By Rory Reynolds DOZENS of fire-fighters were last night battling a blaze at a farm after 400 tonnes of straw and chemicals went-up in flames. Appliances were called to the inferno at Kennetsideheads Farm near Eccles, Roxburghshire, yesterday (Sunday) morning at 9.30am, with 11 appliances fighting the flames at one point. The cause of the [...]
By Paul Thornton SCOTLAND’S local authorities have paid out over £1.2m of tax payers’ cash to motorists because of potholes causing damage to cars in the last five years. Over 12,000 drivers received payouts from councils because of the poor state of the country’s roads – an average of £100 each. And – with some [...]
By Rory Reynolds A SENIOR SNP politician is under fire over claims he rigged a website poll on the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie Bomber. A senior staffer for Schools and Skills minister Keith Brown sent an email to SNP researchers and members of parliament, urging them to vote in favour of the decision [...]
By Rory Reynolds HARD-UP whisky chiefs say they’re too skint to throw their traditional booze-bash for Labour after years of supplying free nips at the annual party conference. The Scotch Whisky Association has ditched its free drinks reception after decades of supplying top tipple to party members and MPs. But despite saying it’s is too [...]
By Paul Thornton FORMER First Minister Jack McConnell’s world-wide travel as a peace envoy cost £36,000 last year, it has been revealed. Mr McConnell made 11 visits to foreign shores including Washington, Tokyo and Ethiopia after being given the job in October last year. He has also attended New York THREE times on official business [...]
By Paul Thornton SWEET-TOOTHED school kids have launched a legal bid to reinstate treats to their tuck-shop after health bosses banned sugary foods. Children at Knowetop Primary School in Motherwell have petitioned the Scottish Parliament to change laws banning confectionery sales in schools. North Lanarkshire Council claim that government rules insisting on healthy foods being [...]
By Rory Reynolds SCOTS funnyman Billy Connolly is set to star in a new big-budget Disney movie set in Scotland. The comedy legend will star alongside Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Emma Thompson and Julie Walters in The Bear and The Bow – a fairytale about a 10th Century Scottish princess. The Big Yin is to [...]
By Rory Reynolds COUNCIL bosses have fitted loudspeakers to CCTV cameras to help evacuate a Scottish city in the event of a terror attack. Speakers in Glasgow city centre – costing an estimated £27,500 – have been erected to better prepare people for a massive terrorist incident. The speakers would give details of special assembly [...]
By Michael MacLeod A SCOTS police officer was exposed by his own colleagues as being a cocaine dealer with a £520 per month drug habit. Christopher McGinn gave his friends lines of coke in exchange for pints of beer in pub toilets. He used an iTunes card to snort his own. And when the 29 [...]
By Alexander Lawrie THE SCOTTISH Parliament building has come under fire after workmen were again called in to repair leaking windows. Five of the Holyrood building’s “think pod” windows are thought to be the culprit – just 18 months after similar work was carried out. The much-criticised building’s windows, which were famously designed by architect Enric Miralles [...]
By Alexander Lawrie SCOTTISH reality TV star Keith Jack is teaming up with his dancer girlfriend to open their very own dance school. The Any Dream Will Do singing sensation hopes to help out fellow youngsters following in his footsteps by launching a stage school. The 21 year-old, and his girlfriend Alana Macfarlane, are organising [...]
By Rory Reynolds A CAT who disappeared and turned up in Plymouth more than a year later was finally reunited with its owner yesterday. It is thought that Sampson – a large black and white cat – walked 500 miles to Plymouth after vanishing from his home in Penicuik in 2008. Owner Linda was thrilled [...]
By Alexander Lawrie A PAIR of swans have been put down by vets following a savage attack by two dogs. Scottish SPCA officers rushed to the horrific scene after receiving reports that two greyhound-type dogs were attacking the swans and their cygnets. The male bird had to be put down just hours after the attack [...]
By ALEXANDER LAWRIE A spin doctor appointed to spearhead the world-wide Homecoming Scotland campaign deliberately failed to disclose his bipolar condition to his employers as he battled to save his job, a tribunal heard yesterday. Richard Saville-Smith, from Edinburgh, had been in the position as PR manager of Year of Homecoming for just seven weeks [...]
By Reporting Team THE BODY of a woman has been found under the floorboards of a house in West Lothian. Forensic teams, some wearing white paper suits and face masks, were examining the remains of the disabled woman named last night by locals as Londoner Carol Jarvis, who was aged in her 50s. It was [...]
By Rory Reynolds THESE are the first stunning pictures of the lavish new Usher Hall in Edinburgh after £25million of investment in the 95-year-old building. The top music and performance venue has been under various stages of renovation since 2000, and according to bosses is all set for the new season. The new revamped venue [...]
By Alexander Lawrie & Rory Reynolds SCOTLAND’S most famous chip shop is facing a battle to retain its crown as the best in the business – by a rival situated just yards away. For years the Anstruther Fish Bar in Fife has been crowned Fish and Chip Shop of the Year – and is the [...]
By Alexander Lawrie A TOP PR executive hired to mastermind the Homecoming Scotland campaign sparked a two-day police hunt after he disappeared following a mental breakdown, a tribunal heard yesterday. Richard Saville-Smith from Edinburgh suffered a recurrence of his bipolar condition just seven weeks after being appointed as PR manager for Year of Homecoming. Giving [...]
By Rory Reynolds HOMELESS campaigners descended on Holyrood today to present a six-foot-tall placard to MSPs demanding that the Parliament earmark more investment for social housing. Representatives from the Shelter pressure group delivered the ‘Declaration for Homes’ to try and persuade decision makers to tackle what they argue is a chronic shortage of rented housing [...]
By Michael MacLeod A DOZY drug dealer was caught throwing heroin and mobile phones over a prison wall for inmates – after lobbing a fresh orange over too “as an afterthought.” Unfortunately for David Hyland, 25, the fruit almost hit a prison guard who in turn alerted police who raced to the scene. Hyland tried [...]