SP SHOPS TO CLOSE IN BRITAIN

Britain's big bookmakers yesterday bowed to public pressure and announced that their betting shops will not open on Saturday

Britain's big bookmakers yesterday bowed to public pressure and announced that their betting shops will not open on Saturday.Coral, Ladbrokes and William Hill had all initially decided to allow their offices to operate on Saturday afternoon, despite the cancellation of racing in Britain as a mark of respect to Diana, Princess of Wales.The British Tote announced on Monday that their premises would remain closed and the decision of the "Big Three" was widely criticised as insensitive.Channel 4 yesterday announced that there will be no edition of The Morning Line on this Saturday. Confirming the news, a spokeswoman for the programme explained: "There is no racing to talk about. And it wouldn't be entirely appropriate as it is usually quite a jovial programme."British racing trade papers, the Racing Post and the Sporting Life, will not publish editions on Saturday.