A sharper than expected rise in inflation to 3.1% and the subsequent expectation of an interest rate hike in May has sent shockwaves through the London market.

UP to £40 million was stolen from a security depot yesterday in the biggest cash heist in British history.

Tests confirmed H5N1 in three birds found dead in Hungary, making the country the seventh EU nation with an outbreak of the deadly strain of bird flu, officials said today.