By Michael MacLeod FAILING new security bollards around the Scottish Parliament have been criticised by an MSP who says they defy the idea of open parliament. The SNP’s John Wilson says the £40,000 bollards – which can be automatically lowered into the ground to allow access – are like “a ring of steel.” He fears [...]
By Zoë Keown DESPITE an estimated fortune of £42 million, the Earl of Mansfield has been unable to halt a children’s home being built on land neighbouring his estate. One of Scotland’s richest landowners, Lord Mansfield, 79, was unable to persuade the government that the site was unsuitable because it presented a risk to the [...]
By Michael MacLeod PARENTS have criticised retailers for selling two-inch high heels for girls as young as three. The trend was sparked after Tom Cruise and wife Katie dressed their three year-old daughter Suri in the shoes. Health experts warn they can damage youngsters’ feet, cause lower back pain and arthritis. Shops including GapKids, Asda [...]
By Zoë Keown FAITH groups have accused the Scottish Government of desecration over plans to exhume bodies and bury them in communal graves. Due a shortage of cemetery land, Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, is controversially proposing that councils be allowed to remove human remains and bury them at greater depth to free up space [...]
By Zoë Keown A NEW study shows a complete ban on junk food advertising could cut Scotland’s troubling childhood obesity levels by as much as 14 per-cent. Scottish children were among six countries analysed by scientists from Australia, Sweden and the UK, with the conclusion that food advertising has a significant impact on the eating [...]
By Michael MacLeod AN historic Scots monument is to get a £50,000 hip replacement to save it from collapse. Edinburgh’s oldest statue, the effigy of King Charles II on horseback, has been battered by over 300 years of heavy Scottish weather and needs urgent work. Rainwater has seeped in through cracks causing crippling damage on [...]
By Michael MacLeod DETERMINED parents staged a protest today to save one of Scotland’s oldest private schools after it was plunged into administration. Management at St Margaret’s School in Edinburgh watched the pupil roll fall from its 800 capacity to just 390 and had desperately tried to fend off an annual debt of £500,000 by [...]
By Shaun Milne BEST selling author Nick Hornby has been added to the line up for this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Hornby, who was behind novels later turned into movies including Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About A Boy, is also an Academy Award nominated screenwriter for his adaptation of Lynn Barber’s memoir, An [...]
By Michael MacLeod SCOTS telly star Gail Porter says happiness made her hair grow back after showing off a new look today (FRI). The presenter was shocked when five years of baldness caused by alopecia came to an end – so much so that she didn’t know what to do with it. But now the [...]
By Cara Sulieman A WOMAN who fought of an armed robber who tried to stab her was given an award for bravery today. Sheila Jeffrey was working in the small post office in Yetholm, near Kelso in the Borders in September 2008 when Patrick Loyden demanded cash. But 72-year-old Sheila – who has been at [...]
By Michael MacLeod AN RAF cargo plane hit a pair of deer as it came into land at RAF Kinloss. Parts of the propeller were smashed off as the SAAB-Scania aircraft moved along the air base runway at nearly 60mph. Air accident investigators revealed how the 33 year-old pilot tried to brake hard but failed [...]
By Paul Thornton A PENSIONER is recovering after a bus made an unscheduled stop – in her front room. Helen Wilson, 89, was sleeping at her home in Methil in Fife when a bus left the road and ploughed through her front garden and into the wall of her home on Wednesday night. Police, ambulance [...]
BLOOMING GOOD READ: With a colourful fringe of her own, model Christina Kernohan, 27, shows off the 2010 Festival Fringe programme, released today. A host of famous faces are set to flock to Edinburgh this summer for what promises to be the city’s biggest ever Fringe. Chart-toppers Dizzee Rascal, Jason Derulo and Plan B were [...]
By Cara Sulieman A BRAVE design student is getting ready for her graduation day despite being on kidney dialysis since Christmas. Roxan Buys, 22, is set to collect her BDes in Product Design from Edinburgh Napier University next week. With a prestigious design prize under her belt, she should be looking forward to a bright [...]
By Paul Thornton A WHEELCHAIR bound man viciously beaten by muggers at the weekend later tried to kill himself fearing police didn’t believe his story. Tetraplegic Garry Pearson, 44, from Oxgangs in Edinburgh, said the trauma was made all the worse when he was asked by detectives if he had made up the assault as [...]
By Paul Thornton A LASER which can sniff out landmines has been developed by scientists at a Scots university. Developers hope the hi-tech device could save hundreds of lives by mapping out mine-fields in combat zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq. It is also thought that the technology, developed by experts at University of St [...]
By Cara Sulieman A SCOTS garden centre is stocking live hens for sale – after a six week trial saw them flying out the door. Gardening giants Dobbies were left cock a hoop after more than 1000 hens were picked up by customers in little over a month. And demand for the egg laying birds [...]
By Michael MacLeod A HEARTS fan employed to demolish part of the Hibs stadium has buried one of their rival’s shirts under a new stand. Die-hard Jambo Louise Burnett, 28, left the cheeky memento along with pictures of Hearts’ 2006 Scottish Cup win beneath the new Easter Road terrace. And she is refusing to tell [...]
GRAD FOR IT: Four and five year olds attending Edinburgh’s Waterfront Nursery successfully completed the first stage of the new Curriculum for Excellence, and have officially graduated from the nursery. Complete with tiny mortar boards and gowns, the children took part in their very own graduation ceremony and received certificates of their achievement from Miles [...]
By Cara Sulieman and Paul Thornton A YOUNG man who dragged a teenage girl from a flat after her boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her on fire was among 50 heroes to be recognised by a new award presented for the first time today. Ricci Foreman, 20, was presented with a Brave@Heart award [...]