'Morning-after drink driving rises'

Four in 10 drivers are getting behind the wheel the morning after a night of excessive drinking, a survey showed today. Road safety charity Brake said the proportion had increased to 38 per cent from 28 per cent in a similar poll seven years ago - Scotsman ​

Drunken revellers will be turned away from pubs and bars this festive season in an attempt to cut crime, violence and antisocial behaviour. Bar staff at 25 nightspots will wear badges to warn drunks they will not be served in the run-up to Christmas. The 'We Serve Drinks Not Drunks' campaign is taking place in towns and villages across west Oxfordshire - Oxford Mail ​

The National Lottery has donated £10m to help fight alcohol abuse in Northern Ireland. The funding will be used to boost the Impact of Alcohol Programme, which aims to help individuals and their families overcome their issues - BBC​

Retailers are planning to smuggle inflation-busting prices rises into their stores to coincide with the rise in VAT to 20%, according to a study out today. Almost 60% of retailers and consumer goods makers said they would take advantage of the 2.5 percentage point VAT rise on 4 January to impose even higher prices. Among the wider business community, 40% of firms intend to raise prices by more than 2.5% next month, according to new research from the consultancy KPMG - The Guardian ​

A white Christmas 'is more or less a foregone conclusion', forecasters say. Bitterly cold winds from the ­Arctic will almost certainly bring a blanket of snow to Scotland, the North, London and the South-east on December 25. And the second Big Freeze of this winter, due to start this week, is likely to last for as long as a month, putting the country on course for a winter which could be even colder than the notoriously treacherous 1962-63 - Daily Mail ​