By Kirsty Topping FIRE crews tackled a blaze at a papermill today (mon). Six fire engines rushed to the Tullis Russell site in Glenrothes, Fife just after noon. Workers at the factory have battled to contain the fire by removing paper bales from the site with a fork lift. No one has been reported [...]
By Kirsty Topping A MAN fighting for his life following a racing crash may have removed his seatbelt. It is understood that investigators are looking into the possibility that the man took his seatbelt off during the race, which took place at the “Crail Thrash” event in Fife. Motorists are allowed to drive “suitably [...]
By Kevin Duguid AROUND 150 friends of a teenager who died after an alleged attack at a house party are set to stage a fundraising walk in his memory. Brett Lodge was left in a coma after an incident in the Liberton area of Edinburgh, but died three days later of his injuries. Since [...]
By Kevin Duguid AN HISTORIC Scottish hotel could be set for one of the biggest expansions in its history. Bosses at Sir Rocco Forte’s Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh are looking into developing the basement floors of the iconic A-listed Princes Street building. The former North British Hotel has four basement levels, which are not [...]
By Kirsty Topping THE future of a children’s football team has been put in doubt after thieves stole their goalposts. Crooks cut the aluminium crossbars from two sets of goals owned by Easthouses Football Club in Midlothian, just days before the start of the start of the new seven-a-side season. The team now faces a [...]
By Kirsty Topping BUSINESSES affected by Edinburgh’s troubled trams project are to get a £210,000 “compensation” boost from council chiefs. Shops affected by the closure of Princes Street for remedial work on the tram lines are also set to benefit from reduced business rates. The news comes as it was revealed that the cost of [...]
By Kirsty Topping A NATIONWIDE “kill on sight” alert has been issued after a foreign species of salmon was pulled from a Scottish river. A humpback salmon was found in the River Tweed in a discovery that could spell disaster for the native King of Fish. If humpbacks breed and wipe out Scottish salmon that [...]
MOTORISTS are four times more likely to be let off a parking ticket in the most lenient area of Scotland compared with the toughest. Officials in Argyll and Bute rip up an astonishing 83% of parking tickets that are appealed by drivers. But East Ayrshire has emerged as the most hard-line area of the country [...]
A WAR of words has erupted between Glasgow and Philadelphia over the filming of Brad Pitt’s movie Word War Z. The Scottish city has been transformed to replicate “Philly” by film-makers with yellow cabs and American street signs and traffic lights taking over the streets. But the transformation has annoyed the American city’s natives. The [...]
SCOTS adventurer Mark Beaumont has revealed the specially-designed ice boat for his North Pole trip is too small. Beaumont, 28, set off last Friday on a 450-mile row to the North Pole. He disembarked with five others, including trip leader and veteran adventurer Jock Wishart, from Resolute Bay in the Canadian Arctic on Friday. They [...]
SCOTS hospitals are facing a critical shortage of drugs vital for fighting tuberculosis. Public health minister Michael Matheson has admitted that hospitals across the country are having difficulties obtaining medicine to combat the disease. And now a national action group has been set up to combat the issue. Cases of tuberculosis recently hit their highest [...]
By Kirsty Topping A SCOTTISH council splashed out £2,500 on trendy iPads, only to replace them with iPad2s just months later. And another local authority blew £1,500 on a high-spec computer designed for playing the latest video games. In total, councils across Scotland have splurged at least £64,000 on must-have Apple gadgets in the [...]
By Anna Gault ONE of the finest examples of new architecture in the world this year is – a multi-storey car park in Glasgow. Despite being structures usually associated with crime, grime and nasty odours, the multi-storey at a city hospital has drawn praise for its “dynamic fluttering effect” in sunlight. The car park has [...]
A COW had to be rescued from a tight squeeze after it got its head stuck in a ladder. Members of the public spotted the Belgian Blue bullock in a field on the Troon to Barassie road in Ayrshire last month. The startled onlookers immediately called the Scottish SPCA to help the poor animal. Inspector [...]
By Anna Gault A NEW internet game is taking aim at key figures in the phone hacking scandal as players score points by hitting them with custard pies. The web game “Hacked Off” allows players to splat Rupert and James Murdoch with the pies. The game is currently receiving 10,000 hits a day after [...]
A MAN accused of attacking Neil Lennon at a Hearts match appeared in court today (Tue). John Wilson, 26, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court charged with assaulting Lennon at Tynecastle in May. Wilson, who appeared from custody, is charged lunging at Lennon and seizing him around the neck. He is also accused of running onto [...]
By Kirsty Topping EDINBURGH’S trams could face another delay unless the service is made free for pensioners. Last week it was reported that OAPs could have to pay to use the trams, leading to Conservative councillors threatening to delay the go-ahead for the works to St Andrews Square. They say the Scottish Government must [...]
A PUB owner’s plan to introduce locals to the delights of lapdancing have sparked a moral backlash. Norman Martin wants to spice up Midlothian’s nightlife by introducing regular lapdancing nights at his pub in the small community of Mayfield. There are no other licensed lapdancing sessions anywhere in the council area and locals have branded [...]
By Kirsty Topping THIEVES attempted to make off with one of Edinburgh’s distinctive landmarks, it has been revealed. The sculpture of a cow’s rear end, which protrudes from the wall of a bar in the City’s Cowgate, has been damaged in the attempt, leaving it in need of repair. The piece normally lights up [...]