Marks and Spencer's enthusiastic embrace of green issues appears, in my opinion, to be little more than a marketing wheeze. Bournemouth Council has taken it hook line and sinker, putting M&S branded waste/recyclables bins across the town.
The Government has announced that it is to temporarily nationalise the stricken Northern Rock bank. Emergency legislation will be taken through the House of Commons tomorrow. Northern Rock shareholders will be offered compensation for their holding at a level set by a government-appointed panel. UK taxpayers are now subsidising the bank in loans and guarantees to other lenders to the tune of about £55bn. After nationalisation this will jump to £110bn, a cost of £3,500 per taxpayer. Ron Sandler, the former boss of the Lloyd's of London insurance market, will lead Northern Rock. The Tories today said that Alistair Darling has "no credibility" as Chancellor and should be sacked by Gordon Brown.
Kent Trading Standards wish to alert the public to a recent incidence of unsolicited telephone calls targeted at elderly residents across the County. The phone calls are from a security system company who use very hard sell tactics and lies in order to obtain an appointment at the consumer's home.
Several roads and pavements across the ward have been resurfaced, Coun Mike Lynch reports.
A US sheriff's deputy who dumped a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair has been charged with felony abuse. Charlette Marshall-Jones was booked at the same police station where the incident happened - in Tampa, Florida.
Scientists believe they are close to a significant breakthrough in the treatment of spinal injuries. The University of Cambridge team is developing a treatment which could potentially allow damaged nerve fibres to regenerate within the spinal cord.