Terms of Use

These Terms of Use govern your access to and use of londonaccidentnews.co.uk, including its articles, live updates, photographs, videos, graphics, alerts, contact forms and other content or services.

The website is operated by:

Website: londonaccidentnews.co.uk
Contact page: Contact London Accident News
Email: info@londonaccidentnews.co.uk

In these Terms, “London Accident News”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Billion Media Limited. “You” and “your” refer to any person who visits, accesses, uses or submits material through the website.

Acceptance of These Terms

By accessing or using London Accident News, you agree to comply with these Terms of Use.

If you do not agree with these Terms, you should stop using the website.

These Terms should be read alongside our:

• Privacy Policy;
• Cookie Policy;
• Editorial Standards Policy;
• Corrections and Complaints Policy;
• Incident Submission Terms; and
• Copyright Policy.

Where a separate policy or set of terms applies to a particular feature, submission or service, those additional terms will also apply.

About London Accident News

London Accident News publishes live news, developing reports and public-interest information about accidents, emergencies, transport disruption and related incidents in London.

Our content may include:

• Breaking news reports;
• Live incident updates;
• Traffic and transport information;
• Emergency-service statements;
• Eyewitness accounts;
• Photographs, video and audio;
• Public-safety information;
• Follow-up reports;
• Commentary and analysis; and
• Links to official or third-party sources.

Live and Developing Information

Accidents and emergencies can develop quickly. Information published during a live incident may be preliminary, incomplete or based on the best information available at that time.

A live report may change as:

• Emergency services provide new information;
• Witness accounts are verified or corrected;
• Transport conditions change;
• An investigation develops;
• Reporting restrictions become known;
• Authorities revise their statements; or
• Further evidence becomes available.

We may update, clarify, correct, expand, restrict or remove content without prior notice.

The time displayed on an article may show its original publication time, its most recent update or both. Readers should check the article carefully to determine whether information remains current.

Not an Emergency Service

General Information Only

Content published by London Accident News is provided for general news and information purposes.

It should not be treated as:

• Emergency advice;
• Medical advice;
• Legal advice;
• Road-safety instructions;
• Travel guarantees;
• An official emergency-service statement, unless clearly attributed as such; or
• A substitute for information provided directly by a relevant public authority.

You should use official services and qualified professionals when making decisions that affect health, safety, legal rights or travel.

For current London transport information, consult the Transport for London service-status pages. For official emergency and public-safety information, consult the relevant emergency service or public authority.

Accuracy and Availability

We aim to publish information accurately and responsibly. However, we do not guarantee that every report will always be:

• Complete;
• Free from error;
• Available without interruption;
• Updated immediately;
• Suitable for a particular purpose; or
• Consistent with later findings or official conclusions.

Information supplied by witnesses, public authorities, social media users or other third parties may subsequently be corrected, disputed or withdrawn.

Where we become aware of a significant inaccuracy, we will consider appropriate action in accordance with our Corrections and Complaints Policy.

Allegations, Arrests and Investigations

Reports concerning criminal or regulatory matters may refer to allegations, arrests, investigations, charges, prosecutions or court proceedings.

An allegation or arrest does not establish guilt. A person should be treated as innocent unless and until they are convicted by a court.

Users must not use our website or submission facilities to publish or send:

• Unsubstantiated accusations;
• Knowingly false allegations;
• Material that could prejudice active legal proceedings;
• Information prohibited by a reporting restriction;
• Information identifying a legally protected person; or
• Content intended to intimidate, harass or harm another person.

Reporting restrictions can limit what may lawfully be published about court proceedings. General official guidance is available through the HM Courts and Tribunals Service media guidance.

Permitted Use of the Website

You may use London Accident News for lawful personal, informational and non-commercial purposes.

You may:

• Read and view content through the website;
• Share links to our articles;
• Quote limited extracts where legally permitted and properly attributed;
• Print a reasonable number of pages for personal reference;
• Contact us about a report;
• Submit relevant information in accordance with our policies; and
• Use accessible features provided through the website.

Permission to access the website does not transfer ownership of any article, photograph, video, graphic, database, design, trademark or other material.

Prohibited Use

You must not use London Accident News:

• For any unlawful or fraudulent purpose;
• To harm, threaten, abuse or harass another person;
• To submit false or deliberately misleading information;
• To impersonate another person or organisation;
• To misrepresent your connection with an incident;
• To interfere with emergency operations or an active investigation;
• To publish information that breaches a court order or reporting restriction;
• To identify a protected victim, witness, child or vulnerable person unlawfully;
• To infringe privacy, confidentiality, copyright or other legal rights;
• To upload malicious software, scripts or harmful code;
• To attempt unauthorised access to the website, server, database or administrative systems;
• To overwhelm, disable or damage the website;
• To evade technical restrictions or security controls;
• To collect personal information about other users without authority;
• To create a misleading impression that content originates from or is endorsed by us;
• To reproduce substantial parts of the website without permission; or
• To operate an automated system in a manner that places an unreasonable burden on the website.

Unauthorised access to computer systems or data may constitute an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Automated Access, Crawling and Scraping

Search engines and other legitimate services may access the website in accordance with our robots.txt instructions and other technical controls.

You must not, without our prior written permission:

• Systematically scrape or copy articles, images, metadata or databases;
• Use bots or automated tools to create a competing news service or archive;
• Republish our content at scale;
• Circumvent robots.txt, rate limits, access controls or other technical restrictions;
• Use automated access in a way that degrades the website’s performance;
• Extract contact details for unsolicited marketing; or
• Use our content to mislead users about the source or freshness of a report.

Nothing in these Terms prevents a use that is expressly permitted by applicable law and cannot lawfully be restricted by contract.

Intellectual Property Rights

Unless otherwise stated, the website and its original content are owned by, or licensed to, Billion Media Limited.

This may include:

• Articles and written reports;
• Headlines and editorial compilations;
• Photographs;
• Video and audio recordings;
• Graphics, maps and illustrations;
• Logos and branding;
• Website design and layout;
• Databases and structured collections;
• Source code; and
• Original research and analysis.

Copyright and related rights are protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and other applicable laws.

You must not reproduce, adapt, distribute, sell, license, syndicate or commercially exploit our content except where:

• We have given prior written permission;
• A clearly stated licence permits the use;
• The use falls within a legal exception; or
• The material is owned by a third party whose permission you have obtained.

Further information is available in our Copyright Policy.

Linking to London Accident News

You may link to publicly available pages on London Accident News, provided that you do so lawfully and fairly.

A link must not:

• Suggest a partnership, approval or endorsement that does not exist;
• Misrepresent the content of the linked report;
• Use our name or branding deceptively;
• Appear on a website containing unlawful or seriously harmful material; or
• Frame or display our content in a way that conceals its source.

We may ask you to remove a link where it is misleading, unlawful or damaging to our rights.

Third-Party Content and External Links

London Accident News may link to or display material from third parties, including:

• Emergency services;
• Public authorities;
• Transport providers;
• Social media platforms;
• Video and mapping services;
• Witnesses and contributors;
• Other publishers; and
• Advertisers.

A link or embed is provided for context or convenience and does not necessarily mean that we endorse:

• The third party;
• Everything published on its website;
• Its products or services;
• Its privacy practices; or
• The continuing accuracy or availability of its content.

Third-party websites are governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for their content, security or availability.

Submitting News Tips and Incident Material

You may be able to submit incident information, photographs, video, audio, documents or eyewitness accounts through our contact page or another submission channel.

When making a submission, you must provide information honestly and responsibly.

You must not submit material that:

• You know to be false or materially misleading;
• You obtained unlawfully;
• You do not have the right to share;
• Breaches copyright, privacy or confidentiality;
• Contains malicious software;
• Breaches a court order or reporting restriction;
• Unlawfully identifies a child, protected victim or witness;
• Creates an unjustified risk to someone’s safety;
• Is threatening, discriminatory or harassing; or
• Is submitted for blackmail, retaliation or another improper purpose.

Additional conditions governing submitted reports and media are set out in our Incident Submission Terms.

Editorial Control

Submitting information does not guarantee publication.

We retain editorial discretion to:

• Decide whether to investigate or publish a submission;
• Verify information with third parties;
• Edit material for accuracy, clarity, length, legality or style;
• Crop, blur or redact visual material;
• Protect or withhold the identity of a source;
• Decline to identify a contributor;
• Add context or alternative accounts;
• Delay publication;
• Remove or restrict published material; and
• Decline to enter into further correspondence.

Our general editorial approach is explained in our Editorial Standards Policy.

Confidentiality of Submissions

Do not assume that a submission will be treated as confidential unless we have expressly agreed to confidentiality.

Where confidentiality is agreed, we will take reasonable steps to protect the source’s identity. However, no internet communication or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

We may be legally required to preserve or disclose information. We will consider any available protections for journalistic sources before doing so.

A person who believes that disclosure could place them or another person at serious risk should not send highly sensitive information through an ordinary contact form or unencrypted email.

User Comments and Interactive Features

If comments or other interactive features are introduced, additional community rules may apply.

We may moderate, restrict or remove user content that:

• Is unlawful;
• Is defamatory or threatening;
• Contains hate speech or discriminatory abuse;
• Identifies a legally protected person;
• Could prejudice legal proceedings;
• Contains personal information without justification;
• Infringes intellectual property rights;
• Is spam or advertising;
• Is unrelated to the discussion;
• Impersonates another person; or
• Creates a safety or security risk.

We are not obliged to publish, monitor or preserve user comments.

Advertising and Sponsored Content

London Accident News may display advertisements, affiliate links or sponsored material.

Commercial content should be presented in a way that distinguishes it from independent editorial reporting.

The presence of an advertisement does not necessarily mean that we endorse the advertiser, product, service or claims made.

Advertisers are responsible for ensuring that their materials comply with applicable law and advertising requirements.

Further information is available in our Advertising and Commercial Content Policy.

Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools

We may use artificial intelligence or automated tools to assist with tasks such as transcription, categorisation, summarisation, grammar checking, duplicate detection and technical administration.

We aim to apply appropriate human editorial oversight to sensitive or material news reports.

We will not knowingly present an artificially generated image as a genuine photograph of a real accident or incident.

Automated tools can produce errors. Content created or assisted by such tools may be reviewed, amended, corrected or removed.

Website Security

You must not attempt to compromise the security, integrity or availability of London Accident News.

Prohibited activity includes:

• Attempting unauthorised access;
• Testing vulnerabilities without permission;
• Introducing malware;
• Interfering with hosting or network services;
• Obtaining data through deception or technical exploitation;
• Bypassing access controls; and
• Launching denial-of-service attacks.

We may report suspected criminal activity to the relevant authorities and cooperate with lawful investigations.

Suspension or Withdrawal of Access

We may suspend, restrict or withdraw access to all or part of the website where reasonably necessary.

This may occur because of:

• Maintenance;
• Security concerns;
• Technical failure;
• Excessive automated traffic;
• A breach of these Terms;
• A legal or regulatory requirement;
• An emergency; or
• A decision to change or discontinue a service.

We do not guarantee that the website or any particular article will remain available permanently.

Our Responsibility to You

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where doing so would be unlawful.

This includes liability for:

• Death or personal injury caused by negligence;
• Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
• Any other liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited.

Subject to those protections, we are not responsible for loss or damage arising solely from:

• Reliance on preliminary or developing incident information;
• Failure to consult an official emergency, transport or public-authority source;
• The temporary unavailability of the website;
• Third-party websites or services;
• Malware or other harmful material introduced by a third party despite reasonable precautions;
• Unauthorised use of the website by another person; or
• A use of the website that breaches these Terms.

Where you use the website as a consumer, you retain all rights and remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Business Users

If you use London Accident News for purposes connected with a trade, business, profession or organisation, then, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for:

• Loss of profit;
• Loss of revenue;
• Loss of business;
• Loss of anticipated savings;
• Loss of data;
• Loss of goodwill;
• Business interruption; or
• Indirect or consequential loss.

Nothing in this section limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

Privacy and Cookies

Our collection and use of personal information are explained in our Privacy Policy.

Our use of cookies and similar technologies is explained in our Cookie Policy.

By using the website, you do not automatically consent to non-essential cookies. Where consent is required, it will be requested through our cookie controls.

Complaints and Correction Requests

To report a factual error, raise a privacy concern or make an editorial complaint, follow the process set out in our Corrections and Complaints Policy.

A complaint concerning a published article should normally include:

• The article URL;
• The headline;
• The specific statement or material being challenged;
• The reason for the complaint;
• The correction or outcome requested; and
• Relevant supporting evidence.

You can submit a complaint through our contact page or email info@londonaccidentnews.co.uk.

Copyright Complaints

If you believe that material published on London Accident News infringes your copyright, contact us promptly.

Your notice should include:

• Your name and contact details;
• Identification of the protected work;
• The URL of the material complained about;
• An explanation of your ownership or authority to act;
• The reason you believe the use is unauthorised;
• Supporting evidence; and
• The action you are requesting.

Further information is available in our Copyright Policy.

Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms of Use to reflect changes in:

• The website or its features;
• Our editorial operations;
• The services we offer;
• Applicable law;
• Regulatory guidance; or
• Our business arrangements.

The latest version will be published on this page with the revision date displayed at the top.

Your continued use of the website after updated Terms are published means that the updated Terms will apply to your subsequent use.

Severability

If a court or competent authority finds that any provision of these Terms is unlawful or unenforceable, that provision will be treated as modified or removed only to the extent necessary.

The remaining provisions will continue to apply.

No Waiver

If we do not immediately enforce a provision of these Terms, this does not mean that we have waived our right to enforce it later.

Third-Party Rights

Unless expressly stated otherwise, a person who is not a party to these Terms has no right to enforce them under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Use and any dispute or claim arising from them are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

If you are a consumer resident in another part of the United Kingdom, you may also benefit from mandatory protections and bring proceedings in the courts available to you under applicable law.

Subject to any mandatory consumer rights, the courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction over disputes arising from these Terms or the use of London Accident News.

Contact London Accident News

Questions about these Terms of Use can be submitted through our contact page.

You may also contact us by email at info@londonaccidentnews.co.uk or write to: