Stunning video of northern lights above shipwrecked boat captured by photographer
Image by: Brian Matthews
Trapped in an icy grave, this doomed shipwreck is framed by a stunning celestial display of the northern lights.
The ill-fated SS Ithaka was wrecked after being blown onto the coast near the town of Churchill in Canada in 1960.
British photographer Brian Matthews caught the eerie, dark outline of the wrecked freighter trapped in sea ice - with a dazzling aurora display above it.
A shroud of lights in an array of shades of green seem to dance in the heavens above the shipwreck which lies trapped in the sea ice around it.
Brian, 41, from Hartlepool was amazed by his snaps, and rated them "the best northern lights photos I've ever taken."
Image by: Brian Matthews
Image by: Brian Matthews
Image by: Brian Matthews
He and friend Alex didn't intend to capture such magnificent shots however.
Brian said: "Originally we went to photograph polar bears.
"But then we went back to Churchill and as the weather cleared up, we saw the solar activity had changed.
"I've seen the northern lights several times and they vary in strength, but on this night they were so strong, yellows and greens dancing across the sky, and as it strengthens reds and purples appeared too which I've never seen!"
The northern lights, sometimes known as an aurora, happen when electrons crash into atoms in the atmosphere and give off photons of light.
Video by: Brian Matthews
Adorable moment a deaf and autistic boy who has 'no friends' received more than 700 birthday cards sent by strangers
Image by: Jon Mills
This is the adorable moment a deaf and autistic boy who has 'no friends' received more than 700 birthday cards sent by strangers across the world.
Mum Natasha James, 33, put an appeal out on Facebook to see if anyone would send Dylan a card for his ninth birthday.
He had to be taken out of school due to his condition more than a year ago and lost contact with other pupils when he spent nine months receiving treatment in London.
But Natasha, of Plymouth, Devon, said they were stunned by the mountain of cards that kept arriving through the post for him - even during the coronavirus lock-down.
The final tally was 714 and Dylan spent most of his birthday on Thursday (March 26) opening them up - with his mum filming his joyous reaction to it all.
She said: "Dylan spent a long time in London in hospital and has been out of school for over a year. He doesn't have any friends, which is horrible to say.
"I put an appeal on Facebook to see if anyone would send him a card.
"The response we had from strangers was completely overwhelming. People were contacting us saying they would like to buy him something and what sort of card would he want.
"They were absolutely brilliant. We thought we might get about 100, which would have made it very special. But the last count we had 714.
"They were still putting things through the door right up until his birthday and leaving presents on the doorstep."
Natasha said they had cards from as far away as Las Vegas and Australia. A chief petty officer in the Royal Navy, known as Bernie, also delivered a box of arts and crafts and 55 cards from all recruits at the navy barracks.
Image by: Jon Mills
Image by: Jon Mills
Image by: Jon Mills
She added: "We have been inundated with cards and little gifts. The appeal went live on Facebook four weeks ago and things started arriving the following day. The postman had to knock on the door every day and they had to come in a special van. Some days there were 10, other days there were 50.
"On his actual birthday (Thursday) we had 103 cards.
"We were stunned. I put the appeal up and just hoped for the best and thought some would be better than nothing.
"It is such a tough time for people at the moment and they are not meant to be going out.
"We thought it would really slow down with the coronavirus but people were still making the effort by posting them during their only exercise of the day and they continued to turn up.
"We are just so grateful that we are surrounded by such lovely people who were able to make Dylan's day so special.
"His birthday was tough. He is autistic and does not understand why he can not go out. He kept asking throughout the day, can we go out now and can he have a friend come over?
"Every time he did we just went back to open more cards. It took hours to go through them all.
"It certainly gave us something to focus on and made the day a lot easier.
"People are only allowed out once a day and to think during this time they wanted to post cards for my little boy was overwhelming. It means the world they were still making the effort for Dylan.
"You can see in the video he was totally overwhelmed. His reaction was brilliant. He didn't know where to start and was so intrigued to find out where they had all come from."
Natasha said Dylan had been out of school since February last year and had lost contact with everyone since. He spent nine months in London being treated and was now living at home with his three siblings.
She added: "He does not understand the situation so it has been difficult with him. But this meant the world to us.
"We will display the cards as much as we can in the front room and will be rotating them each day.
"It made a very difficult time slightly easier and we will be forever grateful to the kindness strangers showed to my little boy."
Video by: Ellis Wylam
Watch hilarious moment man begins a drone journey to deliver toilet roll to his sister's house
Image by: Pete Farmer
A supermarket worker thought of an ingenious way to deliver some toilet roll to his sister - by using a DRONE.
Pete Farmer's job means he is right in the middle of the coronavirus panic-buying.
But that didn't stop him making sure his loved ones had the loo roll they needed.
The 48-year-old lives only two streets away from his sister, Debbie Brazier, and decided to send her the airborne package as a joke.
The video shows the drone limbering up for it's flight, which Pete describes as only a ten minute walk for him.
Image by: Pete Farmer
Image by: Pete Farmer
He works for Morrison's distribution centre and says keeping stock up is a difficult process at the moment.
"There is no shortage of toilet rolls or food, the warehouse is full and we are working long hours sending out supplies to the stores 24/7," Pete said. "There really is no need to panic buy, stock is plentiful."
Pete, from Northamptonshire, said his sister asked for toilet roll after his night shift.
"I sent it for a laugh and thought it was funny to send it over that way."
But Pete adds the social changes the Covid-19 pandemic has caused means his method might not be unusual for long.
"You never know in three or four months it might be the only way to send things. Drones could be the only way forward."
Video by: Gabriella Petty
Almost an entire family have come down with coronavirus after it is believed 17 members caught the illness at a funeral.
Image by: Simon Galloway
Almost an entire family have come down with coronavirus after it is believed 17 members caught the illness at a funeral.
Sheila Brooks, 86, passed away last month and nearly all her extended family attended the service two weeks ago.
But within days her niece Susan Nelson, 65, who had no underlying health conditions, became ill, and died of suspected Covid 19.
Now 16 further family members all suspect they have the virus after catching it at the funeral - including Susan's husband, daughter, a niece and a great-uncle.
Retired sandwich shop owner Susan, from Halesowen, West Mids., even died on the same hospital ward as her aunt Shiela.
Susan's daughter Amanda, 34, is just one of a suspected 17 family members who are showing symptoms of Covid-19 after going to the funeral in Yardley Wood.
Image by: Simon Galloway
Image by: Simon Galloway
The NHS business support manager, currently isolating at home with her father, Robert, also suffers from Addison’s Disease.
Amanda, from Halesowen said: “It was my [great] aunt’s funeral so a lot of the wider family were there.
“She died back in February, but we have just had so many people contract the virus that I can only think it was from then.
“We now have someone else in our family in hospital that's probably not going to survive it.
“My 21-year-old cousin has it, right the way up to a great uncle that is 88 and is showing some symptoms.
“Its a whole section of us, none of us seems to have been missed out of it just yet. It's a bit strange.
“I would say around 17 family members have been displaying symptoms since going to that funeral. It’s hit young and old in our family.
“Our beautiful, caring mum was the centre of the family - we are a very close, large family and this has destroyed us.”
Sheila Brooks, was 86 when she passed away on February 9, with the majority of the extended family attending the service on March 13.
Susan got notably worse the following week, with the family forced into calling an ambulance.
She died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham with her husband Robert, 67, at her side.
Her son Carl, 42, who now lives in Cleckheaton, Yorks., said: “She was coughing a lot, very breathless and showing all the traditional symptoms.
“She was admitted to hospital on Monday (23/03) and I spoke to the hospital staff the following day.
“They said the next 48 hours were critical before they called me back a few hours later to say it was very close to the end and one member of the family could be with her.
“Because I had none of the symptoms, I couldn’t go and my sister was too unwell battling the illness herself.
“People can end up dying on their own. Fortunately, my dad Robert was able to go and be with her when she died.
“She started showing serious symptoms on Thursday and being dead the early hours of the Tuesday morning shows how quickly this can escalate.
“I managed to speak to her on the phone when my dad got there and all she wanted was for me to come down.
“I had my suitcase packed ready to head down, but the hospital were telling me I wasn't allowed.
“I had to tell her they wouldn't let me and I weren’t allowed to see her. I didn't want her to die thinking that I didn't want to come.
“We have got to beat it and we can't have any other families to go through what we are going through at the moment.
“It’s about getting the message out. It's about seeing the faces of loved ones and thinking this is real.”
Image by: Simon Galloway
Image by: Simon Galloway
The family are unable to make funeral arrangements due to the government clampdown on mass gatherings.
Carl, one of the only members of the family without symptoms, said: “We have been told it may have to be limited to six people, but that could change.
“It's the practical things as well. All of my family are isolated, so I may have to drive down to pick up the relevant forms from the hospital to register her death.
“While I am doing all that, I won't be able to see my family, I will just have to drive back up north.
“It's not good and it's not right. I don't blame anyone, I totally understand the reasons why it has to be this way.”
Amanda and dad Robert, a retired electrical engineer, is still battling the killer bug but are “showing improvement”.
She said: “I still can't quite shake it off though. It's very up and down. For me, I feel okay in the mornings but by the afternoon you feel like it's come back again.
“The cough is still lingering and other symptoms, but hopefully we can keep improving. Fortunately, my dad seems to be getting better but my mum obviously didn't make it.
“The last person I thought it would take would be my mum. I was worried about my dad, who has underlying health conditions.”
The family are adamant that the wider public should follow the social distancing guidelines and to not do so is “madness”
“The speed it acts at is phenomenal and how vicious it is can't be underestimated,” her son Carl said “don’t be stupid and don’t risk it.
“Everyone, please follow the advice. Stay home, stay safe. Anyone who thinks they are fit and healthy, that it's just like the cold or flu, don’t risk it.”
In recognition NHS workers who tried to save their mum, the family have set up a Just Giving page with proceeds going to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.
Carl explained: “In the conditions, they are working under, it's phenomenal. My dad described it as a living hell.
“What they are facing on a day to day basis, no one truly understands or appreciates what they put into their job.
“If we can all just do something little that goes to them, that they can benefit from and just to say thank you, it would be great. My family are all grateful for the work they did.
“They couldn't save mum but they gave everything to do so and made her comfortable in the end.
“Even the follow-up conversations that I have had, despite how much pressure they are under, the doctor took the time to call me back and explain things to me.
“I couldn't ask for anymore. The fundraising page has exceeded our expectations already. The generosity of people has been staggering, even in these tough times.”
Amanda also echoed this, adding: “The ward that my mum died on was the same one that my aunt died on and the nursing staff instantly recognised my mum.
“I spoke to one of the nurses on the ward and it felt like her heart was broken. She was really, really upset.
“I just can't imagine what they were feeling as well, it will have been awful for them too.
“Mum would always see the best in people and take people under her wing. She became a second mother to my cousin Wayne.
“She was the centre of everything. All that went on in the family was communicated through my mum.
“She would pull everyone together, loved having a house full and seeing everyone. She was always laughing and joking. She will be sorely missed.”
You can donate to the charity here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stay-safe
The world's oldest man is spending his 112th birthday alone after celebrations were cancelled due to Covid-19
Image by: Simon Galloway
The world’s oldest man is celebrating his 112th birthday today (29) - but he'll be doing it alone thanks to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Bob Weighton’s birthday is always a joyous occasion as pupils from a local school come to sing him songs and the mayor even pays him a visit at his care home.
But celebrations were cancelled this year after the rapid spread of coronavirus put the entire country on lockdown.
The great-grandfather-of-25 became the oldest man in the world last month after the death of the previous record holder, Chitetsu Watanabe from Japan.
Retired lecturer Bob, from Alton, Hampshire, said: “There are no birthday celebrations, they have all been cancelled. I’m in isolation.
“I love meeting new people so that hasn’t been ideal, but I’m not too bothered about the birthday itself.”
Bob was 10 when the Spanish Flu swept around the world in 1918, killing between 50 and 100 million people.
But despite having a “very good memory”, he only remembers the pandemic through history books he read later in life.
He worked as an English teacher but spent most his life as a lecturer in marine engineering.
He previously said he was worried about the the coronavirus outbreak and has been taking extra care of his cleanliness and washes his hands more frequently.
Image by: Simon Galloway
Image by: Simon Galloway
Bob’s grandson Magnus, 48, said he’s not worried about Bob’s health but that he would get bored in isolation as he’s a “very sociable person”.
The retail specialist bought Bob an iPad so that he can still stay in touch with the family through Facetime in these testing times.
The dad-of-two said: “Originally Brendoncare wanted to organise a birthday party like they do for him every year.
“Children from the local school come and sing songs for him and it’s just a wonderful and joyous occasion.
“But now there are no plans for any kind of celebration, we’ll be ringing him throughout the day but that’s it.
“He’s in isolation but he’s doing alright.
“I’m not too worried about Bob, even during these times, because he’s healthy, he’s not had visitors and he’s a resilient man.
“He’s a very sociable person, which I think is the most difficult part for him, because he loves being around people and having a chat.
“But the care home also does a phenomenal job as well making him feel comfortable.”
He added: “I got him an iPad so we can all Facetime him and he can stay in touch with the family.
“But I haven’t gotten him a birthday present because you can’t get a man like him a gift. He’s seen it all.
“But he’s also very ecologically conscious so he doesn’t want anything he doesn’t need.”
Bob was born in Hull on March 29 1908, the same day as the UK’s oldest woman, Joan Hocquard.
He is a father-of-three and has 10 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
WHAT THE DUCK? Family awake to find their cat has dragged a live DUCK through the catflap
Image by: Marcus Elliott-Square
This video captures the moment a family awoke to discover their cat had dragged a live DUCK onto the landing - and had to shoo the startled animal out the window.
Two-year-old Slippers managed to pull the bird through the cat flap of the family home in Carshalton, South London, and drag it up the stairs.
Dad Marcus Elliot-Square, 47, was downstairs getting ready for work at 6.30am when his startled wife Claire phoned him from the landing.
At first it appears the duck is dead - but it suddenly bursts into life and flaps into the bedroom as Claire shrieks in panic.
Marcus, an operations director, then calmly opens the window and the lucky duck hops out to freedom.
Image by: Marcus Elliott-Square
Image by: Marcus Elliott-Square
Image by: Marcus Elliott-Square
He said: "I was downstairs early doors getting ready for another work day whilst in isolation.
"I received a phone call from my wife who was upstairs saying that she thought our cat Slippers had caught a duck.
"Now, Slippers has got previous for pigeon rustling and catches on average a mouse every two days.
"So, in light of this I picked up my phone thinking that if this was indeed the case, I needed evidence.
"I still thought it was a wind up as I started up the stairs. The rest is history."
Marcus' daughters Charlotte, 12, and Georgina, 10, were in their beds at the time and were woken by the drama.
He hopes the video - shot on Thursday March 26 - will bring some light relief during the coronavirus crisis.
Marcus added: "I'd like to donate some of the proceeds (after slippers has been treated to something more appropriate) to charity to support the Emergency Workers who are doing so much for us and need a bit of cheering up."
Video by: Marcus Elliott-Square
GARDEN HORROR - A dad-of-two almost died after catching a rare flesh eating bug when he cut his hand GARDENING
Image by: Steve Palmer
A dad-of-two almost died after catching a rare flesh eating bug when he cut his hand GARDENING.
Steve Palmer, 34, nicked the middle finger on his right hand while clearing debris which had swept into his garden from a river during the recent floods.
He thought nothing of it until the next morning when his finger appeared red and swollen.
Steve went to work with his father-in-law but was stunned when his hand ballooned in size and his arm had turned black.
He was rushed to hospital where doctors diagnosed him with necrotising fasciitis, a potentially fatal flesh-eating bacteria.
Image by: Steve Palmer
Image by: Steve Palmer
Image by: Steve Palmer
He was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where surgeons operated to remove the dead and infected tissue from his arm.
A plastic surgeon was able to save his arm from being amputated and Steve is expected to take a year before making a full recovery.
Steve, who worked as an air conditioning engineer, has posted graphic pictures of his blackened arm on Facebook in a bid to warn others.
He said: “It was terrifying, it was like something from a horror movie. I could literally see my entire arm turning black.
“When the surgeon looked at my hand all the blood vessels in my knuckles had turned to mush.
“I just want to warn people to be careful and to wear gloves while gardening, particularly now that people will probably be spending more time in their gardens due to the coronavirus lockdown."
Steve was gardening with his wife Laura, 34, at their home in Polesworth, Warks., on March 7 when he cut his finger.
He said: "Me and my wife were in the garden tidying up.
“We live on the back of the River Anker which had flooded a couple of weeks earlier and messed the garden up a bit.
“We’d waited for the weather to get better so we could clean up.
"While I was clearing reeds which had been swept into the garden from the river I got a
little nick on my finger.
“I didn’t even notice it, I get little cuts all the time at work and just cracked on but there must have been all sorts of bacteria from the floods which got into the cut.
"The next morning I was meant to help my father-in-law do some cementing at his farm but when I looked at my middle finger it had swelled up and was red.
“I felt a bit soft for saying I couldn’t help him but went round anyway and played with the kids and on the piano but I could hardly move my finger.
“I said to Laura 'that starting to look a bit infected'.
"When I got home my knuckles were swollen and the infection had started to spread up my arm."
Image by: Steve Palmer
Image by: Steve Palmer
The next day Steve was taken to Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, West Mids., by his friend and was told to wait in A&E.
Steve, who is dad to three-year-old Jacob and seven-year-old Charlie, said: “The doctor said he thought it might be sepsis and cellulitis so put me on a saline drip overnight
and gave me paracetamol because my temperature was very high.
“The next day I was transferred to hand specialists at the QE in Birmingham where a surgeon told me again he thought it was sepsis.
“I was taken down to surgery and was operated on for four-and-a-half hours.
“When I came round doctors told me that they discovered it was actually necrotising fasciitis which is quite rare.
“The blood vessels under my knuckles were mush so the surgeons had to wash all of the infection away and pull down skin from my forearm onto the tendons before taking a skin graft from my leg onto my arm.
“I was very lucky and could easily have died. The surgeons saved my life and my arm.
“I’m back home but I’ve been told it’ll take 10 to 12 months before I can hold tools again. I’ve got two per cent use of my hand at the moment.
“It’s going to be a long long journey back to recovery. I just want to warn everyone now to wear gloves in the garden.
“It was a tiny cut I had on my hand but it was enough to let the bacteria in which almost killed me.”He was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where surgeons operated to remove the dead and infected tissue from his arm.
A plastic surgeon was able to save his arm from being amputated and Steve is expected to take a year before making a full recovery.
Steve, who worked as an air conditioning engineer, has posted graphic pictures of his blackened arm on Facebook in a bid to warn others.
He said: “It was terrifying, it was like something from a horror movie. I could literally see my entire arm turning black.
“When the surgeon looked at my hand all the blood vessels in my knuckles had turned to mush.
“I just want to warn people to be careful and to wear gloves while gardening, particularly now that people will probably be spending more time in their gardens due to the coronavirus lockdown."
Steve was gardening with his wife Laura, 34, at their home in Polesworth, Warks., on March 7 when he cut his finger.
He said: "Me and my wife were in the garden tidying up.
“We live on the back of the River Anker which had flooded a couple of weeks earlier and messed the garden up a bit.
“We’d waited for the weather to get better so we could clean up.
"While I was clearing reeds which had been swept into the garden from the river I got a
little nick on my finger.
“I didn’t even notice it, I get little cuts all the time at work and just cracked on but there must have been all sorts of bacteria from the floods which got into the cut.
"The next morning I was meant to help my father-in-law do some cementing at his farm but when I looked at my middle finger it had swelled up and was red.
“I felt a bit soft for saying I couldn’t help him but went round anyway and played with the kids and on the piano but I could hardly move my finger.
“I said to Laura 'that starting to look a bit infected'.
"When I got home my knuckles were swollen and the infection had started to spread up my arm."
Image by: Steve Palmer
Image by: Steve Palmer
The next day Steve was taken to Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, West Mids., by his friend and was told to wait in A&E.
Steve, who is dad to three-year-old Jacob and seven-year-old Charlie, said: “The doctor said he thought it might be sepsis and cellulitis so put me on a saline drip overnight
and gave me paracetamol because my temperature was very high.
“The next day I was transferred to hand specialists at the QE in Birmingham where a surgeon told me again he thought it was sepsis.
“I was taken down to surgery and was operated on for four-and-a-half hours.
“When I came round doctors told me that they discovered it was actually necrotising fasciitis which is quite rare.
“The blood vessels under my knuckles were mush so the surgeons had to wash all of the infection away and pull down skin from my forearm onto the tendons before taking a skin graft from my leg onto my arm.
“I was very lucky and could easily have died. The surgeons saved my life and my arm.
“I’m back home but I’ve been told it’ll take 10 to 12 months before I can hold tools again. I’ve got two per cent use of my hand at the moment.
“It’s going to be a long long journey back to recovery. I just want to warn everyone now to wear gloves in the garden.
“It was a tiny cut I had on my hand but it was enough to let the bacteria in which almost killed me.”
PIPING A HERO - Former Labour advisor Alastair Campbell serenades dedicated NHS nurse on bagpipes as she returns home from gruelling hospital shift.
Image by: Jon Mills
Former Labour advisor Alastair Campbell serenaded a hero nurse home on the bagpipes after she finished a gruelling shift on a busy hospital ward.
Matilda 'Sissy' Bridge battled leukaemia from the age of two-and-a-half and joined the NHS to work with those who helped her beat the cancer and care for others.
Sissy, 27, now works as a nurse on the asthma ward at Whittington Hospital, Upper Holloway, London.
She and Campbell's comedian daughter Grace, 25, have been neighbours and friends since birth.
Image by: Jon Mills
Accomplished piper Alastair said: "Sissy and grace are great friends. Sissy had childhood leukaemia and was hospitalised for quite a while. That is part of the reason she became a nurse.
"It was an honour to march a heroine home from the front line - well done Sissy.
"And we did a nice hymn for the whole street who came out to thank Sissy and all who work in our wonderful NHS.
"We were also serenading Sissy's loving family, mum Victoria and older sister Florence, who worry about her every minute of every day.
"#clapforNHS. And, of course, the wonderful @RoyalFreeNHS."
Alastair, inspired by Sissy's childhood cancer battle, ran the marathon for Bloodwise charity in her honour.
He said: "I ran the marathon for leukaemia research in 2003 and her family donated £50k. I raised over £1million in the end."
Video by: Ellis Wylam
Thoughtful neighbour has created a parking spot for an NHS nurse who is working on the front-line of the battle against coronavirus
Image by: Steve Chatterley
A thoughtful neighbour has created a parking spot for an NHS nurse who is working on the frontline of the battle against coronavirus.
The space was marked out in white spray paint directly outside the health worker's house so she does not have to search for a gap when returning from long shifts.
The nurse, who does not want to be named, is working in a hospital to treat patients with coronavirus in Greater Manchester.
A sign put up by the neighbour next to the spot read: “SPACE RESERVED. Polite notice. Please respect the sign and give our NHS workers a change. Thanks.”
The nurse's husband, who also does not wish to be named, first saw the paint after his wife had gone to work on Saturday morning (28 March) and said she was “incredibly touched” by the small act of kindness.
He said she often has to park further away from her home when she gets back from her work at the hospital.
Image by: Steve Chatterley
He posted on Facebook: “What absolutely gorgeous caring neighbours who have done this for her. Such a caring touch.
“She was emotional when the street clapped for the NHS in the week, this will do her in! Let's keep supporting our nurses and NHS.”
Critical staff are starting to be tested today (Mon) to see whether they have coronavirus, with tests for A&E staff, paramedics and GPs set to follow.
Last week more than 20,000 former NHS staff applied to return to the health service to join the fight against Covid-19.
Yesterday (Sun) Prime Minister Boris Johnson also thanked 750,000 volunteers who had put their names down to support doctors and nurses however they can.
On Saturday NHS consultant Amged El-Hawrani, 55, was the first hospital frontline worker to die after testing positive for the virus.
Second home owners who have fled to seaside properties claim they have become victims of vigilante 'hate crimes' from furious locals
Image by: Wayne Lewis
Wealthy second home owners who fled to their seaside houses to isolate
say the abuse and attacks they receive from locals should be classed as a 'HATE CRIME'.
Some families have ignored warnings to stay in primary residences and travelled to small towns and villagers in tourism hotspots like Cornwall.
Businessman Tony Willis was among those who left London with his family with his family from London to their holiday home in Devon before the coronavirus travel ban begun.
But he said he has been targeted by vigilantes who wrote 'go home' in the dirt on the rear window of his car.
A 'threatening' leaflet was also put on his doorstep which reiterated the message.
And Tony said the way second home owners have been targeted should be treated by police as a "hate crime."
He bought the house in Bigbury-on-Sea in Devon around 10-years-ago and claimed he had as much right to be there as anyone else.
Tony told the BBC: ""Over the past week we have had Go Home daubed in the dirt on the back windscreen of our car, leaflets telling us to do the same and someone haranguing me to 'Go Home' from the street outside our house,.
"This is pure harassment and in another context would be considered a hate crime.
"Since the lockdown we decided to stay here because it would be non-essential travel to go back.
"I spend a lot of time in Devon, I carry on a business down here and my wife's from Devon.
"We are following all the rules, we are self-isolating and we only go out when we have to for provisions.
"We love it down here and we're not going to be run out of town by a few idiots."
Image by: Wayne Lewis
Image by: Wayne Lewis
Image by: Wayne Lewis
Devon and Cornwall Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said the behaviour was "unacceptable".
He said: "This is a family who are probably just as frightened and concerned as everyone else.
"If they are already here we should welcome them and make them feel part of our community.
"This is not a time to turn person against person and for us in the South West to turn against the people of London or vice versa."
Local councillor Beth Huntley said that the majority of properties in the village were holiday lets or second homes, and that most of the population there is elderly.
The member of Bigbury Parish Council said: "We hope the community is free of the virus, but every newcomer brings a threat to the older community.
"It would be lovely if people who own holiday homes stayed close to their homes.
"But I think a conciliatory approach is always a good idea."
Several tourism bosses have urged people to stay away from the South West to stop the spread of coronavirus and protect the services from being overrun.
Malcolm Bell, head of Visit Cornwall, said: "Our advice is do not come. Moving around can easily accelerate the spread of the virus.
"That applies to people with second homes here - and to visitors who had planned a holiday."
