Signs of the times: Austerity bites across the UK

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's new coalition government has vowed to slash spending in a bid to drive down its deficit.

Below is a summary of other developments from around the country showing how the cuts are being felt and dealt with:

The financial crisis hit Edinburgh-based banks particularly hard but house prices in the city rose 20 percent in the year to February; unemployment is 3.3 percent and new business start-ups are up 33 percent. The catch is that it is almost entirely built on other people's taxes. (The Herald, Aug 26)

A collection of stuffed animals and birds from the attic of a 500-year-old Northampton museum is to be sold at auction. The collection of more than 200 taxidermy projects will be sold by Northampton Borough Council with the hope of raising up to 40,000 pounds. (Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Aug 26)

School-leavers' A-level exam results came out last week. Standards have gone up but there aren't nearly enough university places. The problem, as usual, is money. (Guardian, Aug 24)

Two in five former Woolworths stores are still empty, more than 18 months after the retailer's collapse. Although retail analysts are talking of a modest recovery, more than 300 of the 807 Woolworths stores remain unwanted. (Guardian, Aug 24)

Motorists could be charged hundreds of pounds a year to park at work after councils were ordered by the government to find new ways of raising money. (Daily Telegraph, Aug 23)

More than 100 million pounds has been lost in the last year by drivers who broke down without breakdown cover. As austerity prompts people to look for savings, the AA advises cover is still worth having. (Aberdeen Press and Journal, Aug 23) More than 400,000 vulnerable people, including pensioners and victims of domestic violence, could lose their homes and see care entitlement scrapped if cuts are made to a support programme, campaigners warn. (Guardian, Aug 20)

Budget cuts and changes to health service commissioning are threatening the future of the UK's only mobile unit to tackle tuberculosis. (Financial Times, Aug 17)

Crisis-hit Bank of Scotland is pulling out of sponsoring this year's fireworks display at the Edinburgh Festival which draws an estimated crowd of 250,000. (Guardian, Aug 16)

The Royal Institution is scaling down its popular Christmas lecture series for the first time in nearly 200 years to save on costs, leading scientists have said. (Guardian, Aug 13)

Some of the Britain's most beautiful countryside could be sold by the government as part of cost-cutting measures. Measures under consideration include selling the agencies which manage forests and woodland, care for canals and rivers and monitor pollution and waste. (Daily Telegraph, Aug 13)

Education Secretary Michael Gove has frozen funding for up to 1,300 new children's playgrounds, accusing Labour of drawing up unaffordable plans (Evening Standard, Aug 11)

The first large-scale Pride event planned for Worcester has been postponed. Organisers of Worcester Pride 2010 said the 'new period of austerity' had led to many bodies which had pledged support having to revise their budgets. (BBC, Aug 9)

Austerity is even being felt in the soccer Premier League with all but Manchester City exercising caution during the transfer window meaning there could be a more open race in the coming season. (Guardian, Aug 9)

More diesel cars were sold in Britain last month than petrol-driven motors. New diesel cars are faster and quieter but Britain's new age of austerity seems to be the real driver behind the increase in sales. (Guardian, Aug 5)

UK media companies' single largest source of advertising revenue over the past two years has been chopped in half after the government axed marketing spending. (Financial Times, Aug 3)

Speed cameras in Oxfordshire have flashed their last motorist after the council cut funding in its search for 11 million pounds of savings. (Oxford Times, Aug 2)

Civil servants at the Treasury are to be forced to sit closer together and work at smaller desks to free up space. The Chancellor has ordered civil servants to investigate whether the Treasury building can be sublet to fit staff from other Whitehall Departments. (Daily Telegraph, Aug 2)

There are growing swathes of empty space on the bodywork of Formula 1 cars as companies reappraise priorities within their marketing departments. (Daily Telegraph, July 25)

Prime Minister David Cameron travels from Washington to New York on the scheduled 11 a.m. Amtrak train service, judging he must practise what he preaches. (Independent, July 22)

Companies moving into a huge new City office and retail complex will be asked to pay for their own dedicated police force. (Financial Times, July 18)

The government has struck a deal with Facebook to field ideas from the public on further state spending cuts ahead of the Spending Review (Guardian, July 9)

(Compiled by Paul Hoskins)