9am Briefing: Clegg says Labour deal is possible if Brown steps down

LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg has shifted his position on potential coalition partners, saying a post-election deal with a third-placed Labour Party was possible - but Gordon Brown could not stay on as Prime Minister.

Four new opinion polls today showed The Tories in the lead with the Lib Dems second and Labour third.

Lloyds on the up

PART-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group today confirmed it returned to profit in the first three months of the year after a marked slowdown in bad debts.

The bank, which is 41 per cent owned by the taxpayer, said it expects to sustain the "momentum" throughout 2010 and report profits at both the half year and full-year stage.

Richey gets oil field

FORMER death row prisoner Kenny Richey has inherited an oil field in America from his deceased great-grandad.

The 45-year-old said he had no knowledge of the land in Marshall County, West Virginia, until an energy company recently applied to drill there, it was reported today.

He said: "I think I might get a cowboy hat and live on the ranch."

Woman saved after chip pan blaze

A WOMAN was rescued from her flat by neighbours when a chip pan caught fire.

The fire started in the second floor flat on Warrender Park Road at around 7:30pm last night.

Four young women in a third floor flat helped the 41-year-old woman from her home and evacuated the rest of the stair, as firefighters used breathing apparatus to fight the blaze.

Nessie 'beyond doubt'

POLICE files from the 1930s have revealed a leading officer of the era believed the existence of the Loch Ness Monster to be "beyond doubt".

A Government file on the phenomenon has been released by the National Archives of Scotland as part of its "An Open Secret" exhibition.

William Fraser, chief constable of Inverness-shire raised concerns about protecting the "strange creature" from hunters in a letter to the Under Secretary of State at the Scottish Office.