We're loving... We're hating... We're buying...

Compiled by Ben Naylor

Loving... sewers

Britain's sewers could soon all be carrying a lot more than just waste. Fibrecity, a company that provides super-high-speed broadband internet via fibreoptic cables, has completed the UK's first fibreoptic network in Bournemouth, with 30 homes due to be switched on this week.

All homeowners in the town are being offered the chance to have connection set-up for free (with no obligation to receive it in the future). The charges are yet to be confirmed, but the sewer cables not only reduce installation time and cause far less disruption, they also cost a lot less, as the tunnels are ready-made. The savings will – we trust – be passed on to the consumer. Visit www.fibrecity.eu for more information.

Hating... the u-turn on eco-towns

The Prime Minister's pledge to build 10 carbon-neutral communities – with low- and zero-carbon technology, efficient recycling and water systems and good public transport – to ease the housing crisis, has come up against a big stumbling block: the locals.

The plans for the villages – the first new towns to be created in Britain for more than 40 years – which were to consist of between 30 and 50 per cent social housing, encountered fierce opposition from some locals. In the context of a faltering property market and house-building industry, this has forced officials to pick a shortlist of only five sites out of 12 put forward by developers. There is no guarantee that any of the five will be built.

Buying... Agent provocateur trunk

Ever envisaged what life would be like as a 1930s Hollywood film star? Well, first you'll need the props. And according to Agent Provocateur, a must-have for every lady of the silver screen was a trunk. Don't be deceived by its name, which doesn't do the pink-leather exterior or black-lacquered wooden interior of this any justice. It is more like a beauty cabinet – think Polly Pocket for women – with drawers a-plenty, including two secret ones, and the lid opens into a mirror.

Agent Provocateur assures us that it is perfectly capable of travel, but at £2,500, would you really fancy letting it run the gauntlet that is the check-in at Heathrow? There have only been 25 made, so if you want to treat your partner for Valentine's Day, you couldn't get much more exclusive than this.