Eight amazing News Shopper stories that should be made into movies

1. Saving Lewisham Hospital

The saving of Lewisham Hospital is asking to be made into an good old fashioned feel-good drama.

Last year Lewisham Hospital campaigners and Lewisham Council finally beat Jeremy Hunt in the legal battle to save the area's health services.

After 18 months of campaigning and court appeals, efforts by Hunt's Department of Health to downgrade A&E and maternity services at Lewisham had failed.

Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign chair Dr Louise Irvine told News Shopper: "I am ecstatic. It is fantastic news.

"This just shows the power of the community campaigning. It just shows people should never give up, never lose hope."

2. Crow attacks blonde joggers

From 2010, the horrifying story of a vicious crow with a long memory and a grudge against blondes.

Like something out of Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 classic The Birds, five female joggers - four blonde and one brunette - fell victim to the creature in the space of ten days.

It would dive down from the heavens to peck at their heads.

Colin Jerwood, who was running the café and clubroom at Eltham Park South where the crow lived, said: "At first I thought it was just a one off. But then it started attacking another blonde girl who was just running along.

"The rest of the time it just sits there looking menacing."

3. Pablo the cat

A Ladywell cat called Pablo, after disappearing from the streets of south east London a year before, turned up in a bank in Fife, Scotland - 449 miles away.

The nine-year-old moggy had learned to use the automatic door at Lloyds bank and sauntered into the branch, startling staff.

They called the nearest branch of charity Cats Protection, and when they arrived, there he was, lounging on a chair.

Pablo was identified through a microchip and was flown back to London to be reunited with his owners.

How he ended up in Scotland is anyone's guess, but it would make a hell of a movie - think The Incredible Journey in reverse.

4. Man gets drunk in Orpington, wakes up in Amsterdam

In scenes resembling comedy franchise The Hangover, an Orpington man got so drunk at a funeral that he woke up the next day in Amsterdam - with idea how he'd got there

John O'Kane, 22, said: "I woke up when someone started tapping me on the shoulder. It was an air hostess.

"Then there came the announcement: 'We have now arrived at Amsterdam'.

"I thought: 'what the hell have I done'."

5. Council takes Greenwich boy's chicken away

Ken Loach would be ideal to direct this devastating tale of a young boy whose pet chicken was taken away by Greenwich Council.

17-year-old Ellis Hart and neighbour George King, 61, had battled for two months to keep their pet, but when the council threatened to take them to court, they finally gave in.

The chicken, named Terence, had been upsetting neighbours by making too much noise.

Ellis said: "We were upset obviously and George hasn’t stopped crying. We’re not happy to hand him over."

One neighbour had taken to shouting at the animal, yelling "cock-a-f**king-doodledo".

6. Landing on the shores of Normandy

The most memorable thing about Steven Spielberg's 1998 war movie Saving Private Ryan is the hugely affecting opening sequence on the beaches of Normandy.

91-year-old Wilmington man Ian Hammerton experienced events first hand, and shared his extraordinary memories with News Shopper.

He was 22 when he landed at Juno Beach at 7am on June 6, 1944, as commander of five tanks belonging to the 22nd Dragoons.

He said: "We picked up the Browning machine gun, filled our pockets with grenades and carried as much ammunition as we could.

"I had a number of near misses. A telephone pole was hit and the top of that came down on top of my tank and I got tangled up in telephone wires."

7. Darkslay

In scenes resembling cult hit Kick Ass, 2010 saw Greenwich man turned superhero Darkslay come to the fore.

The real life hero dedicated himself to tackling any issue in Greenwich - from petty crime to chatting with people about their concerns.

He also campaigned for people to join his band of superheroes - the Mystery Men.

The caped crusader said: "It’s about giving a message of hope, selflessness and civic duty to people.

"The best way to get the message across would be to display the best of humanity which is what being a superhero is all about."

8. Cat held hostage

If the 1996 Mel Gibson film Ransom had played out a little more like this, it would have been a far superior movie.

Thieves stole cat Missy and held her hostage in Deptford for eight days with a price of £800 on her head.

After seven sleepless nights fearing the worst, a woman who referred to herself only as Mrs Glover paid the money to hostage-takers in an Eltham car park in exchange for the cat.

She said: "I haven’t been eating or sleeping. My worst fear was that she was being tortured."