Controversial TV star Katie Hopkins has been voted the UK’s scariest female celebrity, beating former Watchdog presenter Anne Robinson into second place.
The combative former candidate of The Apprentice topped a poll of 2,000 Brits, with over a quarter of those surveyed putting her ahead of the likes of pop star turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham and Heather Mills, the ex-wife of Beatle Paul McCartney.
The poll, which also saw Dead Or Alive front man Pete Burns at number one on the male scare list, was conduced by Thorpe Park Resort to celebrate the launch of Containment, a new fright nights maze.
‘Ban perfume from hospitals’
Perfume and aftershave should be banned from hospital wards on health and safety grounds, according to two doctors.
Hospitals are not known for their sweet aromas, but while the smell of disinfectant is acceptable artificial scents are not, say the Canadian experts.
Evidence suggests they run the risk of aggravating asthma and other allergy conditions, they claim.
Pet blessings at Scottish church
A church is opening its doors to a new breed of worshipper by holding a pet blessing.
Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh will welcome dogs, cats and potentially even a pony during the ceremony on Sunday which is expected to attract up to 50 animals.
Organisers predict the majority attending will be Skye terriers – the same breed as Bobby, the legendary dog said to have loyally guarded his master’s grave in Greyfriars kirkyard in the mid-19th century.
Fine mess for Kuwaiti driver
A Kuwaiti driver who apparently thought having licence plates from another Gulf country would help avoid more than 1,600 traffic citations has been hit with a huge fine.
The driver racked up 1,645 driving violations while travelling under the unnamed Gulf country’s plates, the state-run Kuwait News Agency said.
The driver faces more than 190,000 dollars (£125,000) in fines after being caught, KUNA quoted a statement from an interior ministry official as saying. The statement reminded drivers they have a month’s grace period to change their licence plates to Kuwaiti ones for foreign-bought cars. Countries throughout the Gulf use traffic cameras to enforce speed limits and traffic laws.
Top pumpkin weighs in at 820kg
A farmer has won a northern California contest with a record-setting 1,806lb (820kg) pumpkin that judges nicknamed the Flying Saucer because of its wide and flat shape.
Grower Tim Mathison, from Napa, was one of about 50 big pumpkin farmers to haul their heaviest crops to the annual weigh-in at the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin & Harvest Festival, the Sacramento Bee reported. Mr Mathison collected 12,000 dollars (£7,900) in prize money.
The winning pumpkin beat last year’s monster specimen, which weighed in at 1,584lb (718kg) but no one came close to beating the current national record of 2,154lb (977kg).
Deep space in US submarine
Nasa is tapping into research from another outfit with experience of sending people to the deep as it contemplates a manned voyage to Mars: the US navy submarine force.
The space agency is working with a military laboratory at the submarine base in Groton, Connecticut, to measure how teams cope with stress during month-long simulations of space flight. The Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory began its research on team resilience because the submarine force was looking for ways to make tactical teams work better together.