A busker who claimed he earns only £4.00 a week has been sent a £7,500 income tax bill.
Nick Hogg, 28, whose wailing upset shoppers in Bath, Avon, failed to make a tax return for seven years, so officials assessed his income at £28,700. "It's stupid I haven't got £70, let alone £7,000," said Nick of Anglo Terrace.
200 apply for one job
More than 200 job hunters last week fashion. applied for one part-time post as a warehouse packer. Owen Bishop, director of a Coventry Whole Food Firm which advertised the vacancy, said: "The response was astonishing." The job is worth about £36 for a 20 hour week.
A mother's school secret
A mother of 35 has passed herself off as a schoolgirl and spent a whole morning in class with her 14 year-old daughter, Anita.
Fresh-faced Mrs Mo Jay-Ryan was there to learn because Anita, her daughter, had told her "you don't realise how hard school is these days." And no one noticed that Mo was twenty years too old.
She wore Anita's spare uniform at Sandon Comprehensive School in Chelsford, where only the headmaster was in on her secret.
She sat through lessons in econ- omics, cooking, badminton, netball and sex education. "It was a brilliant morning," she said afterwards, "but Anita was right, it is hard work."
Watch hands across the sea
The latest fashion in America, accord- ing to Peter Tory's diary, is to wear two watches on the same wrist. This otherwise pointless habit is made very slightly more sensible by having the time pieces adjusted to the East Coast hour and the West Coast hour.
This all started from the publication of a picture in many magazines across the US, of Princess Diana watching Prince Charles play polo down at Windsor. Before the game Charles had asked Diana to mind the watch for him. She strapped it onto her wrist cosily next to her own. This practical reason for the dual watches passed by the Americans. And thus started the
Hullabaloo over Waterloo
Eurocrats want to rename London's Waterloo station. They say it evokes "offensive memories" of the Battle of Waterloo where Napoleon was beaten by the Duke of Wellington in 1815. European MPs called for the change when they discussed a history book for use in EEC schools. But British labour MPs are furious at the idea. Hugh McMahon, the history teacher who represents Strathclyde West, has observed that the committee wants to hide the fact that EEC countries were once at war. "Children must learn how bad the past was," he concluded.
No gays on council jobs
Rugby council in Warwickeshire, has voted to ban homosexuals and lesbians from Townhall jobs.
Council leader Gordon Collett said: "We have gone far enough down the road towards the permissive society. We are calling a halt. We are not hav- ing men turning up in earrings and skirts."
It was agreed not to bar job appli- cants on the grounds of race, sex, colour creed or marriage. "This country's principle are based on Christianity and in my view homosexuality does not conform to Christian principles". However, Mike Foxwell, a campaigner for homosexual equality, condemned the council's 'fuzzy ideas of homosexuals being offensive."
The Queen isn't amused
The Queen, currently on a 14-day Canadian tour, arrived in Amherst- view, Ontario to open a new road and did not find the roving hands of her escort amusing.
Genial Canadian Transport Minis- ter, Jim Snow had the task of introducing the Queen to dignitaries before a ribbon-cutting ceremony and over enthusiastically chivvied her along with a series of gentle shoves which clearly annoy her Majesty.
Mr Snow, a father of four, has apologised for his behaviour. "I may have touched the Queen's elbow or something just in guiding her. If I broke tradition, I'm sorry," he said.
Vicar's marathon talk
The Rev. Olive Southerton talked himself into the records books last week when he gave an after dinner speech which lasted a full 15 hours and 175,000 words.
Helped along by the occasional soft drink, 46-year-old Mr Southerton, who raised £5,000 towards Prestatyn Rotary Clubs to launch a talking newspaper for the blind at a £10 a head dinner was hoarse and drained after his energy sapping feat.
He began at 9pm by talking about his early days in the clergy. (That took care of the first hour) then he told his audience about his tours of the Holy Land. (That filled another hour).
Growing in confidence, the vicar of Prestatyn, showed and described a few slides to illustrate amusing sad and exciting moments from his 23 years in the church. (Another hour had gone by...)
America's billionaires
In the absence of an African equivalent of Forbes Magazine to produce the official authentic edition of Africa's richest men, it has been left to folklore, insinuations and media pundits to speculate on Africa's rich men. The belief seems to be, though, that Africa has got quite a number of billionaires or at least, many people whose wealth are said to be impossible to assess. It comes as something of a surprise, therefore, to find that in the whole of the United States of America, there are only 12 billionaires.
The richest is American Gordon Peter Getty, an oil magnate who has a net worth estimated at £3.3 billion ($4.2 billion). A businessman from Bentonville, Arkansas, Mr Sam Moore Walton is the second richest American with a net worth estimated at $2.3 billion.
The annual survey by Forbes Maga- zine of the 400 wealthiest Americans includes Yoko Ono, widow of ex- beatle Mr John Lennon with $150 million.
The 12 billionaires on this year's list of the wealthy elite include two women, both of whom are members of the Hunt oil family of Dallas, Texas.
