9am briefing: Three hurt in spate of city blazes

THREE people were taken to hospital after a trio of separate fires in the city last night.

A mother and daughter were taken to the Royal Infirmary to be treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in their ground floor flat in Silverknowes Crescent at around 5.45pm.

A 65-year-old man was taken to the Royal Infirmary suffering from smoke inhalation and burns to one hand after a fire in a second floor flat on Halmyre Street in Leith at around 8.45pm.

And a 59-year-old man received oxygen after a fire at his flat in Bellevue Crescent, but did not require hospital treatment.

New plan to tackle Royal Show drunks

DRINKING hours at the Royal Highland Show are to be cut in a bid to tackle drunks who have plagued the farming event in recent years.

Bar opening hours at the event are reportedly to be reduced, with facilities on the showground set to open later in the day and close earlier in the evening.

Organisers are also moving the Herdsman's Bar from its site in the middle of the livestock lines to the east side of the showground, to make it easier to put people out of the show should they become boisterous.

Biomass support claims ridiculed

CLAIMS that three quarters of the public support a controversial 360m biomass plant in Leith have been ridiculed.

Forth Energy, the company behind the scheme, said a three-day consultation showed 73 per cent of people surveyed felt the proposed Leith scheme would bring positive benefits.

But the company later admitted it had collected only 100 questionnaires and no-one living near the proposed site had been approached directly.

Capital is the main event

THE number of conferences and exhibitions secured for the Capital in the last year has risen to 257 events worth 74.2 million.

The number of events booked in the year up to the end of March has risen by 57 on the previous year's figure according to the Edinburgh Convention Bureau, which brings business tourists to the city.