9am Briefing: Skeleton found near River Almond is not missing Mary

SKELETAL human remains found on the banks of the River Almond during a missing person probe are not that of pensioner Mary Ferns, police have revealed.

Officers searching for the missing 88-year-old retired nurse had been scouring an area of woodland close to the river in the Craigshill area of Livingston but stumbled across the remains of a man.

Detectives have confirmed the remains of the male body were found in "suspicious circumstances".

For the full story see today's Evening News.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

• CITY licensing chiefs are expected to face a flood of applications from garages wanting to sell alcohol after a landmark legal judgement.

In a controversial decision at the Court of Session, Lord Eassie said decisions to prevent BP and Marks & Spencer's Simply Food from selling alcohol at forecourts in Edinburgh and Glasgow were wrong and should be overturned.

Campaigners criticised the ruling and warned that allowing motorists to buy alcohol as they fill up with petrol could lead to an increase in drink driving, putting lives at risk.

• SCOTLAND'S councils have spent more than 14 million in the past three years giving mobile phones to more then 56,000 staff members and elected councillors, with nearly 1.3m spent in the Capital.

Edinburgh City Council said 6079 of their staff had been issued with mobile phones paid for by the council at a cost of 1,297,094.00 between 2008 and 2010.

In East Lothian, 38 per cent of the workforce is provided with a mobile phone – the highest percentage in the country – working out at 1192 out of 4700 employees and costing more than 400,000.

• RETAIL giant Marks & Spencer this morning posted a slow down in sales in the first three months of the year, but surprised the City with unexpected overall growth.

The retailer said big-impact promotions saw growth in food sales offset a decline in general merchandise, such as clothing, as UK like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to April 2 grew at a better-than-expected 0.1 per cent.

The results come amid a poor run for UK retailers, after HMV, Next and Currys owner Dixons Retail all reported difficult trading in the period since Christmas.