Once again, it does not sound like Oasis will be doing press during their 2025 reunion tour, according to lead singer Liam Gallagher. A fan on X, formerly Twitter, an Oasis fan quoted a report about an upcoming documentary about the band’s reunion tour coming “later this year.” The documentary would allegedly include interviews with […]
The post Oasis’ Liam Gallagher debunks reunion documentary ahead of 2025 tour appeared first on ClutchPoints.
A YOUNG woman has revealed that her ex dumped her to ‘work on himself’ so she made sure to get her own back and do the same.
On a mission to improve her looks and confidence, Chloe White, a blonde beauty from the UK, focused on her diet and got serious with exercise.
As a result, the star, who has 76,700 followers on social media, was able to drop four and a half stone – and now, people have said she looks like ‘a different person’.
Chloe has shared numerous clips online proudly showing off her jaw-dropping glow up, leaving people totally stunned.
In one short before and after clip, which has now gone viral, the content creator wrote: “He left me to ‘work on himself’.
“So I did the same.”
She captioned the video ‘boy bye’ and explained that after she started looking after herself, she was able to lose weight and totally transform her appearance.
Chloe acknowledged that after losing her “face fat” and slimming down, she is now “a whole new person”.
And whilst many were left convinced that Chloe had had surgery to slim down, Chloe swore that her transformation was simply down to moving more and making smarter food decisions.
Whilst one woman accused her of having a gastric sleeve, Chloe claimed that she was able to glow-up by volume eating, which involves eating large portions of low-calorie, high-volume foods, as well as high protein meals.
As well as this, she also credited weight training to her impressive weight loss and highlighted that she took inspiration and motivation by taking progress pictures, rather than through weighing herself.
And whilst Chloe loves working up a sweat in the gym, she also advised that for those looking to keep on top of losing weight, changing up the scenery and getting outside often helps – whether that’s going for runs or bike rides.
Chloe’s TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @chloe.w.hite, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly gone viral and racked up a whopping 5.8 million views.
Social media users were gobsmacked by her new look and many eagerly flocked to the comments to express this.
There are various other ways to lose weight without going under the knife.
According to the NHS, to get the best possible start on its weight loss plan, there are the seven steps you should follow.
One person said: “You understood the assignment.”
Another added: “What a difference! You were still stunning before but now you are glowing with confidence! Way to go girl!!”
You looked lovely before but you look uber glam now! Congratulations
TikTok user
A third commented: “You look like a different person!”
Whilst someone else wrote: “Oh wow, well done girl! Smashed it. Beautiful, I can tell you are loving yourself now.”
Not only this, but another beamed: “I love this. You looked lovely before but you look uber glam now! Congratulations.”
Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club
FROM faddy diets to dodgy detoxes - most of us have heard it all before when it comes to weight loss.
But burning fat can be easy and mostly free.
In fact, the NHS has a whole load of medically-approved tips for weight loss and shedding body fat once and for all…
A GLAMOROUS OnlyFans star was put under house arrested after she offered to spend a Valentine’s Night with a fan for £9,000
Turkish adult actress Merve Taskin is in hot water after she posted an advert on X offering to be a fan’s “girlfriend” for a dinner date.
Soon after, the 27-year-old Turkish model was arrested on Valentine’s Day and accused of offering “obscene services”.
The influencer also warned fawning fans to “be careful not to fall in love” with her.
Judges at the Caglayan Court ordered that Taskin be placed under house arrest on 15 February whilst her phone and social media are investigated.
The original post on X to her 124,000 followers offered lonely punters a Valentine’s Day dinner date.
She said: “I can be a girlfriend for ‘dinner’ for those who are single on 14th February.
“Fee: TRY 400,000 (£8,770).”
The erotic content creator then boasted some of her assets to entice potential customers.
She added: “1) I am talkative, we can chat a lot.
“2) My beauty, you can create a good image with me outside.
“3) I am known in Turkey, you can satisfy your ego within yourself.
“4) I’m smarter than you expect, you’ll be surprised.”
She also listed bonuses for fans: “Bonus: I have great manipulation skills, be careful not to fall in love.
“Bonus 2: If you need motivation on anything, I’m pretty good at that too.
“Bonus 3: I am humble.”
After her post went viral, she was reported to police.
Taskin posted on social media again once she was released, saying she was detained and had to share a cell with prostitutes from the local area.
She said: “I spent one night in a cold, stuffy, unhygienic detention cell.
“One of the girls was crying at first because she got locked up in the detention cell, then she started laughing when she found out that I was Turkish and that I was there because of social media.
The content creator complained: “Someone please tell me that they played a prank on me and none of it is real.”
In 2021, Taskin was sentenced to five months in prison for posting erotic pictures online during her holiday in Amsterdam, including one of her riding a giant penis at the city’s Sex Museum.
EVIL Vladimir Putin could deploy the obscure “Narva Scenario” to launch a surprise attack on Nato despite peace talks with President Donald Trump, an expert has warned.
Former Finnish general and MEP Pekka Toveri believes Trump and the West should be wary of trusting the mad dictator – warning that he could take advantage and try to break Nato’s Article 5.
Putin has agreed the “war must end” after Donald Trump went past Ukraine and European leaders to do business directly with the Kremlin.
But the former general and MEP for Finland has warned against the West trusting Putin in peace deals and giving him land as it would only make his “appetite bigger” – encouraging the tyrant to make a future invasion.
Toveri told The Sun that Putin would just need to wait for a couple of years and be prepared to sacrifice another 100,000 Russians before attacking again as, in Putin’s mind, the “spineless West will give up”.
And even if Europe built up its armies, Putin wouldn’t need to challenge them directly.
Instead, he could carry out the feared Narva Scenario and try and break Article 5 of Nato.
Russia would invade Estonia and seize the city of Narva in a small operation and then threaten to nuke anyone who tried to get it back.
Narva – which sits on the border between Russia and Estonia – was first occupied by Russia between 1558 and 1581, and then again in 1704.
It borders a river between the two countries – not far from Narva Bay – and over 97 per cent of the almost 60,000 residents there speak Russian.
On the edge of Nato’s eastern flank by the Baltic Sea, Narva is Estonia’s third biggest city.
There is a red line painted on the point where Narva crosses into Russia – on a bridge over the river.
Estonian border cops have previously told the BBC that thousands of Ukrainians have escaped war zones and fled into Estonia through this border crossing.
Toveri said it would take longer than six months, which is what the Danish spooks suggested, for Russia to invade Europe – but that it would definitely happen before the end of Trump’s administration.
He believes that Europeans would come to the defence of Estonia – but he questions whether America would as Putin would take advantage of Trump’s trust.
Toveri added: “That’s what the Estonians and other politics states are worried about – that Article 5 is questioned.
“And.the thing is, it’s easy for Putin to do that.”
In order to be victorious, Europe must pick up the production of weaponry and keep up sanctions so Russia will struggle to produce high-tech equipment.
But Toveri warned that trying to encourage peace with Putin would make him more likely to commit acts of sabotage in Europe.
He added: “Russians might be evil, but they are not stupid.
ESTONIA, Lithuania and Latvia have all strongly condemned Putin’s horrific war in Ukraine.
These major Russian-speaking cities in each country are of historical importance when thinking about the Russian empire Putin follows on from.
Geographically they also all provide important elements, like coastal locations, sea ports, industrial centres or key borders.
NARVA – ESTONIA
Narva – which sits on the border between Russia and Estonia – was first occupied by Russia between 1558 and 1581, and then again in 1704.
97 per cent of the almost 60,000 residents there speak Russian.
It borders a river between the two countries – not far from Narva Bay.
On the edge of Nato’s eastern flank by the Baltic Sea, Narva is Estonia’s third biggest city.
There is a red line painted on the point where Narva crosses into Russia – on a bridge over the river.
Estonian border police told the BBC that thousands of Ukrainians have escaped war zones and fled into Estonia through this border crossing.
Narva has welcomed Ukrainian refugees during Putin’s war, the BBC reports.
KLAIPEDA – LITHUANIA
Lithunia downgraded its diplomatic relations with Russia after Putin invaded Ukraine.
It closed its Russian consulate in Klaipeda, which is bordered by Latvia, Belarus and Poland on the Baltic Sea coast.
The third largest city in Lithuania, Klaipeda is a major seaport.
It has the highest number of native Russian speakers among Lithuanian cities.
Under the USSR, Russia turned Klaipeda into a valuable marine base.
DAUGAVPILS – LATVIA
This Latvian city, in the south, is bordered closely by Belarus and Lithuania.
It is the second largest city in the country and well populated.
It is also only 75 miles from the Latvian border with Russia.
Daugavpils is historically a major railway and industrial point – and was part of the Russian Empire in the late 1700s.
It has an overwhelmingly Russian speaking population.
Latvia has strongly condemned Putin’s war in Ukraine, and has been added to a list of all EU countries dubbed “unfriendly” by Putin.
“What they have learned from Ukraine? So far they have learned that well, their own army sucks.
“But another thing they have learned is that hybrid warfare works.
“They’ve been attacking us over a decade. They’ve been attacking us in cyber with the information operations now support us and what we are doing?
“They can break the unity of Western organizations like EU and NATO, and they can can break the unity within the nations and force us to use a lot of effort to to secure our infrastructure, like undersea cables, and so on.”
If Russia signs a peace with America and Ukraine rejects it – then Europe could step in and continue to support Ukraine defending against Russia.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer has said he is willing to deploy British troops on the ground in Ukraine to enforce a peace deal.
Toveri said: “It would be in our interest to say that step in and say ‘Okay, don’t worry. We will replace the American support. We have money, we have resources. We will replace the American support so that Ukraine can keep on fighting until Russia is ready for more reasonable peace.
“You have to remember that Russia is nowhere near to winning in this war.”
Ukraine could continue fighting Russia on the defensive and killing as many Russians as possible with the support of Europe, as Zelensky’s people “are ready to accept the peace”.
Toveri explained how despite Ukrainian citizens being prepared to accept temporarily losing some areas, “they are not willing to take a peace where they don’t get real security guarantees.”
He added: “They can continue it long time with low intensity but it’s hurting them and the economy bad – so we should just not to give up now on the ceasefire/demilitarised zone.
“You would need 150-to-200,000 troops there and then you have to rotate them. You need three times more.
“We, the West, have to support Ukrainian so that they can rearm the army – so it is strong enough with modern Western technology so that they can be the main deterrence, and then, of course, some kind of presence from the Western countries.”
DAIZEN MAEDA’S late response at Celtic Park Delivered an air of hope to Brendan Rodgers’ side as they jet out to Bavaria.
Harry Kane and the might of Bayern Munich await in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.
But, trailing by just a goal to the Bundesliga leaders, the Hoops have belief they could yet spring an upset.
Nicolas Kuhn insists Bayern won’t expect the tie to be over courtesy of Kane’s second half strike that split the teams after the first leg at Parkhead.
And captain Callum McGregor was adamant he and his team-mates would empty the tank to book a place in the next round against either Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid.
They’ll do it under the lights and in front of 75,000 fans – with the travelling support given a reprieve from Uefa after trouble on their last outing at Aston Villa.
A smoke bomb thrown onto the pitch did not warrant punishment from European football beaks with a suspended sentence hanging over the club following their last trip to Germany.
So thousands of fans will follow the team to their first Champions League knock-out trip since 2012-13.
But as mentioned, it’s not even their first adventure to Germany this season.
The Hoops will be aiming to perform a lot better from this season’s nadir – a 7-1 skelping from Borussia Dortmund back in October.
Here’s how to tune in to their latest trip…
The big news for Bayern Munich is Harry Kane SKIPPED the final training session before the big game.
The England captain was caught in a sickening clash of heads on Saturday – and posted missing at Munich’s MD-1 preparations.
Celtic have a full European squad to select from.
Brednan Rodgers will hope for more of the same from his charges who finsihed last week’s game on a high after reducing the deficit through Maeda.
They almost had the perfect start too but Nicolas Kuhn’s opener in the 26th second was ruled out for offside.
The boss was careful with his stars in the 3-0 win over Dundee United, removing key men Jota and Hatate after an hour then allowing Arne Engels and Nicolas Kuhn a run for the final 20 minutes,.
Bayern Munich 2/11 (Betfred)
Draw 8/1 (Various)
Celtic 16/1 (BoyleSports, BetVictor)
*odds correct as at 1.15pm on Monday, February 17.
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
THE remaining Love Island stars will tonight be seen being treated to a performance from a huge British DJ.
The All Stars finalists are getting ready to find out who will be crowned winner, but before that they got to enjoy one last pool party.
This evening’s final episode will see the remaining couples wake up and be told by text that they’re going to get a pool party.
The message reads: “Finalists, get ready to dive into a good time, as you’re invited to a VIP All Stars pool party! #MakingWaves #FinalFiveOnly.”
The Islanders are then treated to a surprise performance from DJ Nathan Dawe.
The DJ plays some of his biggest hits and gives the Islanders an exclusive listen to his newest track, Here in Your Arms.
The remaining cast will be seen dancing in slow motion as they drink cocktails and enjoy their last party together.
After their party, the couples will tonight be seen reflecting on their time in the Villa.
Elma and Sammy chat in the pool and she tells him: “You walked in and it changed everything, it’s almost like it was meant to be.”
Sammy then adds: “As soon as we sat down and started chatting I was like…yeah.”
Casey is seen telling Gabby: “Right now we’re at the perfect stage to want to carry on on the outside.”
“I actually feel excited for you to meet my family, this is where we learn about each other in others ways,” Gabby replies.
Meanwhile, last night it all kicked off when Ronnie Vint and Harriet Blackmore were dumped from the villa.
After a public vote made them one of three vulnerable couples, it was up to the former islanders to cast their vote on who would make it to the final.
Harriett and Ronnie eventually received the most number of votes, and were dumped from the villa.
There are now five remaining couples as the show heads into tonight’s finale.
The couples up for the win are: Curtis Pritchard and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu; Grace Jackson and Luca Bish; Catherine Agbaje and Omar Nyame; Elma Pazar and Sammy Root and Gabby Allen and Casey O’Gorman.
Maya Jama will return to the villa one last time tonight to crown the victors, with the public vote open now to pick the next winner.
Love Island All Stars airs tonight at 9pm on ITV2.
Love Island All Stars is back on TV for season 2.
Here we take you through the line-up of all the Islanders who are in the villa so far.
Bombshells
Each series brings with it a string of hot single bombshells making their epic entrance into the villa.
Here’s who has joined the villa so far:
PREMIER LEAGUE leaders Liverpool travel to Aston Villa for Wednesday’s top-flight showdown.
SunSport betting experts have previewed the contest and selected the best bets, tips and exclusive sign-up bonuses from our leading betting partners.
Find The Sun’s betting publishing principles here
SunSport exclusives
Already have these accounts? Don’t worry, we’ve got loads more terrific deals below!
Check out the latest free bets to use on football, horse racing, and lots more.
Liverpool make the 78-mile trip to Villa Park for their third match in just eight days as they take on Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
The Reds have the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to ten points with only 12 games remaining.
With a challenging run of fixtures ahead, securing maximum points against Villa would be a huge boost.
Arne Slot’s side are set to face a resurgent Manchester City, Newcastle, Merseyside rivals Everton, and Fulham in their next six league outings, alongside a trip to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final.
Despite being the most in-form side in the league, even the most devoted Liverpool supporters would admit the team hasn’t been at their best in recent weeks.
Following their shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Plymouth and a 2-2 draw in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, the Reds scraped past struggling Wolves with a 2-1 win — thanks to Mohamed Salah’s first-half penalty.
Remarkably, it was the first time on record (since 2003-04) that Liverpool failed to attempt a shot in the second half of a Premier League game at Anfield. In fact, it was the first time in this period that the Reds went an entire half of football without attempting a shot in a home league match.
To make matters worse, they have not kept a clean sheet at home since 1st December.
However, on the road, Liverpool remain unbeaten in the league this season, winning eight and drawing five of their 13 away fixtures. Meanwhile, Unai Emery has only beaten Liverpool once in 12 meetings across all competitions.
Villa will be desperate to improve that record, but Saturday’s 1-1 draw against relegation-threatened Ipswich Town — who played with ten men for over 50 minutes — was hardly the ideal warm-up.
Emery’s side are now winless in four Premier League matches (D3, L1) and have slipped to ninth in the table, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
Adding to their concerns, they have lost six of their last seven league games against teams starting the day top of the table.
On the flip side, Villa boast the joint-fourth best home record in the division and are unbeaten in their last 12 league matches at Villa Park — something they’ll be eager to preserve against the league leaders.
Odds are correct at the time of publication and are subject to change.
William Hill £60 welcome bonus
William Hill: Claim £60 welcome bonus – click here*
There’s rarely a dull fixture between these two sides, especially at Villa Park. The last seven Premier League meetings between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park have produced a total of 33 goals, an average of 4.7 per game.
Liverpool have scored at least twice in all seven of these games (20 goals in total). This exact fixture finished 3-3 last season, and we can see another flurry of goals – especially with the visitors having conceded 26 shots on goal in their last two league matches.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool
It’s not the flashiest of predictions, but Mohamed Salah looks a solid shout to provide an assist at 2/1 with William Hill in a match where we expect a flurry of goals.
With 14 goals and nine assists in Liverpool’s 13 away games in the Premier League this season, Mohamed Salah has the most ever goal involvements by a player away from home in a single campaign in the competition (23).
He is one assist away from becoming only the third player to assist 10+ goals in away games in a Premier League season. He’s provided four assists in 12 games against Villa in his career, and he’s created 34 chances for his colleagues away from home this season — 10 more than the next Liverpool player.
*William Hill. 18+. Play Safe. New players only, using promo code T60. Valid from 13/04/2022. Online play. Get £60 Bonus split between Vegas & Sports in the following manner – (i) Deposit £10 to unlock £20 Vegas Free Bet on Selected Games (72hr expiry, wagering reqs apply); then (ii) bet £10+ (odds 1/2+) with cash (excl. £10 deposit) or Vegas winnings (after wager reqs met). Once settled, receive £40 Sports Free Bets excluding Virtual Markets (4x £10, 7 days expiry). Payment methods & country restrictions apply. Full T&Cs apply.
*New customers only. Register with BETFRED50. Deposit £10+ via Debit Card and place first bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get 3 x £10 in Sports Free Bets & 2 x £10 in Acca Free Bets within 10 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. T&Cs apply.
*BetMGM. New customers only. 7 days to place a qualifying bet of £10 at 1/1 (2.0) to receive 4 x £10 Free Bets: 1x £10 Free Bet on Football, 1x £10 Free Bet on Horse Racing, 2 x £10 Free Bet Builders. 7 day expiry. Exclusions apply. Stake not returned. 18+. Full T&Cs apply.
*talkSPORT BET. 18+ New customers only. Opt in, bet up to £40 (min. £20) on any football market at odds of 2.00+, in 7 days. Get up to £40 in free bets on selected markets. Bonuses expire in 7 days. T&Cs apply, see below. GambleAware.org | Please gamble responsibly
*Tote. New customers online only. Eligibility restrictions apply. Only valid with code B10G40 on registration. £10 min qualifying bet at 1/1 (2.0) odds or greater across sports or racing (if EW then min £10 Win + £10 Place). Receive £20 Tote Credit, £10 Free Sports Bet and 50 Free Spins on Big Bass Bonanza within 48 hours of qualifying bet settlement. 7-day expiry on free bets & Tote Credit. Your first bet will be your qualifying bet. One per customer. UK & ROI customers only. 18+. Full T&Cs apply. Gambleaware.org. Full T&Cs apply.
Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.
A responsible gambler is someone who:
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
PREMIER LEAGUE leaders Liverpool travel to Aston Villa for Wednesday’s top-flight showdown.
And brand new talkSPORT BET customers can claim up to £40 in free bets when they register an account and stake at least £20 on the midweek encounter.
Find The Sun’s betting publishing principles here
talkSPORT BET
talkSPORT BET: Get up to £40 in free bets – Claim Here*
Brand new talkSPORT BET customers can claim a welcome bonus of up to £40 when they register an account.
Simply visit the talkSPORT BET website on your mobile device and create an account. Opt in to this promotion via the OFFERS tab and then make a deposit via debit card or Apple Pay.
Stake £20 or more on any football market at odds of at least Evens. Remember, you must do this within 7 days of opening your account.
Once that’s settled – win or lose – your account will be credited with up to £40 free bets based on your first bet bet.
For example, if you stake £20, you will receive 4 x £5 free bets. If you stake £40 you would receive the full 4 x £10 free bets:
On settlement of your qualifying bet, your account will be credited with the following:
And the following free bets, which will be credited 24 hours after the first bonus funds:
You can read the full breakdown of free bets and more on how to claim talkSPORT BET’s welcome offer here*
*18+ New customers only. Opt in via mobile device, bet up to £40 (min. £20) on any football market at odds of 2.00+, in 7 days. Get up to £40 in free bets on selected markets. Bonuses expire in 7 days. T&Cs apply. GambleAware.org | Please gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
A GLAMOROUS OnlyFans star was put under house arrested after she offered to spend a Valentine’s Night with a fan for £9,000
Turkish adult actress Merve Taskin is in hot water after she posted an advert on X offering to be a fan’s “girlfriend” for a dinner date.
Soon after, the 27-year-old Turkish model was arrested on Valentine’s Day and accused of offering “obscene services”.
The influencer also warned fawning fans to “be careful not to fall in love” with her.
Judges at the Caglayan Court ordered that Taskin be placed under house arrest on 15 February whilst her phone and social media are investigated.
The original post on X to her 124,000 followers offered lonely punters a Valentine’s Day dinner date.
She said: “I can be a girlfriend for ‘dinner’ for those who are single on 14th February.
“Fee: TRY 400,000 (£8,770).”
The erotic content creator then boasted some of her assets to entice potential customers.
She added: “1) I am talkative, we can chat a lot.
“2) My beauty, you can create a good image with me outside.
“3) I am known in Turkey, you can satisfy your ego within yourself.
“4) I’m smarter than you expect, you’ll be surprised.”
She also listed bonuses for fans: “Bonus: I have great manipulation skills, be careful not to fall in love.
“Bonus 2: If you need motivation on anything, I’m pretty good at that too.
“Bonus 3: I am humble.”
After her post went viral, she was reported to police.
Taskin posted on social media again once she was released, saying she was detained and had to share a cell with prostitutes from the local area.
She said: “I spent one night in a cold, stuffy, unhygienic detention cell.
“One of the girls was crying at first because she got locked up in the detention cell, then she started laughing when she found out that I was Turkish and that I was there because of social media.
The content creator complained: “Someone please tell me that they played a prank on me and none of it is real.”
In 2021, Taskin was sentenced to five months in prison for posting erotic pictures online during her holiday in Amsterdam, including one of her riding a giant penis at the city’s Sex Museum.
A COUPLE renovated a stinky abandoned loo into their dream seaside home – but only after a decade long struggle.
Elaine and Alan Taylor spotted the unused toilet block alongside the coastal town of Barmouth in north-west Wales and had an immediate brainwave.
The duo, from Greater Manchester, pulled their wallets out and forked out £33,000 for the derelict building in 2015.
“We have a love of Wales, a love of Barmouth and a love of the ocean,” Elaine, 53, told Wales Online.
“We were on holiday in Barmouth and the council had put a for sale sign up on the building.
“We thought that it would amazing because of its proximity to the sand dunes and the sea, and what an opportunity to renovate something and improve the area, take something that’s unloved, unused and make it into something really nice.
“We had always thought about buying a property by the seaside but we’d always resisted because I understand why it’s not a good thing for the local economy, not good for young people in the area, and pushes the house prices up.
“So part of the reason we bought and transformed the empty toilet block was because we felt like we weren’t taking housing stock away and we were just improving the area by reviving an abandoned building.
“It has been shut for years and inside it was awful, it has been essentially boarded up for years and everything was still there, all the toilets and everything, it was very sandy as it had managed to get into the building from the beach and it was very smelly is how I remember it!”
However, Elaine and Alan soon ran into obstacles before they could roll their sleeves up.
The couple could only start reinventing the gaff during the summer of 2017 as the toilet was located next to a school.
Elaine continued: “As the toilet block is located by the beach the planners wanted us to consult with Natural Resources Wales.
“Our vision all along was we would renovate the toilet block including the slate roof but NRW wanted us to raise the floor level by about a metre for flood mitigation.
“So when the floor level was raised, the roof level would have to be raised.
“And that’s when it all changed completely because at that point we had to put in completely different plans, the vision changed completely, and when we discussed it with the planners they said if we couldn’t retain the features of the building then they wanted it to be a brand new, quite modern looking building, they didn’t think we could replicate the old.”
The two were hampered by further delays and mounting costs when it came to the classification of the building.
She added: “We had to retain the foundations, which meant the building had to be taken down by hand so as not to damage the foundations.”
“When it was up for sale we couldn’t go into the property and so it was a blind bid so we assumed it would have electric because it has been a toilet block and water too.
“After we bought it, we discovered that the electrics were hooked up to the street lamps, and unfortunately, with the water, once the pipes had gone past a certain age, you have to replace them.
“So the pavement had to be dug up to install electricity and replace all the plumbing, so the project just grew and grew.”
It is estimated the couple have been set back £260,000 on their fresh one-bedroom home excluding the £33,000 they paid for the property.
But despite the setbacks, Elaine said locals were always supportive of their plans.
“When we were there working, a lot of the locals would pass and stop and ask us questions because I don’t think people realised it was going to be transformed into a home,” she recalled.
“We were very open to the local interest. We’d say, ‘Come inside and have a look!’
“What we really learnt about Barmouth is that the community there all talk, a rumour went round that we went bankrupt and everyone who passed when we were working on it said, ‘oh, we’d heard you’d gone bankrupt!’
“No-one has come up to us with any objections or criticisms, the local community have been wonderful, really supportive.”
