Mark Bridger, the man convicted of murdering five-year-old April Jones, has abandoned his application for permission to appeal against his whole-life tariff.

The move was confirmed today by the Judicial Office after the former slaughterhouse worker was given the whole-life sentence by trial judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams when he was convicted by a jury at Mold Crown Court last May.

Meanwhile, councils that give the green-light to 'fracking' projects will be allowed to keep millions of pounds more in tax revenue.

And, Foreign Secretary William Hague has issued a fresh warning to Tory Eurosceptics that demands for Parliament to be able to veto all laws coming from Brussels are unrealistic.