02/08/2012 Reporting Scotland

Welcome to Reporting Scotland. Tonight on your national News.

A world record in the semi-final, as Sir Chris Hoy attempts to win

his 5th gold medal, with Team GB spent team. We are live at the

Velodrome. We are also live in his a home city

of Edinburgh. -- his home city. And there is gold and silver for

Scottish canoeists Tim Baillie and David Florence, as Team GB gets his

surprise one macro two -- want two. It has been a day of success for

Scots in Team GB, with the gold and silver in canoeing. If four times

Olympic champion Chris Hoy it is in competition now at the Velodrome.

It is hoped BG will increase that medal tally. He has already broken

a world record. I can cross now to be so Summers in

Edinburgh. -- the says Summers.

It has been a great day to take in some of the atmosphere here in

Edinburgh, the official live side. It has not been a busy crowd, but

an enthusiastic one. We had canoeists stand here earlier, when

we saw a silver and gold in the pairs can knowing. Now we have a

people gathering in anticipation for the team this print. We are

hoping it will take place in the next half hour. What a fantastic

effort to see a world record gone by the local lad just a few minutes

ago. Let us go round and talk to be a couple of people. You were at

school with him went you? What brought you can hear today. Top we

have been watching all day be he is so large a great sportsman. Has he

been a fantastic ambassador for you? Definitely. He has come and

talk to us at Assembly at school, and answered questions. And he

trained so hard -- trains so hard - 6, 7 hours a day. Does that

inspired you to get into sport? definitely. Seeing how... I guess

just the effort. Are you in to support? I am not so much. I play

hockey for Scotland. Just seeing how good he is at it has made me

try harder at it. Also in the crowd are some cycling coach is, if

people who have come down here because they are into cycling and

want to capture some of the atmosphere. We are gearing up for

that to happen quite soon, and hoping for a fantastic result any

time now. Thank you very much. Let us cross

now up to Rhona McLeod outside the Velodrome.

The Velodrome is behind me, and that would be that ticket of the

night. Such an anticipated event. It will be G B against France. A

repeat of the Beijing final. Team GB will be all out to win again

tonight. If you look all around us there is a sense of anticipation

especially over here. If you can see, there are giant screens and

thousands upon thousands of people round here, you can see the

Olympics stadium behind, they are all waiting for this race to start,

and this way as well even more people are standing there waiting.

The race is going to start at any point, but we will come to that in

it while. The possibility of a gold medal here tonight is not need help

the only success. There was drama down at Lea Valley at the Canary

earlier today. It was two boats, two Bo Lerenius Team GB boards,

vying for the gold medal. In each one there was a Scotsman and an

Englishman. Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott won the gold, beating David

Florence and John Barnes. There is nothing like making a

splash at the Olympics, and these men certainly did that. Tim Baillie

in the front, and partner Etienne Stott were the first to go in the

final. Cheered on by a partisan crowd,

they set the pace for their rivals with an outstanding display of co-

The target was set. And the three- times gold medalists from Slovakia

had a go. It was left to the final pair.

Edinburgh's David Florence and Englishman Richard Hounslow. To try

to make it in Great Britain 12 macro to - but in which order?

Can Florence and Hounslow win it? No, my goodness!

We had been in the the top ten for the past to keep macro years, but

certainly not favourites to win. pretty tough situation going off

last. But Olympic silver medal is a huge achievement.

The greatest moment in Britain canoe slalom history. The moment

when a two cruise climb the medal rostrum in the Olympic Games.

But they enjoy the best celebrations of the Games so far?

We could forget also about last night, in the swimming pool, and

23-year-old Michael Jamieson of Glasgow. If he took silver in the

200 metres breaststroke. It took a world record to beat him. He was as

cool as a cucumber etc. - he had mentally rehearsed the situation

for 18 months. He was so sure he had reached the podium. If Laura

Maxwell reports on how he got the silver and also who was watching

him. They cheered him on at his old

swimming club. Fans had their fingers crossed at Celtic Park...

And at the Aquatics Centre, the atmosphere was electric.

He did not let them down. Glasgow's Michael Jamieson swam the race of

There was not even an arm's length in it. This was the fastest 200

metres breaststroke final of all time. This silver medal, the first

a Scot has taken in the polls since 1996, and one which has been long

awaited. -- in at the swimming pool. I was pretty relaxed and calm

coming into the race, just a think because I had prepared so long, and

envisaged it so many times. I am elated with it.

He was not the only one. His new fans were also overjoyed. Almost

700,000 Scots tuned in to watch his final. With 9 million viewers in

total, it is the most-watched event on UK TV last night. It was so

close! He could have won, but... thought it was amazing.

Just brilliant, just about sums it So close for Michael Jamieson. We

hope to bring you Sir Chris Hoy's team sprint, Team GB against France,

very sure -- very short in the programme. Back to you in the

meantime. The rest of the Day's News.

Engine is are beginning to clear the landslip which closed the A83

near the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll. Drivers are once again

facing a long diversion route. Laura Bicker is at the scene.

Work has begun to clear the landslip that has blocked this road

today. They will not work through the night because it is still

dangerous. They have spotters out on the hillside to watch for

further landslide. However it is hoped the road could reopen

tomorrow. And should this happen again, it is not that the plans are

now well under way to find a viable alternative route.

Goal be from a far do you get the idea of why this downside is such a

problem. Around 1000 tons of rubble has dropped nearly 1000 ft onto

this road in two separate plants that. There is no way around the

debris, and it cannot be cleared until the hillside is stable.

had opened the road last night, who knows what could have happened?

Ingenious are assessing the hill, trying to see if more rubble will

fall. -- engineers. Badby four landslides already this year.

try your best, but unfortunately this summer has been a very wet

summer. It is no great surprise that it has happened unfortunately.

But in Argyll, they say they have lived with this for far too long.

The diversion to Inveraray is over an hour long, enough to put some

tourists off visiting the region. If it is frustrating to see it

happen, with this being the start of the English school holidays, and

we really only maybe have an eight- month market in Argyll, and this is

hard to take. Best solution could be this road, known as the bald

Military Road. Transport Scotland say they are in

discussions with the landowner. It will need to be resurfaced and

restructured, but could become a viable alternative route. And work

could start within the next few weeks.

Nature is showing this part of Scotland that it will not be tamed

by Tarmac and fences. But with so many livelihoods depending Bonn

this dramatic stretch of road, the key now is to find his mission, and

quickly. Be it is hoped that the road will

be open tomorrow, however, if you should want to get here, and you

can see why you might want to, there are seven alternative routes

into our Gulf. If Western Ferries have put on extra transport over

the next few days, so you can still The three men in who died in a

three-car crash in Cumbernauld yesterday have been named. Dig

Brown was driving his silver Mercedes which collided with a

black Ford Focus. A 71-year-old man driving a Fiat Pinto suffered mild

injuries while the Ford Focus driver and passenger were killed.

It is reported that cabinet ministers are considering spending

around �5 billion to buy the 18 billion -- 18 % of the bank that

the Government doesn't own -- the Royal Bank of Scotland. Hundreds of

people have been evacuated after a gas mains was disrupted in

Musselburgh. The GP's surgery, Tesco's supermarket and premises in

an industrial estate were among the buildings affected. Scotland's

population has reached a record figure. In the middle of last year

there were five and a quarter million people living here. That is

up on the previous peak in 1974. Reevel Alderson reports. A decade

ago there were concerns that Scotland's population was falling.

Falling school rolls means local schools will close, other local

services will become less sustainable, communities will

become weaker. His plan was for overseas students to be able to

stay for two years in Scotland bringing fresh talent to the

population. Did it work? The population in the middle of last

year was higher than the previous peak in 1974. There were almost

5,000 more berths than deaths. It is migration which keeps the

population growing. 86,000 migrants came here last year, half from the

rest of the UK while only 59,000 left, most of them went south of

the border. Most of these migrants are young, aged 16 to 34. Like this

young woman from Poland to has opened a fast food outlet with her

husband in Dundee. There is a large Eastern European Community around

the city and she says it makes economic sense for them to stay in

Scotland. In Scotland we can earn as much as we need. Here we can pay

for our rent just for one week of our working, in Poland we have to

work a whole month just to pay the rent. Then we have to pay for

eating which is quite difficult, it is not here. It is the size of

Scotland's population which concerns the man who has brought

the figures together. The population is getting older. There

will be more all the people in Scotland over the next several

decades which I think is an issue for people to be aware of and

particularly policy makers must be aware in terms of getting it right

in terms of where the population are and what their needs are.

these babies born in the middle of last century who will be affected.

What Scotland needs now is another baby boom to look after the last

one. Now other stories from across Scotland. Some other stories from

across Scotland this Thursday. Seven people are recovering, after

their yacht capsized in the sea off Skye. The casualties, who are all

French, were found clinging to the hull of the 52 foot catamaran last

night. No-one was injured. Farmers are calling for a new strategy to

control the geese population. Numbers are growing so fast they're

destroying grassland in some areas. Scottish Natural Heritage is

piloting a scheme allowing controlled shooting of geese.

Aberdeen Airport has invested �1.3million on a new fleet of snow-

clearing and fire-fighting vehicles. The new ploughs will clear the

runway five times faster. A computer-generated video has gone

on show revealing how the inside of Dundee's V and A museum will look.

The �45 million building on the banks of the Tay is due to open in

2015. Scottish and Southern Energy are taking over the wind turbine

plant at Machrihanish in Argyll. The factory employs around 100

people. SSE says it's securing the supply chain for renewable energy.

Visitors to the Capital's King's Theatre can look forward to a more

comfortable seat. It's been given a �2.6 million facelift, bringing

extra leg-room, a new box office and improved ventilation to keep

audience and actors cool. There are more stories from your hair on our

website. -- from your area. And now it's back to sport, and it's not

all just the Olympics, David. Yes, don't worry, we'll get back to them

later. But we'll start with football because it's a big night

for Dundee United. They're playing Dynamo Moscow in the first leg of

their Europa League qualifier. It's at Tannadice and I'm delighted to

say the United manager Peter Houston joins us from the stadium

now. Thanks for joining us Peter. A home match against a team with an

illustrious history, not a bad way to start the season, is it?

Absolutely, it is a huge night for Dundee United and we are looking

forward to it. It will be a full house at Tannadice. There have been

many, many big nights in the past. We would love to make it a night

with a result to send the fans home singing. They will be expecting you

to take the game to Dynamo Moscow, is that how you are going to

approach this one? Yes, I think we are at our best when we go forward.

If we let them have all of the ball they will pick us off. We have got

two strikers who scored 35 goals in the SPL last season. I will be

looking for our strikers to take the chances made for them.

Hopefully we can turn it on tonight and get a result. If we can get a

clean sheet to go to Moscow with I will be delighted. You missed out

on a clean sheet end two matches last year, have you learned from

those experiences? Yes, when you look at last year, we lost on away

goals which was very unlucky because we had agreed a night at

Tannadice which could as 3-1 up at half-time. The year before we

played the seasoned campaigners in Athens and almost won ate at the

last minute when we hit the post. We have learned that getting away

goals is crucial and stopping them at home. Hopefully we can keep the

clean sheet tonight and score one or two. And there's live coverage

of Dundee United versus Dynamo Moscow tonight in Sportsound on BBC

Radio Scotland 810 medium wave. The show is on air now. Neil Lennon

says Celtic's chances of reaching the champions league hang in the

balance. They take a 2-1 lead into the away leg of their qualifier

with HJK Helsinki after last night's match in Glasgow. The Finns

scored early in the second half through Rasmus Schuller. But Gary

Hooper drew the Scottish Champions level shortly afterwards. Then last

season's player of the year, Charlie Mulgrew, scored the winner.

I am not disappointed at all, I am delighted. It is a huge improvement

on this time last year. Helsinki can count themselves pretty

fortunate it is only 2-1. I think they will see more of us in the

away tie. Now more news from the Olympic Games in London. Andy

Murray's through to the semi finals of the tennis singles. Murray beat

Spain's Nicolas Almagro by two sets to love today. Now you'll like this.

Rather than hit the ball over the net, at one point Murray hit a

winning shot ROUND it. Don't worry, it's perfectly legal. Now Murray,

the third seed, plays the World number two Novak Djokovitch of

Serbia in the semi finals tomorrow. That's the sport for the moment. We

are still waiting for Sir Chris Hoy and in the meantime let's see how

the weather is shaping up. It has not been a bad day for most of us,

more in the way of cloud across the North. This weather front is skiing

rather static just north of us. This low pressure to the West will

start to pull closer to us, it has not caused a problem yet but it

will generate more in the way of showers as we head towards the

weekend. There will be more in the way of cloud to the far north on

Thursday with bits and pieces of the rain and showers. Dry elsewhere

with some clear spells and very light winds which will allow

patches of mist and fog to form. It will be a mild night and tomorrow's

Stark's bright and dry. A better day for the north-east. During the

course of the afternoon cloud will thicken up towards the south-west

corner with an area of rain pushing in. A few showers will break out

elsewhere but on the whole it should be predominantly dry. The

weekend will have a lot of showers and also some sunny spells.

Temperatures staying pleasantly warm. Now let's go straight to the

velodrome and see how Sir Chris Hoy fears in the team's sprint. --

France are never going to pull this back. Here comes Chris Hoy. Coming

down to the final turn and the crowd are going absolutely mad. And

new world record. 42.6. I do not believe what I am seeing here. The

eight Britain have won the gold for the team sprint. That is the 5th

gold medal by Sir Chris Hoy. That equals the record held by so Steve

Redgrave. It was all about young Philip pines for me. He has been

picked in such a high-pressure position. -- Hines. Bothy of them

were on the form of their life. -- all three of them. What a

performance. There is a posse of VIPs. You will not get anybody more

important than the assembled VIPs the year. You can just hear the

cheers here at Olympic Park because of this fantastic news that Team GB

including Sir Chris Hoy have done it again. Chris Hoy's 5th gold

medal. That is the third gold medal for Ascot. Very good news indeed.

The moral is a very big day because it is Katherine Grainger in action.

She and her partner should be favourites for another gold. We

hope you can join us for that. Tonight we have the fantastic news

that Chris Hoy and Team GB have won gold in deep velodrome. That is

Reporting Scotland. I will be back with a summary after the 10 o'clock