According to the UK newspaper The Guardian, ‘The G20 officer caught on video assaulting Ian Tomlinson minutes before he died faces being dismissed from the Metropolitan police before Christmas’. The officer is still, apparently, on full pay although he has been suspended. If the roles had been reversed, would Ian Tomlinson be free or would he have been arrested, charged …
Southern Railway offers no relief
Southern Railway in the UK is introducing a fleet of new trains in December this year which will have a ‘refreshed interior’ including new seats and flooring, a passenger information system and flexible spaces for wheelchairs and cycles. But some of them will not have toilet facilities.
Fire up the furniture
Perry Watkins, from Buckinghamshire, is awaiting confirmation of a new world record for the fastest piece of furniture after driving his Queen Anne dining table down a racetrack at an average speed of 113 mph. Watkins drove the Queen Anne table, nicknamed ‘Fast Food’ and set for a silver service dinner, twice down a 500m track at Santa Pod, Nottinghamshire, …
Parasite paradise
Surely someone is having a larf, not least the family who have apparently so far trashed eight or nine houses, have their breakfast delivered to them each morning and complain that they are not getting enough financial support. £95,000-a-year benefits family of 12 re-homed in a £1,000-a-week house… ‘after they trashed the last one’ OK, so the story comes from …
Biggest spud
Peter Glazebrook is no stranger when it comes to record breaking vegetables, having held the record for the longest carrot (17 feet!!), heaviest parsnip (13 pounds) and the longest beetroot (21 feet). Now, he has grown a huge 8lbs 4oz (3.76kg) potato and is awaiting confirmation of yet another Guinness World Record….STORY…
The Last of the Summer Wine
The final curtain has fallen on the world’s longest running sitcom The Last of the Summer Wine after 37 years, 31 series and 295 episodes. Peter Sallis, who was in the very first episode, was also in the last, his character Norman Clegg delivering the final line of the show, which was, ‘Did I lock the door?’. In its heyday, …
No excuse
A woman in Coventry caught on CCTV putting a cat into a wheelie bin, where it was trapped for fifteen hours, is now receiving police protection. She has not been arrested as she has not actually committed any criminal offence but is being investigated by the RSPCA in connection with cruelty to animals. A public outcry led to thousands of …
Storm in an academic teacup
As the records continue to tumble as far as the number of Grade A and A* (what’s that all about!) passes at A-Level, the competition for higher education places has reached unprecedented levels and some universities now openly require students to score a number of A grades at age 16 as a minimum entry requirement. In many cases, pupils who fail …
Firemen rescue burglar
This story about a hapless burglar caught my attention, particularly for the offer by a neighbourly surgeon to remove the offender without damaging the window frame….Framed! Burglar rescued by firemen after getting stuck in a window for six hours… No doubt he is already consulting lawyers about what sort of lawsuit he can bring and how much compensation he can …
London parking problems
A lot of coverage in the UK press about the amount of money, estimated at £4 million, being lost in London as a result of unpaid parking tickets by foreign registered vehicles, mainly ‘supercars’. The owners of the vehicles, such as expensive Bugattis, Rolls Royces, Hummers, Lamborghinis etc, ignore the parking regulations and some have notched up thousands of pounds …