PLANES at one of Scotland’s busiest airports are increasingly being targeted by yobs with laser pens. Cases at Edinburgh airport have almost tripled in recent years, with aviation bosses warning that the “phenomenal growth” was potentially putting lives at risk. So far, 37 cases have been reported this year. In 2010 there were 52 reports [...]
SCOTTISH writer Alexander McCall Smith is suing architects for more than £700,000 claiming they botched plans to modernise his 19th century holiday home in the Highlands. The best-selling author of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency has taken the contractor to court for failing to properly supervise a quarter-of-a-million pound revamp of an old rural school [...]
A MAN has suffered a broken jaw in an apparent homophobic attack in Edinburgh. The 20-year-old was attacked after leaving GHQ nightclub at around 2.30am on Saturday. While walking on nearby Broughton Street to get a taxi he passed a group of around four men and one woman. While speaking to the victim, the group made [...]
RARE bats have been found breeding in Ayrshire for the first time. Tiny Leisler’s bats, which grow to just seven centimetres, have been found roosting in Culzean Country Park. And excited experts have found evidence that the species is breeding. The survey, run by bat experts John Haddow and Stuart Spray, also identified the rarely [...]
THE pooch behind one of cinema’s most famous animal roles is looking for a new home. German Shepherd Berry is known to millions of children as the animal incarnation of the hero’s godfather in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. As Padfoot, the animagus form of Gary Oldman’s character, Sirius, Berry saved the lives [...]
PETS have been an integral part of children’s show Blue Peter since the 60s. But programme bosses have decided the move to Salford is the perfect time to phase out the animals as it tries to appeal to modern children. When the show returns to our screens today (Mon) the top feature is set to be [...]
THREE Edinburgh landmarks are no more after being demolished this morning (Sun). The 16-storey Hermiston, Weir and Glenalmond blocks in Sighthill were brought down in controlled explosions shortly after 11.15am. Residents were evacuated from the surrounding houses but many spectators gathered to watch the end of 45 years of history. The tower blocks will make [...]
PIPE bands have been forbidden to throw their ceremonial staffs in the air over health and safety fears. Traditionally drum majors, the band leaders, march at the head of bands and perform complicated displays with the staffs, called maces. But Strathclyde Police ordered organisers of a Highland gathering to stop participants from throwing their maces [...]
SCOTTISH salmon are growing bigger than they have for decades, according to experts. Fish weighing 30lbs or more are becoming increasingly common on Scotland’s salmon rivers. The largest fish this year was hooked on the river Tay earlier this month and tipped the scales at a hefty 40lb. Specialists believe the monster catches are because [...]
GYPSY travellers could be given greater rights under new SNP plans, it has been revealed. The government has already said it believes they are “particularly discriminated against” and hopes to recognise them as a distinct ethnic group. Nationalist MSP Rob Gibson, SNP convener of the parliament’s rural affairs committee, has demanded that Scotland be given [...]
MORE than 10% of Scots wear their pants more than once without washing them. A survey has found that one in eight people living in Scotland only put their smalls in the laundry after they have been worn multiple times. Underwear is one of the least washed items of clothing, along with jeans and bedsheets. [...]
SCOTTISH house sales are being hit by an invasion of foreign plants. Japanese knotweed, which can damage building and crack concrete, is increasingly appearing in Home Reports compiled by sellers. And several major mortgage providers are refusing mortgages if they deem the “invasive species” to be a problem. Eradicating the plant can cost homeowners thousands [...]
By Kirsty Topping A SCROOGE bus driver threw a group of nursery children off a bus taking them on a school trip for being just 70p short in their fare. The six three-year-olds from an Edinburgh nursery were on their way to visit the Royal Botanic Garden when a bus driver insisted they stump [...]
By Kevin Duguid EDINBURGH Festival fans could be hit with a new “ticket tax” under plans due to be investigated by city chiefs. The city’s council leader Jenny Dawe thinks the notion of a nominal charge to tickets for shows would be supported by the public. And she has also called for the idea of [...]
CENTRAL SCOTLAND POLICE A NEW community officer has been unveiled for Bridge of Allan. Constable Emma Roxburgh will replace Mark Hutcheon who has moved to the Scottish Police College in Tulliallan. Constable Roxburgh said: “I have been in the force for almost eight years and I have worked in Stirling, Bannockburn and the domestic abuse unit at [...]
By Kevin Duguid ONE in eight reported crimes are being dropped by Scottish prosecutors before they are heard by a judge or jury, new figures reveal. More than 1.4million crime reports have been sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in the last five years. But 180,000 of them were scrapped before [...]
A SCOTTISH police force has warned staff to stop using the phrase “manning the phone” to try and avoid accusations of sexism. Tayside Police officers are instead being told to say “staffing the phone”. Details of the language laws are included in a chapter of the Tayside Police Diversity Awareness Guide called “It’s All PC”. [...]
AN ORDER of monks turned from the rule of God to the judgment of the courtroom after engineers unleashed a cloud of asbestos into their ancient chapel. The Order of Friars Minor sued a heating firm for £35,000 when workers battered two holes in a wall of their Edinburgh base. Staff at Lothian Heating Services [...]
A TINY kitten has been dumped in bushes in Edinburgh. The black male cat was discovered by a member of the public cowering under a cardboard box in Leith. The rescued feline, now named Jacob, is in the care of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ re-homing centre in the Balerno area of the [...]
A SCOTS piper has composed a new tune in honour of the earthquake victims of Christchurch, New Zealand. Pipe Major Donald Glass composed the music to raise funds for the disaster relief fund. Entitled Scottish Rugby’s Tribute to Christchurch NZ 2011, the manuscript and an accompanying CD were auctioned at the Scotland Rugby Team’s “Send Off” dinner. The auction raised [...]