BUNKING off primary school to go out to work and being chased by police across allotments while dressed as a rabbit.

They are just some of the memories businessman Howard Millington recalls while writing his autobiography.

If you think them unusual, he also swears he remembers being in his mother’s womb and his own birth.

Howard was born in Leeds and moved to Taunton aged five.

It seems his teachers saw little of him as two years later he started work on a local farm.

“I was doing simple jobs like cleaning up and collecting eggs for £1 a day,” said Howard, 55, who now lives near Staplegrove.

“By 11 I was driving tractors. I left school with little more than an F in art to show for it.

“I then worked full-time on the farm. When a gardening company moved in next door, I worked for them because they had work around the country and I wanted to see life.”

A decade later, Howard became self-employed, setting up a power washing enterprise, which he still runs.

More recently, he has established several businesses under the Howard brand - landscaping, fencing and power washing, as well as Taunton Toys, including go karts, and concrete mixers. He employs 10 staff.

Along the way, he has been involved in volunteering, starting at the age of 18 as a presenter on Hospital Radio, based at Musgrove Park Hospital.

“I spent five years and hosted Millington’s Moments on a Monday,” said Howard.

“I used to wear fancy dress. Once I was dressed as a rabbit. Driving home, a police officer saw me in the car with the rabbit’s head on.

“I drove off and did a runner. It must have seemed odd seeing a six-foot rabbit being chased through the allotments by a police officer.

“After I got home, I changed and never heard any more about it.”

It was around then that Howard had his first brush with serious illness when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and underwent treatment in hospital before receiving the all-clear.

Later on he rode for Blood Bikes, transporting blood supplies to hospitals where there was an urgent need. He was awarded a medal for his efforts during the pandemic.

If it all sounds a bit hectic, Howard, who has a son and two daughters, has been forced to slow down in recent years.

He said: “I never caught Covid and was fine up until the point I had my first jab.

“After that I was really poorly and spent a week in bed before being ambulanced to Musgrove.

“I was given tablets by a drug company. It probably saved my life, but I was pretty messed up.

“When I came out I was really struggling. I fell over quite a lot and came off my bike and my mower.

“I was diagnosed with long Covid. I don’t drink, smoke or take drugs, but on a bad day it feels like I’ve had 12 pints.

“I’ve got lots of work on, but I’m thinking about retiring because I’m struggling to go on and I feel a little bit worse month by month.”

Howard says he spent thousands at a private therapy clinic, where he was put into an oxygen tank for an hour a day over a month.

“Pure oxygen under pressure was fed into me and initially it was successful,” he added. “But after six months it wore off.

“Now I can do 70 per cent less than I used to. By Friday afternoon I’m tired out. Not that I do much any more.”

One thing that has improved, according to Howard, is his memory.

“When I was in Musgrove, I didn’t really know where I was,” he said. “But since then my memory of years ago have come back, although my recent memory is poor.

“I can even remember being in my mum’s tummy, but you can’t mention what I experienced in a family newspaper.

“I remember being born and being in an incubator. I remember all my years as a baby and my childhood.”

There look set to be many more revelations if a publisher takes on Howard’s book.