FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters. The art works entitled 'Houndton Tabby', were designed by illustrator and artist Kim Parkhurst, 39, after she combined her love of drawing and Downton Abbey. 'I've been painting portraits of animals in historical costume for some time,” explains New Yorker Kim. “I've taken some familiar and beloved characters whose demeanour, personality, and appearance seemed to translate to certain breeds of dog or cat. 'I got to thinking about Mr Bates' character and storyline, and Brendan Coyle's facial structure, and how he could look hard but also had the warmest, kindest eyes.
A family of foster carers are facing bankruptcy and homelessness after they signed up to a Government scheme to renovate their house to be used for disabled children's short breaks .
A prolific drug dealer was caught red-handed in a car filled with amphetamines after he decided to park in a top copper's parking space - as a joke .
SNUGGLING up against their teddy bears, these baby sloths could easily be mistaken for one of the cuddly toys .
SWIMMING next to 40 tonne whales, dare-devil divers take the plunge with these gentle giants of the sea .
A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .
Two dogs who couldn't keep their paws off each other have been united in matrimonial bliss after their owners shelled out $10,000 on a lavish canine wedding ceremony .
COURAGEOUS climbers descend 400 metres as they manoeuvre their way through thick walls of ice .
A middle spotted woodpecker swoops into her nest and feeds her young in a forest in Trentino, Italy .
A woman has revealed how she almost died after she developed sepsis from a cold .
Diners on this aeroplane are never disappointed with their meal, because the decommissioned aircraft is now home to an air-mazing McDonald’s restaurant .
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .