Elton loses mother

SIR Elton John has said he is “in shock” following the death of his 92-year-old mother Sheila Farebrother, just months after their reconciliation.

The singer posted a picture of them on Instagram, writing: “So sad to say that my mother passed away. I only saw her last Monday and I am in shock.”

Sir Elton, 70, had recently rekindled his relationship with his mother after years apart.

In an interview in March 2015 Mrs Farebrother said that her son “hated” her. A POLICE officer who clung on to a crashed van to stop it falling from a bridge on to a road below has said: “I was just doing my job.”

Pc Martin Willis said he has been “overwhelmed” by the public’s response to his actions, after his tweet about the incident near Leeds on Friday morning was shared thousands of times. Pc Willis described how he came across the van upside-down and teetering on the edge of a bridge carrying the A1 over the A64.

After realising the injured driver was trapped inside and spotting how the wrecked vehicle was swaying with the wind, the officer clung on to it for 15 minutes in snowy and icy conditions until firefighters arrived.

“I could actually see the van was rocking on top of this bridge,” Pc Willis said.

“It was a bridge right over the A64 so it was quite a steep drop down on to the carriageway below.”

The officer said he was very pleased to see the fire crew. “I can’t begin to tell you the relief,” he said.

The firefighters secured the van, which was carrying fruit and vegetables, with a winch.

It then took the combined emergency services about two hours to cut the driver, who had badly injured legs, from the vehicle.