Bus driver Colin Scott causes six-car pile-up in Carshalton High Street, Sutton
- Colin Scott ‘lost his mind’ after children made V-signs and shouted: ‘How fat is your wife?’
- ‘He only stopped when a road sign came through the window’, said one terrified passenger
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:13 PM on 26th January 2012
It began with the cruel taunts of a gang of youngsters. And it ended with a trail of destruction estimated at costing £260,000.
Coach driver Colin Scott, 52, ‘lost his mind’ after children in the street jeered at him, calling him a ‘fat b******’, making V-signs at him, and shouting: ‘How fat is your wife?’
He began swerving his vehicle at them to try to frighten them off.
Crash: Colin Scott, 52, ‘lost his mind’ and slammed into cars and buildings after children on the street called him a ‘fat b******’, made V-signs and shouted ‘how fat is your wife?’
But his final swerve was too violent and he lost control of the bus, causing a six car pile-up and demolishing buildings.
Scott was disqualified from driving for three years, ordered him to pay £500 costs and to do 200 hours of unpaid work
Mercifully there were no serious injuries in the crash, which happened in busy bank holiday traffic on a narrow high street.
A court heard Scott lost his temper after children on a bus in front of his coach stuck out their tongues and made V signs at him.
CCTV footage showed the group of a dozen children, aged between 11 and 14, getting off the bus at a stop and continuing to abuse Scott, calling him a ‘fat b******’.
Initially, he reacted by returning V-signs to the youngsters, who were running alongside his coach, but he became angry when they shouted ‘how fat is your wife?’.
Scott aggressively swerved his coach at the children a number of times to give them a warning, but they continued to mock him. On the final swerve, the coach, carrying five John Lewis staff on a training day, careered into oncoming traffic.
In a statement read at Croydon Crown Court, John Lewis employee Nick Henderson said: ‘He only stopped when a road sign came through the windscreen.
‘He had snapped and lost his mind. He was blaming everyone but himself, but I blame him.’
Scott, of Reading, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving on Carshalton High Street, Sutton, South London, on August 27, 2010.
He was disqualified from driving for three years, ordered to pay costs of £500 and to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
Kathy Hirst, defending, said: ‘Mr Scott has an unblemished record as a coach driver of ten years. He simply lost control.’
Pile-up: Scott lurched towards them and lost control of his vehicle in Carshalton High Street, Sutton, south London, causing £260,000 of damage to cars and to three buildings, on August 27, 2010
Categories: News Tags: Carshalton, causes, Colin, Driver, High, pileup, Scott, sixcar, Street, Sutton
High heels ‘are to blame for flat feet’… but a cure may be around the corner
By Sophie Borland
Last updated at 4:10 AM on 12th January 2012
The risk of flat feet is increased in women who spend more time standing up, according to researchers
It is a discovery that might leave high-heel fans feeling a little flat.
Sky-high shoes could be to blame for flat feet, according to a study.
Scientists claim that high heels are the reason women are more likely to develop the agonising condition than men – and say their risk is increased further if they spend a lot of time standing up.
But before you resign yourself to a lifetime of sensible footwear, the researchers also say they are close to finding a cure.
The scientists, from the University of East Anglia, believe that flat feet come about when tendons in the feet are weakened by proteins that occur naturally in the body.
This causes the arch of the foot to fall, which can lead to excruciating pain and difficulties walking.
And they say their discovery could lead to the development of new drugs to combat these proteins, called enzymes, and stop them weakening the tendons.
Around 3.5 per cent of the British population are thought to be affected by flat feet.
The condition is more common in women over 40, but it also runs in families and many sufferers are born with it.
Dr Graham Riley, who carried out the study, said that high heels did not properly support the feet, which caused the tendons to weaken. He also warned that women who wore heels were particularly at risk if they spent large chunks of the day standing up.
High heels alter posture and increase pressure on the ball of the foot. Repeated wear is already known to strain the hips, knees and thighs, as well as increasing the risk of conditions such as osteoarthritis, hammer toe, back problems, bunions and corns.
At the moment, flat feet can be treated by wearing insoles or supportive devices inside the shoe. In some cases, patients have surgery to reshape their feet.
Despite the breakthrough, the scientists say it will be at least a decade before drugs for the condition are available.
But they claim that in future treatments could be developed for other common conditions of the feet such as Achilles tendonitis, which causes heel pain.
Dr Riley, whose study is published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases journal, added: ‘Our study may have important therapeutic implications since the altered enzyme activity could be a target for new drug therapies in the future.
‘We have shown that similar changes also take place in other painful tendon conditions such as Achilles tendonitis, so this advance may ultimately result in an effective alternative to surgery for many patients.’
Professor Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK, said: ‘Foot problems are an important and not sufficiently recognised cause of pain and disability in the elderly.
‘Ageing changes to the supporting tendons contribute to these problems and this research represents a first step to successfully unravelling some of the complex biochemistry that regulates tendon disorders.’
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A wet winter wonderland! High winds blow foam over seaside resort to make it look like it’s snowed
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:37 AM on 30th December 2011
It may look like a winter wonderland.
But locals at the seaside town of Cleveleys were anything but enchanted by this extraordinary blizzard.
Gallons of foam from the sea carpeted the promenade and surrounding roads with a thick layer of bubbles, making life particularly hazardous for motorists.
Motorists have to drive slowly in order to get through the foam which has become a hazard
A group of people trudge through the foam as it continues to fall after being blown ashore in strong winds
Residents were reluctant to leave their homes as wind whipped up the foam sending it inland in blizzards.
It’s not the first time the foam has hit the Lancashire resort. Some fear it is caused by pollution and claim it stains clothes and damages cars.
The Environment Agency is investigating but believes the foam is created by a combination of decomposing algal matter churned with the tide.
A spokeswoman said: ‘We have taken samples of the foam as obviously if this is caused by any kind of polluting material, we need to know about it.
‘Early samples are not showing any trace of detergent so we think it could be the combination of decomposing algal matter churned with the tide and the westerly wind which is causing the foam.
‘We know it happens occasionally and can disappear again quite quickly so we will be looking further into what triggers it.’
Some residents believe the foam is from detergents in the sea but the Environment Agency says it is algal matter
Other residents have complained that the foam leaves stains and is a nuisance. One said it is the third time the foam has washed ashore this year
Some residents were reluctant to leave their homes because of the foam which reached three feet deep in some parts
The foam was blown ashore after winds of up to 90mph hit the area causing huge waves to crash on the shore.
Resident, Gorden Stanley, said: ‘The situation with the foam is horrendous, normally it happens once every few years but it has been like this three times this year.
‘It is oil based so it is terrible for your car and stains your clothes and windows, people don’t like to go out of the house in it. It’s not just the promenade, it gets blown inland so bungalows at the back of my house are totally covered too.
‘If this is detergent in the water caused by industry or by shipping, it needs to be investigated, it shouldn’t be happening as often as this.’
Strong winds caused waves to batter the promenade in Blackpool yesterday as 90mph winds hit the coastal town
A young couple battled to walk along a street while out shopping yesterday as they fought against the strong winds
Categories: News Tags: blow, Foam, High, It's, Like, Look, over, resort, seaside, snowed, winds, Winter, wonderland
Big High Street names ‘could collapse in days’ despite £2.5bn a day sales boom
By Emily Andrews and Paul Bentley
Last updated at 10:19 PM on 27th December 2011
Shoppers abandoned austerity with a record £4.3billion spending spree at the sales.
Some £2.5billion passed through the tills yesterday on top of an estimated £1.8billion on Boxing Day.
Retail analysts believe the combined final total will be the highest ever spend for December 26 and December 27.
Fears persist however that the end-of-year rush will not be enough to save some big names on the high street which are in imminent danger of collapse.
(Left to right) Sophie Maynara, Emma and Finn Halton out shopping in Birmingham City Centre today
Among the most vulnerable are lingerie chain La Senza, Blacks Leisure and Millets.
Stores across the country saw scenes reminiscent of those before the economic downturn as thousands of people flocked to the sales.
They were taking an average of at least £4.6million a minute, or £77,000 a second.
Experts said the predicted £10billion plus spend for the whole of this week will be 2011′s most lucrative for retailers, beating the pre-Christmas rush. Consumers are expected to have spent at least £22.8billion by the third week of January – £338million more than in the equivalent post-Christmas period last year.
Shoppers who avoided the crowds and transport disruption of Boxing day sales yesterday are expected to spend more than £2.5billion today, according to retail analysts. Here crowds flocked to the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham
Shoppers crowd the doorway of Harrods department store as it opens for post-Christmas sales in London
Anita Manan, an analyst at Experian, said: ‘It’s good to see so many people visiting stores and the milder weather has helped. With retailers’ quarterly rent due, the difficulty is that they are selling a lot of stock at very low prices.
‘What remains to be seen is if this quarter’s takings are enough to see them through this difficult period to the next quarter.’
The peak weeks of Christmas trading are crucial to retailers as this period accounts for nearly one-fifth of the UK retail industry’s annual sales, making stores fight harder than ever to tempt shoppers through their doors.
The beleaguered retail sector has suffered from poor footfall figures during the course of the year. High street takings were down by around £200million a week in November versus October.
Queues formed outside Harrods all day as eager shopper waited to get in
Bargain-hunting: Shoppers at the Harrods winter sale search for big discounts
The Harrods sale was opened this morning by Florence Welch Of Florence And The Machine, who arrived on a green London bus
Many retail managers have complained once-thriving shopping centres have come to resemble ghost towns.
Christmas sales were brought forward in many stores with discounts increasing on a daily basis. Many stores are now offering 70 per cent or more off items.
Tom Nathan, manager of London’s Brent Cross shopping centre, said Boxing Day had been the busiest ever – following on from a record breaking December 23 and Christmas Eve.
He said: ‘We have broken three records in three days in terms of numbers, with each of the last three days being the biggest ever for the time of year.’
Retail analysts Experian said the number of shoppers on Boxing Day was 21.5 per cent higher than a year ago.
Crowds flocked to Oxford Street despite yesterday’s stabbing. Police say they are holding 11 people on suspicion of murder
Industry insiders, however, say that despite the encouraging trading, some big-name players may not make it through the next few weeks, with many now due to pay their rent bills for the next quarter.
La Senza, which has 146 stores and 18 concessions in the UK, has announced it plans to enter administration in coming days.
And Blacks Leisure, which owns 98 Blacks outlets and 208 Millets stores, has fuelled speculation that it would go into administration in a move that would allow rivals to cherry-pick its best assets.
Last week chocolate-maker Thorntons said annual profits would miss estimates, while music chain HMV said weak sales may cast ‘significant doubt’ on its future.
Handbags were flying off the shelves at Harrods department store during the first its day of post-Christmas sale
People rummaged through handbags at Harrods today as thousands descended on the Knightsbridge department store
Up to 12million shoppers – one in four of the population aged over ten – were thought to have crammed into high streets and malls yesterday.
John Lewis, Harrods and Ikea all joined the retail frenzy, launching in-store sales on top of those already started online.
High shopper numbers and busy traffic were reported at centres across Britain, including Bluewater in Kent, the Trafford Centre in Manchester and the MetroCentre in Gateshead.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: ‘I don’t think we’re stretching it to say the 26th and 27th of December combined have been the best ever, certainly if we include online sales. I’d have thought it could be a record two-day takings.
‘People have definitely been waiting for the sales. Many decided to play a waiting game with retailers in anticipation of deep sales cuts. Because of the way Christmas has fallen and the fact that many people have taken the whole week off that has prompted a huge boost in spending.’
Shoppers picked through the bargains at shopping centres across the country today as stores try to make the most of the post-Christmas boom in Brent Cross, north London
At Brent Cross, in north London, more than 1,000 people were queuing at 3.30am for the Next sale’s 4am start
Eager shoppers queue outside Selfridges department store on Oxford Street for the Boxing Day sales
People queuing at Prada shop on the Boxing Day sales at Selfridges in Birmingham
Christmas shopping: Millions take to the high street to snap up bargains
- Today will see 33m transactions worth more than £1.5billion made on busiest shopping day ever
- Customers who bought early angry at prices of same goods being slashed
- Thousands pack out Oxford Street and London’s Westfield shopping centres
- Asda drafts in an extra 7,000 staff to cope with demand
- Christmas Eve also expected to be busy as 12m people hit shopping centres
By Rupert Steiner and Graham Smith
Last updated at 3:13 PM on 23rd December 2011
It was the busiest minute of the busiest shopping day of in history as millions of last minute bargain hunters hit the high street today.
At precisely 12.44pm, the number of shoppers crowding streets up and down Britain was at its peak.
To arrive at this particular time, supermarket Morrisons analysed shopping data from previous years, including those in which Christmas fell on a Sunday, and found that this is the minute during which the most transactions passed through tills.
Retail frenzy: Shoppers fill up Oxford Street in central London this morning in the final run-up to Christmas. Today is set to be the busiest shopping day of the year
Seasonal shop: Bargain hunters are expected to make 33million transactions worth more than £1.5billion today
Bargain hunters: Many firms have already launched their January sales ahead of what are set to be the two most lucrative days of the year on the high street
At 12.44pm, 57 trolleys per second were predicted to have been going through checkouts at Morrisons stores across the country.
Savvy consumers who have waited for stores to start their sales in the final run-up to Christmas are expected to make 33million transactions worth more than £1.5billion throughout the day.
This would be an increase of around 8 per cent compared with the same period last year and would make today the busiest shopping day in British history, according to Visa.
The rise is partly attributed to shoppers being able to enjoy some of the biggest pre-Christmas discounts ever as desperate stores try to boost sales.
BRITONS TO SPEND £500M MORE THAN 2011 IN CHRISTMAS SALES
Cash-strapped Britons are expected to splash out £500million more than last year in the post-Christmas sales, researchers claim.
More than half of us are hoping to bag a bargain in the New Year sales, spending an average £92.58 each, according to a study by Sheila’s Wheels home insurance.
Clothes, shoes and accessories will be at the top of shopping lists with Britons forking out 79 per cent more on these items than a year ago.
One-in-five of those polled said they plan to spend more in the New Year sales than on their Christmas shopping.
The study estimates £4.8billion will be spent in the January sales this year with the average person buying 15 items in the January sales.
Jacky Brown, of Sheilas’ Wheels, said: ‘The January sales are getting earlier every year as so many families are eager to grab a bargain rather than fork out a fortune over Christmas.’
Early bird shoppers queued outside John Lewis, Hamleys and Marks & Spencer before doors opened this morning, keen to beat the crowds.
A spokesman for the New West End Company, which represents 600 retailers across the three famous shopping streets, said it was even busier than anticipated, adding that about 70% of the shoppers appeared to be men who had left their gift-buying to the 11th hour.
He said: ‘We expect one million shoppers today and tomorrow through the West End stores, spending £100 million in total.’
London’s West End was heaving and hectic scenes were reported across Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street.
Many firms have already launched their January sales ahead of what are expected to be the two most lucrative days of the year on the high street.
Tomorrow will see the busiest shopping hour of the year – 12noon to 1pm on Christmas Eve.
Many stores have drafted in thousands of extra staff to help ease the heavy load.
A spokesman for Asda said: ‘We’re expecting today and tomorrow to be our busiest days of the year. This year we are pulling out all the stops to give our customers an extra 7,000 helping hands.’
Morrisons, meanwhile, claimed it experienced its busiest shopping minute of the year at 12.44pm.
However, the discount deals are already starting to backfire.
Customers who bought early have been angered to find their purchases are now selling for a fraction of the price.
Discount bonanza: The busiest hour of shopping in 2011 is due to take place tomorrow between 12pm and 1pm
Crowded: The early launch of many January sales early has angered shoppers who made their Christmas purchases in advance
Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, John Lewis, and Argos have all started their winter sales over fears they could be left with mountains of stock as shoppers wait until the last minute to make festive purchases.
Jackie Phillips, 47, a receptionist from Northfield, Birmingham, said: ‘I bought my daughter a toy pushchair for Christmas and now I’ve just seen it for half the price. It is really annoying. You expect it on Boxing Day but not now.’
A report by accountant RSM Tenon released yesterday paints a bleak picture of the state of the high street. It claims 13 per cent of retailers, around 8,990, are at high risk of collapsing into insolvency.
As a result January sales have started early as firms try to lure consumers with the promise of rock-bottom prices.
In some cases, major chains are discounting by up to 80 per cent. French Connection, which issued a profit warning earlier this month, brought forward its sale by a week.
The move comes a week after a Government commissioned report by self-styled retail guru Mary Portas warned that the UK’s high streets were under threat from online competition, with some town centres described as ‘dead’.
Temptation: January sales have started early as firms lure consumers with the promise of rock-bottom prices
Countdown to Christmas: A man carrying gift-wrapped presents is distracted by goods in a shop window
Latest government figures showed sales volumes for November fell 0.4 percent from the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics due to poor sales of computers, watches, jewellery and carpets.
More worrying data released yesterday showed UK shopper numbers for this week are lower than the weak snow-affected period last year.
In yet another blow to stores, Boxing Day sales have been thrown into chaos in the capital after a High Court judge refused to ban a Tube strike.
Drivers who have already seen their salaries rocket to more than £50,000 per year are walking out demanding £365 overtime pay and a lieu day.
Hundreds of families expecting to tuck into a luxury feast this Christmas will be left disappointed after Fortnum & Mason admitted many of its famous hampers will not arrive in time.
The store blamed ‘severe’ IT problems as it said that thousands of hampers are still sitting in its warehouse, shattering the hopes of present-buyers who have shelled out a small fortune for one of the wicker baskets.
It has promised to provide refunds to those who ordered their hampers in good time and still do not receive them by Christmas Eve.
