9am Briefing: Pensioner held over Joanna Yeates murder

A 65-year-old man was arrested today on suspicion of murdering landscape architect Joanna Yeates.

Police arrested the man at an address in Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol - the road where Miss Yeates lived - at 7am today and took him into custody for questioning over the 25-year-old's death.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: "Just after 7am this morning, police attended an address in Canynge Road and arrested a 65-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

"He has been taken into custody at a police station within the Avon and Somerset force area and detained for questioning."

• COUNCIL chiefs are expected to have to fork out 2 million in the coming weeks filling in 10,000 potholes blighting the city's roads in the wake of the big freeze.

The number of potholes this winter constitutes nearly three times the amount of work when the season is mild.

Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, the Capital's transport leader, said: "We've had squads out making emergency repairs since last week and we'll be taking extra steps to carry out permanent repairs in the new year.

"Faced with similar problems after the severe weather last year, we put in an additional 2m to maintain the improvement our roads have seen since 2007, and I envisage we'll be doing the same again this year."

• THE Scottish economy continued to emerge from recession during the last quarter with the most positive result in the last two-and-a-half years, a new report said today.

For the three months ending November 2010, 33 per cent of firms reported an increase in turnover, 34 per cent experienced static turnover while a third experienced a decrease.

This gave a net balance – those reporting an increase minus those noting a decrease – of zero per cent according to the Lloyds TSB Scotland Business Monitor.

This compared to the eight per cent drop reported in the same quarter last year and was the most positive result in the last two-and-a-half years.

Economists said that manufacturing was leading the emergence from recession, with the production sector showing a "robust" recovery in the latest quarter from the previous three months.

• CRIMINALS in West Lothian are the least likely in Scotland to begin community service within a week, figures have shown.

Data revealed under Freedom of Information legislation shows that only 12 per cent of 17 convicts in the county start their hands-on punishment within the target government timeframe.

Tough community service orders were the basis of justice reforms earlier this year effectively to phase out short jail sentences of three months or less.

The figures show that two-thirds of Scottish councils are failing to get many offenders into work placements quickly enough to meet official guidelines.