Royal Highland Show visitor numbers at 20-year high

A total of 41,269 flocked to the event showcasing the best in Scottish farming, food and the countryside at Ingliston, Edinburgh, for the first day. That's compared to 39,891 who went attended the first day last year.

The annual show, which runs until Sunday, is Scotland's largest outdoor event and is expected to pull in 185,000 visitors throughout the weekend.

Judith O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the show, said: "Despite early predictions, the turnout was great on the first day. It is a fantastic number of visitors despite mixed weather.

"Today it's sunny and very busy. There's a fashion show and the big, big attraction is the animals."

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's also announced at the show that it will generate enough wind energy to power all of its Scottish stores and depots using Scottish renewable energy by next year.

The company already generates enough renewable electricity to power more than half of its Scottish stores after it purchased all of the electricity from two installations at Muirhall and Lochhead, situated just outside Glasgow.

It said it is now on the brink of securing another site that will ensure it generates enough to power all 47 of its stores, as well as its depots in Scotland.

Group commercial director Mike Coupe said: "We have a long history of investing in renewables, particularly in Scotland.

"Our investment is such that we will soon be able to say that we generate enough to offset all of the power used by our Scottish operations.

"This is a great achievement and one that will have a significant impact on our carbon footprint."

Sainsbury's said it had pioneered an "innovative type of energy deal" known as a power purchase agreement (PPA).

The agreement sees the energy purchased in advance at an agreed cost, providing guaranteed income for the renewable energy company and protection from the volatility of the energy market for Sainsbury's.