Latest news with #Oxted
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Holiday nightmare after Brit's 'itchy eye' turned out to be a LEECH on his eyeball
A British travel agent's trip to try out a holiday quickly became a 'nightmare' when he found a leech sucking on his eyeball. Tony Exall was on a jungle tour near West Papua, Indonesia, on May 22 when his left eye began to irritate him. The 58-year-old blamed it on sweat or a tiny bug but two hours later a fellow visitor spotted that he actually had a leech on his eyeball. A horrifying photo shows Tony's bloodshot eye with the small black bloodsucker latched to the white area called the sclera. Tony grew concerned it might wriggle its way behind his eye so ended his trip early to find medical help. After six hours and visits to two hospitals a doctor extracted the leech using tweezers - despite the creature pulling on Tony's eyeball tissue in an attempt to hang on. Tony, who owns travel company Philippine Dive Holidays, was in Indonesia to try out locations for customers when he decided to take a break for a photography trip. The travel agent avoided catching an infection and achieved his aim of snapping a rare king bird-of-paradise minutes before the incident. He posted the video to Facebook where users described it as the 'stuff nightmares are made of' and like 'something from a horror movie'. Tony, from Oxted, Surrey, said: 'I came over here to investigate different places to work with in Indonesia so I thought, while I'm here, I want to do a bit of bird snapping. 'We were waiting for the bird to turn up and I was sweating buckets. 'I could feel something in my eye but I just thought it was a bug. I tried to get rid of it but couldn't so I tried to ignore it. 'There were leeches everywhere and I must have used the back of my hand to wipe the sweat so I essentially wiped it into my eye. 'A couple hours later we went to move on to somewhere else and one of my spotters pointed out the leech in my eye. 'My biggest concern was that it would get round the back of my eye. He tried to pull it out with his fingers. 'He was pinching my eyeball to get it out but the leech was fixed onto my eyeball. I tried rubbing it but I couldn't get it out.' Tony had trekked two hours through the jungle near Malagufuk, West Papua, to reach an area known for king bird-of-paradise sightings. After having the leech pulled from his eye, Tony was prescribed eye drops and antibiotics to make sure he didn't develop an infection. Tony said: 'We went to two hospitals to find someone that knew something about eyes. 'At first he tried to remove it and that was quite sore because a leech grabs hold of something and starts to suck the blood. 'He started to gently pull the leech which was quite sore as it was something pulling on my eyeball. 'My next concern was how do you get it off my eye without leaving anything behind. 'You hear these stories about tropical diseases and infections and having one in your eye is not the best place to have one. 'The doctor then squirted some anaesthetic drops onto my eye, got some tweezers and pop, off it came. When Tony posted the pictures showing the leech attached to his eyeball to Facebook, he received a number of comments from horrified and concerned social media users 'The tissue of my eye was being pulled. I have never had that sensation before.' After sharing the 'squeamish' photos of his eye on Facebook, freaked-out users were quick to comment on his bizarre experience. One user said: 'I'm not usually squeamish but that is stuff from horror movies! Hope everything is okay now.' Another added: 'Omg you need a trigger warning on this post. Sounds awful, hope you recover quickly.' A third said: 'Stuff nightmares are made of.'
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Retailers call for banking hub in Oxted after last branch shuts
Retailers in a Surrey town that has lost its last bank branch have said it is "vital" that the area gets better once had four banks, but since the last one closed in April, the nearest branch is now 10 miles away in the campaign for a banking hub in Oxted is councillor Cameron McIntosh, from Surrey County Council, who said both businesses and residents are UK, which assesses the need for banking hubs in communities, said it believes people in the area have good access to cash through the Post Office and ATM machines. But Mr McIntosh said: "Oxted was once a town with four of the main large banks, but that has all completely gone, so we are basically a banking desert."Oxted has a population of 11,489, according to the 2021 census, and people from the surrounding areas visit for its hospitality and retail businesses, according to Limpsfield Parish Council. No plans for hub Tom Parrs, owner of Paul James Jewellers, said: "I'm with Barclays so in the fortunate position that I'm able to use the local Post Office to deposit cash, but there are situations that need me to go to an actual branch."I think it's a great idea, having spoken to a lot of my clients and having access to other matters that a banking hub brings would be vital for them really."The last thing we want for the local community is for them to leave the town [to bank], that's not great for retailers, cafes, restaurants."There is a "banking pod" in the town's Morrisons supermarket, which offers cash withdrawals, cash deposits, account balance checks and PIN management 60% of companies surveyed by the town's business improvement district said they were unable to access sufficient cash needed for their the 93.3% of businesses who said they did not have a service to collect their takings and deposit it for them, half said they were unable to safely deposit their earnings UK said it assessed the need for a banking hub in Oxted by found the banking pod deposit machine was more more suitable.A spokesperson said: "We are satisfied that, with the addition of this machine, the community continues have good access to cash through the Post Office and the ATM network."
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Top comedian leaves customers stunned as he is spotted working at a local Surrey bakery... but would YOU have recognised him?
A famous comedian left his fans stunned when he was spotted working behind the counter at a local bakery. The funnyman was spotted posing for photographs with delighted customers, who were left stunned to enter the bakery and see him working hard behind the till. He drew in the crowds to Coughlans Bakery in Oxted, Surrey, as fans lined up to catch sight of the famous TV presenter and purchase some baked goods. He is well-known for his stand-up comedy career, while he also presents his own TV shows and has a hugely successful BBC Radio 2 programme. The stand-up comic has virtually been on every TV channel, also appearing on popular panel shows including A League Of Their Own and Taskmaster. But do you know who it is? That's right, it's Romesh Ranganathan! Alongside his hugely successful comedy career, many fans do not realise that he has also been a co-owner of Coughlans Bakery since 2024. He delighted fans with his hands-on approach to running the business as he served customers coffees and pastries from behind the counter on Wednesday. The down-to-earth star didn't shy away from pausing his duties to pose for selfies and chat to fans, as well as record video messages for those who missed out. He was fully kitted out in the bakery's branded cap and hoodie, with videos and photographs from his shift showing him collecting orders and processing payments. His fans were quick to take to social media to heap praise on the comedian for taking the time to speak to all his fans during his surprise shift behind the counter. Comments included: 'Haul 10/10 as usual, not sure about the new intern though'; 'Legend, making time for everyone'; 'Romesh drawing in the crowds, couldn't stay to chat thanks to a 2pm meeting but nabbed a delish sausage roll and doughnut.' He delighted fans with his hands-on approach to running the business as he served customers coffees and pastries from behind the counter on Wednesday It is not the first time he has done a stint working in the bakery chain, as he has also thrilled fans with shifts in its branches in Dorking and his hometown Crawley. In February, he told the BBC of his visits: 'It was nice to meet people. I just wanted to get involved. The crowds are better than my tour show.' Romesh, who is a vegan, had initially partnered with the bakery to create a vegan treat, called the Ranga Yum Yum, before going on to become a co-owner. The delicious snack was made a permanent fixture on the menu and Romesh was partly responsible for owner Sean Coughlan setting up a branch in his hometown. Sean previously said of Romesh's involvement: 'Romesh is working behind the counter because he wants to know more about the business. He loves it.' 'He is so down to earth, humble and genuinely one of the nicest guys I ever met,' he added.
The Guardian
28-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Tea with a side of flattery': what US papers say about Starmer's meeting with Trump
A quick scan of the UK newspaper front pages and you would be forgiven for thinking it was the diplomatic moment of the century, but a glance at the media on the other side of the Atlantic suggests Keir Starmer and Donald Trump's get-together barely made a splash. Instead, much of the scant coverage portrayed the prime minister as a messenger, bringing an invite for something much more glamorous than a former lawyer from Oxted: the royal red carpet. Here we take a quick look at how US media covered the meeting between the US president and UK prime minister. The encounter did not make the print front page and by Friday morning GMT it had vanished from the front of the website. A search for the newspaper's coverage uncovered a brief article focused on Trump's comments on Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Trump's news channel of choice indirectly features the meeting on its online front page under the headline: 'Trump draws laughs with answer to question about calling Zelenskyy a dictator'. The article focused on a comment the US president made in the Oval Office when asked about the controversial slur, replying: 'I can't believe I said that.' The meeting between the two leaders did not make the front page of the print edition, although Trump and his tariff moves did. Online, the newspaper covered the gathering on its front under the headline: 'Tea with a side of flattery: UK prime minister Keir Starmer visits Trump'. 'UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer arrived at the White House on Thursday bearing a special envelope for President Donald Trump − a letter from the British King Charles III inviting him to a second state visit,' the newspaper reported. The summit of the two leaders did appear on the front page of the Washington Post's print edition – as a picture-caption story under the headline: 'Delicate diplomatic outreach on Ukraine'. 'In Washington, Starmer deployed a mixture of flattery, deference and even a royal invitation for a state visit,' it read. While online, the coverage had dropped down the site to the 'War in Ukraine' section under the headline 'British prime minister uses flattery, royal invitation to push Trump on Ukraine'. In the print edition, the WSJ covered the meeting albeit indirectly under the headline 'Trump softens his tone on Kyiv but won't give security pledge', with the story focusing on Trump's position on Ukraine expressed during Starmer's visit. The event had dropped down the website under a headline again focusing on Ukraine, rather than the perceived history-making nature of the congregation. 'Trump sounds warmer tone on Ukraine but stops short of security guarantees', it stated. Starmer does not feature on the CNN online front but the meeting does appear in a couple of articles, one focusing on Trump's response to questions about his branding of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a dictator, while the other on the royal invitation received by Trump to visit the UK for a second state visit.
