9am briefing: Call for Ewan McGregor to star in Bay City Rollers film

BAY City Rollers legend Les McKeown says he would like Ewan McGregor to play him in a film being planned about his life.

And he wants Sir Sean Connery to come out of retirement to take the role of the group's former manager Tam Paton, who died last year.

The movie, which will chart McKeown's time with the band and his later battle with alcoholism and drug abuse, is expected to coincide with a reunion tour by the Rollers next year.

Teenagers escape flat fire

TWO teenage girls have been treated for smoke inhalation after a blaze at a flat in Dalry this morning.

The fire started at 1:40am in a hall cupboard at a property on Springwell Place but both occupants managed to escape.

Four appliances and 20 firefighters rushed to the scene and extinguished the fire before it spread.

Paramedics treated the girls with oxygen at the scene but they did not require hospital treatment.

Rosyth workers set to strike

WORKERS at Rosyth dockyard are set to strike over pay just days after their jobs were secured with confirmation of the 5.2 billion contract for two aircraft carriers.

A walk-out is expected next week after industrial workers at the yard received a 2.5 per cent rise compared with 4.9 per cent for white collar staff.

Meanwhile, it was claimed today the UK government gave the go-ahead for the second carrier not only because of huge cancellation costs but because the contract meant they would have had to pay workers even if there was nothing for them to do.

Rise in attacks on public sector workers

ASSAULTS on public service staff in Scotland rose to more than 28,000 in the last year, new figures showed today.

Unison said there were 28,399 such assaults in 2009/10, an increase from 25,407 in the previous year.

The figures were obtained through Freedom of Information requests from employers of Unison members, including local authorities, health boards, police, universities and colleges.

The union called for better protection for workers.

Drop in student numbers

THE number of new students at Scottish universities has dropped by 10 per cent because of a cut in places available.

Admissions body UCAS said 36,592 applicants had been accepted, down from 40,690 last year.

Critics said the figures meant a "devastating crisis" for the thousands, many from deprived backgrounds, who missed out.

The Scottish Government described the drop in numbers as "anomalous".