Council blunder plunges residents into the red

By Cara Sulieman

A COUNCIL cock-up left many residents out of pocket when their tax payment was taken out of their bank account two days early.

Edinburgh City Council said that they are investigating the blunder, which saw more than 5,000 people who pay by direct debit affected by the “administrative error”.

Today (Mon) was pay day for many residents in the city meaning the extra bill – which was taken out on Friday – would have plunged them into the red and left them hit with banking fees.

A letter apologising for the mistake has been sent out, and the local authority have vowed to pay any charges that residents incur.

Thieving Tandoori restaurant waiter threatened with jail

By Michael MacLeod

A TANDOORI restaurant waiter is facing jail for stealing customers’ credit card details when they were paying for meals.

Ansar Shahban, 25, was employed to serve food at Edinburgh’s Himalaya Tandoori in Bruntsfield Place last year.

When first charged with theft he denied all charges and was due to go to trial.

But he came clean today (Thursday) at the capital’s sheriff court, admitting illegally copying the details of credit and debit cards on three separate occasions between October 5 and November 15 in 2008.

Shahban, of Gorgie Road in Edinburgh, is not charged with using the cards, or spending any money with them, and was bailed.