To make this site work properly, we place small data files called cookies on your device. Most big websites do this too.

What are cookies?

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another.

Cookies are specific to the browser you are using, so if you use Internet Explorer some of the time and Firefox or Chrome (for example) at other times, then each browser will ask if you agree to cookies for this site.

How do we use cookies?

On this site, cookies are used to gather anonymous visitor data. They are not necessary for the correct functioning of the site, but they do enable us to know which pages are of most interest, where our visitors come from and so on. They do not tell us who you are.

Finally, cookies are used to record if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site so that you are not asked the question every time you visit the site (the cookie expires after one month, when you will be asked again), and to remember your preference for tool tips on the A-Z index page (this cookie expires after one year).

How to control cookies

You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish – for details, see AllAboutCookies.org. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site and some services and functions offered by the site may not be available.