'Pubs in soft drink 'rip-offs' with £2.60 a pint cola'

Pubs in soft drink 'rip-offs' with £2.60 a pint cola. Pubs are ripping off customers by charging up to £2.60 a pint for non-alcoholic drinks. Analysts calculate the average cost of soft drinks such as Coke and Pepsi, often sold in half pints in pubs, is £2.59 a pint - compared to 79p in supermarkets. Some 63% of us resent paying high prices to cover costs and many may abandon pubs for cafes, a poll of 1,000 people by Mintel shows. A spokesman said: "No one likes to be ripped off" - The Mirror​

Scotland's oldest wine firm has collapsed after two centuries of trading to some of the nation's most famous figures. Cockburn's of Leith, which famously sold Sir Walter Scott 4,200 bottles of wine and 430 bottles of spirits in one visit alone, has gone into administration - The Times​

Smokers could be pushed further out into the cold under new government plans to extend the cigarette ban outdoors to include entrances to workplaces, bus shelters and pub beer gardens. Andy Burnham, the health secretary, will review the current law to see if it should be strengthened to include areas where smokers have gathered since the 2007 ban - The Telegraph ​

If you're reading this at home, you're not alone - because today has been dubbed National Sickie Day. The first Monday in February is traditionally the top day of the year for unofficial time off work. It is feared up to 350,000 workers could fail to turn up thanks to a sudden bout of "flu" or a mystery "headache". And experts estimate just the one day off could cost industry more than £30million - The Mirror​

An amazing telly revolution kicked off yesterday - football screened in 3D. Fans who packed nine pubs for the ground-breaking trial were gobsmacked by the coverage. And viewers across the country will be donning special specs too when Sky HD beams the cutting-edge pictures nationwide from April - The Sun ​

Britain is braced for more snowfall today as forecasters predict a return to the arctic conditions which brought chaos to the UK in January. Up to 2inches (5cm) could settle in northern Scotland and in northern and western Wales, with lighter snow showers expected in Merseyside, Shropshire and Derbyshire - Daily Mail​