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Paper Monitor

13:25 UK time, Tuesday, 24 April 2012

A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.

Today's Paper Monitor examines the theme of patriotism - and what could be more patriotic than a tattoo, maybe of a Union Flag, a St George's Cross, a lion, a teacup?

No, 19-year-old Lewis Jolly, has plumped for something more, er, unique. A tattoo of London mayor Boris Johnson. in The Sun.

"I'm patriotic and I thought rather than have something everyone else has got - like a bulldog or the St George's Cross flag - I'd get Boris. I love that he wants to celebrate what's great about London."

Now here's a thing - Jolly doesn't reside in London, but Chorley.

The chef from Lancashire may be interested in the Jubilee pie that is to be prepared for the .

According to the Telegraph, the tradition is believed to have started some 800 years ago. The jawless fish has been caught in the River Severn, made into a pie and presented to the monarch of the day to mark such events as coronations and jubilees.

This year, however, there is a shortage of the fish. In fact, lamprey in the UK is an endangered species and protected by law - so destined for a pie, it is not. A number of eel-like creatures - which will be cooked in their own blood - will be imported from Canada, instead.

The Telegraph's .

The business end of a lamprey looks more like a vacuum cleaner attachment or a detail from an off-putting painting by Francis Bacon than a fish. The creature leads a parasitic life, battening upon the sides of ordinary hard-working fishes with its rows of sharp little teeth. Yet these underwater oddities have long been made into a dainty dish to set before a king. Indeed, Henry I is reputed to have died from a surfeit of them, which shows remarkable single-mindedness.

Meanwhile, police chiefs in Accrington, Lancashire have been given a dressing down by the Sun for banning a St George's Day flag on one of their buildings.

According to the paper, the flag has been flown in past years on the station in Accrington and was on display at other public buildings in the town on Monday. One councillor was quoted in the paper calling for the police chiefs to "show more patriotism".

So why wasn't it there? The police station is an old building and bosses feared that a member of staff could fall through the roof while putting the flag up.

A spokesman for the Lancashire force said they felt that while the station was not "fit for purpose and it was felt inappropriate to ask a member of staff to go on to the roof to put the flag up for one day".

Paper Monitor doesn't know if the station currently flies a Union Flag or not - but just a word of warning, Her Majesty is scheduled to visit Accrington in May.

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