Trafford council has broken ranks to criticise plans to ban bargain booze. Its leader says the by-law being considered by the 10 Manchester councils - designed to create a minimum 50p per unit price on alcohol - will not work. Councillor Matt Colledge believes people will simply leave the area to buy cheap alcohol, so a price restriction could only work if it was introduced nationally. "I recognise the need to tackle the harm that excess alcohol consumption causes but frankly these proposals, if introduced at a local level, would be unworkable," said Colledge - Manchester Evening News
Binge drinkers are at twice the risk of a heart attack as those who consume the same amount but spread over the week, research has shown. A study has compared drinkers in Belfast and several regions in France where consumption of alcohol is the same but patterns of drinking vary - Daily Telegraph
An abandoned east Kent village pub is celebrating its first year back in business with its own brew of bitter. The Farriers Arms in Mersham, near Ashford, reopened in November 2009 after it was bought collectively by a group of villagers in April 2009. It is now owned by 121 local shareholders and is making a profit. The pub's bitter is brewed in what used to be the village forge. It is called Farriers 1606, named after the year the pub first opened. Farriers 1606 is made from local east Kent hops. Everyone working at the micro-brewery is a volunteer - BBC