Papers mull election insults

"The campaign turns personal," says The Daily Telegraph referring to what it calls a "trading of insults" between Labour and the Conservatives.

The paper explains how Labour has unveiled a poster campaign depicting William's Hague head with Lady Thatcher's hair.

For the Tories' offensive, the Telegraph quotes John Major's first speech of the campaign, in which he attacked Tony Blair's record of "spin and deceit".

The Conservatives are facing a "poll meltdown" according to The Guardian.

The latest survey by ICM - which, the paper points out, is usually the least favourable of the polling companies towards Labour - suggests that the Tories are now trailing Labour by 19 points.

Handbagging

On a lighter note, a number of papers point to the latest appearance in this campaign by Lady Thatcher - and, in particular, what The Mirror calls her "handbagging" of a TV reporter.

The papers describe how the journalist in question - Peter Hayes, from Central Television - asked the former prime minister, during a visit to Northampton on Tuesday, why was she afraid of the Euro?

According to the Daily Mail, she boomed back, "what a question!", adding that, as a broadcaster, he should protect the pound, before poking him in the chest with her finger.

Race fears for cricket

The Times reports that amid racial tension in Greater Manchester, Pakistan's cricketers will have a police escort for the Second Test at Old Trafford, starting on Thursday.

In the wake of rioting in Oldham, says the paper, there is real concern that right-wing extremists will try to goad the crowd into violence.

Big Brother trouble

Many of the papers focus on the future of one of the contestants in TV's "Big Brother" - and it's not because she faces possible eviction from the "fly-on-the-wall" house.

Under the headline, "Big Boss is Watching You", The Mirror warns that Penny Ellis, an English teacher in east London, faces the sack from her job after appearing naked on the show.

Corrie funeral row

A row over filming of the funeral of a character from Coronation Street attracts the attention of several papers.

The Mirror dubs it "Cremation Street", while "Unrest in Peace" is the Daily Star's description. It all revolves around the funeral of Alma, played by Amanda Barrie.

As The Express reports, the filming led to Salford crematorium being sealed-off, and the postponement of some cremations.

The paper quotes one woman as saying the filming had "thrown into turmoil" the funeral of her brother-in-law.

The Mirror adds that the programme makers, Granada, said they had worked with the crematorium to make sure there was least upheaval, and that it was never their intention to create upset.

Driving down crime

The Mail tells the remarkable tale of driving instructor, Colin Gant, who, it says, "glanced in his rear view mirror.... and spotted the burglar that he had chased from his home a few weeks earlier".

The paper explains how Mr Gant, with no breaches of the Highway Code, of course, allowed the man to drive past him, before noting his registration number and passing the details to the police.

The burglar has now been jailed for 16 months.