A body has been found in the search for a 15-year-old boy who got into difficulty in the River Tees.
Durham Police said the alarm was raised shortly after 17:00 BST on Monday after the boy entered the water at Broken Scar in Darlington.
The body was found shortly before midnight and although formal identification is yet to take place it is believed to be the missing boy.
The death is not being treated as suspicious, the force added.
A spokeswoman said the boy's family "have been informed and are being supported and our thoughts are with them at this tragic time".
Police were aided in the search by Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, the North East Ambulance Service, Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team and underwater search teams.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has resisted calls to resign but told Sky News he is "incredibly sorry for the distress" the A-level and GCSE results row caused to students.
He said up until results day last week he had "every confidence" the controversial algorithm used to grade pupils whose exams were cancelled due to coronavirus would not penalise disadvantaged students.
But over the weekend, when he said "it became clear there were anomalies", the government U-turned.
Image:Students called for the education secretary to be sacked
"I'm incredibly sorry for the distress that it's caused to those young people," Mr Williamson told Kay Burley@Breakfast on Tuesday.
"But it was still the right thing to do to make the changes we made yesterday...
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"At the core of it was ensuring there was fairness across the system."
Image:The U-turn came five days after A-level results day
Heartbreaking stories immediately began pouring out in the aftermath of results day from students who had lost out on university places - and in the case of one student Sky News spoke to, a bursary.
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England was the final UK nation to drop a system of moderated grades and instead mark pupils according to teachers' predictions on Monday - following Scotland, Northern Ireland and then Wales.
Angry pupils protested in Westminster and outside Mr Williamson's South Staffordshire constituency office before the U-turn, demanding his resignation.
But asked why he had not quit, the cabinet minister told Sky News actions he took made a "real difference" to ensure students were not treated unfairly.
Mr Williamson was also challenged over a report by an influential Tory MP who chairs the Commons education select committee, which found in July the marking system "could be unfair" for disadvantaged pupils and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
But the education secretary denied he missed early warnings from that report and other experts, insisting it was only "when we saw the results directly coming out" that it became clear there was a problem.
10 Downing Street has reiterated Boris Johnson, who is on holiday in Scotland, has full confidence in Mr Williamson.
From Thursday: PM defends A-level results as 'robust'
But that has not quelled anger completely on the Conservative benches. with former minister George Freeman coming the closest yet to calling for Mr Williamson to go.
He said the "exam shambles" raises "worrying" questions "about leadership" at the Department for Education.
The prime minister had given his full endorsement to the algorithm last Thursday.
He said: "Let's be in no doubt about it: The exam results we've got today are robust, they're good, they're dependable for employers."
Image:Exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
Analysis: The exams debacle is far from over By Tamara Cohen, political correspondent
After insisting there would be no U-turns, today Gavin Williamson ate humble pie in the TV studios explaining why he has now performed a huge, screeching one.
His explanation? He's terribly sorry, but he was given assurances by regulator Ofqual that the algorithm used to determine grades was robust. And it was only on further examination this weekend that it "threw up too many anomalies".
Plenty of Tory MPs privately - and in some cases publicly - wonder why this was obvious to plenty of others, including the education select committee, and especially clear after the fiasco in Scotland a week earlier which their party rushed to criticise.
The saga reflects poorly not just on Mr Williamson, but on the government as a whole and its "levelling up" agenda, as well as the devolved administrations.
There is no immediate expectation or clamour within the party that the education secretary will be fired or resign.
He has Number 10's full confidence, I'm told today - and his role in securing the leadership for Boris Johnson is not forgotten.
This is not a government which likes to bow to pressure for heads to roll.
But the exams debacle is far from over - GCSE results this week, the return to school in September and handling the chaos now inflicted on universities will tell us whether he's weathered the storm.
Government AXE PHE and replace it with new institute run by former jockey Baroness Dido Harding who oversaw disastrous Test and Trace scheme and TalkTalk when hackers stole 157,000 customers' data
Baroness Dido Harding, 52, headed NHS England's Test and Trace scheme
She is a former horse jockey and was chief executive of TalkTalk during hack
The telecoms firm was fined £400,000 over cyber attack that hit 157,000 users
Now she will head up PHE's replacement the Institute for Health Protection
Professor Paul Hunter said a scientist should be in charge of the institute
Baroness Dido Harding, the former horse jockey who runs NHS England's disastrous Test and Trace scheme, is to be handed the reigns of Public Health England's replacement.
The 52-year-old is set to be announced today as the head of the Government's new Institute for Health Protection.
Baroness Harding, former chief executive of TalkTalk, was appointed in May to lead England's contact tracing programme, which is supposed to identify people who have been in contact with a positive coronavirus case.
Baroness Dido Harding and Health Secretary Matt Hancock at a Downing Street briefing
But it has been widely panned for its performance and derided after being initially described as 'world-beating'.
An NHS app said to be key to the scheme has been beset by delays, with the launch of a new public trial announced just days ago.
Mr Hancock first suggested the app would be available in mid-May, but the Government ditched efforts to develop its own technology in June amid accuracy issues and concerns about privacy.
And the appointment of Baroness Harding looks set to raise eyebrows from some quarters of the health expert community.
Professor Paul Hunter, professor in Medicine at the University of East Anglia, told the Telegraph yesterday: 'The organisational culture needed for effective science is not the same as that needed for state bureaucracies nor that needed for commercial organisations.
'In this regard it is notable that the president of the RKI is a highly rated scientist himself.
Baroness Harding is a former horse jockey who had been on the board at Cheltenham
CONTACT TRACER 'PAID TO WATCH NETFLIX'
A contact tracer working in the NHS's test and trace system has watched nearly three series of a show on Netflix because they haven't been assigned any work in her first working week.
The worker, known only under the fake name 'Becky', told the BBC she had worked 38 hours so far but not engaged with any members of the public.
She told the Victoria Derbyshire programme: 'It's frustrating to know that I'm sat idle when there's people that need contacting...
'I'm yet to make a single phone call or be assigned a case.
'I've had no contact from anyone. I've had no contact from supervisors. I've literally been on the system, refreshed the system, and entertained myself during that watching Netflix.
'I've just watched it alongside going back to the system, refreshing it, occasionally having to log back in because it's timed out. I have yet to have contact with anybody regarding contact tracing.'
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'So if we do have a to have a new health protection organisation, please this be adequately funded, please can this be science-focussed and please can this be science-led.'
Labour MP for Sefton Central Bill Esterson also savaged the appointment.
He said: 'Dido Harding is a Tory peer & ran discredited, centralised test & trace.
'She has been appointed to run the body which will replace Public Health England (PHE).
'Her husband, Tory MP John Penrose is a board member of a think tank which called for PHE to be abolished. Join the dots!'
Mr Penrose - MP for Weston-Super-Mare - is on the board of advisers for think tank 1828, which describes itself as a neoliberal platform founded to champion freedom.
It has published articles which have been critical of PHE, including one which declared 'We need to think very carefully about whether Public Health England should even have a future.'
Baroness Harding led telecoms giant TalkTalk when it suffered a massive cyber attack in October 2015 when hackers accessed 157,000 customers' details, including bank account numbers.
The Information Commissioner's Office fined it £400,000 over the breach, which ultimately cost the company an estimated £77 million.
The ICO issued TalkTalk with a record fine in 2016 for security failings that it said had allowed customers' data including some 15,656 bank account numbers to be accessed 'with ease'.
Baroness Harding is currently chairman of NHS Improvement and has held senior roles at Tesco and Sainsbury's during her career.
She was appointed to the Sainsbury's operating board in March 2008 after a stint at Tesco where she held a variety of senior roles both in the UK and international businesses.
Her retail experience was boosted by her time working at Kingfisher plc and Thomas Cook Limited.
She has also served on the board of the British Land Company plc and is a trustee of Doteveryone and a member of the UK National Holocaust Foundation Board.
The new health head had also been in charge of TalkTalk during a massive cyber hack in 2015
She became a peer in August 2014 and has sat on the Economic Affairs Committee of the Lords since July 2017.
Her husband is the Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare John Penrose and she is a mother-of-two.
Away from the worlds of politics and business, she is a jockey and racehorse owner who has served on the board of Cheltenham Racecourse.
This year's Cheltenham Festival came under the spotlight after about 150,000 people attended the four-day event in March, which ended 10 days before lockdown measures began.
Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser from 2000 to 2007, told the BBC it was 'the best possible way to accelerate the spread of the virus'.
The Government said it followed the advice available at the time while Cheltenham Racecourse's medical director added it was not possible to know how - and where - people had contracted the virus.
Public Health England: Protected the nation or hampered testing?
Public Health England is one of the organisations established in April 2013 under controversial health reforms driven by former health secretary Lord Lansley.
Its purpose was to 'protect and improve the nation's health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities' but has come under heavy criticism during the pandemic.
PHE has a wide range of responsibilities ranging from protecting the nation from public health hazards, preparing for and responding to public health emergencies, supporting local organisations to carry out screening and immunisation programmes, reducing health inequalities, and encouraging the public to lead healthier lifestyles, but some argue its scope is too wide.
Unlike other health bodies such as NHS England, NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission, Public Health England has always been an "executive agency" of the Department of Health and Social Care.
On PHE's "executive agency" status, NHS Providers has previously said: "This gives ministers direct control of its activities. So, whilst it might be convenient to seek to blame PHE's leadership team, it is important that the Government reflect on its responsibilities as well."
Critic Matthew Lesh, head of research at the Adam Smith Institute, has hailed the end of the organisation.
He said: 'Public Health England is being abolished, and rightly so. This organisation failed their paramount goal — stopping infectious disease outbreaks. They hampered testing and provided awful advice. Good riddance.'
Marks & Spencer today announced it will axe 7,000 jobs as part of a further shake-up of its stores and management in the face of the coronavirus crisis.
The London-based retail giant revealed the roles were set to go over the next three months across shops, regional management and its support centre.
M&S, which employs 85,000 people worldwide, expects a 'significant' number of roles will be cut through voluntary departures and early retirement.
The group said it will also create some jobs through investing further in online warehousing and its new ambient food warehouse.
It comes as M&S revealed total sales in its hard-hit clothing and home arm plunged 29.9 per cent in the eight weeks since shops reopened.
Marks & Spencer has said it plans to cut around 7,000 jobs over the next three months
Store sales fell 47.9 per cent but online surged 39.2 per cent. It said sales declines were improving but that it was 'clear that there has been a material shift in trade'.
A spokesman said: 'Whilst it is too early to predict with precision where a new post-Covid sales mix will settle, we must act now to reflect this change.'
It comes as M&S revealed total sales in its hard-hit clothing and home arm plunged 29.9 per cent in the eight weeks since shops reopened.
Store sales fell 47.9 per cent but online surged 39.2 per cent. It said sales declines were improving but that it was 'clear that there has been a material shift in trade'.
'Whilst it is too early to predict with precision where a new post-Covid sales mix will settle, we must act now to reflect this change,' the company said.
Chief executive Steve Rowe said: 'In May we outlined our plans to learn from the crisis, accelerate our transformation and deliver a stronger, more agile business in a world in which some customer habits were changed forever.
M&S GROUP REVENUE BY DEPARTMENT (% CHANGE TO LAST YEAR)
DEPARTMENT
19 WEEKS TO AUGUST 8
13 WEEKS TO AUGUST 8
8 WEEKS TO AUGUST 8
Clothing & Home
-49.5
-38.5
-29.9
Food
-1.1
2.5
2.5
International
-31.9
-24.6
-19.9
Group
-19.2
-13.2
-10
Clothing & Home.com
32
42.2
39.2
M&S.com
38.9
46.9
40.7
'Three months on and our Never the Same Again programme is progressing; albeit the outlook is uncertain and we remain cautious.
Persimmon bounces back as it returns to pre-lockdown levels
Housebuilder Persimmon today said building on its sites returned to pre-Covid levels by the end of June following the easing of lockdown rules and the resumption of building works.
Chief executive Dave Jenkinson said: 'Taking an early decision not to take advantage of the furlough scheme for any colleagues, we maintained good momentum in the business, continuing to serve our customers, making detailed preparations for a safe return to work and, when it was appropriate, restarting our build programmes efficiently.'
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'As part of our Never The Same Again programme to embed the positive changes in ways of working through the crisis, we are today announcing proposals to further streamline store operations and management structures.
'These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs and we are committed to supporting colleagues through this time.'
It comes as 14,000 jobs could be on the brink at Debenhams.
Plans to liquidate the business are being drawn up in case other options for saving the company – such as selling it – fall through.
If the ailing department store chain collapses – and all 14,000 jobs are lost – it would be the single biggest cull of the coronavirus crisis.
This would bring the total number of potential UK job losses to more than 180,000 since the pandemic began – adding to misery hitting firms from Virgin Atlantic to NatWest, British Gas-owner Centrica and luxury car maker Aston Martin.
British Airways has so far announced the largest cull, signalling that it may have to cut as many as 12,000.
The likes of Laura Ashley, Cath Kidston and Oasis are among the other big-name brands that have collapsed this year.
How more than 187,000 jobs have now been lost or are at risk amid the coronavirus pandemic
M&S has become the latest employer to cut large numbers of jobs, saying it plans to cut around 7,000 over the next three months across stores.
It follows cuts announced by fellow retailer John Lewis, sushi chain Yo! and clothing store River Island last week.
And around 14,000 jobs could be on the brink at struggling department store Debenhams, with plans to liquidate the business being drawn up in case other options for saving the company – such as selling it – fall through.
Here are the major potential job losses announced since the coronavirus lockdown was imposed on March 23:
Total: 187,719
August 18 - M&S - 700
August 17: easyJet: 670
August 17: Jet2: 102
August 16: Debenhams: 14,000 at risk
August 14 - John Lewis - 399 at risk
August 14 - Yo! Sushi - 250
August 14 - River Island - 350
August 12 - NatWest - 550
August 11 - InterContinental Hotels - 650 worldwide
August 11 - Debenhams - 2,500
August 7 - Evening Standard - 115
August 6 - Travelex - 1,300
August 6 - Wetherspoons - 110 to 130
August 5 - M&Co - 380
August 5 - Arsenal FC - 55
August 5 - WH Smith - 1,500
August 4 - Dixons Carphone - 800
August 4 - Pizza Express - 1,100 at risk
August 3 - Hays Travel - up to 878
August 3 - DW Sports - 1,700 at risk
July 31 - Byron - 651
July 30 - Pendragon - 1,800
July 29 - Waterstones - unknown number of head office roles
July 28 - Selfridges - 450
July 27 - Oak Furnitureland - 163 at risk
July 23 - Dyson - 600 in UK, 300 overseas
July 22 - Mears - fewer than 200
July 20 - Marks & Spencer - 950 at risk
July 17 - Azzurri Group (owns Zizzi and Ask Italian) - up to 1,200
July 16 - Genting - 1,642 at risk
July 16 - Burberry - 150 in UK, 350 overseas
July 15 - Banks Mining - 250 at risk
July 15 - Buzz Bingo - 573 at risk
July 14 - Vertu - 345
July 14 - DFS - up to 200 at risk
July 9 - General Electric - 369
July 9 - Eurostar - unknown number
July 9 - Boots - 4,000
July 9 - John Lewis - 1,300 at risk
July 9 - Burger King - 1,600 at risk
July 7 - Reach (owns Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers) - 550
July 6 - Pret a Manger - 1,000 at risk
July 2 - Casual Dining Group (owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge) - 1,909
July 1 - SSP (owns Upper Crust) - 5,000 at risk
July 1 - Arcadia (owns TopShop) - 500
July 1 - Harrods - 700
July 1 - Virgin Money - 300
June 30 - Airbus - 1,700
June 30 - TM Lewin - 600
June 30 - Smiths Group - 'some job losses'
June 25 - Royal Mail - 2,000
June 24 - Jet2 - 102
June 24 - Swissport - 4,556
June 24 - Crest Nicholson - 130
June 23 - Shoe Zone - unknown number of jobs in head office
June 19 - Aer Lingus - 500
June 17 - HSBC - unknown number of jobs in UK, 35,000 worldwide
June 15 - Jaguar Land Rover - 1,100
June 15 - Travis Perkins - 2,500
June 12 - Le Pain Quotidien - 200
June 11 - Heathrow - at least 500
June 11 - Bombardier - 600
June 11 - Johnson Matthey - 2,500
June 11 - Centrica - 5,000
June 10 - Quiz - 93
June 10 - The Restaurant Group (owns Frankie and Benny's) - 3,000
June 10 - Monsoon Accessorise - 545
June 10 - Everest Windows - 188
June 8 - BP - 10,000 worldwide
June 8 - Mulberry - 375
June 5 - Victoria's Secret - 800 at risk
June 5 - Bentley - 1,000
June 4 - Aston Martin - 500
June 4 - Lookers - 1,500
May 29 - Belfast International Airport - 45
May 28 - Debenhams (in second announcement) - 'hundreds' of jobs
May 28 - EasyJet - 4,500 worldwide
May 26 - McLaren - 1,200
May 22 - Carluccio's - 1,000
May 21 - Clarks - 900
May 20 - Rolls-Royce - 9,000
May 20 - Bovis Homes - unknown number
May 19 - Ovo Energy - 2,600
May 19 - Antler - 164
May 15 - JCB - 950 at risk
May 13 - Tui - 8,000 worldwide
May 12 - Carnival UK (owns P&O Cruises and Cunard) - 450
A council says it cannot safely care for any more child migrants amid a rise in the number arriving alone in Kent.
Kent County Council said it does not have the capacity for additional unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
More than 400 children, most of whom arriving in Dover across the English Channel by small boat, have entered the authority's care so far this year.
Responsibility lies across England, the council says, while the government says the authority has had extra support.
Under-18s arriving in the county alone are passed into the care of the local authority, with a small number later transferred to other councils that volunteer to help.
County council leader Roger Gough said he warned the Home Office his authority "expected to reach safe capacity to meet its statutory duty of care this weekend".
The arrival of 13 more children in the past two days had "tipped the balance and the council simply cannot safely accommodate any more new arrivals," he added.
It is unclear what will happen should more children arrive in the coming days.
"That is clearly unacceptable and needs to be resolved immediately," said Bridget Chapman, of Kent Refugee Action Network, which supports unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and refugees.
"Our main priority is to ensure that vulnerable children are properly cared for and we urge the government to urgently work with Kent County Council to find a way forward," she added.
In May, the government increased the amount given to councils to care for asylum-seeking children after Mr Gough warned social services in Kent were at risk of being overwhelmed.
'High level of arrivals'
"This is an unprecedented situation and we have been working incredibly closely with Kent County Council to urgently address their concerns," the Home Office said.
"We continue to provide Kent County Council with a high level of support, such as significantly increasing funding and reducing pressure on their services through a national transfer scheme.
"We are also providing extra support with children's services and we continue to work across the local government network on their provision for unaccompanied minors."
But Sue Chandler, cabinet member for children's services, said the voluntary national transfer scheme needed to be made mandatory.
While some children had been moved to other areas in recent months, "due to the continued high level of arrivals, it has not been enough to make a real difference to the numbers in Kent," she said.
Mr Gough has said the reduced amount of freight crossing the Channel due to coronavirus has led to an increase in the number of asylum-seeking children arriving in Kent by boat.
Baroness Dido Harding, who runs NHS Test and Trace in England, is to be the interim chief of the government's new Health Protection Institute.
The agency - set to launch on Tuesday - will merge some of Public Health England's (PHE) pandemic response work with the coronavirus test and trace system.
Lady Harding will run the new institute until a permanent appointment is made.
PHE has come under intense scrutiny of its response to the coronavirus crisis.
It has been criticised for the controversial decision in March to halt community testing and tracing of contacts.
But its defenders say it is being made a scapegoat for failures elsewhere in the government.
For now, PHE will continue its role in combating obesity and running other measures to prevent ill health.
A leaked memo seen by the BBC, written by the head of PHE Duncan Selbie to staff, said the aim of the new National Institute for Health Protection was to boost expertise with "much needed new investment".
The new institute will begin work with immediate effect.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) said the move to merge PHE's pandemic functions with those of NHS Test and Trace raised more questions than answers, including the timing of an announcement on the scrapping of a national public health agency in the midst of a global pandemic.
RSPH chief executive Christina Marriott said: "We recognise that there have been some serious challenges in terms of our response to Covid-19, including the timing of the lockdown, the ongoing ineffectiveness of Tier 2 Track and Trace and postcode-level data previously not being available to directors of public health."
She said "multiple lessons" needed to be learned "before solutions can be in place in advance of the winter", adding: "to do otherwise risks avoidable mistakes in subsequent waves of the pandemic which will only harm the public's health further."
PHE expertise is 'irreplaceable'
Prof Richard Tedder, visiting professor in medical virology at Imperial College London, defended PHE as an "assembly of some of the wisest and most committed microbiologists and epidemiologists you could hope for anywhere".
He criticised what he called the "persistent meddling from on-high", which he said had "disenfranchised and fractured" staff "to the great detriment of the UK as a whole".
Prof Tedder warned the plans to merge existing laboratory staff with NHS Test and Trace were "misplaced" and would "further dismantle" the "irreplaceable" expertise that exists within PHE.
A council says it cannot safely care for any more child migrants amid a rise in the number arriving alone in Kent.
Kent County Council said it does not have the capacity for additional unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
More than 400 children, most of whom arriving in Dover across the English Channel by small boat, have entered the authority's care so far this year.
Responsibility lies across England, the council says, while the government says the authority has had extra support.
Under-18s arriving in the county alone are passed into the care of the local authority, with a small number later transferred to other councils that volunteer to help.
County council leader Roger Gough said he warned the Home Office his authority "expected to reach safe capacity to meet its statutory duty of care this weekend".
The arrival of 13 more children in the past two days had "tipped the balance and the council simply cannot safely accommodate any more new arrivals," he added.
It is unclear what will happen should more children arrive in the coming days.
"That is clearly unacceptable and needs to be resolved immediately," said Bridget Chapman, of Kent Refugee Action Network, which supports unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and refugees.
"Our main priority is to ensure that vulnerable children are properly cared for and we urge the government to urgently work with Kent County Council to find a way forward," she added.
In May, the government increased the amount given to councils to care for asylum-seeking children after Mr Gough warned social services in Kent were at risk of being overwhelmed.
'High level of arrivals'
"This is an unprecedented situation and we have been working incredibly closely with Kent County Council to urgently address their concerns," the Home Office said.
"We continue to provide Kent County Council with a high level of support, such as significantly increasing funding and reducing pressure on their services through a national transfer scheme.
"We are also providing extra support with children's services and we continue to work across the local government network on their provision for unaccompanied minors."
But Sue Chandler, cabinet member for children's services, said the voluntary national transfer scheme needed to be made mandatory.
While some children had been moved to other areas in recent months, "due to the continued high level of arrivals, it has not been enough to make a real difference to the numbers in Kent," she said.
Mr Gough has said the reduced amount of freight crossing the Channel due to coronavirus has led to an increase in the number of asylum-seeking children arriving in Kent by boat.
