Drivers to get text message updates on traffic jams

By Cara Sulieman

MOTORISTS faced with long tailbacks whilst eight weeks of roadworks hit the M8 will be able to get text message updates on the jams.

Construction company Amey are refurbishing the Arkleston Bridge near Glasgow Airport and are offering road users the updates in a bid to reduce the chaos.

But while motoring groups welcome anything that will make road users lives easier, they are warning people not to check the updates whilst they are driving.

Starting tomorrow the motorway will be reduced to two small lanes with a 40mph speed limit.

The bridge itself will also be closed.

Motorists to be careful of dodgy cars

The stolen Audi

By Cara Sulieman

DETECTIVES are investigating a spate of dodgy car deals after Scots trying to drive a bargain ended up being fleeced.

Seven people in the Lothian and Borders Police area alone have been stung after buying cars which turned out to be stolen.

Police said all the vehicles had been sold through motor trade magazines like Auto Trader with deals concluded in the Birmingham and Manchester areas heavily involved.

In the latest incident a buyer travelled down from Edinburgh to Manchester to look at an Audi A3 they saw advertised on the Auto Trader website.

House builders reported for travel gaffe

By ALEXANDER LAWRIE

AN AWARD-WINNING house-building company has been reported to the advertising watchdog for telling potential home-owners the journey from Dunfermline to Edinburgh takes just 15 MINUTES.

Redrow have landed themselves in hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority for trying to cut the travelling time from the Fife town to the capital.

The line appeared in the company’s spring/summer ’09 brochure and was spotted by an irate commuter who claimed the only way to make the journey in that time would be to make the trip “in a helicopter”.

Hotel turns into rescue centre

John Wallace and the "girls"

By Cara Sulieman

THREE little piggies destined for the chop after being sold to a Scots hotel so customers could enjoy home reared bacon have had a surprise stay of execution – after becoming firm favourites of staff and guests.

The Dryburgh Abbey Hotel in St Boswell’s, Melrose, bought the pigs – nicknamed ‘The Girls’ – at a local butchery to be reared then slaughtered on the 10-acre estate to help with ingredients for their speciality dishes, including smoked bacon foam.

But now financial controller Mark Wallace and colleagues at the 38-bed hotel set on the banks of the River Tweed are having second thoughts after getting too attached to the animals over the past 11-weeks.

So much so they have also now ‘rescued’ a clutch of 22 chickens from a battery farm that have been laying dozens of fresh eggs every day as they breathe new life into the walled gardens.

Scots drivers continue to flout phone law

By ALEXANDER LAWRIE

A SHOCKING 66 people were caught every day last year using a mobile phone while driving on Scotland’s roads.

Over 24,000 drivers were handed £60 Fixed Penalty Notices by Scotland’s eight police forces after driving dangerously.

Road safety chiefs have slammed the figures, recently released under the Freedom of Information Act, as “horrendous” and “alarming”.

The numbers for 2008 have risen by almost a third compared to the previous year’s figures.

Frugal Scot Leaves Almost £1 Million To Charity

By Alexander Lawrie

A GENEROUS Scot who lived a frugal lifestyle has left almost £1 million in his will to charity.

David Dempsey passed away last year aged 74, and it has emerged the quiet, single batchelor from Kirkcaldy in Fife has donated his whole estate to 13 charities.

Many of the causes to benefit from Mr Dempsey’s generosity reflect the retired mechanic’s interests and passions – including cancer charities, blind and deaf associations and various animal organisations.

Sister Jean Rohr, now living in Norway, admits her brother lived “a frugal life” but that he was “always content with his life”.

She said: “He had a genuine concern for the underdog and the weak in society. He was always disturbed when he read of the mistreatment of children and animals.

“He was a very caring person and had to be helping people all the time, and once he retired he was always helping out his neighbours and friends.”

Born in 1934, David Page Dempsey was born in Glasgow, but grew up in the village of Coaltown of Balgonie in Fife with his parents Edward and Jean, along with his two siblings Jean and Edward.

He worked most of his life in and around the Kirkcaldy area, and after leaving school in Markinch he began an apprenticeship with local company Beveridge Motors.

He went on to become a well respected and very skilled mechanic, and BEN, the automobile industry charity, was one of the 13 organisations to benefit from Mr Dempsey’s generosity.

In 1956 Mr Dempsey joined the Automobile Association (AA) as a motorcycle patrolman, and he retired from the association after completing 40 years unbroken service.

Mrs Rohr said: “He was a very skilled mechanic, and his desire to help continued after his retirement when it was friends and family who benefitted from his helpfulness.

“He was encouraged many times to apply for promotion. However, he was happiest as a foot-soldier with the one-to-one contact with the members.

“The Calvinist work ethic was very much part of him, and he really was dedicated to the AA.”

Hard-working and proudly self-sufficient Mr Dempsey never took out a loan or a mortgage in his life.

One of his biggest hobbies was to closely follow the rise and fall of the stock market, successfully investing in stocks, shares, building societies and banks.

Mr Dempsey had no immediate family of his own, but was said to be a great support to his extended family.

He was a great comfort to his mother who died in 1994, and one of the reasons he donated large sums to Donaldson’s College for the Deaf and the Hearing Dogs Association was because she suffered from a loss of hearing late in life.

Roslyn Neely, of Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS), which also received a substantial amount through Mr Dempsey’s legacy, said the charity was overwhelmed with their donation.

She said: “Mr Dempsey left a significant amount to CHAS, a proportion of which will be used for Robin House in Balloch, and the rest going into the general fund pot for the likes of Rachel House and CHAS at Home.

“It was an incredibly generous gift and we are always extremely grateful if someone remembers us in their will. It’s an overwhelming donation and quite incredible.”

Other charities, such as Donaldson’s College, have confirmed they received generous donations from Mr Dempsey’s estate.  

Mrs Rohr added: “He lived a frugally and was continually being told by those who knew him to ‘spend some of your assets on yourself’, but his answer was always that he was content with the life he had and had everything he needed.”

In total, Mr Dempsey left £800,000 to the 13 charities.

Charities to benefit from Mr Dempsey’s legacy:

1. Cancer Research UK    
2. Children’s Hospice Association Scotland
3. Children First – Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
4. Donaldson’s College for the Deaf
5. Royal Blind Asylum and School
6. Guide Dogs for the Blind
7. Edinburgh Deaf and Dumb Benevolent Society
8. Ben Motor and Allied Trade Benevolent Fund
9. Sick Kids Friends Foundation
10. Pets as Therapy
11. Hearing Dogs
12. Canine Partners for Independence
13. Clic Sargent

Drink and self-drive holiday

By Cara Sulieman

A TRAVEL company has been slammed for offering self-drive free bar holidays in the UK.

Mistral Holidays offers the breaks for one or two nights, including a three-hour binge in the hotel bar.

 

The company advertises in local and regional papers around the country, naming a huge number of possible destinations for the binge.

Starting at only £49 per person for a night’s accommodation, the breaks are a cheap and deadly combination.

Although free bar holidays have been available from many companies for years, they are traditionally included as part of a coach tour.

But Mistral is letting people drink as much wine, spirits and beer as they can within their three-hour slot before driving home the next morning.

The dangerous boozy break is being advertised in the Reader’s Travel section of every Scottish and Universal newspaper, which includes The Stirling Observer and Hamilton Advertiser.

A spokesman for the AA

The advert from Reader's Travel

was astounded by the format of the short break, warning that it could lead to disaster on the roads.

He said: “The holiday is irresponsible in combining driving and happy hour style binge drinking. Although there is a sleepover there is still the potential for a lethal combination.

“The company needs to make sure that they give out a warning to everyone who books these holidays. It would be advisable for the party to have a delegated driver and if the driver is thinking of drinking that they limit their consumption.

“They might also offer some kind of fall back so there’s a safety net to help their customers get back home without putting themselves and other road users in danger.”

A spokesperson for Mistral Holidays said “We have been offering these hotel breaks for several years without any problems with excessive alcohol consumption.

“The breaks do not encourage binge drinking and the free bar offer also includes soft drinks. Accommodation, evening dinners and breakfasts are also included.”