Branson quits charity swim

Sir Richard Branson has pulled out of a charity swim across the Irish Sea after the fire that wrecked his luxury Caribbean home.

But singers Ronan Keating and Jenny Frost, Strictly star Pamela Stephenson, gadget guru Jason Bradbury and Olympic medal-winning swimmer Steve Parry will still brave treacherous currents, ferries and even sharks to complete the relay to raise £1 million for Cancer Research UK.

They will set off on Wednesday to swim 56 nautical miles (65 land miles) from Holyhead, on Anglesey, to Dublin. The team, joined by two experienced “super swimmers” and two members of the public, are expected to take up to 40 hours.