Weekly round-up: Five stories you may have missed

Spectators overheating at Royal Ascot and a pair of bears being released at an Isle of Wight wildlife sanctuary were among our most read stories this week.

We have picked five articles from the past seven days in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and Oxfordshire to keep you up to date.

Two brown bear brothers rescued from a cage near a restaurant in Azerbaijan and brought to the Isle of Wight have finally been able to explore their new home.

Benji and Balu arrived at Wildheart Animal Sanctuary in Sandown on 4 June.

Public donations went towards the almost £218,000 raised for their transport and a brand new enclosure for the pair.

The brothers had been kept in a holding pen while they settled on the island but were released on Friday into a new 3,500sqm space in-keeping with their natural environment.

Dozens of people required medical assistance because of heat-related illness on the second day of Royal Ascot, racecourse officials confirmed.

The event attracted over 41,000 spectators on Wednesday, during which temperatures reached 29.7C (85F).

A Royal Ascot spokesperson said one person was taken to hospital while a further 42 received treatment on site.

Free water was being provided to all those attending, the spokesperson added.

A city carnival will not go ahead as planned this summer, organisers announced.

Oxford's Cowley Road Carnival, run by Cowley Road Works, had been set to fill the streets with music and dazzling costumes on 31 August.

Posting on the event's Facebook page, organisers said they had made the "tough" decision in a bid to "focus on getting the foundations right: governance, staffing and securing sustainable funding" so they could throw a "bigger, better and more secure" carnival in 2026.

The vibrant event returned to the city's streets last year attracting thousands of people. Before that it had not been held since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A car became stuck in the sand at a tourist hot spot for the third time this summer.

A witness told the BBC that a black Land Rover drove onto Boscombe Beach in Bournemouth to try and rescue two people on a broken-down water scooter.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council is installing warning signs to remind people not to drive on to the sand following this latest incident on Tuesday evening.

The local authority said cars should not be driven on the beach for the safety of tourists and residents.

Water supplies returned to homes affected by a burst main that also caused a sinkhole to open up on a main road.

About 18 homes lost their water supply when the water main burst on Tuesday under the A326 Hythe Bypass at Applemore Hill near Dibden, Hampshire.

Southern Water said work was now under way to repair the sinkhole and road, which remains closed between the Dibden and Sizer Way roundabouts.

A 4.5-mile (7km) diversion route is in place, via Main Road, Southampton Road and Beaulieu Road.

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