Pressure is mounting on Punch Taverns after it emerged that almost one in five of its tenanted public houses is looking for a new licensee. Punch has 7,560 leased pubs in its estate, spread across the UK. But almost 1,400 of these, around 18 per cent of the portfolio, are looking for new tenants. Giles Thorley, chief executive of Punch, said there had been no recent deterioration in the number of pubs available and dismissed fears that there would be a problem finding new tenants. "There are plenty of people looking to get into pubs," he said. "We leased more than 800 pubs in the year to August and we did 100 in August alone." - Sunday Times
Giving children alcohol at an early age increases their risk of becoming drink-dependent at a later stage in life, according to new research. The claim challenges the long-held notion that introducing children to alcohol in small measures over time may prevent teenage binge drinking. The new study, by the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), suggests that parents may have got it wrong. It found that if young people have their first taste of alcohol before the age of 15, it sharply raises their risk of becoming alcohol dependent later in life. - Scotland on Sunday
David Huckvale, 42, who needed a £40,000 bionic leg to walk again, popped down to his local pub on the same day surgeon Alistair Gibson, who specialises in fitting the computer-controlled limb, was there for a pint. When the two happened to meet Mr Gibson mentioned he had a spare leg and could fit Mr Huckvale for free. Mr Huckvale had his leg amputated when he was 29 after a benign tumour was removed. - Sunday Telegraph