TEN years ago, this week, a police force was embracing David Cameron's Big Society vision by enlisting unpaid volunteers into core policing roles.

People were being offered voluntary jobs in CID, event planning and Neighbourhood Watch after Darlington Police announced that they were launching a recruitment drive.

The force invited people to sign up to a range of unpaid roles in an effort to boost its number of volunteers to 30.

Durham and Darlington police were facing budget cuts of £15m, so the plans were likely to be repeated across the region.

Inspector Mick Button, of Darlington Police, said the volunteers were not being recruited to take the place of staff who had been made redundant, but would be used to expand services and roles that had not previously existed.

Hole lotta luck

Meanwhile, Luke Boston became a star at his local golf club after hitting a hole in one at a charity match.

His lucky strike won him a new car worth more than £12,000 - even though he was too young to drive.

The then 16-year-old, from Brompton on Swale, in North Yorkshire, should have been in school revising for his GCSE exams when the tournament started, but after he was invited as a last minute stand-in, he was excused from classes by his teachers as a reward for his hard work.

His return to form came at the right moment as he sank his tee shot at the only hole on the course sponsored by local car dealer SG Petch, and because of his age, Luke received a cash equivalent instead of the car.

Penguins chased by antisocial gang

Meanwhile, a group of penguins left traumatised by a gang of yobs remained on medication that they had been prescribed to calm them down.

The ten birds at the Sea Life Centre, Scarborough, were distraught after the gang broke into their enclosure in the middle of the night and chased them around for 15 minutes.

Weeks later, they were still being given herbal drugs twice a day to help them calm down and relax.

Lyndsey Crawford, who cared for them, said the pills they were giving the birds, along with their usual herrings, calmed them down and helped them to breathe.