The UK's oldest breeding female osprey appears close to death, wildlife chiefs said yesterday.

The 25-year-old bird is refusing to eat and is unable to open its eyes or stand over its chicks at Loch of the Lowes wildlife reserve in Perthshire.

Concern was sparked from heartbroken wildlife watchers who were following the osprey's plight live on a Scottish Wildlife Trust webcam.

The osprey, now more than three times the age of the average eight-year lifespan of the bird, became unwell last Friday and its condition deteriorated over the weekend.

The webcam feed can be watched at www.swt.org.uk. (PA)

Councillor gives birth - during meeting

A pregnant Bolivian council woman got a bit more than she bargained for when she attended a public meeting in the town of Riberalta - and gave birth to a baby girl.

Officials said Maria Ines Villarroel, 39, a member of President Evo Morales's Movement to Socialism party, went into labour during the session and, because she was unable to make it to hospital or a local clinic, was aided by several women at the scene.

"She gave birth to a girl and both are in hospital and in perfect health," Marco Suarez of the mayor's office of Riberalta, a farming municipality near the Brazilian border, told AFP. The baby was Mrs Villarroel's eighth.

The session, in which the city council was debating a report on local government financing, was suspended for the day. (AFP)

Naked cyclists in anti-traffic protest

Cyclists stripped naked and braved the elements in Brussels over the weekend for the annual two-wheel nude demonstration "cyclonudista" against car traffic in cities.

Wind and rain battered down on some 50 bare-bottomed Belgians, and police stopped two stark naked protesters for infringement of decency before quickly releasing them after friends circled the police vehicle. "The nudity has allowed the protest to gain visibility in the media," one of the organisers Jerome Nature said. "You need to be seen to be heard."

But, he stressed, stripping off was a means to an end. "Please do not reduce us to it," he said.

The cyclists were protesting over "public space being monopolised by cars, which impose their law on us: aggression, speed, danger and pollution, transforming cities into hostile places," he said.

The "cyclonudista" manifesto instead called for free, ecological public transport, car-free cities open to cyclists and pedestrians only, and a clampdown on car and air travel advertising. (AFP)

British hotel chain bans vuvuzelas

British hotel chain Premier Inn said it was banning the use of vuvuzelas after a manager was kept awake by England fans blowing the plastic horns on Saturday.

"At the Newcastle Central hotel last night fans were blowing the horns in the bar during the match (between England and Algeria) and right outside the hotel as they left to go on to clubs and bars," said a hotel mouthpiece. "They were causing such a racket the manager himself was kept awake."

She added that fans were also blowing their vuvuzelas at the Premier Inn near Heathrow airport. "There were loads of people in and the manager could not ask the ones with vuvuzelas to stop playing because there was no policy but staff are emphatic they don't want people playing them anymore. "Guests who bring the horns into our bars will be asked to take them back to their rooms, even if they are not playing them," said the spokeswoman.

She added that the ban would last until the end of the World Cup but would be extended if the problem persisted. (AFP)

O2 apologises over' Mr Pedo File' letter

A company which sent out a letter addressed to "Mr Pedo File" apologised yesterday.

Mobile phone firm O2 sent the letter to the home of mother-of-two Zowie Sharples, from Bolton, Lancs.

Ms Sharples had taken advantage of a special offer last week by sending a request to O2 for some new sim cards for her mobile.

When they arrived in a blue O2-branded envelope they were addressed to "Mr Pedo File".

Ms Sharples took the letter to the O2 shop in Bolton town centre but said staff there were unable to help.

A spokesman for O2 apologised yesterday and said an investigation was under way. (PA)

Blast-proof curtain being developed

A new type of blast-proof curtain that gets thicker rather than thinner when stretched is being developed to protect potential terrorist targets, a university said yesterday.

The new curtain - an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project - remains intact and captures debris such as flying glass when windows are blown in.

The project - led by the University of Exeter and its spin-off company Auxetix Ltd - is primarily designed to be fixed over the windows of potential terrorist targets, such as government and high-profile commercial properties.

Professor Ken Evans, at the University of Exeter, who is leading the project, said: "In the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, glass accounted for nearly two thirds of all eye and head injuries.

"The blast curtain we're working on, which will be capable of dispersing the shock from an explosion extremely effectively, will be backed up by robust scientific understanding vital to ensuring it really can block flying debris and achieve widespread use." (PA)