A woman has finally passed her driving test after 23 years.
Maria McCarthy started taking lessons when she was 17.She has had over 250 lessons and ten instructors.
Maria from Sidmouth, Devon, claims she had "driving dyslexia" which stopped her negotiating roundabouts and corners.According to the Sun, she said: "Nothing about driving came easily to me. It was a mixture of nerves and lack of ability."
Lonely farmers in North Wales are to be pictured on milk cartons to help them find love.
Dairy co-operative Calon Wen is behind the 'Fancy a Farmer?' campaign, reports the Daily Post.
Stickers on Calon Wen's organic milk will feature three men and two women looking for a date.
Among them is 30-year-old Iwan Jones, of Groes Bach, Groes, near Denbigh, who dreamt up the idea.
He said: "It's a bit of a laugh really - but if I was approached by an attractive young lady I wouldn't turn her away."
Mr Jones is a director of Calon Wen, a co-operative of 20 Welsh organic dairy farmers, which has joined forces with a Welsh online dating agency.
By logging onto www.pishyn.com, shoppers can discover how to meet the farmer of their dreams.
Mr Jones said: "The Welsh countryside is a great place to live, with stunning scenery, but it can be a hard place to find a date as I'm finding out!"
Mr Jones admitted the two young women were recruited to the campaign "after a bit of arm-twisting".
"We didn't want to be accused of being sexist," he said.
A drunk man who fell asleep and got trapped inside a church rang out SOS in morse code with the bell.
When the man awoke in St Faith's Church in Havant, near Portsmough, he found the doors locked.
Reportedly worried about ghosts, he started ringing out the morse code for SOS on the church bell, reports Portsmough Today.
As dusk began to fall, he was still ringing for his life but eventually a local resident realised something was wrong.
He alerted two Police Community Support Officers who, in turn, contacted church verger Vicki Mockford who came to the rescue.
She said: "I was called by police saying someone was using the bell as a sign they were trapped.
"When we found him inside he told us he went into the church to have a sit down but fell asleep. He told the police he had been drinking which may have made him a bit dozy.
"He looked quite embarrassed about the whole incident when we found him. Maybe after this he might consider taking up bell ringing as a hobby."
'Britain's unluckiest man' - who has suffered 16 major accidents - is laid up again after falling down a manhole.
John Lyne's misfortunes have included two lightning strikes, a rock-fall in a mine, nearly drowning and three car crashes.
Mr Lyne, 54, of Stainforth, near Doncaster, will be out of action for 32 weeks after his latest mishap, reports the Doncaster Free Press.
The accident damaged his back and injured his left leg and both knees - on top of a lifetime of broken bones.
Mr Lyne says he's not bitter - just glad to be alive.
"Everyone thinks it is just hilarious," he said. "My mates, family and wife Susan just laugh about it.
"I don't think there is any reason or explanation for it though, it has just happened really. I have to particularly be careful on the Friday 13ths, when a few accidents have fallen."
Mr Lyne's mishaps cover a lifetime. As a child, he fell off a horse and cart - only to be run over by a delivery van.
When he was a teenager, he broke his arm falling from a tree. On his way back from hospital, his bus crashed, breaking the same arm in another place. The date was Friday the 13th.
A partially-sighted driver, dubbed Mr Magoo by anxious neighbours, has been ordered off the road..
Partially-sighted learner driver Peter Davies, 25, who is determined to pass his test despite concern from local residents in Burry Port, Carmarthenshire /PA
Peter Davies, 25, of Burry Port, west Wales, failed a basic eye test, reports icWales.
Residents urged him to give up driving after he recently mounted a kerb and crashed into a fence.
He was banned after police called at his home and asked him to carry out a partial eye test in the street outside.
He agreed to take part and went on to fail four times to read a number plate of a car parked 20 yards away.
Mr Davies admits having just 50% effective vision in one eye and 45% in the other but insists he is a safe learner driver.
His father, Antony Davies, who was teaching him to drive, says Peter was 'gutted' and had booked another test with an optician.
"To be honest he is gutted by what has happened. We are both hoping an optician can put an extra thickness into his glasses," he said.
"Personally I don't think it is justified, stopping him driving, but there was a campaign to get him off the road and this is where it has led."
A man lost £237,500 - thanks to his fat fingers.
The punter had meant to place a bet on a horse running at Wolverhampton but instead accepted wagers of 999-1.
One punter snapped up the odds and won £214,000, reports the Sun.
The transaction took place on internet betting website Betfair. It allows gamblers to lay wagers against each other.
The man, who has not been named, tried to place a bet at 999-1 on 15-8 favourite Peregine Falcon, but he hit the key to accept the odds and his error was seized upon.
Smaller bets were also placed, meaning the man lost in total £237,500.
Betfair's Tony Calvin said: "The client simply made a mistake."
A Londoner is hoping to become BBC Sports Personality of the Year after winning the 'rock, paper, scissors' world championships.
Sales manager Bob Cooper, 28, won the title by defeating a field of more than 500 contestants in Toronto.
He puts his success down to hard work, training, research and sunglasses, reports the BBC.
"It's similar to poker when you're out there bluffing, putting out the right or wrong signals. The eyes give away a lot so the shades are a definite benefit," he said.
Mr Cooper spent one or two hours each day training for the event, playing friends and colleagues or studying tactics.
His fans have voted for him to be nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Voting for nominees is now closed.
"Hopefully I could get nominated for Sports Personality of the Year, or we could begin a campaign to reopen nominations," he says.
A man from Scunthorpe rolled over in his bed to discover a Polish workman in place of his wife.
Graham Handley's wife Linda had gone into their eight-year-old son Adam's room because he was having trouble sleeping. She had nodded off there while Graham slept in their bed.
His sleep was disturbed by the sound of someone getting under the covers and he muttered a greeting to Linda.
But he leapt out of bed when the reply was a deep baritone and in a foreign tongue.
The Polish worker went straight to sleep and would not move even when police arrived.
It is believed the exhausted immigrant worker who lived in a neighbouring street got confused after a late shift.
He walked into the Handley home through an unlocked back door, took off his shoes, ate a large chocolate cake from the kitchen and then went to sleep in Graham's bed.
According to the Mirror, Graham, 45, said: "He wouldn't get up for anyone. He told the police to go away and they were standing there laughing. Then a big burly officer came and took him downstairs."
Linda said: "Graham woke me up and said there was a man in bed with him. I thought he was dreaming and told him not to be stupid."
Police said a 25-year-old man had been cautioned.
Customs officers doing a routine border check opened the back doors of a mini van to discover two fully-grown Siberian tigers.
The male and female tigers were being smuggled into Montenegro from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The driver and two passengers were arrested for the illegal trafficking of animals, which are one of the world's most endangered species.
The tigers are being temporarily looked after in a local zoo.
Siberian tigers tend to live in snow-covered areas and it is unclear how the animals ended up in the Mediterranean country, or what their final destination was.
Paula Radcliffe's wee stop during the London marathon has been voted running's most memorable event.
Her unscheduled roadside toilet break in 2005 beat Sir Roger Bannister's historic four-minute mile in 1954.
Radcliffe's embarrassing moment received 28% of the online vote - 1% more than Bannister's memorable run.
In third place, with 20%, was the clash of British great rivals Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Coe, now Lord Coe, finished second to his rival in the 800m, but took the gold in the 1,500m race.
In fourth place, was another duel, between South African Zola Budd and American Mary Decker in the 3,000m at the 1984 Olympics.
The race ended in tears for both after they collided. Decker fell over while Budd finished out of the medals.
Jesse Owens' feat of winning four golds in front of Hitler at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin was voted fifth.
Passengers on a broken-down train were shocked when they were asked if they could fix it.
The London to Manchester Virgin train was halted at Rugby station in Warwickshire when a windscreen wiper broke.
The train manageress pleaded over the tannoy for any passengers with nuts, bolts or cable ties to go to the front of the carriage.
Four men stepped forward to help, reports The Sun.
One of them, Damian Gaskin said: "It was unbelievable. I had a few basic tools with me so I went to help. One man had a foot on the platform with his other stretched across the windscreen.
"He was straddling the train. he told me he was a passenger and fixed the electrics on a service the week before."
A Virgin spokesman said: "After several repair attempts passengers got off the train and boarded a later service."
A Cornwall man has lost 16 stone in a year on a diet of Oxo cubes.
Stephen Kay, 39, swapped fry-ups, pies, pasties and pints of lager for three bowls of hot broth a day.
The dad-of-three, who is 6ft 2ins, weighed 31.5 stone, reports the Daily Mirror.
He devised with his own diet made up of Oxo stock cubes, topped up with fruit and vegetables.
Within 12 months he had slimmed down to 15.2 stone and lost two foot off his waist as his belt size shrank from 60 to 36.
Stonemason Stephen said: "I'd read all the weight loss magazines and watched all the TV programmes - but I hate salads.
"I remember my grandfather eating hot Oxo broth soaked up by wholemeal bread so I went for that."
Stephen decided to fight the fat after constant pestering from wife Caroline and children Gary, 21, Claire, 14 and Jack, 11.
Caroline makes her husband's filling broths three times a day using two stock cubes, hot water and pepper. She also gives him three slices of wholemeal bread.
The 42-year-old part-time cleaner said: "This diet has totally transformed him. He used to get tired easily and spend all his time on the sofa. Now he is out playing badminton."
A fire chief has told of his embarrassment after a station without a smoke alarm went up in flames.
The building and a fire engine were destroyed in the blaze at Arundel Fire Station in West Sussex.
Neil Odin, southern area commander for West Sussex fire service said it showed it could happen to anyone.
"Unfortunately, we had severe damage to our fire station, which is embarrassing," he told the BBC.
He said a brand new building would need a smoke alarm.
But he added: "Automatic smoke detection wouldn't have made any difference."
Nobody was injured in the fire which was tackled by 30 firefighters in six fire engines from neighbouring towns.
The station is served by retained firefighters, none of whom were in the building at the time.
A postcard sent in 1966 by a student to his parents on the other side of Poland has finally arrived after 40 years.
Zygmunt Kubiczak, the author of the postcard, said: "Since 1966 Poland has gone through martial law and thrown off the communist system, Jan Pawel II has been elected Pope, served his term and passed away.
"I've managed to get married, bring up two children, sail round the world on a boat, survive a serious heart operation and to retire. And all the time, that card was travelling on it's way."
Mr Kubiczak's parents are no longer alive and the postcard was only recovered thanks to helpful neighbours, who sent it on when it arrived at his parent's old address.
A 14-year-old boy has caught a 3lb South American piranha - in a Stockport pond.
Josh Boyle caught the exotic fish at a beauty spot, Reddish Vale, near his home in Greater Manchester.
Josh, who had been fishing for four hours before landing the piranha, said: "I recognised what it was straight away, so I wrapped it in a towel so it couldn't bite me.
"I was really shocked, but I was excited too - as I have never caught anything like it. I have been fishing since I was two, and I've seen lots of pictures of piranhas before, so I knew what it was."
Josh, who is a member of the Prince Albert Angling Society, landed his catch with just a spinner on his rod, which imitates a small fish.
After taking photos of the fish he released it back into the water, reports the Daily Mail.
Brian Zimmerman, aquarium manager at London Zoo, said: "This is most unusual. It managed to survive until it was caught, but it couldn't have survived the cold winter as the waters it is used to are between 25 and 30 degrees.
"It would have eaten smaller fish such as roach and tench to survive - the red bellied piranhas usually hunt in shoals and attack in a large group. When they are on their own they have to go for smaller prey."
A university is offering a masters degree in Robin Hood studies.
Nottingham University will provide the course to students, reports the BBC.
During the one-year course students will work with 15th century manuscripts in looking at the outlaw's place in English society.
The course will also use stories, songs and plays to investigate the medieval world of the Nottingham legend.
The course will start in October next year.
Dr Rob Lutton, medieval history lecturer, said: "The course provides an exciting opportunity for anyone with an interest in the origins and development of England's most enduring legendary figure."
A first aider suffering a suspected heart attack received a pager message sending him to his own emergency.
Roger Flux, 66, a volunteer community responder for Hampshire Ambulance Service, had chest pains in bed at his New Forest home.
Roger Flux an emergency first aider with Hampshire Ambulance Service at his home in Ashurst, New Forest, after being scrambled to attend his own suspected heart attack /PA
His wife called 999 as a precaution and paramedics were on the scenes within minutes.
It was then that Mr Flux got a pager message scrambling him to the emergency at his own house.
He said: "I was on call that evening and during the middle of the night I had severe chest pains right across my chest and jaw.
"In a couple of minutes the ambulance crews were here and investigating and in the meantime I asked my wife to get my response bag.
"While I was sitting down my pager went off, telling me to attend to a man with chest pains. Then I looked at the address - it was my own."
By the time cardiac specialists at Southampton General Hospital decided it had been a false alarm, Mr Flux saw the funny side of it.
"At least it shows the system works," he said.
The Government is spending £2million to find a cure for baldness.
Science minister Lord Sainsbury says he wants the UK to become the world leader in hair restoration.
He is supporting a new treatment called Biotechnology, reports The Sun.
During the treatment the hair cells are grown in a test tube then injected into a bald pate.
He said: "Biotechnology provides a real opportunity to harness the world-class expertise we possess in Britain.
"This initiative should establish British industry as the world leader in this area."
The treatment is being developed by UK firm Intercytex, set up by biochemist Dr Paul Kemp.
He said: "Analysts estimate a good baldness treatment could be worth £1billion a year in Britain and many times that worldwide. The idea is to inject cells into the scalp, where many will develop into new hair follicles.
"Current hair transplant techniques take a long time so they cost a lot. This new procedure would be faster and cheaper."
A mystery man arrested for breaking into the same house three times in Wales is baffling the authorities.
Police and immigration officials have no idea of the man's name, age, nationality - or what language he speaks.
Magistrates at Llanelli were told he had broken into the same house, near Ammanford, three times, washed himself, cooked food, and stole a sewing kit.
The man, who appeared to be in his 30s with dark receding hair and olive skin, was remanded in custody as no plea could be taken.
Laura Carthew, prosecuting, said: "A map of the world has been offered to the defendant with no response."
She also said they presented him with flags from all the countries in the world, but this met with a similar response.
He has briefly spoken once in a language thought to be Amharic, but when a translator was called they said they did not understand him and had no clue to the dialect he was speaking.
The man's solicitor Mike Reed said in his 30 years' experience he had never come across a similar situation.
He said that in a previous hearing, the court heard how writing in a book apparently discarded by the man had been identified as belonging to a "small tribe at the bottom of the Atlas mountains" in Morocco.
Council officials in Worcester have put up signs warning people of falling pears.
Two pear trees have been cordoned off in case their fruit falls on people at Cripplegate Park, St John's.
Signs have been screwed into each tree saying: "Warning, pears falling!"
The 30ft trees have stood in a city park for 50 years without any problems.
Officials acted after receiving a complaint the trees are a health hazard. The council fears it could be sued if anyone is injured by a pear.
The trees produce large black pears that weigh about 1lb each, reports The Sun.
Local man Barry Cox, 40, said: "This is a crazy waste of time and money. It seems people aren't credited with common sense any more. Next thing they will be issuing people with hard hats before they enter the park."
The council's parks and cemeteries manager Ian Yates said: "There are some sizeable pears and not everyone is going to be passing thinking a pear might fall on them, especially children.
"These signs divert people away from the danger. This is a lot cheaper than having a no-win, no-fee solicitor taking us to court."
