Snow joke, say police

A pensioner has been snapped driving her car while peeping through a tiny hole in her snow-covered windscreen.



Devon and Cornwall Police released the picture as a warning to other motorists, reports Sky News.

The force is asking drivers to use common sense after a member of the public photographed the "extreme example" in Tiverton, Devon.

The elderly woman, who is not being identified by the force, was driving along Lea Road to pick up food and medication.

She was spoken to by officers who also provided her with an ice-scraper. They then spoke to her neighbours and asked them to look out for her in future.

Inspector Matt Lawler said: "This is an extreme example, but shows how important it is for drivers to listen to the warnings and advice that police and other agencies are offering.

"I don't think we are asking a lot - just for some common sense to avoid unnecessary accidents."

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Simpsons' fan in TV record bid

A Simpsons fan is to attempt a world record by watching all 451 episodes of the television show back to back.


It would take Glyn Stott, 34, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, six days without sleep, reports the Daily Telegraph.

He said: "I'm a huge fan of the show and I've seen every episode but watching them continuously for almost a week will be a feat of endurance.

"The judges have to make sure my eyes are firmly fixed on the screen - I have to be seen to be concentrating all the way through."

The current record for non-stop television watching is four days, set by an American viewer.

Mr Stott, a shop manager, will get a 20-minute break at the end of every three episodes and he must stick to the strict rules laid down by Guinness.

He said: "If I have a meal during the world record attempt I'm not allowed to look down at the plate - my eyes must be on the TV all the time.

"I will be allowed to use an exercise bike to keep my circulation going but even then I can't avert my eyes from the Simpsons.

"I will be watching 20 years of TV compressed into six-and-a-half days - it will be amazing to see how the show has changed over the years."

A spokesman for Fox said: "Nearly a week without sleep watching TV - Homer would be proud of him."

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Hotel employs human bed warmers

A hotel chain is employing human bed warmers to help guests get a good night's sleep.


The walking electric blankets are dressed in special all-in-one sleeper suits and are sent to warm the beds of guests staying at the Holiday Inn before they get under the covers.

Holiday Inn spokeswoman Jane Bednall said the idea was "like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed".

The five minute free bed warming sessions are being tried out in London and Manchester at the end of January.

Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, said the idea could help people get off to sleep.

He said: "There's plenty of scientific evidence to show that sleep starts at the beginning of the night when body temperature starts to drop.

"The decline occurs partly because the blood vessels of the hands, face and feet open up and release heat.

"A warm bed - approximately 20 to 24 degrees Celsius - is a good way to start this process whereas a cold bed would inhibit sleep.

"Holiday Inn's new bed warmers service should help people achieve a good night's sleep especially as it's taking much longer for them to warm up when they come in from the snow."

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Prostitute fined $820,000 for unpaid tax

WARSAW – Poland's tax office has levied a fine of 2.3 million zlotys ($820,000) on an unemployed woman for failing to pay tax on income worth at least 13.7 million zlotys she said she had earned as a prostitute.



The woman told the tax office in the southern city of Katowice that she had very "generous" customers, the website gazeta.pl, which is linked to leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, reported Tuesday.

One of her clients paid the woman 5 million zlotys during the 1997-2002 period, she was quoted as saying.

The website gave no further details.

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