the village. it's a greatjob but recruitment is a massive headache. we've currently got about six or seven vacancies live that we're looking for. the hotel's recently been taken over

and it's going through a bit of a refurbishment process and we're also expanding and increasing the bedroom capacity. and one of the biggest challenges of actually doing that is finding the staff that we need to come in and help us to run the operation. staffing the bar today is cassie anderson, and they're lucky to have her. she commutes nearly 30 miles to work here. so i live in guisborough and it's an hour and seven minute journey on bus. luckily it is one bus all the way through, but it isn't always reliable. why do you still work here then? i like the place, i like the people that i work with. and i think i've made a lot of friends and so it's not something i'm willing to give up. such loyalty is rare now. employers have to earn it. because without it, the tourists that flock to robin hood's bay will find a gorgeous beach and scenery and not much else. cathy killick, bbc look north,

robin hood's bay. it's one of the most famous sporting events in the world. and this morning, the grand national festival got under way at aintree. there's always a special feel to the three days of racing in liverpool. judy hobson has been there for us this morning. well, the sun is shining at the moment which is great news for racegoers today after all the rain we have had. this year at the grand national has had some changes made to it. the number of runners has been reduced from 48 to 3a to make it safer and the first fence has been moved nearer the start so the horses are not going so quickly. there are some tweaks to some of the fences. there is one issue they are going to have to contend with this year, and it's all to do with the weather because the ground in places is very heavy, because of all the rain we have had and some trainers will have to decide if they still

want their horses to run. we have had over two _ want their horses to run. we have had over two inches _ want their horses to run. we have had over two inches of _ want their horses to run. we have had over two inches of rain - want their horses to run. we have had over two inches of rain in - want their horses to run. we have had over two inches of rain in the | had over two inches of rain in the last couple of weeks so a lot of rain. the ground staff team have done a fantasticjob out there. currently the ground conditions are soft, heavy in places on the grand national course. so it is soft going, some horses will love it and some will not. the going, some horses will love it and some will not.— some will not. the good news for raceuoers some will not. the good news for racegoers is _ some will not. the good news for racegoers is it — some will not. the good news for racegoers is it looks _ some will not. the good news for racegoers is it looks like - some will not. the good news for racegoers is it looks like it - some will not. the good news for racegoers is it looks like it is - racegoers is it looks like it is going to be dried today, tomorrow and on saturday for the grand national and the bookies hope so, hoping it will make up for a pretty poor year so farfor them. hoping it will make up for a pretty pooryearso farforthem. it hoping it will make up for a pretty poor year so farfor them. it is hoping it will make up for a pretty poor year so far for them.- poor year so far for them. it is a nice day. _ poor year so far for them. it is a nice day. the — poor year so far for them. it is a nice day, the first _ poor year so far for them. it is a nice day, the first time - poor year so far for them. it is a nice day, the first time we - poor year so far for them. it is a nice day, the first time we have| nice day, the first time we have been _ nice day, the first time we have been out — nice day, the first time we have been out for months and months withoui— been out for months and months without any rain. cheltenham was wet for a couple _ without any rain. cheltenham was wet for a couple of days and i think we have _ fora couple of days and i think we have lost— for a couple of days and i think we have lost over 50 of our pitches over_ have lost over 50 of our pitches over the — have lost over 50 of our pitches over the winter with waterlogging which _ over the winter with waterlogging which have never had before, it is unprecedented. the which have never had before, it is unprecedented.— which have never had before, it is unprecedented. the big race is the fox hunter. — unprecedented. the big race is the fox hunter. at _ unprecedented. the big race is the fox hunter, at 405 _ unprecedented. the big race is the fox hunter, at 405 pm. _ unprecedented. the big race is the fox hunter, at 405 pm. a - unprecedented. the big race is the fox hunter, at 405 pm. a low -- l fox hunter, at 405 pm. a low —— local cheshire and has a runner and we will look forward to seeing how they get on. full coverage on bbc

radio 5 live over the next couple of days. let's get the weather now across the uk with chris. hello there. the weather we have got over the next couple of days is quite unusual for april. over the next couple of days is quite unusualfor april. if over the next couple of days is quite unusual for april. if we over the next couple of days is quite unusualfor april. if we have a look at the anomaly chart, the red other colours, the more unusual the heat is. we are towards the top end of this scale. how warm is it going to get? some temperatures could get up to get? some temperatures could get up to 21 degrees around greater london. temperatures in quite a few areas could be six or seven celsius above average for the time of year and the reason we have that mild flow of air is down to the jet stream pattern which is bringing milder and quite humid air up from the azores. it might be mild but it is not necessarily sunny. the best of the sunshine has been across the midlands, across northern england into scotland. however it stays pretty cloudy for southern and western wales, southern england with occasional spot of drizzle around

particularly around coastal areas. some thick cloud is on the way, outbreaks of rain to end the day turning heavy. where we have got cloud or sunshine, it doesn't make much difference to the temperatures, very mild nationwide. 0vernight tonight, the rain in northern ireland moves north to reach the far north of england and parts of scotland for a time as well. temperatures stay mild, 11 or 12 celsius, there will be some mist and fog patches around towards the end of the night. for some it is going to be quite a grey start to the day on friday. perhaps a bit more rain for a time across northern ireland moving back towards scotland, this time across southern regions of england and wales we have got a better chance of the cloud thinning and breaking to give us some sunshine and those temperatures are still well above average for the time of year. 18 in aberdeen, 20 or 21 in parts of eastern england. saturday is something of a transition day. there will be some mist and fog patches around, mild air across southern and eastern

parts of england but the north—west of the uk gets some heavy outbreaks of the uk gets some heavy outbreaks of rain moving in and the weather will be turning significantly along with the rain but northern ireland and scotland as well. that is the first day of the change because as we head through sunday and into next week, we get a ridge of high pressure to the rest of the uk which will send down a north—westerly flow of air across the country which will reduce temperatures, probably even a bit below average in places, bringing us a mixture of sunshine and heavy showers.

live from london. this is bbc news.

russian missiles and drones hit ukraine's energy supply — we have a report from one of the affected cities. as iran vows to punish israel for an air strike killing its commanders — president biden says us support for israel is "iron—clad". a vietnamese property tycoon has been sentenced to death, after one of the biggest corruption trials in history. and we have an exclusive look at stunning new discoveries in the ancient italian city of pompeii. hello, i'm samantha simmonds. welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. russia has launched a series of raids on ukraine's energy system, firing more than 80 missiles and drones across the country. almost a third made it through ukraine's air defences.