This Britain

The bedbug is only quarter of an inch long, and they tend to lurk in the clothing of travellers and in their luggage

Don't let the bedbugs bite

The scourge of sleepers for centuries has returned to Britain's hotels. Martin Hickman reports on a plague in a mattress near you

Inside This Britain

Reunited... at last: The striker and the scab

Sunday, 8 March 2009

They were boyhood friends who played, drank and went to Ollerton pit together. Then came the bitter year-long strike, and they found themselves on opposite sides for the first time. Now, the IoS brings them together again, and they begin to rekindle their comradeship. Jonathan Owen meets them

Churches set for wedding boom

Sunday, 8 March 2009

A summer boom in church weddings is expected this year after a relaxation of Church of England rules. The Marriage Measure means couples need only have a tenuous link to a church to be eligible to marry in it.

Finalist banned from university beauty contest - for being a man

Sunday, 8 March 2009

It was supposed to be a simple beauty pageant; then things turned ugly. On Tuesday, the finalists for the title of Miss University London will be on stage, ignoring howls of feminist protest in the background. But one of them will be missing. Jessica Sparkle has been banned on a technicality: she's a man.

Minor British Institutions: Reliant Robin

Saturday, 7 March 2009

First things first: the Robin was not the car featured in Only Fools and Horses; Del Boy's vehicle (pictured) was in fact a Reliant Regal Supervan. However, most of Reliant's ranges manufactured in Tamworth between 1953 and 2000 – Regal, Robin and Rialto – did share the same basic design: three wheels; a revvy little engine; glassfibre bodywork plus bits and bobs such as lights and wheels from more conventional cars of the era.