Millions of Britons are set to take to the roads over the Easter weekend

Two million people will leave country for holiday weekend, travel association predicts.
The travel association Abta said it expected two million people to leave the country for the weekend in search of warmer climes.

Spain is the most popular destination but city breaks are also in demand, with Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin being the top three choices, said Abta, formerly the Association of British Travel Agents.

"Easter is the traditional curtain-raiser to the summer, and I am delighted to see that hundreds of thousands of our customers are taking the opportunity to take a well-earned break," Abta's chairman, John McEwan, said.

Roads

The RAC said nearly half of all car owners had spent an average of £115 more on maintenance than last year because of the coldest winter conditions in 30 years.

The RAC predicts that more than 20 million motorists will take to the roads to make this one of the busiest Easter getaways for years, with many planning journeys of more than 90 miles.

However, the motoring organisation said the rise in fuel prices had led to many people deciding against Easter travel.

Unleaded petrol prices have increased 24%, with an average tank of petrol costing an extra £12. The average cost of a tank of diesel has increased by 15% to £64.68.

The AA, which dealt with more than 50,000 breakdowns last year, is predicting a large number this year because the bank holiday weekend will be the first long journey of the year for many people.

The M1, M3, M4, M5 and M6 are also expected to be congested, and the AA predicts that the M20 will be busy south of Ashford, in Kent, as holiday traffic mixes with lorries heading for the Eurotunnel.

The M25 is expected to suffer the worst delays, with widening work continuing between junctions 16 and 19 and junctions 27 and 30. Major roadworks will be in place at 40 other locations across the country.

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The giant shoes

The Marikina-made shoes broke the old record of 3.12-meter shoes made by Zahit Okurlar of Konya, Turkey. A representative of the Guinness Book of World Records attended the First Sapatero Festival on October 21, 2002 where the giant shoes were displayed.
Marikina City owns the distinction of having crafted the world’s largest pair of shoes, each measuring 5.29 meters long, 2.37 meters wide and 1.83 meters high. The heel alone measures 41 centimeters or 16 inches. The P2-million shoes can reportedly fit to a 37.5-meter or 125-foot giant. Around 30 people could put their feet into the colossal shoes simultaneously.

The world’s largest shoes were made from materials that could produce about 250 pairs of regular-sized shoes. It reportedly took 10 shoemakers, led by Ernesto Leano, 77 days to cut 30 square meters of leather for the upper lining and 7.4 square meters for the socklining. Also used were 250 kilograms of vegetable tanned leather for the insole, 270 kilograms for the outsole, 80 kilograms for the welt, 225 kilograms of adhesive and 1,000 meters of thread for 200,000 stitches.

In December 2002, the Guinness Book of World Records has recognized Marikina City for crafting the world’s largest pair of shoes

Shoppers returned to the high street

Food sales growth fell further to show its smallest gain since July 2007. Lower food inflation, less need to buy after stocking up in January’s snow and a return to more cautious spending after Christmas all contributed to the slowdown.Shoppers returned to the high street in February after a slow, snow-bound January, with retail sales bouncing back to 2.2 per cent last month.
But the BRC warned against reading too much into its February figures, which come after a dire February last year when snow saw sales plunge by 1.8 per cent.

The rise in like-for-like sales marked a welcome rebound on the poor start to 2010 for retailers, with official statistics recently confirming a bigger-than-expected 1.8 per cent drop in January sales, according to data released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Having treated themselves at Christmas, some shoppers were now returning to value ranges and seeking out good deals and promotions, according to the BRC.

Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC, said: "Despite appearances, these results are not that strong. The growth is compared with very weak figures a year ago when February saw the worst of last winter's weather and this February's performance was helped by sales postponed from January - particularly sales of non-food items such as cheap mountain bike, homewares and fashion.

"Consumer confidence is certainly up on this time last year but, with unemployment rising again, spending plans are falling. When the weather-related distortions are stripped away, it's clear customers are still cautious."

"IGD consumer research suggests that in-store promotions can be more effective with shoppers than television or magazine advertising. More than a third of shoppers say that promotions in supermarkets tempt them to try a new product, compared with 29 per cent for advertising.”
Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of the IGD, said: “In February, grocery retailers set out highly competitive promotions focused, above all, on Valentine’s Day. However, falling levels of inflation contributed towards slower growth in food and drink sales values over the month, with volumes remaining robust.

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Dunlop Expects To Sell 4000 Bikes This Year

The Dunlop group of companies, expects to double the sales this year in view of the gradual recovery in the cycling industry amid improving economic conditions.

Our new Cheap Dunlop Gents Bikes is a nippy street bike that is not only agile and nimble but sure to be the motorbike of choice," Dunlop group of companies said.

Mohamed Fauzy said the new cheap Dunlop Gents Mountain Bike model, targeted at users of various ages, would be made available through its dealerships nationwide beginning next month.

The stars cycled night and day on their bikes and experienced extreme weather conditions, such as blizzards and heavy rain.

Bikes take leading role in London's East Festival

Each artist plays three sets, starting at 2pm, 4pm and 6pm, meaning that you can visit the venues in whichever order you please, with guided rides taking cyclists between the concerts.

Today, reinforcements will arrive in the shape of Jimmy Carr, who has been unable to participate in the ride to date as a result of a clash with work commitments, as they head down through Lancashire – they’ve just passed Houghton, near Blackburn, with Patrick Kielty handing over to Russell Howard.

The team is now more than halfway towards its fundraising target of £1,000,000, with £566,000 pledged to date. which also has video diaries, a GPS tracker so you can see check progress, and a Lane of Fame where names of donors appear, assuming they’ve ticked the appropriate box when making their donation.

Cycling is set to take a centre-stage role in London’s Festival, which starts this Friday, with bike polo and a the Cycle East series of concerts, in which people are encouraged to use bikes to hop between venues, among the featured attractions.

Who will protect us from cigarette smoke?

For almost a decade now, there’s supposed to be a smoking ban in effect in all public spaces, yet 240 Filipinos still die every day from smoking-related diseases. As the adult smokers die, cigarette companies entice teenagers to start smoking.

The youth can be scared off by pictures showing the ill effects of smoking, but our lawmakers wouldn’t pass a law to require those kinds of warnings on cigarette packs. Cigarettes can also be made expensive through increased taxes, so teenagers won’t be able to afford them, but Congress sat on sin tax proposals. Manufacturers are prohibited from advertising, but they skirt the ban through other, more personal promo activities.

So who will save us from what the World Health Organization calls an “epidemic”? Do presidential aspirants have clear policy directions or firm commitments when it comes to controlling tobacco use?