Inquisitive safari park animals have been having some Halloween fun with pumpkins stuffed with their favourite treats.
Visitors gathered as the meerkats curiously inspected pumpkins packed with mealworms, which had been placed in their enclosure by keepers at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park, near Stirling in the UK. The park’s youngest lion, Libby, used one of the pumpkins as a new toy, while its father, Dudley (pictured), sniffed out the meaty treats inside.
Dave Warren, education officer at Blair Drummond, said that while the activity is designed to be fun, it also helps the park residents’ development. (PA)
Parking meters blown up
Vandals in a prosperous market town have restarted their dangerous campaign of blowing up parking meters for the eighth year running.
Two pay-and-display machines in Lewes, East Sussex, had fireworks set off in the coin slots overnight, resulting in damage totalling £2,900 (€3,565), Sussex Police said.
Similar incidents have been reported in the county town every year since 2004. Fourteen parking meters were blown up between September and November last year, causing more than £20,000 (€24,582) of damage. (PA)
Britain’s Peter Pan generation
The UK is living in Neverland, with a third of Britons refusing to grow up, according to a survey.
Today’s Peter Pan generation are turning their backs on “adulthood milestones” like marriage and starting a family, with more than a quarter admitting they lack the basic skills to live on their own.
Research by life insurance expert Confused.com showed 32 per cent of Britons aged 25 to 39 still live at home with parents.
Nearly two thirds turn their backs on marriage, with 60 per cent delaying starting a family. One in four who were still living at home said the main reason is because they get meals cooked for them (eight per cent), and nearly one in 10 said it is because someone else cleans up after them. (PA)
Oldest Vauxhall to go on sale
The oldest surviving Vauxhall car will go under the hammer next month.
The 1903 two-seater 5hp veteran is expected to fetch between £60,000 (€73,720) and £80,000 (€98,293) when its goes on sale at auctioneers Bonhams in London. It is one of several classic cars to be auctioned ahead of this year’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.
The car was first ordered for Vauxhall managing director Percy Kidner on November 6, 1903. It passed to its second owner in April the following year and has remained in the family’s ownership ever since. (PA)