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Vanessa Hudgens flaunts her toned midsection in a crop top and leggings as she picks up a smoothie

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Vanessa Hudgens flaunts her toned midsection in a crop top and leggings as she picks up a smoothie post-workout in West Hollywood

By Sarah Sotoodeh For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

She enjoyed a beach day on Monday.

And one day later, Vanessa Hudgens was spotted picking up a smoothie in West Hollywood after a workout at Dogpound gym.

The 31-year-old actress flaunted her flat midsection in a crop top and leggings, adding layers of jewelry.

 Looking good: Vanessa Hudgens was spotted picking up a smoothie in West Hollywood after a workout at Dogpound gym on Tuesday

Vanessa chose a black and white graphic short-sleeved crop top, pairing it with gray spandex bottoms.

She added sneakers as well as a black face mask; the star rocked a gold belly chain with bracelets, necklaces and rings, as well as her diamond belly ring. 

The beauty added small framed sunglasses and pulled her brunette tresses back, opting to go makeup free.

 Her pal rocked black shorts with a tank top, adding sneakers and a face mask.

Smoothie run: The 31-year-old actress flaunted her flat midsection in a crop top and leggings, adding layers of jewelry

Smoothie run: The 31-year-old actress flaunted her flat midsection in a crop top and leggings, adding layers of jewelry

Gorgeous lady: Vanessa chose a black and white graphic short-sleeved crop top, pairing it with gray spandex bottoms

Gorgeous lady: Vanessa chose a black and white graphic short-sleeved crop top, pairing it with gray spandex bottoms

One day prior, Vanessa showcased her toned form in a swimsuit as she posed on the beach.

The brunette beauty rocked a pink bikini with a colorful sarong on top, adding a straw visor.

She rocked her gold belly chains with earrings and layers of bracelets for the snap – as well as an anklet.

Vanessa captioned the gorgeous image: ‘Time for some sun.’ 

Beauty: One day prior, Vanessa showcased her toned form in a swimsuit as she posed on the beach

Beauty: One day prior, Vanessa showcased her toned form in a swimsuit as she posed on the beach

Bereaved families being denied mortgage holidays

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Bereaved families and struggling homeowners being denied mortgage holidays

By Money Mail Reporter For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Struggling homeowners are being refused more time off mortgage payments, despite the banks being under orders to support customers through the pandemic.

Banking trade body UK Finance insists ‘all customers’ can put off mortgage payments if they ask for help. 

But brokers say those in need are increasingly being denied – especially if they are requesting their second mortgage holiday.

Banking trade body UK Finance insists ‘all customers’ can put off mortgage payments if they ask for help. But brokers say those in need are increasingly being denied

At the start of lockdown, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said homeowners struggling due to coronavirus could have a three-month payment break on their mortgage. 

And in May it announced borrowers could get a further three-month extension to October.

The regulator also told banks it expected them to support customers who need help.

In the first three months of lockdown, more than 1.9 million mortgage holidays were granted. 

Of these, 1.2 million were approved in the first three weeks. But three months on, experts say lenders are taking a tougher line.

When Kat Chadwick’s husband died of coronavirus in April she applied for a three-month mortgage holiday on their home in Rochdale. For the past three years she had been a carer to Philip, 77, who had Parkinson’s.

Last week she asked for a three-month extension to let her get back on her feet.

Kat, 57, and her late husband put their second home on the market in February to allow them to pay off both mortgages. But after the property market froze following the virus crisis, the couple were unable to sell.

Halifax did not offer Kat any support this time.

She says: ‘Unlike the furloughed workers, I don’t have 80 per cent wages and I also don’t have anybody to rely on for help.

‘I feel crushed in every possible way — emotionally, physically and now financially.’ Following Money Mail’s involvement, Halifax apologised and agreed to grant Kat an extension.

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

How to stay afloat in a tsunami of job cuts: Millions face redundancy

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How to stay afloat in a tsunami of job losses: As millions of Britons face the grim reality of redundancy… here’s our guide to weathering the storm

  • latest predictions say unemployment could rise to 10% by the end of the year 
  • Pizza Express warned 1,100 jobs are at risk, while Currys PC World axed 800 staff
  • Winding down of the furlough scheme at the end of October may be a cliff edge
  • Here a range of experts explain how to navigate an unforgiving labour market 

By Miles Dilworth For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

For many, it doesn’t bear thinking about. But millions of Britons are facing the grim reality of redundancy in the coming months, possibly for the first time.

This country has faced mass job losses before but rarely on this scale. The latest predictions say unemployment could rise to 10 per cent by the end of the year.

Just yesterday, Pizza Express warned that 1,100 jobs are at risk, while Currys PC World plans to axe 800 staff.

Will it be worse than 2008? Shocked workers leaving Lehman Brothers in London’s Canary Wharf after the firm collapsed in the 2008 financial crisis

The only advantage we have is that we can see the storm coming.

The winding down of the Government’s furlough scheme at the end of October may be a cliff edge, but it also gives time to prepare.

That’s why Money Mail is today launching a jobs crisis special to guide you through every stage. We have spoken to a range of experts who explain how to navigate an unforgiving labour market and focus on a job search.

The two-week series will also offer a ray of sunshine amidst the gloom. Redundancy can provide time to reassess and reorientate your life around a new career. We’ll tell stories of those who have turned loss into opportunity — and offer advice about how to do the same.

And we will explore how some have taken the plunge and started their own business from scratch after losing their jobs.

Boris Johnson says his approach to the pandemic is to hope for the best, but plan for the worst. It might be a good mantra for the jobs market, too. So what can you expect if the worst does happen?

WHAT WILL I BE PAID?

You should receive redundancy pay if you’ve been working for your current employer for two years or more.

You’ll get:

  • Half a week’s pay for each full year you worked if you’re under the age of 22.
  • One week’s pay per year, age 22 to 40.
  • One-and-a-half week’s pay per year aged 41 or older.

The payout is capped at 20 years and a maximum of £538 per week. You may get more under your particular work contract. The first £30,000 is tax free.

If you have been on furlough or maternity leave, your redundancy pay should be calculated based on your full wage. As a rule, being furloughed does not affect your rights.

You should receive the money by your final payday at the latest, unless agreed beforehand.

Just yesterday, Pizza Express warned that 1,100 jobs are at risk, while Currys PC World plans to axe 800 staff

Just yesterday, Pizza Express warned that 1,100 jobs are at risk, while Currys PC World plans to axe 800 staff

WHAT NOTICE WILL I GET?

  • At least one week if employed between one month and two years.
  • One week for each year employed between two and 12 years.
  • Twelve weeks if you’ve been in your employment for 12 years or more .

Check your contract. Your employer may give you more than the statutory minimum.

Your employer should either pay you through your notice period or pay you in lieu of notice. ‘Gardening leave’ means you are not working for your employer, but you are still employed, so you cannot start elsewhere yet.

HOW TO CHALLENGE IT

If the employer is making fewer than 20 redundancies, there are no rules about how they should carry out a consultation. 

For between 20 and 99 redundancies, consultation must start at least 30 days before any dismissals. It must be 45 days if there are 100 job cuts or more.

Discussions must cover ways to avoid layoffs, reasons for the cuts and how to keep numbers to a minimum. You can appeal by writing to your employer if you feel you’ve been unfairly selected. The next step is an employment tribunal.

WAS IT FAIR?

The grounds cannot be discriminatory: for example, based on age, disability, race, gender or religion.

Commonly used selection methods include ‘last in, first out’, asking for volunteers, and staff appraisals. You may be asked to reapply for your own job

NEW ROLE OFFERS

You may be offered ‘suitable alternative employment’, for example if it is similar to your current job. You may lose your right to redundancy pay if you turn down a suitable role without good reason.

You can make a claim to an employment tribunal if you think the alternative job is not suitable.

You are entitled to a trial period.

TIME OFF TO LOOK 

If you’ve been employed for two years, you’re allowed time off to look for a job elsewhere or for training. Your employer has to pay up to 40 per cent of a week’s pay for this.

[email protected]

Short cuts to making long-term gains 

 By MARTYN JAMES of consumer complaints website Resolver

With up to half of all working Britons worried about losing their jobs, these are stressful times. But with a few simple steps, you can head off the worst of the storm by battening down your finances.

BUDGETING BASICS

A simple spreadsheet is all you need, or just a blank piece of paper. List when regular payments are due and, in a separate column, your food bills, entertainment and takeaways. Then total up the cost and compare it to what’s coming in.

Check your bank statements, going back 13 months, and ask your bank to cancel payments you do not recognise, and reclaim money if unauthorised.

CONTACT CREDITORS

If you’re struggling financially, lenders, utility firms and banks should offer solutions to buy you some time. They should also consider suspending interest and charges for a short period. 

Loan and credit payment holidays are available, too. If you are yet to take a mortgage holiday, the deadline to apply is October 31, but they do seem to be harder to get.

Prioritise your debts in order of the most serious consequences. For example, non-payment of council tax carries a three- month prison term. You could lose your home if you fall behind on your mortgage.

GET A (FREE) PLAN

Never pay for a debt management service — there are many free options, such as the debt charity StepChange. They’ll contact your creditors and negotiate payments you can afford.

SWITCH AND SAVE 

Energy price reviews happen around August, so this is a good time to switch providers. Take your meter readings and ask for a revised bill. While you’re at it, check if you can find cheaper mobile, broadband or annual insurance.

AND FINALLY…

The Government has banned home repossessions during this period. If you need help with living costs, you could be eligible for Universal Credit — go to gov.uk/universal-credit.

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

Kimberley Walsh admits Girls Aloud are ‘feeling the pressure’ to do a 20-year tour

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Kimberley Walsh admits Girls Aloud are ‘feeling outside pressure’ to reform for the band’s upcoming 20th anniversary.

Speaking on The One Show, the singer, 38, explained: ‘It’s 20 years in 2022 so we’re feeling a bit of outside pressure now.

‘People keep asking if we’re making any plans and we actually haven’t made any yet, but we’re definitely feeling a bit of pressure from the outside so you never know.’

Kimberley Walsh admits Girls Aloud are ‘feeling outside pressure’ to reform for the band’s upcoming 20th anniversary

Kimberley has remained close to fellow bandmates Cheryl and Nicola Roberts – and her comments suggested she’s chatted to Nadine Coyle and Sarah Harding about the situation too.

She recently revealed that she put a stop to her seven-year feud with Nadine, 35, as lockdown put things into perspective. 

During an interview with OK! magazine, Kimberley was asked if she’s still in touch with her bandmates, replying: ‘I speak to Cheryl and Nicola [Roberts] all the time anyway, but I have been in touch with Nadine and Sarah, too.’

She continued: ‘Lockdown has been a time for reflection. Nadine and I were chatting the other day and we’re going to get the kids together as they haven’t met yet.’ 

Speaking on The One Show, the singer, 38, explained: 'It’s 20 years in 2022 so we’re feeling a bit of outside pressure now' [pictured with bandmates Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle and Sarah Harding in 2013]

Speaking on The One Show, the singer, 38, explained: ‘It’s 20 years in 2022 so we’re feeling a bit of outside pressure now’ [pictured with bandmates Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle and Sarah Harding in 2013]

Burying the hatchet: Kimberley revealed that she has finally ended her seven-year feud with former bandmate Nadine

Silent treatment: Kimberley had barely spoken to Irish singer Nadine since their band split back in 2013

Burying the hatchet: Kimberley revealed that she has finally ended her seven-year feud with former bandmate Nadine

Kimberley said: 'People keep asking if we’re making any plans and we actually haven’t made any yet, but we’re definitely feeling a bit of pressure from the outside so you never know' [pictured in 2002]

Kimberley said: ‘People keep asking if we’re making any plans and we actually haven’t made any yet, but we’re definitely feeling a bit of pressure from the outside so you never know’ [pictured in 2002]

She also revealed that her life nearly took a very different turn, having been in the running for the role of Maria Sutherland – later Maria Connor – in long-running ITV soap Coronation Street.

‘I actually got down to the last two or three for Maria in Coronation Street. I think it was the year before I got into Girls Aloud, which could have been very different!’ she mused.

Actress Samia Longchambon was cast in the role, first appearing in the soap in 2000. Girls Aloud was then formed in 2002 on TV talent show Pop Stars: The Rivals.

She also revealed that her life nearly took a very different turn, having been in the running for the role of Maria Sutherland - later Maria Connor - in long-running ITV soap Coronation Street. Actress Samia Longchambon [pictured] was eventually cast in the role

She also revealed that her life nearly took a very different turn, having been in the running for the role of Maria Sutherland – later Maria Connor – in long-running ITV soap Coronation Street. Actress Samia Longchambon [pictured] was eventually cast in the role

Stage star: Kimberley has since gone on to appear in musical threatre [pictured backstage at Shrek: The Musical in 2011]

Stage star: Kimberley has since gone on to appear in musical threatre [pictured backstage at Shrek: The Musical in 2011]

They went on to amass a fortune of £30 million by 2010, sold over 4.3 million singles and 4 million albums in the UK.

They split in 2009 but reformed in 2012 for a 10 year tour and album. 

Kimberley has since gone on to appear in musical threatre and will be in Sleepless: A Musical Romance, the first live indoor theatre show to start up since lockdown, which is based on the film Sleepless In Seattle.

‘We start rehearsals in a week’s time and there will definitely be certain things we need to rework slightly,’ she said of returning to work as the pandemic rumbles on. ‘But with the theatre we’re in, it’s almost like a bit of a gift from God, also the show itself really works for social distancing.

She will be in Sleepless: A Musical Romance, the first live indoor theatre show to start up since lockdown, which is based on the film Sleepless In Seattle [pictured with co-stars Jay McGuinness and Theo Collis]

She will be in Sleepless: A Musical Romance, the first live indoor theatre show to start up since lockdown, which is based on the film Sleepless In Seattle [pictured with co-stars Jay McGuinness and Theo Collis]

‘Jay [McGuinness] and I are the leads and we don’t actually meet each other until the final scene in the show, same as the movie, so everything kind of lends itself to this crazy time we’re living in. 

‘We’re able to not change that much in the show actually which is amazing!’

Of how similar the theatre adaptation is, she added: ‘It’s really close which I think is nice, because when you have got an iconic movie like that, you sort of want it to be the same, you don’t want to miss any bits that you remember, it’s so nostalgic.

She said of the show: 'It’s a big, happy, warm musical romance, and who doesn’t need a bit of escapism right now!'

She said of the show: ‘It’s a big, happy, warm musical romance, and who doesn’t need a bit of escapism right now!’

‘So it does run really closely, the script is brilliant and it was written by the same people who wrote the original screenplay.

‘And then we’ve got these amazing new songs that have been written by British composers, and they’re like Big Band numbers, and they really work for the time, and they add a bit of musical magic to it really.

‘It’s a big, happy, warm musical romance, and who doesn’t need a bit of escapism right now!’ 

Man with last song syndrome jumped to death from viaduct

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Takeaway worker, 55, who couldn’t get songs out of his head killed himself after becoming depressed and unable to sleep

  • Anthony Wayne Walters was ‘obsessed,’ with last song syndrome, inquest heard
  • Speaking about it, he had once said ‘I would rather be dead than go through this’
  • The 55-year-old died after falling from Pontwalby viaduct in January this year  

By Luke May For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A takeaway worker who was battling with ‘last song syndrome’ leapt to his death off a 83ft viaduct to escape the music track stuck in his head – hours after a telling a friend he was depressed and could not sleep.

Anthony Wayne Walters, 55, had previously spoken about a last song syndrome, a sensation which meant he kept getting songs stuck in his head.

In a note left at his father’s home in South Wales, Anthony explained how he had an unnamed song going round in his head all the time which ‘has killed him’.

On January 26 he phoned his friend David Williams and told him he intended to end his life, police later found him standing precariously on Pontwalby viaduct in Glynneath, South Wales.

Anthony Wayne Walters, 55, left a note saying a song stuck in his head had ‘killed him,’ before he fell to his death from Pontwalby viaduct in South Wales 

Police arrived at the scene at 1.25pm and saw Mr Walters standing on the viaduct in a precarious position, an inquest into his death – held at Swansea Guildhall on Tuesday – heard.

Officers could see he was prepared to jump and so kept a safe distance away from him. Eleven minutes later, more officers arrived, and a police negotiator was made aware of the incident.

What is ‘last song syndrome’? 

Last Song Syndrome, sometimes known as Earworms, is an unofficial term for the experience of a catchy song repeating itself over and over again long after the sufferer actually listened to it.

‘An experience or an inability to dislodge a song that is last heard and prevent from repeating itself in ones head is called Last song syndrome,’ according to clinical psychologist Seema Hingoranny. 

Most people, up to 98 per cent of the Western world, experience Last Song Syndrome but it is not usually a bad experience.

Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can consider Earworms to be unwelcome involuntary thoughts.

Those who think of them as annoying and stressful are more likely to express OCD symptoms, according to the British Journal of Medical Practice. 

By 2pm the 55-year-old remained in the same position and informed officers he did not want to speak to them.

Five minutes later Mr Walters jumped from the bridge into a shallow river beneath him. He was pronounced dead a short while later. 

He shared the home with his father David Walters who said after doing so he became aware of his son’s mental health issues.

His father said his son was struggling to sleep and was obsessed with last song syndrome, where the last song he heard would play over and over in his head.

The inquest heard he had left notes of proof of ownership for his car, information concerning bills, and notes apologising for his actions.

He detailed how he had been suffering from depression and lack of sleep, adding how he had a song going round in his head all the time which ‘has killed him’.

He also left a note for his father instructing him to call the police if he did not return home by 2pm but added he was going to phone them himself anyway.

Mr Walters had a normal and happy upbringing, the inquest heard, and he had worked at builders’ merchants at Neath and Pontardawe before going on to work at a Chinese takeaway in Glynneath. He had been married for 10 years before getting divorced in 2018.

He had become ‘obsessed’ about last song syndrome, repeatedly searching for it online, and had said: ‘I would rather be dead than go through this.’

Evidence from Dr Anthony Icke, of the Vale of Neath GP Practice, heard how he had a long history of mental health disorder, having been diagnosed with obsessional neurosis and insomnia.

Acting senior coroner Colin Phillips said: ‘It is clear from the evidence there is no other third party involved and this is an act of his own volition.

‘The overwhelming evidence is that he went there with the prospect of ending his life.

‘On the balance of probability I can safely say he carried out the act with the intention of ending his own life.’

Mr Phillips returned a suicide conclusion.

If you are struggling, Samaritans can provide support, call 116 123.