Retail sales rose 1 last month as warmer weather and end-of-season deals helped to boost supermarkets and clothes stores.

Dignitaries have marked the recovery of a photo portrait of Winston Churchill known as The Roaring Lion, which was stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.

Official figures showed higher spending on public services, while national debt hit levels last seen in the early 1960s.

Laurence Bard, one of the original choristers from 1963, was part of the reunion at the Dolby Theatre in Soho.