What the Sunday papers said

Smoking will be banned outright in pubs and bars under new government proposals. Ministers have ditched plans to exempt pubs that do not serve food and are preparing to allow pubs to have segregated 'smoking rooms'. - Independent On Sunday​

The government is set for a major U-turn on it's policy over smoking in pubs, following the Prime Minister's tacit approval of Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt's calls to overturn the current 'food-led' ban proposal, which is deemed unworkable by both health groups and the licensing industry. The 'smoking carriage' option - separate smoking rooms - is one avenue the government might pursue. - Observer​

The government is planning an outright smoking ban in pubs after the hospitality industry abandoned its opposition to the plan. Groups representing the pub and brewing sectors appear to be reconciled to a full ban and are now lobbying over how, not if, this is to be introduced. - Sunday Times​

A pub in the tiny Yorkshire village of Thornton-le-Moor has had its application to extend its hours rejected after objections from the top cop in the area, North Yorkshire Chief Constable Della Cummings, who lives next door. The Black Swan had sought to stay open until 1am, but after giving a talk at a local village meeting - where she said the pub was the centre of community life - Mrs Cannings objected on learning it planned to stay open later. - Mail On Sunday​

Prosecutions for under-age drinking have soared under Labour, fuelling charges that binge drinking is out of control. Official figures show the number of pub owners and off-licences taken to court for selling alcohol to under-18s has more than quadrupled in nine years. - Sunday Express​

The Conservative Party is to force another Commons vote on the Licensing Act in the next few weeks by invoking a procedure known as 'praying against a statutory instrument'. Tory culture spokeswoman Theresa May said this was the final opportunity to force the government to "see sense and abandon its plans" for 24-hour licensing. - Sunday Times​

The British public is set to spend a record £28bn eating out this year as the demand for pub food rockets. Research by Mintel and released by soft drinks giant Britvic shows such spending has risen 25 per cent since 2000, with pubs accounting for £6.4bn of the total, a 30 per cent rise since last year. Restricting alcohol promotions were helping boost the popularity of pubs as eating-out destinations, the study said. - Independent On Sunday​

Record company tycoon and airline owner Richard Branson is joining the list of suitors looking to break up Whitbread. Executives from Branson's Virgin group have been looking at Whitbread's David Lloyd leisure division. - The Business​

Ex-Pizza Express entrepreneurs David Page and Paul Campbell have emerged as potential buyers of Whitbread's David Lloyd leisure business. Sources close to the pair said they were prepared to do a reverse takeover of the health and fitness chain via the Aim-listed Clerkenwell Ventures they set up last year and which has an army of rich backers willing and able to fund the possible £700m deal. - Sunday Express​

PepsiCo and French food manufacturer Danone have pulled out of the £1.1bn auction of the European soft drinks business of Cadbury Schweppes after failing to tie up a joint venture with a private equity partner. Neither submitted offers in the first round of bids, meaning the auction will be dominated by private equity houses. - Sunday Express​

The Premier League is threatening to drag Ofcom, the media regulator, into its row with the European Commission over football television rights. The EC has demanded that no one broadcaster has a monopoly over broadcasting matches, as BSkyB currently has, when the bidding auction for the three year contract begins next spring. The League argues this interference is anti-competitive. - Independent On Sunday​

The Premier League is ready to settle its argument with the European Commission over football television rights in a move that could let ITV, NTL or Setanta become BSkyB's first serious rival as a sports broadcaster. The EC's Competition Directorate has dropped its insistence that Sky be restricted to showing no more than half the love matches under the League's new contract covering 2007-10. The League meanwhile will increase the number of games a rival to Sky can buy. Until now it has allowed only 23 of the 138 games to be shown on rival broadcasters, a figure deemed not worth bidding for. - Observer​

And finally...

Two senior police officers missed the start of a crucial anti-terrorist security briefing at the recent Labour conference because they had been drinking in a local pub. The pair were carpeted for arriving 20 minutes late after drinking at a JD Wetherpsoon pub near the Conference Centre on Brighton's sea front. - Mail On Sunday​