Briefs

n Skills sector council Improve will launch its new interactive website on June 28, offering modules in bakery which count towards level 2 and 3 NVQ. They can be completed online with tutor support at a cost of between £30 and £290 each.

n British Bakeries has suspended deliveries to retail chain Kwik Save. It is understood that the decision follows "payment problems". Parent company Premier said it was unable to comment on commercial agreements. Deliveries of cigarettes, chilled and frozen goods are also understood to be experiencing disruption.

n A pensioner has won a battle to open Scotland’s first Maltese bakery. Sebastian Saliba, 69, won permission to open the traditional pastizzeria in a garage next to his home in Cruden Bay, Buchan, despite local opposition to the extra traffic the outlet would attract. He plans to bake and sell pastizzi, a traditional Maltese cheesecake with a ricotta, pea or meat filling.

n Taking folic acid supplements reduces the risk of stroke by 18%, according to a large study published in The Lancet last week. The findings also suggest that mandatory fortification of flour, currently being considered by the Food Standards Agency, could reduce death rates from strokes.

n Two career criminals who burgled a number of East Lancashire businesses, including Oddies bakeries, have each been jailed for two years. Burnley Crown Court heard how drug addicts Paul Ludlam, 34, and Keith Kavanagh, 40, decided to target commercial premises rather than houses.