QUICK thinking youngsters saved a young boy, former PM Gordon Brown visited Stevenage and a Vicar laughed off claims he was a loan shark.

? RESIDENTS in Comet country were warned they could be shivering for at least another week as the big freeze refuses to loosen its grip

The second heavy spell of snow in three weeks caused problems on the roads, especially in rural areas, and followed a week of hard frosts.

? A MODEL posed for a racy calendar supporting the men and women of Britain’s armed forces.

Chloe Mosley, from High Street, Baldock, was among the first to volunteer for The Help for Heroes calendar.

The 26-year-old said: “As soon as I heard that the calendar was for the help for heroes trust I was honoured to be part of it.”

? THE quick actions of three teenagers may have saved the life of a child who had fallen into a frozen-over lake and was trapped under the ice.

Rhys Berry,15, Chay Hudner, 16, and Ryan Evans, 15, raced over to the lake and dragged the youngster, believed to be a 10-year-old called Archie, from the ice-cold water.

? The then Prime Minister Gordon Brown was in Stevenage to launch an initiative aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour.

Mr Brown spoke to shopkeepers and residents in Bedwell with the Minister of State for Children and Families Dawn Primarolo.

? AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD boy has displayed a real head for numbers by passing a GCSE in maths.

Rosan Singh, of Offley Road in Hitchin, sat the exam at Marriotts School in Stevenage and attained a grade C in the subject.

? NORTH Herts District Council defended its decision to spend over �1.5m on consultants during the recession.

The Comet discovered NHDC spent �1,546,000 for consultancy work in 2008/9 while the country was deep in recession.

? A SOLDIER who cheated death after he was shot in the neck during a gun fight in Afghanistan was described as “the miracle of Helmand” by his mother.

Andrew Ferguson, of Sish Close in Stevenage, is with 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and was serving in Helmand when he was injured.

? A VICAR laughed off claims he was a loan shark.

The Rev Barry Pate of St Thomas’ Church in Bedford Road, Letchworth GC, was shocked when he was confronted in the street and received angry phone calls regarding his church being used as a collection point for a credit union.