Weekly round-up: Five stories you may have missed

Gemma Collins deleted a picture of her hugging the free-roaming pony, telling followers to "support these beautiful horses"

A story about Gemma Collins telling her followers not to "stroke or feed" animals in the New Forest National Park was among our most read this week.

We have picked five stories from the past seven days in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and Oxfordshire to keep you up to date.

The 'dark side' of being a professional footballer

Simon Church said there was not a culture in football of talking openly about mental health

A retired professional footballer has opened up about "the dark side" of his career.

Former Reading FC striker Simon Church said he struggled with his mental health at some points, and that the culture did not encourage people to talk about it.

"Nowadays you feel like you can speak a bit more... there's a lot more support," he said.

Reading FC played a game on Saturday with mental health charity Beder as the main shirt sponsor, as part of a one-off initiative designed to get more people involved in the sport to talk about mental health.

'Dismayed' caravan site residents facing eviction

Tony Cameron has lived in the caravan park for 25 years

A man who has lived on a mobile caravan park for 25 years said he was "dismayed" at being given six weeks to leave.

More than 60 families living on Mount Pleasant Caravan & Camping Park in Christchurch, Dorset, have been told they need to leave by 28 February.

Resident Tony Cameron said he and his wife did not know where they were going to go, adding: "We're effectively going to be homeless."

Regency Living, which recently acquired the site, said it had to close it to carry out works, adding it was working with BCP Council to help find accommodation for affected residents.

Towie star warns others not to hug New Forest ponies

Gemma Collins posted this message urging her followers not to "stroke the horses or feed them"

TV personality Gemma Collins has told her followers not to "stroke or feed" animals in the New Forest National Park after facing a social media backlash for hugging a pony.

The former The Only Way Is Essex (Towie) star previously deleted a post from her Instagram of her embracing the free-roaming pony.

In May last year a former Neighbours star was also criticised for feeding the animals.

The New Forest National Park Authority has been contacted for comment but introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in 2023 to protect wildlife in the park.

Massive pothole proving difficult to fix

A large pothole which has damaged cars is proving difficult to repair, a council has confirmed.

Traffic lights have been set up on the A4130 out of Didcot towards Wallingford to divert drivers around the problem.

Councillor Ian Snowdon described the holes as "full on craters", while Oxfordshire County Council said it had attempted to fix the problem on several occasions.

The local authority recently defended another road in the county after it had been dubbed "Pothole World".

National Poo Museum shuts for year to go on tour

The museum dedicated to excrement is leaving its base in a former loo to hit the road

A museum all about poo in a former public toilet on the Isle of Wight has announced it will not open this year as it is set to go on tour.

Based at the disused Sandown Barrack Battery fort, faeces gathered from around the world are displayed in illuminated resin spheres.

The museum also features a "Loo-vre", a window frame displaying various poo specimens found on the island, including fossilised dinosaur droppings.

Museum director, Daniel Roberts, said with the tiny museum marking its 10th anniversary this year "it was time to hit the road".