Talk of the Town: Better bring those screeches to a halt

THEY may have to face hardened criminals for a living, but it seems police officers in Edinburgh have bigger worries to contend with.

New research conducted by the Police Review magazine has revealed that officers from 44 of the UK's 55 police forces have reported hearing damage as a result of the radio systems they use.

Screeches from the radio equipment were the top cause of hearing damage.

In response to this study, the Specsavers hearing centre on Shandwick Place is urging all Lothian and Borders officers to call in for a free hearing test.

The truth is out there

SPIRIT sightings and ghoulish goings-on have long been associated with Edinburgh's historic streets.

But a spate of otherworldly beings have now been spotted enjoying a birds eye view of the Capital's majestic skyline, with three UFOs spotted overhead in the last week.

According to web forum UK UFO Sightings, extraterrestrials have been caught hovering above the West End, Leith Walk and Arthur's Seat – with bright, strobing lights and strange manoeuvres the order of the day.

Could they be planes? Chinese lanterns perhaps? Maybe spacemen disorientated by the ash cloud?

Men who star on goats milk

NO KIDDING! We hear that charity workers Philipp Reiners and Philipp Krause are set to experience a strange sort of fame.

The 20-year-olds from Germany have been helping out at Camphill Scotland's Tiphereth centre in Colinton, which gives adults with learning disabilities the chance to live and work in a community.

On arriving in the UK they sampled St Helen's Farm goats milk products, and enjoyed them so much that they wrote to the farm in Yorkshire to offer their compliments

Now, in recognition of their dedication, the two Philipps are to see their faces featured on half a million cartons of St Helen's milk.

The two said they were udderly chuffed by the news.

Clickety-clicks for Route 66

IT MAY be a road on the other side of the world, but four locals are now in with a chance of being the official ambassador to the famous Route 66.

As regular readers will no doubt recall, the Chicago and Illinois Tourist Office recently launched a hunt for people in the UK to represent "the Mother Road".

Four lucky locals have now made it on to the shortlist, with the winner getting the chance to travel to Chicago, experience the thrill of driving along a road without tram works, and then write a blog about it.

They are now hoping for votes, and the support of the city would be most welcome. Vote at www.gochicago.com