Police warn of dangers linked to new drug

Following concern about the dangerous class A drug PMMA, Grampian Police today confirmed that a small, dealer quantity of the drug was seized in Fraserburgh on Wednesday 27 July.
The drug, which has been detected in powder and tablet form in the UK and abroad and which is sometimes passed off by dealers as a ‘legal [...]

Police chiefs issue warning over PMMA drug

BBC – A highly-toxic class-A drug is being sold in Scotland, according to senior police officers. ParaMethoxyMethylAmphetamine (PMMA) has been found in tablets which look like ecstasy. The substance has also been found in drugs being sold as “legal highs” in Scotland. The Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland said it had recovered quantities of [...]

Scottish & Southern Energy to raise its prices

BBC – Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) has become the latest gas and electricity supplier to announce a rise in prices. Its household electricity bills will increase by an average 11%, and its household gas bills by an average 18%, from 14 September. The move comes after British Gas said earlier this month that the [...]

Wildcat and kitten caught in farmer’s field of vision

Scotsman – IT IS one of Scotland’s most elusive wild animals, with just 400 thought to be roaming free. But now a farmer in the village of Cornhill, near Banff, believes he has managed to photograph a Scottish wildcat. Also known as the Highland tiger, the wildcat is one of Britain’s rarest animals and is [...]

Scottish housing demand dries up

BBC – House buyers in Scotland appear to have taken an early holiday, according to a survey. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said June is usually a busy time for the housing market but this year was different. The number of sales dipped in June and there were fewer buyer inquiries than any [...]

Valerie Pritchard goes on trial for horse neglect

BBC – A woman has gone on trial accused of causing unnecessary suffering to dozens of horses at a farm in Aberdeenshire. Valerie Pritchard, 65, is alleged to have committed the offences at Mains of Green Farm, Cuminestown, in 2009. Mrs Pritchard denies five charges under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act. She admitted [...]

Scotland’s high streets ‘hit hard’ by inflation

BBC – Rising inflation and a consumer spending squeeze has hit the Scottish high street harder than anywhere else in the UK, a report has suggested. Accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said seven business units a week have closed north of the border since the start of the year. Restaurants and fashion stores saw the biggest falls.

Body identified as teenager in boat tragedy

STV – The body washed up at Whitehills on the Moray Firth has been identified as that of a Turriff teenager who was involved in a boating expedition. Grampian Police found the body of 18-year-old Jake Miller at 3.15pm on Monday. The teenager from Turriff, was reported missing at around 1am on Friday June 24 [...]

Whisky tourists ‘worth £30m’ to Scottish industry

BBC – Whisky distilleries and visitor centres add £30m to the Scottish tourism industry each year, according to research for distillers. The findings published by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) said there were 1.3 million visits to 52 premises. The research, by 4-consulting, said direct spending amounted to £37m, including £20m of added value.

Drivers urged to take care as heavy rain batters Scotland

STV – Heavy rain is battering Scotland’s roads and forecasts suggest it will continue throughout the day across most of the country. Surface water is affecting journey times on both the M8 and M74, and motorists have been advised to show extra caution. Yellow alerts have been issued for Grampian, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside, Fife, Southwest [...]

MISSING: Danielle Farrar (14), Fraserburgh/Inverness

Grampian Police is continuing to appeal for information regarding the whereabouts of 14-year-old Danielle Farrar, who was reported missing from her home address in Fraserburgh on Monday evening.
Danielle was last seen at Inverness Train Station, where she was to board a train to return home during the evening of July 4, 2011, at around 9.30pm.
Police [...]

Call to cut VAT on home projects

BBC – VAT should be slashed on home building projects to support the construction sector, builders have claimed. The call followed an industry survey which said two in five firms thought a targeted VAT cut would be the most effective way of boosting the industry. The Scottish Construction Monitor said these companies wanted the Scottish [...]

Man due in court over Banff petrol station raid

STV – A man is to appear in court after a robbery at a Banff petrol station. A three-figure sum of money was taken from the Victoria filling station in the raid, which happened on June 16. Grampian Police revealed on Saturday that a 21-year-old local man had been charged. Detective constable Scott Massie said: [...]

Call for counsellors in all Scottish schools

BBC – Scotland is failing young people by not providing counsellors in all secondary schools, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) has claimed. Counsellors are available in schools in Wales and Northern Ireland but only four councils in Scotland have them. In 2005 a Scottish government report called for counselling to be available [...]

Teenager missing after boat capsizes off Aberdeenshire

BBC – An air and sea search is due to resume for a teenager missing after the boat he was in capsized off the coast of Aberdeenshire. It is understood the 18-year-old was out in a small fishing boat with two friends, both 17, when the vessel got into trouble and turned over. The two [...]

Scottish weather forces Trump team to fly home early

Scotsman – EVEN Donald Trump found he could not control the unpredictable Scottish weather. The tycoon’s flying visit to his planned £750 million golf resort in Aberdeenshire was cut short yesterday after heavy rain and cloud meant a helicopter trip over the Menie Estate had to be cancelled. The billionaire jetted in from New York [...]

Two rural schools to be reprieved

BBC – Campaigners fighting the closure of two rural Aberdeenshire schools are celebrating after the Scottish government ordered they be kept open. Aberdeenshire Council had decided in April that pupils at Clatt and Logie Coldstone would be transferred. The Scottish government called in the plans, and has now ruled that the schools should remain open.

Funeral for Scots soldier shot in Afghanistan

STV – The funeral of a Scottish soldier shot dead in southern Afghanistan is being held. Corporal Michael Pike, 26, from Huntly, Aberdeenshire, died earlier this month after insurgents armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades attacked his patrol in the Lashkar Gah District of Helmand Province. His colleagues, from 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment [...]

Donald Trump’s wife flies in to Scotland

STV – The wife of US property tycoon Donald Trump flies into Scotland later on Tuesday to see the golf resort he is developing in Aberdeenshire. Melania Tump is accompanied by the couple’s son Barron and other family members for the visit to Scotland. It is the first time that the Slovenian-born model has visited [...]

Heart charity left £2.2 million in will

BBC – A businesswoman from the north east of Scotland has left more than £2.2m to the British Heart Foundation. Sheep breeder Margaret Lyon, from Ardmiddle, near Turriff, died last December aged 77. She was believed to have had several heart operations during her lifetime, and made the charity the sole beneficiary of her estate.

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