Five rushed to hospital after car flips into ditch on A1 near Tranent

By Christine Lavelle & Amanda MacMillan

FIVE people have been taken to hospital after their car somersaulted off the road before landing in a ditch early this morning (fri).

The accident happened at around 3.30am on an A1 off-road heading eastbound towards Tranent in East Lothian.

All occupants of the green coloured Peugeot 206 – said to be in their late teens and early 20s – were taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

The female driver had to be cut free from the car by the fire service and suffered “multiple” injuries.

Her condition was described as being “serious”.

Man who died in Borders car crash named

Andrew McLean died in a car crash in the Borders

By Cara Sulieman

A 22-YEAR-OLD man has died in a crash after colliding with an oncoming car.

Andrew McLean was the driving his Vauxhall Nova south on the A701 in the Borders when he collided with a Peugeot 307 that had been travelling in the other direction.

Today his parents Michelle Denny and John McLean were too upset to talk too much, just saying that they are “united in grief”.

The accident happened just before 1.30pm on Saturday half a mile north of the junction with the A72 in Peebleshire near Mountain Cross.

Pensioner fights off car jacker

By Cara Sulieman

A PLUCKY pensioner fought off an attempted car jacker after he tried to steal her motor in the middle of a busy street.

The 60-year-old woman was sitting in her blue Peugeot 207 when the man opened the driver’s door and tried to grab her keys just before 5pm on Tuesday.

But she struggled against the attacker, who threatened to hurt her unless she got out the car on Citadel Court in Edinburgh.

The quick witted woman screamed, attracting the attention of her sister who ran over to help chase the man off.

Men face court after car falls through ice on canal

The car plunged through the ice on the Union Canal

By Cara Sulieman

TWO men face court after narrowly cheating death by allegedly driving along a frozen CANAL in a car.

Police blasted them as “stupid” after their vehicle broke through ice on the Union Canal in West Lothian plunging the pair into the freezing water and sparking a rescue operation.

It is alleged hapless driver and his passenger was motoring along the frozen canal near Winchburgh on Monday afternoon when the ice gave way and his Peugeot 406 plunged into the icy water.

The men are alleged to have driven down a slip road off the B8046 near junction two of the M9 that leads to a popular picnic and dog walking spot by the water, before edging on to the ice.

The black Peugeot got about half a mile down the canal before the fragile ice gave way and the front of the car smashed into the water.

Cabbie caged for zebra crossing hit and run

By Paul Thornton and Michael MacLeod

A TAXI driver who left a teenager for dead after mowing him down on a zebra crossing has been jailed.

Horrified medics found Scott Burnett, 17, lying in the road with tyre marks across his body from where the seven-seater cab had broken his pelvis.

Cabbie David Horsburgh, 44, stayed behind the wheel in a bid to escape, but later called police when his guilty conscious got the better of him.

Now jobless, he was caged yesterday for eight months and banned from the roads for two years.

His victim still struggles to walk and yesterday called for Horsburgh to get a lifetime ban.

Contractors cleaning up streets targeted by bin men

Rubbish piling up in the capital

By Cara Sulieman

THE BIN strike in Edinburgh is turning ugly with claims contractors brought in to deal with the mess have been the target of aggression.

Workers for Shanks, who cleaned up the city ahead of the Gathering at the weekend, have complained about a driver shouting “scabs” at them from a passing car and bosses being abused by text.

As the industrial action enters its second month and workers threatening to strike right through the festival, it is feared the situation could get worse.

One worker at the company’s headquarters in Milton Keynes called the police after being abused about strike breaking, with officers still investigating.