Illicit 'smoke-ins' grow in popularity as winter looms

Illegal smoking sessions - similar to booze lock-ins when England had the most restrictive drinking laws in Europe - are increasing as the autumn weather arrives following the July 1 smoking ban. One landlord of a remote country pub in Suffolk said defiantly: "I am a smoker and a lot of my regulars are smokers so during normal hours we are forced to stand outside. "But I am not going to send them out on cold dark nights for a fag. "So just as we used to have lock-ins for a late drink, I am now doing them for a late smoke." The most defiant landlords are in Yorkshire, where five per cent of licensees have refused to impose the ban despite the threat of court action and big fines. - Sunday People​

Undercover police officers are to be sent into pubs and clubs to catch staff who serve drunks, controversial plans being studied by the Home Office reveal. The plan, which could be rolled out as early as November and extend to the Christmas period, has been seen as a response to mounting public concern about alcohol-related violence. - Observer​

Crescent House in London's Notting Hill is all born-again conversion and no pub. On the whole, I'm keen on pubs improving their kitchens. It's the way of filling in the middle ground of restaurants that are better than takeaway chains and not as expensive as table cloth and five-sorts-of-bread places. What doesn't work is when they convert a nice old boozer into some sort of Brazilian finger-snapping, snobby greenroom for the socially aspirational and sexually famished. - AA Gill writing in the Sunday Times​

Exclusive shots—taken from a video of Prince Harry's holiday in Namibia—will bring fresh shame on the boozed-up royal. In the video, pals cheer loudly as Harry slugs a bottle cap of vodka, swills it around his mouth, spits it back into the cap and then snorts it up his nose. Seconds later, Harry—a 2nd Lieutenant in the Blue and Royals—closes his eyes and shakes his head as the alcohol, shooting straight into his bloodstream, takes effect. Experts on drink abuse have warned that the game is potentially deadly. - News Of The World​

Five police officers were injured when they were called to a mass brawl in a packed bar. One was headbutted and the others suffered cuts, bruises and scratches during the riot at a pub. Five men were arrested - two for affray, two for being drunk and disorderly and one for obstructing a police officer. Police were called to the Martha's Vineyard bar in Hebburn, South Tyneside, in the early hours yesterday following reports from several people of a "large disturbance". - Sunday Mirror​