World Briefs

Roman centurion impersonators protested in front of the Colosseum yesterday in plumed helmets and clutching plastic swords in a protest against a ban on their work.

A clash between the “centurions” and police broke out after officers forced down a group of the men who had climbed onto an upper stand of the famous Roman amphitheatre. A spokesman for the protesters said they wanted “a written assurance” that they would get work permits.

The re-enactors crowd the area outside the 2,000-year-old Colosseum, posing with tourists for pictures for a fee but they are working illegally. Tourists have complained about being harassed by the men and some were accused of using violence to keep away competition. One alleged ruse was to offer to take a photo with the tourist’s camera and then refusing to return it until money had been handed over.

All creatures, great and small

Peacocks, puppies and pests feature in some of the more bizarre motor insurance claims, it has been revealed.

A peacock clawed a car when it saw its reflection in the paintwork, insurance company Admiral said.

Another claim involved a skid into a vehicle caused by a driver trying to pick up his puppy which had slid from a seat on to the floor, while a separate incident recorded a car damaged by rats entering the engine compartment and chewing through the internal parts.

Companion is too hot under the collar

A desperate man in Munich fled onto a balcony and called police for protection after his insatiable companion for a one-night stand refused to let him leave her flat, police said yesterday.

The 43-year-old man had met a woman four years his senior in a bar on Monday and she took him to her apartment for sex. However, it seems that after the 47-year-old had had a good time, she still wanted more even when her partner said no. The man attempted to leave but the woman prevented him from escaping and demanded he sleep with her again.

As the man saw no other alternative, he complied with the woman’s wishes another few times so he could finally leave but when she continued to refuse and demanded even more sex from him, he fled to the balcony and alerted the police.

The woman then tried to talk the dispatched officers into similar activity but was unsuccessful.

Mobility scooter training sessions

UK police are to offer mobility scooter users free training sessions after a large number of people have been killed or injured on the machines.

South Yorkshire Police said in the last five years there were 28 incidents across the force area involving mobility scooters – 17 of which involved people being killed or injured. The force said many more incidents go unreported.

The Scooter Safe sessions aim to teach users about the legal requirements of using a scooter and the skills required to drive their machine safely. They will involve theory and hands on sessions with attendees using a variety of scooters to navigate around a series of obstacles and day-to-day situations.

Man suffers an unpleasant surprise!

A man suffered an unpleasant surprise when the cover of the toilet seat was using at a light rail station in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur was shattered by exploding firecrackers.

Muhd Sakereen Basri, 22, noticed sparks coming from below the seat but the firecrackers exploded before he could stand up, slightly injuring his back and buttocks.

He was treated as an outpatient at a hospital.

Police chief Zakaria Pagan said the firecrackers and a lighted cigarette butt used to trigger the explosion were taped together underneath the toilet seat cover. “We believe the person responsible for this set it just a few minutes before the victim entered the cubicle,” he said.