What the papers say - July 19, 2007

The number of alcohol-related visits to hospital has trebled since the introduction of 24-hour licensing laws, a study suggests. The study, led by Alastair Newton, at St Thomas' Hospital in Central London, was based on night visits to its A&E department before and after the change - The Times, Financial Times, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Express​

New drivers should be subject to a zero alcohol limit for 12 months after passing their test, MPs said yesterday. They should also be prohibited from carrying young people as passengers late at night. In addition, the Commons Transport Select Committee said, the driving age should be raised to 18 and there should be a minimum learning period of a year to reduce the number of serious crashes caused by inexperienced young drivers - The Times, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, Guardian​

The Food and Drink Group, the restaurant and wine bar operator, reported a 5.5 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the first 41 weeks of the year and announced plans to raise £1.5 million via a share placing to fund refurbishments - The Times​

JD Wetherspoon, the pub operator, reassured investors over the impact of the recent smoking ban with a resilient trading update on the back of strong food sales. - The Times​

Northern Foods has dismissed suggestions it was considering the sale of its Fox's biscuit business and said its biscuit sales had stabilised in cash terms. The group, which also supplies chilled ready meals to supermarkets and frozen foods including Goodfella's pizzas, said it expected to offset higher commodity prices and other costs and achieve an improvement in its operating profit margin for the year - Financial Times, The Telegraph​