Talk of the Town: Evening repairs team finally sees the light

YOU need to be a bright spark to become a member of the city council's crack team of road repairs staff.

Confirmation of that comes with a new pilot scheme launched to make it easier to find broken street lights.

Under the new "find and fix" scheme, roads staff are going out on the hunt for broken streetlights during the evening – when the street lights should be on – rather than during the day.

Council leader Jenny Dawe has confirmed that, amazingly, staff are finding it easier to spot the broken street lights at night. "Results suggest that this has led to increased identification of faulty lights and therefore speedier repair," she said.

Electorate fails to subscribe to Lib Dems' Cable views

VINCE Cable goes down well with the public for his measured commentary on the economic situation, but it seems the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman has not made a big impression on everyone.

One Lib Dem candidate told the party's conference at the weekend of his visit to one doorstep, where the woman of the house said she was very worried about the recession and had been following it all on television.

"So, do you like Vince Cable?" asked the candidate hopefully.

"No," she said. "We've got Freeview."

Old those thoughts, Mike

STILL with the Liberal Democrats and Edinburgh West Lib Dem candidate Mike Crockart was confident enough to risk insulting older party members in return for a laugh.

He was pondering in a speech to conference what had inspired people to get involved in politics. Perhaps it was fear about climate change, pride in devolution or anger at the Thatcher years. "Or, looking at some of you, maybe it was relief at the repeal of the Corn Laws," he added.

Fancy dressing the army?

ARMY bosses might be offended if anyone suggested that their uniforms were straight out of a fancy dress shop.

But Bill Cowan, owner of the popular Costume HaHa in the Grassmarket, also makes belts for the Royal Regiment of Scotland. He began making the distinctive tartan belts when he ran a leather shop and now runs them up at home. He said: "It's just a little sideline I have. I make them when they're needed."

Wave firm causes a ripple

BOSSES at Leith-based wave power company Pelamis made the most of their visit from Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband last week.

As well as explaining their new technology, one of the executives said the company faced massive rates bills for its huge dockside workshops.

Edinburgh North & Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz, who was accompanying Mr Miliband, quickly said that rates were a devolved matter and not something he was responsible for.