Three brothers are to pocket a £6m (€8.9m) windfall after selling a controlling stake in their upmarket French café chain to Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson.

A portrait by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec sold for £12.6m (€18.5m) today at a Christie’s sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings and sculptures, the highest auction price ever paid for a work by the artist.

TONY MARTIN is praying for a dry spring to improve the chances of Davids Lad fulfilling an ambitious spring campaign.