News

The head of Barclays bank has told ITV News he wants to see the end of 'free banking' in a bid to encourage more competition on the high street.

Antony Jenkins, group chief executive of the chain, said not charging customers for opening current accounts meant it was difficult to people to compare deals, and meant a lower number of people switching banks.

Mr Jenkins said while some paid-for accounts were available, it was not across the board - and said it was difficult for any one bank to make the first move for fear of driving customers to rival free models.

Read: Barclays bank bosses bid to get back to basics

A new report today has revealed nearly 400 girls may have been victims of "indescribably awful child sexual abuse" in Oxfordshire and says authorities didn't believe some of the victims when they said they were being abused.

ITV News' Political Correspondent Emily Morgan reports on the findings of the serious case review which was released today:

David Cameron is holding a summit in Downing Street setting out measures to tackle the problem of the sexual abuse of vulnerable children by gangs of men.

He said children have suffered horrific sexual abuse on an "industrial scale" and that too many people and organisations are guilty of "walking on by".

More than $287,000 has been raised to help financially support a father of quadruplets after his wife died shortly after delivering their children by caesarean.

Friends set up a memorial fund to help widowerer Carlos Morales after he was left to bring up four newborns, three girls and one boy, alone when his wife Erica suffered complications in childbirth.

Erica's friend Nicole Todman said she set up the Go Fund Me Page because "the expense of raising four children alone is quite daunting for any middle class family" and especially for Carlos now he had lost his wife.

She said: "My best friend and her husband Carlos have tried for the last few years to have a baby and with their Dr.'s help they were blessed with not one but four beautiful children, but with that blessing came the most unimaginable tragedy - my best friend was lost."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has apologised to "every family that has suffered" as a result of "terrible failures" at Furness General Hospital.

A report published today said a "lethal mix" of problems at the "seriously dysfunctional" maternity unit led to the deaths of 11 babies and one mother.

He described the failings as like a "second Mid Staffs", in reference to the Mid Staffs Hospital scandal, where at least 1,200 patients died because of poor care.

Mr Hunt, who ordered the inquiry, paid tribute to the "courage" of families in their fight for the truth and said they should have been issued an apology earlier.

The Health Secretary said the failings had left "indescribable anguish for the families left behind", adding: "There is no greater pain for a parent than to lose a child and to do so knowing it was because of mistakes that we now know were covered up makes the agony even worse."

A house in Romford was destroyed today in a gas blast. Firefighters were called to Rodney Way in Romford, early this morning. The property was being refurbishment at the time.