Star Wars fan turns home into shrine to films and offers B&B

Dave Oldbury, a postman from Southampton, has turned his semi-detached house into a shrine to the Star Wars franchise, and is also offering a B&B service in the run up to the release of the new film.
Dave says he has spent around £150,000 on the transformation, which includes masses of memorabilia such as action figures, film posters, books, toy spaceships and even life-size Storm Troopers.
Other Star Wars fans are going to be allowed to stay the night at a guest room in the house, named the Solo Suite, for £35 per night.
Dave is 46 and has been collecting Star Wars items since he was 8 years old. He has around 3,000 items in total, which fill the house, and so around 500 pieces have had to take their place in the garage instead.
Dave said that he is looking forward to showcasing his collection to fellow Star Wars fans, but that they shouldn't use the side passage, as that path leads to the dark side...

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Ultra-hard glass developed

Scientists in Japan have created a new type of ultra-hard glass, which is also thin, by using alumina which is an oxide of aluminium.
There could be many commercial applications once the glass can be made available, from very strong window panes for buildings to car windows and much stronger mobile phone screens.
The glass is a type of 'oxide glass' which is made mainly from silicon dioxide but with greater strength provided by the inclusion of alumina.
There have been problems creating glass with increased amounts of alumina in the past because the mixture would crystallise when meeting the sides of the container, stopping the development of useful glass.
However, scientists from the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo have managed to use oxygen gas to raise the elements into the air before using a laser to melt them into glass.
The glass produced is colourless and transparent like normal glass, but extremely hard - when tested, the stiffness was greater than some metals, and not far off the performance of steel.
The team are looking to establish a method to mass-produce the glass as soon as possible, with the aim of making it commercially available within five years.

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Site of 'Roman villa' saved from housing development

Land in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, where the remains of a Roman villa were discovered, has been bought by a mystery benefactor for a seven figure amount to save it from housing development.
Signs of the Roman villa had been discovered in the 1950s when intricate mosaic tiled pavements were discovered during excavations.
The site which has been bought is alongside where the earlier remains had been discovered, and has been given to new custodian Southwell Minster. The land can now be used only for educational, conservation and cultural purposes.
Acting dean, Canon Nigel Coates said: "It's a benefaction we never anticipated and he or she has been extraordinarily generous in giving us this site.
"It's their wish to remain anonymous but we do hope that in the future the connection with Southwell and the person's identity will be made known."
The site had previously received planning permission for nine houses from Sherwood District Council, although the plans were strongly opposed by the 'Save Roman Southwell' campaign.
Plans for the long-term future of the site are yet to be decided but the area will be cleared of rubble and grass laid initially, to improve the general appearance.
Dr Will Bowden, Associate Professor in Roman Archaeology at the University of Nottingham, said the villa would have been large and impressive, commenting: "Villas were massive farm complexes with agricultural and industrial functions that could extend over a wide area.
"It features extensive mosaic pavements and some very high quality wall painting, both located when parts of the villa were excavated in the 1950s."

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Opportunity for TV stardom for singing tradespeople!

Are you from London? Are you a singer? Or a group of singers? Do you love singing and performing famous musical numbers from films?
A new TV show needs budding performers, ideally groups of work colleagues who want to do their own version of an iconic song from a classic musical – anything from Frozen’s ‘Love is an Open Door’ to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ from Wayne’s World.
You could be a team from work, a plumber, gardeners or group of mechanics. If you’d like the opportunity to be professionally filmed performing a timeless musical number then please email CLloyd@mentorn.tv with a short paragraph about who you are, what type of song you’d love to sing and a short clip of you singing if you have one.
We know there must be some great voices amongst all the traders on TrustATrader.com, so don't be shy - turn off the radio and let the whole country hear what you can do!

30ft hole opens up on busy Manchester road

The Mancunian Way, one of the busiest roads in the Manchester City Centre, has been closed in both directions after a huge 30ft wide hole opened up on the eastbound carriageway.

The appearance of the hole was triggered by heavy rainfall today, but the erosion of a large water pipe underground is believed to have been the main contributing factor in the caving in of the surface.

The hole is around 30ft across and approximately 40ft deep.

The road has been cordoned off in both directions between the Macdonald Hotel, close to Piccadilly Station, and Fairfield Street.

Since it first appeared earlier today, the hole has been reported to have increased in size, with part of the pavement collapsing as well.

Council officers report that the road may remain closed for several days, and traffic is being diverted around the area in the meantime.

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Affordable zero carbon homes completed in Hampshire

Architects Ash Sakula have revealed a complete row of affordable terraced zero carbon homes in the Eco-town of Whitehill Bordon, Hampshire, due to be made available for social rent by housing association Radian.

The architects won the first prize for the Eco-terrace in 2012, in an international design competition run by East Hampshire District Council and Radian.

The houses were built including a number of techniques designed to maximise energy efficiency in order to reach the difficult goal of zero carbon emissions. These include prefabrication, highly insulated walls, roofs, windows and floors, water-saving appliances, energy-efficient lighting, locally-sourced materials, airtightness and photovoltaic panels to reduce energy requirements to a minimum.

Discussing the Eco-terrace and the wider situation with current housing standards, architect Robert Sakula said: "We have some of the most inefficient housing stock in Europe, so it's very regrettable that the government hasn't stuck to its target for all new homes to be zero energy by 2016."

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£280m offer for most expensive house in the UK

2 to 8a Rutland Gate, a 60,000 square foot, 45 bedroom mansion just off Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, is on the market and has received an offer of £280m, making it the most expensive property in the UK.

The huge house was previously owned by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, but was put on the market after his death in 2012.

It was given an asking price of £300m, double the price of the second most expensive home in the UK. The current offer of £280m is being considered, but is expected to be accepted.

The house has a large swimming pool in the basement, underground parking and several lifts to make navigating the extensive space more manageable.

It is thought that unless the new owners want the entire space for themselves, the property could be divided up into many luxury apartments, or possibly be returned to four large family homes, which was the original intention for the building.

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