Mayors will be able to introduce tourist taxes across England, the government has announced.

A day before the budget, communities secretary Steve Reed said mayors will be given the power to impose a “modest” charge on visitors staying overnight in hotels, bed and breakfasts, guest houses and holiday lets.

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The money raised is intended to be invested in local transport, infrastructure and the visitor economy to potentially attract more tourists.

Regional Labour leaders such as London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham have been calling for the measure.

However, the hospitality industry condemned the move as “damaging”.

The visitor levy will bring England in line with Scotland and Wales, which are already introducing tourist taxes.

Officials said it would bring English cities into line with other tourist destinations around the world, including New York, Paris and Milan, which already charge a tourist tax.

They said research showed “reasonable” fees had a “minimal” impact on visitor numbers.

Sir Sadiq said it is “great news for London” and said the tax will “directly support London’s economy and help cement our reputation as a global tourism and business destination”.

The Greater London Authority previously estimated a £1 a day levy could raise £91m, and a 5% levy could raise £240m.

Mr Burnham said the tax will allow Greater Manchester to “invest in the infrastructure these visitors need, like keeping our streets clean and enhancing our public transport system through later running buses and trams, making sure every experience is a positive and memorable one”.

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However, Lord Houchen, the Conservative Tees Valley mayor, said he will not introduce a tourist tax, adding: “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Conservative shadow local government secretary Sir James Cleverly branded it “yet another Labour tax on British holidays, pushing up costs for hard-pressed families, and yet another kick to British hospitality”.

Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, warned the “damaging holiday tax” could cost the public up to £518 million, adding: “Make no mistake – this cost will be passed directly on to consumers, drive inflation and undermine the government’s aim to reduce the cost of living.”

The plans will be subject to a consultation running until 18 February, which will include considering whether there should be a cap on the amount.

A man has been arrested in connection with the large-scale illegal tipping of waste in Oxfordshire, police have said.

The 39-year-old, from the Guildford area, was arrested on Tuesday following co-operation between the Environment Agency (EA) and the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit.

Last week, the EA declared the 40ft-high mountain of waste near Kidlington a “critical incident”.

Anna Burns, the Environment Agency’s area director for the Thames, said that the “appalling illegal waste dump… has rightly provoked outrage over the potential consequences for the community and environment”.

“We have been working round the clock with the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit to bring the perpetrators to justice and make them pay for this offence,” she added.

“Our investigative efforts have secured an arrest today, which will be the first step in delivering justice for residents and punishing those responsible.”

Phil Davies, head of the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, added that the EA “is working closely with other law enforcement partners to identify and hold those responsible for the horrendous illegal dumping of waste”.

He then said: “A number of active lines of investigation are being pursued by specialist officers.”

Sky News drone footage captured the sheer scale of the rubbish pile, which is thought to weigh hundreds of tonnes and comprise multiple lorry loads of waste.

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The EA said that officers attended the site on 2 July after the first report of waste tipping, and that a cease-and-desist letter was issued to prevent illegal activity.

After continued activity, the agency added that a court order was granted on 23 October. No further tipping has taken place at the site since.

Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has been cleared of harassment against a trans activist but guilty of criminal damage to their phone.

The 57-year-old comedy writer, who had faced trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, denied both charges linked to posts made on social media and a confrontation at a conference in London in October 2024.

Summarising her judgment, District Judge Briony Clarke started by saying it was not for the court to pick sides in the debate about sex and gender identity.

She said she found Linehan was a “generally credible witness” and appeared to be “genuinely frank and honest”, and that she was not satisfied his conduct amounted to the criminal standard of harassment.

The judge said she accepted some of complainant Sophia Brooks’s evidence, but found they were not “entirely truthful” and not “as alarmed or distressed” as they had portrayed themself to be following tweets posted by the comedy writer.

While Linehan’s comments were “deeply unpleasant, insulting and even unnecessary”, they were not “oppressive or unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating”, the judge said, and did not “cross the boundary from the regrettable to the unacceptable”.

However, she did find him guilty of criminal damage, for throwing Brooks’s phone. Having seen footage of the incident, the judge said she found he took the phone because he was “angry and fed up”, and that she was “satisfied he was not using reasonable force”.

The judge said she was “not sure to the criminal standard” that Linehan had demonstrated hostility based on the complainant being transgender, and therefore this did not aggravate his offence.

He was ordered to pay a fine of £500, court costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200. The prosecution had asked the judge to consider a restraining order, but she said she did not feel this was necessary.

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The writer, known for shows including Father Ted, The IT Crowd and Black Books, had flown to the UK from Arizona, where he now lives, to appear in court in person.

He denied harassing Brooks on social media between 11 and 27 October last year, as well as a charge of criminal damage of their mobile phone on 19 October outside the Battle of Ideas conference in Westminster.

The trial heard Brooks, who was 17 at the time, had begun taking photographs of delegates at the event during a speech by Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at Sex Matters.

Giving evidence during the case, Linehan claimed his “life was made hell” by trans activists and accused Brooks, a trans woman, of being a “young soldier in the trans activist army”.

He told the court he was “angry” and “threw the phone” after being filmed outside the venue by the complainant, who had asked: “Why do you think it is acceptable to call teenagers domestic terrorists?”

Brooks told the court Linehan had called them a “sissy porn-watching scumbag”, a “groomer” and a “disgusting incel”, to which the complainant had responded: “You’re the incel, you’re divorced.”

The prosecution claimed Linehan’s social media posts were “repeated, abusive, unreasonable” while his lawyer accused the complainant of following “a course of conduct designed both to provoke and to harass Mr Linehan”.

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Following the judgment but ahead of sentencing, Linehan’s lawyer Sarah Vine KC said the court “would do well to take a conservative approach towards the reading of hostility towards the victim”.

She said the offence of criminal damage involved a “momentary lapse of control”, and was part of the “debate about gender identity, what it means”.

Vine said it was important “that those who are involved in the debate are allowed to use language that properly expresses their views without fear of excessive state interference for the expression of those views”.

She also said the cost of the case to Linehan had been “enormous”, telling the court: “The damage was minor; the process itself has been highly impactful on Mr Linehan.”

She requested he be given 28 days to pay the full amount.