It wasn’t all bad

A San Francisco-based tech tycoon is pouring millions into the small north Devon village where he spent his childhood holidays. British-born Bebo founder Michael Birch, 46, returned to Woolsery – where members of his family have lived since the 1700s – and was shocked to find that its pub, hotel and chippy had all closed down. So rather than see the village die, he set about buying and restoring them. Residents have described his support as like “winning the lottery”.

Water voles have returned to a lake in the Yorkshire Dales for the first time in half a century. Around 100 voles were reintroduced last week to Malham Tarn, England’s highest freshwater lake. The creatures were once found in nearly every waterway in Britain, but are now the country’s fastest-declining mammal – facing a range of threats, including the American mink, which preys voraciously on them. Reintroduction schemes and efforts to control minks are yielding dividends, however: voles are now repopulating parts of Cornwall and the South Downs.

A gang of muggers chose the wrong target when they set upon 77-year-old Winifred Peel. The trio surrounded Mrs Peel at an ATM, near her home on the Wirral, shoved her aside, and pressed the button to get £200 from her account. Mrs Peel, who goes to the gym four times a week, was shaken, but wasn’t giving up without a fight. She managed to grab one of the thieves by the collar, then rammed his head against the machine several times. The muggers ran off, but were soon caught – and all three have now been jailed.