Support for Liberal Democrats has plunged to just 12 per cent - half the level the party secured in the General Election - according to a poll released today.

The final day of the European and British National Powerboat championships was cancelled after a man died when a boat "flipped over", Essex police said today.

Home Secretary Theresa May hailed an "important step forward for child protection" as Sarah's Law, which allows parents to check if someone has a history of child sex offences, was rolled out nationally today.

Everyone who tried out London's new cycle hire scheme on launch day was given a refund after a few experienced problems, a Transport for London (TfL) spokesman said.

A career civil servant's pension was boosted by 25 per cent after seeing out his final working year as the stand-in head of Britain's employment centres. Mel Groves retired with a pension pot worth £1.75m, after a 12-month spell as acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus during which there was a 50 per cent increase in the number of people on the dole.

Pink List judges – including former culture secretary Ben Bradshaw, broadcaster Clare Balding, Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill, and John Amaechi, the psychologist and author – fought long and hard to decide on the 101 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain today.

Britain is on the brink of a freewheeling revolution. A bicycle boom is under way across the UK, with more and more people rediscovering the joy of two wheels rather than four. Sales of bikes have soared and cyclists are travelling further, according to latest figures. The rise of pedal power is poised to accelerate, as cities from Bristol to York invest millions of pounds in new cycling infrastructure.

The festival of joyous chaos that descends on Edinburgh every summer redrafts its own crazy history each year, as performers and their willing lackeys head north for the bacchanalian revelry that chaotically meanders through the backwaters of the silly season. Nearly all the performers fantasise about triumphant, sell-out runs that will kick-start a glittering career. Most of these desperate hopes remain unrealised. The real treasures for performers to mine are the tall tales, myths and legends born out of glorious failure, scuzzy accommodation, brilliant responses to hecklers, chance meetings and the building of networks in adversity. To commemorate the mayhem that begins tomorrow, here are my top 10 "blue plaque" moments.