9am Briefing: Council appoints first female chief executive

Sue Bruce, currently chief executive in Aberdeen, has been offered the job and the appointment will be ratified by the full council on September 16.

Ms Bruce, 54, has worked in local government for more than three decades.

Fringe bosses under fire over ticket prices

FRINGE organisers are under fire today after they admitted massively inflating the number of ticket sales by including thousands of free shows in the figures.

An extra 120,000 ticket 'sales' from free events like the Laughing Horse festival were added to the total released this week, with a similar figure being added on last year, according to new figures released by the Fringe.

The move means the record sales figure of 1.95 million released this week is nowhere near as impressive as originally thought.

Fire crews battle industrial estate blaze

FIRE crews battled a blaze at an industrial estate last night after a rubbish fire threatened to ignite propane gas cylinders.

Around 20 firefighters rushed to Mayfield Industrial Estate after a fire broke out next to a disused recycling plant at 8pm.

The fire, which started in a pile of rubbish against the wall of the building, threatened to set off four gas canisters and took crews until just before midnight to bring under control.

In East Lothian around 40 firefighters battled a huge blaze at a grain drying store at Beanston Mains Farm near Athelstaneford. The blaze threatened to engulf around 12 tonnes of grain but crews were able to bring the blaze under control by 2am.

Milligan misses MSP bid

FORMER Lord Provost Eric Milligan has missed out in his bid to become an MSP - by just two votes.

Fellow city councillor Ricky Henderson defeated him by 36-34 in the contest to become Labour's candidate for Edinburgh Pentlands at next year's Scottish Parliament election. The seat is currently held by Tory David McLetchie.