News in Brief

On the busus

The number of passengers on buses and coaches last year was the highest for a decade. There were 4.5 billion journeys made in 2004, the best figure for ten years, a Confederation of Passenger Transport report said. Almost a quarter of all bus journeys are now for commuting and business purposes.

Show must go on

Countdown, the quiz show, is to continue after the death of Richard Whiteley, its presenter, who died at 61 after undergoing heart surgery. Kevin Lygo, the Channel 4 director of television, said: “Our hope is that the programme will continue with the guest presenters we had lined up when Richard fell ill.”

Britain sparkles

An English grower has taken the award for the world’s best bottle of sparkling wine, beating entrants from 55 other countries. A panel from the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2005 chose the RidgeView Merret Bloomsbury 2002, a blend from Sussex, which was the only English entry.

Hut hot-spot

A 14ft x 10ft wooden beach hut with sea views across the Solent to the Isle of Wight is on the market at Mudeford Sandbank, Dorset, at a price of £135,000. Bournemouth Council charges £2,000 a year rent for the sand plot and wants a £21,000 share of the profits when sold. The hut does not have a toilet.

Three held over egg attacks



Three 17-year-olds were arrested yesterday by police investigating incidents last weekend that led to the death of Terry Barrett, 56, who collapsed after chasing a gang of youths. Mr Barrett, whose home in Saltash, Cornwall, was pelted with eggs in the early hours of Saturday, suffered a brain haemorrhage. Police said that the three were detained on suspicion of criminal damage. Two other youths were released on bail.



Prisoner’s suicide



A teenager on remand at Reading Young Offender Institution has been found hanged in his cell. Liam Ritson, 18, from Surrey, had been charged with robbery and false imprisonment. A Home Office spokesman said that an investigation had begun but the death was not being treated as suspicious.



Fourth fire death



A mother injured in a house fire on Saturday that killed her baby daughter and two other children has died. Layla Wild, 23, never knew of the death of Courtney Nabb, her 11-month-old daughter, in the blaze at her terraced home in Rochdale, which is thought to have been caused by an electrical fault.



Terrorist jailed



An Algerian who revealed, possibly under torture, an al-Qaeda plot to make ricin in Britain was jailed for ten years in Algiers. Information given by Mohammed Meguerba, 37, led police to Kamel Bourgas, who was jailed by an Old Bailey judge for the murder of Detective Constable Stephen Oake and the ricin plot.



Murder charge



Hugo Quintas, the boyfriend of Hayley Richards, the murdered mother-to-be, was charged with her killing by officers in Wiltshire after being flown back to the UK from Spain. Quintas, 23, left the country on the day Ms Richards’s body was found in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. He was arrested last week in Spain.



Pulling the plug



Thames Water may take legal action to prevent the artist Mark McGowan, 37, wasting 12 litres of fresh water a minute for a year on his latest work, The Running Tap, at House Gallery, Camberwell, southeast London. He has already wasted 17,000 litres. In 12 months, 15 million litres will go down the plug-hole.



Quite a catch



A rare cricket ball from England’s notorious “bodyline” Ashes tour of Australia in 1932-33 was sold at auction in Plymouth for £10,000. The ball, mounted on a wooden shield and signed by ten members of the England team, attracted interest worldwide but went to an anonymous British buyer.



Extra doctors to graduate

Changes to medical training in Scotland have been announced by the Scottish Executive in an effort to prevent future doctor shortages. The plans will lead to an additional 100 doctors graduating in Scotland every year and a relaxation of strict medical school entrance rules on when the required five Highers must be passed.

Now about 800 graduates emerge from Scotland’s four clinical medical schools — in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. For three decades, students starting at St Andrews have had to graduate at Manchester University after clinical training there.

More schools

Controversial plans to build 11 schools in the Highlands were given the go-ahead by the Scottish Executive. Highland Council can now build secondary schools at Dingwall Academy, Kinlochleven High School, Millburn Academy in Inverness, and Portree High School.

Also planned are a school at Drummond for pupils with additional support needs, a primary school at Inshes and a school for Gaelic, all in Inverness, as well as primary schools at Kinlochleven, Cullicudden, Culbokie and Cawdor.

Highlands head breakdown list

Motorists in northern Scotland break down more than anywhere else in Britain. They will seek help an average of 26 times, six more than the typical number across the UK, Direct Line says after a survey of 2,000 drivers. It means Highlands drivers are likely to need a roadside rescue nearly once every two years, with flat tyres the most likely cause for more than one in four women, Men are more likely to be left stranded by a flat battery.

North of Scotland drivers top the list because they cover the most miles a year — 12,412 compared with the UK average of 9,628.

Hepatitis action

Proposals to tackle a hidden killer, hepatitis C, were outlined by Andy Kerr, the Scottish Health Minister. An estimated 50,000 people in Scotland have been infected — 1 per cent of the population compared to about 0.5 per cent for the rest of the UK. About a third of those infected live in Greater Glasgow and most are aged under 50.

Explosive find

Builders who dug up a Second World War artillery shell with their JCB digger decided it was a dud and began clearing rust from it with a hammer. Only when neighbours in Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, called the police did they learn it was live. The 6lb shell was destroyed in a controlled explosion after neighbouring streets were evacuated.

Net profits

The Old Firm have created 3,056 jobs across Scotland, according to a study of the 2003-04 season. Celtic and Rangers generate about £120 million a year for the Scottish economy, triple that brought in by the Edinburgh festivals, the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute found.