The stately home scored five and four with particular praise for its "friendly and knowledgeable guides."You can see the love and care which has gone into their presentation. Buckingham Palace could learn from looking at houses such as Chatsworth and Castle Howard," said Mr Tolliday.Other attractions awarded low marks were Stonehenge and London Zoo. The Which? report insisted that some of Britain's best-known attractions "leave a lot to be desired" with unimaginative presentation, confusing layouts, lack of appeal to children and dingy toilets.Stonehenge, which scored two in both sections, was said to have inadequate facilities while the Zoo was criticised for its "shabbiness". With a score of three and two, it ranked lower than Windsor's "disappointing" Legoland.In contrast, researchers felt the Natural History Museum in South Kensington could get no better, awarding it five marks in both categories."It really stood out. It was exceptional in everything - even the food it served," said Mr Tolliday.. THE HOME Secretary rejected Mohamed Al Fayed's application for a British passport because of a stain on his character and his demonstration of a "serious want of probity".

Jack Straw said that despite the millions of pounds the Harrods owner had paid in taxes and charitable donations since moving to Britain, he did not pass the "good character" test to enable him to become a naturalised British citizen. The reasons behind last week's decision to reject MrFayed's bid for a UK passport were disclosed yesterday after the tycoon published a letter he had received from the Home Office explaining Mr Straw's position.The three-page letter said the Home Secretary had given "considerable weight" to MrFayed's substantial charity work, his support of the country's "commercial interests", the fact that he had paid substantial taxes to the Treasury, and his family circumstances. But it also highlighted the controversies surrounding the opening of a Harrods safety deposit box that belonged to Mr Fayed's business rival, the late Tiny Rowland, and Mr Fayed's admitted involvement in paying MPs to ask questions in the House of Commons.The letter, from Ailish King-Fishe of the Home Office, said Mr Straw believed Mr Fayed's failure to intervene promptly after his staff broke into Mr Rowland's box constituted more than a "minor blemish" on his character - as Mr Fayed had argued - but demonstrated a "serious want of probity".Mr Straw also dismissed Mr Fayed's claims that he did not realise that making secret payments to MPs was improper and unethical. The Home Office letter, to Mr Fayed's solicitors, stated that the Home Secretary "believes several factors indicate your client knew the payments were improper".. AIRCRAFT REGULARLY fly over London carrying too little fuel to cope with diversion or an emergency, an authority on aircraft safety said yesterday. The claim followed the revelation that a Malaysian jumbo jet had arrived at Heathrow with so little fuel that even a slight delay could have meant that it crashed over London. Malaysian Airlines (MAS) is believed to have been involved in 10 similar incidents at Heathrow in recent months, according to a whistle-blower's report.The-re have been a number of near-miss reports recently which, with the Malaysian jumbo incident, raise concern over the danger London faces from a jet disaster.The number of serious incidents in British airspace is growing as air traffic controllers attempt to cope with a steadily increasing number of flights each year Last year 147 million people flew in and out of Britain.

The national air traffic centre at West Drayton, near Heathrow, handled more than 1.7 million flights in 1998, a 7.5 per cent increase on 1997 and 50 per cent above the 1992 level.Commenting on the Malaysian jumbo incident, David Learmount, the operations and safety editor of Flight International magazine, who revealed the story, said: "This is serious. It really is boneshaking." Landing with nearly empty tanks probably happened regularly, he said, adding: "But this is the first time we have come across a serial offender. Every airline is likely to have done something like this at least once over a period of time. But in a relatively short period [MAS has done this] 10 times."The most recent incident involving MAS, believed to have happened two weeks ago, was reported anonymously to the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme, a government- backed organisation designed to encourage whistle-blowers.According to Mr Learmount, a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) investigation found out from refuelling records that the 747 landed with just three tons of fuel.

British aviation rules require a minimum of 4.5 tons and British Airways, the national carrier, requires nine tons. Further investigation revealed another nine similar cases involving MAS.Mid-air near-misses also seem to be on the increase. Last Thursday a 737 and a 757 were involved in a near-miss, and on 15 April a Gatwick- bound BA 737, carrying 137 passengers, was thought to have been only four seconds from hitting a United Airlines Heathrow-bound 777 after the aircraft were both accidentally put on the same flight altitude. On 26 February a 737 and a private Gulfstream jet had a near-miss over Chigwell in the Essex suburbs.The Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake, a long-standing campaigner on air safety, said yesterday that he had been in talks last week with the CAA on safety in British skies.

"It is clear that the number of serious air incidents is growing faster than the increase in traffic," he said.Air traffic controllers filed a record number of "overload" reports last year (when controllers feel the volume or complexity of traffic is too great to guarantee safety) There was one nearly every week. CAA figures showed that the system was overloaded 49 times, compared with 24 during the previous 12 months and 16 in 1996 to 1997. The total number of near- misses attributed to controller error rose from 19 to 21. Mistakes by pilots led to a further 20.The National Air Traffic Service is hiring more controllers and reorganising airspace sectors to relieve pressure on staff. The air traffic control centre at West Drayton in London is to be replaced by a pounds 340m centre at Swanwick, Hampshire, in 2002, which will increase capacity.. A RED setter called Reg was back to his energetic best yesterday, blissfully unaware that he appears to have made a minor piece of medical history. Reg, who suffered from a heart defect vets said would kill him, owes his life to a paediatric cardiologist and the first keyhole heart bypass surgery of its type on a dog.