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Hundreds of new gipsy camps to be built across Britain as homeowners face threat of 'land grab'

The illegal gypsy site

Communities are bracing themselves for 'bombshell' news on the locations of hundreds of new and upgraded gipsy camps across the country. Work on some of the proposed 7,500 extra pitches - some able to accommodate up to three families - will get the go-ahead within weeks under a controversial £97million scheme.

The great Strictly revolt: Thousands threaten boycott and demand return of the Dancing Pig

Relieved: 'Dancing pig' John Sergeant leaving his home today

The BBC was being bombarded by thousands of complaints from Strictly Come Dancing fans today after 'dancing pig' John Sergeant quit the competition.

Single mouthful of curry kills father as he watches X Factor with his family

Angus Myers,

A father died after a single mouthful of curry triggered a nut allergy as he watched television with his family.

Boy, 12, collapsed and died after 'using too much Lynx deodorant'

lynx

Teachers accused of checking pupils' underwear to make they are wearing the right colour bras and pants

School teacher disciplining pupils in the playground

A row erupted today over claims that teachers were checking pupils' underwear to make sure they comply with a new school uniform policy.

Shannon Matthews found 'roped' to bed base with her 'captor' in dramatic ending to 24-day nightmare

Michael Donovan

Schoolgirl Shannon Matthews was found hiding in the base of a double bed when police dramatically ended her 24-day ordeal.

EasyJet 'almost ruined pioneering windpipe transplant operation by refusing to carry stem cells on flight'

EasyJet Aircraft

It was a scientific breakthrough that could change the future of medicine - but the revolutionary procedure almost failed to take off.

Baby P: The heart-breaking photograph that should have saved the boy's life

baby p

This sepia-tinted portrait of Baby P shows markings to his face that could have alerted the authorities to the ordeal he was suffering at the hands of his abusers.

Blizzards and icy winds forecast for weekend as Arctic blast sweeps in from the north

snow

Blizzards and plunging temperatures will make this weekend feel like deepest winter, weathermen warned today.

Gambler wins £2m on internet fruit machine... and breaks record for biggest single payout by a British bookie

Winner: The prize money had been rolling over for more than a year

A lucky punter collected more than £2million yesterday - the biggest single payout to a British gambler.

'Eyes of a killer' schoolboy jailed for stamping Asian man to death in random attack

andrew smith

A schoolboy who murdered a father-of-three and then filmed himself on a mobile phone as he bragged 'eyes of a killer' has been jailed for life.

M&S sale scam: Shoppers return Christmas gifts then buy the same item... for 20% off

M&S

Clamped! Warden locks up ambulance as driver helps seriously ill patient into clinic

clamped ambulance

Mother tells court how MySpace cyber-bullying 'led to her 13-year-old daughter's suicide'

Lori Drew

A grieving mother has told a court how her 13-year-old daughter hung herself with a belt after being 'cyber-bullied' on MySpace.

Multi-millionaire thief cut pages from rare British Library books to store in personal collection

 Farhad Hakimzadeh

A multi-millionaire businessman is facing jail for stealing hundreds of pages from rare ancient books worth £500,000 to store in his personal book collection.

How we rate our happiness: Higher than the Germans and on a par with the French

french and british

When it comes to how happy we feel it seems we're happier than the Germans and on a par with the French and Belgians, a survey has found.

BNP at the Palace: Servant of the Queen 'outed' on leaked list of far-right party membership

Queen Elizabeth II

A servant of the Queen has been 'outed' as an alleged member of the BNP. Buckingham Palace storeman Paul Murray's name was on a leaked copy of the far-right party's confidential membership list.

Misprint in GCSE paper throws 120,000 pupils' exams into chaos

Exam

A GCSE physics exam was thrown into chaos for 120,000 teenagers when all the possible answers to multiple choice questions emerged as wrong. Candidates were issued with a faulty grid to nine multiple choice questions.

Names and addresses of crime suspects sent to 150 farmers in police gaffe

Man using internet

Police were at the centre of a new storm over data protection today after emailing the personal details of suspected criminals to 150 farmers.

Coroner's call for dune warning signs after gifted student was buried alive in 10ft sand tunnel

Tragic: Craig Owen died when a sand tunnel collapsed on him

An expert called for a nationwide alert to warn of the dangers of beach dunes after a schoolboy was killed when tons of sand collapsed on him.

Body of 'Nazi slave' billionaire stolen from Austrian cemetery in 'extortion attempt'

flick

The remains of a billionaire whose family fortune was built on Nazi slave labour have been stolen from an Austrian graveyard.

WORLD NEWS

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Did you see it coming? Clairvoyant healer banned from making 'impossible to prove' cure claims by ad watchdog

No proof: The Advertising Standards Agency took exception to Sister Charlotte's claim of curing everything from witchcraft to depression

Pictured: The moment a World War II veteran is reunited with a comrade whose funeral he went to 67 years ago

Old friends: The touching moment Harry Finlayson (left) reunited with Gerry Solomon, 67 years since Gerry attended Harry's 'funeral'

Two World War II comrades meet up 67 years after the one attended the 'funeral' of the other, believing he'd died in a firefight.

Immigration influx last year was second highest on record as 500,000 foreigners make Britain home

New arrivals: Migrants at Dover

Immigration is running unchecked at near record levels despite Government efforts to tackle the problem, figures revealed yesterday.

How untidy gardens could be key to saving the house sparrow

house sparrow

Unkempt gardens could be the key to saving one of the nation's best-known birds, as paving, decking and and removal of trees contribute to their decline.

Supermarkets are cheating shoppers with 'bogus' special offers, says Which?

supermarket

Supermarkets are stinging their customers with bogus special offers, it has been claimed. Which? said

Third of schools failing to give pupils a decent education, Ofsted warns

Classroom

Children do not get a good education in nearly half of secondary schools, the worst of which are 'patently inadequate', Ofsted has declared.