John Whitbread, from Donisthorpe in Leicestershire, couldn’t get a full refund for his trip to the Dominican Republic so decided to advertise for a companion to replace his ex.
After the two highest bidders on eBay failed to pay up, ‘Jilted John’ sold £10 raffle tickets for the holiday, raising over £2,000 for charity. He met raffle winner Kelly Wood for the first time at Manchester Airport, with footage of their encounter filmed by Good Morning Britain on ITV.
AA man fixes Land Rover with potato
An AA patrolman won a competition to find the most original roadside repair – after he fixed an ageing Land Rover with a potato.
Mario Papademetriou, 59, replaced a faulty condenser with the spud, wired up using two screws, after the 1960s vehicle broke down on a Hertfordshire farm. Initially he tried a far more high tech solution in the form of tin foil and silicone repair tape but this didn’t do the trick.
Papademetriou said: “As the vehicle was on a farm, there were a lot of vegetables around, so I thought I’d try wiring up a potato with a couple of screws to act as a condenser.
“Amazingly, it started instantly, so I followed the member 12 miles to the nearest garage and he said the vehicle had never driven so well!”
Donald MacSporran, AA technical director, said the makeshift repair had won an internal AA competition to find the most original and inventive roadside repair.
He added: “AA patrols work on pretty much any vehicle on the road and pride themselves on their ability to fix them.
“Although vegetables are best left on the dinner plate, Mario’s use of a potato was definitely a chip above the others – an excellent example of thinking outside the box, or should that be sack.”
Bride ditches groom and marries guest
Fighting broke out at an Indian wedding after the bride ditched the groom and married one of the guests instead.
Jugal Kishore, 25, of Moradabad, suffered an epileptic fit as he was about to garland his would-be wife at the ceremony in Rampur.
His bride, Indira, 23, from Rampur, angry that her family had been kept in the dark about Kishore’s medical condition, promptly changed her mind.
She announced that she would happily marry a guest at the wedding, Harpal Singh, her sister’s brother-in-law, instead, reports the Times of India.
Singh, caught unawares and dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, hesitated for a moment before agreeing to the proposal and the ceremony went off without a hitch.
Kishore, meanwhile, who had been rushed to a doctor, returned to the venue after regaining consciousness to see that his wife-to-be was now someone else’s.
He and his family pleaded with Indira, telling her he would not be able to face friends and neighbours if he returned without her.
And when persuasion failed violence broke out, as wedding guests fought using spoons, plates and dishes as weapons, but still Indira stood firm.
Kishore and his relatives later lodged a complaint with police but this was withdrawn after consulatations with elders.
A police spokesman said: “Both families have amicably resolved the matter. The complaints have been withdrawn. Kishore and his family have now returned in peace to Moradabad.”
Man ‘falls asleep’ during police mugshot
US police say a suspected drink driver appeared to fall asleep while having his mugshot photograph taken.
Christopher Shirley, 20, was found asleep inside his truck outside a Walmart store in Porter, Texas, according to officers.
Deputies said Shirley was inside his truck, which had backed into another car, according to local media reports.
He then allegedly failed a field sobriety test and deputies said he appeared to nod off while getting his mugshot taken. Shirley has been charged with drink driving.
Post published in: World News