Other UK News In Brief

Chocolate Laxative Child Ill

A three-year-old boy has taken ill after he was fed laxatives by older boys in a Hertfordshire park. The child was playing in Pound Recreation Ground, Hoddesdon, on Thursday afternoon when he was approached by three youths who boys gave the laxatives to the child who ate them, thinking they were chocolate. A police spokesman said a 14-year-old boy has been arrested and bailed in connection with the incident which also saw the mother being verbally abused when she approached the boys having seen them near her child.

War Graves 'Exposed'

A new exhibition, organised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which tells the story of 250 First World War soldiers recovered from a mass grave in northern France in 2009 will open at the Imperial War Museum London next month. Remembering Fromelles: A New Cemetery for a New Century charts the construction of the Commission's new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, the first to be built in 50 years, and explains the fascinating story of how 250 Australian and British soldiers came to be found, excavated and then reburied in a fitting and final resting place. Using artefacts found at Fromelles, personal recollections of those who worked on the project and photographs from each stage of the recovery process, the exhibition charts the construction of the cemetery and sheds new light on a forgotten story of the First World War.

Ships Fail Port Inspections

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency has announced that four foreign flagged ships were under detention in UK ports during May after failing Port State Control (PSC) inspection. Latest monthly figures show that there were three new detentions of foreign flagged ships in UK ports since then and one vessel under detention from the previous month. The overall rate of detentions compared with inspections carried out over the last 12 months was 2.97% this is down from April's twelve month rate. In May 145 Port State Control inspections were carried out and while a total of 48 vessels had no deficiencies raised against them, 66 had between one and five deficiencies, 24 had between six and ten deficiencies, six had between 11 and 20 deficiencies and one vessel inspected had more than 20 deficiencies.

(BMcC/GK)