These are the latest ECHO headlines this morning.
Perfect storm pushing Liverpool further into cost of living crisis
People in Liverpool are being pushed further into a generational cost of living crisis that is having a particular and profound impact on the city.
The Mayor of Liverpool has raised her grave concerns about the specific impact rising energy bills, record inflation and other increased costs are having on the city after a decade of austerity, wage stagnation and the 'economic shock' of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Joanne Anderson will outline her deepening fears at a town hall meeting next week, when she will implore government to take immediate and decisive action to try and lessen the impact of the crisis on Liverpool households as they head into what could be a traumatic autumn and winter period.
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In her council speech, Mayor Anderson will say: "This council is concerned about the deepening cost of living crisis currently taking place across the UK and its particular effect on the city of Liverpool. The council notes that recent significant increases in the cost of housing, energy and other essentials follows a decade of austerity, wage stagnation and the economic shock of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has demonstrated a consistent unwillingness to tackle these problems in a way that will protect the standard of living of people in Liverpool and across the country."
Read the full story here.
Scale of faults that caused Merseyrail chaos last month laid bare
The scale of issues that dogged the Merseyrail network as services were thrown into chaos last month has been uncovered.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram told a committee yesterday that 28 faults were identified with the wheel bearings on Merseyrail trains in June bringing services across the region to a halt. Rail replacement buses had to be used on certain lines during the disruption and Merseyrail managing director Andy Heath was forced to offer an apology.
Mr Rotheram told the Liverpool City Region combined authority overview and scrutiny committee that usually two issues are found a month on the network and the resulting cancellations impacted a “far higher number of trains than usual”. He added: “In a normal month, you might get two faults, with a unit but there was a spate of 28 in a very short duration and that forced Merseyrail to implement a temporary reduced timetable, it was only for a week but it was still causing inconvenience.”
READ MORE: Merseyside set for double bus strike next week as talks stall
The Metro Mayor said from that, a programme was put in place and things were “back to normal”. Addressing the combined authority’s transport committee last week, Dave Jones, rail development manager, warned the delays may not be over.
He said that while Merseyrail was “ahead of the curve” on getting the bearings issues repaired on its fleet, the operator had “yet to get to the bottom” of what had caused the problems. Speaking to members at Mann Island on Wednesday, Mr Rotheram said he had ordered a full investigation into what happened on the network to find out “what happened and ensure we don’t repeat any mistakes that were made with the bearing faults."
Read more here.
Fire started by disposable BBQ rips through pensioner's home
Firefighters have issued a stark warning after a disposable barbeque caused a fire that ripped through a pensioner's home, some eight hours after it was used.
The single-use grill, which cost around £2.50, was cooling off outside when it sparked a huge house fire during the recent heatwave. Terry Archer, 77, said he had cooked four pork chops on the BBQ for lunch before leaving it on bricks on an outdoor decking on Sunday, when temperatures neared 30C.
At around 11pm, a fire broke out and gutted Terry's semi-detached council home which he shared with son David, 52, in Little Walden, Essex. Fire chiefs warned that hot weather means barbeques take longer to cool off, creating a risk of embers spreading and causing a fire.
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Terry, a retired CNC miller, said: "We had a BBQ on the decking as we always do and left it on some bricks. When I was in bed, I smelt this horrible burning paint. A neighbour was shouting the house was on fire.
"This guy made me get up and got my son, who has terrible hearing, out of the building too. We just watched the house burn. It was horrendous. There was a six-foot-wide wall of flames."
Read more here.
