People put off splitting with their partner so they do not miss out on a holiday together, according to a survey.

While nine per cent have postponed a split to still take their trip, 11 per cent admitted breaking up so they could tour as a single person, the poll by travel agent sunshine.co.uk found.

A total of 1,839 adults were asked about holidays they had taken. Of these, nine per cent admitted postponing breaking up with a partner so they could still go on a holiday they had booked or planned, while 82 per cent said they parted ways following the trip, with most splitting up after two weeks.

Hunt for book-loving thief

A Croatian couple arrived home from vacation to find their private library of several thousand books had disappeared from their house in downtown Zagreb, police said yesterday.

The 74-year-old man and his wife, 64, said the collection was worth “several dozen thousands of kunas” (several thousand euro) included some antique books and had been collected over the course of years, police said in a statement.

Police have opened an investigation to find the thief.

Lost prosthetic limb found

A fisherman was surprised when he hauled up a prosthetic leg from the Gulf of Mexico – and even more surprised when he was able to find its owner.

The leg is emblazoned with the logo from the University of Kentucky and the school’s wildcat mascot.

Fisherman Matt Willingham contacted the manufacturer about finding the leg’s owner. He discovered that it belonged to Fred Robinson, who played on the school’s football team in the 1980s and lost his biological leg in a work accident five years ago.

Mr Robinson, who lost the $30,000 prosthetic limb while swimming at the end of May, was shocked to get it back.

Confused characters

Matilda lives in the Alps and Long John Silver appeared in Peter Pan.

These are just some examples of the confusion among UK youngsters about classic children’s characters.

A poll suggests that knowledge of children’s literature is sometimes sketchy at best, while traditional novels such as Swallows and Amazons and Anne of Green Gables are at risk of being consigned to history.

Around one in six (18 per cent) of the 500 seven to 14-year-olds questioned said it was not Heidi who lived in the Alps, but Roald Dahl’s Matilda.

More than half knew that Aslan from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe was a lion but 18 per cent suggested he was a giraffe and the same proportion said he was a bear.

Cool canine customers

Italian dog-lovers have produced an ice cream especially for their pets.

The gelato contains no milk, eggs or sugar, which are harmful to dogs. With temperatures in Rome topping 36C°, the ice cream has gone on sale at a pet supply store in the city.

Flavours come in vanilla, rice and yoghurt and a single serving costs €1.60.

Snack attack

A thief in Ohio has stolen hundreds of peanut butter sweets from a service station store.

Staff said the young man usually went in after midnight, snatched peanut butter cups and exited before they could call the police.