Ferguson refuses to speak to media after Liverpool game

Ferguson was silent after Sunday's loss to Liverpool

Sir Alex Ferguson refused to speak to media rights holders following the game at Liverpool on Sunday which Manchester United lost 3-1.

The United manager did not speak to host broadcaster Sky Sports, radio rights holders TalkSport and the club's television channel MUTV.

His assistant Mike Phelan did not carry out his usual post-match engagements with the BBC.

The decision not to talk to the media was made before the game.

Should any of the media organisations complain to the Premier League, the governing body would be forced to act.

Ferguson has not given a post-match interview to the BBC since 2004 after a BBC Three documentary about his son Jason, who was then working as a football agent.

The Premier League was due to discuss Ferguson's BBC boycott, which is in contravention of its rules, late last year, but if any fines were imposed for his non-compliance they have yet to be made public.

However, it is believed no media organisation has ever lodged an official complaint over the issue.

Ferguson cancelled his pre-game briefing on Friday in protest at the coverage given to his post-match quotes at Chelsea on Tuesday for which the Football Association charged him with improper conduct .

His action was also prompted by the furore that surrounded Wayne Rooney's elbowing of Wigan's James McCarthy last weekend.

Ferguson said he had "feared the worst" when referee Martin Atkinson was appointed for the game at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea, which United lost 2-1 after leading at half-time.

He denies the charge and will have a personal hearing at a date no later than 25 March.

The Scot also has two matches of a four-game ban from last season hanging over him after remarks about referee Alan Wiley.

It is not yet known whether the media blackout will continue this week, ahead of United's FA Cup quarter-final with Arsenal, although discussions are bound to take place behind the scenes.

However defender Rio Ferdinand, who was not at Anfield as he recovers from a calf injury, offered his opinion via Twitter.

"Bad result today, no excuses," he said.

Exercise Watermark to test UK's flood response

The largest flood defence exercise ever held in the UK is getting under way - and will last all week.

Exercise Watermark will involve thousands of people from the emergency services, councils and utility firms.

The practical test comes in the wake of heavy criticism of failings in the official response to the floods which hit several areas in 2007.

A series of scenarios across England and Wales will test the authorities' ability to co-ordinate.

Among the scenarios in Exercise Watermark, a primary school in Sutton-on-Sea, Lincolnshire, will be evacuated and helicopters will lift people from rooftops in nearby Tattershall Lakes Country Park.

RAF helicopters will also be tasked with rescuing people from a submerged park at Bala Lake in Wales.

BBC correspondent David Shukman says one of the most glaring failures in the floods four years ago was judged to be that different organisations did not act well together.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

More extreme weather and rising sea levels mean we have to be prepared to deal with the impact of a major flood”

End Quote Richard Benyon Environment Minister

Exercise Watermark is largely a desk exercise with officials and emergency responders forced to react to scripted events - a river bursting its banks or a North Sea storm overwhelming East Anglia.

Our correspondent says the test comes at a sensitive time for ministers as critics accuse them of making the country more vulnerable by cutting the budget for flood protection.

Environment Minister Richard Benyon said: "More extreme weather and rising sea levels mean we have to be prepared to deal with the impact of a major flood.

"Exercise Watermark will be Britain's biggest ever emergency exercise and provide a unique opportunity for us to test our responses."

£1.8m budget

Exercise Watermark will last all week, cost £1.8m and involve around 10,000 people, 10 government departments, emergency services, utility companies and communities.

It comes out of an official review by Sir Michael Pitt into the 2007 floods which devastated parts of Yorkshire, the Midlands and the West Country.

As part of the exercise, ministers will take part in mock emergency Cobra meetings and local authorities and emergency services will hold "local resilience forums" to test their responses.

Mr Benyon said the exercise was not taking funding away from flood defences, which suffered cuts under the spending review, as the money came from the emergency planning budget.

Surface water maps, estimating where water would collect in the event of flash flooding, are also being developed.

He said the government wanted to protect an extra 145,000 homes from flooding over the next four to five years.