A TRAY of engagement rings worth £27,000 has been stolen in broad daylight from an upmarket jeweller’s. Lime Blue diamond store in Edinburgh was targeted by a thief who told staff he wanted to buy an engagement ring. As a member of staff fetched jewellery, the culprit grabbed a tray containing up to 50 diamond [...]
EDINBURGH’S controversial trams project has been targeted by a new protest craze from north America. A colourful, crocheted banner which read “Tramway to Hell,” was draped on fencing next to tramworks by a militant knitter on Tuesday evening. The protest is an example of “yarn-bombing” in which crocheted protest messages are used to get across [...]
TWO fisherman have told how they had a close encounter with a 20ft shark a few miles off the Scottish coast. Graeme Carlyle and John Tait were on a regular trips off the coast near Dunbar, East Lothian, when they spotted the basking shark. The giant creatures are frequently spotted off the west coast of [...]
By Melissa Clark SCOTS rocker Fish is locked in a bitter row over a benefit gig for flood victims. The former Marillion frontman is putting on a £20-a-head show in Haddington, East Lothian, to help a local restaurant hit by flooding. But he claims he is the victim of a “mean-spirited” minority in the [...]
STUDENTS from one of Scotland’s top universities are living in Travelodge hotels more than two weeks after term started. The 21 freshers at Edinburgh University have been holed up at two budget hotels since September 11 after education chiefs failed to find them permanent accommodation. Despite the University’s Accommodation Services purchasing more than 1000 beds [...]
A SCOTTISH university graduate has landed her first job in charge of the most southerly post office in the world. Florence Barrow will have three humans and 4000 penguins for company when she arrives for work later this year in the Antarctic. The 22-year-old modern history graduate from St Andrews University beat off 160 rivals [...]
FORMER Taggart star Colin McCreadie reckons opening packages from Amazon is murder. The exasperated actor took to Twitter to complain about the mound of boxes and paper used by the online retailer to send five mugs. His extraordinary picture showed at least four boxes and what appeared to be several metres of brown paper. [...]
A KITCHEN fitter allegedly claimed he had been doing his job so long he could no longer smell gas – seconds before a massive explosion tore apart a hotel. The blast left Aberdeenshire barmaid Danielle Ormond with serious injuries and post traumatic stress disorder. The 30-year-old, who had to be dug out of the rubble [...]
THE unhealthy lifestyles of white Scots means they are twice as likely to develop some cancers than ethnic minorities living in the same country. Shocking new research has found that rates of cancers – including lung, colorectal, breast and prostate – were significantly lower among Pakistani, Indian and Chinese people who live in Scotland. Researchers [...]
BOSSES at a Specsavers might want to book themselves in for an eye test after claiming two towns on the Scottish mainland are islands. The high street firm – famous for its “Should have gone to Specsavers” advertising slogan – published a leaflet about events on the “isles of Brora and Wick”. Disgruntled customer, Jim [...]
By Melissa Clark TWO midwives who chatted about their holidays as they bungled a baby’s birth have been struck off. Lyn Foy and Donna Jack failed to carry out numerous checks during the delivery and did not notice the unborn baby’s heart rate dropping. Tragic Jessica Penny was starved of oxygen and left severely [...]
By Sam Whyte A PENSIONER at the centre of a national outcry after he was “left to rot” in a squalid flat has died. John Gibson, 90, passed away in hospital just days after he was rescued from his Edinburgh home after neighbours spotted him “bleeding to death”. Mr Gibson, and his sister, Thomasina, [...]
By Sam Whyte THE SEVERE winds battering most of the country caused a raging blaze at a block of flats in Edinburgh. Emergency services were called to a fire at Cables Wynd House in the city on Tuesday morning. It is understood a couch on a balcony was alight and spread because of high [...]
By Sam Whyte A FAMILY who have fought for answers surrounding their son’s death have asked people with information to come directly to them and ignore the police entirely. Kevin McLeod, 24, was found in Wick Harbour more than 15 years ago and the circumstances surrounding his death have never been confirmed. A post-mortem [...]
EDINBURGH council is using an army of private workers to help clear thousands of un-emptied bins – after its controversial move to fortnightly collections. Temporary workers, from recruitment agency Blue Arrow, have been drafted in to help clean up the backlog of rubbish that has appeared across the capital since the council decided to scale [...]
By Sam Whyte THE sound of silence is key to better behaviour and exam results in Scottish schools, an academic claimed today. Dr Helen Lees, an education researcher at Stirling University, said silence techniques including quiet spaces, silent reading and even meditation could work wonders. Dr Lees said she had been “knocked back” by [...]
By Melissa Clark A STRAY cat that befriended staff at a Scots nursery turned out to have hitch-hiked from 200 miles away. Tiger, a five-year-old tabby, turned up at the nursery in Edinburgh and charmed staff and children alike. But six weeks later the truth emerged – Tiger’s real home was a four-hour drive [...]