An Ed Sheeran lookalike has told of how he had to be rescued by security after being mobbed by fans asking for selfies at one of the star’s recent Manchester gigs.
30-year-old Wes Byrne, from Shaw in Oldham, has already made a name for himself and grabbed headlines in the past for paying what is an uncanny resemblance to the chart-topping singer, and often gets mistaken from him that much that he picks up extra work as a lookalike on top of his full-time job as a council binman.
Wes said that his resemblance to Ed Sheeran means that “not a day goes by when I don’t get stopped or asked for a selfie” by fans.
He admitted that his girlfriend Leah “absolutely hates it”.
But the selfie requests seem to have been taken to a whole new level when Wes – who has previously met Sheeran – took his sister Sammy, 33, and her eight-year-old son AJ to one of the singer’s sold-out shows at the Etihad Stadium earlier this month, and security at the venue had to step in to help.
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Security guards took action after Wes was feared to be creating a fire risk due to being mobbed by so many fans in the audience asking to take a picture with him, and moved him from his £82.50 seat, to a VIP zone where tickets sell for more than £1,000.
Ed Sheeran played four sold-out shows at the Etihad Stadium earlier this month / Credit: Zakary Walters (via Instagram – @teddysphotos)
“I got lots of looks when I first walked in, but it wasn’t until the first person asked for a selfie that the floodgates opened,” Wes told the Daily Mirror.
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“Nearly everyone knew I was a lookalike, although a few kids thought I was the real Ed.
“About 15 minutes before Ed came on stage, the queue for selfies with me was all the way down a line of steps and out an exit, so security told us to go with them to some executive seats [but] we weren’t complaining – it was a much better view.
“It was AJ’s first-ever music gig and he thought all the attention was hilarious.”
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Former Love Island star Callum Jones was one of the people to grab a selfie with Wes at the Manchester gig / Credit: Callum Jones (via Instagram)
Wes has used his resemblance to Ed to his advantage over the years, telling his story in the papers and appearing on ITV’s This Morning, and he even got to meet the famous singer himself back when he acted as a body double for a Heinz tomato ketchup advert back in 2019.
Although looks is apparently where Wes’s resemblance to Ed starts and ends though, as the while he may look like Sheeran, Wes doesn’t think he can compete when it comes to music, admitting that he’s “an awful singer”.
“I did try learning the guitar but I gave up because I was useless,” Wes added.
Featured Image – ITV
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New survey reveals one in three shoppers admits to stealing at self-checkouts
Emily Sergeant
Almost 40% of UK shoppers have failed to scan at least one item when using self-checkouts, new research has revealed.
Self-checkouts started to become popular in the UK in the 1990s, and since then have evolved to meet consumer demands and solve the problem of queueing, especially taking on a life of their own in supermarkets from the 2010s onwards… but now, some exclusive new research for The Grocer has revealed that could be causing more hassle than they’re worth.
A national survey of more than 1,000 shoppers found that only 63% said they ‘never’ failed to scan an item when using self-checkouts, which leaves almost two in five who do so at least occasionally.
A third (32%) also admitted to having weighed loose items incorrectly, while 38% said they had put through an incorrect loose item.
Experts say these statistics show that “a new breed of shoplifter” has been created.
A new survey has revealed that one in three shoppers admits to stealing at self-checkouts / Credit: Aldi
“You’re creating opportunities for people who otherwise wouldn’t even think about shoplifting,” commented Matt Hopkins, who is an associate professor in criminology at the University of Leicester,
When it comes to the biggest culprits of failing to scan items at self-checkouts, the survey revealed that the under 35 age group, and men overall, came out as the most common, but it’s unclear whether this could be blamed on system error, missing barcodes, or rushing shoppers, instead of being intentional.
Surprisingly though, despite public perception and a recent headline-grabbing move by supermarket chain Booths to remove self-service checkouts from all but a select few of its busiest stores, this new research also shows that shoppers actually prefer to use self-checkouts (54.2%), over staffed checkouts (29.8%).
“In a short space of time, the self-checkout option has gone from zero to an accepted norm – and now to an active preference for many,” commented Lucia Juliano, the UK head of research and client success at Harris Interactive.
The speed and relative freedom provided by self-checkouts were the main advantages of using them, according to shoppers, with 56% choosing to use them because they’re faster.
52% cited the fact that self-checkouts allow them to ‘go at [their] own pace’.
Juliano did, however, comment that shoppers’ preference for self-checkouts may only be a reality “when there are no tech issues during the transaction”, which is said to be the “biggest bugbear by far” according to the survey.
“Retailers need to ensure the tech is spotless, the space is ample and staff are quick to intervene when needed,” Juliano concluded.
Featured Image – Ben Stevens / Parsons Media(via Tesco)
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Only 11% of Brits see Brexit as more of a success than a failure, new poll reveals
Emily Sergeant
It’s been just over five years since Britain officially left the European Union, but a new poll has revealed that just 11% think it was actually a success.
On what was a day many will struggle to forget, Britain officially left the EU on 31 January 2020, finally putting into action the 52% to 48% vote to ‘leave’ from the 2016 referendum, but now five years on, how do Brits actually feel that Brexit has gone? And what do they want our future relationship with Europe to look like?
This most-recent survey found that just three in 10 Brits (30%) now say that it was right for the UK to vote to leave the EU, which is the lowest proportion of people since YouGov began asking this question in the aftermath of the referendum.
55% now say it was wrong for the UK to leave the EU, and what’s more, just 11% now see Brexit as more of a success than a failure.
A new survey has revealed that only 11% of Brits now see Brexit as more of a success than a failure / Credit: Flickr
In what is potentially an even more damning statistic than that, however, is that one in six ‘Leave’ voters (18%) who responded to the survey now say that it was wrong for Britain to choose to leave the EU.
By contrast, just 7% of ‘remain’ voters now think it was right for the UK to leave, compared to 88% who stand firm in their decision.
Another interesting viewpoint from the survey is that among the young Brits who were unable to vote in the 2016 referendum, those aged 18-24 years old, three-quarters (75%) say that Britain was wrong to vote to leave the EU, compared with just one in 10 (10%) who say the UK made the right choice.
Five years on, few Britons think Brexit has been good for anything
% saying Brexit has had a positive impact on… Control the UK has over its laws: 31% UK’s ability to respond to COVID-19: 23% British politics: 12% UK’s level of international trade: 11% British businesses: 11%… pic.twitter.com/nAN81yOHHd
When it comes to the visions for the future, 55% of Brits who responded to YouGov’s survey say they would support a complete undoing of Brexit, with 39% saying they ‘strongly support’ Britain rejoining the EU, and 33% opposing rejoining to any degree.
One in five ‘leave’ voters (20%) support rejoining the EU.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd June 2022 
