'Licensee gets £1,000 smoking ban fine'

A pub licensee has been fined £1,000 for allowing customers to flout the smoking ban. Kathleen Hall, who runs the Welcome Inn in Grant Street, has pledged to organise a whip-round among customers to help her pay the hefty fine and costs of more than £500. She pleaded guilty but afterwards complained that many of her customers simply refuse to stub their cigarettes out when asked - Keighley News​

The West Midland Regional Alcohol Group has launched the Big Drink Debate to find out what can be done to improve the region's unhealthy relationship with booze. Key to the six-week debate is an on-line questionnaire which aims to find out how excessive drinking impacts on people's lives, health services and work - The Birmingham Post​

Polish vintners are to pioneer wine in the land of vodka. On the hills outside the Southern Polish City of Krakow, vintners are busy pressing grapes in the hope of proving that Poland, long a land of vodka, can produce wine too. The vintners are growing 20 different varieties of grapes including Bianca, Aurore, and Seyval blanc. Poland's climate has become milder in recent years making the production of wine possible, put the possibility of a sudden drop in temperature could pose a danger to the vines - AFP​

A drink-driver who dialled 999 because she had a flat tyre has ended up behind bars. Ruth Swan, of Caithness, called police early on Monday to say she had a flat but was found to be three times the drink-drive limit. She has now been banned from driving for two years and fined £600 - The Daily Record​