Scream if you want to go faster
At last there's hope for children with scaredy-cat parents who would rather watch the bags than take a thrill ride at a theme park - Chessington World of Adventures has announced the appointment of a hypnotherapist to deal with rollercoaster-phobics. Stephen Rigby will be on site on October 9 to relieve parents of their fears and kids of their embarrassment, and if successful, could become a regular fixture. To nominate your yellow-bellied parent for a session with Rigby, visit www.chessington.com.
SkyEurope - are you covered?
Passengers left in the lurch by last week's collapse of no-frills carrier SkyEurope should be able to obtain a refund if they paid for the ticket with a credit card in a transaction valued at more than £100. Contact your card issuer for details. Travellers who booked using a debit card will not be reimbursed, unless they booked the flights through a travel agent as part of a package, in which case they should contact that agent. Ryanair and Wizz Air are expected to expand services to cover routes formerly served by the failed airline.
Behind closed doors
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This year's hugely popular Heritage Open Days event takes place from September 10 to 13, with more than 4,000 properties across the country that are normally closed or charge for entry opening their doors free of charge. Among this year's attractions are Cambridge University, the former Special Operations Executive training camp at Brickendonbury in Hertfordshire, the Mary Tavy hydroelectric power station in Devon and the maze of former mine workings beneath Bristol's Redcliffe area. For full listings, check heritageopendays.org.uk.
The streets of Utrecht
Authorities in the Dutch city of Utrecht have recruited five former street dwellers as official tour guides in a bizarre initiative to highlight "those areas where their guides used to sleep or do drugs", according to Simone Lensink, of the welfare organisation Altrecht, which is behind the project. "These are people with a unique background," she says. "They had to learn to be social and to be able to tell their story in an interesting and coherent manner." The tour costs £4.35, or a four-pack of Special Brew.
Free skis with bmi baby
No-frills airline BMI Baby is bucking the current trend of charging passengers for carrying snow-sports equipment by offering free carriage for skis and snowboards on flights to Geneva, Grenoble, Malaga and Toulouse. The offer is available for all new bookings for a limited time only.