url helper not loading

[eluser]richzilla[/eluser]
Has anybody else had this problem? the url helper seems not to be loading, ive autoloaded it however on the first call to the

Code:

base_url()

function, the message i get is about an undefiend constant:

Code:

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Notice

Message: Use of undefined constant base_url - assumed 'base_url'

Filename: global/header.php

Line Number: 10

base_urlassets/css/reset.css" />

As far as i can see, ive loaded everything as i normally do, yet it seems not to like the url helper. The rest of my code:

View:

Code:

<div class="container_12">
    <div class="grid_12">
        <img src="" alt="logo" />
        <h1>Hello</h1>
    </div>
    <div class="grid_2 nav">
        <a href="&lt;?php echo base_url(); ?&gt;index.php/hs" id="hs"><span>Health And Safety</span></a>
    </div>
    <div class="grid_2 nav">
        <a href="&lt;?php echo base_url(); ?&gt;index.php/elas" id="elas"><span>Employment Law Advisory Service</span></a>
    </div>

and the line from the autoload file:

Code:

$autoload['helper'] = array('date','url','file','typography');

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers