There's A Spider On My Carrots


Retail giant Tesco has blamed customer demand for less chemicals and pesticides on their food for the shock discovery of a spider. 
 
Student Holly Bedwell, 19, was horrified to find the creepy crawly in a bag of mixed vegetables bought online from Tesco. 
 
The student, from Buxted, did not notice anything was wrong when serving up the vegetables for her family’s dinner on May 28. But the discovery put the whole family off their dinner. 

Tesco said the downside of using fewer pesticides was there was a greater chance of them surviving in crops. 
 
Miss Bedwell, pictured, said: “We were literally two mouthfuls in when my sister put some carrots on her fork and saw a spider clinging to one of the carrots. 

“It completely put us all off of our food and we couldn’t eat another bite. 
 
“It is worrying because you trust that your food has been checked before it is packaged and then things like this happen. 
 
“I’m just glad my sister Esme didn’t accidentally eat it.” 

The family contacted Tesco Customer Services which apologised and promised to investigate. 
 
An online Customer Services representative via Tesco's website said: “Our customers did request that we use less chemicals and pesticides through the production process. 
 
“The downside being, there’s a greater chance of pests and insects surviving in crops. 
 
“Once harvested, our salad is subjected to checks at several stages of production. 
 
“I'm very sorry we failed to spot and remove this creature. 
 
“They requested the item, which was bought online, be returned to a store to be investigated by suppliers.”

The Festival of Chichester


A "clean sweep of Chichester talents" is promised at the Festival of Chichester, one of the biggest arts festivals in the south. 

Festival co-ordinator Barry Smith says: "We have a fantastic line-up of exciting events on offer. I'm particularly delighted with the star quality of this year's festival. 

"Alongside the stars we have the cream of local talent. 

"There will be inspirational art exhibitions at the Pallant and Oxmarket galleries and in studios all over the city. 

"We have the Cathedral Choir with the Hanover Band, the Chichester Singers, rock gigs with the music of George Harrison and Joni Mitchell, Pergola Open Air Theatre - far too many events to mention. "It's shaping up to be a great festival." 

The Oscar and Tony awards nominee William Nicholson, screenwriter of the films Gladiator, Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom and Shadowlands, will discuss his new novel The Lovers of Amherst in Chichester Cathedral on Monday June 15. 

He will then go to the Vicars' Hall to introduce Fireflight, the first in a season of his films presented by Chichester Cinema at New Park. 

Mr Nicholson, who was born in Lewes, says: "I am looking forward to it. We'll be in the cathedral for my event, which is very special." 

Zoe Rahman, the Chichester born and educated jazz pianist is returning to her home town for a performance alongside poet Jo Shapcott on Thursday June 25 at Ede's House in West Street, Chichester. 

Zoe, who is currently on tour, says: "It'll be great to come back to Chichester and maybe see a few familiar faces. 

"I like working in a context that isn't purely musical and being part of a poetry night will hopefully inspire a different way of playing from me." 

Award-winning crime writers Simon Brett and Peter Lovesey will talk about their latest thrillers at Waterstones in the Dolphin & Anchor on West Street, Chichester, on Thursday June 18 and at Chichester Library in Tower Street on Monday June 29 respectively.

Simon, who is from Arundel and has just released his new book Mrs Pargeter's Principle, says: "It's always nice to meet readers and you get quite a bit of useful feedback from them. They question you, which further focuses you on your writing and inspires more ideas."

Peter, who is from Chichester, has based his new book Down Among The Dead Men in and around Chichester with places such as the Ship Hotel and St Richards hospital making a regular appearance.

He says: "The festival is a great tribute to Chichester, it has a fantastic programme filled with a whole variety of events. 

"It's not only good for the city but very good for me too because I always want to meet audiences. "I usually talk for about half an hour about how I became a writer and read a little from my book and then I invite questions - there's never a shortage of questions." 

Debuting in the Festival of Chichester this year is The Blacksmiths pub in Donnington, which is opening its field to families for an afternoon of family fun relaxing on hay bales from 2-11pm on Saturday June 20. 

The free event will showcase musical acts with live bands including Lady and the Dukes, Superstrings and The Heart Shaped Buttons, and there's an Open Mic session on the stage. 

To register for tickets, visit www.the-blacksmiths.co.uk/festival The Festival of Chichester runs from Saturday June 13 until Sunday July 12. 

For full details and tickets, phone 01243 813595 or visit www.festivalofchichester.co.uk Tickets are also available from the Cloisters Shop, Cathedral Cloisters, Chichester, which is open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm. 
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