Five killed in copter crash: Five people were confirmed dead last night and six were missing after a civilian helicopter plunged into the sea 25 miles north-east of Great Yarmouth.

Eleven people were on board the Sikorsky S76, two of them crew and the rest workers from the Santa Fe Monarch oil rig.

A spokesman for RAF Kinloss, Scotland, which is helping co-ordinate the rescue, said five bodies had been recovered from the water. He said the search would continue for the six missing people, with an RAF Sea King helicopter and seven boats, including two rig support vessels and a mixture of lifeboats and Coastguard fast response boats.

It was too early to say what caused the accident, he said, adding: "The weather was quite benign, there was good visibility and light winds.

"There is no indication at this stage that any other aircraft were in the area at the time."

'Roof' charge: A 16-year-old Darlington boy has been charged with theft and criminal damage following an incident on the roof of the town's Tourist Information Centre. The youth was arrested on Monday night after a 40-minute incident on top of the three-storey building in the Market Square. He is due to appear in Darlington Youth Court on Friday.

hotel fall: A British teenager died yesterday after falling more than 30ft from a ledge at a Swiss hotel. It was not known why the 17-year-old, who was not identified, climbed onto the ledge from his hotel room in the lakeside resort of Interlaken.

les moves on: Les Dennis has quit as host of ITV quiz Family Fortunes after 15 years. The entertainer said it was time for "a natural break" from the show.

dream audiences: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bollywood musical Bombay Dreams has extended its West End run by six months to cope with audience demand. The Indian extravaganza has played to packed houses every night.

al-qaida arrests: Spanish police yesterday arrested three Syrians suspected of being al-Qaida members, including one who had videos of the World Trade Centre and monuments in the US.

switching channels: Dermot Murnaghan is quitting after more than a decade as one of ITV's top newsreaders to front BBC1's Breakfast, it was confirmed yesterday. He is to take over from Jeremy Bowen.

inflation down: Interest rates are likely to remain on hold a little longer after the annual rate of inflation tumbled to a record low. Economists revised forecasts for a rise in the cost of borrowing following a sharper-than-expected fall in the underlying inflation rate to 1.5 per cent