Daily Post

Lords' Anger at Waste of 26% of N W Water ; Theatre Star Confronts Protesters Over Jerry Springer Show Controversy 35 Gallons a Day Lost for Every Household

MERSEYSIDE'S water provider is condemned today for losing a staggering 26% of its supply to leaks - the second-worst record in the country. The amount of water lost from United Utilities' ageing pipes, equivalent to 35 gallons every day for every property, is described as "unacceptably high" by a House of Lords committee whose report is released today.

Murder Charge After Attack Victim Dies

A 19-YEAR-OLD man was last night charged with murder after an attack victim died. Stephen Tighe, 23, from Litherland, suffered a serious head injury when attacked by two men as he crossed Stanley Road in Bootle in the early hours of Saturday.

Doctor Warns of Sex Disease Danger

SPENDING cuts in the NHS could lead to more cases of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, in Cheshire and Merseyside, a leading consultant has warned. According to the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (Bashh), 64 GUM units across the UK have abandoned their plans to improve services because of lack of finance.

In Brief: Nhs Fined for Breaking It Contracts

SOME NHS trusts are being fined for breaking their contracts with suppliers behind the Government's controversial IT programme, it was claimed yesterday. Tory MP Richard Bacon, and the magazine Computer Weekly, said millions of pounds will have to be paid to release the NHS from its obligation to supply workers for the project.

In Brief: Brown's Recipe for Growth

CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown has urged business leaders to embrace globalisation as a force for jobs and growth. Addressing the Confederation of British Industry, he argued that new global competition presented opportunities for "prosperity through innovation and change".

In Brief: Benefit Threat

In Brief: Shares Inquiry

In Brief: Oil Price Fear

End of an Era for Punch As Museum Closes Doors

FOR 150 years, the Codman family's Punch and Judy show has thrilled Liverpool audiences and survived great changes in the city. Now it's the end of another era for the present Professor Ronald Richard Codman after the closure of the Liverpool Life Museum where he has played for 13 years.

Lies of 'Blind Date' Doctor

A HOSPITAL doctor who changed his name by deed pool to James Bond falsely claimed he was a contestant on TV show Blind Date and claimed film producers were considering making a movie about his life, a medical tribunal heard yesterday. Dr Sushant Varma, 34, lied to hospital officials, claiming he was the victim of "institutional racism" and conned his university lecturer into signing a form allowing him to resit a medical exam, the General Medical Council was told.

Boy with Three Arms

DOCTORS in Shanghai plan to operate today on a boy born with an unusually well-formed third arm. Neither of the boy's two left arms is fully functional, but tests have determined that the one growing closer to his chest was less developed and will be removed, said Dr Chen Bochang, head of the or thopaedics department Shanghai Children's Medical Centre where the boy, identified only as " Jie-jie," is being treated.

New Alder Hey 'Will Be Built to Pounds 350m Budget'

THE pounds 350m reconstruction of Alder Hey Children's Hospital will come in on budget, health chiefs have pledged. The scheme to replace Alder Hey's ageing premises over the next few years is part of a pounds 1bn plan - also including the pounds 500m reconstruction of the Royal LiverpoolHospital -to transform health care in Merseyside.

City 'Centre of Sex Slave Trade'

HOME Secretary John Reid is to be quizzed on evidence that Liverpool is the UK centre of the international child sex and slave trade. Merseyside MPs want a full probe into allegations that traffickers are switching their operations from London to their region.

Shooting Mystery

A MANCHESTER teenager shot five times by a gunman who targeted him in the street has told police he does not know why he was attacked. The boy, aged 15, was shot along with his 13-year-old friend by a masked gunman in Ardwick, on Saturday night.

In Brief: Cheats Force Exam to Be Replaced

HUNDREDS of A-Level students had to sit a replacement exam yesterday after some teenagers attempted to cheat by reading the question papers in advance. The AQA board launched an investigation and warned the would-be cheats that they face disqualification from their exams.

In Brief: 'Open Road' Olympics

In Brief: Celebration

In Brief: Nhs 'Lottery'

HEALTH chiefs must end a "lottery" in prostate cancer treatment, charities demanded yesterday. They claimed Brachytherapy, a type of radiotherapy, is available to patients in England and Scotland but not in Wales because the NHS will not pay for it.

In Brief: Energy Call

300 Tutors Face Losing Jobs in Pounds 1.5m Education Cuts

MORE than 300 tutors are facing the prospect of losing their jobs after a pounds 1.5m cut to Liverpool's adult education budget. The council will this morning issue formal notices to higher education unions and the Government that more than half the city's 470 adult tutors are at risk of compulsory redundancy.