Rotting ruckus

London, June 3 (Reuters): British artist Damien Hirst, who uses dead animals in his work, promised to apologise for a “mix-up” today, after a rotting cow was left outside his studio over a long holiday weekend.

Inspectors visited the studio in Gloucestershire, southwest England over the weekend and took the putrid remains of an animal away to incinerate them, after neighbours complained of a horrible smell.

A spokeswoman at Hirst’s studio confirmed that the remains were those of a dead cow. “It was at the rear of the studio in a plastic-contained bin,” she said. “It’s a communication mix-up between the contractor who was collecting it and a member of staff. So it was left over the bank holiday weekend, which was very unfortunate.”

She said Hirst planned to apologise for leaving the dead animal out. She would not say what the artist had used it for.

Paul habit

London (AFP): Former Beatle Paul McCartney, in an interview to be published tomorrow, admitted trying heroin once and using cocaine for a year when he was still a member of the legendary British pop group. “I did coke for about a year around that time (during the recording of the album Sergeant Pepper),” he told the British monthly uncut. “Coke and maybe some grass to balance it out. I was never completely crazy with cocaine.” “I’d been introduced to it (cocaine) and, at first, it seemed OK, like anything that’s new and stimulating. When you start working your way through it, you start thinking: ‘Mmm, this is not so cool an idea’, especially when you start getting those terrible come-downs,” he added.