35-year-old Ben left his role after winning a legal battle regarding his right to publish a book revealing his ‘true’ identity. This was previously a closely-guarded secret.

He claimed that he started writing the book after his identity was more or less revealed in a copy of the Radio Times. He believed the BBC would replace him because people now knew the identity of the overall-clad ‘super driver’.

When he went to his managers about his plan to write the book, he said he was threatened that publishing the book would cost him his job.

He said he had to go to great lengths throughout his time on the show to disguise his identity – even resulting in wearing a balaclava to work, hiding his car and eating his lunch separately to the other crew members.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson confirmed he would be seeking re-election for a second term.

Johnson said he wanted to stay on until after May 2012 because he still had work to do on improving the capital and overseeing the Olympic Games.

The former Tory MP said, on LBC radio’s Nick Ferrari show: ”It is my intention and indeed I have written to seek the nomination to serve as Mayor for another term.

”I have got tough challenges on crime, improving the urban environment. I do think it is a good record so far and I am proud to defend it.”

Meanwhile, the Labour party is set to make a decision on whether former mayor Ken Livingstone or ex-MP Oona King will run for the lucrative post later this calendar month.

The current major has said he anticipated facing Mr. Livingstone – the man he beat to the post in 2008.

Photo by leafar.

Official figures from the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that immigration increased by one fifth last year – boosted by the influx of foreign students being allowed into the country.

196,000 more people entered Britain than left it last year, compared with a net migration of 163,000 in 2008.

The figures mean that under Labour’s power (since 1997), three million foreign national were added to the British population.

Meanwhile, separate figures showed that student visas have shot up by a third – bringing the fear that the immigration route is being exploited as a loophole in the system for both legal and illegal immigration.

The overall number of migrants allowed to remain in the country on a permanent basis also increased by a third, while asylums granted (4,190) hit their highest level since 2003.

In total, 567,000 people migrated to Britain last year, while just 371,000 emigrated.

Photo copyright Eversheds LLP

According to figures published by the Department for Education (DFE), writing abilities amongst the age group are well below other key skills, such as reading and maths.

Almost one in five seven year-olds, which equates to nearly 104,700 pupils, aren’t yet at Level 2 in writing. At the same time, around one in six, or 84,000 pupils, aren’t reaching this level in their reading, and more than one in 10 (58,700) youngsters are failing to reach it in maths.

In the age-old gender war – boys are still falling behind girls in every area after just two years of education at school – with almost 25% failing to reach Level 2 in writing.

Nick Gibb, Schools Minister, said: ”a solid foundation in reading, writing, maths and science in the early years of education is crucial to a child’s success in later life.”

Photo by Caitlinator

23-year-old Leah Betts found the fox with the pet, Reggie, in its mouth. Before she could do anything, the fox escaped back through the window.

Miss Betts said: “I won’t leave my windows open at night now and it gets really stuffy, but I’m so paranoid.

“To think it was brave enough to come in and stand on my bed like that – I couldn’t believe it.”

Miss Betts was sat with her young son at her home in Folkestone, Kent, when she heard a noise coming from her bedroom.

She ran upstairs thinking it was her dog whimpering, but she found him outside her closed bedroom door.

She opened the door to see the fox on her bed with the kitten in its mouth.

After the fox had escaped, Miss Betts headed over to the kitten to find it was still alive. However, it’s injuries were so severe that after a few days, the feline had to be put the sleep.

“I think they should bring back fox hunting.” Miss Betts concluded, saying she was grateful her son wasn’t younger – as he would have been asleep in that room at the time.”

The news comes after nine-month-old twins Isabella and Lola Koupparis were mauled by an urban fox in June while they slept in their cots in East London.

Photo by peupleloup

31-year-old Gareth Williams had been working for MI6 on a one-year placement, but was due to return to his original job at the GCHQ listening station based in Cheltenham at the start of September.

Police believe that the spy may have had a row with a lover over his decision to return to Gloucestershire, which led to his death.

His murder, however, may still be linked to his work with MI6 – and police haven’t ruled this out.

Officers were seen examining Mr. William’s mobile phone yesterday, which was discovered along with several different sim cards placed besides it. They were also analysing CCTV footage from the cameras near Mr. William’s flat.

Mr. William’s may have known his killer – as there was no sign of forced entry at the flat based in Pimlico, central London.

However, ministers have claimed this could damage the character of some urban spaces.

It is thought that some councils install traffic signs, railings and bollards in the mistaken belief that they are required to be there by law. However, the Government states that signs should be kept to a minimum to avoid visitor/resident confusion.

Examples of street clutter can be found in Salisbury in Wiltshire – which was scattered with bollards. One parking area, for example, had 53 parking spaces… but 63 bollards.

The removal of this ‘street clutter’ from Kensington High Street in London has actually reduced accidents by up to almost 50%.

In 2006, meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Hampshire section of theCPRE (the Campaign to Protect Rural England) found that in one seven-mile section of the B3006 in the South Downs National park, there were – on average – 45 road signs per mile.

Photo by s58y

Tim and Rebecca Booker-Baxter arrived to find a note on their doormat asking if anyone had seen a missing python. The monster pet had escaped from a neighbour’s home and managed to slither its way into the newlywed’s house via their upstairs bathroom.

By the time the couple returned, the snake was tired, dehydrated and bad-tempered.

Mrs. Booker-Baxter, after walking into the bathroom, said: “There, wrapped around the taps, was this massive snake. The toilet was dry and had marks on it where the snake had obviously used it to get in.”

It’s not the first time, however, that she had come close to a slithery guest. A few years ago, Mrs. Booker-Baxter found some snake skin in her house – but no snake. She made a few door-to-door enquiries and found that her neighbour – the one who owns the python – had lost a corn snake!

Photo by Tambako the Jaguar

46-year-old Brian Johnson was jailed for causing death by dangerous driving after he recklessly attempted to cross a flooded river in Wales.

Louise Ferreira, who drowned as the water swept the Land Rover downstream, was on holiday celebrating her GCSE results.

The court heard that two Land Rovers had successful crossed the river near Llyn Brianne, Powys. But Mr. Johnson’s Discovery was swept away, leading to the death of Miss. Ferreira.

The court also heard that an off-road specialist said they should not make an attempt to cross the bulging river, as it was too dangerous. A video was shown in which a man can be heard saying: “If it goes wrong I’ll jump in and we’ll grab the girls; we don’t want them to go under.”

The judge said the case was that serious that an immediate sentence was warranted.

The figure was revealed in a new report commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) – which highlighted, for the first time, the true extent of immigration prostitution and sex trafficking in this country.

Over 2,500 women were said to have been trafficked into England and Wales and forced to work as sex slaves.

In addition to this, just under 10,000 prostitutes at brothels and other ‘businesses’ were considered to be “vulnerable migrants” working against their will in the sex industry. Researchers, however could not be sure if these workers had been trafficked.

Police officials said they were surprised by the number of Chinese sex workers across the country.

In one example, one women brought into the UK doesn’t know she’s going to be used as a prostitute but is forced into selling herself to pay off a large debt.

Photo by Rainer Ebert