A cash-strapped Scottish council spent £17,500 to recruit a ‘Transformational Change Manager’ – who was then paid more than £70,000 a year. The “extraordinary” payment was part of almost £53,000 spent by Edinburgh Council on head-hunting fees in order to fill four management roles. Recent budget cuts at the council include reducing funding for dozens [...]
A FUNERAL director is having to haul coffins up to 150 yards down a street after council bunglers got rid of his parking space. William Lawrie says he is “embarrassed” to have to place coffins on a trolley and wheel them down the street in full view of drivers and passers-by. The undertaker says the [...]
RANGERS legend Willie Henderson has finished a gruelling trek through the jungle to the top of an active volcano – saying he fulfilled a promise to his dying daughter. The ex-Scotland player led a team of 22 volunteer fundraisers 100km through rugged Indonesian terrain in aid of his daughter’s charity, the Michelle Henderson Cervical Cancer [...]
THE family of a two-year-old who has died from a rare form of kidney cancer have paid tribute to their “bubbly” little girl. Tragic Evie Byrne was diagnosed with the disease after doctors discovered a Stage 4 Wilm’s tumour last June. Despite bravely battling the cancer and undergoing scans, biopsies, chemotherapy and surgery to remove [...]
SICK and injured patients face a 40-mile round trip for accident and emergency treatment as a result of “disgraceful” staff shortages. Patients who would normally be rushed to A&E at St John’s Hospital, Livingston, face an extra journey of 20 miles to the already-overstretched emergency department in Edinburgh. NHS Lothian is planning to transfer some [...]
THE PREGNANT wife of a Scots soldier killed in a horrific Afghanistan bomb attack yesterday (Wed) paid a heartbreaking tribute to “the love of my life”. The funeral of Corporal William Savage, 30, was attended by hundreds of mourners at Glencourse Kirk, Penicuick, Midlothian. His wife Lindsay, 27, said the couple had been looking forward [...]
SCOTTISH police must be given control over their own computer systems to guarantee public safety, a leading officer has demanded. The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) – which oversees policing north of the border – is currently in charge of crime-fighting computer systems. But the president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (ASPS) says control [...]
ONE of Scotland’s top plastic surgeons has warned of the potentially deadly consequences of dressing up as a sheep. Self-made sheep costumes, often involving cotton wool, are a popular choice for fancy dress parties. But irresponsible pranksters have set at least eight people in sheep costumes on fire in the past five years in the [...]
A DRUNK plunged 30ft down a steep embankment in the middle of the night – and then tried to fight police who helped rescue him. The hapless fall victim was stranded on a narrow ledge just feet from a fast-flowing river and started screaming for help. Startled residents in Dalkeith, Midlothian, dialled 999 and up [...]
THOUSANDS of pounds is being spent rehoming Scots badgers to make way for a new railway line. A £10,000 pot has been set aside by Network Rail to build new setts for badgers along the 35-mile route of the Borders Railway project. A full-time badger expert has also been drafted in to ensure the badgers [...]
CELEBRITY chefs have been blamed for the emergence of a banned form of fishing in Scottish waters. Electro fishing for razor clams, which involves stunning the creatures by passing an electric current into the seabed, has become a big problem in the Forth. Police have received numerous complaints about boats electro fishing, saying it is [...]
MORE than 5,000 elderly patients have been discharged from hospital in the middle of the night, shock new figures show. Records – obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats – revealed patients have left hospital care between the hours of 9pm and 9am. Around a third of these were over 80-years-old and it is understood that [...]
A WOMAN found dead in her back garden in an upmarket area of Edinburgh has been named locally. The body of Marilyn McLellan, 60, was discovered in a communal garden behind her terraced flat in Warrender Park Road, Marchmont. Police have launched a probe into her death, which is being treated as unexplained. A [...]
BAGPIPERS will be banned from playing outside Commonwealth Games venues if new plans are given the go ahead. Musicians – who busk or play for free – could even face fines of up to £20,000 if they play traditional music in the streets. Officials claim the regulations are needed to clamp down on illegal “street [...]
FUR and feathers are flying over a competition to find Scotland’s favourite native animal. The golden eagle is currently gripping the top spot in the online vote organised by tourism and wildlife bosses. So supporters of the red squirrel have mobilised to try to knock the much-loved bird of prey off its perch. Groups [...]
A 95-year-old World War II veteran has defied critics of elderly motorists by passing his advanced driving test. Norman Lawrence, a retired businessman from Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, achieved his qualification from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). He signed up with the Gordon branch of the IAM after listening to a radio phone-in in which it [...]
TRIPS to the top of the Forth Road Bridge will be one of Scotland’s priciest tourist attractions – with tours costing £50 a ticket. Groups of ten will be able to ascend the bridge’s 156 metre high towers next year. Tourists will be charged top prices in a bid to keep the cost below £50 [...]
AN ENGLISHMAN has decided to turn his back on the St George’s Cross is trying to declare himself officially Scottish. David Hingston, originally from Devonshire, said after living in the country for more than 20 years he is ready to honour the Saltire. The 70-year-old admitted he has no Scottish relatives but said being a Scot is not [...]
SCOTTISH police have been criticised for spending almost £600,000 on foreign travel over the past four years. A single visit to Thailand cost taxpayers £26,000 – and police refused to reveal the purpose of the trip. Sending police musicians to Australia cost taxpayers more than £31,000 and a single flight from Rhodes, Greece, cost almost [...]
THE FAMILY of a cycling pensioner tragically killed by a careless driver will lead a 3,000-strong column of cyclists as they pedal to the Scottish Parliament. Keen cyclist Audrey Fyfe, 75, was knocked down in Edinburgh in August 2011, but the sentencing of the driver provoked outrage after he avoided a lifetime ban. Her family, [...]