Talk of the Town: I'm dreaming of a late-night Christmas

IN THE week before Christmas the last thing anyone wants is to work late, but councillors last year had to do exactly that when a full council meeting dragged on until nearly 11pm.

With the City Chambers' heating switched off, temperatures plummeted and councillors including Tory Kate Mackenzie had to bring in their hats and scarves to stay warm.

The bad news for the councillors is the December full council meeting this year could be another late-night session. Already expected to feature are debates on trams, alternative business models and Gaelic education, all of which are likely to provoke lengthy discussions.

Cllr Mackenzie had better look out her winter woolies.

Lucky residents cash in on People's Postcode prizes

THEY say you make your own luck, and it seems anyone who moved to Edinburgh recently might just have done that.

The People's Postcode Lottery has announced that Edinburgh is one of the luckiest areas in Scotland, with local postcodes having scooped a whopping 2.24 million in prizes so far this year. EH postcodes have been drawn as winners more than 1200 times this year, and there will no doubt be plenty of people hoping that luck continues ahead of the Christmas Million draw which will see one lucky postcode share more than 1.1m.

Residents have until November 18 to sign up.

Hinds means business

EDINBURGH West was a Tory seat for years until the Liberal Democrats ousted Lord James Douglas-Hamilton in 1997 and proceeded to make it one of the safest Lib Dem seats in Scotland.

Now it seems Labour is targeting the constituency for next year's Scottish Parliament elections, with candidate Lesley Hinds given the prime-time slot at their recent conference to introduce Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray for his keynote speech.

A frock and a hard place

IT MIGHT sound like a cliche, but it seems women really will do anything to avoid being seen in the same dress as someone else.

A survey has found that a fifth of Scottish women said they would rather go home and change than be seen wearing the same dress as someone else at the Christmas party.

Returning home to swap a frock is not the only alternative Scottish women choose, with four per cent resorting to hiding in the loos and a further four per cent even asking their clone to leave.

Other drastic actions adopted by the style-conscious include leaving the party entirely (nine per cent) or wearing their coat all night (11 per cent).