Clare's Collection of Unusual Tales and Pictures

[Dark One]

15-year-old lad is carnival queen

A town has picked a 15-year-old gay boy as their new carnival queen.

David Bridge will wear a dress, tiara and high heels for the procession.

He auditioned in front of the mayor of Axbridge, Somerset reports The Sun.

David said: "I've always liked the carnival and I thought, 'Why not take part?'

"It seemed fun and I thought I'd enjoy dressing up. I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to wear a red ball gown or a black one.

"When I did the audition there were a few in the audience who didn't know what to make of me. But then others said, 'If you've got the balls to do it, go for it'."

He added: "There will be a few bigots who might not approve, but I'm hoping to show I've enough confidence to carry it off. It's important to show you don't have to be in London to dress up as a gay or in drag costume."

Carnival committee chairman Robin Goodfellow, 66, said: "We couldn't eliminate him just because he was male.

"Some people might be offended but we'd rather be inclusive than exclusive. It's hard enough to get people involved as it is.

"If there had been more girls applying for the post, this might never have happened."

Local Chris Whittaker said: "We can't believe it. It's political correctness gone mad. How on earth can you have a carnival queen who's a bloke?"

[Dark One]

Dog survives after being trapped for a month

A dog that doesn't bark has survived after being stuck down a gully for a month.

Holly the collie fell into the 10ft deep gully after being scared by a thunderstorm.

She became trapped because the 18-inch-wide alley, between the back of a village social club and a churchyard, is sealed at both ends.

Her owners Dennis and Irene Stephenson and their friends searched for her around Stoke Climsland, Cornwall.

They had almost given up hope when local churchgoer Will Sommerville heard her whimpering and fetched a ladder to lift her out.

The 12-year-old dog had lost nearly half her weight but survived in the gully by drinking rainwater.

According to The Sun Dennis said: "Another few days and it would have been too late."

Rescuer Will said: "I just saw this terrified dog looking up at me."

[Dark One]

Police ban widow's sign after 31 years

A widow was told by police to remove a notice on her fence which read: "Our dogs are fed on Jehovah's Witnesses."

The sign had hung on Jean Groves fence for thirty-one years without complaint.

Jean said even Jehovah's Witnesses treated it as a laugh and she put the sign back on the fence after the police left.

According to The Sun she said: "It's only a lark and it's staying there. I don't see what the fuss is about. Don't people have a sense of humour any more?"

Jean has a dog but it is a three-month-old Jack Russell named Rabbit.

Jean who lives in Bursledon, Hants, said: "My husband Gordon hung it up and it's been there ever since. No one has said anything in all that time. The police said it was 'distressing and offensive and inappropriate'."

Mrs Grove's son Richard, 53, said: "We never had a visit from Jehovah's Witnesses for years, so I suppose the sign did the job.

"There's no way we could take it down - it's living testament to dad's sense of humour. The only dogs we have ever had would have been more likely to lick people to death rather than eat them."

A Jehovah's Witness said: "If we see signs like that we just walk away."

A Hampshire police spokesman insisted there had been a complaint.

[Dark One]

Burglar left finger behind

A burglar was caught after he left his finger at the crime scene and police found his prints in their database.

Michael Baumgartner, 31, was spotted breaking into a leisure centre in Hamburg, Germany.

He fled when police arrived but a ring on his index finger caught on a metal fence and ripped his finger off..

Police found the severed digit on the ground and used it to track down the thief.

But it was too late to reattach the finger despite surgery at a local hospital.

[Dark One]

Escapees flag down cop car

Three escaped prisoners were recaptured in Australia after they flagged down an unmarked police car.

The men, aged 19, 20 and 27, allegedly broke out of Warakirri Correctional Centre at Ivanhoe, New South Wales, reports News.com.au.

They managed to travel more than 125 miles - but were arrested when they waved down the unmarked police car at Buronga.

The trio were taken to Dareton Police Station and have been charged with escaping from lawful custody.

[Dark One]

Council was behind 'miracle fountain'

People who flocked to drink at a 'miracle fountain' from a statue of Pope John Paul ll have been told it's just a council water pipe.

Locals in Pope John Paul II's hometown of Wadowice, Poland, believed a miracle had happened when water began spouting from the base of the statue.

Word soon spread across the country with pilgrims travelling from all over to the tiny town to fill up bottles with the liquid.

But their belief in what they thought was a "Godly experience" was shattered by town mayor Eva Filipiak.

She admitted the local council had installed a pipe beneath the statue, reported daily Dziennik.

"We didn't mean anything by it, it was just supposed to make the statue look prettier," said Filipiak.

[Dark One]

Internet parking ticket scam

Drivers in Belgium are buying used parking tickets on the internet to get out of paying fines.

The scheme was set up by the Continental Computer Company in Antwerp which allows drivers slapped with a fine for not buying a parking ticket to buy a used one at an online exchange for just £5.

The motorists then present the second-hand tickets to the local council as proof they did buy one, claiming the ticket inspectors simply did not see it.

Company boss Marc Van de Vyver said there was nothing wrong with what they were doing.

He said: "We're not doing anything illegal. Our website is simply a meeting place for collectors of parking tickets, just like there are websites for people who want to exchange stamps."

But local authorities are now seeking to take legal action, saying the scheme is costing them thousands in unpaid fines.

[Dark One]

Man uses petrol as cleaner

A man blew up his house as he washed his kitchen floor with a cleaning fluid mixed with petrol.

The fumes were ignited by the boiler in his living room.

The blast blew out the bay window and wrecked ceilings and walls in Ron Cox's home.

Ron had been using Cillit Bang to get glue off his kitchen floor tiles. But he found it such hard work he thought petrol would help.

Ron was still scrubbing as the fumes wafted through and exploded as they came into contact with the pilot light on the gas boiler.

According to The Sun he said: "I didn't realise what had happened at first. I couldn't believe the damage. It was just a cupful. Lucky I was in the kitchen and no one else was in the house."

He has now moved out of the house in Sthingyhorpe, Lincs, while it is repaired.

Neighbour Dave Micheson said: "We heard an almighty bang. I rushed round and found Ron shocked but unhurt."

Dave put out a fire in the lounge and dialled 999.

Humberside fire chief Stuart Spence said: "Ron is very lucky. Nobody should ever try to use petrol as a cleaner."

[Dark One]

Duff cheque for heart op

A man who desperately needed a heart operation wrote a cheque so he could go private knowing it would bounce.

Roy Thayers, 77, was warned he might die on the NHS waiting list but could not afford to pay for the £6,500 surgery.

So he wrote out a cheque knowing that by the time it bounced the operation would be over.

Roy from Hounslow, West London is repaying the debt at £25 month.

According to The Sun Roy said: "I've worked all my life and put money into the system. Why should I die for the sake of money? Life is a great thing and you fight for it. I'd have robbed a bank to save my life.

"I had been having severe heart pains and a specialist found two valves had become blocked. I risked a fatal heart attack at any time. Then I was told there was a nine-month wait. The doctor said I could have the operation done privately, but it would cost £6,500. I said, 'I'll have it'. I was in the hospital three days later. I gave them a cheque because I knew it wouldn't clear in time."

The coronary angioplasty op at Hammersmith Hospital lasted almost two hours and was a success.

Within a month the hospital sent letters demanding payment, then threatened to send bailiffs round.

Roy said: "I had to start off paying £150 a month. I only get £470 pension, so I got it reduced to £25. I'll be 99 by the time it's paid."

A hospital spokesman said: "We have done all we can to accommodate Mr Thayers' his financial situation."

[Dark One]

Mole Man banned from home

An eccentric known as The Mole Man has been banned from his home after digging a 60ft network of tunnels beneath it.

William Lyttle, 75, spent 40 years burrowing under his 20-room house, removing 100 cubic metres of earth with a spade and pulleys.

It is now feared the street could give way, reports the Daily Mirror.

Philip Wilman, a surveyor for Hackney Council, told Thames magistrates: "There has been movement in the ground. He's fortunate a London bus is not in his front garden. It's liable to lead to catastrophe."

Ex-electrical engineer Lyttle is staying in a £25-a-night hotel, paid for by the council, after an injunction under the London Building Act which allows the £100,000 repairs to be done.

Work at the house in De Beauvoir, East London, could include flooding the tunnels - big enough to stand up in and dropping to a depth of eight metres -with cement.

[Dark One]

Kiwis register cars as hearses

New Zealanders have been registering their cars as hearses to get out of paying full road tax.

It came to light when a Christchurch woman told a radio station she had paid just £19 to register her car, instead of the usual £60.

She had registered it as a "non-commercial hearse" that would be used to carry dead animals.

The woman's definition of carrying dead animals was taking frozen chickens home from the supermarket.

Other listeners then called NewstalkZB to say they had done the same.

Andy Knackstedt, a spokesman for the government body in charge of land transport funding, warned motorists they were acting illegally.

"The definition of a hearse is a vehicle used to convey coffins, not groceries," he said.

"People are committing an offence when they do this and could be putting their insurance policy in jeopardy," he said.

[Dark One]

World's smallest pub

A former railway signal box is hoping to be recognised as the world's smallest pub.

The 8ft by 8ft Signal Box Inn at Cleethorpes has four stools and standing room for another two customers.

It boasts five hand pumps serving real, ale - and a fairly large beer garden, reports the Mirror.

Landlord Andrew MoCall, 35, has submitted his 64 sq ft local for a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

The title is currently held in the US by Sam's Bar in Colorado Springs at 109 sq ft.

Andrew says: "We're so small some drinks companies won't fit equipment for us because they think we won't do enough trade. But business is booming."

Andrew is running the newly-opened Signal Box single-handed - and says he's looking for the world's smallest cellarman.

[Dark One]

Family moving to the Bronze Age

A German family are set to move into the Bronze Age for ten days as part of a museum exhibition.

The Borngraeber family, from Goeppingen, will wear the same clothes, prepare and eat the same food and live in the same huts as people did 3,000 years ago.

Margret, 47, and Otto Borngraeber, 46, and their children Anna, 15, and Stefan, 13, have spent almost two years preparing for the project.

The idea is to conduct scientific research about how people lived in the Bronze Age, as well as to boost interest among museum visitors.

Mum Margret, a teacher, said: "It's all so exciting; we will be left entirely on our own, to fend for ourselves using only replicas of 3,000 year old tools."

Bad Buchau museum director Ralf Baumeister added: "People get bored looking at exhibitions of empty huts and artefacts hidden behind glass.

"We hope to establish an emotional connection to the Bronze Age and in that way bring archaeology closer to the people."

[Dark One]

Woman sacked by text

A shop assistant was sacked by text - because her boss said it was "part of youth culture".

Katy Tanner, 21, had worked at Blue Banana clothes and body-piercing store in Cardiff for just eight weeks.

She was off sick with a migraine when manager, Alex Bartlett, texted her, saying her sales figures were too low.

He added: "We will not require your services any more. Thank you."

According to The Sun Katy said: "It's not right to just text someone. They should've talked to me face-to-face.

"It's not professional. You're not allowed to text in sick - you have to phone. It's a double standard."

But Blue Banana director Ian Besbie said: "Our staff are part of the youth culture that uses texts as a major means of communication. We'd rather have spoken in person but her phone was off."

[Dark One]

Queen owns terraced house

The Queen reportedly own a rat-infested terraced house.

Officials have written to her lawyers about the boarded-up property in Gorton, Manchester.

The house has been abandoned for over a decade after being owned by a firm that was dissolved.

Councillors found the son of an ex-director but he had no interest in claiming ownership.

Under an historic law, because Manchester is in the County Palatine of Lancaster, ownership of "disclaimed" houses must automatically pass to the Duchy of Lancaster.

And since 1399, the estate and jurisdiction of the duchy has belonged to the reigning sovereign.

One resident, Stuart McCabe, 52, said: "We've had rats in the backyard, pigeons, mice - you name it."

The council wrote to royal solicitors Farrer & Co recommending use of powers to take ownership.

The house can then be given or sold to the council or a developer reports The Sun.

Councillor Jackie Pearcey said: "In the past I've told officers I want action taken on a house and didn't care if the Queen owned it. But it's the first time a house has actually been owned by the Queen."

[Dark One]

Hound dog savages Elvis's teddy bear

A teddy bear once owned by Elvis Presley has been horribly mangled - by a hound dog.

Barney the guard dog ripped the head from the antique teddy called Mabel after going berserk and savaging more than 100 bears in an exhibition.

The doberman pinscher, who was meant to be guarding the £500,000 collection, went on the rampage after his handler let him off the leash.

He ripped the limbs from many of the helpless bears and left some with "saliva damage", reports the Mirror.

Mabel, the centrepiece of the exhibition at Wookey Hole, Somerset, came off worst. Her head was left hanging by a thread.

Mabel's owner Sir Benjamin Slade, who paid £40,000 for the 1909 teddy at a Memphis auction, was said to be "absolutely furious".

Barney's handler Greg West thinks the hound may have taken revenge on Mabel because he was jealous.

Greg, 36, said: "Barney has been a model guard dog for over six years. He's never done anything like this before."

Daniel Medley, Wookey Hole's general manager, said: "I have apologised profusely to Sir Benjamin but he just yelled at me."

Sir Benjamin, who has sent a member of staff to recover Mabel's body, was "too distraught" to comment.

[Dark One]

DJ robbed while on air

A Brazilian DJ was robbed while broadcasting his daily radio show.

Tiago Amorin da Silva, from Alto Paraná, was talking live on Verde e Rosa radio station at 2 am, when two men broke into the studio and demanded money.

The thieves failed to realise that the robbery was being broadcast live and over 100 listeners called the police.

Police spokesperson said: "It was really fantastic that the DJ's fans called us.

"The robbers didn't realise what was going on and we were able to surprise them and control the situation."

The robbers were arrested by police.

[Dark One]

Customers allowed to beat up staff

A bar in eastern China allows it's customers to beat up the staff.

The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar in Nanjing lets customers smash glasses and even hit specially trained workers reports China Daily.

The owner, Wu Gong, says he was inspired to open the bar by his experiences as a migrant worker.

The bar employs 20 men who have been given protective gear and physical training to prepare them for the job.

Clients can ask the men to dress as the character they wish to attack.

Customer Chen Liang said: "The idea of beating someone decorated as your boss seems attractive."

But another man, Liu Yuanyuan, said violence was not the answer.

"If people really feel angry, they should adjust their lifestyles or seek psychological treatment."

[Dark One]

Boy, 5, has train adventure

A five-year-old boy took a 60-mile train ride because he wanted a real-life Thomas the Tank adventure.

Ben Ford was walking down the road ahead of his mum and dad when he disappeared.

He walked alone for half a mile and jumped on a train. He got off at Taunton in Somerset - 60 miles from his home in Teignmouth, Devon.

Two girls spotted him in a car park and alerted police.

According to the Mirror Dad David said: "Ben is mad about trains and Thomas the Tank Engine so he probably thought he was in the middle of some kind of Thomas adventure.

"It is still quite a long way to the station for a lad of his age and he had to cross major roads and go all the way to the bottom of town. Ben clearly wanted an adventure but he gave us all a huge fright. For those hours that he was missing I just thought 'if he is gone forever I don't want to exist any more'."

David and wife Sam had searched everywhere with neighbours and called police.

Neighbour Joanne Gartside, 37, said: "All hell broke loose round here. There were swarms of police officers and dogs and a helicopter."

PC Austin Clarkson said: "The little boy was fine - he sat and watched the trains while we made inquiries."

He then boarded a service to Exeter St David's station, where Ben was reunited with his parents.

[Dark One]

Man eats 58 sausages in 10 minutes

A Japanese man has created a new world record by eating 58 sausages at the Bratwurst Eating Championship.

Takeru Kobayashi beat the record of 34 set by Sonya Thomas at the competition in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Competitors had 10 minutes to eat as many "brats" as possible without buns.

Speaking after the event he said: "They're good. I want to take some home." He received over £4,000 in prize money.

During the competition he consumed 16,820 calories and 1450g of fat reports news.com.au.

The 27-year-old is considered the world's best competitive eater and also won this year's hot dog eating contest in New York.

[Dark One]

88-year-old farmer fathers a son

An 88-year-old Indian farmer has become one of the oldest men ever to become a dad.

Virmaram Jat has been trying for a son for 60 years.

The mother is his third wife Gammo Devi, 45 years his junior.

Virmaram, who already has a daughter of 16, lives in a remote mud hut in India with his family and tends cattle, goats and camels.

According to the Sun he said: "I am a farmer with simple needs. I have intercourse daily and the best time is between 2am and 4am.

"I will try to have more children. It is up to God whether he blesses me. I don't want to live for 100 years but my desire is that as long as I live, I enjoy my sexual life."

Virmaram's 85-year-old first wife, who still lives with him, helped choose the mum and assisted at the birth.

His nephew, 60, has vowed to raise the boy when he dies.

The world's oldest recorded dad was Aussie Les Colley, who was 92.

[Cookie Lover]

Man makes 37,760 calls to "kind" operators

A Japanese man was arrested this week after making 37,760 silent calls to directory inquiries because he wanted to listen to the "kind" voices of female telephone operators.

The 44-year-old has admitted to allegations of obstructing the operations of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. by making up to 905 calls a day from his mobile phone, the daily Mainichi Shimbun said on its Web site.

"When I made a complaint call once, the operator dealt with it very kindly, so I wanted to hear these women's voices," the paper quoted him as telling police in Hiroshima, western Japan.

Police believe the calls, made between March and July this year, caused psychological distress to more than 100 telephone operators, the Mainichi said.

[Dark One]

Divorce planners help couples

A German company has come up with a novel idea to help separated couples - divorce planners.

Sieglinde Vauth, who runs the Agentur Rosenkrieg, or War of the Roses Agency, offers to help couples on the path to divorce by mediating between spouses, giving them advice and helping to arrange all the practical aspects of a divorce - including sorting out the finances.

"It is mainly when money comes into play that the problems arise. I try to find other solutions than simply saying 'eenie, meenie, minie, mo' and distributing the assets in that way."

Vauth has been divorced twice.

[Dark One]

Kangaroo has artifical limb

A kangaroo in China is thought to be the first to have an artificial limb.

The kangaroo had to have it's leg amputated after being involved in an accident with a car.

However, Hangzhou Safari Park, in Hangzhou city, contacted an artificial limb factory, which designed and made the kangaroo a special limb, reports Xinhua News.

[Dark One]

Woman sues weather forecasters

A Russian woman is suing weather forecasters for ruining her holiday with incorrect predictions.

Alyona Gabitova told the court in the central Russian town of Uljanovsk that she had been promised temperatures of 28 degrees and constant sunshine during her weekend camping trip to a nearby nature park, but instead got wet through when it did nothing but pour down with rain the entire time.

She added that she had come back from the short holiday with a cold and is now demanding the local weather service refund her travel costs, according to Nowyje Iswestija newspaper.

The court is yet to make a decision on the woman's claim.