WEIRD WORLD

WRONG ROUTE:

A cyclist has been fined after being caught riding his bike the wrong way down a motorway in a bid to reach Heathrow Airport, police said.

The man was spotted shortly before 6am on Thursday travelling along the hard shoulder of the M25 between junctions 11 and 13 near the west London airport.

He was escorted off the motorway by Highways England officers and given guidance on an appropriate route, but later reappeared on the motorway slip road between junctions 13 and 14. Surrey Police was called and the cyclist, a man in his 30s from Feltham, west London, was handed a £50 on-the-spot fine for contravening motorway regulations. .

UNEXPECTED FIND:

A woman with a phobia of snakes was terrified after discovering a 2ft (61cm) long kingsnake in her kitchen cutlery drawer.

The Scottish SPCA was called after the reptile was found in a flat in the Leith area of Edinburgh. The California kingsnake is being cared for at the charity’s Balerno centre, where staff have named him Zak.

Animal rescue officer Fiona Thorburn said “all snakes can be really good escape artists, so there’s every chance Zak has an owner nearby who is looking for him”.

SCARE TACTICS:

A New Jersey town is planning to acquire 20 air horns to help its residents deal with aggressive wild turkeys.

Officials said they have received about a dozen complaints from Teaneck residents reporting aggressive wild turkeys. The birds have attacked residents, pecked at cars and held up traffic. One has flown through a glass kitchen window.

Only the state can legally touch the birds, but residents can humanely scare them away by using water hoses or making loud noises to assert dominance.