There's a new way to clean your dog in Japan - put it on a conveyor belt and let mechanical arms wash, shampoo and dry your pooch in a similar way to a car.

It's an ideal way to clean up little shitzus...

DEIGO Maradona is in trouble in Argentina as he failed another drug test - but judges claim the evidence was inconclusive.

The soccer star has now been ordered to take tests during the match. He should get inspiration from John Barnes who, many say, has played for the past five years without speed.

Some say he hardly manages a trot!

An otter run over by a nature lover in Nottinghamshire was the first to have been spotted in the county for 40 years. The irony is the man was rushing to the area to take a look at the animal when he couldn't avoid seeing it close up ...

The boss of the BBC called in experts when he was angry to discover bugs in his house on Saturday evening.

He didn't phone Rentokil to try to make sure bugs didn't return but the schedulers who put it on BBC in the first place.

Tests are being carried out at Kansas University to cross-produce a potato (in the Dan Quayle spelling) with a tomato. What is the benefit of this hybrid, unless it's to create a chip that doesn't need any sauce added.

This week I have three copies of the Mariah Carey album Butterfly to give away.

Send the answer to the following question, with your name and address to: Butterfly comp, Preston Citizen, 3 Winckley Court, Chapel Street, Preston, PR1 3JJ. The closing date for entries is September 26.

The first three correct answers pulled out will win copies on the album. The editor's decision is final.

The question is: name Maria Carey's current hit single.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.