Shoes made in the style of real horses’ feet and legs and complete with genuine horse hair are to go on sale at the Cheltenham Festival.
The knee and ankle-length zip-up hoof shoes were commissioned by betting company Betfair to celebrate 100 years of the festival, which starts today.
The horseshoes are being sold for £1,300 a pair, with all proceeds going to charity.
Each shoe is made using an imitation carbon-fibre hoof and up to 5,000 individual horse hairs stitched into a knee-length (55-centimetre) or ankle-length (25-centimetre) design. (PA)
Fake pilot licence
India is checking the licences of all its airline pilots after at least four were found to be flying using fake documents.
Two pilots were arrested last week for using fake certificates to gain licences, including a pilot with national carrier Air India who falsified his qualifications. The other two pilots were being investigated for irregularities in their licences.
The licences and other documents of all 4,000 pilots flying commercial aircraft in the country will be scrutinised, said Bharat Bhushan, director general of civil aviation.
A second pilot was arrested last week after damaging an aircraft while landing and a scrutiny of her papers showed she had used fake documents to get a licence, Mr Bhushan said. (AP)
Police apology
A police force has apologised to a householder who has been plagued by officers mistakenly calling at his door on dozens of occasions.
Matty Jillard, of Bordesley Green, Birmingham, believes West Midlands Police have called at his home more than 40 times over the last 18 months after attending Repton Road rather than nearby Repton Grove.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said officers had apologised for attending “an incorrect address in Repton Road on several occasions” and added: “A number of measures have been put in place to stop this from happening again.” (PA)
Mayday
Pilots on an Alaska Airlines flight locked themselves in the cockpit and radioed an alert after three passengers conducted an elaborate orthodox Jewish prayer ritual during their Los Angeles-bound flight.
The airline said the crew became alarmed after the men began tying leather straps and small wooden boxes to their bodies.
FBI, customs agents, police and fire crews met the plane when it arrived at Los Angeles International Airport. (PA)
Big catch
A full-size dolphin jumped on to the deck of a boat in Florida, injuring a woman passenger.
The charter boat captain called emergency services after the woman suffered a sprained ankle.
Animal experts lifted the dolphin back into the water. (PA)
Life-saving cat
A cat has become a real life-saver, detecting when her owner is about to have an epileptic fit.
Nathan Cooper, 19, came close to death during a particularly severe seizure but Lilly stayed by his side, nudging and licking him until he starting breathing again.
Mr Cooper’s mother, Tracey, 38, said when he is about to have a fit, Lilly can sense something is wrong and runs between her and her son, meowing to alert her.
“Lilly has a very close bond with Nathan, he didn’t believe it when I told him what she was doing,” she said.
“After one fit, he stopped breathing and Lilly started licking his mouth and somehow it kick-started his breathing. When he came round, from when she licked him into breathing, and Lilly was right there, he just couldn’t believe it. I never knew a cat could do this.” (PA)
Monkey business
A woman turned a few heads when she walked into a rural Virginia courthouse with a tiny monkey clad in a pink-and-white dress tucked in her bra.
The woman brought the palm-sized marmoset to Amherst County Courthouse for a hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court when officials apparently failed to notice the monkey until she went to an office to complete some paperwork.
In an interview with The News & Advance newspaper of Lynchburg, the woman says the marmoset is seven weeks old and requires constant attention.
She bought the animal on an online auction site and had its clothes specially made. (PA)