Elderly residents of a sheltered housing complex say they are living in fear after three break-ins at the building in recent months.

The latest incident on Saturday night left some residents living in the Lauriston Park complex too scared to even go into their own properties.

They are calling on housing association Castle Rock Edinvar to step up security and install CCTV cameras.

The intruders broke into the office area of the complex just after 10.30pm on Saturday but were disturbed by residents who heard them kicking in the locked door.

They went to investigate and saw at least one person fleeing the scene.

It is the third time that thieves have broken into the office and residents fear it is only a matter of time before they start targeting individual flats.

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It is more used to playing host to business conferences than wild rock gigs.

But that could all be about to change as work begins today on a major expansion of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

The work, one of the biggest construction projects undertaken in Scotland this year, will last 30 months, cost £85 million and enable the venue to cater for fashion shows, sports events and rock gigs.

It is estimated the project will bring an estimated £2.35 billion to the city over the next 30 years.

The EICC has already been used to host sell-out stand-up comedy shows at the Fringe, including Bill Bailey and Jimmy Carr, but bosses hope to bring acts from around the world to the venue.

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Artisan bakery company Peter's Yard is celebrating, having scooped an impressive double gold star rating at the prestigious 2010 Great Taste Awards for their hand made Swedish crispbreads.

The Great Taste Awards, which is organised by the Guild of Fine Foods, is the national benchmark for UK food awards, dedicated to recognising standards of food excellence.

Peter's Yard crispbreads original won gold at the 2008 awards and this year they were amongst a record number of over 6,000 food and drink producers who submitted products to be blind tasted by 350 food expert judges over a two month judging period.

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Staff at Deloitte's Edinburgh office have helped to raise more than £29,000 for charity by completing a gruelling run and cycle.

The team, which consisted of 10 employees from the city office as well as staff at the firm's Glasgow office, recently took part in the Martin Currie Rob Roy Challenge and covered 55 miles of the Rob Roy Way.

The challenge involved a gruelling 16 mile run from Drymen to the Trossachs and Callander, before cycling a further 39 miles to Kenmore.

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A multi-million pound redevelopment of the Grassmarket which was criticised by local traders has won a top award.

The council's head of transport, Marshall Poulton, was presented with the prize for best urban transport design by the Princess Royal at an industry conference in York. Judges commended the council for the quality of the "pedestrian experience" that has been achieved in reclaiming space from what was once a traffic route with associated car parking.

Source: Evening News

The UK Film Council - which in the past has provided vital support for the Edinburgh International Film Festival - has been wound up as part of the new coalition government's efficiency drive.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport announced yesterday that the UK Film Council, which channels funding for the film industry in the UK, is to be abolished.

Over the past three years, the UK Film Council has provided a vital £1.9 million grant to the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which helped the festival to support and discover new film-makers.

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A proposed new Edinburgh school will be the first in Scotland to be built around a new curriculum.

Billed as the "school of the future", the rebuilt James Gillespie's High School will include areas for drama, art and gardening, and is a clear move away from the typical classroom.

Informal cafes, areas for reflection and "breakout spaces" will also be featured in the building, which is the first under a new Scottish Government programme, and due for completion in 2015.

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Festival performers and crews are to roll up their sleeves this summer for a special blood donation day.

Blood, Sweat and Theatre aims to get summer visitors to help boost blood stores at a time when many regular donors are on holiday and the city's population suddenly doubles.

The event, on August 11th, is organised by production company Hartshorn Hook, which is bringing five shows, including Fame The Musical and Elvis Live to the Fringe, from its base in Manchester with around 130 cast and crew.

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Six intrepid accountants are limbering up to scale three of Britain's highest mountains in as many days.

The climbers have entered into the Three Peaks challenge to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in September in aid of Cancer Research.

Before they can embark upon this feat, they have set a fundraising target of £3,000 and have organised money-spinning events to fill the coffers.

First off is a pub quiz in Cargo bar on August 5th, from 8pm. Entry costs £5 per person in teams of 4-6 people.

Source: Evening News

Organisers of The Famous Spiegeltent have unveiled their plans for a return to George Square this summer after staying away for maintenance work last year.

The tent's headline show, Smoke & Mirrors, will include a mixture of vaudeville, fantasy and music, and the Spiegel Garden will be designed to have a village green feel.

The venue will also feature Dutch antique theatre, the Deluxe Lounge Supper Club and Speakeasy, which will be anchored by the Shuffle Club band.

Other performers due to take to the stage at the Spiegeltent include musicians Lau and Niki King, and comedy from Danny Kaye and improv team Spontaneous Broadway.

The Famous Spiegeltent

Source: Evening News

It was billed as one of the most exciting city centre projects in Europe.

Designed by world-renowned architects, on one of Edinburgh's most prized development sites, Quartermile was meant to be one of the most sought-after places to live and work in Scotland's capital.

But a year ahead of its scheduled completion date, the transformation of a huge former hospital site is a stark symbol of how the credit crunch has affected Scotland's capital.

Key parts of the scheme are still to get underway, while only a fraction of the office blocks and new homes promised have come to fruition.

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Two Scots, including a former barber, are among seven artists shortlisted for the £25,000 Threadneedle Prize.

One of the world's most valuable art awards and open exclusively to artists living or working in the UK, the award is now in its third year.

The nominees include Glasgow-based artist Patricia Cain and sculptor Stuart McCaffer, who turned to art after running his own barber shop in Tollcross, Edinburgh.

Other nominees are Boyd and Evans, Paul Cummings, Thomas Doran, James Jessop and Caroline Walker. The winner will be announced on 15th September. A further £10,000 prize, decided by visitors to the Threadneedle exhibition, will also be awarded.

All the shortlisted works will be on display at the Mall Galleries, in London, from 2nd-18th September along with 39 other selected works. More than 2,100 entries were submitted.

The Threadneedle Prize

Source: Evening News

You would not think a lack of heat would be much of a problem in many of Edinburgh's strip clubs.

But it seems even lapdancing does not escape the long arm of the city's health and safety rules.

Regulations which establishments are told to comply with include keeping the temperature at 25C and installing a thermometer in all the dancing areas to prove it.

Owners also need to have a kettle to ensure the girls can have a tea break, "a plentiful supply of wholesome chilled drinking water" and a risk assessment monitoring "precise work activities required of dancers".

Floors should also be kept free of "any substance that may cause a dancer to trip or slip" while the only contact between a dancer and patron should be when money is being handed over.

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A film premiere in a graveyard, a guided tour of Edinburgh's radical past and an introduction to the world of John Rebus will be among the highlights of next month's People's Festival.

The annual festival - designed to reach parts of the city other festivals don't - is now in its ninth year.

It opens on August 7th with the premiere of Morticia, a film about a little girl who wants to be a vampire. Shot entirely on location in Edinburgh and featuring local actors, the film by Nabil Shaban will be shown in the cemetery of St Cuthbert's Church, off Lothian Road.

There is also a chance to investigate John Rebus's Edinburgh by visiting locations made famous by Ian Rankin's fictional detective with actor and writer Colin Brown on August 9th.

For tickets and further details of this year's festival visit Edinburgh People's Festival

Source: Evening News

Film director Miles Watts will take part in a question and answer session at the Cameo Cinema tonight after a screening of his film Crimefighters.

The film follows the lives of 20-something friends Ella, Pip and Daisy, who are determined to change the routine of their repetitive lives and boring jobs, tackling crime instead.

Mr Watts will take part in a Q&A session after the 9pm screening tonight, Friday 23rd, July.

Source: Evening News

A theatre company is set to mark its ten-year anniversary by staging a performance of the Wizard of Oz with just 24 hours' preparation.

The Balerno Theatre Company will be treading the boards at the Church Hill Theatre, Morningside on Saturday night, 24th July.

It is the same show the group performed on its very first outing a decade ago, but this time the team will only have 24 hours to set up the theatre, go through dress rehearsals and prepare the orchestra.

Those taking part in the show will also have to vacate the venue, as well as clearing away all the props by midnight on Saturday.

The theatre will open at 7pm and tickets will be available on the door.

More details can be found at Balerno: Theatre Company

Source: Evening News

The former Threshers off-licence on Lothian Road is set to be transformed into a Greggs.

The popular bakery chain already has a store in nearby Queensferry Street and Home Street, and two more at the West End in Dalry Road and Melville Street.

Lothian Road's former Threshers is the latest off-licence to disappear in recent months, following the collapse of the UK's largest chain, First Quench, last year.

Cheque Centre Group has applied to turn the former Haddows in Home Street into a money services store and there have been two separate bids to turn Victoria Wine stores in Morningside and Davidson's Mains into a coffee shop and takeaway respectively. The former Wine Rack on High Street is now a tartan souvenir store.

However, three are still being run as off-licences after a group of former First Quench managers resurrected them under their new Vino chain. They took over First Quench's three most successful stores on Broughton Street, Grange Loan and Comiston Road.

Source: Evening News

An Edinburgh Festival performance by a Grammy award-winning Russian conductor who is accused of raping a teenage boy is expected to "go ahead as programmed".

Mikhail Pletnev is the founder and artistic director of the Russian National Orchestra, and is due to conduct them in an Usher Hall concert on 19th August. The one-off Edinburgh appearance is part of a European and UK tour.

But on Monday Mr Pletnev was ordered by a court in the Thai resort of Pattaya to report there every 12 days as part of his bail conditions after he was arrested and charged with the alleged rape of a 14-year-old boy.

Mr Pletnev has insisted the charges are false. "I say again these allegations are not true," he told reporters outside the court. "I have always stated that I will assist the police in every way I can with their enquiries into the allegations that have been made against me."

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A new vintage shop and gallery dedicated to showcasing and selling quirky items by local artists is set to open its doors.

The Spider and The Fly, at 65 Bread Street, is set to open on July 24th. The gallery and workshop space is designed to show contemporary works and offer a place for artists to share tips. It will sell hand made products, with a vintage edge made by artists and designers from Edinburgh and further afield.

At least 50 per cent of the designers stocked are from Central Scotland.

Workshops will be led by professional artists and designers.

The Spider and the fly

Source: Evening News

Former chancellor Alistair Darling has called on officials to fast-track a gallantry award for tragic fireman Ewan Williamson.

The Edinburgh South West Labour MP backed the Evening News campaign for the 35 year old to be honoured with a Queen's Gallantry Medal and filed a formal nomination last November after a public petition gathered thousands of signatures.

But the nomination has been delayed while police and the Health and Safety Executive probe the circumstances of Ewan's death.

He lost his life fighting flames in Edinburgh's Balmoral Bar last July, during which 20 people - including a baby - were saved from the flats above the Dalry pub.

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Detectives were set to examine CCTV images from a city nightclub in a bid to identify a suspect who launched an unprovoked attack on a German student inside its toilet.

The 25-year-old man suffered injuries to his right eye and mouth after being punched in the Stereo venue in King's Stable's Road at around 1.30am yesterday.

The victim has been taking an English course at Heriot Watt University and is due to return home to Germany within the next week. Police have ruled out a racist motive to the attack and believe the student was attacked from behind without provocation.

Detective Constable Carole Sneddon said: "The victim was hit on the side of the face and woke up to find himself being helped up by the door stewards.

There's CCTV cameras which cover the area beside the toilets so we are hoping that may provide an image of the suspect."

Source: Evening News

Edinburgh was dealt a fresh blow to its status as a world centre for financial services yesterday when Barclays announced it is moving 250 jobs out of the capital.

Barclays plans to move the Standard Life cash savings and mortgages operation from its site in Exchange Crescent to other parts of the UK following its acquisition of Standard Life Bank earlier this year.

The move is the latest knock to Edinburgh's international status, which has been on the slide since Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS were bailed out by the UK government in 2008.

It was revealed this month that RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, which took over HBOS, have shed 7,000 jobs north of the Border in the past 12 months, including RBS's insurance operations in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

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A weekend of crazy antics in the Capital's annual Rat Race are set to kick off with a fun run for workers across the city.

Employees dressed up in their fantasy work outfit, be it a vicar, astronaut or superhero, will take part in the 4km Fun-Run-In-Your-Work-Clothes event on Friday night, followed by a huge office party in the Rat Race Adventure Village, West Princes Street Gardens, which this year will kick-off the annual urban challenge.

Runners of all fitness levels and abilities will be taking part in the Friday event, on a route that will take them from West Princes Street Gardens, around Castle 'Rock' and back to the gardens.

It will help Rat Race competitors get in the mood for the main event, which takes place across the capital on Saturday and Sunday.

After work 4km Fun-Run-In-Your-Work-Clothes

Source: Evening News

The fire‑stricken Liquid Room has been dealt another setback just days before it was due to host its first gig in 18 months.

Club owner John McWilliams had hoped to play host to top DJ Sasha this weekend as a "test run" for the venue's official relaunch on August 4th.

But after a last-minute setback, Saturday's gig has had to be moved to rival music venue the HMV Picture House on Lothian Road.

It comes after a building assessment ruled that a fire curtain had to be added, which involved removing part of the ceiling this week.

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They tell the stories of a Scotland long gone but not quite forgotten.

Now some of the country's most precious cultural items documenting Scotland's history have been chosen as part of an international project to promote and preserve the world's heritage.

From maps used to create the first atlas of Scotland to film footage of life on the island of St Kilda before it was abandoned by its inhabitants, the documents have been chosen by Unesco to become part of its Memory of the World Register.

Ten documents from the UK, four of them from Scotland, will be included in the project and made available on a website from today.

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The parent council of the most over-occupied high school in the Capital has called on education chiefs to increase its capacity when the ageing building is replaced in the next few years.

Work to rebuild James Gillespie's is to begin in 2012-13 after years of campaigning and parents believe this is the perfect time to address capacity issues. They argue that creating additional places will prevent the need to move its Gaelic pupils to Tynecastle High.

They are warning that with St Margaret's School in Newington having closed its doors for good, demand for places at the Marchmont school is only going to increase. The roll at Gillespie's is currently at its capacity of 1150, with many more on a waiting list.

The replacement Portobello High is being rebuilt with a capacity of 1400 pupils, up from the current 1200, and Gillespie's parents want the same to happen there.

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