A ward at Dumfries Infirmary remains closed to admissions due to an outbreak of norovirus.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway said a number of patients on ward 16 had experienced symptoms consistent with the winter sickness bug.
Infection control manager Elaine Ross said the strain brought on "cramping abdominal pains and nausea".
She urged anyone with the virus to stay at home for at least 48 hours after their last symptoms.


The Pentagon says it may sue a former US special forces member who has written a first-hand account of the May 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.

The Department of Defense's top lawyer has informed the former Navy Seal that he has violated agreements he signed in 2007 not to divulge military secrets.
The book, No Easy Day, was written under the pseudonym Mark Owen.
Its publisher, Dutton Penguin, said it saw "no reason" to change its plans to release the book on Tuesday.
It was not reviewed ahead of publication by the Pentagon, CIA or the White House - and officials had warned that criminal charges could result from the improper disclosure of secret information.
In an interview with CBS, "Mr Owen" - who has been identified by US media as Matt Bissonnette - rejected charges that the book is timed to influence the November election in the US, saying it "has nothing to do with politics".
The Pentagon's general counsel, Jeh Johnson, wrote to the author on Thursday to inform him that non-disclosure form he signed in 2007 obliged him to "never divulge" classified information.
The letter said: "In the judgment of the Department of Defense, you are in material breach and violation of the non-disclosure agreements you signed."
The Pentagon is considering "all remedies legally available to us", the letter added.
It was reported this week that No Easy Day contradicts the official story of the raid.
The book says Bin Laden was shot dead as soon as he looked out of his bedroom as Seals rushed up the stairs, according to the Associated Press news agency, which has seen an advance copy.
But US officials have stated he was shot only after he had ducked back into the bedroom, prompting fears he might be grabbing a weapon.
The book also reveals that the commandos were not big fans of US President Barack Obama, even though they applauded his decision to launch the operation.
An interview with Mr Bissonnette by CBS News' 60 Minutes was originally scheduled for broadcast ahead of the book's original release date of 11 September.
The author said he chose that date to signify that the publication was a non-political decision.
"You know, if these - crazies on either side of the aisle want to make it political, shame on them," he says an excerpt of the interview released by CBS.
"This is a book about September 11th, and it needs to rest on September 11th. Not be brought into the political arena, because this has nothing to do with politics."
However, publication has now been brought forward to 4 September.


As Egypt's despised security agencies return to duty, the BBC's Yolande Knell looks at their uphill struggle to win back public trust.

In the video he shot on his mobile phone, Ehab el-Sawy softly calls out the name of his dead brother, Mustafa, as he examines his body in the hospital morgue.
He lifts a blood-stained shirt to show his neck and chest covered in bullet wounds.
"The security forces were on Qasr al-Nil bridge. They started using excessive force and firing," says Ehab, who was with his brother when he was shot during demonstrations in central Cairo on 28 January. "Mustafa was hit at close-range."
The footage of the dead 25-year-old has been handed to Egypt's public prosecutor who is investigating the case.
Last week it was announced that the former interior minister, Habib el-Adly, and the heads of his three security agencies would face trial for killing demonstrators.
Now many victims' families want individual officers to face charges too.
"We saw police officers with dead consciences. They fired on people without even a brick in their hands.  We want whoever did this to be held accountable," says Ehab.
Egypt's interior ministry forces have long had a reputation for corruption and brutality.
Public fear and hatred of them only increased as they tried to suppress mass demonstrations.
Human rights groups now calculate that 685 people were killed in violent clashes between 28 January and 3 February.
There was also anger as police abandoned their duties and prison guards released thousands of inmates from jail.  Householders were left to guard their own properties.
Following a rise in crime, the new Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf, ordered police to return to the streets earlier this month.
The country's new military rulers have made reforms, most notably disbanding the State Security Investigations Agency, used to spy on citizens and crush political opposition.
Yet some rights campaigners are wary.
"As yet we don't know what the mandate will be for the new National Security Agency taking over from State Security Investigations, or how it will differ," says Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch.
"We need more reassurances that reforms will result in changes in policy and the impunity which allowed the interior ministry to torture and make people 'disappear' over the years.  We would like to see judicial oversight."
Already some changes in style and approach can be detected.
Several years of living and working in Egypt taught me to be wary of the security services.
Encounters generally resulted in threats, intimidation or obstruction to my work as a journalist.
It was a surprise then to be invited to the police headquarters in the Cairo district of Agouza in a friendly manner.
I was shown to the office of Capt Mamdouh Abu Tulib, who told me he was responsible for public relations at the police station and agreed to an interview.
"Thank God, we are operating back on our full capacity following the end of the uprising," he said.
"We had a lot of crimes - burglaries, hate crimes, gangs - but all of this is now being contained."
"The police will not be like they were before 25 January. There is a level of trust now."
But there are many anecdotes and reports currently circulating in Egypt that show there is still a long way to go.
Last month, crowds ganged up on a police officer in Maadi, a wealthy suburb of the capital, after he shot a microbus driver in a dispute at a busy roundabout.
"They saw his ID, then someone shouted, 'he's a policeman'," says Sayid, caretaker of a nearby building. "I saw everyone hitting him.
"They beat him badly until the army came and took him. Then people set his truck on fire."
Such scenes of lawlessness trouble ordinary Egyptians seeking stability.
"Even though they're dirty and corrupt, we need the police 100% at this time," says Sayid.
"I don't feel safe. There aren't police in Maadi like before. They need to return but they're afraid of us," adds a local woman. "They feel ashamed."
In a strange twist, the police who tried to prevent popular protests have now begun organising rallies themselves.
Hundreds of angry officers gathered outside the interior ministry last week.
I met one group of officers who had recently been suspended or dismissed and wanted their jobs back.
Others' demands included greater freedom of expression, a more transparent promotions system, and, like many low-paid Egyptian public workers, better wages.
"I am old. I have stayed in the police for 27 years but I get paid 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($168) a month. How can anyone live in this country?" said a transport police officer.
"Now we are not allowed to take money because this is corruption. My job is much more difficult."
The coming months of transition will be a key period for policy-makers to tackle such issues.
Free and fair elections and a handover to civilian rule are due late this year.
For a new Egypt to emerge, a new police force is desperately needed.


US President Donald Trump says North Korea "will be met with fire and fury" if it threatens the US.

His comments came after a Washington Post report, citing US intelligence officials, said Pyongyang had produced a nuclear warhead small enough to fit inside its missiles.
This would mean the North is developing nuclear weapons capable of striking the US at a much faster rate than expected.
The UN recently approved further economic sanctions against the country.
The Security Council unanimously agreed to ban North Korean exports and limit investments, prompting fury from North Korea and a vow to make the "US pay a price".
The heated rhetoric between the two leaders intensified after Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in July, claiming it now had the ability to hit the US.
Mr Trump told reporters on Tuesday: "North Korea best not make any more threats to the US. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."
Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington:
Donald Trump said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "has been very threatful, beyond a normal statement". So he responded with language that goes well beyond a normal statement for any US president.
Perhaps Mr Trump believes that no hyperbolic threats should go unmatched or that apocalyptic warnings are the only ones the North Korean leadership will understand. Perhaps he - intentionally or not - is pursuing a Nixonian "madman" style foreign policy, where adversaries will tread lightly to avoid triggering the wrath of an unpredictable US commander-in-chief.
When the leader of the world's greatest superpower, the only nation ever to have used nuclear weapons on an enemy, talks of unprecedented "fire and fury", however, those words have consequences.
During his presidential campaign Mr Trump criticised his predecessor Barack Obama for not enforcing a red line against Syria's use of chemical weapons. Now President Trump has drawn a fiery bright line of his own with North Korea - one that could commit the US to a perilous course of action if his words go unheeded.
The Washington Post quoted an intelligence community report as saying it "assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles".
It has previously been thought that the North was still years away from being able to fire a nuclear weapon, although it has long carried out separate nuclear tests and missile launches.
North Korea said on Monday, two days after the UN sanctions were passed, that it would continue with its nuclear weapons programme.
The state-run KCNA news agency said Pyongyang would "not put our self-defensive nuclear deterrent on the negotiating table" while it faces threats from the US.
It threatened to make the US "pay the price for its crime... thousands of times," referring to America's role in drafting the UN sanctions resolution.


A Singaporean comedian has apologised for causing offence over a joke he made about Malaysia's leader.

In a video that went viral Muhammad Fadzri, also known on stage as Fakkah Fuzz, made a pun that compared the word prime minister to  "thief".
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak  has been officially cleared of corruption in a long-running financial scandal that has gripped the nation.
But this video has raised the ire of one Malaysian political group.
In the one-minute clip which has since been removed from Facebook, the stand-up comedian touched on differences between Malay communities in Singapore and Malaysia.
One of the topics he commented on was the difference in terminology.
"Singaporean Malays call a thief 'pencuri' while those in Malaysia call a thief 'perdana menteri' (the local term for prime minister)," he said.
Despite being cleared Mr Najib still continues to face pressure from his critics and repeated calls to resign.
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But Selangor Umno Youth, a wing of Malaysia's largest political party, issued a statement condemning the comedian's video.
"Fakkah Fuzz rudely made a comparison on the definition of a thief in Singapore and Malaysia which is very disheartening," youth chief Zainuri Zainal said in a statement.
The group has also called on Malaysia's Home Ministry to block the Singaporean comedian from entering the country.
"He should not meddle in the matters of Malaysia. This should not have happened, taking into the consideration that both countries have enjoy a good diplomatic relationship," he said.
Since the video's release on Saturday, the 30-year-old Singaporean says he has been receiving messages by the hour.
He told BBC News that he did not expect such a backlash.
"I am not a political activist, I am a stand up comedian - I'm simply here to entertain."
"There are just so many crazy things happening in this part of the world now and I feel for Malaysia too. I was simply introducing political satire in my act and felt that the best way to do that was to be relatable."
Mr Fadzri also said  he has also received messages of support.
"People have been messaging me from Malaysia and Singapore, telling me they love what I do and want to see me in my next show," he said.
"Comedy is what I've done for years - it's art and the epitome of freedom of expression. If political satire is welcomed in the West for audiences to take a break from issues and just have a good laugh then I believe this part of the world can do it too."


A man who fell up to 30ft (9m) from cliffs and landed on rocks has been taken to hospital following a major rescue operation.

The 25-year-old fell from cliffs near Admiralty Road in the Stonehouse area of Plymouth at about 03:00 BST.
Fire crews, paramedics, coastguard teams and the RNLI lifeboat were involved in the rescue.
The man has been taken to the city's Derriford Hospital. His condition is not known.


Tens of thousands of grandparents are missing out on National Insurance (NI) credits which could be worth more than £230 a year when they retire, a former pensions minister has said.

Sir Steve Webb, director of policy at Royal London, wants the government to encourage more people to claim them.
Parents who give up work are given NI credits while their children are under 12, to help them get a state pension.
If they return to work, relatives can claim the credits instead.
To qualify for the so-called grandparents' credit, such relatives need to be of working age, while caring for the child in question.
In the year to the end of September 2016, only about 1,300 people claimed the credits, according to a response to a Freedom of Information request.
However, Sir Steve said that as many as 100,000 relatives could get them, if only they were made aware.
"The scheme is not much use if hardly anyone takes it up," he said.
"The government needs to act quickly to alert mothers to the fact that they can sign over the National Insurance credits that they do not need."
Any close relative can apply for the National Insurance credits, but it's most likely to be a grandparent, as long as they're under pension age.
Each year of caring for a child under 12, qualifies them for an extra £231 of annual pension.
Which is valuable if they don't have a full National insurance record and aren't earning enough to pay National Insurance anyway.
If families think they've missed out, they can make backdated claims for all the years back to 2011.
A grandparent or other relative who takes part in the scheme for a full year is able to claim an extra 1/35th of the state pension.
That is worth £231 a year, or about £4,600 over a 20-year retirement.
In response, the government said that as many as 5,000 people in total had benefited from the scheme - officially known as Specified Adult Childcare credits - since it started in 2011.
"These credits are available to people in a small number of specific circumstances," said a spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
"As with all credits, details of the Specified Adult Childcare credits are well publicised on GOV.UK and are promoted through a number of consumer websites."
Those who have missed out on the scheme can make back-dated claims.
The application form can be found on the government's website.


A chain of hotels run by businesswoman Stephanie Booth has gone into administration.

The development with Llangollen Hotels has led to the immediate closure of the Wynnstay Arms in Wrexham and the Fantastic Fun Houses in Mold and Wrexham.
Staff at the hotel and children's play centres were sent home on Thursday.
Ms Booth's other hotels and the Mclaren's Leisure Complex in Oswestry will continue trading as normal.
A spokesman for Ms Booth said she is using her own money to ensure all staff have been paid.
"Following a winding-up petition issued by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, Llangollen Hotels expects to be placed in administration later today or tomorrow," said the spokesman.
"This has necessitated the immediate closure of leased premises as a default on rent is unavoidable."
He added that all deposits and bookings were safeguarded whilst the company works with auditors KPMG to find a long-term solution.
In 2009, Ms Booth appeared in BBC Wales fly-on-the-wall documentary series Hotel Stephanie showing her cope with the day-to-day problems of managing six hotels in north east Wales during the recession.
In recent months she has been linked with a takeover of Wrexham football club, before withdrawing from the process in May.
She took over the Wynnstay Arms, which is a well-known Wrexham landmark, in April 2010. The new proprietor "guaranteed" the workforce their jobs would be safe.
Promising to spend at least Â£1m in the first year, Ms Booth said she wanted to restore the historic Grade II listed hotel to its "past glories".
The Georgian building, formerly known as the Eagles Inn, was where the Jacobite society, the Circle of the White Rose met in the 18th Century, including members of the prominent Williams-Wynn family of Wynnstay.
The Football Association of Wales was founded at a meeting at the hotel in 1876, and there is a plaque to mark the occasion.
The facade of the hotel is protected, after a campaign to save it from demolition in the 1960s.


She was a self-proclaimed "proud Yorkshire lass" whose work for charity took her around the world and whose political success led her to Westminster.

Jo Cox MP, who has died after being shot and stabbed in her constituency in Birstall, West Yorkshire, was elected as MP for Batley and Spen in the 2015 General Election.
The 41-year-old mother-of-two increased Labour's majority to 6,051. Prime Minister David Cameron led the many tributes to her on Thursday. He described her as a "bright star".
Helen Joanne Cox first worked in politics after graduating from Cambridge University in 1995, but then built a career working for charities including Oxfam, Save the Children and the NSPCC.
She went to Heckmondwike Grammar School and then became the first person in her family to go to university - reading social and political studies at Cambridge.
After graduating, she worked as an adviser for the Labour MP Joan Walley and then Glenys (now Baroness) Kinnock. By the end of the 1990s she was head of campaigns for the pro-European pressure group Britain in Europe.
She also took on further study at the London School of Economics.
It's an over used word these days, but Jo was a star. She was brave, funny, and clever.
In Westminster she was one of those rare people that whatever was going on in politics that day, however much backbiting there was, however many insults were being thrown around, the day was always improved if you bumped into her for a chat, a cup of tea, or heard her speak fearlessly and with compassion in the Commons.
But a conversation with her was just as likely to turn to her young kids, or the family's houseboat on the Thames, as it was to talk about the latest political machinations.
Jo was an MP who cared deeply about her party, and how politics can make a difference not just here, but around the world.
But more importantly she was a mum, a wife and a daughter who broke into ready smiles when she talked about her family. That's what I'll remember.
She told the Yorkshire Post that her experience at Cambridge "knocked me for about five years" when she realised: "That where you were born mattered. That how you spoke mattered... who you knew mattered.
"I didn't really speak right or know the right people. I spent the summers packing toothpaste at a factory working where my dad worked and everyone else had gone on a gap year."
After that, heading to Westminster proved to be "a walk in the park", she said.
From 2002, work for charities took her around the world to tackle poverty issues and discrimination.
During her extensive and senior work for Oxfam, she campaigned on issues including maternal mortality. A decade later she was a strategy consultant for Save the Children and then the NSPCC.
That work was to influence her interests in parliament.
"I've been in some horrific situations - where women have been raped repeatedly in Darfur, I've been with child soldiers who have been given a Kalashnikov and kill members of their own family in Uganda," she said.
"In Afghanistan I was talking to elders who were world weary of a lack of sustained attention from their own government and from the international community to stop problems early.
"That's the thing that all of that experience gave me - if you ignore a problem, it gets worse."
In 2014, Mrs Cox was selected to contest the seat from an all-women shortlist and said she was "proud and humbled" to be the Labour candidate for the place where she was born.
In Westminster, she was chairman of Labour Women's Network and a senior adviser to the Freedom Fund, an anti-slavery charity.
When MPs' pay was reviewed, she said she would use the increase to in turn increase the donations she makes to charity.
And she had spoken out on equal pay, railways and against reducing parents' tax credits.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described her as "a much loved colleague, a real talent and a dedicated campaigner for social justice and peace".
"Jo was dedicated to getting us to live up to our promises to support the developing world and strengthen human rights - and she brought those values and principles with her when she became an MP.
"Jo died doing her public duty at the heart of our democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve. It is a profoundly important cause for us all," he said.
She was one of the MPs who nominated Mr Corbyn so he could take part in the 2015 Labour leadership election.
Speaking about what Labour needed to do after their 2015 general election loss, she said they needed four things - an effective leader; not just to talk about the NHS; to appeal to middle Britain and regain the country's trust on the economy and have a strategy just for Scotland.
But she criticised the leadership in the wake of local election defeats in May 2016, saying: "I think Jeremy needs to personally recognise that this isn't good enough.
"He needs to take responsibility. We need to look very hard at what we've got wrong in the last eight months and put it right."
In December 2015, Mrs Cox was one of five Labour MPs who abstained in the vote on air strikes against so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria. The country was one of her main foreign policy interests and she was co-chair of the Friends of Syria All Party Parliamentary Group.
She wrote of her decision not to vote: "My final hope and plea is, whether or not the government win this vote, that they take a long, hard look at revamping their strategy for civilian protection in Syria.
"That in the weeks that come the protection of civilians becomes the central component in our plan.
"In my view it is only when civilians are protected that we will defeat Isis (IS), and until that is at the centre of our plan, I will remain an outspoken advocate for that cause."
Kellie Strom, from Syria Solidarity UK said she made a "remarkable and unique contribution" to British understanding of the issues around the war.
"Her strong advocacy of clear policy options focused on civilian protection has provided a humane and intelligent alternative to both the isolationist and the narrow counterterrorist tendencies in the UK's policy debates on Syria," he said.
Mrs Cox was married to campaigner Brendan Cox, and she had two young children. She divided her time between their constituency home, and her river boat on the Thames.
On Wednesday, she tweeted a photo of her family taking part in the EU Referendum flotilla on the Thames, motoring a RIB up the river for the In campaign.


The police commissioner of the southern Indian city of Bangalore says there is no evidence to prove allegations of mass molestation took place on New Year's Eve in the centre of the city.

Praveen Sood told the BBC that police officers had reviewed footage from almost 70 CCTV cameras.
But he said police were looking into isolated incidents in other parts of the city that night.
A number of women have told the media they were assaulted by groups of men.
Some have described being surrounded by unruly mobs, and being groped and harassed.
Praveen Sood said police had responded to footage from a member of the public who said a woman had been attacked by two men on a motorbike near his home.
"We had a look at it. We saw it was quite a clear case of serious molestation. We didn't wait, we didn't even bother with whom the victim is. We didn't ask her, we wanted to protect her identity. We have registered a criminal case," he said.
But, Mr Sood said, the alleged attacks in the centre of Bangalore never took place. The incidents are said to have occurred in the MG road area as a crowd of 10,000 people gathered there to see in the New Year on Saturday.
He said the footage being used by the media to make allegations of mass molestation was actually that of the melee that had resulted from a baton charge by police who were trying to disperse the crowds.
"People ran, there were a lot of girls there. There was panic, there was a melee, they got separated, they were cryingâ€¦ so that 30 seconds of confusion is being projected as a mass molestation. I categorically say that nothing of that sort has happened," he said.
Six people held on Wednesday were detained over an incident in a different part of the city, he said.
Mr Sood said that despite a public appeal, no one had come forward to record a complaint of molestation or harassment.
He said, however, that he had seen some women telling the media that they were touched inappropriately and that the police were ready to treat those statements as complaints and begin an investigation.
One woman, a marketing professional who asked to be identified only as Pooja, told the BBC that she was assaulted both in a bar and as she walked to meet a friend.
Even when she formed a circle with another group of girls to try and walk to safety, "there were guys who were trying to touch here and there", she said.
"There was not a single face you could make out or who was doing it," she said, pointing out how difficult it would be to file a complaint.
Another woman, photographer Chaitali Wasnik, told the BBC she was groped in another part of Bangalore on New Year's Eve.
She said a man approached her and tried to grab her breasts, but ran away when she fought back.
"I want the girls to know that you can come forward and speak it out, whatever you have faced," she told the BBC. "You don't have to be scared."


On his previous appearance on MOTD2 in April, Watford striker Troy Deeney explained why Leicester were so hard to beat as the Foxes closed in on the Premier League title.

That is not the case for the defending champions so far this season, however.
Claudio Ranieri's side were beaten only three times in the whole of 2015-16, but Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Sunderland means they have lost seven of their 14 league games in 2016-17, and are only two points above the relegation zone.
What is going wrong for the Foxes? Deeney, who helped Watford beat Leicester 2-1 on 19 November, compares playing them now with what it was like during their fairytale campaign.
N'Golo Kante made 175 tackles and 156 interceptions for Leicester last season, more than any other player in either category. Since his move to Chelsea, he has made 44 tackles and 39 interceptions in 2016-17. Only Everton's Idrissa Gueye has made more in total.
Deeney: "Probably the biggest factor that has changed for opposition teams against Leicester this season has been in the middle of the park.
"You can get through their midfield and get at their back four a little bit easier now.
"Whenever we broke on them last season, I always had the fear factor that N'Golo Kante was coming back and I knew we didn't have much time before he got there.
"Even if I actually did have time, I always thought he might be there, so I would rush things a bit.
"Now that element of playing Leicester has gone, and there seems to be a bit more freedom in midfield when you play them.
"It is inevitable really, unless they were to play with two dedicated defensive midfielders instead.
"I always felt Kante did the work of two players, so without him it is very hard to get the same sort of balance they had with him and Danny Drinkwater playing together.
"Kante was everywhere for them. He is still the same player now of course, getting up and down the pitch, but it is for Chelsea instead."
Jamie Vardy scored 24 goals for Leicester last season but has not found the net for 16 games in all competitions for the Foxes. In the Premier League alone, Vardy has had six shots in his past 10 matches, with none on target.
Deeney: "Leicester's gameplan last season was based on hitting sides on the counter-attack.
"They are not doing anything too differently now - against us they were still going out wide to Riyad Mahrez for him to work his magic.
"I just think teams have got used to playing against them, and I mean that in the most respectful way.
"I looked at their team before we played them and I knew Jamie Vardy would be up front, and I also knew he would be trying to run in behind our defence.
"Last season, it surprised a few teams to begin with when he did that, and then it got to the point where he and the other Leicester players were playing so well, it did not matter if teams adjusted.
"They did not care if the opposition dropped off, because they were confident they could score in other ways - look at the long-range volley Vardy scored against Liverpool in February, for example.
"Now teams are defending deep against them from the start, to deal with the threat of Vardy's pace, and letting Leicester have possession.
"That does not seem to suit the players Leicester have got, especially with confidence levels the way they are at the moment."
Leicester have taken only one point from a possible 21 on the road in the Premier League this season. They have lost six out of seven away games, with their only draw coming at Tottenham. In 2015-16, the Foxes won 11 of their 19 away games, losing only two.
Deeney: "Because they became the team to beat, a lot of sides have changed their approach when they play Leicester, thinking they will keep hold of the 0-0 for as long as possible and then try to nick it.
"When we played them, in November, we did things a bit differently and decided to start by going at them.
"It was our first game since losing 6-1 to Liverpool, so our approach was a bit of a ploy to try to get our fans back onside straight away.
"We set our stall out to put them under pressure straight away. We started fast and scored after 33 seconds, and part of the reason it worked was because it was so early in the game.
"What Leicester's back four were doing last season was sinking deep, with all four of their defenders inside their area, inviting crosses and sort of saying 'go on then, try to beat us'. It was very effective.
"This time, we nicked the ball off them and counter-attacked them so it was very difficult for them to get back into position and be ready for it."
Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has made twice the number of line-up changes this season compared to this stage of 2015-16. In the whole of last season, Ranieri made 33 changes, the fewest in the top flight.
Deeney: "It is partly down to injuries, like the one to goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, and partly down to Leicester being in the Champions League too, but Claudio Ranieri has made far more changes to his team this season.
"When their team stayed the same, I always got the sense everyone knew what everyone else was doing off the ball. That is no longer the case.
"I think they spent a lot of money in the summer on players who were a bit different to what they had already got.
"Firstly, it was always going to be hard for all those signings to quickly slot into a team that has a definitive way of playing. It would be the same at any club.
"Another problem Leicester had is they are the champions. By that, I mean the people who are coming in have to drop their ego and behave a bit differently to the way they would if they were big-money signings at other clubs.
"I am not saying anyone at Leicester is not doing that but I was linked with a move there myself in the summer and that was one of the things I thought about straight away.
"If that move had happened, I knew it would not be about me being the big fish there.
"To succeed, I would have had to have got in line with everyone else and adopted the culture that brought them success in the first place.
"It is something that Claudio Ranieri has spoken about - he knows it is going to take a little while.
"There is an adjustment stage when players sign for any club, let alone the champions."
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After 14 games last season, Leicester had lost once and were second in the table with 29 points, behind Manchester City on goal difference. This season, they are 16 points worse off.
Deeney: "Part of Leicester's problem in the Premier League is definitely that they have got the Champions League to think about as well.
"I would not say their players have switched focus but obviously there is a lot of excitement around them being in Europe and mentally it must be hard for them to be at the same level for every game they play.
"In the space of 18 months, a lot of their squad have gone from fighting relegation to winning the league and then reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League.
"Now their manager has come out after Saturday's defeat against Sunderland and said they are in a battle at the bottom.
"Looking at the table, that is the way it is. To get out of it, a lot is going to come down to their attitude and how they approach their Premier League games.
"It shows how standards have risen so much in recent seasons that not even the defending champions are safe.
"At Watford we are buying players from Juventus now - for me, that sums up how much more of a level playing field the Premier League has become.
"Last year, Newcastle and Aston Villa spent a lot of money but got relegated, and I don't think you can say anyone is too good to go down.
"You have to be on your mettle every game you play. If you are not, then you get found out - whoever you are."
Troy Deeney was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.


Brazil's Catholic bishops have criticised the country's popular reality TV shows.

The National Conference of Brazilian Bishops called the shows an "attack on the human dignity of participants, who are fascinated with monetary prizes and a short-lived status as a celebrity."
Reality shows draw huge audiences in Brazil, but they are also criticised for sexual innuendo and bad language.
The bishops urged television networks to think about their role in society.
One of the popular reality shows is Brazil's version of Big Brother, where contestants live in a studio house constantly monitored by cameras.
While the winner receives about $900,000 (Â£550,000), other participants have followed up their appearances by posing naked in Brazilian magazines, or hosting other television shows.
The bishops said reality shows had a "low moral level" and were "an abusive and immoral exploitation", in a statement on the NCBB's website.
The statement calls for an end to "this evil of society" and says that "freedom of expression does not give anyone the right to attack the moral values that sustain society."
Brazil has the largest baptised Catholic population in the world.


A woman who died after her car crashed into a block of flats has been named.

Sophie Taylor, 22, from Llandaff, Cardiff, was described by her family as a "beautiful princess".
Her black BMW crashed at the junction of Meteor Street and Moira Street in Adamsdown just after 00:30 BST on Monday.
A 21-year-old passenger is in hospital with serious injuries while four other people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Two men, aged 22 and 18, and two women, aged 23 and 28, remain in police custody.
Police investigating the circumstances of the crash have appealed for witnesses to come forward.


A mother has been charged with manslaughter and child cruelty after the death of her two-year-old son from methadone poisoning.

Fenton Hogan was found collapsed at his home in Cotswold Close, Frankley, and died in July last year.
Kelly Emery, 32, from Birmingham, was arrested in February and charged on Tuesday.
Birmingham Magistrates' Court remanded her in custody to appear at the city's Crown Court on 24 September.


The French government has proposed a €600m (£420m; $655m) package of urgent aid for farmers, who have blocked roads for days in protest at falling prices.

Most of the money will help farmers deal with a cash crisis by cancelling or deferring tax payments. But some of the money will help restructure debts.
Farmers said they would assess the plan but several routes remain blocked.
They accuse supermarkets and the food industry of keeping prices low, forcing many of them into bankruptcy.
One farmers' union leader in Normandy called for the blockade around Caen to be suspended. But key road bridges in the region remained closed to traffic on Wednesday evening and elsewhere the government's intervention appeared to fall on deaf ears.
In the Loire Valley, some 100 protesters lifted their blockade near Chambord castle, but a union official said it was not because they were happy with the government's offer.
Farmers said they would blockade access to France's second city, Lyon, from Wednesday evening. More action was expected further south around Clermont-Ferrand on Thursday.
Traffic on the A1 motorway outside Lille in northern France was hit by protests from early on Wednesday.
In Brittany, some 200 farmers attacked a supermarket in Lannion late on Tuesday night, dumping manure at the entrance and setting alight to tyres.
Xavier Beulin of the FNSEA union said ministers were at least moving in the right direction.
"We've just accepted measures for Greece; I reckon we can do something for French farmers," Mr Beulin said, equating his members' struggle with the eurozone debt crisis.
Mr Beulin had earlier accused the government of adopting only "trivial measures", warning there was "a sort of exasperation and anger that's been escalating for weeks. This hasn't come out of nowhere".
Announcing a 24-point plan, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said:
"The demonstrations of the past days reflect the anguish and distress that we have seen for some time. We want to respond to this anguish," the prime minister said.
The Socialist government estimates that 10% of French farms could be facing bankruptcy.
Last month, ministers pushed the food industry to raise the prices paid to farms but Mr Foll said last week that pork producers were still being paid below the target price of €1.40 (£1) per kilo.
Dairy farmers say they are being paid €300 per tonne of milk and need at least €340 to break even.
"I solemnly call on industry and major suppliers to respect the increase in prices that they committed themselves to. There cannot be a frantic rush to low prices," Mr Valls told reporters.
Supermarkets and suppliers are being blamed for not passing on the recent price rises on meat and dairy products. But prices have been pushed down by foreign competition and reduced meat consumption.
A Russian ban on EU food imports and reduced Chinese demand have added to the problems.


Facebook has begun a roll-out of Place Tips - a system allowing businesses to send updates to a person's smartphone when they are nearby.

Keen to get retailers on board, Facebook is sending out free Bluetooth beacon devices to firms that request them.
Other tech companies, including Apple, have experimented with similar systems.
One marketing expert told the BBC it is important the systems do not become "intrusive".
Facebook has been conducting a trial of Place Tips in New York City since the start of the year, where more than 100 businesses have taken part.
Currently it only works with Apple devices, but a version that supports smartphones powered by Google's Android operating system is being developed.
The social network has now announced it is rolling out Place Tips across the US, but has not said when it plans to bring the system to other parts of the world.
Once a business - such as a coffee shop or restaurant - sets up a beacon, it can detect when a Facebook user is within a set distance.
The beacon can then send "fun, useful and relevant" information into the user's News Feed.
According to Facebook's explanation page, this information could include content posted by friends in the same place, as well as popular menu items and upcoming events.
The page notes that the feature can be turned off.
Aaron Wachsstock, a digital content strategist at the Virginia-based Borenstein Group, told the BBC that Facebook would need to be careful in how it allowed information to be sent out.
"I can definitely see the potential, but I can also see how people could feel it is intrusive.
"If people get all these messages when they enter a store, they could view it as spam."
Facebook told the BBC that companies would not yet be able to use the service to advertise, but that this position may change in the future.
The social network was also keen to stress that information sharing is "one way".
"The beacons don't collect any information from people or their phones or change the kind of location information Facebook receives," the company explained.
Apple's own beacon technology - iBeacon - is also currently being tested by businesses around the world, including a select number of McDonald's restaurants and shops on London's Regent Street.
At McDonald's, special deals for chicken nuggets were pushed to customer's phones as they entered the premises - resulting, the restaurant chain said, in a 7.5% increase in nugget sales in the 26 locations involved.
Mr Wachsstock said companies must be completely open about how the systems work. otherwise people would simply disable the feature.
"There is a lot of paranoia - people might wonder 'who's watching me?'
"As long as people are aware of how it's supposed to act it should be accepted."
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC


The families of three victims of serial killer Stephen Port are to sue the Metropolitan Police over its failure to investigate their murders.

Anthony Walgate, from Hull, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor were murdered by Port in 2014 and 2015.
Their relatives, Sarah Sak, Amanda Pearson and Donna and Jenny Taylor, told the Victoria Derbyshire programme the Met "must be held accountable".
Ms Sak accused the police investigating the murders of homophobia.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has launched an investigation part of which will examine whether discrimination played any part in the original police investigations.
Ms Sak, who is Mr Walgate's mother, said: "I keep thinking this: If they were four girls would it have been different?
"If Anthony had been a 23-year-old girl and then Gabriel and then Daniel, if they had all been girls in that area found in suspicious circumstances I think there would have been a lot more media coverage as well and a massive part of this investigation by the police was homophobic, I really do think that."
Port was sentenced to life in prison last month for the murders of all three men and of the murder of Gabriel Kovari, 22.
At the launch of the IPCC investigation commander Stuart Cundy, of the Met's Specialist Crime and Operations command, said he did not personally believe the Met was institutionally homophobic.
He highlighted the work the Met has done with LGBT communities both in the past and now to bolster relationships and promote confidence plus work to raise awareness of LGBT issues amongst officers and across the Met.
Donna and Jenny Taylor said they felt the Met played "a massive part" in their brother Jack's death.
Donna said: "Stephen Port obviously took Jack's life but we feel that the police didn't do their jobs, with any of the families.
"As far as we're concerned, they have played a massive part in Jack's death because if they had done their jobs properly, Jack would still be here today.
"There is no other way of looking at that and we feel we want them to be held accountable. We want the answers of why they didn't do this, didn't do that."
The officer in charge of the specialist crime and operations command has written to the families of the victims to apologise for missed opportunities and offer his condolences.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has launched an investigation.
Ms Sak, from Hull, in East Yorkshire, told the programme the Met's apology was "a little too late".
She added: "He [Port] had planted GMB on them. [The Police thought] 'young gay lad. Oh he's had chemsex. Oh, done'.
"They were like that from the beginning, they just refused to investigate anything, didn't matter what you said to them they [just kept telling us] there was nothing to investigate."
Amanda Pearson told the programme: "Daniel wasn't a party boyâ€¦ they [the police] didn't want to know about the personality of my son, they didn't want to know really, they had made up their minds and that came across."
And Jenny Taylor said: "We kept saying to them [the police] from the start if this was a woman you'd be doing a lot more than what you are."


A teenager described as having a fascination with the Yorkshire Ripper has been convicted of the 2014 murders of two strangers in Essex.

James Fairweather, 17, was found guilty following a two-week trial.
He had admitted the manslaughter of James Attfield and Nahid Almanea in Colchester, but denied murder on grounds of diminished responsibility.
He said he was suffering from psychosis, but the court heard a psychiatrist cast doubt on the claims.
Fairweather, of Colchester, was aged 15 when he committed both murders.
The schoolboy killer
Live reaction: Teen convicted of double murder
Guildford Crown Court heard he had material at his home on Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, as well as on Ipswich serial killer Steve Wright and US murderer Ted Bundy.
Mr Attfield, 33, was stabbed more than 100 times. His body was found on the Riverside Path in Castle Park on 29 March.
Ms Almanea, a 31-year-old student at the University of Essex, was stabbed on the Salary Brook Trail footpath on 17 June as she walked to the Wivenhoe campus from her accommodation in Woodrow Way.
Mr Attfield's mother Julie Finch described the killer as a "monster".
"Our lives were changed forever when my kind and brave son Jim was brutally killed," she said.
"He had been through so much already, having fought hard to overcome the effects of brain damage suffered when he was struck by a car.
"At the time, we had no idea the killer was so young - a fact that makes my son's death feel all the more cruel and unnecessary."
Ms Almanea's family issued a tribute a month after her murder.
It read: "We have been left devastated by the terrible murder of Nahid.
"Publicly, Nahid was a quiet and dignified lady who chose to pursue her academic studies in order to work towards her PHD and whilst in England she made a decision that she would respect her heritage and traditions in the way that she dressed and conducted herself.
1500
police officers involced
10,000 staffing hours
850 witness statements
550 hours of CCTV reviewed
140 knives examined
"When she was with her family, Nahid was a warm and loving person who enjoyed laughter and the company of her parents, siblings and extended family."
The court heard Fairweather, a pupil at Colchester Academy, had been bullied at school since he was 11 and his defence argued a combination of autism, paranoia and voices in his head made him kill.
He had been questioned and released by police in the weeks after the Saudi student's death as one of 70 people with a known history of knife crime to be interviewed.
He had been convicted of a knifepoint robbery at a shop in January 2014 and was sentenced to 12 months of youth supervision.
Essex County Council confirmed he was the subject of a referral order.
An Essex County Council spokesman said: "During that time he had contact with the Youth Offending Team at least once a week and complied with all actions and appointments required of him.
"A referral order does not warrant constant supervision.
"A review of the case has since been carried out and did not identify any issues or actions which could have prevented these tragic events."
When Fairweather was arrested in May 2015, he was found hiding in bushes near the same spot he had attacked his second victim.
He was wearing latex gloves and carrying a knife.
The court heard he told police he was "going to get my third victim, but there was no-one about".
Steve Worron, Assistant Chief Constable of Essex Police, said: "Fairweather admitted killing James and Nahid, but denied their murder was calculated and pre-planned.
"He then forced their families to endure the pain and grief of a trial rather than admitting he had murdered them.
"Today's verdict will never heal the pain of losing their loved ones in such horrific circumstances.
"Hopefully they now have some answers and can be reassured their killer will face a long time behind bars."
Fairweather showed no reaction as the jury delivered its unanimous verdicts after deliberating for eight hours and 33 minutes.
The judge, Mr Justice Robin Spencer QC, warned the teenager he faced a lengthy prison sentence, adding the starting point for two murders for someone under 18 was 12 years.
Fairweather was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey in London on Friday, 29 April.


Joe Root will take time to get used to the England captaincy because "nothing can prepare you" for the role, says his predecessor Alastair Cook.

Cook resigned as England captain in February, with Root taking over for this summer's home series against South Africa and the West Indies.
"It is a big role, but an exciting one. Joe will find his feet," 32-year-old Cook told BBC Look East on Wednesday.
"He will find his way, it will probably take him a while to get used to it."
Essex batsman Cook led his country to Ashes victories in 2013 and 2015 during a record 59 matches in charge.
He is England's highest run-scorer in Test cricket with 11,057, while his 140 Test appearances and 30 centuries are also England records.
"I am looking forward to working with Joe in a different way.
"I think a couple of moments will be slightly strange in that first test match week but it won't be any different in the long run.
"Hopefully I can help him, and the most important thing is England winning.
"I don't think anything can prepare you for the England captaincy but he will find his feet. He is a very good player, has a very good cricket brain and has got the respect of the dressing room."
Cook has been ruled out of Essex's opening County Championship game against Lancashire on Friday with a hip injury.
But he still holds ambitions of playing under Root during the next Ashes series at the end of the year.
"I have still got a few games left in me. I'm 32 years old but hopefully I can carry on scoring runs for England.
"It is a different phase of my career after being captain but I love playing for England. I hope to score enough runs to get on that plane for the Ashes tour."
And last month Root confirmed that having Alastair Cook in the side was integral to both his and the team's future success.
He told BBC Sport: "If I feel I need help he'll be more than willing, but he'll also let me do it my own way."
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It will take time for Welsh educational reforms to be reflected in an international study of pupils' performance, Education Secretary Kirsty Williams has said.

The results of Pisa tests conducted last year are expected in December.
In results from the last Pisa tests in 2012, Wales performed worse than the rest of the UK.
Ms Williams said she was "realistic" about how quickly the results of reforms would be seen.
Pisa assesses pupils' skills in maths, reading and science every three years and more than 70 countries were signed up to take part in the 2015 test.
Results from the 2012 test - published in 2013 - showed Wales had fallen behind for a third time.
Ms Williams said it was important to redevelop Wales' education system to help children perform better and not just so pupils can pass tests.
The minister told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme: "The important thing is that we're not sitting back waiting for Pisa.
"We know on the back of poor Pisa results previously that we've embarked on this programme of educational reform.
"We also, I also, need to be realistic about how quickly those reforms can actually embed within a system and when you will see an effect of those in Pisa results.
"We need to reform our education system, not to teach to the test, because that is not what we're doing, but to develop a curriculum that enables our children to perform better in the kind of skills that Pisa tests."
She added: "We... have to be realistic that to improve our education system we need a long-term strategic plan.
"What will not change our system is every time we get a set of disappointing results we run off, like a rabbit, in a totally different direction."


DUP Economy Minister Simon Hamilton has given details of a plan to cut costs associated with the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

He has sent a business case to Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir outlying how he intends to tackle the projected £490m overspend.
The scheme was set up by former first minister Arlene Mrs Foster in 2012 when she was enterprise minister.
Its aim was to increase consumption of heat from renewable sources.
However, businesses received more in subsidies than they paid for fuel, and the scheme became heavily oversubscribed.
The plan by the economy minister has now been formally submitted to the Department of Finance for approval.
Mr Hamilton and Mr Ó Muilleoir held talks on the issue last week.
Analysis: BBC News NI's Business Correspondent Julian O'Neill
The BBC understands the plan involves a two-staged approach.
First, it would reduce the tariffs paid to around 1,800 people who got into the scheme before November 2015.
This would require an Assembly vote to change the tariffs from the new financial year starting in April.
Secondly, there would be a public consultation on a longer-term solution.
But there remains an acceptance within the Department for the Economy that any moves on tariffs could face a legal challenge.
It is understood that a significant number of RHI recipients have told the Department for the Economy they do not wish their names made public.
The department had written to them asking for views on their names being released.
Mrs Foster and Mr Hamilton have talked of wanting transparency about who benefited.
It is believed the department is taking legal advice on its options.
The failure of the political parties to find a resolution on how to investigate the failings in the scheme has led to a political crisis at Stormont.
Martin McGuinness resigned on Monday as deputy first minister in protest against the botched handling of the scheme and, after Mrs Foster refused to step aside while an investigation was held.
Under Northern Ireland's power-sharing agreement, Mrs Foster loses her first minister role with the departure of Mr McGuinness.
The Sinn Féin MLA's decision to quit is likely to lead to a snap election.
The party has seven days to nominate a new deputy first minister, but is adamant it will not replace him.
If it chooses not to, then the baton would pass to Secretary of State James Brokenshire who would be legally obliged to call an election.
In an effort to avert such a move, the British and Irish governments have pledged to do what they can to resolve the crisis.


A landmark legal decision has opened up questions about ministers' rights to keep official secrets and the nature of modern monarchy.

The Supreme Court announced that it was ordering the release of a tranche of letters sent by the Prince of Wales to government ministers when he was lobbying for particular causes.
The release of the so-called "black spider memos" is the culmination of 10 years of legal chiselling by Rob Evans, a reporter at the Guardian newspaper, who sought them under the Freedom of Information Act.
Indeed, in getting to the documents - which got their nickname from Prince Charles's distinctive style of handwritin -, Mr Evans has carved "a very sizeable hole" in the legislation, to use the words of one rather annoyed senior mandarin.
When the FoI Act came into force in January 2005, ministers were worried that there was a risk of public disclosure of documents which, in the view of officials, need to be kept confidential.
That is because, for the most part, final decisions about what should be released were put into the hands of a combination of the Information Commissioner, who regulates the act, independent tribunals and conventional courts.
That created a risk, in the civil service view, that outsiders lacking government experience could open up access to documents that ought to be kept secret. So the drafters introduced a ministerial veto.
This provision in the Act gave the Cabinet the right to simply kill requests, even if a court has ordered that the request be filled. It was used, for example, to block requests for documents from the lead up to the Iraq War and relating to the recent English NHS reforms.
It was used on the Prince Charles letters, too. The Evans judgment, however, has bulldozed the veto. That clause in the Act, the judges have ruled, is a very problematic legal idea and contravenes older, grander principles of public law.
Adam Chapman, head of public law at Kingsley Napley and a former senior government lawyer, said: "The court clearly, very strongly didn't like the prospect of a government minister overruling a decision of a court, which is the effect of the veto in this circumstance."
He continued: "It regards that as clashing with two constitutional principles, and something unique in English law."
So the judges came out against the veto. This feels like something of a moment: the Supreme Court has flexed its muscles and won.
This will have immediate effects. A veto was used to keep information on the HS2 high-speed rail link a secret. A court case on that has been stayed while the judge waited for the Evans verdict. I expect activists will rerequest the Iraq war documents, too.
According to the Supreme Court, it might be possible to reintroduce the veto if the Act were to be clearer about when it could and could not be used.
Mr Chapman said that the judges' problem with the veto was that "the provision in the FoI Act was not explicit enough".
David Cameron, implied he might do that. He said: "If the legislation does not make Parliament's intentions for the veto clear enough, then we will need to make it clearer."
Indeed, one senior civil service lawyer told me that any such clarification might be used as an opportunity to make it easier for officials to refuse requests on other grounds.
In their words, they might try to "sort out a few other things while the patient is on the table". That would almost certainly mean that requests would need to be smaller and less complicated.
The Supreme Court decision has certainly alarmed senior civil servants, who see it as the latest in a string of incursions by judges into transparency law.
Many senior officials in Whitehall are already openly hostile to the Act. The Cabinet Office, in particular, is openly opposed to it. It routinely refuses to comply with the law and its officials offer advice to other departments on how to follow suit.
As if that were not enough grand ramifications for one arcane judicial decision, the documents will open up the issue of Prince Charles's role.
It is worth being clear about what the judges have ordered should be released. An earlier ruling from 2012 set out that Mr Evans should only get so-called "advocacy correspondence". That is to say, when the Prince was not just expressing a view, but advocating specific policies.
This is because, the judges ruled, it will "be likely to concern matters which affect either or both of public policy and the public purse".
The judges continued that they did not want the disclosure of "purely social or personal correspondence" nor "correspondence within the established constitutional convention that the heir to the throne is to be instructed in the business of government".
The documents could have some fairly important examples of lobbying in them. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, said the documents might mean "he forfeits his position of political neutrality as heir to the throne". Keep an eye on that.
There will, however, be no further releases. Since the Evans case started, the Prince's correspondence - all of it - has since been granted exemption from the Act.
That's why it matters so much. Not only has Rob Evans punched a hole in the ability of officials to keep public data from the public, he may be about to give us one of the few unguarded sights we will get of the man who might one day be our King.


A senior member of France's opposition UMP party has admitted there were "anomalies" in the accounts of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2012 presidential campaign.

Jerome Lavrilleux said the former president was not aware of the "slip".
It comes after a lawyer for an event organiser accused the UMP of ordering almost 11m euros ($15m; Â£9m) worth of fake invoices to cover overspends.
Reports say the scandal could damage the party and complicate any efforts by Mr Sarkozy to be re-elected.
Police searched the headquarters of the UMP in Paris on Monday afternoon.
"There have been anomalies," Mr Lavrilleux, a deputy director of Mr Sarkozy's 2012 presidential campaign, told France's BFM TV. with tears in his eyes.
"There was no wrongdoing, there was a terrible spiral, a train going at high speed and people who should have pulled the emergency alarm and didn't, and I was probably one of them," he said.
He said Mr Sarkozy, UMP Chairman Jean-Francois Cope and Batien Millot, the founder of the events company Bygmalion, were not aware of the actions taken.
It comes after Patrick Maisonneuve, the lawyer for Bygmalion, told the same television station that the centre-right UMP had ordered fake invoices to cover exploding campaign costs.
He said it was made clear to Bygmalion that if it did not comply, it would not be paid.
The UMP's chairman was already facing growing speculation that he will have to step down after the French newspaper Liberation reported this month that the party paid some 20m euros to a unit of Bygmalion, founded by two associates of Mr Cope, to organise campaign events.
Mr Cope told BMF TV earlier on Monday that he knew nothing of any wrongdoing.
He said he had put his trust in the people who were responsible for the party's accounts and did not think he had to look over their shoulders.
Mr Cope was already expected to face challenges for the leadership of the party after the UMP's poor result in the European Parliament elections. It came second to the far-right Front National.
Mr Sarkozy, who lost the presidency to Francois Hollande in 2012, is rumoured to be preparing to make a comeback in 2017.
He has not commented on the scandal over his 2012 campaign finances.


Guatemalan former TV comedian Jimmy Morales has been inaugurated as the country's new president.

He was elected in October after huge anti-corruption demonstrations that led to the prosecution of a former president and vice-president.
Mr Morales has no previous experience in government. In his inaugural address, he promised to fight against corruption.
US Vice-President Joe Biden attended the ceremony.
It was the first time in 30 years that such a high-ranking American official was present at a Guatemalan inauguration.
In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Morales praised the anti-corruption movement and said Guatemala was going through a "renaissance".
He also promised money for health and education. "We want quality education for everyone, which prepares our children for a modern technical world."
His critics said President Morales gave few clues as to how he was going to fight corruption and how he was going to deal with Guatemala's high levels of violence, poverty and social inequality.
Last week legal proceedings began against an aide to Mr Morales who is suspected of human rights abuses related to Guatemala's long and bloody armed conflict which ended in 1996.
Fourteen former military officers - many supporters of Mr Morales's party - were arrested on similar charges.
Mr Morales has denied links to the former military officials.


The carcass of a cow has been burned on a farm in Herefordshire as tests are carried out to see if it died from anthrax.

A footpath has been closed across a field on the farm at Bartonsham near Hereford where the animal was found.
Mike Higgins, from Herefordshire Council, said the vet who examined the cow was "unsure" of the cause of death.
He said: "Samples are now with the laboratory and we're awaiting the results."
Decontamination equipment has been placed at the gates leading onto the field, together with warning signs saying the area is restricted.
Council officials will stay at the site overnight.
Mr Higgins said: "That's the normal practice - Defra contact us and the local authority has a duty placed on them to dispose of an animal in these circumstances."
A Defra spokesman said that whenever a cow dies in a field it is routine for tests to be done.
Anthrax is a notifiable disease and any suspected outbreak must be reported to Defra.


The Kremlin's international media operation appears to be going from strength to strength with two recent high-profile launches and more in the pipeline.

But it is also coming under increased scrutiny over its lack of editorial balance and accusations that it is deliberately using disinformation to counter and divide the West.
In a spanking new press centre in Moscow on 10 November, controversial TV news anchor Dmitry Kiselev, who is also head of the Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) news agency, unveiled Sputnik - the Kremlin's latest foray into the international news arena.
With its planned network of media hubs in 30 cities, Sputnik is the new brand for the radio station Voice of Russia and the foreign-language operations of the RIA Novosti news service, which were taken over by Rossiya Segodnya when it was launched last December.
Kiselev said the new project was aimed at a global audience "tired of aggressive propaganda promoting a unipolar world and who want a different perspective".
But with his own relentless denunciation of the West and demonisation of Ukrainians as fascists on state TV, there can hardly be a more practised purveyor of "aggressive propaganda" than Kiselev himself.
The Sputnik launch came less than a fortnight after the Kremlin's international TV channel RT (formerly known as Russia Today) unveiled a dedicated news service for viewers in the UK. Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan (who holds the same position at Rossiya Segodnya) said that RT UK would seek to "promote debate and new ways of thinking about British issues".
RT's funding is set to rise in 2015 to over $330m (Â£210m; â‚¬264m). It is said to be planning to add French and German operations to its existing services in English, Spanish and Arabic.
But RT UK's debut was greeted with a barrage of criticism in the British press. Writing in the Observer, Nick Cohen accused the channel of spreading conspiracy theories and being a "prostitution of journalism". Meanwhile, in The Times, Oliver Kamm called on broadcast regulator Ofcom to act against this "den of deceivers".
Oliver Kamm did not have long to wait. On 10 November, Ofcom found RT guilty of violating the broadcasting code's "due impartiality" rules in its coverage of the Ukraine crisis in early March. It rejected RT's contention that as a station that challenges the "established" view in the UK it was somehow exempt from the normal broadcast requirements.
In view of past violations, it put the channel on notice that future breaches may result in a "statutory sanction", which could include fines, or even the suspension or revocation of RT's broadcast licence.
For President Putin, RT is spearheading Russia's bid to challenge the "Anglo-Saxon monopoly" on global news. But, according to a recent report by US journalist Michael Weiss and UK-based writer and TV producer Peter Pomerantsev, it is part of a strategy of disinformation aimed at countering and dividing the West.
Entitled "The menace of unreality: How the Kremlin weaponises information, culture and money", the report was produced under the aegis of the US-based Institute of Modern Russia (IMR), which is part-funded by members of the family of former oil tycoon and Putin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky..
Adapting techniques inherited from the old KGB, say the authors, RT makes extensive use of conspiracy theories that serve to undermine a "reality-based discourse". This, they argue, then creates the conditions in which the Kremlin can advance its own disinformation to "confuse situations at critical junctures".
They give as examples a spurious RT report about Jews fleeing Ukraine over anti-Semitism, equally bogus insinuations that a US think tank was advising Ukrainian President Poroshenko to carry out ethnic cleansing, and the spreading of conspiracy theories concerning the downing of Malaysian airliner MH17 over east Ukraine in July.
According to Weiss and Pomerantsev, this kind of media manipulation amounts to a "weaponisation of information", a phrase also used in relation to Russia by Mark Galeotti, a professor of global affairs at New York University.
But Ms Simonyan insists that RT is not very different from other major news broadcasters. Responding to the Ofcom ruling, she said the BBC was also guilty of "bias" in its reporting of Ukraine, as well as its coverage of other issues.
In a statement posted on RT's website, she said other broadcasters would also have to change the way they operate, "if double standards are to be avoided".
Weiss and Pomerantsev, meanwhile, came under fire in an anonymous article on the pro-Kremlin English-language website Russia Insider. Part political critique, part personalised attack, the article accuses them of being members of a "Russophobic hack pack" that also includes Edward Lucas of The Economist and US journalist Anne Applebaum.
Ordinary Russians appear to hold similar views. A poll published on 12 November by the independent Levada Centre indicated that 88% of the population believe the USA and other Western countries are waging an information war against Russia. Just 4% dissented from this view.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


Fe allai rhannau o Gymru weld storm eira ddydd Iau wrth i'r Swyddfa Dywydd sôn am gawodydd eira.

Mae rhybudd melyn mewn grym mewn 10 ardal ddydd Iau.
Gallai 2cm (0.8 modfedd) o eira ddisgyn ar dir isel, gyda hyd at 5 i 10cm (hyd at 4 modfedd) yn bosib ar dir uwch.
Yn ôl arbenigwr tywydd mae yna rhwng 20% a 30% siawns o storm eira mewn rhai ardaloedd penodol.
Y 10 ardal sydd wedi cael rhybudd eira yw Sir Gaerfyrddin, Ceredigion, Conwy, Sir Ddinbych, Sir y Fflint, Gwynedd, Sir Fôn, Sir Benfro, Powys a Wrecsam.
Gallai fod 'na beth drafferthion i deithwyr, gyda ffyrdd a phalmentydd hefyd yn rhewi.
Am y wybodaeth ddiweddara', ewch i wefan y Swyddfa Dywydd.


Fleetwood Mac have been announced as the first headline act of Isle of Wight 2015.

The band's set at Seaclose Park will be their only festival show of the year.
The set on Sunday 14 June, which will close the festival, will include original member Christine McVie, who recently confirmed that she would be rejoining the band.
Festival organiser John Giddings told Newsbeat: "It's the best news I've had in a long while."
He said that he had been asking the band to perform at the Isle of Wight for the last seven years.
"Every year I have asked without fail," he revealed. "I'd like to tell you otherwise but it's true, I have begged them."
Previous acts to headline Isle of Wight Festival include The Who, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney.
Despite his years of asking the band to perform, John Giddings explained that he thought Fleetwood Mac, whose debut album Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac went to number four in the UK in 1968, didn't need much persuading.
He said: "If you're a band of substance, it [Isle of Wight] becomes part of your bucket list really."
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro headlined the event this year.
Talking about choosing the rest of the 2015 line-up, John Giddings said: "The problem is when you're looking for some of the top acts in the world, there aren't that many of that calibre... without repeating yourself it becomes harder by the year."
However, the organiser did say there would be some newer acts named on the line-up.
"When we announce Friday and Saturday, you will see younger bands. It's an eclectic mix of past, present and future bands."
The organiser added that the other two headline acts of the festival would be announced soon.
Giddings agreed younger bands have the ability to sell festival tickets as well as older bands like Fleetwood Mac and Lionel Ritchie, who has been named as the first act on the Glastonbury 2015 line-up.
He said: "I think younger bands of course can do it as well, but the golden age of rock and roll is past.
"The music is different now whereby you can download individual songs on iTunes and it becomes hard to name the lead singer of Bastille or Imagine Dragons."
He said "there are lots of groups out there" but added "who is the biggest act out of England that have toured stadiums in the last five years? One Direction.
"I think they'd rather be somewhere else than at the Isle of Wight festival."
However, John Giddings did say "there are great new bands out there" and referred to The Black Keys and Royal Blood as "incredible".
The Isle of Wight organiser was recently quoted as calling Ed Sheeran "boring" having suggested "we're (the UK) not building headliners any more".
He told Newsbeat that "he's jolly good fun" and after saying he'd recently met the 23-year-old added: "He's selling tickets and he's selling records and we should all be grateful for his existence."
Tickets go on sale on Friday at 09:00 GMT
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


US comedienne Joan Rivers is "resting comfortably" and with her family after reportedly going into cardiac arrest during surgery on her vocal cords.

"We ask that you continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers," said the 81-year-old's daughter Melissa.
Rivers was taken ill on Thursday at an outpatient centre in the Yorkville neighbourhood of Manhattan.
The comic is understood to have stopped breathing during surgery and was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
According to unconfirmed reports, the performer's heart had stopped beating during the procedure.
Before being admitted to hospital, Rivers had been due to appear on Friday at a theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey.
The veteran performer and outspoken fashion critic has won both fans and detractors with her acerbic remarks and waspish sideswipes at the rich and famous.
News of her condition prompted a deluge of get well wishes from members of that community, among them Star Trek actor Zachary Quinto and singer Courtney Love.
"I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support for my mother," said Melissa Rivers in a statement.


Two police community support officers have been jailed for using force computers to try to frame an innocent man for attempted murder.

Thomas Fendall and Jessica Hussell, who were in a relationship, used their positions within Greater Manchester Police to access restricted material.
A court heard they targeted Hussell's ex-boyfriend, who lost his job after he was wrongfully arrested.
Fendall was jailed for 19 months and Hussell was sentenced to 16 months.
The pair provided false information to the charity Crimestoppers, naming Hussell's former boyfriend as being responsible for a fail-to-stop collision in which another PCSO was injured.
Brett Gerrity, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West, said: "Thomas Fendall and Jessica Hussell, who were in a personal relationship, abused their positions within the police to access restricted material on the police computer system for their own use and to settle a personal grievance.
"Fendall used the police computer system to research background information on people he and Hussell knew, and shared information and documents with others.
"They provided Crimestoppers with bogus information leading to an innocent man being investigated by the police for attempted murder."
He continued: "They also supplied the DVLA with fictitious intelligence, which led to the same man having his driving licence revoked.
"He had to prove he was medically fit to drive before his licence could be reinstated two months later."
Sergeant Lee Westhead, of GMP's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "The actions of Fendall and Hussell undermine everything that is at the heart of policing in this country."
Hussell, 19, from Glossop, and Fendall, 26, from Denton, each pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office.
They also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice in relation to providing false information to Crimestoppers.
Fendall had pleaded guilty to another count of misconduct in a public office and four counts of computer misuse relating to the GMP intelligence system.
The pair were arrested in August 2015 after an investigation by GMP's Serious Collision investigation Unit. They were suspended from GMP upon arrest.


William Fox-Pitt took the individual lead in the eventing dressage and said it felt "special" to be at an Olympics only 10 months after being placed in an induced coma following a fall.

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The 47-year-old Briton led with a dressage score of 37.0 penalties after the opening day in Rio.
Fox-Pitt suffered a head trauma in a cross-country fall last October and only returned to action in April.
"I've had an interesting last few months," he said.
Why not come along, meet and ride Henry the mechanical horse at some of the Official Team GB fan parks during the Rio Olympics?
"I've been very lucky - I'm lucky to be here. It was very special riding into the arena today. This is my fifth Olympics - they've all been useless! It would be great if this one went well."
Britain lie third behind Germany and Australia in the team competition.
There is a second day of dressage on Sunday, with cross country on Monday and team and individual medals decided by the show jumping on Tuesday.


Scotland manager Gordon Strachan says Sunday's friendly defeat by Italy in Malta has shown him how to combat the Azzurri's 3-5-2 system.

The Scots failed to register a shot on target, losing 1-0.
"We've got a clear picture of one or two things - that was great for us to see tonight," said Strachan.
"So when we come up against that system, we know right now, unless something changes drastically, how we're going to deal with it."
Strachan bemoaned Scotland's lack of accurate distribution - a slackness that proved detrimental to the team's capacity to build possession and momentum, and create chances.
"I counted about eight or nine passes we gave away which you'd think we'd keep and do better," said the manager. "No matter what system you use, if you can't do that you can understand it.
"There might be some factors that some of the players have been away, some have been rested for a while, whereas the Italian lads have been on top of their game right until now.
"That's a problem for us, because a lot of people are playing the Championship, not at a top European level. And you're also playing against the Juventus back-three and the goalkeeper who are fantastic.
"We'd have liked to have done more, but we know it's partly down to them and partly down to us.
"That clears the picture, so you now understand exactly what you need going into the top games.
"You can't get offensive if you can't pass the ball to each other. It's still the biggest secret in the game - whatever any coach tells you about systems, it's about players being able to beat people and pass, and we keep coming to this conversation every time. It's something I know, I wish somebody would just listen to me."
Ahead of the second friendly, against France in Metz on Saturday, Strachan added playing the Italians was an invaluable experience for his players.
"We've got a young squad here, it's been a great learning for them just to watch it, never mind play against it," he said.
"We as a nation need to think about what we're doing, and reiterate what we've been trying to do for the last year. It's a learning curve, not only for us, and I hope the whole of Scottish football understands what you need to be a top player now."


Lincoln boss Danny Cowley said guiding the Imps to the fifth round of the FA Cup was "beyond my wildest dreams", as the non-league side once again stole the headlines on a day of high drama.

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Lincoln's 3-1 win over Championship leaders Brighton was just one chapter in an enthralling afternoon of football that also saw Wolves dump out Liverpool, Oxford upset Newcastle, and League Two Wycombe come agonisingly close to stunning Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
The fourth-round action led BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks to proclaim the FA Cup "alive and well".
"It was a magnificent day with some wonderful performances," he said. "Wycombe were sensational, as were Lincoln."
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The last time Lincoln reached the last 16 of the FA Cup was in the 1901-02 season, a run that featured a victory over a cash-strapped team from the north-west of England named Newton Heath, who within weeks would be issued with a winding-up order before being saved and renamed Manchester United in April 1902.
I can't believe the scenes and the emotion and the support
The fortunes of those two sides have differed wildly over the past 115 years, but Lincoln at least have the pleasure of knowing their place in the fifth-round draw on Monday evening is already assured, with holders United in action at Wigan on Sunday.
After dominating Ipswich in their third-round replay earlier this month, National League leaders Lincoln faced an altogether sterner task against in-form Brighton, who made nine changes for the game at Sincil Bank but nevertheless deservedly led at the break.
Chris Hughton's visitors went in front through Richie Towell's well-taken strike, but the hosts rallied after the break, levelling through Alan Power's penalty before Fikayo Tomori's own goal gave them the lead.
Theo Robinson, who scored twice at Ipswich in the third round, added the third on the break to confirm the Imps' place in the next round.
"I'm surprised. It's not often football surprises me, but today..." said Lincoln boss Cowley. "I was really pleased that we were able to stay in the game [after going behind].
"It's surreal, and it's been surreal for quite a period of time. The first Ipswich game, seeing those 5,000 away supporters and hearing the noise they made, from that moment onwards it's been crazy - but a good crazy.
"I can't believe the scenes and the emotion and the support."
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It was a case of what might have been for brave Wycombe, who led 2-0 and 3-2 before succumbing to a heartbreaking 4-3 loss at White Hart Lane.
The lads have done me and the town so proud
Son Heung-min's stoppage-time winner rescued the Premier League side, who were rocked on their heels by Paul Hayes' sweetly struck left-footed volley that put Wycombe ahead.
The captain grabbed his second from the spot to double the visitors' lead before Son's deflected effort on the hour and a Vincent Janssen penalty four minutes later pulled Spurs level.
Substitute Garry Thompson headed in Myles Weston's cross with seven minutes to go to put Gareth Ainsworth's side back in front, but Dele Alli pulled Spurs level again before Son scrambled in a late winner.
"The lads have done me and the town so proud," Wycombe boss Ainsworth said.
"It was an outstanding effort from the boys. I am so proud, disappointed but it is now back to the reality of Exeter away."
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At Anfield, Championship strugglers Wolves recorded a stunning 2-1 victory over a Liverpool side who have now managed only one win in eight games in 2017.
Richard Stearman put the visitors ahead after only 53 seconds, left unmarked to head in Helder Costa's free-kick, before Costa set up Andreas Weimann to double Wolves' lead before the break.
Divock Origi pulled one back but Paul Lambert's men held on to reach the fifth round for the first time since 2008.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: "I am responsible for this performance because I thought this line-up was ready for this game but obviously we weren't and that doesn't feel too good.
"I could look for excuses but I don't want to. Maybe we should use this time to be disappointed, to be frustrated, to be angry at ourselves. All I can say, sorry."
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League One Oxford reached the fifth round for the first time in 23 years with a 3-0 win over Championship promotion-chasers Newcastle.
Kane Hemmings met a Chey Dunkley back-post header to put Oxford ahead before Aleksandar Mitrovic missed the chance to level when his penalty was saved low down by Simon Eastwood.
Curtis Nelson added Oxford's second before Toni Martinez sealed a famous win.
"I said to the players at half-time that they wouldn't get a better opportunity to get into the last 16 of the FA Cup," Oxford manager Michael Appleton said.
"For me personally, with the squad Newcastle have got, this surpasses beating Arsenal at Emirates Stadium when I was at Blackburn [in the fifth round four years ago]. That's how big this is.
"It feels fantastic. It won't be long before Newcastle are plying their trade in the Premier League and, with the squad they've got, they'll be challenging in the top half, I believe.
"I think that belief really told in the last 15 minutes and I thought the players were magnificent."
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China says six boats sent to "patrol" disputed islands at the centre of a row with Japan were successful in demonstrating Beijing's jurisdiction.

The statement was issued after anti-Japan protests spread to dozens of Chinese cities.
China sent the boats to the islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, after  Japan sealed a deal to buy three of the islands.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has called for restraint on both sides.
"A misjudgement on one side or the other could result in violence, and could result in conflict," said Mr Panetta, who is in Tokyo for talks but due to travel to Beijing this week.
Mr Panetta met his counterpart, Satoshi Morimoto, and Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba.
"I did not bring up the topic today, but it is mutually understood between Japan and the United States that (the islands) are covered by the treaty," Mr Gemba told reporters after the meeting.
Mr Panetta also announced that US and Japanese officials had agreed to deploy a second missile defence system in Japan, designed to protect the region from the threat posed by North Korea.
By Joan SoleyBBC News, Tokyo
Leon Panetta arrived in Japan for  a short, but timely, visit. The mounting tension between his hosts and China is expected to dominate his meetings with the foreign and defence ministers.
Panetta will travel next to China, where he may be the last high-ranking US official to visit before the country's once-a-decade leadership change.
Ultimately, who is right on the territorial dispute? As far as the Obama administration is concerned, it's not about who owns the islands - it's about avoiding a costly action/reaction scenario that could lead to conflict between the two countries.
As US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on her recent trip to the region, and Mr Panetta has reiterated, the US doesn't want to get involved in other nations' territorial disputes. However, while the relationship between the world's second and third largest economies, China and Japan respectively, tends to be somewhat strained - genuine unrest would be an international problem.
China, meanwhile, is maintaining its sovereignty over the uninhabited but resource-rich islands in the East China Sea which are controlled by Japan and also claimed by Taiwan.
The China Marine Surveillance (CMS) - which sent the boats on Friday - will continue with the ''law enforcement activities'' around the disputed islands, Chinese state media reported.
''These law enforcement and patrol activities demonstrated China's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets, achieved the goal of demonstrating China's sovereignty claim and ensured the country's maritime interests," Xiao Huiwu, deputy chief of the headquarters of CMS, told Xinhua news agency.
Anti-Japan protests swept across China over the weekend with thousands of protesters targeting Japanese-made cars and burning Japanese flags.
On Sunday, hundreds of Chinese protesters were met by riot police at the Japanese embassy in Beijing.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has urged Beijing to take steps to protect Japanese nationals, adding that the authorities in both countries should "remain calm".
The tension between the two countries has also hit trade relations and sparked off fears of wider economic consequences.
Japanese electronics giant Panasonic is suspending operations at its factory in Qingdao until Tuesday, after the plant was damaged by protesters on Saturday. Canon will also stop operations at three of its four plants in China on Monday and Tuesday, reports said.
Q&A: China-Japan islands row
The islands have long been a point of contention, but the most recent row has heightened tension and led to fears of a naval conflict.
But analysts see Japan's decision to buy the islands as damage limitation in response to a much more provocative plan by the nationalistic governor of Tokyo, who wanted to purchase and develop them.
In Japan, the government seems unlikely to back down with an election looming.
There is even talk in the Japanese press that some on both sides could be willing to risk a limited naval clash in defence of the conflicting claims, correspondents say.
Further complicating matters, Japan's newly appointed ambassador to China, 60-year-old Shinichi Nishimiya, died on Sunday, the foreign ministry said.
The envoy - who had been due to take up his post in October - collapsed several days earlier near his Tokyo home and was taken to hospital.
The foreign ministry has not publicly commented on what caused his death.


Two of Ireland's most popular children's writers have joined forces to create an imaginary friend.

Irish children's laureate Eoin Colfer and illustrator and writer Oliver Jeffers are both famous in their own rights.
Mr Jeffers, who grew up in Belfast, won the 2015 Book of the Year for Once Upon an Alphabet.
It is just one in a long list of awards he has received for his picture books.
Mr Colfer wrote the Artemis Fowl series of books that quickly became bestsellers.
Aimed at the young adult audience, the fantasy books focus on a young criminal mastermind who kidnaps a fairy in order to expand his empire.
He also penned the sixth instalment to Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The former primary school teacher is from Wexford in the Republic of Ireland.
Both Mr Jeffers and Mr Colfer have recently worked with others in different art forms, but not with each other before.
Oliver Jeffers co-directed U2's video for their song 'Ordinary Love', while Kenneth Branagh has recently signed up to direct the film version of Artemis Fowl.
They decided to collaborate on 'Imaginary Fred' due to a chance meeting in New Zealand.
"We were there for the Auckland book festival and we met up at a story slam competition," Mr Colfer said.
"We were giggling like schoolboys at each other's stories, and at the end of the night we said let's do something together."
'Imaginary Fred' tells the story of Fred, who becomes the imaginary friend of Sam, a boy in need of company.
The two embark on a series of adventures together, but when Sam meets Sammi, a girl with an imaginary friend of her own, Fred has to move on from Sam.
The story, unusually, is told from Imaginary Fred's point of view.
"I like to do that with my books," said Mr Colfer.
"To take what is often a secondary character and make them the main character because they're a lot more interesting to me."
But with Mr Colfer living in Dublin and Mr Jeffers in New York, how did the collaboration work?
Mr Jeffers said modern technology made it all possible.
"Years ago we would have had to send carrier pigeons to each other," he said
"We used e-mails, phone calls, and, for showing visuals, I would hold my drawings up to the camera on the laptop via skype and we'd have a chat that way.
"Eoin could see everything I was doing in real time and we could talk about it together."
Despite their success working on their own, Mr Jeffers said they had no trepidation about working together.
"Eoin was an absolute pleasure to work with, and we both were very respectful of each others work," he said.
"We were just interested in making the best possible book, so there were no tiffs or fights or arguments.
"We were having fun, really, and I think that shows in the end product."
Now they've done it once both hope to collaborate again.
Their appearance at the MAC Theatre in Belfast sold out, and the venue was filled with young fans and their parents.
Mr Colfer said he thinks the interest in 'Imaginary Fred' shows that, despite all the other past-times available to children, interest in reading remains healthy.
"Every 10 years or so, somebody says that books are coming to an end - cinema was going to kill books, then it was TV, then e-books, but it's never happened," he said.
"Because nothing beats sitting down with your mum and dad and listening to your favourite story for the hundredth time."


A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a woman whose body was found at a house in Neath Port Talbot.

Andrea Lewis, 51, was discovered at the home in Fairyland Road, Tonna, Neath, at about 08:00 GMT on 30 January.
Rhys Trevor Anthony Hobbs, 43, of Tonna, appeared at Swansea Crown Court on Friday charged with her murder.
He was remanded in custody until his next court hearing on 24 March.
A second man, 46, also arrested in connection with her death, has been released on police bail.