“A chicken was left shell-shocked after laying an enormous four inch tall egg, with her surprised owner describing the poor hen as ‘bow-legged.’ The monster egg measures a whopping 9cm by 2.2ins and is more than twice the size of a normal egg. It was laid by Bolt, a 20-week-old chicken from Christchurch, Dorset, who has only been laying for three weeks. Owner Denise Sloan, a 52-year-old gardener, said she has never seen such a large egg despite owning chickens for 15 years. The egg, which has not been fertilised, is now destined for the dinner plate.” w/ photos

“Amateur inventor John Hinton has launched an amphibious assault on the misery of the morning rush hour – with a vehicle that can swap traffic queues for river cruises. John’s ‘Shortcutter’, made from a sit-on lawnmower and an old boat, can chug along the roads at a ‘relaxing’ 6mph, then take to the water at the first sign of a snarl-up. Of course, with a top speed that could cause more traffic jams than it solves and a propeller that spins wildly behind it on dry land, the four-wheeler is still very much a work in progress. But Mr Hinton hopes future models could revolutionise the way we travel. The 76-year-old said: ‘In theory, you could go anywhere on it – it would be just as good as a normal car.” w/ photos