Every year, the third...

Every year, the third Thursday of November is a very special day for the inhabitants of the little French town of Beaujeu, just north of Lyon. At one minute past midnight, the Nouveau Beaujolais wine is released and the locals can start celebrating their year of labour by drinking the results of their endeavours. It’s a very French thing, but for the last 35 years it’s also been a very British thing. Not, I hasten to add, because we tend to have a rather average appreciation of what is or isn’t a good wine, but simply because back in 1972 Sunday Times journalist Alan Hall decided that it would make a good story to find out who could get a bottle of said plonk into his office the quickest.

A leading car rental...

A leading car rental firm has reported a drop in the number of its customers prosecuted for speeding – but the number of general road fines has rocketed. National Car Rental, which has 40,000 vehicles in the UK and forwards penalties to the hirer, says the number of traffic fines is twice as high as last year.