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Smart Alec Collects The Big Payola

Pointing out stories you may have missed. Birthday celebrations were even sweeter for a man who bet £100, a decade ago, that he would live to be 100. He now has a cheque for £25,000. Alec Holden, from Epsom in Surrey, is picking up his winnings from bookmaker William Hill, which gave him odds of 250/1 that he would reach his century.

The retired engineer, born on 24 April 1907, joked he had been "very careful" about what he had been doing recently. He placed the bet on 10 December 1997, when he was aged 90, with the thought that he "would live forever". He said in recent months he had been keeping watch for "any hooded groups from William Hill standing in the street", so that he could avoid them.

Mr Holden, who also used to work as a teacher and a carpenter, plans to take some friends to a hotel to celebrate. He placed the bet on 10 December 1997, when he was aged 90, with the thought that he "would live forever".

News source: BBC.