Chris Shepherd pulled a 15-tonne lorry though the Watford Business Park to raise money for charity.

Watford Observer:

He said he trained for the challenge by pushing cars around a car park before working up to bigger vehicles.

Mr Shepherd said: “The pull itself was much harder than I had anticipated.”

A 53-year-old history and games teacher from Bushey revealed he was the inspiration behind Bridget Jones’s latest love interest.

Watford Observer:

Helen Fielding, author of the series of diaries, asked Andrew Walliker who works at her son’s school, if he minded being in her latest book.

He said: “It’s all gone over my head. I am not the usual sex symbol.”


The Watford Observer lead the hunt for a missing Hawk called Zeus, who escaped from his South Oxhey home when strong winds blew his cage down.

The bird went on a three day adventure and was eventually found trying to eat some chickens in an Oxhey garden.

The owner of the chickens coaxed the bird onto a gardening glove using a piece of meat, before bundling him into a box.

The bird’s owner Nick Porter said: “I wouldn’t advise handling a hawk unless you have the right glove.”

A paralysed woman living in a Mill End flat was given a wooden wedge after she complained about not being able to open her heavy front door.

Watford Observer:

Val Dixon was given the door prop to help her get out the door of her block of flats, which has a heavy spring to close it automatically.

Fellow resident Delia Spires said: “She’s in a wheelchair and is paralysed, it is completely useless because she can’t get the wedge under the door.

“It is far from helpful.”


The new landlords of the Load of Hay pub in Watford Heath said they were planning to “put the gay” back into the town’s only gay pub.

Watford Observer:

Julie Wattam, one of the pub’s four new owners, said: “Sometimes people are struggling with their sexuality and don’t know where to go. They can come here and make some new friends.”

Ex-Watford FC owner Laurence Bassini made headlines again after calling the Watford Observer to complain about our coverage.

In the process, he expressed his frustration at our frequent use of a picture of him in a red builders' hat.

In the interest of fairness we ran a poll online to decide which of the four pictures of Laurence we should use in future stories.

Watford Observer:

Against of a shot of him alongside former Watford FC Limited director Panos Thomas, the club's in-house picture of him at his old desk, and a snap alongside ex-Hornets defender Eddie Oshodi, the hat picture won with 67 percent of the vote.