Talk of the Town: Triple World Cup pain for councillor

THERE'S no shortage of people in Edinburgh who have been disappointed with the performance of their country in the World Cup.

Scotland didn't get there, England were knocked out after being slaughtered by Germany, and even in such a multicultural city, only the small batches of Dutch and Spanish residents were eagerly awaiting their team's cup final appearance yesterday. But spare a thought for Labour councillor Andrew Burns. Born in Germany, brought up in Scotland and with an English mother and wife, its been a triple disappointment for him.

"2014 just has to be better," he says. "Surely?"

Motorists maintain 'Zen'

IT MAY come as a surprise to anyone who has braved the Capital's roads recently, but apparently Edinburgh's drivers are among the most Zen-like in the UK.

A survey found that just 13 per cent reported suffering road rage, compared to a national average of 20 per cent.

According to Virgin Trains, which carried out the research, Edinburgh came out as one of the most "relaxed" cities in the land.

However, the study, which examined the attitudes of more than 1000 drivers, found that motoring stress was alive and well, with motorists ranking traffic jams and roadworks among their pet hates. The information was released by the company to support its "Don't Go Zombie" campaign, which aims to shows how travelling by train can be far less stressful than going by car. Provided they turn up on time.

Free frozen chicken

IT COULD be a scene from his pub - to go with "a fruit-based drink for the ladies".

Pub landlord Al Murray is giving away a free frozen chicken at his Festival gigs next month. Quite how frozen it'll be after being lugged around and sitting under spotlights is another matter.

Win it at your peril.

Tram disaster 'unlikely'

KEEN to make sure that a fictional accident in a soap opera wouldn't besmirch the reputation of Edinburgh's tram scheme, bosses at TIE felt the need to issue a statement after Coronation Street revealed plans to kill off several characters in a bit of light rail carnage.

Providing yet more proof of their sense of humour, TIE said: "Here at Edinburgh Trams we maintain that trams are one of the safest modes of transport in existence and we'd like to reassure prospective tram passengers in the Capital that thanks to our comprehensive risk and hazard assessments the likelihood of a tram falling off one of our structures, as planned in Corrie, is highly unlikely."