Researchers have developed a recipe for Oscar success – cast a 45-year-old actor and a 38-year-old actress in a 140-minute film.

The figures, collated from the last half-century of winners, could be bad news for the 33-year-old Eddie Redmayne who is currently favourite to be named best actor.

The research, commissioned by www.myvouchercodes.co.uk, also reveals the average best picture winner was 140 minutes long, which could be more good news for American Sniper which comes in closest to that with a running time of 132 minutes.

Fake machete sparks manhunt

A student with a toy weapon sparked a manhunt involving armed officers and a police helicopter.

Firearms officers and police dogs were deployed to Mousehold Heath in Norwich after alarmed members of the public reported a man carrying a sword. But the teams were stood down after the suspect’s mother rang Norfolk Police’s control room.

She told the force it was in fact her 18-year-old son filming for a college project and the weapon was identified as a fake machete. Superintendent Stuart Gunn said “strong words of advice” were given to the 18-year-old.

Book lovers in phone box row

Book lovers who turned a red phone box into a makeshift library are angry after BT threatened to shut it down due to health and safety fears.

The “phone box library” in Banbury, Oxfordshire, was fitted with extra shelves and a regular supply of books for residents to share and enjoy, its supporters say. They have launched the #Saveourphoneboxlibrary campaign on Twitter.

But BT has posted a letter on the working phone box, threatening to remove the shelves amid concerns they could fall and “cause injury”. A spokesman said: “There were 1,093 calls made from this box in the past year. We then had a complaint about the wobbly shelving from a Banbury resident, and we can’t just ignore it.”

Timely intervention by collector

A watch collector spotted a rare Swiss timepiece in a second-hand shop in Phoenix, Arizona, bought it on sale for $5.99 and then sold it for $35,000.

Zach Norris said he perused a Goodwill store’s watch section when he went shopping for a golf cart in January. Norris told KTVK-TV that he was excited when he recognised the 1959 Jaeger-LeCoultre diving watch.

Paul White, vice president of Scottsdale-based Oliver Smith Jeweler, a dealer for the brand, said a watchmaker authenticated Norris’ discovery. Norris shared his good fortune on a website for watch collectors, and another enthusiast bought it. He says the proceeds will help pay for his wedding.

Groundhog mayor unseated

It’s been a rough month for the mayor of a central Wisconsin city. First a groundhog bit the ear of Sun Prairie Mayor Jonathan Freund at a Groundhog Day ceremony earlier this month. Video of Jimmy the groundhog chomping on the mayor’s ear got tens of thousands of clicks on YouTube.

But the incumbent mayor did not get the sympathy votes he needed in Tuesday’s primary election, finishing third in a field of three and knocking him out of the Sun Prairie mayor’s race.

Tourism stunt crashes website

A New York tourism office’s suggestion that potential visitors should go to the Florida Keys instead has ended up crashing its website.

Bruce Stoff of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau said the office’s overwhelmed server crashed not long after reports of his agency’s stunt. Visitithaca.com posted images of Key West and provided links to Florida Keys websites.

The Ithaca site said, “We surrender” and “Winter, you win” and suggested that a visit to Key West was a better option than frozen central New York.