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10:39 GMT, Thursday, 1 January 2009

Darth Vader and worm-eating slugs

Mis-translated bilingual road sign

From drunken "Darth Vader" assaults, to UFO sightings and a 93-year-old totalling not one but two Porsches.

These were some of the Welsh stories which tickled your fancy during 2008.

E-mail error ends up on road sign

Coming in at the top is the story which was the second-most popular overall on the website, that of a council "cock-up" over a Welsh translation.

An automated e-mail response within Swansea council to a request for a Welsh translation led to this message in Welsh - "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any message to be translated" - appearing on a sign which should have warned HGV drivers to stay out of the road.

Man guilty of having 13 in Volvo

In a variation on the "how many people can you squeeze into a Mini?" game, Abraham Gniwosch took it a little too far when he was spotted driving with 13 people in his car.

Police stopped the Volvo car - only designed to carry five people - as he drove into a farm park in Llandudno.

Kayakers' 300ft dam drop attacked

Meanwhile in west Wales, kayakers looking for a thrill by coursing down a 300ft dam posted footage of their exploits on YouTube.

Not everyone was amused - Welsh Water, which manages the Llyn Brianne reservoir, said it "strictly forbids" activities like that at the site.

Drunk Darth Vader's Jedi assault

Members of a newly-formed Jedi church in Anglesey practising their "lightsabre" moves in the garden were surprised by a drunken Darth Vadar, who used a metal crutch to join in and use some force of his own on the pair.

Arwel Wynne Hughes, 27, later admitted assault at Holyhead Magistrates' Court.

UFO spotted by police helicopter

Police waiting to land a helicopter at St Athan military base reported seeing an unusual aircraft - aka a UFO to the rest of us - in the sky in June.

Sadly for YouTube fans, they were not able to capture any video of it before it disappeared over the Bristol Channel.

£60k Porsche pile-up for Jack, 93

A 93-year-old man with an unblemished 76 years behind the wheel brought his driving career to an abrupt halt when he managed to smash up two Porsches worth £60,000.

The former minister escaped unscathed despite flipping his car over when it crashed outside the car showroom in Penarth.

Tourists' flight to wrong country

The Coray family had a shock when they woke up after a flight to their holiday destination to find themselves in Turkey rather than Lanzarote as expected.

The mistake happened after a check-in representative mistakenly gave them boarding cards for the wrong plane. After returning to Cardiff, the family were offered an alternative holiday in Ibiza instead.

Worm-eating slug found in garden

It was a day of zoological marvels for Welsh gardeners after a new breed of white "ghost" slugs were found in a Cardiff garden.

The creature has been given a partially Welsh name in honour of its discovery here - Selenochlamys ysbryda, or ghost (ysbryd) slug.

Birthday tattoo for Westlife fan

Meanwhile in Abercwmboi, Vicky Jones, the self-declared biggest fan of pop group Westlife marked her 40th birthday by marking herself permanently with their images.

The mother-of-four spent 16 hours under a needle having the four singers inked across her back, which was later followed by their autographs put in place underneath.

Vicky Jones

Police say UFO was just the Moon

And finally - it is back to the UFOs. This time however, the police were able to accurately identify the "UFO" spotted by a vigilant member of the public... it was the moon.




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