Meanwhile, the Chelsea fan who allegedly made racist gestures at United's Danny Welbeck during Wednesday's League Cup tie has been named as 28-year-old Gavin Kirkham from the county of Hertfordshire, north of London.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Surrey contributed more income tax to the Exchequer between 2009 and 2011 than anywhere apart from the City of London, the county council has said.

BBC: Surrey road sign

Manchester, Northamptonshire and Barnet were chosen simply as being representative of a metropolitan authority, a shire county and a London borough - and were areas where there had not been objections to admissions policies.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Education | School admits ?50 'admission fee'

The best performing county was Sutton in London, where 74.7% of pupils got the government benchmark of five GCSEs, including maths and English.

BBC: Struggling pupils don't catch up, data shows

In a letter to Tower Hamlets, Bromley Council said the sculpture became the property of the Greater London Council when that authority replaced London County Council.

BBC: Bromley Council disputes Henry Moore sculpture ownership

Trading on the London Stock Exchange has been opened by the leader of Kent County Council as part of a campaign to get firms to move to east Kent.

BBC: Kent council leader opens trading on London Stock Exchange

"We allege that the defendants arrested today were responsible for a very large percentage of the heroin and cocaine available for street sale in New London County, " U.S. Attorney David Fein said.

WSJ: About 100 charged in New England drug raids

Recommendations to "transform the culture of learning" across the county, include the long-term partnership with a London borough, routine collaboration across and beyond Suffolk, setting up a Suffolk Partnership for Excellence in Learning.

BBC: Suffolk schools to begin partnership with Hackney

Richard Sheehan, from Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, said it would make it easier for businesses to travel between the county and London.

BBC: Shropshire to London direct rail link 'to boost business'

Northamptonshire County Council and Northampton Borough Council are to develop a scheme on the lines of the Boris Bikes initiative in London.

BBC: Boris Bikes scheme for Northampton

To take only the two most obvious examples, Sir Nicholas Serota, a former young Turk, presides at the new Tate, Britain's most popular gallery, and Charles Saatchi's once shocking collection of Brit art is on display in museum-space that he colonised in London's staid old County Hall upriver.

ECONOMIST: Too much of a good thing