’Outdated’ Prison To Close

Wellingborough Prison is to close by the end of the year with the loss of almost 600 prison places, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has announced.

Clarke said shutting the "outdated" Category C jail would save £10m a year.

It is thought staff at the Northamptonshire prison will move to other jails and compulsory redundancies are not expected.

Peter Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough, described the decision as "disgraceful".

Hotel Offers Cash Incentive To Guests On Rainy Days

A hotel owner in Bournemouth has resorted to paying guests £10 for every day it rains on their holiday.

Sarah Uzzell, owner of the Arlington Hotel, plans to run the offer in August after a drop in bookings following the wet start to the summer.

She said: "What I'm trying to do is persuade anyone who hasn't booked a holiday in August to take the plunge."

The hotel will pay out if the Met Office records more than 0.25mm daily rainfall at Bournemouth Airport.

During the first week of July, Bournemouth experienced more than twice as much rainfall as would be expected for the entire month.

MPs Call For Greater Promotion Of Countryside

An influential committee of MPs have said that more visits to the countryside and coast, better-maintained green spaces and more access to nature would improve the health of people in the UK.

They called for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to set a target for "increasing public engagement with nature", while the health and education departments must create new ways of measuring and reporting on the links between "greater public participation in activities in the natural environment and improved health and educational attainment".

Disadvantaged people tend to have less access to such activities, the MPs noted, which should also be improved.

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