New statue gets a new look: a bright pink bikini

The bright pink bikini finds a new home

By Cara Sulieman

AFTER a week in place, a sculpture has already been welcomed to the capital by being decked out in a bright pink bikini.

The figure of a man – part of the new Antony Gormley ‘6 Times’ installation – had the luminous swimsuit tied round him at the weekend.

He is one of six life-size figures placed along the Water of Leith from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the sea at Leith Docks.

Due to be unveiled next week, the statues are still being installed and it is just days since this particular figure was put in place.

The bikini-clad statue is standing in the middle of the Water of Leith in Stockbridge and can be seen by passer-bys on the busy Deanhaugh Street over the river.

Forth Ports Takeover Deal Sunk By Market Jitters

By Shaun Milne

FORTH Ports has fought off a planned take-over by a consortium hoping to snap up the Edinburgh based business which has backed out blaming “economic uncertainty” for their decision.

Northstream had hoped to capture Forth Ports assets which includes its facilities in Leith, Rosyth, Grangemouth, Burntisland, Methil and Dundee.

The consortium – made up of Arcus, RREEF, and Peel Holdings – had planned to add it to their current portfolio of harbours which includes Clydeport’s facilities in Manchester, Hunterston, Ardrossan and Greenock.

However directors at Forth Ports insisted Northstream’s valuation of their business at £640m – or £14 a share – was short of what they thought it was worth.

The company is seen as a particularly attractive investment for future yields because it owns 400 acres of land in Edinburgh’s popular waterfront area.

Cancer patient stranded after string of cancelled flights

Left to right: Panos Vikis, Nicola McAndrew, Patricia and Alison Vikis

By Cara Sulieman

A CANCER patient was left facing a nightmare before Christmas after a catalogue of travel disasters.

First Patricia Vikis and her husband Panos were left stranded in Cyprus last Wednesday after the collapse of what was Scotland’s biggest airline Flyglobespan.

Disappointed but pragmatic, they instead booked a flight back with low-cost airline easyJet – on for that to be cancelled too owing to heavy snow.

And because the only seats they could get were to London, it meant they also had to cancel their connecting British Airways flight from Gatwick to Edinburgh.

Futuristic big wheel plan rolls into Edinburgh

By Michael MacLeod

EDINBURGH is set to get its own version of the London Eye in a bid to lure over half-a-million tourists to the capital.

Plans for an attraction dubbed “Scotland’s National Wheel” show it will tower 120 metres over the city – twice as high as the Scott Monument.

But designers say the city centre is not big enough for the giant Ferris wheel, and plan to erect it at the Leith Waterfront.

The area was chosen to tie in with a new transport station set to be built next year as part of the city’s ongoing tram project.

New cook school opens with festive party

Fiona Burrell and Angus James whip up a festive treat

By Cara Sulieman

CHEF Fiona Burrell got her own little Chrismas helper as she prepared mince pies for the launch of her new cook school last night.

Three-year-old Angus James added a touch of ginger spice as he got stuck in with the icing sugar as Fiona put the finishing touches to her festive fare.

The former principal of Leiths Cook School opens the doors on her own venture next week, and was trying out the new facilities for the first time.

Edinburgh New Town Cookery School will offer both professional and amateurs the opportunity to brush up their skills with a range of courses.

Daughter of woman attacked with corkscrew say stepdad should be locked up

By Cara Sulieman

THE DAUGHTERS of a woman who was stabbed in the face with a corkscrew by her husband have called on the judge to “lock him up and throw away the key”.

Debra MacLeod, 46, suffered eight stab wounds and had part of her cheek torn away after the savage attack by her husband who attacked her in her own home.

Ian MacLeod beat his estranged wife at her home in Thurston Manor Holiday Park in Dunbar before punching her in the face with the corkscrew.

Her daughters, Danielle and Melissa Baillie, have branded their step-father an “evil monster” and a “disgusting beast”.

Irvine Welsh success means he can buy home for mum

By Rory Reynolds

TOP Scots author Irvine Welsh has revealed that his dream of being able to buy a home for his mum came true after the success of Trainspotting.

The 51-year-old offered his beloved mum Jean a house anywhere she wanted, to be paid for by the multi-million pound fortune that came after the success of his gritty Scots novels.

But his mum, a former waitress, insisted on staying in the home where she and her late husband Peter lived in Edinburgh.

So the best-selling author forked out £19,000 to purchase the modest house from Edinburgh City Council for his hard-working mum.

His mum and dad had moved there after bringing Irvine up in Muirhouse, West Pilton and, most famously, Leith – the setting for most of his novels.

Edinburgh campaigners fight to save dog from death sentence

By Oliver Farrimond

A DOOMED pooch is facing a death sentence unless campaigners in Edinburgh can find enough signatures to save him.

Craig Cunningham, from Leith, bought 12-week-old pup Leo thinking he was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier mongrel – but later found out that he was a actually a banned breed.

Now four-year-old Leo, who was confirmed by DNA tests as an American Pit Bull Terrier, has been taken by police and is waiting for an Edinburgh court to decide his fate.

More than 1,500 people have so far signed the petition urging the police to free Leo, who was seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

American Pit Bull Terriers are one of four breeds of dog banned under UK law after a number of attacks on humans – but Mr Cunningham insists that Leo is a “beautiful dog”.

Economic gloom sparks dog boom

By Rory Reynolds

THE current economic gloom has sparked a dog boom for Scotland’s oldest pet care home.

Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home has seen the number of residents leaving with new owners more than double this summer, compared to this time last year.

And the pet home reckons that people are choosing a new addition to the family rather than have a holiday this year.

Between June and August 84 dogs and 36 cats were re-homed with new families, compared to 40 dogs and 18 cats in the same period last year.

The home’s manager, David Ewing, 52, reckons people are foregoing holidays in favour of getting a new pet.

Yobs make frail pensioner’s life hell with abuse and brick attacks

By Rory Reynolds

A FRAIL pensioner said he has been made a prisoner in his own home by yobs thought to be as young as just SEVEN.

Graham Bilsland, 72, said he has been subjected to a life of hell for three weeks by an 18 strong gang of teeny terrors throwing bricks and screaming abuse at his home, day and night.

He says both boys and girls are involved in the torment him at his home in Leith, Edinburgh, – and fears they are even using an air gun to target him.

The former national manager for Ede & Ravenscroft Tailors said he is now too terrified to go to sleep after he found an airgun bullet-hole in his bedroom window.

Wheelchair-user Graham – who underwent a triple heart bypass last year – has developed a string of health problems, including panic attacks, due to the abuse.