The nation’s financial health is deteriorating with almost half of UK adults classified as ‘financially overweight’ according to the new Lloyds TSB BMI – Bank Mass Index - devised by Professor Stephen McKay at the University of Birmingham.

Drinking a couple of cups of green tea before exercise could help burn fat, researchers at the University of Birmingham suggest.

A team at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Formulation Engineering is developing a microstructure – an air filled emulsion coated in protein - that resembles the physical properties of a fat globule. The protein is hydrophobin which comes from mushrooms. This new structure could replace fat in foods such as salad dressings, mayonnaise, sauces and even spreads and margarines.

Barack Obama’s latest string of successes this weekend in the US primaries is more important for its symbolism than its return in delegates, according to Prof Scott Lucas, the director of the think tank Libertas at the University of Birmingham.