World Briefs

British police have condemned a woman for being “completely irresponsible” after she called 999 to report the theft of a snowman.

The woman from Kent, in southeast England, rang the emergency number after looking outside her house to find that the snowman had disappeared.

She told the operator: “There’s been a theft from outside my house. I haven’t been out to check on him for five hours but I went outside for a fag and he’s gone.”

When the operator asked who had gone, the woman replied “my snowman”.

“I thought that with it being icy and there not being anybody about he’d be safe,” she added.

“It ain’t a nice road but you don’t expect anybody to nick your snowman.”

Kent Police warned people not to abuse the 999 system after receiving more than 8,000 general and 999 calls in 48 hours – double the number they normally receive – during early snowfalls which have swept the country.

“This call could have cost someone’s life if there was a genuine emergency and they couldn’t get through. It was completely irresponsible,’ said chief inspector Simon Black.

“We have spoken to her and advised her what is a 999 call, and this clearly was not.” (AFP)

Appeal over mosque attack

Detectives appealed for witnesses yesterday night after an arson attack on a mosque in which a gas main was damaged.

Staffordshire police said the blaze, which did not cause any structural damage to the building in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, was being treated as racially-motivated.

House-to-house inquiries are now being conducted around the Regent Road mosque and detectives are studying CCTV footage from the local area. (PA)

Jail roll-out

US prisoners could soon be making their own toilet paper to save taxpayers money and create jobs for inmates.

Iowa prisons use about 900,000 rolls of toilet paper annually. Processing it in-house would save about £100,000 a year and create 50 jobs. (PA)

Health warning

British chefs are being urged to thoroughly cook chicken livers after a rise in cases of food poisoning linked to the product in the UK.

With chicken liver pate featured on many Christmas menus, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said it is especially important to heed the advice.

Many chefs deliberately undercook chicken livers so they remain pink in the middle however, making it more likely that campylobacter bacteria, the most common cause of food poisoning in Britain, will be present. There were nearly 60,000 confirmed cases last year, the HPA said. (PA)

Sprout shortage

Britain could face a Christmas sprout shortage if the freezing weather continues, one of the country’s leading growers warned.

Chris Gedney, managing director of TH Clements & Son, said the British sprout industry would be “devastated” if the frost prevents it from getting its harvest out before Christmas.

He said: “If the icy weather continues it’s going to be very difficult for us to get our produce out.” Sprouts are worth £54 million to the British economy but around 67 per cent are harvested in the run-up to Christmas. (PA)

Royal wedding souvenir

The most unusual royal wedding souvenir yet is being planned for Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton - a special edition Oyster card.

The popular plastic smartcard will have a makeover to mark the event and will go on sale before the pair tie the knot on April 29 next year at Westminster Abbey.

The souvenir Oyster card is likely to feature an image of the happy couple and will probably be snapped up by tourists and Londoners alike. (PA)

Jobless bookworm

A jobless bookworm has been accused of stealing 222 books valued at £3,500)from a library in Alabama, US.

Regina Smith was arrested after library workers saw a woman stealing two books.

Police said she took mainly crime novels, mysteries and vampire stories. She had a library card but sneaked books out and kept them. (PA)