(Very) modern manners

ChRISTmAS is a time of overindulgence, but some people are keen not to make a pig of themselves wolfing down their Christmas dinner. Social climbers and their children are enrolling at the Sunningdale Academy in Berkshire, where they are being taught the finer points of table manners, such as how to butter a bread roll and make small talk at sophisticated parties.

Promoting its ‘one day Festive dining etiquette event’, the academy says students will also be shown how not to bolt their food, excuse themselves to use the loo and handle any slopped soup. Classes cost £145, or £90 for children. A Christmas present for a slobbish friend?