Station Upgrade Scaled Down

The massive £400 million plan to upgrade Waverley station in the centre of Edinburgh is likely to be scaled down, partly to cut costs but also to reduce disruption to passengers. The original plan included creating a major shopping centre above the platforms and building more platforms and additional track running through the station. The upgrade is seen as essential as the 19th century station has reached its maximum capacity and expansion of rail services will be inhibited without a major investment. But the Strategic Rail Authority are now looking at a number of options and the scale will no longer match the earlier plans. The disruption and chaos at Leeds in England during a similar project over the last few years is also seen as a factor. The original plan for Waverley would have seen the number of platforms increased from 14 to 23 and 17 would have handled through trains, instead of the present 6.

Scots Kids Have Had Their Chips

New rules are being issued by the Scottish Executive in Edinburgh to all local authorities which will demand that unhealthy foods such as sugary fizzy drinks, meat pies, burgers, sausages and chips (French fries) are only served once a week at most in school canteens at lunchtime - despite the popularity of such items with the kids. Poor diet has been blamed for rising rates of obesity and related health problems. Canteens will also have to provide chilled water at mealtimes. They will also be encouraged to introduce pre-pay swipe cards to stop children using the money given by parents for school lunches to buy unhealthy food outside of the school. But the new rules will not come into force immediately. Primary schools (age 5 to 11) will have to comply by the end of next year while secondary schools (12 -18) will have until the end of 2006.

Parliament Rallies Round the Flag

Scotland's national flag is believed to be one of the oldest in the world. It originated at the battle of Athelstaneford in 932AD when the Pictish king defeated the Anglian invaders after seeing the omen of a white cross of St Andrew in a blue sky. But in recent years, purists have been annoyed by the way that flag manufacturers have used various shades of blue from navy to a light turquoise because there is no official standard for the colour. Attempts to petition Parliament to legislate on the exact shade have previously been rejected - initially because it was argued that the Scottish Parliament did not have the authority as it was not a matter devolved from the UK Parliament. This flew in the face of the authority of the Lord Lyon King of Arms, who has jurisdiction on all heraldic matters in Scotland. Now the Scottish Parliament's education, culture and sports committee has made a formal recommendation that the blue should be defined as Pantone 300 - in other words, azure or sky blue. Although only advisory at this stage, it will send a clear message to flag manufacturers. Of course, existing flags with the "wrong" shade will continue to be flown, but may gradually become phased out. And the blue used in the UK flag, the Union Jack (which is an amalgam of the national flags of England, Scotland and Ireland) uses a darker shade of blue as it was found by the Royal Navy in the 19th century that it was more durable.

Air Passenger Numbers Soar

Edinburgh continues to be Scotland's fastest growing airport after increasing passenger numbers by 10.7% in January; Glasgow was not far behind with an increase of 10.2% but the problems in the oil industry meant that Aberdeen declined by 2.8%. Edinburgh continues to benefit from the rise in low-cost carriers - Irish-based Ryanair saw passenger numbers up by 55% on its network in January. To cope with the anticipated future growth in Scotland's airports, British Airports Authority has announced a £508 million development plan to enable Edinburgh and Glasgow to handle 75% more passengers in ten years time, allowing each airport to handle 14 million passengers a year.

Positive Discrimination at University of Edinburgh

Edinburgh University is sometimes criticised for being "elitist" and discouraging applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds. But now the university has announced plans to radically alter its entry qualifications so that applicants from schools or families with little tradition of entry to education will get preferential treatment. Likewise, those whose formal education has been disrupted and those from under-represented groups and disabled students will be favoured. School exam results will no longer be the passport to the university and those from better backgrounds with higher exam entry qualifications could lose out. But substituting hard earned exam grades for subjective measures were criticised by some for being just as ethically wrong as "elitist" discrimination. And, as universities such as Paisley have shown, the drop-out rate of those who do not have the support of family and environment can be high.

Tide Held at Bay on Barra Beach

The Loganair timetable for flights to Barra in the Western Isles has the unique distinction of recording that flights are "subject to weather and tide." The landing strip is actually the hard, silver sands on the beach - which get covered over when the tide is high. An elderly 18-seat Twin Otter is the only passenger aircraft which can land there - more modern aircraft would require a concrete or tarmac runway. Recently, the Scottish Executive said that it was considering withdrawing the £350,000 subsidy on the service. That's worth £64 for each of the 5,500 passengers each year, but they still have to pay £140 for the return flight to Glasgow. The Scottish Executive wanted to put the subsidy into improving the ferry service to the neighbouring island of Eriskay which has access to the airport on Benbecula. But the outcry from the 1,000 residents on the island has resulted in the government back-tracking and agreeing to extend the subsidy for another three years. The long term future is still in doubt, however, with a fixed runway (at a cost of £5 million) one option being considered.

Threat to Mercy Airlifts

The Ministry of Defence has announced that for insurance reasons a member of the National Health Service medical staff will have to be on board life-saving helicopter flights to the Scottish islands and remote areas. The Royal Air Force helicopters are used in emergencies and when the weather is too bad for the regular Scottish Ambulance Service Helicopter. The RAF helicopter crew have medical training and will continue to fly emergency rescues. But the new rules are already resulting in delays to patients - some critically ill.

Sun Microsystems Shines in West Lothian

There have been fears for the future of jobs at the Sun Microsytems factory in Linlithgow since last year when the company announced last October that it was shedding 10% of its workforce world-wide. Then, last month, Sun announced record quarterly losses of £1.4 billion. But the company has now said that it is planning to announce "significant inward investment" in the West Lothian plant in two weeks. It has also said that one of its new products, the V1280 server, will be manufactured at Linlithgow. The factory employs 700 staff, many involved in design work. Electronic companies Motorola and NEC have closed their manufacturing plants in West Lothian in recent years.

Top Store Claims To Be "On Track"

The manager of the upmarket department store Harvey Nichols says that it is "on track" and pursuing the strategy it put in place last year. He believes that it will take a full trading year to fine tune the store to local demand. There had been strong rumours that the London-based chain had attracted less business than it had hoped since opening last August. But the store manager claims that the media had "exaggerated" the group's disappointment over its first set of trading figures. He says the store has also learned lessons about "over anticipating demand" in their January sales.

Jenners Spoils Harvey Nichols View

If the sales in Harvey Nichols new store in Edinburgh have not been up to the mark, the restaurant on the top floor, with one wall made of glass with a panoramic view of Edinburgh castle, has been a great success. But now rival store Jenners (established in the capital in 1838 and still in private hands) has erected a large neon sign on the side of its building facing Harvey Nichols. High above Rose Street, the sign can only be seen from the tops of buildings to the north - including its rival. So all the Harvey Nichols restaurant customers cannot fail to see the Jenners name. However, there is just one wee problem - Jenners forgot to get planning permission for their illuminated sign. Edinburgh City Council planning department are now looking into the matter (I wonder who told them?). Jenners is a prominent, listed building in the heart of historic Edinburgh, and the council is looking to see whether they will now need to make a retrospective planning application for the sign.

"Skyhouse" Falls Flat

Despite major building works over the last 50 years, the centre of Glasgow is mercifully free of high-rise concrete skyscrapers. There are many tower blocks further out, built in the days when creating filing cabinets in the sky was considered the right way to provide housing. But in the centre of the Victorian city, one of the few structures rising above the previous human-scale buildings is the College of Building - which is a carbuncle above George Square. So when a London-based firm of architects unveiled proposals to create 50-storey, 600ft high "skyhouses" in the heart of Glasgow, the plans were immediately dubbed "pie in the sky". The architects believe that the tower blocks would solve the inner city housing shortage. Where have we heard that one before? Oh yes, the 1950s and 1960s. The massive structures would include shops, gardens. health clubs - and would be built in clusters of three. But Glasgow's planners have already poured cold water on the idea, saying that the city does not have the same problems as in London.

Glasgow Helps London Out of a Jam

The new traffic charges which began this week in London in an attempt to reduce traffic jams in the city, were introduced more smoothly thanks to 300 extra staff drafted in to a call centre in Glasgow - a city which has rejected the concept of congestion charges. The call centre is geared to deal with thousands of angry callers who receive fixed penalty charge notices because they fail to pay the £5 daily charge for driving in a designated eight-square-miles in London. Meanwhile, over in Edinburgh, where they are planning a similar charging scheme, they were watching the implementation in London with more than academic interest.

Glasgow Fort Approved

A new £140 million shopping park has been approved for a 90-acre site at Auchinlea, five miles to the east of ther Glasgow city centre. Near Junction 10 of the M8 motorway at Easterhouse, the developers say that instead of the more usual barn-like appearance of most retail parks, the new Glasgow Fort will be laid out in the form of a mini-High Street. The complex will include a multi-screen cinema, restaurants and petrol station. The shopping park will initially provide 350,000sq ft of space and work is expected to start next month.

Coal Terminal in River Forth?

ScottishPower, the electricity generating company covering much of Scotland, is considering the construction of a floating terminal in the river Forth near Burntisland in Fife, which would be used to transfer coal from bulk carriers to barges. These would take it to the coal-fired power station at Longannet. Since the closure of coal mining in Fife, 90% of the three to five million tonnes of coal used each year at Longannet have been landed at Hunterston on the Clyde coast and transported by lorries or rail across central Scotland to the power station. To reduce costs, the new port facility would be an offshore terminal with cranes transferring the coal to the barges. Although there would be environmental issues in the river Forth, most environmentalists would welcome the plan as it would remove 70,000 annual lorry journeys on the supply chain across Scotland.

Stranraer to Lose Ferry Port

Ferry operator Stenaline have announced that they are to close the terminal at Stranraer, resulting in the town losing the service to Belfast for the first time in nearly 150 years. However, Stenaline are to create a new ferry port a few miles along the coast at Cairnryan. Rival company Sea Containers have already moved its SeaCat operations from Stranraer further up the coast to Troon in Ayrshire. StenaLine are also planning to build a new port in Belfast and once that is completed the crossing time will be reduced by 30 minutes, allowing an additional round trip each day. The Scottish Executive has also announced a £14 million investment in improving the road network in south-west Scotland.

Skye and Lochalsh Aim to Boost Business

In a wide-ranging joint venture, businesses, transport organisations and community groups in Skye and Lochalsh in the north-west of Scotland have launched a new brand logo, based on a pebble. It will be used to promote the area's products and services and improve collaboration between companies and organisations in the area. Any business in Skye and Lochalsh can register and use the brand image for a mere £25, while community groups and voluntary organisations can use it without paying a fee.

Islay Hooks European Fly Fishing Championships

The Hebridean island of Islay has beaten off strong competition from Sweden to host the European Fly Fishing Championships at Bowmore on the magical island off Scotland's west coast. The Championships will take place 8-12 September 2003 and will attract top fishermen from sixteen European countries - Scotland, France, Norway, Wales, Sweden, Poland, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Italy, England, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic and Finland. Home advantage means that Scotland start as one of the favourites, with France, England and Ireland also strongly tipped to do well. The four championship lochs in September will be Loch Finlaggan, Loch Gorm, Loch Ballygrant and Loch Kinnabus. Gorm, the largest of all Islay lochs, is widely recognised as one of the world's great brown trout lochs. Scottish comedian Sir Harry Lauder is the only angler ever to have taken a salmon from Islay's Loch Finlaggan (though that sounds a fishy story). The championships will raise Islay's profile internationally and bring hundreds of visitors to Bowmore in September, delivering significant economic benefits through the extension of the tourist season. For more information, email Dr Neil McCarry, Scottish Anglers' National Association.

Glasgow Smiles Better

It may not have been a very scientific survey, but a team of psychology students have spent a month smiling at passers-by in 14 city centres across the UK and recording whether they received a smile back in return. The top city for "smilers" was Bristol, but Glasgow came second with "68 smiles an hour", proving once again the advertising slogan "Glasgow Smiles Better" (which can be rephrased "Glasgow's miles better). But the stereotype of Edinburgh as a reserved and formal place came shining through as they came last with a frosty 4 smiles an hour. The leader of the researchers tactfully said that "Edinburgh has a reputation not for unfriendliness, but for formality, decorum and a certain coolness." Of course, it could also be that Edinburghers are sensibly wary of strangers who grin at them in the street.

Edinburgh Aims to be "More People Friendly"

Edinburgh City Council has unveiled plans to spend £15 million transforming parts of the city centre into pedestrianised precincts. St Andrew Square, George Street and Castle Street will see vehicles banned and the broad thoroughfares converted into open-air markets, alfresco dining and a relaxed "cafe culture". George Street was named after King George IV who visited Edinburgh in 1822.

Computers to Learn "Glesca Patter"

Speech recognition software has always been baffled by the broad Glasgow dialect, summed up in the catch phrase of a recent TV comedy show in "gonnae no dae that?" The mangled vowels and glottal stops cause a high error rate in software used for dictating letters. But now Birmingham University experts are looking for 20 Glaswegians to utter phrases such as "Ma moose disnae work, by the way" and "Ahm gettin' right scunnered wi' Windaes" so that new software can be developed for speech recognition for a number of applications.

Hedgehog Cull Cut

The cull of hedgehogs being implemented by Scottish Natural Heritage in the Western Isles and which is being fought by other conservation groups, is designed to protect the eggs of nesting seabirds. But it has emerged that initially only 200 of the estimated 5,000 hedgehogs on the islands will be removed this year. Other conservation groups, who have already raised £75,000, want the opportunity to relocate the animals.

Having a Whale of a Time

A 36-ft-long humpback whale was spotted this week in the waters of the river Forth, underneath the road and rail bridges across the river. At first, it was thought that it had become entangled in fishing nets or ropes but, when marine experts investigated, they found it appeared to be swimming freely and in good health. They commented that seeing a humpback whale in the Forth was like seeing a tiger running down Princes Street in the centre of Edinburgh. The whale will be monitored on a daily basis and the experts hope it will find its own way back to the open sea.

Ben Hope Diamond Loses Its Sparkle

A Victorian geologist, who found an unusual stone on a mountain in the far north of Scotland, described it as containing red mica, red zircons and either colourless garnets or diamonds. Since diamonds had never been found in Britain before, the "Ben Hope Diamond" as it came to be named, set off a treasure hunt. But it produced absolutely no results for the prospectors. Over the intervening decades, the stone disappeared. Then, in the early 1990s, the Dundee University geology department was closed and their stones collection transferred to Glasgow's Hunterian Museum (pictured here). The stone was listed in the meticulous catalogue - but it was not in the drawer where it should have been. But in 1998, a university geologist was sorting out some old teaching materials and found one stone with a sticker on its side which read "diamond". Another geologist recognised it immediately as the lost Ben Hope Diamond. Since then, a number of examinations using modern electronic microscopes have been carried out and a scientific paper is now being completed. It concludes that the stone does not contain any diamonds. Not that this is likely to deter prospectors from scouring the mountains of Sutherland.

Weather in Scotland This Week

The main feature of the weather this week has been the almost complete lack of rain. In addition to low precipitation, the north of Scotland registered unusually low humidity levels this week, down to 16% on occasions. Temperatures were mainly in the 5/6C (41/43F) but it felt much colder than that due to the cold easterly winds. By Friday, the thermometer had risen to around 8C (46F) and the outlook is for a further rise to 10C (50F).

This week's illustration of current flowers in Scotland is of white heather growing in the grounds of Paisley Abbey.

Edinburgh Castle Ghosts?

It is being claimed that photographs taken during current restoration work in the Queen Anne building of Edinburgh Castle have captured hazy, mysterious, blue orbs floating above the builders' heads and workmen claim that they are being disturbed by ghosts of prisoners from the Napoleonic wars. The workers were so convinced of the presence of a ghost that they called in a medium who spent the night in the room. She said she felt "the presence of two women and a man" in the room. Beneath where the men are working, are the cramped vaults where many prisoners from the Napoleonic wars were incarcerated.

Threat to Wallace's Well

The William Wallace Society, which collaborated on the film "Braveheart" with American screenwriter Randall Wallace, has called for protection for the site where William Wallace is reputed to have had his last drink before he was betrayed and captured by the English in 1305. The derelict building marking the location of "Wallace's Well" in Robroyston in the north of Glasgow, is not listed by Historic Scotland and developers, who have already built 800 homes near the well, could bulldoze the site without having to get permission. There is a memorial cross near the site which is listed - and regularly attacked by vandals. The William Wallace Society says that anywhere else in the world there would be a visitor centre and a national attraction. But it is claimed that Glasgow City Council will not even signpost the building. It was erected in the 19th century and is in a ruined state. It marks the original 14th century location of the well.

Campaign for Heritage Status for Antonine Wall

The 37-mile-long Antonine Wall, which was built across Scotland from the rivers Forth to the Clyde to protect the Romans from the "barbarians" to the north, is to be put forward for recognition as a World Heritage Site. Unlike the stone-built Hadrian's wall across the north of England, not much remains of the Antonine Wall as it was made of turf on top of a rubble core. The United Nations Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) is looking at the possibility of taking forward bids from Scotland, Austria, Germany and Slovakia under one name - European Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Antonine's Wall was built between AD 139 and 142 but was abandoned in 160AD.

Glasgow and Edinburgh to Swop Art Treasures

In the biggest art exchange ever organised between the National Galleries of Scotland and Glasgow Museums, a dozen major works of art from each gallery will be exchanged between the two cities. The paintings from Edinburgh will be on display at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow this summer while the Glasgow-owned paintings will be part of an exhibition of Venetian Renaissance Art at the National Gallery in 2004.

Old Town Fire Caused by Electrical Fault

The fire which devastated part of Edinburgh's Old Town in early December last year, was probably caused by an electrical fault in a disused lift shaft, according to a report produced by investigators. The historic Cowgate is part of a world heritage site with some buildings designed in the 18th century by Robert Adam, one of Scotland's foremost architects. Twelve buildings, used as pubs, clubs, apartments and a theatre had to be demolished after the fire. The flames appear to have spread rapidly up the lift shaft and along ducts used for ventilation.

This Week in History

• February 23 1995 - James Heriot, author of "All Creatures Great and Small", died aged 78.
• February 24 1303 - Battle of Roslin in which an invading English army was defeated.
• February 24 1923 - Steam train, the "Flying Scotsman" went into service with London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), on the London (King's Cross) to Edinburgh route.
• February 24 1940 - Footballer Denis Law who played for Manchester United and Scotland, born.
• February 26 1935 - Robert Watson Watt demonstrated radar for the first time.
• February 26 1950 - Entertainer and song writer Sir Harry Lauder died.
• February 27 1560 - Second Treaty of Berwick between England and Scotland, providing English assistance to remove French forces of Mary of Guise from Scotland.
• February 28 1638 - Second National Covenant signed in Greyfriars Churchyard.
• February 28 1946 - Robin Cook, Foreign Secretary, born.
• March 1 1979 - Scots voted in favour of Devolution, but failed to reach the required 40% of the population in favour of implementing it.

Snowdrop Spectacular

From 1st February - 15th March, 70 acres of woodland are carpeted with snowdrops, snowflakes and aconite's leading down to the sea. The gardens of Cambo Estate, by St Andrews, are open to the public all year round, from 10 am to dusk, but the 70 acres of woodland are at their most spectacular in February and March when they are carpeted with these heralds of Spring. Privately owned by the Erskine family since 1688, the estate is now run by Peter and Catherine Erskine. Peter's great grandmother was responsible for the massive planting of snowdrops but it is Catherine, a knowledgeable plantswoman and passionate gardener who has built up the current collection of over 260 varieties of specialist snowdrops. For more information see the Cambo Estate website.

Scotland's Madeira

In the 1950s and 1960s Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde was the number one holiday choice for tens of thousands of Glaswegians who descended on the island - regardless of the weather. This week, BBC Scotland showed a 30-minute film of those days, based on the cine-film record of a man from Rutherglen who went there every summer with his family. Rothesay often accommodated 50,000 people from Glasgow at the "Glasgow Fair" - the annual two week shut-down of factories and offices in mid-July. They enjoyed paddling in the water (though quilted anoraks were much in evidence too), fishing from the pier, watching the arrival and departure of the "Waverley" paddle steamer and watching local acts such as Lex McLean and Johnny Beattie in the Winter Gardens theatre. Development of package holidays to the sunny beaches of Spain put an end to Rothesay's glory days, along with many of the other Clydeside resorts.

Glasgow Zoo Given Another Chance

The struggling zoo at Calderpark in Glasgow has been given another opportunity to "clean up its act" or face closure after a report by health and safety inspectors. Some work which had been identified three months ago had still not been completed when they checked the zoo earlier this month. The zoo has been given until the end of July to comply with its licensing conditions. The zoo's chief executive said that the problems were "relatively minor" and would be fixed quickly. But there will be a continuing lack of finance until the sale of part of the zoo's land to a housing developer is completed.

The Orkney Scarecrow Festival

Organised by the Orkney branch of the British Red Cross, fields, gardens and other public areas are enlivened by the appearance of a rash of brightly dressed scarecrows in the northern isles. The Orkney Scarecrow Festival takes place from the 22nd February to 2nd March.

Dreich End Festival to Banish Winter Blues

A Perthshire music festival between February 27 and March 3 aims to bring some musical colour into a gray and dull time of the year. The Dreich End Festival (named after the Scots word for dreary or dull) will have over two dozen concerts at different venues across Perthshire, including "The Famous Bein Inn" at Glenfarg and "The Twa Tams" in Perth.

Sunday and Mid-Week Football Results

Aberdeen 3 Dundee United 0
Aberdeen 4 Queen of the South 1 (Tennent's Scottish Cup, 3rd round replay)
Celtic 3 Stuttgart 1 (UEFA Cup 4th round, 1st leg)

Tennent's Scottish Cup, 4th Round - 22 February 2003

Alloa Athletic 0 Falkirk 2
Ayr United 0 Rangers 1
Clyde 0 Motherwell 2
Dundee 2 Aberdeen 0
Dunfermline 1 Hibernian 1
Greenock Morton Stranraer
Inverness 6 Hamilton 1
Celtic v St Johnstone will be played on Sunday

Bank of Scotland Premier League

Kilmarnock v Partick Thistle will be played on Sunday

Scottish First Division Results - 22 February 2003

St Mirren 2 Queen of the South 2

Scottish Premier Integrated Rugby Trophy - 22 February 2003

Aberdeen 20 Peebles 19
Currie 20 Boroughmuir 37
Heriot's 45 Stirling County 18
Jed-Forest 20 Glasgow Hawks 38

League Tables

In the Scottish Premier League, with so few games played since last Saturday, there is no change at the top - Rangers remain in the lead with 75 points, followed by Celtic with 69 points but with a game in hand. Hearts are currently third with 46 points. Dundee United are at the foot of the SPL with 21 points and Motherwell are 3 points above that and with a game in hand. Aberdeen scored their first home win since last September in their comprehensive defeat of Dundee United this week. Dundee United have the worst goal difference in Scottish football at the moment - they have scored 23 goals and lost 53.
In the Scottish First Division, Falkirk are well out in front with 53 points from 23 games. While St Johnstone are currently second with 45 points, they have played more games than Inverness (43 points from 23 games) and Clyde (41 points from 22 games).

Scotland 6 Ireland 36

Scotland have defeated Ireland in the rugby internationals at Murrayfield (pictured here) over the last 18 years. But in this opening game of the Six Nations Championship Scotland lost that record in a game where their opponents ran rings round them. It was Scotland's biggest home defeat by an Irish rugby side. Scotland now play France in Paris - the French lost 25-17 to England last Saturday.

Celtic In Strong Position

When Stuttgart defender Marcelo Bordon was ordered off for bringing down Stillian Petrov, Celtic fans must have felt that the game was going to be easy. But they were disabused of that thought when 10-man Stuttgart scored ten minutes later. But despite the lack of their "Magnificent Seven" - the injured Henrik Larsson - Celtic fought back to win the game 3-1. While conceding a goal in the home leg may come back to haunt Celtic (they had a similar margin against Swiss side Basle and then lost 2-0 on the return leg of the qualifying round of the Champions League), the two goal advantage may be enough to see Celtic through to the next round. The return match against Stuttgart is next Thursday.

Dundee Clubs Unite

Rival football teams Dundee and Dundee United are to join together with the University of Abertay to create a £5 million, 42-acre sports facility to nurture the best sporting youngsters in Tayside. There will be eight football pitches, two of which will have all weather synthetic surfaces, goalkeeper training areas and fitness suites. The partners have applied for £1 million of lottery funding from SportScotland and £450,000 from the Scottish Football Partnership. The aim is to create the football stars of the future as well as training facilities for the two Dundonian clubs.

Celtic Make £5.64 Million Loss

Celtic's failure to progress in the European Champions League (they are still in the UEFA Cup) was a major factor in reducing turnover last year. They have just announced that in the six months to December 31 they lost £5.64 million before tax. But Celtic (and Rangers) have now signed a new sponsorship deal for the players' shirts and Celtic's good run in the UEFA Cup should help to produce a better financial performance.

Latapy Signs for Dundee United

Rangers' midfielder Russell Latapy has struggled to get into the Ibrox first team so he said he had "no regrets" about leaving this week to sign for Dundee United. He was new Dundee United manager Ian Mccall's first signing for the club. Latapy is a Trinidad and Tobago internationalist but he says that he loves Scotland and wants to continue playing football here.

Seventh Heaven for Golfers

A seventh golf course is to be built at St Andrews after the St Andrews Links Trust agreed to buy 200 acres of farmland for £1 million. But as the land is part of a designated "green belt" it may take some time to obtain planning permission and it could be four years before it is ready for golfers to tee off. While visitors make up a significant proportion of those who play at St Andrews, it is estimated that 60% of the golfers at the new course will be locals. David McLay Kidd has ben chosen to design the new course - the acclaimed Bandon Dunes course in Oregon was one of his recent projects.