'Confession' of canoeist's wife

The case of John Darwin, presumed dead in a canoeing accident for five years until last weekend, continues to intrigue the papers.

Under the headline "I confess", his wife, Anne, tells the Daily Mail he came back to the family home less than a year after faking the accident.

The Sun says Mr Darwin secretly lived next door to his wife in a bedsit, entering her bedroom via a wardrobe.

He would escape into the bedsit when relatives visited, the paper says.

Debt crisis

There are more gloomy forecasts for the economy, with the Daily Telegraph saying four million people are still paying off debts from last Christmas.

It says financial analysts are warning consumers risk intensifying Britain's personal debt crisis with another Christmas spending spree.

The Financial Times warns homeowners may be forced to sell when lenders tighten borrowing terms next year.

It says the Council of Mortgage Lenders wants public help for those struggling.

Nursery places

The Independent leads with the milk-pricing conspiracy involving Sainsbury's, Asda and a number of leading dairies.

The paper says it confirms fears about the might of the big supermarkets.

Children as young as two will be offered free nursery places, according to the Guardian.

It says the places, to be targeted at poorer parents, are part of an overhaul of early years learning to be unveiled by Children's Secretary Ed Balls.

Football investigation

"And they're off" says the Guardian, referring to the collapse of jockey Kieren Fallon's race-fixing trial.

The Times believes the failure of the case will undermine the investigation into alleged corruption in the football transfer market.

Both cases are led by the City of London Police, who reputation is now "in tatters" the paper says.

A cartoon in the paper pictures two glum racegoers with the caption: "The prosecution weren't trying."