World Briefs

Tributes have been paid to the “genius” of David Croft, the co-creator of hit sitcoms including Dad’s Army, Are You Being Served? who died yesterday aged 89.His agent Tim Hancock said he died at his holiday home in Portugal.

Among his other hit shows were ‘Allo ‘Allo, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Hi-De-Hi! A statement released by his family said “Mr Croft was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him. We know that he would of been proud that you had all been watching.”

His partnership with Jimmy Perry proved to be one of British television’s most successful. Together they wrote Dad’s Army, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Hi-De-Hi and You Rang, M’Lord? (PA)

Tortilla send-off

The family of Arch West, the marketing executive who came up with Doritos, will sprinkle his urn with the spicy tortilla chips when his ashes are laid to rest on Saturday in Texas. Mr West died September 22 in Dallas at the age of 97, his place in snack-food history secured by the success of the crunchy triangular chips that he first discovered in Mexico during a family vacation in the 1960s.

Frito-Lay, a unit of PepsiCo, now sells Doritos – the first tortilla chip to be sold as a national brand – in 20 countries and in 23 different flavors.

Mr West’s daughter Jana Hacker was quoted earlier in the Dallas Morning News that her father would be buried with a few handfuls of Doritos. “He’ll love it,” she said. (AFP)

Shark takes on man

A man sea-fishing from a kayak was left wishing he had a bigger boat when he was dragged for half a mile after hooking a 1.8 metre shark.

Rupert Kirkwood, 51, was fishing from the tiny craft a mile off the Devon coast in the Bristol Channel when he hooked a 29.5 kilo tope shark. The shark, which is harmless, dragged Mr Kirkwood, a conservationist and vet from Holsworthy, Devon, along behind it on his small kayak.

He told the Western Morning News: “It was thrilling to catch something that big and it knocks spots off anything I have landed before.” The shark was later released unharmed. (PA)

Copper wedding

A couple cut down copper wire from 18 pylons to pay for their wedding.

April Cater and Joseph Russell took the wire to sell for scrap four days before their wedding in Pennsylvania.

Mr Russell told police he had lost his job and needed the money. (PA)

MP wife in court

A Birmingham Liberal Democrat MP’s wife was caught on CCTV as she sneaked into the home of her husband’s mistress to steal a kitten, a jury has heard.

Birmingham Crown Court was told that Christine Hemming, Birmingham Yardley MP John Hemming and his lover, Emily Cox, were involved in a “love triangle” at the time of the alleged offence last September. (PA)

Facebook status

A woman in Tennessee used her Facebook to report a robbery.

Rolanda Hill answered a knock at her door and a gunman forced his way inside, taking cash and her mobile phone. Ms Hill used her computer to report the crime to her Facebook friends and asked them to call police. (PA)

Cleaned out

More than a dozen coin-operated clothes dryers have been stolen from apartment complexes in South Carolina in recent weeks.

Police think the thieves are after the money in the machines.

The thieves hit one apartment complex two days in a row, taking four dryers and a washing machine. Five dryers were taken from another complex. (PA)

BBC interview

The BBC has carried out “detailed investigations” into allegations it was the victim of a hoax after it ran an interview with a city trader who said he dreamt of “another recession”.

Alessio Rastani became an overnight internet sensation after appearing on the BBC News.

Presenter Martine Croxall told him “jaws have collectively dropped” after he said: “I go to bed, every night I dream of another recession.” (PA)