27/09/2012 Reporting Scotland

Welcome to Reporting Scotland. Tonight on your national news...

Three serious fires in Edinburgh in two days, causing two deaths and

leaving three people injured. could see their residents of the

other flats looking a bit worried, as they suddenly thought that they

may not be able to get out. Also in the programme...

A warning from farmers that the sixth wettest summer on record

could mean the worst cereal harvest for 30 years.

After the success of Stirling's orchestra for children from

deprived areas, the Big Noise scheme is heading for Glasgow.

And Rangers' victory over Motherwell - Ally McCoist says it

proves his side can still compete with Scotland's best.

Good evening. Three serious fires in Edinburgh in less than 24 hours

have left two people dead and injured three others, including a

baby girl. One woman is fighting for her life

in hospital and another has serious burns. Within the last five minutes,

the windows of this flat in Dundee tennis have been boarded up.

Investigators had been me here all day trying to work out what

happened. This was the second of two fatal fires in the capital, in

which has been a very difficult period for the local firefighters.

Shortly after 10 o'clock last night, the fire broke out and residents

said that it all happened very quickly. You could suddenly see all

the fire and smoke coming out of the building and you could see the

residents of the other flats starting to get a bit worried that

they may not be able to get out. the height of the blaze, there were

45 firefighters and attendance, wearing special equipment. Am our

men in her fifties was found dead. Serious fire in the capital in the

space of 24 hours. We got here very quickly, but the fire was so well

developed, my thoughts are that members of the community may have

heard something a smell something but maybe not called it in straight

away. Some people do not want to dial the emergency services in case

it is the false alarm. The message I want to send out is, I would much

rather that you fawned - I do not mind if it turns out to be a false

alarm. -- that you tell phoned. Yesterday, the first fatality. So

far, none of the fires are being treated as suspicious.

We have also heard today that the family of a firefighter who was

killed on duty three years ago in Edinburgh has begun a legal action

for damages? That is correct. The crew were called out to a fire not

far from here in Dalry Road and the family say they have no choice but

to take out a civil action against the local fire bought for

compensation. They claimed that Mr Williamson went into the pub to

carry out an initial assessment and then the say when he came outside,

he was ordered to go back in and became trapped in the building a

lost his life in the line of duty. He Lothian And Borders Police have

carried out a report with the Health and Safety Executive and

that its with the properly to fiscal at the moment. If the

contest the allegations and say that the sum of money being sought

is excessive. River levels are dropping back

following the torrential rain that brought flooding to parts of the

country earlier this week. And while Scotland escaped the worst of

the storm that hit the UK, farmers say this year's weather means their

cereal harvests are both "disastrous and depressing", with

one grower in the Borders describing their harvest as the

worst in 30 years. Taking advantage of the rear tried day. Despite the

wet summer, the spring crop of partly is ready. However,

harvesting it is proving tricky. Once they get so really wet like

that, it takes days to dry it. It sometimes can take a week at least.

And there is almost some rain every day. We have Ali had a dry 24 at

hours for weeks now. The afield than the Borders sitting under

inches of water. The problem here is a long summer of continuous rain.

It means there are crops and thus far that the farmers and we will

not be able to harvest because of the months. The site has been the

6th weight is some are on record. Some places have seen twice their

average rainfall. We have seen a lot of rainfall over a very small

time-frame. Over a couple of days, we have maybe seen the likes of one

month's worth of rain. There are conditions are not better for other

growers. Whether you are going crops, growing fruit or vegetables

or even looking after livestock, it will have had an effect on everyone.

At tension is now turning to the year ahead. As harvest farmers

struggle to harvest the crop that they do have, they now need to

plant seeds for next year. There could be repercussions for months

to come. Meanwhile, as autumn gets underway,

transport officials are already looking ahead to the winter, They

have been unveiling two new ice- breakers, designed to tackle the

kind of Arctic conditions which left hundreds of motorists stranded

in 2010. This snow chaos goes on. Airports are close, school shut

early and people are stuck on the motor way for hours. These images

are the stuff of nightmares for those charged with keeping the

country moving, so on a crisp September morning, the gathered

together. He in Scotland, you are going to have some disruption from

bad weather and we want to minimise that as much as possible and make

it as safe as possible for people to travel around the country. Him

learning the lessons of two years ago, Transport officials went to

Scandinavia where this eye-catching piece of hard we wear is a tried

and tested. It is meant to break up the hard days which closed the

likes of the mortar ways two years ago. I am confident that we have

learned lessons from where we were two years ago. We are giving

advance notice to the public to prepare. We are putting together

leaflets and information packs for the public from police website so

that nobody is caught unawares as some of us where two years ago. The

message is reinforced by this huge and video.

The Spanish company that owns Scottish Power is planning to sell

a stake in its distribution and grid network.The BBC understands

that Iberdrola wants to share the cost of as much as �8 billion of

planned investments to upgrade the electricity system in the south of

Scotland, North West England and Wales. It is understood there are

no plans to change the way the division of Scottish Power is

managed and no plans to sell any part of the company's retail or

renewable energy divisions. You are watching Reporting Scotland

from the BBC. Still to come... The Queen takes a look at a cairn

at Ballater, near Balmoral, built by residents for her Diamond

Jubilee. And in sportm, we will hear from

the only Scot involved in this year's Ryder Cup match between

Europe and the USA on the eve of the event.

And Celtic offer half a dozen first-team players new contracts.

Stay tuned for the details. Good joined Neal later for the fool

weather forecast for the end of the week and the weekend.

The difference between the NHS north and south of the Border will

become even more stark in six months time, when radical changes

to the NHS in England come into effect. The changes in England have

attracted a lot of opposition, but some think Scotland's reluctance to

change is bad news for patients. As part of a day of special reports on

the changing NHS, our health correspondent Eleanor Bradford has

been investigating. She asked her GP to centre somewhere else, but

that was not as easy as first thought. The treatment is

marvellous. If she had lived in England, she would dub been able to

go where she wanted. Now, GPs in England will have even more power.

The likes of this practice in West Leicestershire will be able to run

services. No will get a feel of what is working well and what does

not work well. We want to do a lot more. We want a greater health

service and the idea of putting GPs in charge is a very good one.

it radical reform has attracted a lot of opposition in England, but

there are some in Scotland feels services here are being left behind.

The stock to build in Dalkeith would love to have some of the

options available to doctors and England. Often, my only option is

to admit some went to hospital, and that should really be the last

thing that I would want to do. I would rather have influence and the

wish social care is provided. is an even more radical plan. The

money for death's care is paid directly into her bank account, so

she can organise a plan which will suit her. I went for three hours a

day from one form, with one carer, which the other firms were doing

with two or more. Their attitude was, how can we help you, how can

we help you get better? Despite that, she is planning to leave

Dumfries and moved to England. She thinks the service there will be

far better care. A trial has heard how an epileptic

man suffered a fit shortly after being hit by a police officer.

Constable Josephine Skilling told Kilmarnock Sheriff Court how she

had grabbed her colleague's leg in an effort to prevent PC Peter

Cullen making contact with prisoner William Cree's body. Mr Cree was

later found collapsed in a cell at Saltcoats police station with blood

over his head. Constable Cullen denies assaulting Mr Cree to his

severe injury and permanent disfigurement in November last year,

claiming self-defence. A Lewis garage has stunned and

delighted island motorists by slashing the cost of petrol and

diesel by nine pence a litre. Fuel prices in the Western Isles are

among the highest in the country and have prompted a number of

official enquiries. The forecourt owner says he has managed the price

Scotland's second orkest tra has been given the go-ahead in Glasgow

This was the moment when musical history was made. Children from an

estate in Stirling playing alongside the Venezualan musicians

who inspired them. Today came news of a new orchestra

in a new neighbourhood, the Governhill area of glass has always

been a focus for immigrants, Irish Pakistani and Roma recently. If all

goes to plan, big noise Governhill will be set up here with lots of

local children involved. There are over 50lapbgs wadges spoken in the

area -- 50 languages spoken in the area. That's incredible. This will

bring the children together and then it will spill over to the

parents. It's bound to. And it's giving these children an

opportunity that they wouldn't otherwise have.

Funding the scheme is Complex and there's still money to be raised.

The council agreed this morning to endorse the orchestra for the long-

term. We have a lot of people working on this. We are not looking

to spend anything extra at the start of this at this time. We are

also looking at the schools which are already open in the area and

hundreds of youngsters in the primary schools and nursery having

this open to the area. There's still some money to be raised

publicly and privately, but they've already started recruiting staff.

By next spring, they hope to be targeting children in the local

primary schools to form the orchestra. By that point, this

community will be ready to make a big noise.

Also in the news across the country this Thursday:

Glasgow City Council is expecting to make almost �50 million worth of

cuts over the next two years. Councillors are set to decide in

the coming months what this will mean for jobs and services.

A man whose wife and two children died in a car crash near Montrose

says he's frustrated at delays in making mobile cranes subject to

MoTs. Barry Copeland says he's been told suggestion could be years away.

The crash was caused by oil leaking from a crane. Final plans for a new

town in the North East have been submitted to Aberdeenshire Council.

It would be situated to the south of abouter doon. Initial plans

propose conducting 4,000 houses. Conservative MSPs and the Japanese

Consul-General have been promoting cricket at Holyrood. It's sending

cricket equipment to areas in Japan devastated by the recent tsunami.

Logan air's chairman is leaving his post after 36 years. He'll still be

involved with the airline and will become its first President. The

sculpture planned to mark the Scotland England border at Gretna

has been awarded �50,000 of funding from Scotland. It will cost �4

million and should be completed in two years' time. There's more from

your area and the latest News 24 hours a day on BBC Scotland's

website. The Queen in the region this

evening viewing a special cairn marking her Diamond Jubilee. The

memorial's taken months of work. Colin is there for us now.

Thank you very much indeed. Behind me here is the Queen Elizabeth II

Jubilee cairn bang in the centre of Ballater. The Queen left earlier,

but people are still taking pictures of it. It's made up of

some 60 stones marking her Golden Jubilee years. Within the last ten

minutes, the Queen has been here greeted by hundreds of well hch

wishers and she's been taking the opportunity to have a lack at this

cairn which was the idea of two local businessmen, Gordon Bruce and

Alastair Cassie to mark her Diamond Jubilee in spectacular fashion.

They've been out on the hills with a lot of help from people locally

getting the stones here and putting them on the Jubilee cairn.

Certainly the Queen seemed very impressed by their work and what

they'd been doing. It really is quite an impressive monument,

memorial to mark her Diamond Jubilee year and as she left somen

the minutes or so ago, she went through a cordon of fire torchs

very much as Queen Victoria did way back in her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

So this has been rather an informal occasion here really in Ballater

and it's the last public event for the Queen in what has really been a

spectacular Diamond Jubilee year. The Harry Potter author has

released her first novel for adults. It's the Edinburgh-based writer's

first book in five years. It was kept under wraps until this moring.

So far it's had a mixed response from critics. No mixed response for

David, it's all good. Here he is. I get reviews all the time, good

and bad ones. The build-up is almost over for this year's Ryder

Cup match between Europe and the US. The only Scot taking part, Paul

Lawrie and his team-mates are hoping to make Chicago their kind

of town over the next three days. 40,000 fans mostly cheering on the

home team expected each day to witness one of sport's greatest

shows. Our reporter has a front row seat.

Show time is almost upon us here in Chicago.

Ready the shine. And the audience - well, you be the judge.

Of course one of our own is traeding the Ryder Cup boards again.

13 years after his opening performance. Great to get here and

get on the plane, get into the room and get your kit up on the rail and

try it all on and go and get some bits and pieces because I'm fatter

than I used to be, but it's all good. Those sharing the stage with

Lawrie say it's good to get him back. It's been a great effort.

He's played very, very well the last couple of years. His goal this

year was to make the Ryder Cup team and he has. You know, it would be

great to see him play well here and obviously get a few points for the

team. The fans make this event like no other in golf. Galleries like

old-fashioned football terraces. Handling will pressure will be key

to European chances. Quiet, tranquil, almost serene. Yet if any

of the games this week go the distance and come up 18, it will be

anything but. Imagine you have a put to win the

Ryder Cup - what would that feel like? Every player would dream

about that. It would be pretty nerve-racking but pretty cool to be

in that situation. The curtain is about to go up on the biggest show

in town. Prepare to be dazzled by the best in the business.

Celtic are in talks with six first team players about extending their

contracts there. The manager says they are speaking to the players as

he feels they need to be rewarded for their efforts over recent

seasons. It's always a great incentive for the players to keep

improving and it's no different from many other clubs. The likes of

Mulgrew and Matthews and Forrest and Hooper, they've played brill

wrantly for me over the years and I want to reward them -- brilliantly.

Ally McCoist says the win is a small step in the long road back to

where he wass Motherwell to be. It was their first game since Rangers

joined the Third Division and was their biggest test. The club was

leading the Scottish Premier League this time last year. Now they are

not even top of the Third Division. Last night, they'd find out perhaps

just how far their team had truly fallen. The answer - maybe not that

far. Rangers swept the SPL leaders mors Well aside in the League Cup.

-- Motherwell. COMMENTATOR: Rangers have the

Incredible. No doubting how much the win means to the Rangers player.

It means a lot to their manager too. He says don't read too much

significance into it. It's the same group of boys that

are getting stick, rightly so, for not performing well away from home

in the SPL, but we've got miles to go in terms of where we want to be

and return to. Tonight is a small step in what will be a long road.

Rangers will soon have the Hans to take another small step on that

journey. Seven other team goes into the quarter-final draw are all from

the Premier League. Aberdeen are one of the clubs joining Rangers in

the quarter-final draw which will be made a week today. They beat

Dunfermline last night. The only goal of the match coming three

minutes into added time from Vernon, his first of the season. If anyone

deserved the goal it's Vernon. He's worked tirelessly throughout the

season without any luck. The big transformation in our team was when

Anderson came on. He's a brilliant Captain. His attitude was

infectious. When Russell came on to the pitch, the team was transformed

and I didn't think there was a chance of us losing when he was in

the team. Back to you, Sally.

Christopher is here now with the weather forecast.

We've got the sixth wettest summer on record, ice-breakers lining up

for the winter. Anything you can for the winter. Anything you can

possibly tell us to cheer us up? Average autumnal weather I'm afraid.

We've been watching the weather front cross the country bringing us

cloud and rain. We can see it clearly there. The cloud works its

way in and the rain comes out of it. Over the next few hours, the rain

band will continue to work its way eastwards crossing the country from

west-to-east, reaching out into the North Sea in the early hours. A

rash of showers in the western parts of the country with clear

skies for the likes of rural Aberdeenshire where we could be

down to four or five. It will be windy, particularly on the West

Coast with the strong west to south-westerly breeze. The showers

still with us tomorrow. Some fairly blustery. The further east you are,

generally drier and brighter, but one or two showers will work their

way over in that breeze which will still be strong at times. By the

middle of the afternoon across the far north, it's a showery story in

the Western Isles and across much of the mainland a mixture of

sunshine and showers. The further east that you are, a little warmer,

but if you are out and about in the wind, it will be feeling rather

cool. Sunshine and showers also the story for the southern half of the

country. The rest of the afternoon and into the evening, the wind

start to pick up and touch gale force in the north-west. The

showers continue, merging at times to form longer periods of rain.

It's part of this area of low pressure which continues to move

across stand knave ya. The low pushing across Shetland.

Saturday, the showers still with us, particularly in the west and north.

At times with the north-westerly, they'll work into the north coast

of Aberdeenshire. Then it turns wet overnight as we head towards Sunday.

It will be a wet and windy start to Sunday morning.

Not particularly pleasant, but the good news is that it moves through

quickly. By the afternoon, we are back to sunshine and showers.

Temperatures up to mid teens with the south-westerly flow. Tomorrow,

sunshine and showers for all. Thank you very much. Now a summary

of the top stories: Three seer yos fires in Edinburgh

in less than 24 hours have left two people dead and injured three

others including a baby girl. One woman is fighting for her life in

hospital and another has serious burns.

The young couple have been swept to their deaths in a swollen river in

North Wales. Police in Wrexham believe they may have been trying

to rescue a dog. Flooding continues to cause problems in Yorkshire and

the North East of England. Scotland escaped the worst of the

storm that hit the UK, but farmers say this year's weather means their

cereal harvests are disastrous and depressing. It's been the sixth

wettest Scottish summer on record. Social workers, police and

prosecutors have been heavily criticised for missing