Sadiq Khan’s vision of a tranquil, pedestrian-friendly Oxford Street has come under immediate strain, only days after the first phase of the scheme was completed.

Promotional digital artwork depicted smiling shoppers and tourists walking beneath trees, hand in hand and admiring the shop windows.

The images also suggested that traffic and buses would move smoothly through nearby streets once vehicles were removed from the famous shopping thoroughfare.

Instead, pedestrians have been forced to contend with groups of cyclists riding through the new zone, while security staff looked on this week.

Black-cab drivers say the changes have also made journeys across central London more difficult, adding as much as 20 minutes to some routes.

Video filmed one evening appears to show dozens of cyclists—many of them young men or teenagers—ignoring the restrictions and riding along Oxford Street as though the rules had not changed.

“He’s given up,” one person can be heard laughing, referring to a security guard standing with his arms extended beside the bollards.

A large group of cyclists had gathered near a crossing where vehicles are still permitted to pass, before weaving through shoppers who appeared caught off guard.

Against a backdrop of loud music, the disorder stood in sharp contrast to the calm, welcoming vision presented to Londoners ahead of the launch.

Among those closely monitoring the impact is Bahrain “Baha” Mujagata, a 21-year-old believed to be London’s youngest black-cab driver.

He said traffic on surrounding roads had quickly intensified, prompting him to reminisce about “how it was before” the changes were introduced.

Mr Mujagata told the Local Democracy Service: “Yesterday, I felt the real-time repercussions—there was so much traffic on Regent Street with nowhere else to go. Sitting in traffic that I used to bypass makes life much harder.

“Regent Street going northbound is very crowded, with a cycle lane on the left and a central reservation. If a bus stops to pick up passengers, you have to wait behind it. If it’s like that at night, I can only imagine what it’s like during the day.”

The driver stressed that he was not opposed to pedestrianising Oxford Street in principle, but said the current approach under Mayor Khan was not the right solution.

Mr Mujagata added: “We will evolve and get used to it, as we do whenever they change a road or a turn. But drivers who knew how it was before will always remember.”

At dawn on Monday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan stood in the middle of Oxford Street as the scheme got under way, posing for photographers with his arms outstretched, waving to passing workers and looking towards the sky.

Hours earlier, green bollards had been installed at either end of a 0.9km stretch of the famous shopping hub – from the famous Selfridges department store down to Ikea.

Despite a team of guards barking orders to disembark, at mid-morning cyclists continued to race through the bollards and down the road, trundling over the big new green sticker that had been laid over the tarmac.

Perhaps it would take a day or so for them to get the message, onlookers suggested. The fresh footage suggests not.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Tim Barnes, Westminster City Councillor for Growth and Planning, said after the scheme’s launch: ‘We have been concerned from the outset that taking London’s main east-west road and pushing it to the smaller side roads behind was always going to inevitably lead to traffic problems.

‘You just can’t take that much traffic out of central London and push it on to roads that are smaller, less well suited to taking big vehicles, and not expect it to cause problems.

‘Last night there were all sorts of complications. There was traffic on Regent Street that was backed up, and indeed it stopped for so long at times that we even saw a big waste truck having to turn around and go the wrong way [up the street].

‘And if you look at Wigmore Street, there are points where buses now have to make very, very hard right-hand turns or 90-degree turns, which I think will be a problem for pedestrians and cyclists. 

‘I also think it’s only a matter of time until we see more incidents with cyclists hitting pedestrians on Oxford Street itself.’

The changes have prompted fears that traffic, noise and pollution will simply be pushed on to smaller residential roads, leaving those living and working nearby to bear the brunt of the Mayor’s flagship project. 

Among the roads affected by the new arrangements are Wigmore Street, Henrietta Place and Cavendish Place, which are now accommodating diverted bus services.

Transport for London has confirmed that five bus routes – the 98, 139, 390, N98 and N207 – have been redirected on to surrounding roads, with new stops introduced to accommodate passengers.

Other services have been shortened or altered, while taxis and private hire vehicles are no longer permitted to enter the pedestrianised section.

The upheaval comes despite warnings from Westminster City Council that the scheme risked creating serious problems for residents, businesses and motorists.

Residents in neighbouring Marylebone had also raised concerns before the closure that their streets would become increasingly congested as buses and other vehicles were forced away from Oxford Street.

The Marylebone Association previously calculated that Wigmore Street could see around 46 additional bus movements an hour during peak periods.

Henrietta Place has also been converted to accommodate two-way traffic as part of preparations for the scheme.

The changes represent a major transformation of one of Britain’s most famous shopping destinations, which attracts around 500,000 visitors every day.

With new supplements, eating plans and wellness fads appearing almost daily, working out what genuinely supports a long, healthy life can feel like a challenge.

However, experts say healthy ageing may depend on a surprisingly broad range of foods – including several items many people might otherwise dismiss as treats.

Owen Filer is a striking example. Believed to be ‘Wales’ oldest man’, he celebrated his 107th birthday on October 19.

Rather than pointing to a diet built around fruit, vegetables and vitamin supplements, Owen attributes his remarkable longevity to a much-loved British takeaway: fish and chips.

‘How I got here I’ll never know, but I’ve met a lot of people who have admired me and asked me how do I do it. There is no secret, you just live properly, and I’ve always done it. I’ve never overeaten… I lived on fish and chips,’ he said.

Dr Asiya Maula, a private GP and longevity specialist at The Health Suite, told the Daily Mail: ‘People often assume that eating for longevity means following a restrictive diet or cutting out all their favourite foods.

‘In reality, the evidence points towards a varied, balanced diet built around plants, fibre and healthy fats, with room for some foods that might surprise you.’

From coffee and cheese to an evening square of dark chocolate, these are the unexpected foods experts say may have a place in a diet linked with longer life…

1. Fish and chips

Nutritionist Brenda Heather: Owen’s fish and chips theory may contain more nutritional logic than it initially appears. Cod and haddock provide lean protein, while potatoes offer potassium and fibre – particularly when the skins are left on.

The less healthy elements are usually the batter and the size of the serving, meaning frequency matters more than the dish itself.

Choosing a smaller portion and adding mushy peas can increase the meal’s fibre and protein, creating a more balanced plate.

Dr Ramon Velazquez, scientific advisor at Mind Lab Pro: DHA, an omega-3 fat found in high amounts in oily fish, forms part of the membranes surrounding neurons. That may help explain why fish is repeatedly associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline in research.

There is an important limitation, though: cod and haddock, the usual chip-shop choices, are lean white fish and contain significantly less DHA than salmon, sardines or mackerel. For the strongest brain-related benefits, oily fish are the better option.

2. Coffee

Dr Maula: Coffee is often labelled a guilty pleasure, but research has consistently associated moderate consumption with a lower risk of death from a range of causes.

It contains polyphenols [they act as antioxidants, helping neutralise harmful free radicals and reduce inflammation linked to chronic disease], along with other compounds that may benefit metabolic and cardiovascular health.

The key difference is whether you are drinking coffee or effectively eating a dessert loaded with sugar and flavoured syrups. And if you do not enjoy coffee, there is no health-related reason to force yourself to start drinking it.

Ms Heather: Data from the UK Biobank associated drinking two to three cups of coffee daily with a lower risk of premature death. Coffee is also among the leading sources of polyphenols in the British diet, especially compounds known as chlorogenic acids.

The benefits seem to hold for instant and decaf as well, so you don’t need an expensive habit. Skip the syrups and whipped cream, which can turn a near-zero-calorie drink into a dessert.

Dr Velazquez: Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, which is why it sharpens alertness, and large population studies have linked regular coffee drinking with lower Parkinson’s risk. 

That’s an association, not proof. Timing matters too. Caffeine late in the day can disrupt deep sleep, which is when the brain clears metabolic waste, so an afternoon cup could undo some of the morning’s good.

3. Cheese

Dr Maula: Cheese can absolutely have a place in a healthy diet. It provides protein, calcium and other nutrients important for maintaining muscle and bone health as we age. 

Some observational research has also found associations between cheese consumption and lower mortality, although this does not prove that cheese itself makes us live longer. 

It can be high in saturated fat and salt, so portion size and the overall diet still matter.

Ms Heather: In observational research, fermented dairy hasn’t shown the heart risk many people expect, and hard cheeses bring calcium and protein. 

One explanation is the way cheese’s proteins, fats and minerals are bound together, which seems to change how the body handles its saturated fat. 

It’s salty, so a matchbox-sized portion is plenty.

4. Eggs and oily fish 

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Dr Maula: Salmon, sardines, mackerel and trout provide omega-3 fatty acids, which support normal heart function, as well as protein and other important nutrients. 

Fish is not a miracle longevity food, but including oily fish as part of a balanced diet can help people meet their nutritional needs as they age.

Dr Velazquez: Yolks are among the richest dietary sources of choline, which the brain uses to make acetylcholine, a chemical messenger central to memory. 

Many adults fall short of recommended choline intake without realising it, and eggs are one of the easiest ways to close that gap.

Ms Heather: They’re cheap, long-life sources of omega-3. Eat the soft bones and you get calcium too. 

Oily fish is also one of the few foods that naturally contains vitamin D, which many Brits run low on over winter. 

The NHS recommends two portions of fish a week, one of them oily, and a tin on toast is the easiest way to get there.

5. Beans, lentils and leafy greens 

Dr Maula:  These are some of the most underrated foods for healthy ageing. They provide fibre, plant protein, minerals and slowly digested carbohydrates, helping support gut health, fullness and healthy blood sugar levels. 

Regularly replacing some processed or red meat with beans or lentils is a simple way to improve the nutritional quality of meals without spending a fortune.

Ms Heather: Pulses feature heavily in the traditional diets of some of the world’s longest-lived populations. They’re high in fibre, and most UK adults eat around 20g a day against a recommended 30g. 

A tin of chickpeas counts, and rinsing it cuts the added salt.

In a Rush University study of older adults, about a daily serving tracked with cognitive scores resembling people roughly 11 years younger. 

Spinach and kale carry vitamin K, lutein and folate, all of which have been linked to brain ageing in research. 

6. Cooled potatoes and rice, and extra virgin olive oil

Ms Heather: Cooling them after cooking forms resistant starch, which feeds your gut bacteria. It also tends to cause a gentler rise in blood sugar than freshly cooked versions. 

With rice, cool it within an hour, keep it in the fridge and reheat it only once until it’s steaming hot.

Dr Maula: Olive oil is another food worth prioritising. It is rich in monounsaturated fats and contains polyphenols, which may help support cardiovascular health. 

Using it in place of butter or other fats high in saturated fat is a practical change that fits well with Mediterranean-style eating patterns, which have been widely studied in relation to healthy ageing.

7. Dark chocolate and fermented foods 

Ms Heather: Cocoa flavanols support blood vessel function. 

Heavy processing strips many of them out, so a higher cocoa percentage is a rough guide to getting more. That means a couple of squares, not the whole bar.

Yogurt, kefir and kimchi feed the gut microbiome, which communicates with the brain through the vagus nerve. 

In a Stanford trial, ten weeks of a fermented-food diet increased microbiome diversity and lowered markers of inflammation. 

8. Herbs, plants, nuts and seeds 

Dr Maula: A small handful of unsalted nuts or seeds can provide unsaturated fats, fibre, protein and minerals. 

They are particularly useful for supporting heart health, and studies of healthy ageing consistently associate diets rich in nuts and other plant foods with better long-term outcomes. 

Walnuts, almonds, chia seeds and ground flaxseed are easy additions to porridge, salads or snacks.

Different plants provide different fibres and polyphenols, which help nourish the gut microbiome. Think beyond fruit and vegetables: beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, herbs and spices all count. 

Ms Heather: These quietly count towards 30 plants a week. The American Gut Project found that people eating 30 or more plant types had more varied gut bacteria than those eating 10 or fewer. 

Variety matters because different gut microbes thrive on different plant fibres. A spoonful of mixed seeds, a pinch of cinnamon and some fresh parsley add three plants before lunch.

The founder of the failed “endless cruise” that left passengers stranded in Cambodia this week has acknowledged his role in the collapse, describing himself as the “villain” and apologising to those affected.

About 200 passengers were given only seven hours to pack and leave the scheduled stop in Sihanoukville after operator Villa Vie Residences announced that it had “suspended operations.”

The 200-metre (656ft) Odyssey departed Northern Ireland in October 2024 on what was intended to be a continuous global voyage. Residents could rent cabins for a holiday or purchase one for life, with prices reaching $440,000 (£330,000). Some passengers reportedly sold all their possessions to finance the investment.

Mikael Petterson, who founded Villa Vie Residences in 2023, has now addressed the company’s collapse.

“I feel awful,” he said on Wednesday. “I’m the villain in the story, but I’m doing everything I can to support the residents on a solution.”

His comments came as passengers described the distress and uncertainty they had experienced, accusing the company of effectively abandoning them in Cambodia without meaningful assistance or communication.

Villa Vie blamed soaring oil prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East, saying the voyage could no longer continue within its existing budget.

In a statement issued this week, the company said average monthly fuel costs per cabin had risen from about $1,800 (£1,354) to an estimated $6,000 (£4,516) to $8,000 (£6,021) in parts of Asia.

Mr Petterson said the sharp increase in fuel costs had created a “cascading effect” that undermined the cruise’s financial viability.

He attributed the pressure in part to US President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran in February, saying the disruption had sent oil prices higher by affecting supply routes, reducing provisions and damaging energy infrastructure.

“Nobody that’s tried residential cruising has succeeded and we have gone further than anyone else,” he told the Axel Springer Reporters Network. “But I think we would have been absolutely fine and we would have seen this through, if there was no Iran war.”

The founder said he had been negotiating with a potential investor and was waiting for a cash injection when the plans fell apart, leaving the company without a workable path to survival.

The development followed repeated requests for additional money from passengers during the voyage to help meet rising fuel bills. In April, the company asked residents to provide a collective loan of $2.2 million (£1.6 million).

Passengers told the Daily Mail that the money has not been repaid.

“We have not received any payments,” Lynn Montoya told the Mail. “On July 31, they told us we would get a payment in the next three days. But two days after we were told there was no money.”

Despite already handing over millions of dollars, the company called on the residents – and their retirement savings – again a few months later.

‘Residents started donating to keep us on our journey,’ Mrs Montoya said. ‘In September, the company asked for $1.5million (£1.1million) and then $360,000 (£270,049) this past week while we’ve been stranded in Cambodia.’

The grandmother believes the requests for money were strategic and came when the ship was docked at different ports, leaving the residents to feel vulnerable and ‘coerced’ into giving up their money.

‘We felt manipulated and when that happened time after time, it began to wear us down and frustrate us,’ Mrs Montoya, who sold the couple’s house to fund the trip, said.

‘We’d arrive at the port and six hours before we were meant to leave they would say, “Oh, we can’t leave. We haven’t got the money.”

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‘Everybody then felt pressured to come up with these funds. We joked that we felt we were being held captive.’

Questions naturally began to arise as conditions on the ship began to deteriorate, despite donations having been made specifically to pay for fuel. 

‘The company cannot simply pass increases of that scale on to residents, and the resulting shortfall has placed its current operating model under unsustainable financial pressure,’ it said in a statement.

‘It started becoming apparent that the company is in significant debt – and we started losing a lot of our services,’ Mrs Montoya described.

She added: ‘Our internet was interrupted several times so we weren’t able to check our bank accounts or pay bills, or call home.

‘Our TV service then went down and so more questions started being asked. But despite this the company asked us again for money for fuel.’

Meanwhile, food quality deteriorated and crew members started disclosing to residents that their payments had been stalled.

This prompted residents to again shell out, although this time voluntarily, to financially support crew members ‘whose pay began being affected in August’.

‘We were able to give 128 crew members at least $100 (£75) each,’ Mrs Montoya said.

The turmoil came to a head this week when the hundreds of travellers were given just hours to pack their bags and disembark.

According to Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province in Cambodia, 203 guests and 156 crew had arrived at the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville, where they were left behind by the cruise.

This came after the company asked for more money and received a further $360,000 (£270,049), the grandmother said – but the majority of residents declined to donate.

‘Most people said no, we will not give you anymore money,’ Mrs Montoya said. ‘We’re not going to do it.

‘I honestly believe that they believed people would give up their money again and they would just continue this.’

Permanent residencies on the cruise cost between $120,000 (£90,000) and $440,000 (£330,000), with cabins costing £3,500 per month to rent.

The request for money was followed by an official notice at 8am on Tuesday telling the travellers to disembark, which they must do by 2pm.

‘We were unsure whether we needed to take everything or just an overnight bag. We were told our cabins would be double locked so we packed enough supplies for 14 days,’ Mrs Montoya said.

‘But some people walked off the ship with 12 pieces of luggage.’

The group of around 200 stranded residents were then shuttled off in groups and dumped in the centre of town.

Villa Vie said it was ‘working with residents to co-ordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements’. 

Mr Petterson acknowledged the current doomed situation his clients are in, who had  been promised an endless cruise with stops at more than 400 ports and an ‘around-the-world’ trip every three and a half years.

The founder admitted to Business Insider they were ‘counting on me to make the decision here, and there’s nothing else I’m focused on’. 

READ MORE: Inside the ‘never-ending cruise’ that dumped its passengers in Cambodia: ‘It got worse and worse. Crew begged us for money. We gave them $450k after they pressured us’

Samantha Armytage has named her most “difficult” celebrity interview: a 2009 conversation with Susan Sarandon.

The television presenter, who has nearly 30 years of journalism experience and has interviewed countless stars, discussed the encounter in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail.

Armytage spoke to Sarandon, 80, as the actress promoted her film The Lovely Bones.

“There were plenty of bad interviews. It’s live television,” she said. “But I think Susan Sarandon was probably my worst interview. She was a bit prickly.”

“She was promoting The Lovely Bones. It was a terribly sad movie, so it was difficult for her to promote and, I think, difficult for journalists to cover.”

“It was pretty sad and awful, and she was prickly. But when she returned to America after that trip, she announced that her relationship was over.”

In December 2009, Sarandon confirmed that she had separated from her long-term partner, Tim Robbins, after 23 years together.

The former couple share sons John “Jack” Henry Robbins, 37, and Miles Guthrie Robbins, 34. Sarandon also has a daughter, Eva Amurri, 41, with her former partner Franco Amurri.

“I think she had other stuff going on,” Armytage said of the interview.

“That’s the other thing you have to remember with celebrities: they have lives as well. Sometimes, when they’re prickly, there can be other reasons for it.

“But for the most part, I’ve had fun doing all those interviews.”

Armytage also revealed that her “best” celebrity interview was with Tom Cruise, after the Hollywood star unexpectedly announced on Sunrise in 2017 that Top Gun 2 was in development.

“I think the best was probably the Tom Cruise interview in the studio at Martin Place for Sunrise,” she recalled.

“I think he was promoting a Mission: Impossible movie, so we held a big Mission: Impossible day.”

“There was just a random question at the bottom of our script asking about Top Gun 2, which was such a roll of the dice.”

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“It wasn’t even something anyone knew was coming. At the end, I thought, ‘We’ve got Tom Cruise sitting here, so I’ll just throw this at him.’”

“He gave us a world scoop that Top Gun 2 was coming, and that was pretty amazing.”

Armytage said she could see the moment Cruise decided to reveal the news, allowing Sunrise to break the story that a new Top Gun film would soon begin filming.

‘When you’re sitting with someone like Tom Cruise that close and you can see into their eyes and how he sort of had a moment where he thought, “Should I tell? Am I going give these people a big scoop?”‘ she recalled. 

‘But he’s not stupid, he knows what he’s doing… So that stands out for me.’

Top Gun: Maverick was later released in 2022. 

‘There were so many fun and amazing interviews during those Sunrise years. We really made some big TV back then,’ she added.

It comes after the TV veteran recently started a new podcast called Act Two.

The weekly interview series launched on October 13 with actress Rebel Wilson as her first guest and cricketer Michael Clarke as her second.

‘It’s been liberating to a degree to start something in my own name and for myself,’ the Nine star said.

‘I have worked for big networks – commercial networks – for 28 years. It’s really liberating to do something for myself and run a business.

‘It does sort of shift the way that you operate. I’ve put so much hard work into Act Two because it is mine.’

Sam has already managed to land a huge sponsor, with upscale department store Myer signing on to support her latest venture.

‘Myer has come on board as a major sponsor. That’s really an exciting partnership. It means the show goes to another level now,’ she explained.

‘I’m in the process of chatting to other possible sponsors who are also huge iconic brands. So, from a business perspective, it’s really exciting.’