A couple were both informed their other half was dead after a bank mix-up.
Ben Gibson, 63, was informed of wife Gill’s passing when he rang to ask Halifax why her new card hadn’t arrived.
Then Gill, 65, opened bills addressed to Ben’s “executors”, saying the bank had stopped payments as he had died. Halifax has said it is investigating the mistake.
Metro (Daragh Brady)
[See also: This England: You’re stuffed]
The Mousetrap
A court has fined a woman for failing to tackle a mouse infestation at her home. Margaret Manzoni, 73, was taken back to court for not complying with notices served by the authority relating to her property.
Essex magistrates had fined Manzoni in April after she admitted charges of failing to comply. She was also instructed to meet the terms of the environmental health orders or face further penalty.
At her return hearing the court told Manzoni that while it respected her beliefs as an ethical vegan, others saw mice as vermin and the impact of the infestation on neighbours meant inaction was not appropriate.
Tendring District Council News (Kate McIntosh)
[See also: This England: No rest for the living]
Lockdown loving
A mum who named her daughter after lockdowns has “no regrets” – and doesn’t care what people think.
Jodi Cross, 36, had Lockie in November 2021.
The hairdresser, of Wixams, Bedfordshire, fell pregnant on furlough after years of trying. She and her husband, Rob, 26, say the name reflects “a good time, not a bad one”.
Metro (Amanda Welles)
[See also: This England: Better late than never]
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This article appears in the 26 Oct 2022 issue of the New Statesman, State of Disorder