Ever wanted to fall asleep and wake up somewhere else? This new Pop-Up Shipping Container Hotel in Belgium is always on the move.

The hotel “Sleeping Around” does exactly what it promises: it moves from location to location and gives its guests new surroundings and views every time. At the moment the hotel, consisting of five shipping containers, is present at Antwerp but you’ll only be able to find the exact spot with a GPS device when booking a room.

The owners chose shipping containers for their “pop-up” hotel because of their sturdy exterior, closable doors and easy transportation capabilities on trucks at any time.

Four containers serve as bedroom with a bathroom, breakfast can be taken in the fifth container and soon a 6th container will be the sauna.

A Belgian driver who wanted to pick up a friend from the train station 38 miles away from her home in Solre-sur-Sambre, ended up 900 miles away in Zagreb, Croatia due to a problem with her sat-nav.

Sabine Moreau made an astonishing 900 mile journey across Europe without realising she was following the wrong directions

Although Sabine Moreau, 67, stopped several times to refuel her car during the journey that crossed 5 borders with multiple-language traffic signs, she did not stop until 2 days later when intuition told her she may no longer be in Belgium!

“I saw all kinds of traffic signs. First in French, then in German – Cologne, Aachen, Frankfurt. But I didn’t ask myself any questions. I was just distracted, so I kept my foot down,” Sabine told a Belgian news website.

Ms Moreau finally made it home 60 hours after starting her journey, just before the police in Belgium launched a manhunt for her after being alerted by her son.

A police spokesman said: “This is an incredible story. These GPS systems cause problems from time to time but nothing like this. But this woman has done nothing wrong and we just have to believe her”.

The junction of Bagley’s Lane and New King’s Road in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham has been dubbed the “Moneybox” by motorists after it generated £2.7m in fines for the local council in 2012.

The “Moneybox” on Google Streetview

In total the local council issued 40,634 penalty notices in 2012-2012 or an average of 111 a day. Each fine costs motorists £65 and will rise to £130 if not paid within two weeks.

Frustrated drivers have accused Hammersmith and Fulham Council of deliberately designing the junction as a trap to catch them out and make money. Motorists ague that the two sets of traffic lights at the Moneybox junction are designed to allow more drivers to enter the controlled area than leave it.

An illustration from Daily Mail explains how drivers get into the trap:

South West Londoner Sunsanne More, who has been fined twice at the Moneybox, said: “There’s something fundamentally wrong with the number of fines issued to drivers going into this junction. It seems the council has decided this is a really good money-making scheme. The yellow box is far too long. It doesn’t give you enough time to get out and signalling is awful.”

The location of the yellow box on Google Maps

Have you been caught in a similar “Moneybox”? If yes, let us know in the comments below.

Any commuter who travels to work during rush hours would probably consider their route as the most overcrowded. However, a recent study from the Government has revealed the busiest route in the UK is the 7.44am Henley-on-Thames to Paddington station in London.

The 7.44am Henley-on-Thames to Paddington station is UK’s busiest commuting route

The train which has a load factor of 180%, takes commuters from Oxfordshire into the capital. Following the publish of the figures, the First Great Western train company has increased the number of standard class seats to 340.

Of the top 10 busiest commuting routes, the least busy has an over capacity figure of 52%.

Transport Minister Norman Baker said: “Climbing on a crowded train where there is little space can often be an unpleasant experience and I sympathise with passengers who have to travel on these services.

“The operators on the list are aware of the crowding problems on these particular services. I will be monitoring these services closely, and others which have not made the top 10 list, and urging train companies to reduce crowding on the busiest services.”

These are the top 10 UK busiest routes which you probably want to avoid:

1. FGW 7.44am Henley-on-Thames to London Paddington 180%

2. SWT 7.32am Woking to London Waterloo 164%

3. LM 6.13pm London Euston to Birmingham New Street 162%

4. LM 4.48pm Euston to Birmingham New Street 160%

5. FGW 6:30am Banbury to Paddington 158%

6. LM 7.55am Stourbridge Junction to Stratford-upon-Avon 157%

7. FTP 6.23am Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough 155%

8. NE 6.17pm London Liverpool Street to Shenfield 154%

9. LM 7:14pm Alton to Waterloo 152%

10. LM 5.46pm Euston to Birmingham New Street 152%

 

In order to cope with a spike in demand in the weeks running up to Christmas, Royal Mail has opened a massive sorting centre in Swindon, Wiltshire.

The giant sorting centre, empty in the morning (Image source: Daily Mail)

The temporary giant facility, opened in November, handles around 200,000 parcels a day and in the busiest day over 500,000 parcels are expected to be sorted. In total around four millions parcels will be sorted here and sent all around the world during the Christmas peak.

International parcels separated into different bags for each country (Image source: Daily Mail)

Royal Mail said the centre was set up to meet demands from online shopping giants Amazon and eBay.

An increase in online shopping activities means more items to be delivered (Image source: Daily Mail)

Mark Higson, Royal Mail’s managing director of operations and modernisation, said: “Christmas is the busiest time of year for Royal Mail and our customers. Royal Mail has invested in eight dedicated parcel sort centres to increase our scale and improve our flexibility during this important time of year for our customers.”

 

It’s still a misery how Santa could possibly deliver presents to children around the world in just 24 hours. However, the video below from Arthur Christmas cartoon might explain how he can possibly do it, with help from his elves.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Two thieves in Paris messed with the wrong delivery driver as he protected his delivery and caught them whilst being half naked.

The Polish driver was carrying a cargo of shoes to England and stopped in France for a rest. He noticed  the thieves trying to raid his parked van through his hotel window and without putting his trousers on, he dashed through the building and jumped on the roof of the looted van.

He held on for a mile until the van stopped at a red light, wearing only his pants, socks and top. As soon as the van stopped, the half dressed driver leapt down and grabbed the thief in the driver seat through the window. The other thief fled.

A police spokesman said: “He held him until police arrived and managed to recover his goods.”

The suspected thief will face magistrates this week.

We like this driver’s dedication!

 

If you are a fan of supercars but can’t afford buying one yourself, what can you do? Just BIY (Build It Yourself).

If you need some advice, contact the guy in this video below.

Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone!

Up to 19,000 greener vehicles will lose their dispensation to the London Congestion Charge because of new regulations and changes. The current Greener Vehicle Discount (GVD) will be detached by a new tighter Ultra Low Emission Discount (ULED) with a limit of 75g/km CO2, down from 100g/km CO2.

Green cars need to be greener in order to have free congestion charge

The positive aspect of tightening the criteria would help London to achieve the air pollution target which was criticised by the EU and faced also to fines for United Kingdom.

Transport for London (TfL) assume that the ULED will help to minimise the use of diesel cars in London. Over the decades the sale of diesel cars have increased from ca 10% to 50% which is the main result of low carbon vehicle incentives and inducements.

TfL Director for Congestion Charging, Nick Fairholme said: “We are really keen to hear what Londoners and motorists have to say about the proposed changes to the Congestion Charging scheme. We do listen to the views of our customers and have made significant changes to the scheme in recent years, including the removal of the Western Extension and the introduction of Congestion Charging (CC) Auto Pay. The proposed changes will make the scheme greener and more efficient.”

A public advice into the suggestions is open now and closes on the 8^th February 2013.