Colin Keatley, the owner of Camra's national pub of the year the Fat Cat in Norwich is to start brewing his own beer. Keatley has built a brewery at his new pub, the Shed, which reopens in three weeks time following an £80,000 refurbishment. The two beers to be brewed are Top Cat (3.8% abv) and Pussy Galore (4.6% abv).
Retailers set up Kebabwatch
Taking its lead from Pubwatch, Kebabwatch has been launched in Darwen, Lancashire. The scheme has been drawn up by fast-food retailers who plan to ban troublemakers from all outlets. Police hope the scheme will help reducelate-night violence.
Fears force pub to shut playground
The Vine Inn in Dunsley Road, Kniver, Staffordshire, has been forced to close its children's playground because of the rising threat of petty insurance claims. The pub has also had to shut its pet's corner, which featured goats and peacocks. The pub's owners blamed a minefield of health-and-safety legislation and rising insurance costs.
TUC backs EU plan to limit work time
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has supported calls from the European Parliament to scrap Britain's right to opt out of the Working Time Directive. The directive limits the working week to 48 hours. The TUC claims that people who regularly work more than 48 hours a week are more prone to suffer from heart disease, stress-related illness, diabetes and bowel cancer.
Church invokes the power of the pub
The Roman Catholic Church is advertising for new priests on beer mats. Numbers of priests working at Westminster, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in England, have fallen from 850 in 1990 to 600 this year. A further drop to 470 is predicted over the next decade.
Pubwatch aids ambulance service
Every ambulance in Buckinghamshire is to be fitted with a digital camera following the success of a pilot scheme in Aylesbury Vale funded by the local Pubwatch. The cameras are mainly used to take pictures of crash scenes which can assist doctors in treating patients. "I'm very pleased that a scheme funded by Aylesbury Pubwatch has been such a success," said National Pubwatch council member Steve Baker.