Weekly round-up: Five stories you may have missed

3 hours ago

Indy Almroth-WrightSouth of England

News image — The bird was spotted flying over Banbury with the savoury snack

Mark Hopkins A red kite is pictured soaring through a blue sky from below. It's holding what appears to be a sausage roll in its talons, which is torn into two separate pieces. — The bird was spotted flying over Banbury with the savoury snack

A sausage roll snatching red kite and Travelodge making changes to its door key policy, after a man was given a woman's key card and attacked her, were among our most read stories in the south of England this week.

We have picked five stories from the past seven days across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and Oxfordshire to keep you up to date.

Could southern England become a theme park hub?

Getty Images A rollercoaster with the design of a 1950s style American-style sedan speeds along a track. Several men, women and children are sat on the ride with stunned faces and hair blowing back in the wind. — New theme parks are set to join a cluster of attractions across the south

Families, movie fans, thrill-seekers and international tourists are set to enjoy a wave of new theme park developments across southern England.

Plans include a resort based on blockbuster movies near Bedford, a historical-themed park near Bicester and an indoor water park near Basingstoke.

Together with existing parks, such as Legoland and Thorpe Park, they could create a new cluster of major visitor attractions and help drive tourism to the region.

Theme park strategist Mark Lofthouse said it is an exciting time for the industry and that the proposals could help turn the UK into "a real hub for theme parks".

'Adventurous' capybara on the run after zoo escape

Marwell Wildlife Two capybaras inside a hut — Samba and Tango arrived at Marwell Zoo near Winchester on Monday

A female capybara is on the run after escaping from a zoo.

Samba arrived at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire from Jimmy's Farm and Wildlife Park in Suffolk with fellow capybara Tango on Monday.

The zoo said the pair of rodents managed to escape from their temporary holding area on Tuesday and although Tango was quickly retrieved, Samba was "more adventurous".

She was spotted in the nearby village of Owslebury on Wednesday evening but remains missing. The zoo said local authorities have been informed.

Travelodge changes policy after attacker given room key

Thames Valley Police Kyran Smith, a man with black curly hair and a dark moustache, is pictured in a police mugshot. — Kyran Smith was given the key card after lying to staff

The Travelodge hotel chain says it has made "immediate changes" to its door key policy after a hotel guest was sexually assaulted by a man who was given the key card to her room.

Kyran Smith was jailed in February for seven-and-a-half years following the attack at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in December 2022.

The chain's chief executive Jo Boydell apologised to the victim in a statement on Sunday and said the changes would ensure additional or replacement keys were only issued with permission from the person staying in the room.

"We got things wrong and we should have acted sooner and I am truly sorry for that," she said.

Red kite with sausage roll snapped by Banbury photographer

A red kite carrying what appears to be a sausage roll in its talons has been captured on camera by an amateur photographer.

The bird was spotted flying over Banbury with the savoury snack when Mark Hopkins took the pictures from his back garden in Ruscote.

Hopkins said he was not entirely sure what the kite was holding but others believed it to be a sausage roll.

"I often see kites gliding above the area and sometimes, if I'm lucky, they are barely above the rooftops," he said.

Quarry attraction receives £20m funding boost

DBOX An artist's interpretation or illustration of the Memo Portland project. It shows a carving of a large tree on a white block of stone inside of a disused mine, with words inscribed on the trunk of the tree. Beneath it two people are looking up at the top of the tree as it towers over them. A bulldozer can be seen in the background of the caverns. — An artist's impression shows plans for Memo Portland in a disused stone mine

Plans for a major new tourist attraction on the Dorset coast, telling the story of extinction and biodiversity loss, has received millions of pounds in government funding.

Memo Portland said it would utilise the vast disused stone mines on the Isle of Portland to create the attraction, along with a stonemasonry training centre.

The government has announced funding of £20m for the project, along with financial backing from Dorset Council.

Labour MP for South Dorset, Lloyd Hatton, said it would be a "world-renowned visitor attraction" that would boost the local economy. The first stage is scheduled to open in 2028.