Infozone Breaking World News

Patrick McCrystal got a shock when he came back to his car and discovered he had a parking ticket after double yellow lines were painted under his vehicle. The 49 year old, who regularly parked his car in between two sets of yellow lines got a £70 fine and to make matters worse had yellow paint on his bumper.

Mr McCrystal told the press, “I couldn’t believe my eyes. They had extended the existing set of lines underneath my car, and then a warden had slapped a ticket on it”. He also added, “When I parked there were double yellows in front of my car, double yellows behind my car, but nothing in between.

“It has been my regular spot for two years and there was nothing to indicate I couldn’t park there.”

The fine was later rescinded by Derby City Council who said that the ticket was issued by error.

A set of double yellow lines in Norwich has created a bit of a stir after residents complained that it was a waste of money. The double yellow lines measure just 17 inches and are believed to be the shortest in the UK.

One local resident told the press, “You would have to park a toy car on there to get a ticket”.

Bert Bremner, a Norwich City councillor conceded that the lines may have been unnecessary, but also stated that the lines were paid for by the developer and did not cost the council anything.

Mr Bremner said,” They were put down to make things clearer for permit holders, but in hindsight perhaps they weren’t needed”.

The double yellow lines are situated next to a new parking permit area in Stafford Street.

LocalTraders.com has announced that it will be setting up the first World Watching Paint Dry Championships in the UK next year. The winner of the event will be given the international title and will also win an iPad.

Hopeful contestants will have to send the organisers a picture of themselves watching paint dry and tell them how long they have watched paint dry for. Hopefuls will also have to state their favourite colour and why.

The organisers will draw up a shortlist of contestants, who will be invited to the grand final and compete in front of the media.

A spokesperson for LocalTraders.com said, “We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘I’d rather watch paint dry’ and so we have decided the time has come to give people the chance to do so, for as long as they can bear”.

Adding that, “Previous paint-watching experience isn’t essential, but a bit of practice might help prepare contestants for the mammoth task ahead of them.”

Royal Mail has released an article on its website warning its workers to be careful when taking gifts and tips from customers over the Christmas period over concerns about bribery charges.

The article reads, “It’s the season of goodwill. But it’s important to be careful about accepting gifts so you don’t fall foul of the Bribery Act.” The article goes on to inform employees that they must not accept any gifts or tips from customers worth more than £30.

The article also says, “A bribe is not just about money, it could be any gift, hospitality or favour,” adding: “Gifts may only be given or accepted up to a value of £30; any gifts over £30 must be politely declined.”

A representative from the Royal Mail said that postal workers can still accept gifts and tips where appropriate. Ian McKay said; “It is entirely up to customers if they wish to give a tip to postmen and women at Christmas and to what value.”

A skeleton which has been on display in the famous London Dungeon since the mid-70’s has turned out to be real. The bones were only checked after the dungeons manager was told that real bones require a licence to display them.

The bones, nicknamed Kate will now cost the London Dungeon £2,000 per year to be displayed and have to be licensed by the Tissue Authority.

Bill Edwards from the Guy’s Hospital Medical Museum told the press that he had also been asked to test another set of bones called Twiggy, he said: “I need to go back and examine that one more closely when the Dungeon team can get it down from the wall. But from what I could see it looks either human, or a combination of some human and some artificial parts.”

A representative from the dungeon said that both sets of bones were due to be a part of the Satan’s Grotto activities this December, but they will now be replaced with other props instead.

A teacher from the UK has been told by doctors that if she laughs too hard her head might split open because her brain is too big for her head. Carolyn Gibbons suffers from a rare condition called Arnold Chiari ­Malformation which causes daily seizers, migraines and blurred vision.

Talking about her condition, Carolyn says that even a sudden movement makes it feel that her head ‘is about to pop’ and has had to quit the classroom altogether after passing out at work.

Doctors fear that if the pressure build up in her head is too great then her brain could be pushed out the bottom of her head and onto her spinal column, which could kill her.

Carolyn told the press, “I’m living in a bubble of pain. The pressure could cause my brain to literally split out of my head.”

She now takes a cocktail of 50 pills a day to ease the pain and faces various surgeries to try to combat the disease.

The M1 motorway has been closed between junctions 32 and 33 this morning after a tanker spiller more than 20 tonnes of Marmite on the road after hitting a motorhome. The crash happened around 10:15pm last night and the clean-up operation was still going ahead this morning causing rush hour delays.

A police spokeswoman said that the tanker driver was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. She said, “‘we were called at 10.15pm yesterday to reports of a tanker, which was carrying 23.5 tonnes of yeast extract, overturning.”

Adding that, “Some of the contents were spilled on the northbound carriageway and we are in the process of emptying the remaining contents of the tanker and clearing up the spillage before it can be moved and the road reopened.”

Marmite has been a British favourite for over a hundred years and was even included in soldiers ration packs during World War I.

18-year-old Josh Butler from Essex became so desperate for a job that he decided to auction himself off on the popular website eBay. The teenager, who opted out of going to university because of high tuition fees had applied for nearly 600 jobs and didn’t even get an interview, so came up with the cunning play to auction himself off on eBay for a Buy It Now price of £16,000.

Josh, who hails from Woodford Green in Essex, told the press; “It’s got so desperate that young people like me have to go to these lengths to find work. I’ve worked hard to get good qualifications and work ­experience and applied for every kind of job, but employers keep telling me I need a degree before they’ll consider me”.

He added, “But it’s so expensive to go to university, I just feel I’ll end up worse off.”

Josh’s listing has now landed him an interview with John Lewis and with two call centres. Josh said, “I’m glad I’m finally getting some interest.”

Undercover officers from the Derbyshire police have use a cunning plan to arrest 19 wanted criminals by offering them free crates of beer. The police sent special hoax letters to wanted criminals telling them that they could claim a free crate of beer by ringing a marketing company.

19 criminals fell for the hoax and phoned the number, which put them through to the undercover police officer who then arranged for a time and date to deliver the free gift. Unsuspecting criminals who were expecting a crate of beer were surprised to find themselves confronted by police and were placed under arrest.

Chief Inspector Graham McLaughlin, who was leading the operation said, “These suspects are people who have managed to evade arrest for some time so we have used different tactics to find them.”

Adding that, “We use a variety of methods to arrest those suspected of committing criminal offences and we will continue to use new tactics when necessary.”

Rail comuters in the UK are used to excuses on why trains are delayed such as theres leaves on the trak or snow on the line, but computers got a wierd excuse in West Yorkshire when reports of a lion on the tracks caused hold ups.

Comuters using the social media website Twitter were stunned after National Rail tweeted “Passengers are currently unable to alight from trains at Shepley due to reports by police of a lion in the area.”

West Yorkshire Police were called to the scene near the Shepley train station, but found no sign of a lion even after a police helicopter was scrambled.The train services were resumed as normal at around 17:00 hours.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman stated, “We carried out a thorough search and there is no sign of an animal. It seems the caller heard a rumour”.