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Professor Sir Alan Walters, the former economics adviser to ex-PM Margaret Thatcher whose controversial role led to the resignation of chancellor Nigel Lawson, has died at the age of 82.

Sir Alan was described as "the finest of friends" by Baroness Thatcher, who paid tribute to him as "radical, fearless, consistent and creative".

He had reportedly been suffering from Parkinson's Disease and his health had deteriorated before Christmas. He and his wife Paddie celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary on December 27.

In a statement, Baroness Thatcher said: "Alan Walters was the best economic adviser any Prime Minister ever had - radical, fearless, consistent and creative.

"He was a great public servant and, to me personally, he was the finest of friends."

Sir Alan was first appointed as an economic advisor at Number 10 in 1981. He later returned in 1989, when he repeatedly clashed with Nigel Lawson, then Chancellor.

Walters argued for Britain keeping to strict monetary targets to curb inflation - a view shared by Mrs Thatcher and popular with the Tory Right.

The economist was particularly scornful of Lawson's persistent desire to get Britain to join the European Monetary Union, which he labelled "half-baked".

The row between the two men led to Mrs Thatcher, when pressed in the Commons by Labour Leader Neil Kinnock whether she would sack Walters, memorably saying that "advisers advise and ministers decide".

But Lawson's resignation in October 1989 - followed almost immediately afterwards by Sir Alan's own departure - effectively marked the beginning of the end of Thatcher's premiership and she was ousted from power little more than a year later.

-Nova

The former partner of Karen Matthews has abandoned his appeal against conviction for downloading indecent images of children.

Craig Meehan, 23, was due to appeal at Leeds Crown Court against his conviction for possessing child pornography over 49 indecent images which were found on his computer.

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC allowed the appeal against two of the images and Meehan abandoned the appeal against the remaining charges.

Bespectacled Meehan appeared in the dock wearing a light-blue hooded top and dark jacket. After a brief hearing, Judge Marson told him he was free to go.

David Orbaum, representing Meehan, said the prosecution was offering no evidence on the two images due to an agreed basis of facts.

Mr Orbaum said: "The appellant accepts that he searched the internet for - and then downloaded - adult pornography on to his computer. As a consequence of these searches, indecent images of children were downloaded, all of which were deleted."

In September last year, Meehan was found guilty at Dewsbury Magistrates' Court of 11 counts of possessing indecent images of children. Meehan was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison but was immediately released from custody after having spent 166 days on remand.

The former fishmonger was charged after the abuse images were found on his personal computer by officers searching for nine-year-old Shannon Matthews.

Shannon, now 10, went missing on February 19 last year as she walked home from school.

Her mother, Karen Matthews, 33, and Meehan's uncle, Michael Donovan, 40, were convicted at Leeds Crown Court of the kidnap and false imprisonment of Shannon and perverting the course of justice.

-Nova

Britain's big freeze has intensified as forecasters warned temperatures would continue to plunge.

Tens of thousands of motorists were left stranded in a record day for car breakdowns amid chaotic scenes on the roads as temperatures in parts of the country dropped to as low as minus 11C (12.2F).

In central London, shivering tourists witnessed the unusual sight of the fountains in Trafalgar Square frozen.

With areas of southern England and Wales set to get colder overnight, heating bill payouts to pensioners and the vulnerable topped £100 million as the Government stepped in to help.

Many schools failed to reopen after the Christmas break and the cold snap also caused havoc for homes and businesses which suffered frozen pipes. Water company Severn Trent warned its eight million customers across the Midlands and Wales to protect their water systems after reports pipes were freezing even with heating on full.

The AA and RAC said the situation was worse than it had been since 2004, with an estimated 50,000 call-outs over the previous two days. In perilous conditions on the roads, there were a string of road accidents.

Among the victims of perilous driving conditions was a woman cyclist who sustained serious injuries when she was run over by a Land Rover which skidded on ice in Clevedon, Somerset.

In Dorset, a man escaped injury after his BMW 325 convertible spun off the road and hit a telegraph pole near Bournemouth International Airport.

Daniel Adamson, a forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said Wales and southern England - including London and the South Coast - could yet face its coldest period.

He said: "It is unusual that the far south could be facing temperatures as low as minus 10C."

-Nova

Gordon Brown has warned that the Middle East is facing its "darkest moment yet" amid more bloodshed in Gaza - but expressed hope that a deal could be struck for an immediate ceasefire.

Speaking after Israeli airstrikes near UN schools in the territory reportedly killed scores of people, the Prime Minister said the situation was a "humanitarian crisis".

"This is the darkest moment yet for the Middle East and it affects the whole of the world," he said.

"It's because of that that we must get humanitarian aid that we are promising in."

Mr Brown said he had been discussing the situation with fellow world leaders, including from Egypt and Turkey, and has put forward proposals for making progress.

"I am hopeful that the basis on which an immediate ceasefire can take place can be found," he told reporters in Downing Street.

He said any deal would have to solve issues of weapons being smuggled into the Gaza Strip through tunnels, as well as ensuring security for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Mr Brown added: "It's also because of the violence of war that we must work as hard as possible over the next few hours, and days if necessary, so that there is an immediate ceasefire.

"I believe that the proposals that would achieve that are first of all an immediate ceasefire, which means of course no rocket attacks into Gaza as well as no Israeli troops in Gaza. It also means an end to the tunnels and the arms trafficking. And it also means something else that is necessary to complete that: the opening up of the borders under international supervision."

Asked what form the international supervision should take, the Prime Minister replied: "We will need international engagement. It is not possible to see a solution to this without some kind of international engagement that will protect the security of the Israeli people and will create the viability for open borders to be given to the Palestinian area in Gaza."

-Nova

Tribute has been paid to Woolworths workers who face redundancy for "seeing the job through" to the company's very last day of trading.

John Gorle, national officer for shop workers' union Usdaw, said it was a "a testament" to the "professionalism" of the firm's 27,000 workforce.

The last 200 Woolworths stores closed their doors for the final time after a massive clearance sale during which even the stores' fixtures and fittings were sold off at bargain prices. The firm's 807 stores were closed in stages from the final weeks of December.

Mr Gorle said it was "not uncommon" for a Woolworths employee to have a record of 15 to 20 years of service - a rarity among the usually transient retail workforce.

"It wasn't just a job, for many it has been a way of life," he said.

"I would be hard pushed to find another group of workers that would have shown the professionalism of the Woolworths workers. Many others would have walked off the job and frankly, I couldn't have blamed them.

"I think this is a testament to them, their self respect and pride meant that they wanted to see the job done properly right up until the last day."

The union will now seek assurances from the firms buying the former Woolworths stores that they would give priority to the company's former workers when looking for their own staff.

Iceland has agreed to work with Usdaw officials to ensure former Woolworths employees are considered for new positions.

Mr Gorle said: "It has been an approach that has worked with Iceland and we are hopeful it will help with other buyers."

-Nova

One baby has died and six others are being treated in an isolation ward after a bug hit a hospital's neo-natal unit.

The baby, who was born prematurely at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital almost two weeks ago, was one of two to become infected with Serratia bacteria.

Staff at the Bordesley Green hospital are hopeful the second baby infected with the bug will go home in the next few weeks, a spokeswoman said.

Five other babies, who tested positive for Serratia on their skin, are in a six-cot isolation unit as a "precaution" she added.

Hospital director Lisa Dunn said: "Two extremely pre-term babies were infected with the bacteria: very sadly one baby died. The second baby is doing very well and should be going home in a few weeks' time.

"Serratia is an organism which has appeared in neonatal units across the NHS from time to time.

"It can be controlled by putting in place special arrangements to prevent spread of infection.

"Serratia was discovered on some babies on our unit recently and such measures were immediately implemented and remain in place.

"This has included closing our intensive care room to new admissions.

"These measures have been very successful in preventing the bacteria spreading and the intensive care facility is expected to reopen to new admissions this week."

-Nova

Britain's biggest building society has said house prices fell by a record 15.9% during 2008 as it warned the property market was in for another turbulent year.

Nationwide said prices were likely to have further to fall before significant numbers of buyers returned to the market, although it stopped short of making a specific forecast for price drops in 2009.

The group said the average cost of a UK home fell by a further 2.5% in December, dashing hopes that November's 0.4% slide marked a stabilisation in the rate at which prices were dropping.

The fall during 2008, which is the biggest since the group began collecting data in this format in 1991, left the average house price at £153,048 - wiping out all gains seen since the spring of 2005 and leaving homes costing £20,000 less than in December last year.

Nationwide's figures are in line with statistics reported by Britain's biggest mortgage lender, Halifax, at the end of last week, which showed that house prices had fallen by 16.2% during the final quarter of 2008 compared with the same period of 2007, after losing 2.2% of their value in December.

Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "2008 has been a year of turmoil in the UK housing market. The disruption in the financial markets worsened throughout 2008 and had larger implications for the real economy than we anticipated a year ago. Conditions remain highly volatile going into 2009, making it more difficult than usual to arrive at a specific forecast for house prices."

The housing market is being strangled by the credit crunch, with the mortgage drought exacerbating already stretched affordability.

One in four mortgages now requires a deposit of at least 40%, while 60% of mortgages are only available to people looking to borrow 75% of their home's value or less.

The high deposits being demanded by lenders are making it difficult for people to buy their first home or trade up the ladder, while the higher rates charged to borrowers who do not have a sizeable deposit are off-setting the improvements in affordability caused by house price falls.

The number of mortgages approved for house purchase sunk to a new record low of just 27,000 during November, according to figures from the Bank of England, while housing transactions are running at less than half the levels seen during 2007.

-Nova

Union leaders are seeking urgent talks with high street giant Marks & Spencer as workers braced themselves for huge job losses in the wake of the economic slowdown.

The company was accused of starting to tell staff they are to be made redundant amid reports that more than 1,000 job cuts are set to be announced.

The company declined to comment on a report it was poised to axe staff in its stores and head office when it unveils a Christmas trading update on Wednesday.

An employee at the firm's store in Aberdeen claimed she and two of her colleagues have already been told they are to lose their jobs, while a part-time employee in London said she had been told her job was finishing on Friday.

The GMB union said the developments provided evidence that M&S was planning to axe jobs, and warned the company it could face a series of employment tribunal cases if it announces a huge number of redundancies.

Officials had earlier voiced fears that M&S was gearing up to make big job cuts following the case of a worker who was sacked for leaking details to the media of planned changes to redundancy payments.

Legal officer Maria Ludkin said of the claims from the Aberdeen workers: "This proves that M&S has already started to identify who is going to go.

"If today's reports are correct, M&S have to give 90 days' notice for consultation.

"If M&S tries to take a short cut and treat each shop as a separate workplace, and thereby give only 30 days' notice, GMB will not hesitate to take employment tribunal cases for a 90-day protective award."

The Usdaw union said it was "shocked" at news of job losses so early in the New Year, complaining that staff were finding out from the media that their employment may be under threat.

-Nova

Britain will be immune from any gas shortages caused by the row between Russia and Ukraine, the Government has said.

UK dependence on Russia for gas is so small that any shortfall could be made up from other sources, said the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

The reassurance came amid growing concern about major disruption in some EU countries following Moscow's decision to turn off the gas tap to Ukraine in a dispute over high prices and unpaid bills.

The EU depends on Russia for about 25% of its gas supplies and the bulk of Russia's gas exports arrive via Ukraine.

But according to the Government, while some central European countries are already hit by the crisis, Britain is shielded by its variety of gas sources.

"We do not expect this dispute to impact UK supplies because the UK has diverse sources of gas supply which means we are not reliant on any single supplier," said a Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman.

"We import less than 2% of our gas from Russia and can replace this from other sources if we need to."

The spokesman echoed an EU demand that Moscow kept full supplies moving.

He added: "We back the EU's call for gas supplies to be restored immediately and that both parties (Russia and Ukraine) restart negotiations with a view to a speedy resolution of this commercial dispute."

Earlier Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Greece reported the virtual closures of supplies, despite assurances from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that gas would still flow to Europe despite reductions to Ukraine. That prompted the European Commission and the Czech government, now holding the EU Presidency, to issue a joint statement describing the situation as "completely unacceptable".

-Nova

Road safety campaigners have condemned a judge after a Premier League footballer caught doing 106mph in his Porsche was spared a driving ban.

Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins was clocked breaking the 70mph speed limit while on the way to the city's airport.

Newcastle Magistrates' Court was told the former Inter Milan star put his foot down because he was concerned he was going to miss a flight to see his sick son in Italy last May.

He was fined £550, ordered to pay £400 costs and had six points put on his licence.

The 24-year-old Nigerian international was given credit for his unblemished driving record and his guilty plea by District Judge Stephen Earl.

The court heard the footballer left training late in his Porsche Cayenne four-wheel drive and was clocked by a Northumbria Police traffic officer in a patrol car on the A696 Woolsington bypass.

Cathy Keeler, deputy chief executive of the road safety charity Brake, said drivers exceeding 100mph should be automatically banned.

She said: "Going so much over the speed limit is taking a blatant risk with lives on the road. A fine of a few hundred pounds for someone who earns thousands a week is not really a deterrent.

"We would like to see anyone going so significantly over the speed limit to be treated as committing a much more serious offence and prosecuted for careless or dangerous driving, rather than speeding, and face an automatic ban."

Andrew Howard, head of road safety for the AA, said: "Driving at over 100mph does not mean an automatic ban, but the guidelines suggest that it should. The only guideline laid down for the courts for speeding offences is a maximum fine."

-Nova