Rise in number of failing holiday companies

The number of tour operator failures has increased and more holiday companies could collapse this year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

It said that 25 companies protected by its Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Atol) scheme had failed in the year ending March 2008. In 12 cases, there had to be calls on the Air Travel Trust Fund, a back-up source of funding, to assist the Atol scheme, which helps to bring home holidaymakers stranded if a tour company ceases trading.

The CAA said that, although holiday bookings this summer had held up well, there had been a rise in the number of failures this financial year.

Roger Mountford, the trust’s chairman, said: “An increase in the number of insolvencies is an indicator of tougher trading conditions and may be an indication of a further deterioration.”

The CAA added that the trust’s overall deficit had increased by £1 million during 2007-08 to just over £21 million. New arrangements had been put in place in the event of the failure of a larger tour operator.

Gibbons’ noisy mating is silenced by council

Two gibbons received a gagging order from council officials after their mating noises disturbed local residents. Their cries were recorded up to two miles from Bristol Zoo and continued throughout the night – culminating in a “deafening dawn chorus”.

Environmental health officers from Bristol City Council monitored the noise over several days and found that it measured 100 decibels.

The gibbons are part of a breeding programme and were allowed outside for 24 hours a day. The zoo has agreed to a curfew and the primates – Duana, 7, and Samuel, 11 – will be kept indoors three nights a week.

One neighbour, Phllylis Farmer, a retired chemist, said that the noise was very distinctive. “There was no one supervising them after 6pm and they had the run of the place. There is a school very close and they must hear them all the time,” she said.

David Chivers, a primate expert at the University of Cambridge, said: “These people are lucky they can hear them. It is a beautiful and melodic symphony.”

Rusty old bike sets the pace for eBay bidding

A rusty old bicycle expected to raise just £1 for charity was sold on eBay for more than £500 to a collector in Japan who identified it as a rare British classic.

The yellow bicycle was given to Bruce Symes to raise money for Dart Sailability, a charity for disabled sailors. Mr Bruce, of Galmpton, Devon, gave it a guide price of £1 but bids were soon placed from the Far East – including Taiwan and Korea.

Collectors noticed that the bicycle was a Moulton Speedsix – the first six-speed bicycle made in Britain, with only 600 produced in the 1960s. It was sold for £537.

Round-the-world runner on her last legs

The lone round-the-world runner Rosie Swale-Pope, 61, left, has home in sight but will have to finish her five-year journey on crutches.

By yesterday she was ten miles short of completing the mission that she had begun after her husband died of cancer. She left a Pembrokeshire hospital last week having gone there with leg pains; scans revealed stress fractures in her hip. “I knew that so many people were making the effort to get to Tenby to see my return, and I was not going to let them down,” she said. “I was hoping to dance on the tables but perhaps I will have to save that for later.”

Academies total on course to pass 400

Hundreds more schools could become academies with the Government about to exceed its own target, Lord Adonis, the Schools Minister, said yesterday (Nicola Woolcock writes).

Two hundred of the state academies, which are run independently from local government, were to be created by 2010. Tony Blair then doubled that figure to 400. Now Lord Adonis has signalled that even this number will be surpassed. He said: “We will have no difficulty moving beyond 400.”

There are now 83 academies. Most replaced underperforming schools. Another 50 are due to open this year.

China to free Briton

A British woman arrested while filming a Free Tibet protest in Beijing and held for three days without charge is to be released and deported today. The Chinese authorities reviewed the case of Mandy McKeown, a mother of two, after the intervention of Gordon Brown.

Pocket money falls

The amount of pocket money children receive has fallen for the third year in a row, this time by nearly 25 per cent, according to the Halifax. The bank says that the average child aged between 8 and 15 now receives £6.13 a week, down from £8.01 last year and £8.37 in 2005.

Carnival arrests

Police reported 98 arrests at the Notting Hill Carnival after officers were given extra powers to stop and search potential criminals. The arrests included 37 for drug offences, six for possessing offensive weapons and eight for assault. Seven “pit-bull type” dogs were seized.

Lottery results

Five ticketholders won the double rollover Lotto jackpot on Saturday, sharing the prize pot of £13.5 million, Camelot said. The winning numbers were 9, 16, 23, 26, 27 and 42; bonus number 44. The Dream Number was 8282810. In the Thunderball draw, the winning numbers were 7, 10, 14, 19 and 21; Thunderball number 9.

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