Israeli Warplanes Launch Airstrike In Syria

Israeli officials have confirmed its air force carried out an airstrike allegedly targeting a shipment of advanced missiles in Syria.

The officials said the target was not chemical weapons, but of "game changing" arms bound for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The strike took place overnight on Thursday into Friday, just as Israel was flying many warplanes over Lebanon.

The US earlier said it did not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly warned in recent weeks that his country would be prepared to take military action if chemical weapons or other arms were to reach Hezbollah.

Earlier this month, Israel admitted carrying out a January airstrike on a weapons convoy believed to be carrying anti-aircraft equipment in Syria thought to be en route to Hezbollah.

The confirmation of the strike came hours after Barack Obama refused to rule out options in dealing with the crisis in Syria but said he did not foresee sending in US ground troops.

Mr Obama, on a trip to Costa Rica, rules out US 'boots' on Syrian ground

Speaking during a visit to Costa Rica, the US President said: "As a general rule, I don't rule things out as commander-in-chief because circumstances change and you want to make sure that I always have the full power of the United States at our disposal to meet American national security interests.

"Having said that, I do not foresee a scenario in which boots on the ground in Syria, American boots on the ground in Syria, would not only be good for America but also would be good for Syria."

Mr Obama said there was evidence that chemical weapons had been used in Syria, but that "we don't know when, where or how they were used".

But if "strong evidence" is found of such weapons being used by the regime of President Bashar al Assad, then "that is a game changer for us" because "there is a possibility that it lands in the hands of organisations like Hezbollah", Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama said if use of chemical weapons in Syria is confirmed, the US will present that evidence to the international community, because it concerns the entire world.

But he called for caution to avoid unintended consequences, saying: It's important for us to do it right."

Meanwhile, warnings of a new "large-scale massacre" in Syria have emerged following reports Mr Assad's troops bombarded Sunni areas near the city of Bania.

There have been reports of a 'large-scale massacre' in Baida

The opposition National Coalition accused the regime of "war crimes and genocide", citing witness reports of civilians being stabbed to death.

"The Coalition calls on the Arab League and the United Nations to act rapidly to save the civilians of Baida, Banias and other villages across Syria," it said in a statement.

"Several sources in the village say at least 50 people were killed in summary executions and shelling in Baida village,"Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP news agency.

Syria's official Sana news agency said troops killed "terrorists" and seized arms in an operation targeting rebels.

Regular forces were supported by pro-regime "shabiha" militiamen, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground for its information.

The Banias region is predominantly Alawite, an offshoot of Shia Islam and the sect of Mr Assad, while the insurgents battling to topple his regime are mainly Sunni Muslims.

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Protests Over Boston Bomb Suspect's Burial

A funeral home director is struggling to find a cemetery to bury Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev following protests.

Dozens of protesters have gathered outside the funeral home since the 26-year-old's body was released by the state medical examiner on Thursday.

"My problem here is trying to find a gravesite. A lot of people don't want to do it. They don't want to be involved with this.

"I keep bringing up the point of Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh or Ted Bundy. Somebody had to do those, too," said Peter Stefan, of Graham Putnam and Mahoney Funeral Parlours in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Tsarnaev died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso, according to his death certificate revealed by Mr Stefan.

He died after a gunfight with authorities on April 19, four days after the bombing which killed three people.

Azamat Tazhayakov (L) and Dias Kadyrbayev have been charged

Police have said that Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen from Russia who came to the US about a decade ago, ran out of ammunition during the gunfight before his younger brother Dzhokhar dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing.

Tsarnaev's family was making arrangements for his funeral as investigators searched woods near the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, which 19-year-old Dzhokhar attended.

Robel Phillipos has also been charged with making false statements

US officials said Dzhokhar had told interrogators he and his brother initially considered detonating their bombs on July 4.

Boston police say they plan to review security procedures for the Independence Day Boston Pops concert and fireworks display, which draws a crowd of more than 500,000 and is broadcast to a national TV audience.

Authorities will also look at security for large events held in other cities, including the New Year's Eve celebration in New York City's Times Square.

Dzhokhar, who was found hiding in a tarpaulin-covered boat in Watertown, faces a charge of using a weapon of mass destruction to kill.

Three of his college classmates were arrested on Wednesday, accused of helping after the bombing to remove a laptop and backpack from his dormitory room before the FBI searched it.

Three people were killed after bombs were set off at the Boston Marathon

The April 15 bombing, which used pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails, ball bearings and metal shards, killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the marathon's finishing line.

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Bank Holiday Monday Weather 'Best For Years'

Britain is expected to bask in one of the best May bank holiday Mondays in years, with temperatures set to reach 21C in some parts.

But forecasters have warned that the overall forecast for the weekend is not as good as it was with cloudy skies and even some rain at various points over the weekend.

Earlier, some had been predicting the hottest days of the year so far taking place over the weekend, but that has now been scaled back.

Sky weather presenter Isobel Lang said: "The early spring Bank Holiday can be rather cool and mixed, as we have seen in recent years.

"This year looks to be a pretty good one with many places set to be fine and dry with Monday looking the warmest of the days.

"After cloudier skies with showers at first on Saturday, it should brighten up well for most in the afternoon with just northwest Scotland staying damp. It'll feel quite cool in the breeze.

"Sunday will feel warmer again with lighter winds and cloud breaking to give some sunny periods. Western Scotland should see some rain again.

"For Bank Holiday Monday, apart from rain in the North West again, most places should be fine with warm sunshine developing.

"Highs of around 21C are likely in the South East and nearer 17C in the North West."

This Monday is predicted to be one of the best May Bank Holidays for years

This year's expected sunny Bank Holiday will be a big improvement on last year, which saw rain and a temperature high of just 16C at Exeter Airport.

The warmest Bank Holiday Monday in recent years was in 2008 when London reached 23C and even the coldest part of Scotland got up to 14C, with much of the country seeing sunshine.

This year looks similar for England, Wales, central Scotland and Northern Ireland with temperatures ranging into the mid and high teens across most areas with plenty of sun.

The recent warm weather and earlier good forecasts have led to a wave of optimism, with people around the country planning barbecues and other events.

Supermarkets and other stores have reported large quantities of barbecue foods being sold and also increased sales of items like nail varnish.

The fine weather, however, is not good news for hay fever sufferers, who the Met Office said are likely to struggle through the weekend, with high levels of pollen expected across England.

Norfolk saw blue skies and fine weather last week

The pollen count will increase as temperatures heat up and the worst conditions are expected on Sunday and Monday, according to forecasters.

Alexander Burkill, of the Met Office, said tree pollen would be more significant than grass pollen until the middle of May.

He said the tree pollen count will be high towards the end of the weekend, adding: "Today we've got a fair bit of cloud and the rain coming down, so it's going to go down to moderate.

"On to Sunday and Monday in places, especially across England and especially in the south east, you're looking that it could get up to high."

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David Cameron Told To 'Reconnect With Voters'

The Conservatives must "break the impression of being privileged and out of touch" if they are to stand a chance of winning the next general election, former leadership contender David Davis has warned.

Speaking after the party suffered heavy losses to the UK Independence Party in the local council elections, the MP for Haltemprice and Howden said David Cameron should stop surrounding himself with fellow Old Etonians and show he understood the concerns of ordinary people.

With the Tories losing 340 councillors and the control of 10 councils, some Tory right-wingers have called on the Prime Minister to firm up his commitment to holding a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union to counter the appeal of UKIP.

However, Mr Davis said the priority for Mr Cameron - who recently appointed Old Etonian Jo Johnson to head the No 10 policy unit - was to reconnect with voters who thought the Conservatives lived in a different world to them.

Local county council election results

"The fact is that if we want to win the next election, we have to break this impression of being privileged and out of touch," he said in an article for The Daily Telegraph.

"The British public are neither snobs nor inverted snobs, but they do expect the Government to understand their problems and do something about it.

"That means more straight talking and fewer focus groups; more conventional Tory policies, not because they are Tory, but because they work; less pandering to metropolitan interest groups; and please, please, no more Old Etonian advisers."

Home Secretary Theresa May, who has been touted as a possible future Tory leader, refused to be drawn on the argument, and insisted the party was focused on "bringing people back to voting Conservative".

She told Sky News: "The Government has shown that it understands some of the problems that hard-working people are facing - the efforts we've taken to helping local councils freeze their council tax, hold down fuel duties, two million people have been taken out of paying income tax, and an income tax cut for 24 million people.

David Davis (L) lost the contest to become Tory leader to David Cameron (R)

"There are other areas we know the task is a sizeable one - controlling welfare and immigration. We are already on the right track in dealing with these issues."

She added: "What we will be doing over the next couple of years is working hard to bring people back to voting Conservative - showing them what we are doing in those areas ... and how the choice in the next election will be Conservatives who will control welfare and immigration and deal with the deficit, and the same old Labour Party who will just ask for more spending, more borrowing, more debt."

Former Tory councillor Rory Love, who contested the Folkestone South seat for the first time and finished second with 989 votes behind UKIP's Robert Neaves who polled 1,006 votes, dismissed the row as "nonsense".

"This isn't about Old Etonians, about public schools ... if you want to get into that sort of nonsense, Nigel Farage, I understand is a public schoolboy.

"The issue is about the policies, about how we can better demonstrate to the public that what we are doing is the very thing ... they asked us to do ... and that is to look again at our relationship with the European Union, the effects of mass immigration from eastern Europe ... that's what we need to concentrate on."

UKIP's gains of 131 councillors in the council elections were dubbed a "game changer" by leader Nigel Farage.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the elections marked a 'game-changer'

While Labour made gains - picking up 268 councillors and taking control of two councils - analysts said they fell short of the numbers needed to show that Ed Miliband was on course for Downing Street.

For the Liberal Democrats it was another grim set of results with the loss of 110 councillors while crashing to a humiliating seventh place in the South Shields parliamentary by-election, just ahead of the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Mr Cameron pledged to work really hard to win back voters who abandoned the Conservatives for the UKIP, promising action to turn round the economy, cut immigration and sort out the welfare system.

Having previously derided UKIP as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists", the Prime Minister adopted a softer approach, promising to show "respect" for those who voted for them.

Mr Miliband insisted that Labour had made "good gains" but acknowledged there was "more work to do".

"These elections show many people have lost trust in David Cameron's ability to change Britain. But our task is to win the trust of the people we haven't yet persuaded that Labour can make the difference," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Lib Dems' poor showing reflected their journey from "a party of protest to a party of government".

"I have always said it is understandable why it is that people might be attracted to the simple answers that the UK Independence Party is offering to deal with this country's complex problems," he said.

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Derby: Man Found Dead In Chimney Named

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

Police have identified the body of a man found earlier this week inside the chimney of a law firm in Derby.

Kevin Gough, of no fixed abode, was found at Moody & Woolley Solicitors in St Mary's Gate around noon on May 1 after staff were alerted by the smell.

The area was cordoned off while the 42-year-old's body was removed.

Julie Marson, senior partner at Moody & Woolley, told Sky News: "About a week ago there was a smell, but on Monday flies started to appear and we had the chimney investigated."

Staff at the solicitors reported a bad smell before the body was found

Ms Marson said staff at the firm, which employs around 30 people, were shocked by the discovery and believed it was possible Mr Gough had been inside the chimney for several weeks.

She added: "We know that someone had made a concerted effort to get into the building, partially dismantling the chimney to use the brickwork to try to force through the roof.

"Actually our builder went up and saw there was a big gaping hole. He tried to make an entry into the loft and the smell hit him.

"We all thought there was probably a dead cat or a pigeon or something in there, but unfortunately it wasn't.

"Most of us are mothers here, we understand somebody is going to have some dreadful news and we all feel it is just such a tragedy because there is nothing in the building worth stealing."

She explained that all the fireplaces in the building have been filled in.

Police are treating the death as unexplained and are preparing a file for the coroner.

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire Police said: "We're leaving it to the coroner to decide what he was doing in the chimney."

A post-mortem on the body, which was in a state of advanced decomposition, proved inconclusive. Further tests will be carried out.

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Man Acquitted Of British Soldiers' Murder

A man has been acquitted at Belfast Crown Court of murdering two British soldiers outside an Army barracks in Northern Ireland.

Brian Shivers, 47, had denied all involvement in a gun attack outside Massereene barracks in Antrim in which sappers Mark Quinsey, 23, and Patrick Azimkar, 21, died.

The two soldiers, from 38 Engineer Regiment, were shot by two masked gunmen as they collected pizzas outside the gates of the barracks on March 7, 2009.

They were just hours from deploying to Afghanistan and were already dressed in their desert fatigues.

Two other soldiers and two pizza delivery men were seriously injured in the shooting.

Prosecutors claimed that DNA evidence found on matchsticks and a mobile phone in and around the abandoned, partially burnt-out getaway vehicle used during the attack belonged to Mr Shivers.

But the defence insisted that the genetic traces did not prove he was involved on the night of the shootings.

Mr Shivers was acquitted of two counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder, one of possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life and one of assisting offenders at Belfast Crown Court.

Judge Mr Justice Deeny said prosecution claims that Mr Shivers had played a key role in helping the gunmen get away and burn the attack vehicle were not convincing.

He also questioned why the attackers would choose a cystic fibrosis sufferer, who was also engaged to a Protestant woman, as an associate.

"He was an unlikely associate for this hardened gang to rely on," he said.

Mr Shivers' lawyer Niall Murphy said outside the court: "This is not a moment of celebration.

"It must be remembered that there are two families still grieving and several people who are still suffering from their injuries."

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Local Council Elections: UKIP Make Big Gains

The UK Independence Party has made stunning electoral gains and declared itself the "official opposition" - largely at the expense of the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats.

With UKIP averaging 26% of the vote so far in county council polls, leader Nigel Farage said he was "astonished" by the party's breakthrough, but put it down to what he described as the "total disconnect" between the "career politics" of Westminster and ordinary people on the streets.

"UKIP is actually speaking the language of millions of ordinary voters," he told Sky News' Boulton & Co programme.

It became the second largest party in Lincolnshire as the Conservatives lost control of that county council as well as Gloucestershire - and also reduced the Tories' grip on power in Essex and Hampshire.

The eurosceptic party also finished second with 24% of the vote behind Labour in the South Shields parliamentary by-election, triggered by the resignation of David Miliband, with the two coalition parties suffering a drubbing.

Mr Farage drinks a pint at the Marquis of Granby in Westminster

The new MP, Emma Lewell-Buck said her victory was a verdict on the Government's austerity measures.

It was another bad result for the Conservatives who finished third, and a disastrous one for the Liberal Democrats who lost their deposit and finished seventh with just 352 votes behind UKIP, the Tories, an independent, the Socialist Party and the BNP.

"Send in the clowns," said a jubilant Mr Farage, after UKIP candidates were famously dismissed by Prime Minister David Cameron as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists" and last week as a bunch of "clowns" by Tory Cabinet minister Ken Clarke.

"We've been abused by everybody, attacked by the entire establishment who did their best to stop ordinary decent people going out and voting UKIP, and they have done in big, big numbers," he told Sky News.

"By the end of today we are going to have a fair tally - and it sends a shock wave, I think, through the establishment."

Asked whether UKIP were no more than the beneficiaries of protest votes against the coalition Government, Mr Farage replied: "If you speak to the Westminster elite, they will tell you 'it is just a protest, nothing to worry about really'.

"When I meet UKIP voters they say, 'Nigel, we're voting for you because we believe in what you stand for'.

"These votes are not easily going to go back to the Labour and Conservative parties."

A UKIP spokesman said the party was on course to win "well over" 100 seats, with counting still to take place in the vast majority of English authorities and the Isle of Anglesey in Wales.

Labour's newest MP Emma Lewell-Buck wins the South Shields by-election

He said the council successes were a "stepping stone" to the party's eventual aim of winning parliamentary elections.

"If this is any sign at all, it will make a few MPs feel a bit less comfortable in their parliamentary seats," the spokesman added.

Senior politicians from the three main parties attempted to explain the UKIP surge, which could have major implications, particularly for David Cameron as he attempts to calm the fears of grassroots Tories nervous at the loss of votes to Mr Farage's party.

UKIP's success will heighten pressure on Mr Cameron to shore up right-wing support by legislating during this parliament for a referendum on EU membership.

Conservative Chairman Grant Shapps acknowledged that his party had been hit by the rise of UKIP.

He told Sky News: "We hear the message, we get it, we understand what people are saying. They want to see change faster in this country and that is what we intend to deliver over the next couple of years.

"We need to show that we are relentlessly on the side of hard-working people in this country, who want to get on in life, do the right thing, and Conservatives back them.

"We have actually been making progress - we've cut the deficit by a third and cut net immigration by a third.

"My main concern is to listen to the voters and make sure we are reflecting their concerns - putting jobs and prosperity and fixing the economy first and foremost - that's where all our time and energy is going to be focused."

Richard Elvin, the UKIP candidate who came second in South Shields

But the Tory grassroots and backbenchers were seething at the party's performance.

Conservative Party vice-chairman Michael Fabricant tweeted "life cannot go on as normal" for the main three parties "unless they have no ambition for 2015".

One defeated Tory councillor in Hampshire launched a scathing attack on Mr Cameron, saying: "I don't believe a word he says."

Alexis McEvoy lost her South Waterside seat to UKIP's Philip Fawkes - a retired headteacher and distant relation of gunpowder plotter Guy Fawkes, who won with a majority of 315 and a 37.2% share of the vote.

Mr Farage said the win showed "the blood of rebellion still runs in his veins".

Business Secretary Vince Cable conceded the results were "obviously very disappointing" for the Liberal Democrats.

He said voters had turned to UKIP as a protest over poor economic conditions and claimed the results emphasised problems in the Conservative party.

"Unfortunately this is part of the price you pay for being in government and I think the Conservatives have had an even worse night than we did, but, nonetheless, it's not great," he told Sky News.

In East Sussex, where Labour made gains, party leader Ed Miliband said: "I'm pleased with the gains that we made in Hastings and across the South, and indeed in other parts of the country, including Derbyshire and elsewhere."

More than 2,300 seats are being contested in polls for 34 English councils

Asked whether he was worried about the threat of UKIP, he replied: "Part of Labour's challenge at the next election campaign is not the Tories, or the Lib Dems or even UKIP, it's the idea that nobody can really change the country, and that mainstream parties can't change the country.

"I believe Labour can change the country. I believe we have convinced a lot of that in these elections and that's why we have made a lot of gains, but I also know that there's work to do that goes on."

The Conservatives retained control in Buckinghamshire, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Shropshire, Wiltshire, West Sussex, Worcestershire and - narrowly - Somerset, where they lost five seats and the Liberal Democrats lost four.

But they were ousted from overall control in Gloucestershire, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and East Sussex.

The Tories were sent a warning in their traditional Essex heartland, losing nine county council seats to a bullish UKIP.

And they were held to "Ransome" in Lincolnshire as mother-of-four Sue Ransome and her daughters Felicity and Elizabeth celebrated three UKIP gains in Boston.

Sushil Kantibhai Patel, the father of Tory MP Priti Patel - took second place behind the Conservatives as the UKIP candidate in the Bushey South ward in the Hertfordshire County poll.

There was some good news for Nick Clegg as the Lib Dems won the by-election in the Fulwood ward in the heart of his Sheffield Hallam constituency in South Yorkshire, ahead of Labour, the Tories and UKIP.

Labour gained Derbyshire County Council from no overall control - and won the mayor battle of North Tyneside with the party's Norma Redfearn ousting incumbent Tory Linda Arkley.

The BNP lost its only county council seat in Padiham and Burnley West in Lancashire.

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April Jones: CCTV Of Bridger Car 'With Her Inside'

CCTV footage has been released showing Mark Bridger's car and what is thought to be April Jones inside the vehicle on the evening she vanished.

The car is seen in the top right hand corner of the video passing a garage in Machynlleth, mid-Wales, around 7.20pm on October 1 last year.

Bridger, 47, has denied abducting and murdering the five-year-old, who went missing from her estate in the town.

But he admits running her over and does not remember what he did with her body.

According to the prosecution, Bridger told police when he was arrested that he had parked on the estate at 7:10pm and shortly afterwards he ran over April, found her unconscious, put her into the car and then drove off.

Sky correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The image released to the jury is about 10 minutes after that - so by Mark Bridger's own admission when that image was taken of his car driving out of Machynlleth, April was in his car."

"And according to what he told police, she was either dead by then or dying."

It comes as the jury in Bridger's murder trial heard of the frantic moments when April's parents learned their daughter was missing.

April Jones went missing on October 1 last year

The police statements of Coral and Paul Jones were read to the court by prosecutor Elwen Evans QC, who outlined the family's day on October 1.

After April was collected from school, she was taken by her mother for a swimming lesson before they returned home for a tea of spaghetti on toast.

April watched a Disney film and then asked to go out and play on her bike with a friend, her mother said.

Mrs Jones, 43, said: "Paul and I said no, she wanted to take her bike to her friend's next door. She kept on and on and had a little tantrum and I eventually gave in so she went next door to play.

"I told her I didn't want her out for long. I think it was about 7pm and that was the last time I saw her."

Twenty minutes later, Mrs Jones sent April's older brother out to collect his sister as "it was getting dark and a little colder".

"Within a very short time he came running home and he was in a hysterical state. When I calmed him down he said that April's friend had seen her getting into a car with a man and that she had gone.

Mark Bridger denies abducting and murdering April Jones

"I immediately went over and asked April's friend what she had seen. I was told that April had got into a car with a man and he had driven off."

Mrs Jones called the police straight away. She said: "I went out and searched around the estate, everywhere I could think of. I even looked in the bins."

In his statement, Paul Jones, 41, said: "We rang the police and Coral went out to search. I felt so helpless. I went to speak to April's friend who said something about a van.

"When she said that, I went around the corner to look. I then went back home and I just paced. I think that I just paced up and down, waiting for any news, for about 24 hours."

The jury was also shown other CCTV images of the five-year-old before she went missing.

And video said to show her alleged killer's movements in the hours before and after her disappearance was also played in court.

A CCTV camera picked up April, in a white top, and a friend, in a blue top, in the foyer of a leisure centre in Machynlleth, mid-Wales. April had gone there for swimming.

Another sequence shows April and her sister leaving a cafe at the complex and then going towards the changing rooms.

April and her sister are later seen leaving the changing rooms.

They are then pictured departing the centre with April's mother Coral and the youngster's friend at 5.40pm, a few hours before she vanished.

The jury was also shown a series of CCTV clips allegedly tracking Bridger's movements in his Land Rover the day April went missing, and the following morning, walking from the Dyfi bridge direction to Machynlleth.

He is apparently shown getting on to a bus, then walking his dog near his home around mid-morning.

The trial at Mold Crown Court in North Wales was adjourned for the day.

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Rolf Harris Sex Claims: Police Go To Australia

Scotland Yard detectives investigating sex abuse allegations against TV entertainer Rolf Harris have visited a woman in Australia as part of their enquiries.

Two officers from Operation Yewtree flew to Sydney in New South Wales to speak to an alleged witness.

According to Australia's Channel Seven, she first contacted police in November last year about an incident she claimed to have witnessed in the early 1990s.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that officers from Operation Yewtree had travelled to Australia, but would not comment further.

Harris was arrested by police in March and questioned on suspicion of committing sexual offences. He was bailed until May. He has not been charged.

He had previously been interviewed under caution in November 2012.

The 83-year-old is originally from Perth, Australia, but has lived in the UK for 50 years.

Police working on Operation Yewtree have said they are looking at three categories of offences - those allegedly committed by Savile alone, those allegedly committed by Savile and others, and alleged offences by others.

Harris was arrested in relation to the category of alleged offences by others.

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Corrie Actor Bill Roache Denies Rape Claims

Coronation Street actor Bill Roache has "strenuously" denied allegations that he raped a teenager in the 1960s.

The 81-year-old, who has played Ken Barlow in the ITV soap since its launch, said he was "astounded and deeply horrified" by the claims.

He has been charged with two counts of rape of a 15-year-old girl in 1967.

Responding to the accusations this afternoon in a written statement, he said: "I am astounded and deeply horrified by the extraordinary events of the last 24 hours.

"I strenuously deny the allegations and will now focus my full attention on fighting to preserve my innocence in the challenging times ahead.

"I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all those people who have offered me their support and good wishes at this difficult time," the celebrity added.

Roache was arrested by Lancashire Police at his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, on Wednesday.

He was charged with the offences some 12 hours later and arrived back at his address last night.

There was a large media presence outside his home on Thursday, but no sign of the actor.

ITV said in a statement that Roache - the world's longest-serving soap actor - will not be appearing in Coronation Street until legal proceedings have concluded.

Roache collected an award from Guinness World Records in 2010 for his long service in Coronation Street, having joined in 1960 and appeared regularly ever since.

He will appear at Preston Magistrates' Court on May 14.

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