This week's UK news: 16 March 2012
j0314269
16 March 2012


What do you call your dog?

British people are famous for loving their dogs, and this week we found out what are the most popular names for our pets.
Old-fashioned names are currently being given to the UK's babies, and also to our dogs. The number one most popular dog's name is Max. Names in the top 20 are Shirley, Colin, Ethel, Mollie and Alfie.
However, some people like sillier names. The dog name survey also found Exterminator, RoboCop, Fish Killer and Gas Mask.

Warmer than Greece

The UK has a reputation for being cold and wet, but our weather is much less predictable than that. This week parts of the UK have been around 60F, (15.5C) which is hotter than parts of Greece and much higher than usual.
It was not surprising this week that several UK water companies announced that they would be restricting the way we use water this year. There has not been enough rainfall in the South and East for a couple of years, and supplies are lower than they should be.
So from April, millions of people will not be allowed to use hosepipes to water their gardens, wash their cars, or fill pools.

The UK's latest sell-out tourist attraction

One of the most hated roads in the UK is the motorway which circles London. The M25 is very busy and is famous for its traffic jams. There is a famous song about it: it is called Road to Hell.
So it is surprising that a bus company has started doing official tours of the 117-mile motorway. It is even more surprising that the first tour sold out.

Driver's expensive sleep

A driver was given a parking ticket as he slept in his car because traffic wardens said they were not allowed to knock on the window to wake him up.
Bence Bolygo, who is a jazz musician, fell asleep in his car in a space where he should have bought a ticket to park. He woke up to find two traffic wardens charging him a GBP 50 penalty for not having a ticket. The wardens said they were not allowed to touch the car in case they damaged it and he took them to court.
A representative of the council which issued the fine said it was not the job of the traffic wardens to wake up driver. "He should have bought his parking ticket before going to sleep," said the man.

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