This plucky swan played a game of chicken with a lorry on the M4, adding to the considerable tailbacks on Wednesday, just outside of West London.
Apparently the red lorry was the object of the swans attention before it was shooed along by a driver stuck in the rush hour traffic. Swans, famously protected by the Queen, have had a history of appearing on the M4 in the past – although we’ve never seen one!
On the lighter side of the news, policemen in Bargteheide, Germany, were perplexed and amused in equal measure when they discovered a white van transporting a fully working car!
Konstanty Krol, 38, and Cezar Chmielewski, 28 were caught red handed on their way to their home country of Kazakhstan. With a little help from their friends they were amazingly able to squeeze in the Mazda 626 to the back of their van. Their efforts were given away, however, when policemen pulled them over to check their swaying van.
We still can’t work out how they loaded it in the first place!
The privatisation of the Royal Mail could begin as early as this Summer, after proposals that would allow a sell-off were passed by MPs.
Dwindling mail volumes and a fall in profits has meant privatisation has been on the horizon despite protection of the postal service by the current Parliament. Ed Davey, minister for postal affairs, said the proposals “safeguard the future of both Royal Mail and the Post Office – two cornerstones of British life”.
Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, stated, “The fact of the matter is the British public don’t want to see the Royal Mail privatised…Vince Cable is flogging this company to the very people he denounced at the Liberal party conference – the spivs, the speculators and those who just want to make a fast buck.”
At the very least, 8000 jobs are at stake as the CWU has vowed to work with the Royal Mail in cutting at least this number of workers by 2013. It is likely that further cuts will need to be made in the near future.
Have your say on privatisation below.
The evidence is fairly incriminating…we wouldn’t want to be the ones explaining this little hiccup!
Have a great weekend everyone!
When we look back at man’s greatest achievements, the HMS Flake 99 will surely be one of them. The convenience of the classic ice cream truck has been perfected thanks to the clever people at Cadbury’s. This amphibious truck can traverse both land and sea to deliver much needed confectionery to the public.
The truck has been constructed as part of the UK’s National’s Ice Cream week (which is crying out for a public holiday!) and will apparently make a tour of Britain’s beaches. Let us know if you spot it out and about!
We don’t know what this lorry was meant to be carrying or where to, but we know it’s long. Very long!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Forget unmarked bills and priceless jewels, the new heist target of choice is seafood. On May 20, a truck carrying over 25,000 lbs of Russian king crab was emptied of it’s contents on its way from Los Angeles to Seattle.
It appears this seafaring crime syndicate managed to get away with more than $400,000 worth of crab after deploying a rogue trucker to pick up the product using false documentation and a fake license. Stolen seafood is not as uncommon as you would think as the price of crab steadily increases.
We think an Oceans Eleven remake should be on the agenda!
Most men will have fond memories of setting up a hot wheels track in their bedroom – if you were a real pro you would lay the track down the staircase and finish with a loop the loop.
In the spirit of boyhood creativity the Hot Wheels team constructed the iconic orange track on a grand scale to help beat the world record for jumping a four wheeled vehicle.
Stunt driver, Tanner Foust said: “You’re basically going down a really poorly designed rollercoaster, because there are no guard rails… We accounted for everything you could imagine outside of the weather.”
The Communications Workers Union has stated that thousands of London postal workers are considering strike action over proposed plans to close mail centres.It has been reported that the Vauxhall and Bow mail centres are on the chopping block. Postal workers fear that the closures would result in compulsory redundancies across the Royal Mail.
CWU official Martin Walsh said: “London postal workers have sent a clear message to Royal Mail in this ballot that they will not be bullied or intimidated by the company.
“Royal Mail’s closure plans are a clear threat of compulsory redundancy and this is completely unacceptable.
‘In their race to push services to the bottom, Royal Mail will eventually provoke a reaction wider than London.”
However, the Royal Mail has argued that support for the walkout is by no means universal, proved by the 51 per cent ballot turnout.
“There is no justification for strike action. The union has not received a strong mandate from employees,” said Gerry O’Rourke, regional operations director at Royal Mail.
“The reality is that almost 700 full-time Royal Mail people in London have already expressed an interest in taking a voluntary redundancy package that is worth up to two years’ salary. More than 300 are already being progressed.”
No one wants to be found guilty of speeding, but imagine being the first in a country. Ramon Parra, 41, has earned this unwanted trophy by becoming the first Venezuelan to receive a driving ban in the country’s history. Mr Parra was found guilty of speeding whilst driving an overloaded bus…which only had three wheels! Grounds for a ticket at the very least!
National police chief Luis Fernandez told reporters: ‘It is important to emphasise that this is a totally new act; for the first time in Venezuela we are suspending a driving license, for 12 consecutive months.’
Despite the law to suspend licenses being passed back in 2008, it has not yet been used. It is common practice to weave in and out of heavy traffic and to travel at speeds up to 100mph. With the price of petrol staggeringly low (it costs just 70p to fill a tank) officials are accustomed to a laissez faire attitude to speed and a devil may care approach to driving safety.
Hopefully this landmark ruling is a beginning of a new era of driving regulation and law enforcement.