The London Easter egg hunt is well and truly underway. I have kept my eyes peeled for more giant eggs scattered around the capital and today I stumbled across not one but two. There are 200 altogether and they have been put out by world-famous jewellery maker Faberge in the run up to Easter. They are certainly brightening up the city and after stumbling across my first one last week, I am getting quite excited when I come across more of them. I spied these two in close proximity of each other in central London, but I am not going to say where – that would spoil the fun. All the eggs have been decorated by celebrities including Bruce Oldfield, Sir Ridley Scott and Zandra Rhodes. The first was a black egg beautifully decorated with white and red flowers, the second which was just around the corner was white and bore some kind of poem with the word “zero” used a lot throughout the text. I have no idea what hat is all about, but they are rather attrac...

I found myself thinking the following today. Do I trust my GP? It was sparked by comments left on the Express website against the top story today that sleeping pills can kill you . There is a proportion of the British public, and I should specify we are talking about NHS doctors here, who would answer "no" to this question. Thankfully, I rarely have occasion to visit my doctor. I am not ill that often, but more importantly I trust my own research and pharmaceutical background far more than I do the man or woman sitting opposite me with exactly eight minutes of NHS-funded minutes to spare. So I tend to self-medicate. My experience of GPs comes in two capacities. As a patient and as a pharmaceutical representative, a position I held for four years in a previous life. I was often lost for words as I sat in various consulting rooms around London extolling the benefits of my drug to GPs, consultants and registrars. Behind closed doors, when...

Living on the Isle of Dogs carries the risk of catching a killer disease historically associated with the squalor of Victorian London. According figures from the National Health Service , the London borough of Tower Hamlets has become a hot bed for the deadly lung infection tuberculosis (TB). It is making a comeback to London and according to figures just released by the NHS, there were 158 cases in 2007 in Tower Hamlets making it the third highest notification rate in North-east London. This is very worrying,  20 years ago I never remember TB being an issue. We were all given the BCG vaccination at school and that was usually the last you heard of it. But between 1999 and 2009 the number of cases  soared by 50 per cent in London. It is now  a serious health concern and in the shadow of the capital’s business centre, Canary Wharf, this thriving lethal infection is raising grave concerns of a TB time-bomb waiting to go off. Brian McCloskey, th...

What are the ingredients for a terrific film? Great cast, an absorbing plot, beautiful scenery and a soundtrack that wraps you up and carries you along with the story? Well that is what I look for and this one certainly delivered. Rarely does a film come a long that not only ticks all these boxes, but offers little if anything to warrant criticism. As far as extraordinary cinematic experiences go, this is an absolute beauty. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opened in cinemas a few days ago. An odd title, but don’t let that put you off because it is well worth the £10 entrance fee. Based on the book These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel tells the story of seven British retirees who travel to India to escape crisis in their lives. They are all destined for "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful", a lavish, palatial retirement home in Jaipur run by eternally optimistic hotelier Sunny played by Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire...

Nothing is guaranteed to stir up a bit of agro more than an issue with bins and rubbish collection. The other week I really thought I had heard it all when a letter dropped through the door from the council warning us not to use the bin on our road for putting rubbish in. Tower Hamlets Council actually threatened to fine us all for “littering” if we did. They warned we face an £80 fine if we put anything in the bin on a residential road on the Isle of Dogs, in London. The letter said this would constitute “a littering offence” and not just that it was also “a totally unnecessary and unacceptable practice”. What putting litter in the bin? You have got to be having a laugh. It said it would  make “the road look untidy” and was a “health hazard”. We would be “committing an offence” and could expect a fixed penalty fine with continuous offenders being taken to court, it warned: “It has come to the attention of the council that some residents living i...

One of the things I absolutely love about my job is never knowing what the day is going to bring. Take today for example, I was on the tube heading into the office thinking about the weekend and within a couple of hours I was sat at a table with Sir Tom Jones discussing his latest role as a reality talent show judge. By lunchtime I had ticked Will.I.Am, Jessie J, Holly Willoughby, Reggie Yates and The Script singer Daniel O’Donoghue off my ‘Still To Interview” list. Who else gets to say that when they get home from a day at the office? They are all starring in the new BBC talent search The Voice due to start next month . The four big stars are the judges, or “coaches” as they promise not to bully and criticise the contestants but mentor them through the competition, and Holly and Reggie will present the show. It follows the same format of contestants singing to impress a panel of experts enough to be taken through to the competition which they hope will e...