9am Briefing: Lifeboat scrambled to save surfers

TWO men were caught in a rip current which carried them offshore while surfing off Belhaven Bay in Dunbar.

The Dunbar inshore lifeboat was launched to collect the men, thought to be in their 30s, and one received treatment from paramedics. The other man did not require treatment.

The coastguard received the 999 call at 8.15pm last night.

• INVESTIGATORS are today trying to find out if an industrial unit where five men were killed in an explosion was being used to brew alcohol illegally.

Firefighters found the men inside the unit after the blast at the Broadfield Lane industrial estate in Boston, Lincolnshire, yesterday evening.

A sixth man was taken to hospital suffering from severe burns.

Teams of emergency workers were scrambled to the 30ft by 15ft unit shortly before 7.30pm after several 999 calls from members of the public.

Firefighters found the casualty outside, but had to cut their way into the unit after intense heat melted its doors.

• Upmarket delicatessen chain Peckham's has closed its Stockbridge shop and cafe in Raeburn Place.

The move came as Peckham & Rye, the oldest part of the family-owned business, went into administration yesterday. Two branches in the west of Scotland have also shut.

Tony Johnston, managing director of Peckham's Scotland, said the company would concentrate on its 11 bigger stores where it can run restaurants along with the shops. He said all staff had been redeployed within the group.