Crispy duck ovens are not all they are quacked up to be. Westminster City council, precipitating a crisis that threatened to banish the dish from eateries across Chinatown, had condemned the ovens for failing to meet European carbon monoxide emission standards.

Fortunately for conno­isseurs, West End law firm Davenport Lyons, acting for restaurants in London’s Chinatown, says it has persuaded the council to let CORGI fitters modify the ovens. However a spokesman for the firm warned the fight might not be finally over. Whatever next, Obiter wonders – a takeaway to the High Court?