9am Briefing: Call for witnesses after attack on delivery driver

A DELIVERY driver has died after being attacked at the takeaway where he worked.

The man was assaulted outside the Kopas takeaway in the High Street in Tranent, East Lothian at around 5pm yesterday.

Police said they were treating the death of the 59-year-old army veteran as “suspicious” and appealed for witnesses to a “disturbance” at the premises to come forward. Officers added that they were following a “positive line of enquiry” in the investigation.

Residents said they believed the man may have suffered a heart attack after coming to the aid of the takeaway’s owner who had been attacked first.

• Police are hunting an armed robber who stole a three-figure sum of money from a shop in Livingston.

The man entered the Spar Store at 17 Crofthead Centre in Dedridge at around 6.50pm yesterday and held up a knife, demanding cash from the two members of staff.

He made off in a dark-coloured vehicle which was parked at a bus stop in Dedridge West Road.

A police spokesman appealed for information and witnesses.He said: “We are keen to speak with anyone who can help us identify the suspect.”

• ADVERTISING watchdogs have ruled the Scottish Government misled the public by describing Edinburgh’s pandas as “a gift”.

An advert in Scottish newspapers at the end of last year stated: “The Chinese are gifting two giant pandas to live in Scotland.”

But the Advertising Standards Authority will this week uphold a complaint by animal welfare campaigners who pointed out that Scotland will pay £600,000 a year for Yang Guang and Tian Tian.

• NETWORK Rail has admitted a software glitch in the new IT system that runs the escalators at Waverley station, meaning it will have to be replaced entirely.

Despite repeated repairs, the system is so ridden with faults that the six escalators built as part of a £7 million overhaul of the station entrance keep breaking down.

The first fault occurred within 24 hours of the opening.

Since the escalators first came into use on January 30, one or more of them has been out of order on most days.