LDV's plea for immediate government aid has been thoroughly rejected - here's the FT's story - and the permanent closure of the Washwood Heath plant is looking increasingly likely. The media reaction has been pretty varied, from a clarion call for a rescue plan from a Birmingham industrialist to a brisk opinion piece blaming LDV for its own woes. Those of us who have followed LDV since it became LDV in 1993 are thinking, 'Of all the people to buy LDV, why did it have to be Oleg Deripaska, the most controversial of the Russian oligarchs?'

And speaking of stupendously rich people, what will Sir Alan Sugar be doing with three HGV apprentices in Enfield on Thursday? Taking part in National Apprenticeship Week, that's what - an excellent notion, because the country really is crying out for properly-trained technicians and mechanics. Sir - you're hired!

But disappointingly, yet another planning application for a truck stop has been refused. This time the proposal was for a 130-space lorry park by the A13 in Thurrock, Essex. Let's hope the proposal goes through in the end.