Talk of the Town: Shop is on target with Torres tops

DESPITE all the complaints about obscene sums being spent on footballers during January's transfer window, some of the millions of pounds spent have trickled down into the Edinburgh economy thanks to some quick-thinking by a local retailer.

City-based Football Nation played a blinder by jumping the gun on Liverpool striker Fernando Torres' switch to Chelsea and started to sell Chelsea shirts with his name and number 9 across the back just after lunchtime on transfer deadline day - before the ink was dry on the move.

The gamble paid off with a flood of orders coming in immediately. Director Steven Dow said: "These are the sort of risks that can come back and haunt you, but after we heard that Liverpool were trying to land Andy Carroll for 35 million, we felt that the Torres deal had to be on."

Spare a thought, though, for those Scousers who lacked Football Nation's foresight and bought their club's official calendar. "El Nino" is Mr April.

Katrina enjoys taste of a pukka bonus from Jamie

CASH bonuses might be thin on the ground for most employees, but Jamie at Home consultant Katrina McKenzie of Dunbar has received a tasty pat on the back from her employer.

The saleswoman, who arranges parties to sell TV chef Jamie Oliver's kitchenware, was rewarded for her hard work with an invitation from the man himself to go and dine at his new London restaurant, Barbecoa. Here at Evening News towers, we can only dream of the day that our performance earns us a free baked spud in the canteen.

Band are a Gael force

VETERAN Scottish folk group Battlefield Band have recorded their first song in Gaelic - A' Bhriogais Uallach, or to non Gaelic speakers The Pompous Trousers.

Ewen Henderson, the new boy of the band which has had more line-up changes in the last four decades than Fleetwood Mac and the Sugababes combined, sings the main vocal on the single, which is out this month. The single also includes The Waves of Otur by Edinburgh-based Mike Katz and Split The Whisker.

No place like home

REST easy folks, because superstar singer Susan Boyle is herself resting easy in her new home.

In her latest missive to fans on her website, SuBo says she feels "very safe and comfortable" in the new home after finding an intruder in her old house.

The Blackburn star also has a third album on the way, as she hits the studio in March.