Hello, it's Peter here. Welcome to Thursdays Levy Letter. I hope your day's going well and you'll be able to join me tonight on BBC One at half past six. Weve got another busy programme and on the show tonight we'll have the reaction to the end of John Prescotts time as Deputy Prime minister.
We'll talk to the grandmother who went for a holiday meal in Tunisia and ended up with horrific burns. Shes still fighting for compensation. We have exclusive pictures from customs officers who's job is to check human cargo coming into Hull Docks. Well take a look at the row over a new beach hut in Chapel St Leonards. Some of the locals arent happy with the competition winning design. And we'll meet The Beast - a converted mini van with a huge v8 engine! Of course well have the weather forecast as well, thats at half past six on BBC One as usual if you can join me. Emails Theres been a big response over the last couple of days, thank you very much for all those emails and letters on a variety of subjects, thank you very much and keep them coming in. If youve got a story you think we should know about and a problem you think we can tackle on the programme drop me a line and give me the details. The email address is [EMAIL PROTECTED], and also a contact telephone number would be a good idea too. I see a new survey out has showed that 30% of Britons avoid paying bills on time. We didnt really need a survey to tell us that did we? 2%, nearly a million people ignore their bills altogether. 30% glance at them and set them aside thats me. Only 8% of people deal with their bills straight away. Many find their bills and statements hard to read. Colour highlighting can impact bill paying behaviour depending on what colour bills they send. The one that comes in the red ink is always the frightener. So there we are, 30% only glance at them, and push them to one side. A million people just ignore their bills altogether in this country. Bags Well one supermarket is trying out an experiment in the south of England. Its in quite a posh area and its quite a posh supermarket as well. The free plastic bags are to be banned, at one branch shoppers will have to provide their own bags or carry their order to the car piece by piece. The two week bag ban at Saffron Walden in Essex follows a survey that shows that 90% of its customers in the town backed the idea, so there we are, the same supermarket chain is also trying an experiment at another 14 branches where some tills will have no plastic bags on offer. Apparently thats what we want. I cant imagine that, but thats an experiment. Your views on that one will be gratefully received. I think supermarkets are coming up with a lot of bag ideas to get themselves some publicity and get themselves in the papers. House Buyers Well home buyers spend an average of 96 minutes viewing a property before making an offer according to research. Thats about an hour and a half. They spend longer, an average of 139 minutes choosing their annual holiday. Thats bizarre isnt it? After rushing into their purchase, half of all movers find unexpected problems with their new home. One in five realise that the décor is poor quality. One in seven find they have problem neighbours, and 7% cannot enjoy a proper shower due to poor water pressure. Other unanticipated problems include damp, noise, and difficulty in parking. Yorkshire emerged as the riskiest destination for a move, with 59% of buyers reporting regrets after a nasty surprise. The worst place for surprises when youve bought a house is Yorkshire. So we only spend 96 minutes reviewing a new home which were going to spend thousands and thousands on, but 139 minutes choosing a holiday. Amazing statistics arent they. Spots Well many a teenager will tell you they spend millions of pounds buying a variety or preparations to get rid of spots. Teenagers are always told to avoid chocolate and chips if they want clear skin. But research has claimed they would do much better to cut down on drinking milk. Teenagers who drink a pint of skimmed milk a day are almost 50% more likely to develop spots than those who rarely or never drink milk according to scientists. Whole or semi-skimmed milk also raises the risk of acne, but to a lesser extent. The research carried out at the Harvard School of Public Health showed this. Experts blamed the problem on the common problem of milking cows when they are pregnant, it means their milk is packed with pregnancy hormones which the human body is not designed to deal with. Once in the body, they cause oil producing glands to work overtime, which together with dead skin cells blocks pores and creates spots. So there we are, avoid drinking milk if you want to avoid spo! ts. Weights Well Britain is to keep its pounds and ounces, youve probably heard this already. Campaigners celebrated after the European commission abandoned its hugely unpopular plan to scrap historic imperial measures. Brussels Bureaucrats have admitted that forcing traders to use only metric grams and kilos would not be good for business. The present dual labelling system displaying both sets of measures will now carry on indefinitely. So pounds and ounces will continue. The pressure group Metric Martyrs have hailed it a monumental victory and it certainly is. Well thats about it from me today, enjoy your afternoon. Get in touch of course if you want to at the usual email address [EMAIL PROTECTED] If theres anyone you know whos not signed up to a Levy Letter then get them to sign up to our new BBC website www.bbc.co.uk/looknorthhull and click on Levy Letter. Thats it, have a good day and Ill see you tonight at half past six and look out for your Levy Letter tomorrow. Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
