OH mum! A BBC story tells how a football fan was left distraught after his mother accidentally cooked 16 tickets he had bought for a forthcoming match.
It seems that Norwich fan Mikey Knight's mother accidentally picked up the envelope containing the tickets as she popped a chicken in to roast and the charred remains, worth £500, were dished up by his mum when he arrived for supper.
Mikey commented: “I went round for tea and my mum asked me if I was in a good mood. I said 'yes'. Then I was told the football tickets had got roasted.”
The tickets were for a match against Brighton, who have agreed to provide replacements on the day 'as a goodwill gesture'.
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A rare coin which is expected to cause 'a stir' in the coin collecting world, has been sold for £46,0000, reports the Daily Mirror.
The 5.2cm solid silver Declaration Pound coin was struck in 1643, after Charles 1 had retreated from London during the English Civil War and was trying to regain his failing power from the Roundheads led by Oliver Cromwell.
Coin specialist Timothy Medhurst, of Duke’s auctioneers in Dorchester, said: “The coin has been handed down through several generations to the current owner who had no idea of its value.”
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The Daily Mirror describes it as Britain's first 'poo bus' – a vehicle which runs on human and household waste .
Along its 15-mile route in Bristol, the Bio-Bus will use waste from more than 32,000 households.
Sewage and inedible food waste will be turned into the biomethane gas, which powers the vehicle.
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Keen runner Netty Edwards was left distraught, said the Daily Mail, when officials told her to quit a 20 mile race because she was 'too slow'.
Forty six year old Netty, from Wakefield, was taking part in the Spen 20 Road Race in Spenborough, West Yorkshire.
Race organisers, Spenborough & District Athletics Club, had not specified a cut-off time for the race in its terms and conditions, but the mother was apparently told to stop despite running at a pace of 12 minutes per mile.
At that pace, had she been allowed to complete the race, she would have finished in four hours.
She said on social media: “Well this [is] a first… 1 and a half miles in and pulled off the course for being too slow.”
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It has been said many times of the Brits that they like their cup of tea, so it must have come as a bit of blow to the national ego to see the Daily Telegraph report that scientists at University College London say we do not let tea infuse for long enough to bring out the complex flavours.
Researchers claim tea must be allowed to steep for up to five minutes, far longer than the two minutes allowed by most drinkers.
And they advise using a pot rather than a tea-bag in a mug to allow convection currents to swirl tea leaves fully through the water.
Mark Miodownik, Professor of Materials and Society at University College London, said: “What frustrates me is the British think they know about tea, but most people have no idea what they are doing.”
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If you like going to the park to feed bread to the ducks don't do it!
The Independent says the Canal and River Trust is urging people to feed ducks with frozen peas and sweetcorn instead. Ducks are also reportedly partial to grapes, which should be cut into quarters to make them easier to eat.
It is estimated that people in England and Wales feed an estimated six million loaves of bread a year to ducks.
But, reports The Independent, ducklings that are fed on bread end up being malnourished, while birds that get used to hand-outs can lose their natural fear of humans and may become “aggressive”.
The charity warns families that bread is essentially “junk food” for ducks, and the remnants left behind encourage rats, disease and algae.
Reference list:
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
Daily Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph co.uk)
BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)