Book to 'celebrate' quirky local paper stories

Local newspaper editors have been receiving letters from Viking Books in the last few weeks asking for permission to use their 'quirkiest, oddest and most locally-specific headlines and articles'. The idea, says Viking, is to celebrate the most 'local' side of local journalism in all its glory. 'The tone will be warm and even reverential rather than mocking.' Of course it will. The title is Whitstable Mum in Custard Shortage - after the excellent non-story highlighted here last year. Also included is Mattress falls off truck into Kidderminster Road. I hope they have tracked down the Harrogate Advertiser's Straight banana drama. Another contender emerged this week concerning the owners of a parrot called Seve Ballesteros paying tribute to the golfer following his death. It looks like the publishers have found some crackers we haven't seen before - such as 'Man found nailed to bench,' 'Tributes as popular Lichfield cat dies' and 'Mass poisoning in donkey soup war'. The book is out on October 13 and costs £9.99 in hardback ... although you can pre-order from Amazon for £8.99. One for the Christmas list.