The Victorian Gothic novel Dracula is associated with the dense forests of Transylvania rather than Dublin, but the great great nephew of its Irish born author thinks that is an oversight.

In time for the centenary of Bram Stoker's death, which will be in 2012, Dacre Stoker has begun work to raise money to erect a memorial to his ancestor to join the statues and plaques commemorating Dublin's many other writers.

"It's an oversight. There is no permanent memorial in his home city to this guy," Dacre Stoker, who lives in the United States, said.

Bram Stoker was born in 1847 in Dublin, where he lived until he moved to London when he was 31. He attended Trinity College before working as a civil servant in Dublin Castle and as an unpaid theatre critic for Dublin newspapers. Of his several works of fiction, the best known is Dracula, published in 1897, in print ever since and made into numerous films. (Reuters)

No toasters for police

Police have been banned from using toasters due to health and safety concerns, a police spokesman said. Officers in the City and Holbeck division, West Yorkshire, have been told not to use the appliances after flames engulfed a police station last week.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the fire at Holbeck police station started as a result of a toaster on the premises but he did not know if it was an electrical fault or had been caused by a food item being left in the appliance for too long. (PA)

Road rage

The drivers of a Jaguar and a dump truck face charges after a road rage row on a Virginia road in the US that ended with gunshots.

Both vehicles tangled with each other before the truck hit the Jaguar twice.

The Jaguar driver got out and emptied an automatic pistol at the truck as it drove off. No one was injured. (PA)

Forewarned is forearmed

Police in Connecticut had ample warning of a bank robbery after the two suspects called beforehand and told an employee to get a bag ready.

Police said the pair showed up about 10 minutes after making the call and were arrested in the car park.

A spokesman said the suspects were "not too bright". (PA)

No cold fronts

Iceland has banned striptease shows, making it an offence for any business to profit from the nudity of its employees.

Nude dancing was already heavily regulated, with only a handful of clubs featuring stripping.

The country combines liberal social values with a strong women's movement. (PA)

Hanging around

A frustrated customer chained himself to a door inside Dublin's Passport Office until it was guaranteed that he would have travel documents to fly to his brother's wedding in Thailand.

Colin Gillick was among hundreds of worried holidaymakers who queued over fears that plans to travel would be ruined by the continuing public sector workers' dispute.

Armed with three coats, a flask of tea, sandwiches, radio, books, lamp - and a bicycle chain - Mr Gillick camped in the cold for more than 10 hours overnight before being told his application had not even been checked. (PA)

Till death...

A 90-year-old man killed his 89-year-old wife in a domestic dispute at a retirement home in the US.

Police said Virginia Bunz was found dead at the Amberleigh Retirement Community.

Her husband, John, had self-inflicted wounds and has been charged with second-degree murder. (PA)

Strip-freeze

Two nearly naked demonstrators from animal rights group PETA braved chilly temperatures to demonstrate in front of a Copenhagen fur store.

"We want to bring attention to the fashion industry... Fox and other animals are kept in cramped and filthy cages in fur farms before they are gassed, poisoned, suffocated or even electrocuted," one of the activists, Virginia Fort of the US, said.

Ms Fort and a colleague distributed tracts in the five-degree-Celsius weather, wearing just underpants and body paint to make them look like foxes without fur.

"Only animals should wear fur," they shouted to passers-by, waving placards with the same message. (AFP)

Super crash

Repairs to a supercar wrecked during a test drive are set to cost an insurance firm £300,000.

The Pagani Zonda S, which can reach speeds of 220mph, was badly damaged when a professional driver took it out near Aberdeen last September.

The £528,000 car spun out of control on a narrow country road before hitting a telegraph pole and smashing through a fence. (PA)

Tree power

An airport is to become the first in the UK to be powered partly by willow trees.

The first cuttings in the 26-hectare willow farm planned at East Midlands Airport have been planted.

The trees will produce fuel for a biomass boiler in the terminal building, a spokeswoman said. (PA)