At the height of Womble-mania in the mid-70s, Elisabeth Beresford, creator of the snout-nosed, litter-collecting sensations, laid down three strict ground rules for anyone appearing in costume as her characters: no smoking; no drinking; and absolutely no taking your head off in public. The latter w»»»

The zookeeper who saved a three-year-old boy after he was thrown into a crocodile pit by a stranger had just become a grandmother herself. Tracey Johnson 'heroically' jumped into the enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, following the incident yesterday lunchtime. A t»»»