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British workers have revealed the top 50 ways they secretly slack off - including 'tactical' toilet breaks, booking meeting rooms for a gossip, and taking compassionate leave for fictional funerals. As millions reluctantly return to their desks after the festive break, researchers have uncovered the many ways people cheat the system and get extra time off. Booking out the boardroom for a power nap, doodling under the pretence of serious note-taking and creating fictional meetings off-site are other ways Brits...

Trade Minister Greg Hands was unable to name a single country that had expressed interest in a post-Brexit trade deal in response to a parliamentary question. With the second set of negotiations set to accelerate in 2018, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox will be stepping up efforts to find trade deals the UK can sign after Brexit in 2019. But when challenged by Labour MP Stella Creasy over which foreign governments were queuing up to trade with the UK, his department...

A former Royal Marine and UKIP county councillor will appear in court this morning (mon) charged with the murder of his wife. Stephen Searle, 64, is accused of killing 62-year-old wife Anne who died at their £400,000 family home in Stowmarket, Suffolk, on Saturday night. Emergency services were called to the scene at around 10.20pm, but the grandmother was pronounced dead by paramedics shortly after they arrived. Anne Searle, 62 who was found dead at her home in Stowmarket, Suffolk....

West Mercia Police Superintendent Kevin Purcell said officers will try to avoid holding child suspects in custody and instead interview them at home. He said putting young offenders in police cells is "counter-productive", but admitted the new approach "may seem soft". He said: "Over the last few years a lot of work has been done nationally on the way we have treated children when they are in the criminal justice system. "This is really important because these children are often...

Stressed NHS staff are being offered free yoga and pilates classes in a bid to stop them taking days off sick. Ikea-style arrows will also be painted on the floor of a hospital to encourage staff to take regular walks instead of sitting down on their breaks. Medics will be offered exercise in a bid to lower stress levels - after each employee took an average of 15 sickies a year at one hospital trust. More than 220 employees have...

This evening’s fire that spread quickly across a 20-storey apartment block in central Manchester has been brought under control by Manchester firefighters who have been praised for their rapid response. The building was evacuated with a 23-year old taken to hospital for checks for smoke inhalation. https://twitter.com/manchesterfire/status/947222824795688960 Manchester fire brigade said that the blaze spread rapidly across three floors via wooden balconies. Twelve fire crews fought to control the blaze on the ninth floor of the high rise building in Joiner...

UPDATE: The fire us still being tackled by firefighters with one casualty taken to hospital for smoke inhalation. It appears to be under control. https://twitter.com/manchesterfire/status/947161047324078080 https://twitter.com/MotherLeopard92/status/947159526104584192 Breaking News: Reports are emerging of a rapidly spreading fire in an apartment block in the Northern Quarter of  Manchester city centre this evening. Images and video footage of the scene show flames pouring from a building. Church Street has been sealed off eastbound between High Street and Tib Street's junction with Dale Street....

A fifth man has been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged Christmas terror plot. The 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism last night (Friday) at 11pm. Following his detention counter terrorism police have swooped on a residential address and a business the Fir Vale and Firth Park areas of Sheffield, South Yorks. Both addresses are currently being searched. The fifth arrest comes after...

An A & E department in Cornwall is at “breaking point” as the number of patients waiting over four hours and number of ambulances queuing outside has increased beyond manageable levels, reports Cornwall Live. It comes after an extremely busy night on Wednesday with reports of ambulances queuing outside the emergency department. A patient called Billy Billy got in touch with Pirate FM, the local radio station, saying: "I'm currently sat waiting with my sick mother in an ambulance outside the...