FOOTBALL legend Bernard Lacombe has died aged 72.

The former striker was an icon at French clubs such as Lyon and Bordeaux during his 18-year career.

AFP

Bernard Lacombe has passed away[/caption]

Getty

He scored over 300 times during his playing career[/caption]

AFP

He was viewed as a legend in France[/caption]

Getty

Tributes have been paid to the striker on social media[/caption]

Lacombe was best remembered for being a part of the French team that won Euro 1984.

He also scored the fastest goal ever scored by a French player at a World Cup, netting after 30 seconds against Italy in 1978.

He was a prolific striker who scored 304 goals in 592 appearances in all competitions.

He also scored 12 goals for the French national team in 38 caps.

After hanging up his boots in 1987, he went into management and coached Lyon between 1996 and 2000.

His death means that he is the first of the Euro-winning squad to pass away.

Lyon confirmed his passing with a touching statement on social media.

It read: “It is with great sadness that we learned this Tuesday evening of the death of Bernard Lacombe

“All our thoughts go out to his family and loved ones, as well as to the fans of Olympique Lyonnais and football.

“Farewell Bernard, you were our legend, the greatest of all.”

AFP

He also managed Lyon between 1996 and 200[/caption]

AFP

Philippe Diallo has issued a statement on Lacombe’s passing[/caption]

While Bordeaux posted their own tribute to Lacombe.

It read: “Having played for Bordeaux between 1979 and 1987, this legendary striker left his mark on the club’s history with his talent and generosity.

“The entire Marine et Blanc family mourns today a striker of rare elegance, one of the greatest players in the club’s history.

“Thank you, Bernard.”

The president of the FFF, Philippe Diallo, issued an emotional message to Lecombe.

He said: “It is with deep sadness that I learned of the passing of Bernard Lacombe. Bernard Lacombe left an indelible mark on French football, as a player, coach, and manager.

“He was one of the greatest strikers in the history of French football. The second-highest scorer in Division 1, he made his mark on the glorious history of Lyon, Saint-Étienne, and Bordeaux. He also shone with the French national team. His goals helped establish Les Bleus on the international stage.

“Bernard Lacombe was a major contributor to the 1984 European Championship title. He performed some of France‘s greatest feats, including his goal in the opening seconds of the game against Italy at the 1978 World Cup. He was undoubtedly a source of inspiration for many strikers.

“After his remarkable playing career, Bernard Lacombe put his footballing knowledge to work for Olympique Lyonnais, his beloved club.

“With Jean-Michel Aulas, whom I am thinking of very much in these difficult moments, he formed a duo that transformed OL into a successful club.

“Deeply attached to his city, his club, and his friends, Bernard Lacombe will be deeply missed.

“The Federation will pay tribute to him. On behalf of all French football, I extend my most sincere condolences to his family and friends.”

Fans also paid their own tributes to the star as they flocked to social media.

One posted: “A monument of French football.”

A second wrote: “You were a monster, a true legend is leaving… tonight Lyon is in mourning.”

A third commented: “RIP! Condolences to his family and OL supporters.”

HITMAKER Ariana Grande is heartbroken as she reveals her beloved ‘matriarch’ grandma has died.

Taking to her Instagram stories today, Ariana revealed the heartbreaking news of Marjorie Grande’s passing to her millions of followers.

Instagram / arianagrande

Ariana Grande’s grandmother has passed away[/caption]

Getty

Ariana’s family are ‘devastated’[/caption]

arianagrande/Instagram

The stunning hitmaker was very close to her nonna[/caption]

Ariana, who has long called her gran Nonna, which means grandma in Italian, is “devastated” by Marjorie’s passing, as is her whole family.

A statement shared on Ariana’s Instagram, written by the Grande family, read: “We are devastated to share that the beloved matriarch of our family has passed away.”

It continued: “Marjorie (Nonna) Grande passed peacefully in her home and was surrounded by her family and loved ones for every moment of her last few weeks.

“We thank you for your love, support and for respecting our privacy as we grieve and celebrate her beautiful, extraordinary life.”

Marjorie was and is hugely loved by Ariana’s fans, with the Grammy winner often sharing snaps of her and her nonna online.

In 2016, Ariana even imitated her nonna on The Tonight Show as she watched on from the audience.

More recently, Marjorie made a cameo in Ariana’s 2024 track Ordinary Things.

She even made history on Billboard charts by becoming the senior person to be featured on the Hot 100 charts.

Nonna received a certificate with her feature in Ordinary Things from Ariana’s album Eternal Sunshine, and even received a plaque for it.

When Ariana shared a snap of her nonna with the plaque, she penned a touching caption.

“Celebrating the one and only, most beautiful Nonna who has now made history for being the senior most person to ever appear on the @billboard Hot100.

“We love and thank you,” she concluded the caption.

This cameo in a track marked Marjorie’s third time being in one of her granddaughter’s songs.

At the end of the song, Ariana’s nonna can be heard reflecting on her marriage to late husband Frank.

Instagram / @arianagrande

Ariana often posted photos of her nonna[/caption]

She can be heard saying at the end of the tune: “Never go to bed without kissin’ goodnight.

“That’s the worst thing to do, don’t ever, ever do that.

“And if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you’re in the wrong place — get out.”

She previously provided sound bites for Daydreamin’ and Bloodline.

Marjorie first met Ariana’s grandfather when they were children and resided in the same neighborhood.

As the two kids grew up, they then began to date before Frank was enlisted in the military.

When Frank got back from the military, he and Marjorie got engaged and later tied the knot in 1946.

Marjorie and Frank then welcomed daughters Joan (Ariana’s mom) and Judy (Ariana’s aunt).

Ariana has a brother, Frankie, and they are half-siblings, sharing mom Joan, though having different dads.

Getty

Ariana can be seen above with brother Frankie, their nonna and their mom[/caption]

Getty

Ariana and Frankie were incredibly close to nonna[/caption]

A LUCKY Irish punter has just become one of the country’s richest people after scooping the €250million EuroMillions jackpot tonight.

There was one winner in tonight’s continent-wide twice-weekly draw, with the winning ticket being sold somewhere in Ireland.

In total, over 92,000 players here won prizes in the EuroMillions and Plus games tonight.

The winning numbers were: 13, 22, 23, 44 and 49 and the Lucky Stars were 3 and 5.

Another player won the EuroMillions Plus top prize of €500,000 tonight.

The winning numbers in the Plus draw were: 11, 19, 30, 39 and 50.

The ticket was sold in Wexford.

And another player matched five numbers to win €20,064 in tonight’s main draw.

The €250m jackpot is the capped prize for the EuroMillions, which was reached on Friday, June 6 and would have become a must-win jackpot on Friday if it hadn’t been claimed tonight.

The next EuroMillions draw on Friday now reverts to a €17m jackpot.

National Lottery CEO Cian Murphy has tonight advised EuroMillions players to check their tickets very carefully to see if they have landed the mega windfall.

He said: “We are absolutely thrilled to see this incredible and record win for an Irish EuroMillions player.

“We are advising our players to check their tickets and if they are the winner, sign the back of the ticket, keep it safe, and contact National Lottery HQ and we will guide you through the claims process.

“The details surrounding the winning ticket will be revealed over the coming days.

“With such a big win we have procedures to follow, but we will reveal the winning location as soon as we can.

“While this is a massive win, it can come as a shock to a winner and we advise them to stay calm, get independent legal and financial advice and contact us as soon as they can.”

BIGGEST EVER WIN

The Irish National Lottery also posted on X about the win, asking those who bought tickets to check the results on lottery.ie or on its app.

It added: “Who wants to be a Quarter Billionaire? #ItCouldBeYou”

The mystery winner, as well as claiming the life-changing sum, has also claimed the title of Ireland’s biggest ever Lotto winner, eclipsing the €175.4m prize won by family syndicate from Naul in Co Dublin in 2019.

Incredibly, it’s the 20th time that the jackpot has been won by an Irish ticket holder since it was launched in 2004.

PUNCHED ABOVE OUR WEIGHT

Famously, Ireland has punched above its weight when it comes to landing the big one despite our relatively small size and boasts an impressive number of winners.

Cleaner Dolores McNamara from Limerick, was Ireland’s first and then-biggest EuroMillions winner scooping over €115 million back in 2005.

She hit the international headlines on August 4th 2005 when she arrived at Lotto HQ to collect a cheque for the biggest lotto jackpot in European history at the time, popping open the champagne for photographers.

Then in 2013, a winning ticket was sold in Beaumount, Dublin, to a syndicate who shared a EuroMillions jackpot worth over €187 million.

SYNDICATE SCOOPS

A Dublin player earned half of the jackpot and picked up over €93 million personally.

The following year, an eye-watering €86.7 million jackpot was won by a syndicate from Dublin. The ticket was sold in Centra, Ballybrack, Co. Dublin.

In July 2017, another Dublin work syndicate claimed the €88.5 million EuroMillions jackpot prize.

The winning ticket was sold at the Applegreen Service Station on the M1 Northbound in Lusk, Co. Dublin.

Getty Images - Getty

DANIEL LEVY wants more European glory for Tottenham and has targeted winning the Champions League.

The bullish Spurs chairman is also eyeing a Premier League title after declaring last month’s Europa League triumph as “not enough” to satisfy the club’s sky-high ambitions.

Levy backed his call to sack Ange Postecoglou – the man who ended the club’s 17-year trophy drought – and hailed replacement Thomas Frank as a “super human-being”.

The supremo, 63, declared: “We’ve won a European trophy, but it’s not enough. It’s what we haven’t done that’s more important.

“We need to win the league. We want to win the Premier League, we want to win the Champions League.”

Levy is into his 25th year of running Spurs, having won just two trophies in that time.

Postecoglou delivered the most recent of those by beating Manchester United in last month’s final in Bilbao, qualifying Spurs for the Champions League.

But the Aussie, 59, became the 13th permanent boss to be fired by Levy after a disastrous 17th-placed finish in the Premier League.

BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS

The club then turned to Brentford chief Frank, 51, who new Spurs CEO Vinai Venkatesham said was “absolutely the No1” choice out of a list of more than 30 candidates.

Speaking in an in-house interview alongside ex-Arsenal supremo Venkatesham, Levy added: “We want to build on the success of winning a trophy last season.

“One of the things that stood out to me with Thomas is he’s clearly highly intelligent, a great communicator, a super human-being, plus all the other technical aspects which are obviously important.”

Levy, who has had supporters taking to the streets protesting against his running of the club this season, claimed he had “very broad shoulders” to deal with criticism and that “failure is not an option”.

He claimed it was not his decision alone to fire Postecoglou and insists he still has an “excellent relationship” with the ex-Celtic boss.

The highest-paid director in the Premier League added: “I’m very grateful to Ange. I don’t regret appointing Ange. 

“In his first season we finished fifth. In our second season, we were over the moon to win a trophy.

“But we need to compete in all competitions and we felt we needed to change.

“I’ve got an excellent relationship with him. I told him, ‘You’re always going to be part of our history’. Himself and his family are always welcome back. 

“It was a collective decision, it wasn’t my decision. We do everything together.

“Emotionally it was difficult, but we believe we’ve made the right decision for the club.”

Levy also insisted that any funds brought in by the club’s non-football use of the stadium – such as pop concerts, NFL matches and boxing fights, is for reinvesting in the team.

He added: “We’re very proud of the stadium, but we need to win on the pitch. There’s no point in having a wonderful stadium if you haven’t got a wonderful team winning.

“The reason we do all these other events is to provide additional financial resources to the club which in turn, goes back into the team. Everything is about the team, everything.”

Meanwhile, it is understood Tottenham are not planning to sell goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario this summer despite suggestions of interest from AC Milan emerging from Italy.

CELEBRITY SAS: Who Dares Wins is set for a major shake-up in its star-studded next series – as bosses blow the budget.

The hit Channel 4 show – which launched in 2015 – puts a group of ordinary people through a tough quasi military training course.

PA

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins is set for a major shake-up[/caption]

PA

The show puts famous faces through their paces[/caption]

Pete Dadds / Channel 4

Mark “Billy” Billingham is the current Chief Instructor[/caption]

Although the civilian version ended in 2023, the celebrity iteration has continued on.

The Sun can reveal a shake-up will see the next series take place in a new location.

A show insider said: “Last series, there was a bit of a cash crisis at Channel 4 so the series shunned exotic locales and filmed in Wales.

!Bosses made it work but it felt like it wasn’t on as big a scale as when they have filmed in foreign climes, so for the next series, execs are blowing the budget and pushing the boat out to film in Marrakech instead.

“It’s more expensive but will look amazing on camera.”

The Sun has contacted a rep for comment.

Earlier this year, The Sun revealed how Celebrity SAS had been saved from the axe – after bosses had considered quietly ending the series.

But after seeing footage of the upcoming series, execs couldn’t let it go.

A TV insider revealed: “Channel 4 never officially announced that Celebrity SAS had been dropped, but behind closed doors, they had decided not to bring it back — at least for the time being. 

“It’s an expensive show to make, as far as reality shows go, and budgets have been tightened.”

The most recent series was completed by Love Island star Georgia Harrison and boxer Lani Daniels.

It also featured reality star Pete Wicks – while airing concurrently with his stint in Strictly Come Dancing.

The source added: “They filmed a series in 2024, which will air later in 2025, and that was quietly considered to be the last one they would make.

“However, it’s a beloved franchise and they have had a last-minute change of heart after doing the edit for the unaired series that’s in the can.”

However, the show’s future was put back on track with the next course to be filmed later this year and air in 2026. 

The hit series originally featured Ant Middleton as Head Instructor from 2015 to 2021.

Since his departure, Mark “Billy” Billingham has taken over that position.

Other Directing Staff (DS) includes Jason “Foxy” Fox, Rudy Reyes and Chris Oliver.

Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins airs on Channel 4.

A NURSING home featured in a bombshell RTE Investigates expose had almost 200 notifications of allegations of abuse of patients since January 2022, it has emerged.

An interim report from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) into the two nursing homes featured in the documentary found there were major concerns over one of the facilities in question.

Sam Boal/Collins Photos

The harrowing programme recently uncovered a litany of care failings and neglect of vulnerable older residents at The Residence Portlaoise, in Co Laois, and Beneavin Manor, in Glasnevin, Dublin.

Both are run by Ireland’s top private nursing home provider Emeis Ireland, which has apologised for the failings.

It has now emerged that there were 198 notifications of an “allegation, suspected or confirmed of abuse to a resident” in the Beneavin Manor, according to the report.

There were 40 notifications of allegations of abuse at The Residence Portlaoise since December 2023.

The report said a high number of notifications “does not necessarily indicate a non-compliant service, and often means a strong culture of recognising and submitting incidents which fall into the required notification categories”.

It also said the types of notifications of abuse, known as “NF06” notifications, are required “where there is a suspicion or allegation of abuse, which may or may not be substantiated, and can include a wide range of incidents such as residents’ altercations with other residents, the tone that someone is spoken to, through to more significant suspicions or allegations.”

HIQA said: “A high number of notifications received from a service does not necessarily indicate a non-compliant service, and often means a strong culture of recognising and submitting incidents which fall into the required notification categories”.

It added: “It is important to note that NF06 notifications are required where there is a suspicion or allegation of abuse, which may or may not be substantiated, and can include a wide range of incidents such as residents’ altercations with other residents, the tone that someone is spoken to, through to more significant suspicions or allegations.”

The authors of the report carried out a series of unannounced inspections of both nursing homes featured in the recent RTE Investigates programme following the broadcast on June 4.

Sam Boal/Collins Photos

ETHAN WHEATLEY inspired an incredible comeback for the England U19s against Germany at the Euros.

The Manchester United wonderkid netted a crucial goal as the Young Lions battled back from 5-1 down.

Getty

Ethan Wheatley netted in England’s comeback draw against Germany[/caption]

Getty

England battled back from four goals down to avoid defeat[/caption]

Noah Darvich and Said El Mala put the Germans 2-0 up inside 31 minutes.

Fulham‘s Joshua King got England back into the game before Germany took full control with three more goals.

England appeared down and out until they pulled off a miraculous fightback in the second half.

Wheatley, 19, scored in the 52nd minute to close the gap to three and salvage some hope.

Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny, Zach Abbott, and Jesse Shaun Derry then all scored before the 64th minute to level the score in a stunning 11-MINUTE turnaround.

Fans were left stunned by the efforts of the teenagers at the Stadionul Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest, Romania.

Many took to social media to heap praise on the players.

One posted: “This is all-timer stuff.”

JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS

A second wrote: “German keeper gone full Mexico 70 – Peter Bonetti.”

A third commented: “As the Germans should know, 5-1 really isn’t a dangerous lead.”

A fourth said: “If only the men’s team did that!”

Another added: “One of the best games I’ve seen in ages. Brilliant from England.”

The result leaves England’s U19s second in Group B, trailing just their next opponents, Holland.

Germany will not have to wait long for a chance of revenge over England.

The U21s will face off tomorrow night at their age-level Euros in Slovakia.

STREAMING giants including Netflix and Prime Video eclipsed traditional TV channels for the first time last month.

Some 44.8 per cent of TV viewership was through the newer media platforms.

It compares with 20.1 per cent watching terrestrial TV — known as broadcast — and 24.1 per cent tuning in to cable such as Sky.

It is the first time streamers have surpassed the combined total of their rival categories.

Big titles such as Clarkson’s Farm on Prime, Andor on Disney+ and Netflix’s final season of dark thriller You have helped boost the platforms’ figures.

The milestone marks a steady shift which has seen a near-doubling of streaming viewership since 2021 when it made up 26 per cent of TV use.

Cable then dominated with 39 per cent while broadcast was on 25 per cent, figures reveal.

YouTube holds the biggest share for the streamers at 12.5 per cent.

Others contributing to the domination were Paramount (2.2 per cent) Warner Bros Discovery (1.5 per cent) and Peacock (1.4 per cent).

Karthik Rao, boss of data specialists Nielsen, which launched its Gauge report on viewing statistics in May 2021, said: “It’s a credit to media companies.

“They have deftly adapted their programming strategies to meet their viewers where they are watching TV, whether it’s on streaming or linear platforms.”

Getty

Streaming giants including Netflix and Prime Video eclipsed traditional TV channels for the first time last month[/caption]

A “LOST” scene from a classic episode of Only Fools & Horses has emerged 29 years later.

It was written into the script of the Heroes & Villains episode of 1996 but never made it into the final cut.

BBC Press Handout

The lost scene never made the final cut of the episode[/caption]

BNPS

It has been signed by several cast members and could fetch as much as £3,000[/caption]

The Christmas special is better known for Del and Rodney dressing up as Batman and Robin to inadvertently thwart a mugging.

But there was also an extended scene involving Del later chasing down a mugger and knocking him unconscious with his suitcase full of hooky gear.

In the cut scene, it is scripted that a policeman then arrives and Del tells him “It’s alright officer, I caught him, he’s over there!”

But the policeman then walks over to the two men and arrests Rodney instead of the mugger.

The missing scene has emerged in a working script that belonged to the late Roger Lloyd Pack who played Trigger.

The 155 page script is coming up for sale at Bristol-based Auctioneum.

Auctioneer Andy Stowe described it as “comedy history, in black and white.”

Mr Stowe, a self-confessed Only Fools & Horses fan, said he started finding lines that he didn’t recognise while reading through the script.

Another scene written into the script that also never made it into the episode involves Del and Rodney rushing out of their flat just as a consignment of dodgy alarm clocks go off.

They go to Del’s Capri Ghia to find the group of muggers loitering around it but they are scared off as Del and Rodney arrive to the noise of the alarms going off in the background.

Mr Stowe said the muggers – one of whom was played by the actress Sheree Murphy – appeared to have a whole story arc that got cut out.

The script has been signed by other members of the cast including David Jason, who played Del Boy, and the late John Challis, who played snobby secondhand car dealer Boycie.

It is estimated to sell for between £2,000 and £3,000. Lloyd Pack marked his lines with black ink.

Mr Stowe said: “As a fan of the show myself, I was flicking through the script and began to read lines of dialogue that I didn’t recognise.

Getty Images - Getty

BBC

The lost lines were part of one of the show’s Christmas specials[/caption]

BNPS

Auctioneer Andy Stowe described the script as “comedy history, in black and white.”[/caption]

“As I carried on reading, I realised that these were scenes and lines that had been cut from the episode. Some of them are very funny.

“One particular partial scene that has been discovered surrounds the end of the chase between Rodney and a mugger.

“In the broadcast episode, Del Boy ends the chase by producing his suitcase from around a corner, knocking mugger unconscious.

“But, in the newly discovered script, this scene continues further. After the mugger is knocked down, a policeman arrives and Del says ‘It’s alright officer, I caught him, he’s over there!’

“The policeman walks over to the two men and arrests Rodney instead of the mugger.

“There are several scenes cut from the episode that focus on the plot of the muggers.

BBC

Only Fools and Horses aired for 22 years, from 1981 to 2003.[/caption]

Getty

The script belonged to the late Roger Lloyd Pack[/caption]

“There was considerable work by the writer, John Sullivan, to establish the threat of them throughout the episode but most of these early scenes were cut from the final show.

“To have Roger’s actual script, with his lines marked within it, is really something special.

“This is comedy history, in black and white on the page.”

The vendor is a private collector who acquired the script from the Only Fools & Horses Society.

The 1996 Christmas special was watched by a record 21 million people.
The auctioneers say it as “comedy history in black and white on a page.”

The sale takes place on June 30.

GOING on holiday with grandparents is a treat many children look forward to, knowing they’ll be spoiled rotten with ice creams and round-the-clock attention.

But Emma Parsons-Reid isn’t your typical sweet granny.

Supplied

Emma Parsons-Reid blasts campers for hanging their undies out to dry or having noisy sex when on a camping trip with her grandkids[/caption]

Supplied

Supplied

“The children always say going camping with me is a rite of passage,” says 58-year-old Emma, from Cardiff.

“‘If you survive this, you’ll survive anything,’ is how they look at it.”

Emma has exacting standards and has told off fellow campers for having sex within earshot of her grandkids. She even sees red if people hang their knickers outside to dry.

“I’m a nightmare nan 24/7 and that isn’t going to change just because we are on holiday,” she warns.

“I don’t like people draping underwear outside their tent or caravan. It’s awful, so uncouth.

“Pack enough pants for your trip and wash them when you get home – or go to a launderette.

“You don’t need pairs of pants hanging in a line like a ship’s sail. No one needs to see that. It ruins the holiday photographs.”

Camping has soared in popularity in recent years, with the UK camping market now worth £2.83 billion, up from £2.2 billion in 2019.

A whopping 42.2 per cent of Brits go camping at least once a year according to the latest statistics.

But for camping fan Emma, standards are slipping – and nothing is guaranteed to rile her more than the sound of couples getting frisky under the stars.

“People get randy when they go camping,” she says.

“I’m not sure if it’s the hot nights or the light evenings – coupled with a few drinks – but I get annoyed if I hear them.

“The girls aren’t silly. They know what it sounds like and it’s mortifying. I get especially annoyed if the noise is keeping me awake at 2am and they’re still going at it.”

The next morning, Emma says she takes great pleasure in waking up couples she’s heard bonking within earshot of her granddaughters – Elise, 17, Isabella, 15, Scarlett, 13, Lucy, 10, and Ivy, eight – during the night.

‘Bang and clatter’

“On my way to the shower block, I’ll bang and clatter and make lots of noise so they don’t get a lie in.

“On one occasion, when the girls were small, I made them sing a few rounds of Row, Row, Row Your Boat really loudly, just to put a couple off.”

It’s usually only her two youngest grandchildren that holiday with her now.

“The older ones don’t come any more and I think that’s a huge relief for them,” says retired civil servant Emma, who favours Welsh coastal resorts like Porthcawl.

I get especially annoyed if the noise is keeping me awake at 2am and they’re still going at it

“When they talk about camping with ‘Nooney’, which is what they all call me, it is like they are telling a survivor’s story.

Supplied

“The two youngest get very embarrassed. You see their faces drop when I march off to tell someone off, or start complaining about the state of the site to the manager.”

Emma reads fellow campers the riot act if they make noise after 10pm – and hates fire pits and barbecues.

“I don’t care if they get annoyed. Looking after the grandchildren can be tiring and I just need a good night’s sleep,” Emma, who holidays with her grandchildren and husband Kev 64, a retired engineer, to give her own daughter Hannah, 35, a break, says.

“And there is nothing worse than sitting downwind from someone’s barbecue smoke. I don’t want to get a whiff of other people’s smelly sausages.”

Emma packs M&S food for her family, often enjoying French sticks, ham and salad.

“Why can’t we go back to how it was in the 1970s, when everyone was polite and followed some camping etiquette?” says Emma, who refuses to spoil the children with ice creams or seaside souvenirs.

“They love going into the shops, but they’re full of plastic tat and I won’t allow it in my tent.

‘Awful’

“If they want to buy something and I think it’s decent enough, I’ll allow it, but I’ll make them do some chores first – maybe the washing up. I’m very tight and I work to a budget.

“And they eat enough rubbish without me buying them ice creams every day. We might have one meal out, but I’ll cook the rest of the time.”

On one occasion, Emma suffered a slipped disc and carried a pink lilo with her everywhere, so she could lie down – much to the embarrassment of the grandkids.

“The pain was awful,” she recalls.

“We’d only just arrived and I didn’t want to cut the holiday short, so I carried this everywhere we went so I could lie down on it. I couldn’t sit down, I had to lie down – even in restaurants and at the arcades.

“Everyone looked at me like I was insane and the kids were embarrassed.

“On one occasion, they made some friends who were asking them why their nan was always lying down on the lilo. They hated having to explain it every time.”

Who the kids play with is another bone of contention whenever they’re away.

“I don’t let them play with just anybody,” Emma says. “If they meet someone, I’ll go round to check out the family’s tent and make sure they are appropriate.

“If they are in a caravan or a campervan I’m usually OK with that, but I will have to walk past to assess the family. If they are drinking a lot, or if there are cans lying around or knickers hanging out, I’ll pull the grandchildren away. You can’t be too careful.

I have complained a lot, but we’ve had some fun times

“I certainly wouldn’t want them playing with rough kids, or rude children that answer back.”

In fact, if Emma’s granddaughters fail to find suitable playmates, Emma thinks nothing of recruiting some herself.

“I prefer to choose their friends for them,” she says. “You’ll often see me approaching more palatable kids if I see a nice family.

“I’ll ask them their names and say they can play with my grandchildren if they like.”

Emma often calls out slovenly campers and the state of site facilities.

“If I think someone is being too messy or leaving a lot of litter, I complain,” says Emma. “I’m always on the phone to the owner.

“The shower blocks are often disgusting, so that is a common complaint. People often leave a mess all around the basin, but the worst is when they forget their pants and leave them hanging over a rail. Disgusting. That would definitely have me marching down to the site office.

“And I can’t stand men that go to the showers with their guts falling over the top of their towels, letting it all hang out.

“‘Morning love,’ they go, but I blank them if they are disgusting.”

Despite her never-ending complaining, Emma says she and the granddaughters cherish their shared camping trips.

“The kids have the best memories of those times,” she says. “We are planning to go back to Fontygary in the Vale of Glamorgan for three nights in August.” 

“It’s always the nightmares they remember. They’ll say: ‘Do you remember when Nooney did this or that?’ and then fall apart laughing.

“They’ll remember me telling someone off for having sex, or when the dog had diarrhoea in the campervan.

“We once parked under an acorn tree and all night the acorns dropped onto the roof keeping us all awake.

“I have complained a lot, but we’ve had some fun times. The kids ridicule me, but it makes me smile as I know they won’t forget me when I’m dead and buried.”

Supplied

The gran takes great pleasure in waking up couples she’s heard bonking on the site[/caption]