Talk of the Town: Fear and loathing in the Himalayas

But thrill-seeking Stephen Green has admitted that even though he has no fear of heights, there are some things that terrify him – spiders.

Writing on his blog as he gradually progresses up to base camp, the 23-year-old from Newington recounted the horror of finding a spider in his hotel room.

He said: "Unfortunately on entering my room I was greeted with a spider hanging above my bed, which was, no exaggeration, the size of a crab!"

Hopefully the spider won't follow him all the way up the mountain.

Right on target

IT WAS quite a weekend for shock upsets. While most eyes were focused on the amazing exploits of Ross County in dumping Celtic out of the cup, one local amateur darts player was stepping up to the oche to record a surprise win of his own.

Amateur "thrower" Gus Santana beat darts professional Terry "The Bull" Jenkins live on stage, after winning the chance to face the pro by topping a knockout tournament in Edinburgh.

Gus, 45, from Joppa, faced World Number Five Jenkins in front of a cheering crowd at the SECC, Glasgow.

And after the win he said: "It was a great experience being up on stage and playing Terry. I was delighted to win."

Puss gets the boot

IT COULD be the celebrity break-up story of the year - Susan Boyle has confirmed she is no longer living with her beloved cat Pebbles.

In what appears to be an amicable split, the 11-year-old pedigree Turkish swimming cat is now living with friend Pamela Eaton-Browne in Wanstead, East London.

And on confirming the news SuBo admitted the break-up was in the best interests of her beloved pet, admitting her constant international travelling made it too difficult to care for the cat.

"She is well and being looked after by a very kind lady," she said.

Voters swear by Ramsay

IT'S a sad day for the politicians battling it out to become our next Prime Minister – for it seems none of them really have the backing of the public.

That's if they listen to the findings of new research which shows the majority of Scots working in local businesses would rather a celebrity took over the running of the country.

A staggering 68 per cent of those questioned said they would prefer to have chef Gordon Ramsay at the helm than Gordon Brown, while 54 per cent suggested footballer David Beckham would do a better job than David Cameron. DIY expert Nick Knowles was favoured over Nick Clegg by 41 per cent of those questioned.