Clare's Collection of Unusual Tales and Pictures

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Man holds on to poppadom eating title

A Dundee man has held onto his world record poppadom eating title.

Tim Stobbs beat 15 competitors to eat 15 poppadoms in five minutes at St Andrews.

It is the third successive year he has won the title, in aid of Cancer Research.

As he claimed the title he announced his retirement as he said he was getting 'too old'.

According to Metro, he said: "It was harder this time as there were more competitors. At first I took it quite easy until I realised I wasn't winning.

"I then put my foot down and am delighted to break my record. It's now time for the next generation to take over. I'll be at the event next year but in a judging capacity only.

"This year was the first time I was sick and I took this as sign to hang up my napkin."

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Man walked down abseil route

A Sussex man got stuck on Cape Town's Table Mountain after trying to walk down an abseil route.

Leigh Lander was stranded on a ledge after a 100ft fall - but called his grandad back in the UK for help.

He asked Joe Parker to look up the number of the local mountain rescue team on the internet.

Leigh, 26, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, was on a break in South Africa with brother Dale, 29, and two friends.

They all began to walk down the 1,086-metre mountain but Leigh was left to go on alone after the others decided to turn back and take a cable car.

He took a wrong turn - and ended up on the abseil route.

According to the Sun, he said: "I was thinking it was extremely challenging, then just lost my footing. I feel silly, but I'm glad to be alive. The ledge saved me."

Leigh was rescued by a military helicopter five hours later.

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Woman's farts ground plane

A plane had to make an emergency landing - after a passenger struck a match to cover up the smell of her flatulence.

The American Airlines flight from Washington to Dallas, Texas, landed in Nashville when travellers smelled burning.

All 99 passengers and five crew were led off the aircraft and luggage was unloaded.

The plane was searched burnt matches were found under a seat, reports the Sun.

The woman, who lives near Dallas, admitted she struck the matches because she was embarrassed by the smell she was making.

The woman, who has not been named, was released without charge but was not allowed back on the jet.

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Boy arrested for opening present

A 12-year-old boy has been arrested for opening one of his Christmas presents early.

The boy, from Rock Hill, South Carolina, was taken to the local police station after unwrapping a Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

They charged him with petty theft and he now faces a court appearance reports the Sun.

The console had been wrapped by the boy’s gran and put under the Christmas tree with strict instructions not to touch it before December 25.

But the next day she found the gift had been opened and told her grandson’s mother - who called the police.

The mum said her son had a history of bad behaviour. She added: "I'm trying to get him some kind of help."

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Non-virgin brides face 'white dress fines'

A Romanian priest says he wants women to pay a 'white dress fine' if they are not virgins when they marry.

Father Petrica Bratu, 37, from Valea Sarii says he hopes the fines will stop couples living in sin.

The fines will range between £10 and £60. The average salary in Romania is £100 per month.

Father Bratu said: "The fine depends on how intimate a couple have been before they get married."

Couples who had only just moved in together would pay £10 but brides who were pregnant or had children would pay £60.

The priest asked: "What is the use of the white bridal dress if the bride went from one man to the next, or if she comes into church holding the hand of her child?

"White is a symbol of purity. I want this to stay unchanged. I do not want young people to think that there is no such thing as sacred matrimony."

But groom Plamen Baldescu, 27, complained: "Weddings are so expensive already - this is just too much.

"The priest heard sometimes I was allowed to stay over at my girlfriend's parents' house and suddenly he is demanding large amounts of money as my fiancee supposedly does not deserve to wear white."

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Jealous hubby branded bride's bum

A jealous husband is in trouble after branding his initials on his young bride's buttocks on their wedding night.

Police want to question the 54-year-old after he forcibly used a cattle brander on his 22-year-old new wife.

He reportedly tried to justify the assault by saying he wanted to make sure other men knew she was 'his'.

Police called him in for questioning after his wife contacted a local women's rights organisation.

A police spokesman said: "We want him for questioning. He has some explaining to do."

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Naked sleepwalker rescued by police

A man had to call police for help after waking up in the lobby of a hotel wearing only a string vest.

The man had woken at 3am after sleepwalking virtually naked out of his hotel room, reports the Sun.

He wasn't wearing his glasses and couldn't see anything except the telephone - so he dialled 999.

Police arrived at the Rutland Hotel in Torquay, Devon, reports the Sun.

Hotel owners Eve Walley, 52, and husband Tom, 57, live nearby.

Eve said: "When the police rang I thought that we'd been burgled. But when they explained what happened I burst out laughing.

"Tom went to help - I thought I'd spare the poor little fellow's blushes. He has stayed here before and says he'll wear pyjamas in future."

The guest, who is in his 70s, wishes to remain anonymous.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Normally we use our priority crime car for slightly more urgent calls. But on this occasion we were happy to help the gentleman in his moment of need."

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120-year-old Xmas tree

A Wiltshire family have used the same Christmas tree for 120 years.

Janet Parker's foot-high tree is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

It was given to her by her Aunt Lou in the 1940s, reports the Sun.

When the tree was bought in 1886 It cost six old pence (2.5p).

Janet and husband Graham, 84, of Chippenham, Wilts, said: "It's been used every year since Victorian times."

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Camel gatecrashes Xmas party

A Christmas party in Ireland was ruined after a camel ate all the food and drank the beer.

Gus sneaked out of his stable while staff at his equestrian centre were getting changed for the big night, reports Metro.

Gus scoffed 200 mince pies and 150 sandwiches before downing seven cans of Guinness, which he reportedly cracked open with his teeth.

Staff at Mullinger Equestrian Centre in County Westmeath, Ireland, came back to find the place looking like a 'chimpanzee's tea party'.

Centre owner Robert f*gan said: "We're going to reschedule the Christmas party for next Tuesday but next time Gus is going to be properly locked up."

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Santa fights crime

A German Santa turned crimefighter when he leapt into action to chase two shoplifters.

Santa Claus Dieter Thurn, 52, was in his grotto in a department store in Bremen when he saw the crooks, aged 20 and 23, filling their rucksacks with expensive cosmetics.

Thurn flew after the pair and managed to hold them down until the police arrived.

Daniel Ingeborg, six, who was visiting the store with his mother, told local press: "Santa's so cool. He gives presents and fights crime. He's like Superman but better."

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Panto depicts Irwin's death

A panto featuring a depiction of Steve Irwin's death has sparked controversy in Australia.

Babes in the Wood includes a song about the Crocodile Hunter called Die Doing The Thing You Love.

The show is currently being performed at the Sydney Opera House after a run in Melbourne, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Singer songwriter Eddie Perfect is refusing to answer questions on the subject because of the controversy.

But satirist Max Gillies said part of the tradition of panto was to involve current affairs.

"It's a pity it was blown up out of all proportion... it's quite an affecting theatrical moment in the play," he said.

"It's a storm in a tea cup. Eddie Perfect has made a beautiful song that's a celebration of the memory of Steve Irwin."

Irwin died in September when a stingray barb pierced his chest while he was filming on the Great Barrier Reef.

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Woman coughs up pellet after 21 years

A woman has coughed up an air rifle pellet - 21 years after she was shot in the face.

Sue Allaker's brother Craig accidently fired the gun up her nose in 1985 at their home in Hull, East Yorkshire.

According to Metro, she said: "I coughed up a round ball. I took it into the kitchen, not wanting my family to see, only to find it was the pellet my brother shot me with all those years ago."

Doctors believe the pellet, not picked up on xrays, became lodged behind a piece of bone.

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Frozen frog comes back to life

A tree frog has miraculously come back to life after being accidentally frozen solid in a freezer in Australia.

The tiny frog was found covered in a layer of ice in a walk-in freezer - at -18C - at a Darwin cafeteria.

But - after defrosting - it fully recovered and started breathing again, reports the Australian Daily Telegraph.

Sue Hoddinott, 47, who found the frog, said: "I couldn't believe it. He was completely frozen rock solid. When I found him I thought 'Poor little thing', and I went to put it in the bin.

"But a friend said not to, as she had seen on TV that they can come back to life when defrosted. I told her she had been watching too many movies, but I did it anyway.

"She ran her finger over his back to wipe the ice off and he started breathing again - it was amazing."

FrogWatch NT co-ordinator Graeme Sawyer said it was an unusual story.

But he did not rule out the possibility of a frog being revived after it was frozen.

"I've never heard of it happening with Australian species but there are American frogs that can be defrosted and come back to life," he said.

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Burglars gave money to victim

Romanian police are looking for two burglars who broke into an woman's apartment - and left her some money.

Filofteia Stefan, 86, from Constanta, told police two young men, wearing masks, trashed her apartment.

She said they rummaged for money or valuables but found only her wallet with the equivalent of 50p inside.

The burglars then gave the woman all of their loose change - and left without taking anything.

The victim handed the money - more than £1 - to the police for fingerprint analysis.

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Phallic Xmas tree upsets neighbours

A South Yorkshire man upset his neighbours - with his willy-shape outdoor Christmas tree.

Alan Parkin, 47, from thingytone, trimmed his 10ft conifer into a phallic shape and decorated it with red and white lights.

But his prank upset his neighbours who complained to police, reports the Daily Mirror.

One said: "It's rather rude. There are children and teenagers about and I don't think it's good for them to see." Another added: "It's just obscene. We shouldn't have to put up with it."

Officers visited his home and asked him to remove the lights to make the tree less suggestive.

But Mr Parkin has agreed to go all the way - and give the tree the snip.

He said: "It was just a laugh. If it offended anybody, then the shape will be altered.

"I was amazed when police called around. They said they had received a complaint and would I mind removing the lights so it didn't look offensive."

But not all neighbours were outraged. Constance Barnard, a widow in her 60s, said: "It doesn't bother me.

"I didn't know we had anyone around here so pious as to complain to police. I'm a churchgoer but I don't think about it. I'm a live-and-let-live lady."

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Stressed woman thought she was French

A Bath woman convinced herself she was French after she developed a rare disorder.

Louise Clarke, 30, a recruitment consultant, babbled away in French for weeks, according to the Sun.

She demanded croissants, rang her pals to tell them she was living in Paris and even invited them over.

Louise said: "It might sound funny to others, but suddenly thinking you are French is terrifying."

She had been in France four years before becoming one of only four people in Britain, and 200 in the world, to be diagnosed with Susac's syndrome.

The brain disorder, which can be brought on by stress, is thought to affect blood vessels leading to the brain, ears and eyes and can scramble memories.

Louise is now controlling it with steroids and other medication and has been told it can last up to five years.

She said: "It was a really tough time for my family. At one point my sister discovered I had phoned all my friends and told them to come and visit me in Paris. She had to ring them all back to explain what had happened."

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Bishop's memory blank

A bishop says he has no memory of an alleged drunken incident in which he clambered into a stranger's car.

The Rt Rev Tom Butler, 66, the Bishop of Southwark, threw children's toys from the parked Mercedes before being pulled out, falling over and cracking open his head.

Asked what he was doing, it's claimed he replied: "I'm the Bishop of Southwark. It's what I do."

He then 'staggered' off into the night leaving his cross, personal organiser and Home Office correspondence in the car.

At first the bishop claimed he'd been mugged as he made his way back from an embassy function in central London to his home in Streatham.

But his spokesman later said: "He'd clearly had a glass of wine but does not recall being drunk as a skunk.

"He finds it incredible to believe he was in a different part of town in a car and left belongings there. But he doesn't recall."

Mercedes owner Nicola Sumpter, 33, said the first she knew of the incident was when her car alarm went off.

She said: "My boyfriend and his pal raced outside and were stunned to see a grey-haired man in the back seat. He was throwing my one-year-old son's toys everywhere.

"He wouldn't get out so they pulled him away. He couldn't stand up straight and fell over, bashing his head. Asked what he was doing, the man said: 'I'm the Bishop of Southwark. It's what I do'. He then staggered off."

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Serbia's celebrity sulkers

Two elderly women who are the only inhabitants of a remote Serbian village have become famous for not speaking to each other.

Ruzica Markovic and Ljubica Paunovic, from Serbia's smallest village of Grade, fell out after one insulted the other's cow three years ago.

Previously, they had lived in harmony in Grade, which has no electricity, running water, TV or access to radio, for decades.

But Paunovic stopped talking to Markovic after she overheard her make a rude comment about one of her cows.

Paunovic has since contacted local newspapers about the spat and the pair now have become cult figures in the press, trading daily insults.

Markovic said: "I am having the newspapers specially delivered to me every day just so I can find out what she's been saying about me."

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Violent Christian video game shocks US

A new computer game in which players must kill or convert non-Christians is causing controversy in the US.

Liberal and progressive Christian groups are calling for retail giant Wal-Mart to pull the game from its shelves.

The game - Left Behind: Eternal Forces - is based on the Book of Revelation when Jesus has taken his people to heaven and left nonbelievers behind to face the Antichrist.

The Campaign to Defend the Constitution and the Christian Alliance for Progress are urging Wal-Mart to take it off sale, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Clark Stevens, co-director of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, said: "It pushes a message of religious intolerance."

And Christian Alliance for Progress president, the Rev Tim Simpson, added: "So, under the Christmas tree this year for little Johnny is this allegedly Christian video game teaching Johnny to hate and kill?"

Left Behind Games' president Jeffrey Frichner insists the game is actually pacifist because players lose 'spirit points' every time they gun down nonbelievers instead of converting them.

"You are fighting a defensive battle in the game," he said. "You are a sort of a freedom fighter."

Wal-Mart has no plans to pull Left Behind: Eternal Forces from any of the 200 of its 3,800 stores that offer the game.

"We look at the community to see where it will sell," said spokeswoman Tara Raddohl. "We have customers who are buying it and really haven't received a lot of complaints about it from our customers at this time."

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Toilet roll finally runs out

A Swedish police station has ordered toilet paper - for the first time in 20 years.

In 1986, an admin error meant the police station in Hagfors ended up with 20 years worth of paper.

A worker ticked the wrong box that meant they got sent 20 pallets of toilet roll instead of 20 packets, reports Metro.

Officials tried to return it, but they were told to do so would be time-consuming and expensive.

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Boy causes £270,000 damage with firework

A schoolboy caused £270,000 of damage to a block of flats after setting off a firework in his bedroom.

The 11-year-old, not named for legal reasons, lit a rocket in his bedroom in the Austrian capital Vienna, but it flew into curtains and set them on fire.

The blaze spread quickly and soon engulfed his room and then spread to the rest of the flat and to a neighbouring flat and another apartment above.

The entire block of flats was evacuated as fire fighters battled to put out the flames.

No one was hurt but two flats were totally destroyed and others damaged and authorities have put the cost of repair at £270,000.

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School suspends art teacher for painting with bum

A US art teacher has been suspended after bosses learned of his sideline - painting with his bum.

Stephen Murmer had posted a video on YouTube demonstrating his unusual technique.

He also had his own website - www.buttprintart.com - featuring his work and the video, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

In the video, in which he places his buttocks in paint and then sits on a canvas, he goes under the name Stan Murmer and disguises himself with Groucho Marx-style glasses and moustache.

His paintings, typically depicting flowers and butterflies, are priced from £250 to £450.

After learning of the video, school officials at Monacan High School in Chesterfield County, Virginia, put Mr Murmer on paid leave.

But Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said Mr Murmer was "a well-respected, responsible teacher who does his job.

"Separate from that, he is an artist, he uses a pseudonym, he even disguises himself when he appears on this video," he said.

A school spokesman said teachers were expected to set an example for students. The school board is expected to consider the case next month.

School board chairman Marshall W Trammell Jr said he had seen a lot of things "but this is probably the most unique that I've ever seen."

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Woman finds 7ft snake in toilet

An Australian schoolteacher called a plumber when her toilet was blocked - to find a 7ft python stuck in the u-tube.

The carpet python had been living in the septic tank of Kate Poole's home in Howard Springs, near Darwin.

Parks and wildlife officer Peter Phillips said the snake had probably poked its head out of the toilet "for a bit of a look around".

The snake was stuck fast but was finally caught by lifting the septic tank cover and using special tongs, reports Northern Territory News.

Ms Poole, 58, a part-time relief teacher, had met the snake before when it killed a baby possum that used to come to her door to be fed.

"It was crushing the possum," she said. "I managed to free the poor animal by lifting up the snake with a crutch, but it was too late - the possum was dead."

But she said she didn't hold a grudge and was happy to see the python liberated.

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'World's most remote' pub up for sale

One of the world's most remote pubs has gone up for sale - and is expected to fetch up to £4 million.

The Birdsville Hotel in the Australian outback is 875 miles from the nearest city, Brisbane.

The pub, on the edge of the Simpson Desert, is one of the most famous in Australia and is visited by about 45,000 travellers each year.

Jo Fort, who has owned the Birdsville with her husband, Kym, for 27 years, said: "Sometimes you've got to know when enough's enough."

Mrs Fort said that there had been considerable interest in the sale: "People who don't even drink beer have a beer in the front bar here," she said.

The first European explorer to venture into the area was explorer Charles Sturt who described it as a "desperate region having no parallel on Earth".

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Pilot sees plane take off without him

A pilot watched in horror as his plane took off without him.

The airman, 70, saw it soar into the sky and do a loop before crashing, reports the Mirror.

The unnamed pilot had clung on to the wing to prevent it taking off at Barton Aerodrome, near Manchester, but lost his grip and fell off.

The drama began when the engine of the single-seater Luton LA4A cut out while the plane taxied.

The pilot left the c0ckpit to restart the motor manually but accidentally nudged the throttle lever open.

When he spun the propeller the engine roared into life and the plane surged down the runaway leaving the flyer stranded.

The plane was severely damaged but the pilot escaped with cuts and bruises.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigation said the pilot did not realise he had knocked the throttle on because he was wearing padded clothing.

The plane is registered to Stephen Smith of Lancaster but he is not believed to have been the pilot.

A Barton Aerodrome spokesman declined to comment.