The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of ice for Nottinghamshire on Sunday.

The warning comes after heavy snow on Friday night, which has lead to travel disruption for drivers and bus services. 

But with sun expected for most of today, the ice could be mostly thawed by Monday. However, temperatures will be a chilly 2C. 

Monday is predicted to be much of the same, followed by a cloudy rest of the week. The chance of rain will be low.

Temperatures will creep up from 3C on Tuesday, to 5C on Wednesday and 10C on Thursday. 

The University of Nottingham wants to pump in £40 million to create a landmark sporting complex. Richard Baker is astonished the council has refused because of some oaks.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of history, particularly in an era dominated by technology that makes us think life is all about the next tweet.

So let's conclude 2014 by travelling back in time.

We'll wander across the temporal divide and land 468 years in the past. It is 1546, and we bump into a Tudor dramatist called John Heywood, who has just coined a phrase we might recognise: "Plentie is no deinte, ye see not your owne ease. I see, ye can not see the wood for trees."

It's one of those proverbs we wheel out when people are so lost in the detail they can't see the bigger picture.

Which seems an eerily appropriate way to describe what happened at the last planning committee meeting at Nottingham City Council.

This is a committee that has to make decisions about planning applications large and small. Its most recent meeting had to decide the fate of four absolute whoppers.

One was to unlock Nottingham's enterprise zone – a project that has the capacity to bring thousands of jobs and nearly 700 new homes to the city.

Another will see a brand new multi-storey building for the city's burgeoning bioscience industry, bringing with it 200 jobs.

There will be another 200 jobs in a retail and office development off Queen's Drive.

Last, and certainly not least, the University of Nottingham is pumping a whacking £40 million into the creation of what promises to be one of the biggest sporting developments seen in the region for years.

By any measure, this brand new Sports Village is a landmark project for Nottingham, one aimed at raising the city's sporting game on all sorts of levels, from encouraging more kids to get involved through to training the sporting elite and even hosting events.

So, the kind of centre-of-excellence the city can be proud of; to be mentioned alongside Trent Bridge, Nottingham Contemporary, the Castle, Wollaton Hall and others because, like them, it will attract visitors and make a difference to the world around us.

Except you won't. The members of the city council's planning committee didn't give it planning permission.

This was a surprise when you consider the scale of the project, the benefits it will bring to the community, and the risks involved in delaying it. So what on earth is wrong with it?

Well, nothing with the project itself. The problem is with some trees. Councillors voiced concerns about some oaks which have to be felled to make way for this game-changing development. On that basis, they declined to grant planning permission this time round.

So, it'll be back before the committee again. Perhaps with more information about trees. And perhaps with a reference to a phrase first uttered before those trees were planted.

Corey Neilson revealed stern words with Chris Lawrence helped get the best out of the Nottingham Panthers centre as he delivered massively in the dramatic Christmas wins over Sheffield Steelers.

Lawrence scored an empty netter in the 4-0 success in Yorkshire on Boxing Day before following that up with two goals in the 3-2 home victory a day later, including the winner 38 seconds into overtime to take his tally to 17 for the season.

Head coach Neilson said: "That kid is sensational, the stuff he can do with the puck – he's got the hands and is the complete package.

"Over the last few weeks he's put it together. We had a sit down with him and said 'you've got to be better, got to get into shape'.

"He's a kid who's a bit aloof but he's also a competitor. You see that if you get on the wrong side of him on the ice."

Neilson praised the work of all of his players against Elite League leaders Sheffield as they recovered brilliantly from three straight defeats and the loss of captain David Clarke through injury for the rest of the season.

The victories mean Panthers are still fifth, but only six points separate the top five and they have a game in hand on the Steelers.

"We got rewarded for hard work on Saturday. On Boxing Day we put the work in as well," he said. "We were disciplined and did good things. Sheffield came out with a different look in the second game. We had to adjust.

"It sounds like a chess match but you need your players to be dedicated to the system and they were awesome."

Panthers were beginning to look dead and buried with two minutes left at the National Ice Centre, trailing 2-1 having struggled to test Steelers netminder Frank Doyle in the third period.

But then defenceman Charles Landry scored a blistering equaliser with 83 seconds to go.

"I was planning for pulling the goalie. I was real close before the goal went in," said Neilson.

"You have to believe in what you have. Charles is a real competitor. The kid slashes people in practice and almost gets into a fight every day.

"He wants to win every scenario he's in and I love that about him. We have guys like that who feed off his energy."

Panthers were once again without goaltender Craig Kowalski and Clarke at the National Ice Centre.

There was a boost for the hosts with the sight of centre Bruce Graham on the ice despite having hobbled out at the Motorpoint Arena.

Graham's presence made little difference in the early going as Steelers raced into a two-goal lead.

A Panthers clearance around the boards only found an opposition defenceman in space and the puck was worked to Colton Fretter at the back post to beat man of the match Mattias Modig after 3.43.

Cody Wild could have drawn the hosts level straight after following good passing by Brandon Benedict, but Wild did not work Doyle.

Sheffield were more ruthless after 6.00 when Rob Dowd fired a fierce slapshot over Modig's glove and into the top corner to make it 2-0.

A scramble at the other end followed but a brilliant piece of defending kept Panthers at bay.

They were much improved in the second period as they halved the deficit after a bad break gifted Jeff Legue a breakaway on Modig, but he made a momentum changing save.

It was 2-1 after 25.55 when Mike Berube's shot was saved with the pads and Lawrence showed tremendous strength to hold off the defence and roof the loose puck.

Doyle then matched Modig with an equally important stop as Graham brought down a lob pass but was denied by a tremendous sprawling save.

Panthers needed a big push in the final period but for spells Sheffield looked the more likely to seal the points. Mathieu Roy deflected a shot just wide before Mike Forney failed to control a big chance in front and then Modig saved well from a Tyler Mosienko wraparound.

Panthers looked in desperate need of inspiration as the clock wound down and they found it from the unlikely source of Landry, who drilled in a fierce shot to wild celebrations.

A pressure cooker atmosphere followed as Panthers looked for the win.

Overtime bizarrely started as five v four but it mattered not as Lawrence smashed in his 17th of the season to stun the Steelers.

PANTHERS 3 STEELERS 2 (OT)

0-2, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0

Scorers

Panthers: Lawrence 2+0, Landry 1+0, Farmer 0+3, Lachowicz 0+1, Berube 0+1, Wild 0+1

Steelers: Fretter 1+0, Dowd 1+0, Roy 0+1, O'Connor 0+1, Hay 0+1, Legue 0+1

Shots on goal

Panthers: 9+11+7+1=28

Steelers: 13+12+9+0=34

Penalties

Panthers: 8+4+2=14

Steelers: 10+6+4=20

Attendance: 7,130

Motoring history was made in West Bridgford more than a century ago. Andy Smart tells the story.

The next time you're driving along Radcliffe Road in West Bridgford take a moment to remember that you are passing over a piece of history.

Because, strange as it may seem, Radcliffe Road was the first in the world to be covered with something we know today as tarmacadam.

The discovery of Tarmac was made by Edgar Hooley just after the turn of the 20th Century. Hooley, a Welshman from Swansea, was employed as the Nottinghamshire county surveyor at the time.

Popular belief credits a Scotsman named John McAdam with the invention but he can only be remembered for inventing a method of using crushed stones to create a solid road surface which worked perfectly well in the days of horse-drawn vehicles.

When motor cars came on the scene, placing heavier demands on road surfaces, the system fell apart.

Sharp, jagged stones caused many punctures; and in bad weather the surface broke up into an impassable quagmire of mud and ruts.

One day, so the story goes, Edgar Hooley was walking in Derbyshire when he noticed a smooth stretch of road close to an ironworks.

He asked locals what had happened and was told a barrel of tar had fallen from a dray and burst open. Someone had poured waste slag on to it from the nearby furnaces to cover up the mess.

Hooley noticed this unintentional resurfacing had solidified the road – there was no rutting and no dust.

That gave Hooley the idea and, for the next year, he worked on perfecting a process of heating tar, adding slag to the mix and then breaking stones within the mixture to form a smooth road surface.

Having patented the operation, Hooley began transforming road surfaces and Radcliffe Road became the first Tarmac road in the world. A five-mile stretch was given the Tarmac treatment and proved itself by being long-lasting, dust and mud-free.

In 1903, Edgar Purnell Hooley formed his company, Tar Macadam (Purnell Hooley's Patent) Syndicate Limited, and registered Tarmac as a trademark. In 1904 Hooley obtained a US patent for an apparatus for the preparation of tarmacadam, intended as an improvement to existing methods of preparing tarmacadam.

Hooley's invention was revolutionary – but he didn't have the business acumen to exploit it. He sold the company to Wolverhampton MP Sir Alfred Hickman, owner of a steelworks which produced large quantities of slag that could be used in Tarmac production.

He relaunched the Tarmac company in 1905 and it became an immediate success and remains a major company to this day.

Having given up his interest in Tarmac, Hooley concentrated on his other great passion, military service.

He had served with the 1st Nottinghamshire (Robin Hood) battalion, reaching the rank of captain before resigning his commission in 1902, presumably to concentrate on his Tarmac invention.

But in October 1914, he joined the 8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters with the rank of quartermaster and honorary captain.

After the end of the First World War, he continued to serve with the Territorial Force Reserve until he retired, retaining the rank of quartermaster and captain.

Hooley, father of two sons and two daughters, died at his home in Oxford in 1942. He was 81.

The University of Nottingham has developed a unique technology to allow a baby's heartbeat to be continually monitored during resuscitation.

About 80,000 babies born in the UK every year need some kind of resuscitation, and delays can increase the chance a baby may die or develop brain damage.

The best measure of the need for resuscitation, and how effective it is, is assessment of the newborn's heart rate.

This is performed every 30 seconds with a stethoscope, delaying the resuscitation. To help tackle the issue, the university has teamed up with Derby-based electronics specialist, Tioga, to develop the HeartLight sensor.

This uses a small optical sensor which is placed on the baby's head and shines a light on to the skin tissue. The sensor is able to detect each time a pulse occurs, allowing doctors and midwives to continue resuscitating the baby without the need for frequent pauses to check its heart rate.

MORE than 1,000 birds have flocked to a nature reserve in Nottinghamshire since it was expanded.

Skylarks Nature Reserve, near Holme Pierrepont, created three and a half hectares of wet grassland earlier this year and is already reaping the benefits.

In December, an estimated 1,000 lapwings were recorded at the site, owned by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

Bird numbers have been rising steadily since the work was completed, and 20 golden plovers have also been spotted.

Ruth Testa, wetlands project officer at the trust, said: "As the new habitats start to develop we hope that other wading birds will start to use the nature reserve in greater numbers."

A further 3.2km of fencing, 1.5km of footpath, eight viewing screens and two new boardwalks are to be completed by March next year.

AN ORGANISATION which started life as an attempt to build up the life sciences industry in Nottingham is now expanding across the country.

BioCity was launched on Pennyfoot Street in 2003 and has gone on to become one of the biggest concentrations of scientific talent in the UK, with nearly 700 people in a variety of businesses working in fields ranging from drug discovery to patent applications.

Since then, it has launched new ventures in Glasgow and Manchester and a new incubator on Nottingham's Boots campus aimed at supporting firms working in health, beauty and wellness.

Now, a new building for its expanding tenants is being built alongside the original – a development which BioCity's boss says is a big opportunity for Nottingham to shout about its strength in a key knowledge industry.

Dr Glenn Crocker, chief executive of BioCity, said: "We started off in Nottingham and Nottingham is always going to be our headquarters.

"But we have expanded elsewhere and we are still looking at other opportunities,'' he added.

"Nottingham has been a real success story for us, and what we have seen since then is a new facility in Scotland, the launch of MediCity at the Boots site here in Nottingham, and the BioHub at Alderly Park near Manchester.

"Manchester is going great guns and it's going to be very important for us, particularly with the new £5 million investment fund.

"But we are still looking at other areas, and that is a question of places where there is demand, which is obviously around Oxford and Cambridge, and of a supply of facilities at the right price.

''We've got a few irons in the fire for our next move but we're in no rush."

While the firms it hosts in Nottingham employ several hundred people, BioCity itself has around 30 staff.

Mr Crocker says it will need to expand its team to cope with growth.

BioCity has expanded during a period when big pharmaceutical companies have been reducing there own research facilities and outsourcing the world to smaller specialist firms – known as contract research organisations (CROs).

BioCity has a significant number of CROs and other related niche scientific businesses, with the two buildings at its Pennyfoot Street site in Nottingham now nearly full and some of its tenants needing to expand further.

A new five-storey building for lifesciences is going to be built alongside BioCity on the corner of Huntingdon Street. The building is being funded by Nottingham City Council with support from D2N2, the local enterprise partnership.

The building will ultimately be home to another 200 people and Mr Crocker says its development gives Nottingham a major opportunity to flag up its status as a centre for high-tech skills.

He said: "The new building is going to stand out and be something people will really notice. It is a massive statement about the strength of the industry and something which we should really be shouting about.

"In my view it is going to transform the area because when you put it together with BioCity you are going to have the best part of 1,000 people working in the same industry in the same area."

So the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are warning us of the dangers of milk ("Offensive poster taken down after complaints", December 10).

As a child, my mother urged me to drink lots of milk as the calcium is good for bones and teeth.

And through my school days I had the free 1/3 pint of milk daily, and it hasn't done me any harm.

Next, PETA wanted the council to change the name of our city to 'Not eating ham' and not have meat on Christmas Day.

Perhaps they could go and live in 'PETAborough'?

PETER HODGKINSON

Meadow Rise

Nuthall

THE most welcome news that the Labour Party in Scotland faces a wipe-out at the General Election augurs well for unmarried wage earners who, in my painful experience of numerous Socialist budgets since 1964, have been relentlessly robbed blind under Labour administrations.

Single taxpayers should heed this melancholy warning from history before voting Socialist; for history repeats itself and single people without family commitments are fair game to Labour chancellors with their large sticky fingers.

Singles will be systematically robbed and disproportionately penalised. It is just how it works.

Single taxpayers must remember the old adage. If you are not a Socialist at 19 you have no heart. If you are still a Socialist at 29 you have no head.

DANIEL FARRINGTON

Poplar Avenue

Sandiacre

DO me a favour through your columns, before my demise. I would love to meet somebody from my early days.

I was born at 15 Deptford Street, Bulwell, on July 10, 1918, part of a family of eight. I went to Highbury School in Albert Street, Bulwell.

At 14 I worked at Raleigh, then the Post Office telephones, and the RAF.

At 96-and-a-half I am still active, driving, and have a good long memory!

I should love to meet Gladys Smith, who lived off Coventry Road in Bulwell and worked at Players.

I know 78 years ago is a long time and it's unlikely, but maybe it's possible?

Many thanks.

I should also love to meet a regular Post correspondent, Joy James, who generously left me her lovely book.

ALBERT LAMB

Hartcroft Road

Bestwood Park

If you are Gladys, or know her, email opinion@nottinghampost.com and we'll pass the message on.

WHEN are David Cameron and Ed Miliband going realise that sometimes "sorry" is not enough when it comes to MPs abusing their position?

We are constantly hearing the word "clarity" being bandied about but it obviously doesn't apply to those who represent us when we have MPs making absurd sexual references for a bet, or playing games in meetings.

Do we need to closely look at those who select or support the MPs to see if the criteria for consideration for selection to represent a constituency needs to be more robust?

Maybe we need a system by which MPs can be dismissed. This would give the electorate more say and trust in our MPs.

TONY MORRIS

Manor Green Walk

Carlton

ALLAN Hare warns us to beware an aggressive Russia ("Wake up before it's too late", Letters, December 11).

Surely the truth is quite the opposite; it is the aggressive EU and NATO gobbling up all the countries on Russia's western border, in Russia's natural sphere of influence, who are the real problem and would appear to Russia as a threat – which has prompted them to annexe Crimea.

The borders of Ukraine were drawn up during the era of the Soviet Union so it didn't really matter whether millions of Russians were classed as Russian or Ukrainian, but come independence it did matter.

Does the Ukraine really want a large, hostile community within its borders? We've seen what forcing people to live together can lead to in the former Yugoslavia.

The truth is the US is trying to weaken or destroy Russia, and the collapse in oil prices is a real threat to Russia as the rouble falls in value.

T WOODWARD

Nightingale Way

Bingham

DEREK Allwright is only partially correct when he says cutting wages for MPs is not a solution (Letters, December 18).

It would be fair, though.

Do we need a super-educated Eton/Oxbridge elite ruling us but looking after their own class interests first? No. We would be better off without them.

Do we need any highly educated people ruling us at all? No.

We pay a highly-educated and experienced Civil Service to advise our politicians on their options and then carry out their decisions.

At the moment we are paying twice for the same job, often badly done.

Bad civil servants would be easier to sack than bad MPs.

Why don't I and ordinary folk like me stand for Parliament?

Almost certainly we would not get the backing of any party, or at least not that of the party of our choice, and would be unlikely to be allowed to stand in our own constituency even if we did.

Democracy for all is not compatible with party politics for parties look after their own; and so parties come first with most politicians.

RL COOPER

Harlequin Close

Radcliffe-on-Trent

Notts

Horrific cases of pet owners killing animals in attacks have doubled in the past year, according to investigators.

Dogs, cats, rabbits and tortoises have been abandoned in what the RSPCA says has been one of the worst years for neglect and cruelty in the county.

The leading RSPCA inspector for Nottinghamshire revealed that the number of people prosecuted for beating and stabbing their pets rose from six last year to 12 in 2014 – and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Chief Inspector Simon Parker says reports of dogs and cats being killed or left to die are received daily.

Five dead horses were dumped in Rempstone Road, East Leake, last Tuesday. Residents were shocked at the grim discovery and the RSPCA is investigating.

Mr Parker said some pets are harmed accidentally or deliberately during domestic rows when people take their frustrations out on their animals.

Last year, a man was sentenced for strangling his pet cat during a row with his wife. "I consider 2014 as the worst year in the area in the 15 years I have dealt with animal cruelty," said Mr Parker. "It has been the worst I have seen for animals being beaten to death and deliberately stabbed."

The RSPCA is inundated with work and has a backlog of 180 incidents.

The Post reported this year that Jake, a collie-cross, was found dead in Hannah Bamford's house in Welton Gardens, Bulwell, after he was left for weeks without food or water.

Neighbours called police when they noticed flies swarming at the windows.

A vet said he would have suffered greatly. Bamford was prosecuted for causing unnecessary suffering. The 25-year-old, of County Road, Gedling, was sent to prison for 28 days, and banned from keeping an animal for 10 years.

Mr Parker said the problem did not just involve dogs being abandoned – cats, tortoises and rabbits have also been left homeless. "I consider rabbits as the forgotten pets," he said. "We often go to a rabbit in a garden and it is dead – due to lack of food, bedding, care and understanding.

"Sometimes a rabbit is bought to keep a child happy but the child can soon become bored with it, particularly daily feeding and cleaning.

"This year we found a rabbit in a hutch with a badly broken leg.

"The owner was fully aware of it, had no money and chose to leave it.

"We investigated and decided to amputate the leg and the rabbit was re-homed. The owner showed remorse and understanding and received a formal caution."

Tony Sanderson, of Babbington Hall Kennels, Awsworth, agrees that animal cruelty is on the increase.

"It does turn your stomach hearing about this," he said. "There just seems to a strain of people that do not seem to care about anything. They give pet owners a bad name."

Anthony Moore, of White Post Farm, Farnsfield, said earlier this year someone dumped a rabbit in a box in the car park when temperatures plummeted to freezing. It was cared for and re-homed with a member of staff.

Mr Moore said: "Our local kennels have started a rescue project due to the increase in strays in the area."

Icy pavements are causing treacherous conditions after temperatures plunged overnight.

After the heavy snowfall on Friday evening, the remaining snow has now turned to ice.

People walking through Nottingham city centre on Monday morning said they were having to watch their step.

Tricia Bowen, 44, of Carlton, said: "The pavements are a nightmare - it's very dangerous.

"You have to be very careful not to slip and it takes twice as long to get anywhere.

"Round where I live the side roads are very bad."

Semhar Fitsum, 27, of Sneinton, added: "All the snow is melting and leaving icy patches on the pavements.

"It's very slippery so you have to watch your step.

"I hope the council grits the pavements as well as the roads."

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for ice and is urging people to be prepared for freezing temperatures.

The chief forecaster said: "Showers currently over the North Sea are expected to drift across parts of England during this morning.

"With surfaces widely below freezing, this is expected to lead to icy stretches forming in places.

"Surface temperatures are expected to slowly rise through this morning to above freezing by 11am."

Nottinghamshire Police are warning drivers to take care on the roads - and only drive if absolutely necessary.

The force dealt with a number of car crashes over the weekend, particularly in the north of the county, where many roads appeared clear but were affected by black ice.

A spokesman said: "Officers are continuing to advise motorists to only travel where absolutely necessary and, if you are heading out, to watch your speed.

"Motorists should also beware of black ice on the roads, especially on bends or where the road is shaded by trees."

Across England, temperatures dipped to their lowest recorded levels of the year overnight.

Parts of the country saw temperatures as low as -7C.

However, those heading out for New Year's Eve celebrations on Wednesday night are in luck, as it is expected to become milder as the week goes on.

Temperatures are predicted to rise to as high as 6C.

And the start of 2015 is looking promising - with highs of 11C on Thursday.

Travellers are being warned of delays on public transport due to icy roads.

Nottingham City Transport buses have been affected by the weather since the heavy snowfall on Friday night.

Many services are still disrupted.

The following routes are diverted:

Blue 39 is running a one way loop from City through Thorneywood, Porchester Road, Woodborough Road to the City. Customers on Gordon Road, Thorneywood Mount and Porchester Road need to cross the road to catch the bus to the City.

Blue 42 is not serving Brewsters Road.

Red 44 is back to normal route except isn't serving Besecar Avenue in Gedling. On Wollaton Avenue, please use the 45 turning circle.

Lime 56, 57 are not serving Somersby Road, Nordean Road, Whitby Crescent or Gedling Road and running direct along Arno Vale Road.

Lime 58 is diverted via Beechwood Road and Coppice Road and is not serving stops on Birchfield Road, Homefield Avenue, Surgeys Lane or Church Street

Yellow 68, 69 are not serving Snape Wood Road stops. Please use Seller's Wood Road stop between the two roundabouts.

Turquoise 78 is diverted via Melbourne Road, Aspley Lane and Broxtowe Lane and not serving Minver Crescent, Hilcot Drive or Sherbourne Road.

Turquoise 79, 79A cannot serve Old Farm Road, Muirfield Road or Bewcastle Road and is diverted direct along Bestwood Park Drive. Chippenham Road cannot be served and buses are using Oxclose Lane.

Purple 88 cannot serve most of Top Valley or Warren Hill and is running the full length of Ridgeway, Tesco, Top Valley Drive, Bestwood Park Drive to Duke of St Alban's. Chippenham Road cannot be served and buses are using Oxclose Lane and Queen's Bower Road.

Local Link L9 is suspended and will not run until further notice.

Local Link L14 is not serving Heathfield Estate and is diverted along Arnold Road and Hucknall Road.

Trentbarton buses have only one weather-related diversion on the H1 route, which won't serve Stainsby Avenue in Heanor.

Both NCT and Trentbarton are running to a Saturday timetable today (Monday). Trentbarton's indigo and skylink routes will run through the night as usual, but no other night bus routes are running.

There are no reported delays on train services from Nottingham.

However, passengers travelling to London are being warned of continuing disruption at King's Cross station after weekend problems caused by overrunning engineering works.

A revised service is now operating at the station.

The search continues this morning [Tuesday] for the missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501, which is believed to have crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people on board.

The aircraft went missing on Sunday with 155 passengers, including 17 children and one baby, plus seven crew members.

Rescuers are only now reaching the site in the Java Sea where it is believed the aircraft may have entered the water.

Ships and planes from Indonesian and Malaysian military are being deployed to the area to help with the search.

"Based on the co-ordinates given to us and evaluation that the estimated crash position is in the sea, the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea," Bambang Soelistyo, the head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told a news conference in Jakarta, which was reported by the BBC.

The pilot contacted air traffic control at 06:24 local time Sunday asking permission to climb to 38,000ft (11,000m) to avoid the dense storm clouds. No distress signal was received from the Airbus A320-200 before it lost contact on its journey from Surabaya in eastern Java at 05:35 on Sunday and was due to arrive in Singapore.

The head of the British Chamber of Commerce is urging politicians to avoid "point-scoring" in their general election campaigns next year.

John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said such tactics could deflect from the important issues facing the UK economy.

In his letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband, Mr Longworth said: "For many businesses, one of the greatest sources of challenge and uncertainty in 2015 isn't the state of global markets, but home-grown politics.

"You must focus on the causes, not the symptoms, of the challenges that face our United Kingdom."

The UK's economy will be an important issue in the run-up to the general-election in May 2015.

The Chamber of Commerce for Nottinghamshire says the past year has seen strong economic growth across the region, and although some uncertainty lies ahead with the election on the horizon, the opportunity exists to place businesses in the East Midlands at the heart of a UK economy built for success.

Liz Fothergill CBE, president of the East Midlands Chamber, said: ""In the run-up to next year's election and beyond, the Chamber will be actively campaigning to ensure the next Parliament places business at the centre of local growth, delivers on our long-term infrastructure needs, fixes the link between education and the world of work, reduces the cost of doing business and supports firms to succeed overseas.

"Whoever is in power after the next election will need to take more tough decisions about austerity in order to further reduce the UK's budget deficit and bring down its mountain of debt.

"The Chamber will work hard with its local elected representatives to ensure that any cuts to public spending do not have a disproportionate impact on the private sector.

"Throughout the course of 2014, firms in the East Midlands delivered another strong performance, which gives them another solid platform upon which to build in 2015. The Chamber will support them all along the way."

The country's first £100 pound coin has been revealed.

The Royal Mint has said that only 50,000 copies of the coin, which features Big Ben and the Queen's head, will be made.

It will be 40mm wide and contain 2oz of silver and is expected to prove popular after the sell-out success of the first £20 coin, which was struck in honour of the birth of Prince George.

It is also the first time the country has had a coin released for New Year.

Shane Bissett, the Royal Mint's director of commemorative coin, bullion and medals, said: "The sound of Big Ben chiming in the Elizabeth Tower is one that will have become synonymous with Britain for millions of British citizens and tourists alike, particularly on New Year's Eve when the world listens for Big Ben, which marks Greenwich Mean Time, to chime in the New Year.

"So it is a fitting choice for the nation's first £100 coin, and this is a fitting time for us to reveal it."

The new coin has been designed as a collector's item and can be ordered from The Royal Mint's website.

Smoking does more than damage hearts and lungs, it rots bones, muscles, brain, teeth and eyes, too, according to a new campaign from Public Health England.

The latest hard-hitting adverts designed to encourage smokers to quit feature a roll-up cigarette full of decaying tissue.

They will appear on billboards across Nottinghamshire in the new year.

The campaign follows a research study which demonstrated that smokers were aware of the impact of smoking on their heart and lungs but not the widespread effects it can have on the body.

Current smokers, for example, are at double the risk of Alzheimer's Disease.

Inevitably, the ads have split opinion with pro smoking groups describing them as poisonous and health campaigners insisting they are there to shock and educate.

While the proportion of people who smoke in Nottingham has fallen during the last 10 years from 39 per cent in 2008 to 28 per cent in 2013, the city is still in the top ten areas in the country for smoking prevalence.

In the county, the proportion of people who smoke is at its lowest level since records began.

Fewer than one in five people (18 per cent) smoke in Nottinghamshire and more than 6,000 people quit the habit between 2012 and 2013, the stats from Public Health England show.

Dr Chris Kenny, Director of Public Health Nottinghamshire County and Nottingham City said: "We're trying to break down some preconceptions that some smokers have about the damage they could be doing to themselves. We know that many people in Nottingham smoke roll up cigarettes, and that often people think in some way that they are less damaging. In actual fact evidence shows that roll ups are at least as bad for your health as normal cigarettes.

"Whatever way you smoke, the only sure fire way of improving your health is to quit for good. You're much more likely to able to do that with the support of the specialist stop smoking services that we commission."

Whilst many smokers know that smoking causes cancer and harms the lungs and heart, the new report highlights how it also damages:

• Bones and muscles - Smoking causes progressive harm  and has a negative impact on bone mineral density.There is 
• 25 per cent increased risk of any fracture and a 40 per cent increase in the risk of hip fractures among men
• Increased risk of back and neck pain, leading to a 79 per cent increase in chronic back pain and a 114 per cent increase in disabling lower back pain
• Significant cause of rheumatoid arthritis and can reduce the impact of treatment
• Brain - Current smokers are 53 per cent more likely to develop cognitive impairment than non-smokers and 59 per cent more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease
• Teeth - Smoking increases the likelihood of tooth loss and decay
• Eyes - Smoking damages sight by increasing the risk of age-related maculardegeneration (AMD) by 78 per cent - 358 per cent and increasing the risk of age-related cataracts

The cost of smoking in Notts was revealed earlier this year as £300 million a year.

This includes the cost of treating the thousands of smokers in the city and county on the NHS, lost productivity due to cigarette breaks, and the cost of smoking-related house fires.

The figures, compiled by lobby group Ash and based on Policy Exchange research, show the annual cost of smoking is £203.5 million in the county and £93 million in the city.

This includes a cost to the NHS of £58.1 million a year for treating smoking-related illnesses, a £62.5 million cost in lost productivity from smoking breaks, and an £88.3 million annual loss in economic output from the deaths of smokers and passive smokers

The Public Health England campaign also tackles common misconceptions around hand-rolled tobacco, or roll-ups. Many smokers mistakenly believe that they are safer than conventional cigarettes, it is claimed.

But their popularity is growing.

In 1990, 18% of male smokers and 2% of female smokers said they smoked mainly hand-rolled cigarettes. By 2013 this had risen to 40% for men and 23% for women.

Prof Kevin Fenton, National Director for Health and Wellbeing for Public Health England, said: "Much of the harm caused by smoking doesn't become obvious until middle age but the invisible damage can start shockingly early - even by the late teens.

"The earlier a smoker quits the better, but quitting at any age can help reverse at least some of the damage. That's why there is no time better than now to quit. Stop smoking and stop the rot."

Wine retailers have reported that sales of Prosecco have risen by 45 per cent over the past year.

Supermarket brand Marks & Spencer announced yesterday that sales of 1.6 million bottles this year, compared to 1.1 million bottles in 2013.

It is now set to release its first ever Prosecco Magnum at £20 a bottle.

Sales of M&S's most popular brand of Prosecco, Conte Priuli, have increased by 268 per cent.

Other analysts such as trade magazine The Drinks Business has said there has been a rise in sales of more than 74 per cent.

The effect has caught on in Nottingham too; earlier this year saw the opening of "Poultry and Prosecco" restaurant Pilot.

Owner Joe Baron said: "Prosecco has overtaken Champagne in popularity, when served by the glass, so it's the perfect time to open a Prosecco-led restaurant."

Alan Trease Managing Director of independent wine and spirit merchant Weavers, in Castle Gate, said sales had gone up by 45 per cent in the past year.

He added: "It's been terrific in the last two years particularly. It's going on and on.

"I think of the reasons is it's acceptable, it's a very good wine, it's value for money and I think, personally, it's better than some of the Cavas and Spanish sparklings.

"Champagne is so expensive and people are serving Prosecco at receptions now.

"There are different qualities of Prosecco, some better than others but it has been the star.

"I don't think we would have stocked it three years ago, but now it's shot to one of our top sellers."

Businesses are having to plunder profits or ask family and friends for cash when they need money to expand, a new survey says.

The Institute of Directors, which represents many privately-owned businesses, says more than half of its members are relying on their retained earnings for finance.

It says less than a third of firms are relying on banks as their main source of money, while 27 per cent of those surveyed have asked family or friends for money or used a credit card.

The IoD says that while smaller firms are often reluctant to borrow money from banks, a contraction in bank lending has also played a part in the problem, reflecting trends identified by the Bank of England earlier this year

Ron Lynch, the East Midlands Regional Director of the IoD, warned that the reluctance to borrow from banks could hold back growth.

He said: "For a number of reasons, even as economic conditions in the UK have improved, finance remains difficult to access for many businesses. Many firms have been forced to become more self-reliant, moving away from traditional sources of debt finance.

"However, this dependence on internal funding may have wider implications. A reluctance to take on debt is not inherently bad, but it could imply a lack of confidence and may be limiting the growth of smaller businesses. Without injections of external finance in the form of loans or equity, many will find it difficult to invest in growth, launch new products or services and scale up their operations.

"Instead, businesses are plugging the funding gap by raising money from family or friends, or putting business expenditure on personal credit cards. This suggests an underlying need for day-to-day finance and serious cash flow problems for many businesses."

Mr Lynch added: "It is encouraging to see alternative funding sources such as peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding emerge to meet the needs of businesses. These markets seem set to experience rapid growth in the coming years. As they become more widely known and trusted as credible sources of finance, many businesses will increasingly turn to them as the right source of capital for their needs. This shows that, where markets are allowed to operate freely, solutions will be created to meet business lending needs."

If two defeats over Christmas wasn't bad enough for Nottingham Forest, they will now be missing Henri Lansbury for their next two games.

Like we can really afford that right now!

On a run of two wins in 17 games in the Championship, the Reds are low on confidence and under high pressure.

But when they try to start turning their faltering season around in the new year, at Rochdale in the FA Cup and against Sheffield Wednesday in their next league game at the City Ground, they will be missing one of their best players in Lansbury.

Booked for the tenth time this season in their 3-1 defeat against Birmingham City on home soil, boss Stuart Pearce won't be able to pick him for those games.

As Pearce has already said it's ridiculous for a player like Lansbury to have earned so many cautions already this season.

Ten bookings in 19 games is frankly unacceptable and the lad really has to work in his discipline.

On his day he's the best in the Championship, nobody can live with him when he's in top form, but he can't do anything sat in the stands and it is Forest who pay the price when he's banned.

The only positive is that it might give a chance to young Ben Osborn, who came off the subs' bench late against Birmingham and delivered the corner into the penalty area for Britt Assombalonga to score his 13th goal of the season.

Pearce could also look to David Vaughan, who has hardly had a look in so far this season, but played the second half of the 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.

Whoever he picks to replace the suspended Lansbury, Pearce has to get it right.

Original Burns' verse:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne*?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne, 
we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet, 
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stoup!
and surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit,
sin' auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
sin' auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
and gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right gude-willie waught,
for auld lang syne.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old< acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne, 
we'll take a cup of kindness yet, 
for auld lang syne.

And surely you'll buy your pint cup!
and surely I'll buy mine!
And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we've wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine^†;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there's a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o' thine!
And we'll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

The Scottish poem was written by Robert Burns in 1788. It is set to the tune of a traditional folk song and is usually used to bid farewell to the old year - and welcome the new year - at the stroke of midnight. It is common practice that everyone joins hands with the person next to them.