Strikes, showers and traffic gridlock – you’ll be as pleased as Punch with
this Bank Holiday weekend
Airport staff will strike on Monday over pay, it was confirmed last night.
More than 30 baggage screeners employed by Airfield Services at Stansted
will walk out.
More serious disruption at Stansted, Gatwick and Manchester was called off.
That dispute involved the airport services business Swissport, and cabin
staff and baggage handlers with the Unite and GMB unions.
The baggage screeners at Stansted perform security checks on luggage and are
members of the GMB. A spokesman for Airfield Services said that arrangements
had been made to ensure that there was minimal disruption for passengers. A
record two million Britons are expected to flee the country over the Bank
Holiday weekend in search of sunnier climes after a surge in late bookings
with travel agents.
Those who stay behind can look forward to some let-up in the rain, with sunny
spells likely across much of the country, although the Met Office said that
nowhere would escape showers.
The RAC said that this morning would be the busiest time on the roads. There
will be little respite on the railways, with engineering works taking place
across the country.
Reservoirs runneth over with the wet summer
The summer may have been regarded as a washout but many reservoirs – such as
the one at Cheddar in Somerset, right – are reaping the benefits of
unusually high rainfall.
More than double the average monthly rainfall is expected across much of the
country and forecasters predict that this August could be the wettest for 96
years.
As a result, many of Britain’s reservoirs, which were already at 90 per cent
capacity after an unusually wet July, are nearly full.
Cheddar reservoir is already at full capacity but the Environment Agency said
that flooding was unlikely despite the prospect of more downpours raising
the water levels further.
Laura Gottelier, a spokesman, said: “A wet August on top of a wet July has
resulted in a higher river flow that has impacted on our reservoirs. They
are particularly full for this time of year but it is not unprecedented and
we don’t foresee any problems such as flooding.”
In contrast to previous summers, when water restrictions were put in place,
more than two thirds of reservoirs are at higher levels than usual for this
time of year.
The Environment Agency said that overall storage at reservoirs across England
and Wales had increased to 91 per cent.
Children detained for too long at immigrant centre
Children are being incarcerated for too long at an immigration removal centre
and becoming distressed and scared, an HM Inspectorate of Prison report has
found.
The average length of time they are being held at the Yarl’s Wood centre near
Clapham, Bedfordshire, has almost doubled from 8 to 15 days in the past two
years. They were also receiving inadequate education and had to little to do
after school.
Some families had been transported to the centre in caged vans, and inspectors
said that they were “dismayed” to find that disabled children had been held
there in the past. The report also criticised the lack of activity offered
to adult detainees.
Half the centre was destroyed by fire in 2002 and the undamaged section
reopened in 2003. A private company, Serco, took over its management in 2007
and inspectors found that there had been some improvements. The UK Border
Agency said: “We’re determined to treat children with fairness and
compassion. That’s why the majority stay in detention for a week or less.”
Vandals decapitate 100-year-old statue of saint
Vandals have damaged an almost 100-year-old statue by pulling it to the ground
from the ornate frontage of Exeter Cathedral. Stonemasons are working to
restore the 6ft sandstone figure of St Methodius, the patron saint of Slavs,
which appeared to have had its head broken off. The vandals dragged the
statue out of an alcove 10ft off the ground. A cathedral spokesman said:
“Vandalism is a fact of life that we have to live with.” The cathedral
suffered thousands of pounds of damage to a stained glass window last year,
when louts threw cobblestones at it.
Rare American visitor has birdwatchers all aflutter
Birdwatchers are flocking to a Gloucestershire wildlife reserve to catch a
glimpse of a rare stilt sandpiper that has strayed thousands of miles from
its habitat in North and South America.
The plump female bird, mottled brown and grey, with spindly legs, long beak
and dull colouring, has attracted dozens of admirers from across the country
to the Coombe Hill Nature Reserve near Cheltenham.
Birders armed with telescopes and binoculars have packed the Grundon Hide,
overlooking two ponds, to get a look at the wader.
Colin Studholme, the Wildlife Trust’s director of policy and research, said:
“This is a first for Gloucestershire. It’s a very rare bird in the UK. It
normally breeds in North American tundra and then migrates to South America.
I suspect this would have got confused and flown over the Arctic into
Europe.”
Dave Hunter, a birdwatcher from East London, said: “I got up at 5am so I could
finish work early at 11.30 to get here.”
70 not out: the 1930s light bulb shines on
Britain’s oldest light bulb is still glowing strong, according to a family in
the Isle of Wight.
Mo Richardson says the Swan Edison bulb upstairs on her landing was originally
bought by her late-husband’s stepfather in Surrey in 1938. After 70 years
and an estimated 600,000 hours of light, the hand-blown bulb they know as
“Old Faithful” shows no sign of dying out.
Mrs Richardson, 60, said: “It is a bit of a celebrity around here. I took it
out the other day and my neighbour came rushing over because she was worried
that it had broken.”
More stop smoking
The number of people quitting smoking has risen by 10 per cent since the ban
in public places was introduced in England last year, according to the NHS
Information Centre. More than 350,000 kicked the habit successfully –
defined as not smoking for a month – during the 12 months to April.
Hit-and-run scooter
A woman aged 84 has died after being injured by a hit-and-run driver on a
mobility scooter. She suffered a broken hip in the accident in May and spent
12 weeks at Sunderland Royal Hospital. A doctor thought that there was a
causal link between the accident and her death and reported it to the city
coroner.
Lottery numbers
The winning numbers in Wednesday’s main Lotto draw were 1, 29, 32, 33, 34, 38,
bonus 6. The Thunderball numbers were 4, 10, 12, 20, 24, Thunderball 6. The
Dream Number was 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 7, 5.
