He said fire statistics from across the UK showed there was an increase in fires during Diwali - the festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains.

BBC: Diwali is also known as the festival of lights

While it is hard to get reliable statistics for tablet sales, a survey by YouGov seems to show that the Kindle Fire came from nowhere to challenge for the lead over the festive season.

BBC: Will Amazon's customers swallow a bigger tablet?

With just a few days to go until Sir Michael Scholar leaves his job at the helm of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), the watchdog has for the first time turned its fire, not on politicians or civil servants it thinks have misused official stats, but on members of the press.

BBC: Watchdog v newshound

The union's figures, collated from fire services in England and Wales, painted a more accurate picture of the problem than the government's statistics, Mr Wrack said.

BBC: Firefighters generic