Taking vitamin D supplements may lower blood pressure and boost exercise performance, research has shown.

Volunteers given the vitamin daily for two weeks saw fitness improvements that allowed them to cycle longer with less exertion.

Their blood pressure and levels of the stress hormone cortisol were also lower compared with another group taking a dummy pill.

Around 10 million people in England are deficient in vitamin D, which is chiefly obtained from the action of sunlight on the skin.

Researcher Dr Raquel Revuelta Iniesta, from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, said: “Our pilot study suggests that taking vitamin D supplements can improve fitness levels and lower cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure.”

In the fitness test, volunteers taking vitamin D were able to cycle 6.5 kilometres in 20 minutes at the end of the two weeks compared with five kilometres at the start.

Octogenarian gets first tattoo

A great-grandfather had his first tattoo aged 85 in memory of his wife of 45 years.

Cyril Cooper, 85, had a love-heart design with his late wife’s name written in the middle tattooed on his arm.

Mr Cooper, from Rhyl in north Wales, said: “The man was very good. It didn’t hurt – I was really surprised by that.”

Pensioner’s big pub crawl

A pensioner has visited every single Wetherspoons pub, it was reported reported.

Mags Thomson, 66 began her odyssey in 1994 and has since gone to 972 – the chain’s 936 current pubs, plus 36 which have closed.

She told the BBC: “I enjoy other people’s company, but I enjoy my own... The good thing about Wetherspoons is, they’re always places I can sit on my own - read a paper, read a book, have a drink.”

A kangaroo detection system

Volvo is working on a kangaroo detection system to avoid costly car crashes in Australia.

The Swedish firm already has radar and camera-based technology that detects pedestrians and cyclists and automatically brakes to avoid a collision.

The car-maker has tested the technology on slower-moving animals like moose and cows in its home country and is now studying kangaroos, which move more quickly and erratically.

A team from Volvo travelled to a nature reserve near Canberra to study kangaroos’ roadside behaviour. Volvo says there are more than 20,000 kangaroo-related road accidents in Australia each year.

Dance-off challenge to defuse fight

A police officer helped defuse a fight between teenagers in a Washington park - by challenging one of them to a dance-off.

Aaliyah Taylor, 17, told the Washington Post that a female officer approached the teenagers and told them to disperse. The officer laughed when she saw Aaliyah dancing to the popular song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) and told her she had better dance moves.

The officer then challenged the teenager to a dance-off and told the teens they would have to leave the area if she won. After several minutes of dancing, the two hugged and everyone left the area.

World’s biggest indoor snow park

A new mall in the United Arab Emirates – one of the world’s hottest countries – will feature the globe’s biggest indoor snow park.

The developers behind Abu Dhabi’s Reem Mall said the 125,000 sq ft park will include opportunities to luge as well as “zorbing”, which involves rolling down a hill in a giant ball made of transparent plastic.

In Dubai, the Mall of the Emirates is already home to an indoor, snow-covered ski hill and penguin shows. Reem Mall is expected to open in 2018.