A London bookshop has uncovered a shocking conspiracy about the coveted Griffin Poetry Prize, linking winners of the award to the TV drama Midsomer Murders. The thread, which starts "does anyone want to hear my conspiracy theory", links winners of the poetry prize to elements of the show dating back as far as 2005. Although the latest incidents seem quite normal - Alice Oswald won the Griffin Prize in 2017 for 'Falling Awake' and her brother, Will Keen, played 'Preaching' Pete Kubatski in Midsomer...

Britain’s most hipster school has opened where children have no rules, exams or uniform, climb trees barefoot and learn just three days a week – in a YURT. Pupils at The Green House Education Project spend their time playing outside and wearing what they like. They don’t have desks but instead sit on blankets and huddle round wood burning stoves. The kids are not tutored in traditional subjects but instead are taught ‘how to resolve problems’, ‘find their real passion...

This is the moment a man miraculously survives being hit and almost run over by an out of control bus - before walking away almost completely unharmed. Simon Smith, 53, was thrown down the street when the runaway double decker careered onto the pavement and ploughed straight into him. The impact of his head hitting the windscreen shattered the glass, yet he got up from the pavement seconds later. Astonishing CCTV footage taken at the scene shows Simon calmly walking...

In extraordinary scenes in the House of Commons today, the Health Secretary was accused of a cover up and conflict of interest while presiding over the biggest scandal of lost patients records ever revealed in the NHS by his Labour Party counterpart in an emergency debate and responded: “transparency is not an absolute virtue.” Hundreds of thousands of confidential patient records contracted to be looked after by a company half owned by Jeremy Hunt's Department for Health and half owned...

3i Infrastructure considering sale of Anglian Water. The Board of 3i Infrastructure plc says it notes the press speculation regarding a potential sale of its interest in Anglian Water Group. The company confirms that it is considering options in relation to its holding in Anglian Water which is held through 3i Osprey LP, a partnership managed by 3i Investments plc, the investment adviser.  These considerations are at an early stage and, as such, there can be no certainty that they will...

A major incident was declared after a huge inferno erupted at an oil and gas factory, sending flames more than 100ft into the air. Around 60 firefighters and 12 engines were called to the blaze, which ignited eight tanks of red diesel and oil and sent massive plumes of smoke into the air just six miles from Gatwick Airport. The massive fire broke out just after 1:15am on Monday morning at the Rowfant Business Park in Crawley Downs, West Sussex....

Terminally ill Ron Flewett is involved in a dramatic race against time – to complete his mind-boggling ‘bucket list’ of visiting 50 countries before he dies. Dad-of-two Ron, 56, and wife Maxine set themselves the globe-trotting goal after he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2014 and given three to five years to live. Incredibly, Ron has already splashed out around £20,000 clocking up ten of thousands of miles ticking off 33 countries, islands or territories including the...

Britain's biggest-ever warship, the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, made its maiden voyage last night at low tide. The 65,000-tonne giant, which cost £3.5 billion, will be the flagship of the Royal Navy equipped with 36 multi-tole Lightning II stealth fighters. Work on the carrier began in 2009 and has been dogged by delays and overruns in cost. But yesterday she inched out of her tight dockyard for the first time to begin a series of open water trials. The ship had just...

Summit Germany spends €100m in Wolfsburg. Summit Germany Limited, the AIM-listed German commercial property investment company, has announced that it has entered into an unconditional agreement with Dazzle Capital Holdings Ltd., for the acquisition of a portfolio of commercial properties at a total purchase price of approximately €100 million including acquisition costs, located in 4 different sites in the city of Wolfsburg, Germany. The aggregate annual net rent from these properties is €7.9 million, which reflects rental yield of 7.9%. The...