Five stories from the South you may have missed

A Hollywood actor talking up Hampshire and an appeal for more life-saving dog blood donors were among this week’s most popular reads.

In Christmas week, we have picked five uplifting stories from the past seven days across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and Oxfordshire to keep you up to date.

Dog owners are being encouraged to donate their pets’ blood this winter as demand for it rises.

Charlotte Mantell’s greyhound Wonder Woman completed her third blood donation at Banbury’s Hawthorne Lodge Veterinary Practice in Oxfordshire and this week was urging more owners to come forward.

The Pet Blood Bank charity said it had seen an 18% decline in the number of new dogs registering to become donors.

The actor Paul Rudd said the Hampshire towns of Basingstoke and Tadley were places he loves to visit during an interview to promote his latest film.

The 56-year-old Hollywood star was speaking to Scott Mills on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

During the interview, co-star Jack Black mentioned locations in the UK that he liked to visit and Rudd suggested he could add the Hampshire towns to his list.

Mills said to the actor “you love a bit of Hampshire” to which Rudd replied “I do”.

A flea-ridden cat with a nose deformity living in dirty conditions in a home got his happy ending after being taken in by a new owner and gaining a new feline friend.

Sid, three, was rescued by the RSPCA but had breathing difficulties due to his nasal birth deformity.

Fortunately an operation was not needed as treatment eased his breathing and, after eating healthily and given flea medication#, he was adopted by a new family in Berkshire.

New owner Kate Cooper said he was a “sweetheart” and was loving life living with her blind cat Echo and Golden Retriever Froska, who adore him.

A moss-covered 1982 Lotus Esprit Turbo left in a barn for 30 years is to go under the hammer.

The iconic sports car has been entered into an auction of classic and vintage cars at Haynes Motor Museum, organised by the Dorset-based auctioneers Charterhouse.

The vehicle, which is red with a magnolia leather interior, has been valued at £10,000.

A football fan who has travelled thousands of miles in cars and ferries to watch his non-league club on the Isle of Wight has become its newest director.

Paul Rushton is now a non-executive director of Newport IW FC, which competes in the 9th tier of English football.

Mr Rushton grew up on the island and followed the club as a child, before moving away to Oxfordshire after finishing university.

He said his ambition as a director was to help the club secure a new ground, after it had been ground-sharing for the past six years.