Daill Mail - 08.08.2019

Daily Mail, Thursday, August 8, 2019 Page 

QQQ

Is the 1p being scrapped by stealth?

By James Tapsfield

£810 Versace

luxury you

won’t find on

the catwalk

IT would appear to be one of

the most luxurious lavatory

accessories imaginable.

And to get one, you will – of

course – have to spend a lot

more than a penny.

For Versace is selling this toilet

brush holder,

which is finished

in pure gold and

features the

designer brand’s

classic Medusa

head, at £810. It

is being sold on

homeware web-

site Amara,

which describes

the Superbe toi-

let brush holder

as ‘stunning’.

Other bath-

room accesso-

ries by Versace include a tooth-

brush holder, soap dispenser

and soap dish.

The website says: ‘Ensure your

toilet remains clean and

hygienic with this Superbe toi-

let brush holder from Versace.

‘The square design fits snugly

in the corner of a bathroom,

adding a simplistic elegance

with the stunning Medusa head

motif on the front.

‘With a luxurious gold finish,

this toilet brush holder features

a lid to ensure the brush is

hidden from view, a stylish

addition to any home.’

For those feeling less flush,

there is an I Classici toilet brush

holder in chrome and gold for

£67 and a Superbe toilet roll

holder for £42.

Daily Mail Reporter

MPs voiced their concern yesterday

after it emerged no pennies were

produced in the UK last year for

the first time in 46 years.

The Treasury pledged to keep

coppers in circulation earlier this

year after an outcry when former Chan-

cellor Philip Hammond suggested

they could be scrapped.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney

had also hinted at ditching the coins,

amid claims the effects of inflation and

an increasingly ‘cashless’ society mean

many languish in piggy banks or are even

thrown away. It is the first time since 1972

• the year after the decimal system was
  introduced – that penny production has
  fallen to zero. And no 2ps were issued for
  the first time since 1984.
  The Royal Mint produces cur-
  rency based on instructions
  from the Treasury, which
  assesses ‘industry demand’
  and how many coins are
  already in use. They insisted
  the coins were not being
  dropped, and the flatline was

because there are enough in circulation.

Former Chancellor Mr Hammond called

the future of coppers into question in

spring last year by saying he would

consult on the currency mix.

But the Treasury, now headed by Sajid

Javid, backtracked and insisted the

coins would be kept.

Tory MP Ian Liddell-Grainger

said he was ‘really worried’ that

they were being phased out by

stealth. He said: ‘The 1p and 2ps

are part of our national identity.

I’m sorry, not everything is 5p.

This is morally wrong.’

By George Odling

and Inderdeep Bains

Police investigate whether runner

fell to her death or was pushed

Keen runner: Dr Natalie Christopher

Missing UK

physicist found

‘crushed by

boulder’ in a

Greek ravine

A BRITISH scientist who went

missing on the Greek island of

Ikaria was found dead yester-

day in a 20-metre deep ravine.

Natalie Christopher, a London-

born astrophysicist, had been

reported missing on Monday by

her Cypriot boyfriend after the 35-

year-old failed to return from a

morning run.

She was identified by her 38-year-old

partner and was still clothed in her

partner. The keen runner,

rock climber and hiker was

not in the hotel when her boy-

friend awoke on Monday

morning, he said.

He said he had called her

mobile phone and Dr Christo-

pher explained she was run-

ning but would take things

‘slowly’ on the rocky terrain.

He then became worried

when she did not return and

there was no response when

he rang her phone again.

Before the body had been

found, police had begun

investigating spots of blood

which had been found on Dr

Christopher’s pillow in the

couple’s hotel room. The linen

has been sent to a laboratory

in Athens for testing.

Her boyfriend has insisted

they came from a nose bleed

Dr Christopher had suffered

the night before she

disappeared.

He remains on the island

and his brother and a Span-

ish friend have flown out to

support him.

Police sources said: ‘He is

not a suspect. He has been

very co-operative but we are

not ruling out anything until

the inquiry is concluded.’

Cyprus Trail Runners, which

Dr Christopher had been a

member of, had crowd-funded

thousands of pounds to send

a group to the area in the

hope of identifying the route

she might have taken.

A friend, who was helping to

co-ordinate the efforts, said

of the latest news: ‘I just can’t

speak about it, it’s too

distressing.’

Last night, it emerged that

searchers passed the point

where Dr Christopher, who

was originally from Wanstead,

east London, had fallen three

times – oblivious that her

body was lying in the ravine.

Rescuers said the scientist’s

mobile phone had been ring-

ing beside her body.

‘We are not ruling

out anything’

running gear.

Emergency service workers

who found her body told the

country’s public broadcaster

ERT last night that a large

rock had dislodged as she fell,

crushing her and causing

multiple head injuries.

Dr Christopher’s body was

being kept overnight in the

spot, which is in an area

known as Katafygi, so that a

coroner can carry out a post-

mortem examination today.

The body, found by a volun-

teer firefighter, was said to

have bites from wild animals.

The coroner is expected to

determine if they occurred

before or after her death.

Authorities are exploring

the possibility that Dr Chris-

topher slipped into the ravine,

which is barely visible from a

nearby footpath.

Another theory is that she

may have been attempting to

climb or descend from a steep

point without any equipment

in a bid to reach her hotel.

Theodoros Chronopoulos, a

Greek police spokesman,

said: ‘The body was found in a

ravine – a small canyon –

between 600metres and a kil-

ometre from the hotel where

the couple were staying.’

It was too early to tell

whether she had fallen into

the ravine or had been

pushed, Mr Chronopoulos

told The Daily Telegraph. ‘We

Probe: Police near where her body was found

have to await the report from

the coroner, which will take

two to three days, in order to

have the answers,’ he said.

‘This is crucial. At

this point, we don’t know how

she died.’

Oxford-educated Dr Chris-

topher, who lives in Nicosia,

Cyprus, had been spending a

few days in Ikaria with her

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