A WOMAN has successfully sued a ranch in South Africa after she was mauled by a cheetah. She won £90,000 after complaining that no one told her that cheetahs were dangerous.

A man in America, the home of the compensation culture, is suing a fast food chain for making him obese. He claims that no one told him that stuffing his face with burgers would make him put on weight.

And, as we report on our front page today, even the real Bob the Builder might end up suing a not-so-real Bob the Builder with Barney the oversized singing purple dinosaur - who really became extinct 60 million years ago - called to the witness box to give evidence.

It is a crazy, crazy world.

Yesterday, though, there was a single sentence that breezed in like a breath of fresh air.

It came from the family of the 18-stone man who died while bungee jumping on Monday in Swansea.

The inquest was held yesterday into Christopher Thomas' death, and it doesn't need to be said that it was a very trying occasion for his family.

After the inquest, a sentence in a statement from his parents read: ''We do not wish and have no desire to apportion any blame for this tragic accident.''

Even before the police have concluded their investigations into Christopher's death, the family have accepted that accidents can happen, especially when you are doing something as potentially dangerous as bungee jumping.

Instead of greedily chasing the compo, the family are conducting themselves with great dignity and are remembering what is really important. ''He (Christopher) was a wonderful son, partner, brother, brother-in-law and uncle; happy, carefree and always smiling," concluded their statement.

We wish them all the best for the future.

Bye bye birdies

SO farewell, then, the bee-eaters of Bishop Middleham. They appeared yesterday to up sticks and begin their 500-mile migration back to Africa.

About 15,000 people flocked to see them, their extraordinary story made it onto the front page of many national newspapers and they brought County Durham some welcome good publicity.

And after a summer that has been characterised by wet weather and some truly miserable news stories, the bee-eaters' brief stay in the North-East brought some colour to our drab world.