“Living by the seat of their pants… or perhaps just on a prayer! 16 vicars spent the weekend testing out their nerve on a host of scary rides at Alton Towers and Thorpe Park as they auditioned to conduct a special ‘Extreme Easter’ service at the parks next Sunday. The daredevil reverends could be seen clasping their hands in prayer and raising their arms to the Almighty as they took part in a number of extreme rides at the two parks.” w/ photos

“The warning message from a pensioner to criminals is simple and to the point. ‘Try breaking into this house again and your head will be blown off!’ The sign, with the image of a handgun, was put up in the front yard of 71-year-old Claudia Holland’s home in Hudson, East Texas. Her son Steve had it made after intruders kicked in her front door late at night, but fled after hearing her three dogs barking. Claudia, who keeps a gun in her walker, credits her three tiny animals, including a miniature Chihuahua named Speedy, for saving her. She told the Lufkin Daily News: ‘The dogs started barking and when I walked to the living room, the person kicked the door in. I figured they’d kill me. ‘It was the dogs that saved my life. They were growling and snapping. I never saw anybody so I guess the dogs scared them.’ Claudia admits she is ‘kind of embarrassed’ about the sign but grateful to her son who lives with, but was away on business the night of the break-in.” w/ photos

“The QTvan, which features a bed, kettle, TV, radio alarm clock and can be towed by a standard mobility scooter, has been pitched as the ideal way to bag a spot for the Royal Wedding. Nobody likes being stuck behind a caravan – but who would have thought one could hold up your weekly shop at the supermarket? This tiny camper has been pitched as the ideal way to bag a spot for William and Kate’s nuptials without having to spend the previous night sleeping rough. But once the celebrations are over, owners can also go wild in the aisles because it is even small enough to be driven around a supermarket. The QTvan – named after the British love of queuing, tea and caravans – is something of a departure for designer Yannick Read, whose previous work includes the Bond Bike, which has an ejector seat and flame thrower.” w/ photos

“This real life Tom and Jerry were caught playing the ultimate game of cat and mouse with each other. Just like the cartoon duo, each of them seems to be trying to outsmart the other. The pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bill McIntosh, who couldn’t believe his eyes.The 81-year-old said: ‘When I first saw the cat I thought it had a bird in its mouth, but when I got closer to it, I could see it was a mouse. ‘The cat was playing with it, running up and down trees, catching it in its claws and letting go. ‘Eventually the mouse was exhausted – as you can see in the picture – and had a rest.’ Mr McIntosh took the photographs near his house in Aberdeen. The retired grandfather-of-five has been a photographer since he was 14. But when he saw the cat and mouse he was actually trying to take pictures of birds.” w/ photos

“You could never get bored at the home of John Hornberger in Albany, N.Y. He has an entire wall-sized cabinet dedicated to a massive collection of board games — 1,140 different games, to be exact. Hornberger, 45, is a longtime member of the prestigious high IQ society American Mensa, where he’s appropriately known as the ‘Man of 1,000 Games.’  The title comes with a playful perk… With a hefty collection of 1,140 board games of his own at home, the Mensa hosting gig is perfect for Hornberger. He does, after all, have plenty of experience with a wide array of games.” w/ photos

“If you give oranges a miss because of the annoying pips then this could be the fruit to tantalize your taste buds. Experts have developed a new variety which contains as little as two or three seeds in each fruit, compared to the usual 15 to 30. The new variety is known as the KinnowLS – the LS stands for low seeded. It is the eighth citrus variety developed in the past ten years by scientists at the University of California at Riverside. They describe the fruit as slightly larger than a mandarin, with a thin, extremely smooth rind. They say that each fruit contain 10 to 11 segments, which are fleshy and a deep orange in color. The orange has been developed developed by mutation breeding of the mandarin variety Kinnow, a mid-to-late season maturing variety.” w/ photos

“A man crippled in an horrific mountaineering accident is climbing again thanks to revolutionary new prosthetic hands complete with built-in ice-axes. Stephen Ball, 54, from Newbiggin, Cumbria, fell 2,000 feet down one of the America’s tallest mountains, Mount McKinley, after finding himself trapped in a terrifying snow storm. Stranded for several hours, Stephen lost part of his left hand, his right fingers and thumb, part of his nose and his right foot to severe frost bite. His left leg also had to be amputated after it was shattered in 12 places. After the horrific fall in 1999 the father-of-four thought his climbing days were over until he approached leading prosthetic technician, Phil Myers. The award-winning technician, who works at the Disablement Services Centre at the Cumberland Infirmary, UK, spent weeks scouring hardware shops in a bid to find the perfect tools for the job. The pair eventually came up with the ground-breaking “axe hands” which have been specially designed for ice climbing. Stephen said: ‘Even straight after the accident I knew I couldn’t give up. I just refused to be defeated.” w/ photos

“Red-faced traffic bosses are investigating how pranksters altered a set of pedestrian lights to show a couple making love whenever they turned green. The lights – in Nimwegen, Holland – literally stopped the traffic when passers by stopped to gawp at them during rush hour. One officer said: ‘People kept pressing the button to see the couple having sex and of course every time they did, the traffic had to stop suddenly. We had quite a lot of rear end shunts from drivers who were too distracted.’ Transport officials are investigating how computer hackers managed to get into the town’s traffic light system to manipulate the image.” w/ photo

“A tortoise the size of a grape is enjoying life in the slow lane after becoming the newest, and smallest, addition to a zoo. Tiny Tim, an Egyptian tortoise, tipped the scales at just 6g when he hatched a month ago. Today he is just 5cm long, but is expected to grow to 500g over the next ten years. The hatchling is part of a small litter of tortoises who were saved from the illegal pet trade after being seized by HM Customs and Excise last year. Tiny Tim and his five pocket-sized siblings have found a home at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, where they can be seen taking slow jaunts around their specially designed miniature home. Zoo keeper Trevor Moxey, who looks after them at the zoo’s Discovery Centre, said: “Tim is one of our smallest, new additions this spring at Whipsnade. We’re very glad to offer him a safe home and he can stay here for the foreseeable future.” w/ photos

“This is the most expensive pair of shoes in the world – setting fashion lovers back a staggering $201,000. The design is made entirely from solid gold and more than 2,000 diamonds. But buyers have been reluctant to step forward and take the title of the most well-heeled human in history. Because despite being on sale for more than five months not a single pair have been snapped up. They are the brainchild of British jewellery designer Christopher Michael Shellis, who has stuck the boot into Louboutins with his daringly pricey design. He said: ‘At the moment there have been a lot of enquiries and talks – but nothing concrete just yet. ‘The shoes have created a real buzz, but there is still a long way to go. We’ve had discussions with certain people but I can’t say who.’ To help shift the House of Borgezie created shoes, then how about the equally as luxury accessories to make the perfect match… So it’s no wonder that names such as Cheryl Cole and Paris Hilton are being thrown about whenever the shoes are mentioned.” w/ photos