A mother has described the “dilemma” she faced with her two children after their car burst into flames in a lion enclosure.

Helen Clements was visiting Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire with her nine-year-old son George and daughter Charlie, 12, on Good Friday when their vehicle overheated.

Ms Clements, 43, from Kingswood, Gloucestershire, told the BBC she sounded the car’s horn to alert rangers, adding: “It was a situation of – what do you do? “Do you get out of the car because you’re on fire?

“And they’re telling you to get back in the car, so that was the dilemma.”

‘I’m no cheat’ says marathon man

A man who ran the second half of the London Marathon in less than half the time it took him to complete the first has denied claims he cheated.

Jason Scotland-Williams, 34, was accused of jumping over a barrier midway through the world famous race in order to achieve the impressive time, which fell just three minutes short of the world record for a half marathon.

But Mr Scotland-Williams, who is from the capital, said: “I have done nothing wrong. Nobody thinks maybe I just trained hard. No one thinks ‘maybe he paced himself through the first half and when the second half came he just let himself go’.

“All along the route there are stewards and people watching. There’s no way you can cheat.”

Most book holidays in work time

Nearly two-thirds of workers book their holidays while in the office, according to research.

Nearly three-quarters of the 1,000 people polled researched their holiday options at work.

The OnePoll survey for tour operator Cosmos also found that nearly a quarter spent more than one working day each year researching and booking holidays.

Licence lawsuit served up on a plate

A New Jersey woman has filed a lawsuit, claiming the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission rejected her application for a licence plate proclaiming she is an atheist.

Shannon Morgan filed the suit in federal court, saying the agency violated her First Amendment rights by rejecting a plate reading 8THEIST. The Maurice River Township woman said plates reading BAPTIST have been approved.

New Jersey previously approved a request from a national atheist group’s president for a licence plate with the word “atheist” after a brief flap. His plate had the number one in place of the letter a.

Fraud suspect dropped himself in it

A German sought by authorities for alleged fraud has been arrested in Austria – after dropping into a police station to ask officers whether he was under investigation.

Police in Salzburg said the 59-year-old man wanted to check that they had “nothing on him”.

Officers checked their records and found a recent arrest warrant from a Vienna court on four counts of fraud and embezzlement. Police said the man, whose name was not released, was taken to a Salzburg prison.

Giant bills left nasty taste in mouth

What was supposed to be a cheap bite at Del Taco turned out to be small fortune for some southern California customers.

About 150 people who ate this week at the Mexican-style fast food chain in Santa Paula, north west of Los Angeles, were mistakenly charged thousands of dollars for burritos, tacos and soft drinks.

Del Taco spokesman Brian Devenny said the glitch affected ATM and credit-card transactions at one restaurant. He said all charges will be refunded.