A Frenchman was arrested for drunk driving after taking his car to a police station to distribute Alcoholics Anonymous pamphlets there, police said Wednesday. Gendarmes in the eastern town of Neuf-Brisach smelt alcohol on the 56-year-old's breath when he arrived with the leaflets on Monday. They tested his blood and found it contained nearly double the permitted alcohol level. The man had a previous conviction for drunk driving, police said. Police confiscated his licence and released him after ordering him to appear in court in December, when he faces a maximum sentence of up to four years in jail and a fine of 9,000 euros (13,000 dollars).

Lifeboat crews have made an unusual rescue off the coast of Anglesey - an 81-year-old man and a wheelie bin. The man had gone out in a small inflatable dinghy to recover his neighbour's bin which had swept out to sea in strong winds, in a high tide.  He was blown about a mile off Red Wharf Bay until Moelfre inshore lifeboat was launched to rescue him.
He was picked up suffering from mild hypothermia and taken to hospital in Bangor by ambulance.  The crew said the man was not wearing a life jacket or waterproof clothing and his dinghy was also half full of water because of the sea conditions. The Moelfre crew then went back out to tow in the dingy and wheelie bin, which was still half full of rubbish. 

A property developer has protested against the high street banks’ lack of lending to SMEs by building a brick wall over the entrance to a branch of Barclays. Cameron Hope, 59, from Bournemouth, became so angry at the banks’ current lending criteria – which he feels is shutting out SMEs – that he decided to shut them out instead. With the help of some friends, he built an 8ft tall by 4ft wide wall of breeze bricks, and completely blocked the entrance to Barclays bank in Westbourne, Bournemouth. Making their sentiments loud and clear, the protesters put up placards with slogans reading, ‘Robbed by the banks we own’ and ‘Make the banks lend.’

True stories you couldn't make up