Sally Nugent 'pauses' BBC Breakfast as she shares 'emergency' update

BBC Breakfast presenters Sally Nugent and Ben Thompson had to suddenly interrupt the programme this week with a breaking news update.

As one sports segment concluded, Sally alerted viewers to "emergency measures" being implemented on the show, while massive capital letters displaying 'BREAKING' dominated the screen, reports the Express.

The interruption saw Sally adopting a more serious tone as she informed audiences: "Now, the government has activated emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding as more rioters are sentenced."

Ben then interjected: "Let's talk to our political correspondent Henry Zeffman who joins us now. Now what exactly do these measures involve?"

Via video link, Henry detailed: "Practically, what this means is that some people who are awaiting trial in a police cell will be kept in a police cell until prison space is available.

"It's highly unusual. It's an emergency measure, but it's an emergency measure that the government this morning is saying is necessary in parts of the country because prisons are so overcrowded. This action has been taken overnight in areas including the north east, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Lancaster, Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire."

Henry also suggested the development points to a "prison system in crisis", quoting Prisons Minister Lord Timpson as saying: "We inherited a justice system in crisis and exposed to shocks. As a result we have been forced into making difficult but necessary decisions to keep it operating."

Henry explained that it will be a "short-term measure" as Ben quizzed him: "Is there a danger here that the emergency measure puts strain on the rest of the system, that effectively it grinds to a halt if people can't be processed in the way they would normally