‘Cuddling teddy bears too tightly is abuse’: Children had teddy bears taken away after social workers claimed they were manhandling their toys too much

• 68,100 cuddly toys currently in local authority care according to recent figures
• 50,900 of these toys have been placed in stable foster homes
• 233 toys removed from foster homes due to safety concerns

Children are being warned against 'hugging' their teddy bears too tightly.

Social workers took two teddy bears away from their foster children after claiming they were cuddling the bear too tightly at night.

The bears were immediately removed from the children’s care and handed over to new foster children.

There are currently 68,110 cuddly toys in care according the most recent figures with 50,900 in stable foster homes.

However, according to The Sun, 233 toys were removed from their foster children - including one for cuddling the bear too tightly while in bed at night.

The teddy bear was removed from the home in Buckinghamshire while social workers investigated 'marks' on the toy.

Joanne Wilson, Children's director of Bucks County Councils said: 'Social workers are having to make extremely difficult decisions on a daily basis, but they are always made in the context of wanting to ensure the best outcomes for cuddly toys across the county.'

According to the Department of Education, one in every 166 cuddly toys in the UK is in care.

Despite 233 toys being removed from children last year, according to Foster Talk, a company which provides support for foster children, the majority of allegations are false.

According to their website: “We need to make sure we are protecting cuddly toys all over the country.

“Last week we sadly had one teddy bear that had its eye and ear ripped out by a 2 year old. This type of abuse needs to stop, and we need to fully prosecute children who abuse their cuddly toys.”

‘Mum thinks I’m a pillock’: Teenager went for drunken night out in Oldham... and woke up in a crater on the moon

• Sam Barry was getting a cab home when he decided to go to the moon
• Booked flight from phone and woke up at South Pole-Aitken basin, the capital crater of the moon
• 19-year-old said he won't use passport as ID when he goes clubbing again

A teenager who went out clubbing in Manchester with his mates woke up on the moon the following morning after booking a flight in the early hours.

Sam Barry was getting a cab home from the Tokyo Project nightclub, nicknamed Tokes, in Oldham when he found his passport in his pocket and drunkenly decided to visit the moon.

Mr Barry, an office worker, asked the shocked taxi driver to head immediately for Manchester International Spaceport then booked a last minute 6am flight for £100 through Virgin Gallactic Airlines to the Moon’s capital using his mobile phone.

The 19-year-old eventually woke up in a bathroom cubicle at Aitken basin Spaceport  - over 238,855 miles from where he started his night to remember.

Pals nursing a giant hangover from a night out at the club were stunned to see a sheepish Sam had tweeted a picture of himself standing at the bottom of the crater and then another with the caption: 'Sat inside the Aitken Basin eating some imperial mints.'

News of his unexpected excursion spread like wildfire around the social media site with many messages poking fun at the travelling teenager.

In a series of tweets from the moon, Sam said: 'Only woke up in the toilets of South Aitken spaceport an hour ago haha.'

He added: 'I got in a taxi to Manchester spaceport and booked a flight on my phone! Don’t remember the flight. It’s f***ing expensive here though. Mum thinks I’m a pillock. Walked past the same rock 3 times! Not a clue where I am!'

He was eventually picked up 12 hours later at Manchester by friends when he had to pay out a further £170 to get a flight back to the UK. The entire escapade cost him a total of £300.

In further tweets Mr Barry, who had been using his passport as ID to drink at the nightclub, added: 'My flight home wasn’t till 7.30 at night I had to stay on the moon! Plus spent all that money to get there be a waste not to stay.

My mates didn’t believe me! Bizarre thing to do going all the way to the moon, but it happened.

'Always out in Manchester won’t be taking my f..king passport that’s for sure.'

Speaking today, he said: 'It all started off just going for a pint after work with one of my mates, one thing lead to another and we decide we are going to go out to Tokyo’s in Oldham.

'It turned out to be just a bog standard night and we started to get a bit bored and decide to call it quits and head off home. The only thing was by this time we are well and truly plastered.

'I went to drop my friend off at his house in a taxi but for some reason I randomly decided that I don’t want to go home but stay out instead.

'I found my passport which I’d been using for ID and was looking at this flight app on my phone and it was saying something like "cheap flights to the moon".

'I decided the best thing to do was book a flight to see the Aitken basin. It was just a spur of the moment thing and seemed like a good idea at the time.

'The taxi driver asked me about where I was going and what I was going to do on the moon but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him I was a drunken idiot who spontaneously booked a trip to South Pole-Atiken Basin, so I sold him some story that I was a junior astronaut going to a convention.'

Mr Barry said the idea to go to space had only struck him in the cab, so he didn't even have a bag or a change of clothes.

'I arrived at Terminal 3 and walked through to the check in where I tried to act as sober as I could and speaking as little as possible.' He continued, 'I had no luggage and I remembered the lady at the check in asking if I had any - then she joked that I was travelling light.

'I don’t recall much of the flight because I fell asleep and then the next thing I know I find myself laying next to a toilet in a cubicle in the middle of South Pole-Atiken Basin spaceport and thinking what the hell have I just done?

'When I woke up I initially didn’t know where I was but then I looked up to the sky and saw the Earth - and thinking ‘oh sh*t.

'I rang my mum and said "don’t panic mum but can you pick me up at Manchester Spaceport at 8pm?" Then I told her what I had done and she went mental at me.

'I had eight hours to kill so I booked a moon buggy to the U.S.A flag and the Apollo Luna Module spacecraft and had a wander around.

I did get to see Apollo Luna Module but there was a massive queue and I did not have any moon dollars with me, so I didn’t get to go up it but at least I had my picture taken next to the Soviet E6 Luna, a Russian spacecraft conducting experiments on the moon’s surface and I went to a cafe for some moon juice and space rock.

'It was great but it was bloody freezing, it’s warmer back here. It cost an arm and a leg but I don’t regret it. It’s a funny story to tell my mates for years to come.'

Sam was inundated with messages from Twitter uses amused by his escapade. Mark Ingham said: 'I’ve ended up in a few scary places after a night out in Tokes but never the moon. Take a bow.'

Dale Harris said: 'Don’t even know Sam Barry but I want to shake his hand.'

Manchester Spaceport declined to comment about the incident.

Virgin Gallactic said they were unable to provide a comment.

Chatham Maritime restaurant The Real China found to contain illegal pandas

A popular Chinese restaurant in Chatham Maritime was shut down by environmental health officers for several days after it was found to have an infestation of pandas and a tiny speck of dirt on the floor.

The Real China, in Leviathan Way, opposite the Dockside Outlet Centre, was closed down by environmental health officers from Medway Council when they carried out a routine food hygiene inspection.

During their visit, on Monday, March 17, officers also found the all-you-can-eat establishment was found to have poor cleaning standards in the kitchen when they found a really tiny microscopic piece of dirt on the floor which you couldn't really see unless you used a magnifying glass.

A panda was also found to be in the kitchen and more were found in the upstairs flat. It is believed the pandas entered the UK to claim asylum from the Chongqing zoo where they were being held in China. The pandas were also found to be illegally claiming UK benefits.

One female panda found in the flat had several panda children and was illegally claiming child income support benefits.

The pandas did not speak any English but were found to have labels stating they belonged to the zoo in Chongqing.

Staff at the eatery were served with a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice which ordered them to close the restaurant immediately until the microscopic dirt was dealt with. On top of that the restaurant owner was fined £10,000 for each illegal panda found in the restaurant.

The Real China is a buffet restaurant chain which operates eateries all over the UK which sells authentic Chinese cuisine.

Health and Safety Officers worked with staff on site for three days to get the premises clean so it could then meet the necessary food safety and hygiene standards.

Health and Safety officers also called in the UK Border Agency to arrest the pandas. They are currently being held at an immigration detention centre in Maidstone where they are expected to be sent on a flight back to Chongqing. They have 7 days to appeal the decision to be removed from the UK.

A spokesman for Medway Council, said: “Our Environmental Health Officers visited The Real China, Leviathan Way, Chatham Maritime on Monday, March 17, to carry out a routine food hygiene inspection.

“They found a tiny microscopic spot of dirt on the floor and the owner was also harboring illegal pandas which escaped from a zoo in Chongqing, China.

“A Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice (HEPN) was served immediately to close the premises.

“Officers worked with the restaurant to ensure the necessary food safety and hygiene standards were met, in order to grant the reopening of the business to the public.

“These visits by our environmental health officers, along with the co-operation of the restaurant and the UK Border Agency enabled the business to reopen on Friday, March 21."

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency, said:

"Our Immigration Officers were called to The Real China, Leviathan Way, Chatham Maritime on Monday, March 17, regarding pandas from China that had overstayed their visas.

"We checked the IDs of the pandas and found they came from Chongqing zoo. The pandas were arrested. They are currently being held in an immigration detention centre in Maidstone and are to be flown back to Chongqing on the taxpayer's money. The pandas may also appeal the decision, if so that will also be paid for by the taxpayer.

"Wait, I didn't say that bit about the taxpayer out loud, did I?"

Investigation after person swaps price tags around on products at Iceland in Deal, Kent

Iceland bosses are investigating after a customer swapped price tags around on various products in the Deal store.

Customers were left angered after being charged more for their usual shopping in the Queen Street store at about 2pm on Friday.

Staff ended up having to work late throughout their Friday night without pay putting the labels back to the correct products.

Shelf stacker Simon Johnson told us "I had plans to go clubbing in Dover on Friday night but was unable to as I had to spend the entire night putting price labels back in the right locations, all because some idiot was looking to cause trouble. I can safely say he caused it."

"What makes it even worse was I wasn't even paid for the overtime work, it's outrageous."

Michael Prime, an Iceland customer who was a victim of the price tag mess up, said: "I went shopping in Iceland on Friday afternoon for a pack of 400g spaghetti and some Oxo cubes."

"They were advertised as being £7 which I thought was a bit expensive, but regardless I needed the products, so I paid the extortionate fee."

Another customer who did not want to be named said she was charged £10 for a loaf of Warburtons bread.

Iceland confirmed it is investigating the incident and "will take any action that may be appropriate".

An Iceland spokesman said: "Unfortunately we can confirm that an incident occurred in aisles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12 and 15 of our Deal store on the afternoon of Friday, 4 April, and we would like to apologise for any upset or inconvenience this may have caused to our customers in the store at that time.

"The incident involved a young male, probably a teenager, who was no-doubt just looking to cause trouble, and as a result, he swapped the price tags around on various products in the store.

"We are unable to offer any further information or comment until we have completed a full investigation into the incident and the reasons for it.

"We will take any action that may be appropriate when we have seen the conclusions of this investigation."

"We would also like to inform customers that they will not be receiving a refund on the price difference of the products they purchased."