THE SUNDAY SECTION

The HSE has finally done it Traditional school ties 'banned' over health and safety fears at least 10 schools a week are adopting clip-on ties amid fears conventional knots pose an injury risk, it was claimed.

Concerns have been raised over children pulling them too tight for a joke and getting them caught in machinery.

Headteachers also claim they look scruffy as pupils wear fat knots or short tails as part of the latest fashion craze.

Research by the Schoolwear Association, which represents uniform manufacturers, said there had been rising demand for "safer" ties since January.

Around 25 British schools change their ties every week, it said, with almost half of those opting for clip-ons.

The Campaign for Real Education condemned the move as "health and safety gone mad".


I’ll second that.









Looks like us down in ‘Ampshire have got problems New 'super rats' evolve resistance to poison genetic mutations have produced a new breed of "super rat" with DNA that protects the vermin from standard toxins, according to Professor Robert Smith at the University of Huddersfield.

Ratcatchers in Berkshire and Hampshire were the first to report that their poisons were no longer effective, which experts put down to increased immunity among the pests.

But as the poison-resistant rats continue to spread, tests have revealed that they boast an entirely new strand of DNA that wards off attacks from pesticides.

Swindon in Wiltshire is the latest town to suffer an infestation, with exterminators reporting a 500 per cent increase in the rodents. Many are turning to traps, air rifles and even dogs in an effort to keep the populations under control.

And there’s me thinking they only existed in the Houses of Parliament.





One for the lads-World's largest bikini parade on Las Vegas Strip Las Vegas has staged the world’s largest bikini parade in a bid to revive the city's flagging visitor numbers.

The occasion marked the 50th anniversary of the building iconic “Welcome to Las Vegas” neon sign and according to the city’s mayor, Oscar Goodman, the start of summer on the Strip – a month ahead of other northern hemisphere destinations.

The publicity stunt, which saw around 300 bikini-clad women parade down The Strip, will do little to improve the city’s reputation for a lack of political correctness (women were asked to send in a photo along with their hip, waist and bust measurements, before participation could be approved) but plenty to publicise the city’s famous pool party scene.

It was followed by a swimwear retrospective, hosted by Holly Madison of the reality television programme Girl of the Playboy Mansion, featuring a catwalk show of bathing suits from the fifties to the present day.

The city has been struggled in recent months to attract visitors due to the economic downturn.

Go on spoil yourself, take a look.

No thank you very much-Britons offered 'free' caravans Britons are being offered the chance to claim a free holiday home after a holiday parks company announced that it is giving away static caravans this summer.

Park Holidays UK, which operates 25 parks in Britain, plans to transfer ownership of its oldest static caravans to Britons wanting a holiday home.

The caravans, which are around 15 years old and valued between £2,000 to £4,000 each, come with the original furniture, carpets, kitchen appliances and beds, and will be given a safety-check before handover.

Holidaymakers claiming a caravan are required to pay an annual pitch fee of between £1,800 and £4,000, depending on the park, and a £400 connection charge for water and electricity. There is no committment beyond the first year's fees and so owners can, in theory, remove the caravan from the park at the end of this one-year period. Owners can also rent the caravan out to generate a second income.

The company currently has caravans available at holiday parks in Dymchurch in Kent;

Winchelsea Sands and Rye in East Sussex; and St Osyth Beach.

Been there done that, cold uncomfirtable and noisy.

And finally:

Some signs from around the thingy:

“Here of a Sunday morning My love and I would lie, And see the coloured counties, And hear the larks so high About us in the sky.”-A E Housman

Angus
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