Monthly Archives: September 2013

Pay for parking using conkers

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Conkers for all!

Conkers for all!

Perhaps the most unusual car parking scheme ever has been launched in Leeds and Manchester, allowing motorists to pay for their parking charges using conkers.

The scheme – which is running in three city centre car parks located in the cities, started on Monday and has already been proving popular with drivers. So far, 1,500 conkers have been received, which are worth around £300 in parking charges.

The idea is that motorists collect the conkers – which are ‘valued’ at 20 pence each – and exchange them for parking at the selected car parks up to a value of £10.

Town Centre Car Parks (TCCP) confirmed to the BBC that the environmentally-friendly scheme was thought up in an attempt to offset some of the emissions released by motorists. All conkers will be donated to Hetchell Wood Nature Reserve in Leeds during the scheme.

Ben Ziff from TCCP, told the news source: “I was looking at our figures on what we have taken on conkers and it seems to be quite high, a lot more than we were expecting. Initially we were only going to run it for a week, but we’re now definitely planning on extending the scheme.”

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Jonathan Leadley, said: “This fantastic, but slightly bonkers idea will raise the profile of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s wonderful woodlands and hopefully raise a bit of cash to help us look after them.”

Britain’s biggest family expecting baby number 17

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127404-0-largeThe largest family in Britain has announced that it is to swell by one more member, when the newest addition is born next April.

Sue Radford and husband Noel are already parents to 16 children and are now expecting baby number 17, just 11 months after their last child, son Caspar was born. They rose to fame when they were featured on the documentary ’15 Kids and Counting’ on Channel 4 in 2011.

The family lives in a former children’s home in Morecambe, Lancashire, and uses a minibus to get around. The children – Chris, 24, Sophie, 19, Chloe, 18, Jack, 16, Daniel, 14, Luke, 12, Millie, 12, Katie, 10, James, nine, Ellie, eight, Aimee, seven, Josh, five, Max, four, Tillie, three, Oscar, two and Casper, 11 months – are all said to be “absolutely thrilled” about their new sibling.

Mrs Radford announced the news on her Facebook page, with the Telegraph reporting her as saying: “We are so excited to announce Radford baby 17 will be joining this family in April. As you can imagine, the children are so excited. Little Tilly said to me: ‘Mummy you have a baby in your tummy’. It was so sweet.”

The Radfords are not the only large family in Britain – Derek and Debbie Simpson, from East Kilbride, have 13 children, while a family in Dundee has 12 children.

Avozilla hits British supermarket shelves

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Fruit and veg. The bigger the better.

Fruit and veg. The bigger the better.

The world’s largest avocado is now available for British supermarket shoppers to heave into their trolleys.

The ‘Avozilla’ is five times the size of a regular avocado, weighing an average of 3lbs and measuring in at seven-and-a-half inches. The rare fruit comes from just four trees that are owned by one of the world’s largest suppliers of avocados, based in South Africa.

Emma Bonny, Tesco salad buyer, commented: “The Avozilla has a fantastic taste with a rich, juicy, buttery texture, and creamy flavour. The ripe fruit is an attractive vivid green colour – different from the darker-coloured smaller variety – and its thick skin can actually be used as a serving bowl for guacamole.
“We believe the Avozilla will appeal to shoppers who are looking for value for money, but especially large families,” added Ms Bonny.

Avocados are increasingly popular in Britain, with one major supermarket chain reporting a rise of 30 per cent in sales of the fruit this year alone.

The Avozillas will be priced at £3 each and will be initially available in Tesco, although other supermarkets may stock them in the future.