Evening Times

Green Light for Road Group

MOTORWAY maintenance group Amey has been selected to tender for a new five-year contract for south west Scotland. Transport Minister Nicol Stephen has announced the company can bid to look after trunk roads and motorways in the area for the next five years.

Scot Stakes Pounds-2000 On Tories to Win

A SCOTS gambler was ridiculed today after he bet pounds-2000 on the Conservatives to win the election. The punter stunned staff when he wandered into a William Hill shop in Aberdeen and placed the gigantic bet.

Horror Crash Driver Fights for Life

AYOUNG driver is fighting for his life after a horrific earlymorning crash today. The 22-year-old's car smashed into the stone wall at Balloch Castle Country Park around 2.15am. The driver had to be cut free before being rushed to Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital with serious injuries.

Probe Into Cell Death

AN INQUIRY has been launched after a man died today while on remand in Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison. Craig Whittle, 35, from Coatbridge, was found with serious head injuries in his cell at the jail.

Virgin Boss in Travel Hub Call Transport

Snooker Ace On Sex Charge

SNOOKER ace Quinten Hann sexually assaulted and punched two women during an evening of alcoholfuelled "rudeness", a court heard today. Hann, 27, of Ealing, denies denies two counts of sexual assault on August 29.

Blitz On Cowboy Clampers

A NEW crackdown on cowboy clampers begins today. Legislation in England and Wales means anybody wanting to clamp vehicles on private land will need a pounds-190 licence and will also have to attend a 30-hour training course. Operating without a licence could land offenders a pounds-5000 fine and five years in jail.

Exams Kick Off for the First of 145,000 Scots School Pupils

THOUSANDS of Scots school pupils today took their seats for the opening day of exam season. The first of this year's 145,000 Standard Grade and Higher candidates filed into exam halls across the country.

The Pixies to Headline T On the Fringe Party

INDIE icons the Pixies are returning to Scotland to perform at T on the Fringe. The concert comes a year after the Boston band played at T in the Park - their first Scottish gig in 13 years.

Tobacco Talk for Gorbals

TOBACCO experts will discuss the high level of smoking among mental health sufferers at a conference in Glasgow. More than 200 people who work with mental health sufferers will attend the summit tomorrow at the St Francis Centre, in the Gorbals.

Knife Thugs Face City Centre Ban in New Blitz Police to Ask Sheriffs to Slap Exclusion Orders On Offenders

KNIFE-WIELDING thugs face being banned from Glasgow city centre in a new police crackdown. Strathclyde Police will ask sheriffs to ban criminals caught carrying weapons from entering the city centre as a condition of their bail.

Driving Out Knife Thugs Is Key Priority Blade Crackdown

A BID to ban convicted knife thugs from the city centre has potential. Currently, there are worryingly few deterrents to young men bringing blades into town when they come to drink and party - as the sickening regularity of violent and bloody incidents attests.

Gordon to Lead City Transport Into New Era +Outgoing Council Boss Wants a Clydeside Guided Bus System by 2007

CHARLES GORDON today landed his "dream job" as boss of a new Glasgow transport firm. The outgoing city council leader will head up a council-owned company to get a major new Clydeside transit system up and running in two-and-a-half years.

Glasgow Is Best-Placed to Be Scots Hub Transport

SUPPORT for Glasgow from a senior Virgin boss is both welcome and timely. In predicting the city could become Scotland's rail and air hub, Will Whitehorn is not telling our transport chiefs anything they did not know.

Pounds-1.4m Fund for Arts

A pounds-1.4MILLION-plus project to take art into communities has been launched. Culture minister Patricia Ferguson revealed the pounds- 1.4million of National Lottery funding would help artists their work to a wider audience.

Fraud Squad Probes City Housing Vote +Fight for Control of Shettleston Group Rocked by Dirty Tricks Claim

A FRAUD squad investigation is under way into the hostile takeover of a Glasgow social landlord. Shettleston Housing Association has called in police and Scotland's housing regulatory organisation to help it fight off a campaign to replace its ruling management committee.

Revamped Shop Is Top Draw for Artists

AN ART and music venue has been created in a derelict shop in Glasgow's Merchant City and is already proving a success. Multi-functional FC in Albion Street is open to bands, artists and film makers from all over Scotland.

Pervert Downloaded Child Porn at Hotel

A HOTEL porter who boasted "I will always be a danger to children" downloaded internet porn involving children as young as one year, a court heard today. Registered paedophile Robert Green - jailed in 1999 for three attacks on an 11-year-old girl - used the reception computer at the Queens Hotel in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire, to look at the sickening images.

Times Past Baker's Cart, Glasgow, 1800s

BEFORE the days of supermarkets, 24-hour stores and on-line shopping, most Glaswegians were dependent on horses and carts to deliver everything from their daily bread to their morning pinta. This well-turned out chap with his handsome horse and painted cart was delivering bread and rolls on behalf of Renucci & Co, the Kelvindale bakers.

1500 Scots Families Hunt for Childminder

NEARLY half of all parents in Scotland who want to return to work after having children are unlikely to find suitable childcare this year, says a study. It said 1500 families wanted a suitable childminder, but only half would find someone.