Christmas crackers

Christmas crackers

While most of us will have taken down the Christmas and New Year decorations by now, one British man will carry on celebrating Christmas every day just as he has done for the last 15 years. After putting up new tinsel he settles in to his daily routine of fruitmince pies, turkey, sherry and opening the presents he bought for himself.

Andy Park's never-ending festivities began in July 1993, when he was feeling low and put up Christmas decorations to make him feel better.

''Suddenly I was happy. So I did it again the next day and the day after that,'' he said. ''Since then my routine every day has been to get up and have seven or eight mince pies and a glass of sherry for breakfast.''

He goes to work for about three hours and then returns home to a full Christmas dinner, complete with a glass of champagne, before watching a tape of Queen Elizabeth's traditional Christmas Day address to the nation.

A cereal

offender A careless female burglar was caught after she left a trail of breakfast cornflakes from the scene of the crime.

Amber McCarthy, 31, accidentally scattered the cereal out of her bag after stealing cash from a florist's till.

Police followed the half-kilometre trail to her hotel in Bexhill, East Sussex.

They found cash and flowers in her room, Hove Crown Court heard.

McCarthy, of Eastbourne, had earlier grabbed the packet of cereal from the hotel bar and stuffed them in her bag, not realising the cornflakes began falling out after she robbed the florist.

Hunger

pains A man who weighs 115 kilos claims a restaurant overcharged him for his trips to the buffet, then banned him and a relative because they ate too much during their visits.

Ricky Labit said he had been a regular at the Manchuria Restaurant in Louisiana, eating there as often as three times a week. But on his most recent visit, he said a waitress gave him and a cousin a bill for nearly $50 _ roughly double the buffet price for two adults.

He claimed the waitress explained: '''Y'all fat, and y'all eat too much''.

No more

witch hunts A petition is to be presented to the Scottish parliament urging pardons for the 4,000 or more people found guilty of witchcraft in Scotland between the 16th and 18th centuries.

According to a report in The Guardian, the paranormal interests group Full Moon Investigations announced its campaign to overturn the convictions.

Witch hunts reached a peak in the UK in the 17th century, with the church condemning ''devil-worshipping heretics''. Many were executed.

The last witch burned at the stake in Scotland was Janet Horne, who died in 1722 following the birth of her daughter, who had a misshapen hand.

Making

a boob A German woman has been kicked out of army training because she has silicone breast implants.

Alessija Dorfmann, 23, said: ''I am devastated. It has always been my dream to be a soldier and have a great figure. Now my fake breasts have cost me my job.''

She has appealed against the ruling by top brass in Hamburg, who said implants increased risk of injury.