The businesses that go bust – only to re-emerge under a different name with no debts. There are now calls for tighter regulations around so-called ‘phoenixing’ where companies rise from the ashes of collapsed businesses leaving employees and creditors with huge debts of their own. The practise also costs local authorities and HMRC billions. 5 Live Investigates hears the stories of those who’ve been left out of pocket and from those who want unscrupulous directors outlawed for good. Also,...

The men who sexually harass women by watching pornography on public transport and other public places. It's been described as a new form of sexual harassment and there have been calls this week for it to be made a criminal offence. 5 live Investigates hears from the women who've been subjected to this behaviour and asks why bus and train companies aren't doing more to block pornography being downloaded via their WiFi networks. The programme also reports on a big rise in the number of hit and...

Holly Smallman has a series of complex life-limiting conditions. Yet the 16-year-old is among thousands of babies, children and young people who are likely to die young but can't access the care and support they need, according to a report by the All-Parliamentary Group for Children Who Need Palliative Care. They say the Government is failing in its end of life care choice commitment to provide adequate support which represents ‘a wholly unjustified health inequality. Holly's mum Hayley tells...

The online fundraising platforms designed to raise money for good causes – but targeted by fraudsters. Online giving has transformed the way we help the charities we care about - more than £2 billion is raised every year on websites and social media. But 5 live Investigates hears from some of the people who’ve fallen victim to scams including the family of a six year old girl who died from leukaemia. Fraudsters set up a fake fundraising page after her death. There are also calls for a cap on...

E-cigarettes and vaping liquids are being sold to children online and on the high street, 5 live Investigates has discovered. Trading Standards is investigating after researchers on the programme bought prohibited products online. A 16 year old girl was also able to buy vaping products from one in three shops in Camden, London. The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations of 2016 forbid the sale of e-cigarette nicotine products to under-18's. Studies have suggested that young people who vape...

Fraudsters scammed nearly 49000 older people in the UK last year - equivalent to six victims every hour of the day across the UK, 5 Live Investigates has discovered. The figure has almost doubled in three years, but one expert says the true number of victims was likely to be in the millions. 5 live Investigates asked Action Fraud, the UK police's cyber crime reporting centre, for a breakdown of the five most common types of frauds affecting older people. During 2017/18, advanced fee frauds,...

Staff shortages in pathology labs mean patients are facing worrying delays in diagnosis and treatment, according to the Royal College of Pathologists (RCP). 5 live Investigates has been told just three per cent of histopathology departments across the UK have enough staff to meet clinical demand. The programme hears from patients who have faced an agonising wait for test results. The RCP says staff shortages are costing the NHS £27m every year.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Gambling Commission are investigating after 5 live Investigates revealed professional football clubs have included links to gambling websites on junior web pages. Programme researchers discovered 15 clubs in the Premier League, the Championship, League One and the Scottish Professional Football League were in breach of ASA guidelines. Some of the clubs involved have since removed the links. Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield described the...

Whether you're buying a house or a hairdryer, the chances are you'll have looked at an online review site to work out what you're likely to get for your money. The government's Competition and Markets Authority estimates that every year £23 billion of UK consumer spending is influenced by online reviews. But can they all be trusted? 5 live Investigates reveals how easy it is to buy fake five star reviews on one of the world's biggest online platforms and how people are still being paid to...

5Live Investigates examines the routine care people with dementia receive when in an acute hospital. Previously unseen research which was commissioned by the NHS's National Institute for Health Research paints a desperate picture of life on our hospital wards, including a "culture of restraint and containment" in response to resisting care, as well as staff burnout and dehumanisation of patients. The Department of Health says it aims to make England the best place in the world to live with...

Senior fire officers are warning of potential safety risks as more and more people let out their houses to tourists through Airbnb and other short term letting websites. The National Fire Chiefs Council says fire and rescue services are not aware of how many short term rental properties are operating in their areas, making it hard for them to assess possible risks. It says some of these properties are being used in effect as small hotels, but if fire officers don't know where places are they...

Thousands of victims of economic and physical abuse are unable to get emergency court orders preventing their abuser from causing them harm because they don't qualify for free legal aid. 5 live Investigates has been given figures by the National Centre for Domestic Violence which reveal that more than 6,000 victims referred to them by the police were unable to access free legal representation. Applicants are means tested and in many cases told they have to make a financial contribution to the...

The human cost of Britain's crumbling roads. 5 live Investigates hears from the victims and families of those who've been killed in accidents involving potholes. The programme has learned local authorities have had to pay-out £38 million pounds in compensation over the last five years - but that's significantly less than the £9 billion pounds some say it will cost to bring our roads up to scratch. Most of the compensation goes to motorists who've suffered damage to their vehicles. But the...

Charities could have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations after 750 clothing banks were removed from car parks. Recycling companies and charities which operates the banks says up to 20 a week have gone missing in the last 12 months. The Textile Recycling Association says some of the banks have been resprayed and branded with a different charity logo and placed at sites without permission. The Charity Commission has launched an investigation into one charity. There are around 15...

It's estimated that 1.8 million disabled people are struggling to find accessible housing in the UK. 5 live Investigates has seen research which reveals the average wait in England could be more than 12 years -and that's if nobody else joins the waiting list. The programme hears from Paul Perry - a 26-year-old man who's been trapped in hospital for 18 months. And a man in his 50's with spinal injuries who says he's a prisoner in his own bedroom in an old people's home which isn't equipped to...

Scores of charity shop workers have been investigated for sexually inappropriate behaviour in the workplace in the last 12 months, according to figures obtained by 5 live Investigates. The programme has also learned that convicted paedophiles have been allowed to work in shops because DBS checks haven't been done. The CEO of the organisation Whistleblowers UK says the charity industry is a magnet for people who are predatory. 'The charities sector...is seen as a nice place to be -lots of...

5 live Investigates is in the London borough of Newham - dubbed the acid attack capital of Britain. Shopkeepers there have signed up to a voluntary code of practise banning the sale of corrosive substances to under 21's - but are they as good as their word? The programme follows a 14-year-old as she attempts to buy corrosive liquids from stores in the area. Newham mayor Sir Robin Wales and local Labour MP Stephen Timms have called on the government to crackdown on sales. The programme also...

The shortfall of new affordable homes in England will soon be equivalent to a city the size of Leeds according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. They tell 5 live Investigates that supply has fallen short of demand by 30,000 every year since 2011 and the cumulative shortfall could reach 335,000 by the end of this parliament. The government says it's investing £9bn in the sector. Married parents of three Dawn and Adrian, from Milton Keynes, tell 5 live Investigates their family's health has...

Skin creams containing paraffin could be responsible for 'hundreds' of fire deaths across the UK according to fire chiefs. 5 live Investigates revealed last year that 37 deaths had been linked to the creams since 2010. But the programme has learned there have been a further eight deaths - and leading firefighters warn that figure could be much higher because fire and rescue services don't always record the fact that skin creams were involved. Following 5 live's investigation, the Medicines...

An investigation into online-only estate agents and whether their cut price, up-front fees really do offer value for money. The online-only property business has gone from strength to strength since it emerged just a few years ago and it's now threatening the very survival of traditional agents on the high street. But are sales exaggerated and is advertising misleading? 5 Live Investigates hears from the companies and their customers about how this expanding sector of the market is...

Maria Miller MP says we should consider using hate crime laws to tackle sexual harassment. She has launched an inquiry into 'routine' sexual harassment of women on buses, trains, in the street and in bars and clubs. Victims of sexual harassment share their experiences with 5 live Investigates. The programme also hears from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission whose survey into sexual harassment reveals only half of sexual harassment victims actually report it to their employers. Even...

A million rented properties in England have hazards that put tenants' health and safety at risk. The government says it's backing a change in the law - giving greater powers to take bad landlords to court. 5 live Investigates has been told one in ten people who rent their homes have reported health and safety concerns in the last 12 months. According to a survey by YouGov for the housing charity Shelter, one in ten have also suffered health problems as a direct result of the environment they...

Stalking is a devastating crime suffered by more than a million people a year. New figures obtained by 5Live Investigates reveal that men are the hidden victims. Are the police letting them down? The latest figures estimate that nearly half a million men have been stalked but only a tiny fraction of those incidents were recorded by the police. A Freedom of Information request by 5Live Investigates reveals that just 1800 crimes of stalking in which the victims were men were recorded over the...

The betting industry watchdog the Gambling Commission has launched an inquiry into a self-exclusion scheme designed to help problem gamblers. It follows an undercover investigation by 5 live Investigates. The programme's reporter signed up to the Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Scheme (MOSES) and got himself barred from 21 betting shops in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. He submitted his details and a photograph of himself to the scheme which were then distributed to the 21 shops he asked to be excluded...

Adrian Goldberg hears calls from teachers to ban high-caffeine energy drinks from schools - with one teaching union describing them as 'readily available legal highs'. Despite the cans carrying warnings that they are not suitable for children, figures suggest more than two thirds of 10 to 18-year-olds are drinking them once a week or more, at levels considered unsafe by the government. We speak to researchers who say under-16s are being influenced by the huge marketing budgets behind the...