
Princess Anne spotted in Edinburgh as she attends Royal Highland Show weekend
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Princess Anne appeared in great spirits as she attended the Royal Highland Show on Friday.
The Princess Royal was pictured at the event to enjoy a tour, met primary school children taking part in activities and watched competitions - including the show jumping.
Enjoying the warm weather, she was escorted by RHASS Chairman, James Logan, and Chief Executive, Alex Paterson.
David Tennant, Head of the Royal Highland Show, said, 'Friday at the Show has been a true sun-soaked spectacle and we are thrilled to see our visitors and families enjoy all that the show has to offer.
"From sheep shearing to competitions, sheepdog skills to cookery demonstrations, there's something for everyone to enjoy.
'We were very honoured to have welcomed HRH Princess Anne today and shared with her all of the great achievements from the Scottish agricultural industry.'
Around 200,000 people are set to attend the show in Ingliston, which runs for four days until Sunday.
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On Thursday, over 50,000 people flocked to enjoy a range of food and drink, live music and agricultural displays.
Each year, there are over 800 trade exhibitors, over 2,000 livestock competitors entering into 900+ competitions and tens of thousands of visitors.
Over the past two days, Edinburgh motorists have been warned of major road delays as the event gets underway.
Traffic Scotland and Lothian have issued updates to road and public transport users with considerable tailbacks reported on the A8, M9, M8 and M90.

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The Herald Scotland
9 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Nothing about the A9 dualling project suggests momentum
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There is simply nothing that screams momentum about the A9, whether it be the glacial pace of dualling or getting stuck behind a lorry on the many single carriageway sections. Ms Hyslop also takes the biscuit for announcing that an announcement is imminent. That isn't really an announcement at all but perhaps shows the desperation among ministers to try to show that work is at least progressing. But just two sections of single carriageway, totalling about 11 miles (18km) of road have been upgraded over the past decade. About 77 miles (124km) have still to be improved as part of the £3 billion project, which will extend from Inverness to Perth. Delays and rising costs have repeatedly hit the dualling upgrades, which were initially scheduled to be completed this year. Why it is being done in sections is beyond me – surely a firm should just get the contract to build the whole lot, rather than handing out projects that seem to be by the yard. 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There were 321 collisions resulting in injury during that period, 134 of which were considered serious and 159 classed as minor. Of course, the fact that much of it is still single carriageway will not be a contributory factor in every crash, but every one should be a stark reminder to the Scottish Government of the pressing need for an upgrade. But given the track record of Transport Scotland and successive governments, we shouldn't hold our breath. The A75 urgently needs upgraded as does the A96 and the A82. It is easy to think that they all remain in poor condition in poor condition because they are all in rural areas, miles away from the glare of Holyrood. Out of sight, out of mind. Compare this to when the Forth Road Bridge fell into disrepair – a sparkling new crossing was delivered on time and on budget, and fairly quickly too. Only a cynic could suggest this happened because the bridge carries the main road into Edinburgh and many in the capital have holiday homes in the East Neuk of Fife. Transport infrastructure projects always seem to be a problem under a quango that orders ferries that are too big for ports and electrifying railway lines without ordering enough electric trains. In other European countries, roads seem to get built in one fell swoop rather in bits and pieces like here in Scotland. This leads to inevitable cost overruns and delays which adds millions more to the bill which on the face of it seems unnecessary. The more contracts that are handed out, the more can go wrong. So, surely, it would be sensible to award less. But sense seems to be in short supply at Holyrood.


Scotsman
2 days ago
- Scotsman
Who's with me? Car rentals are a massive rip-off, right?
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It must be the last frontier to be crossed. So much of modern life has been transformed by technology. Mobiles have replaced landlines, digital photography has pushed aside Kodak and emails have sent Royal Mail to the edge. Yet need to hire a car and the process remains as depressing and baffling as it has always been. It begins hopefully when you spot a good online price for a small vehicle and make your reservation. Then the big day comes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad You can always locate the company you booked with because they will be the one with the enormous queue. At every other window the staff will be staring into space but your reservation will be at the desk with ten people waiting, including one man who only speaks Greek and wants to swap his Honda Civic for a Bedford van but only if it's electric. READ MORE: Why Scottish cider converts like me head to Anstruther No one wants to end up careering down Rome's Spanish Steps in a two-tonne Dodge Durango because they were 'upgraded' from the Fiat Punto they booked (Picture: Alberto Pizzoli) | AFP via Getty Images After watching the start of your holiday disappear before your eyes, you eventually reach the front of the line and that's where the problems really begin. After being offered a bewildering range of additional payment options, the staff take a deposit the size of Belgium's national debt, then reveal your choice of car is unavailable. They always sweeten this by telling you that you've been upgraded, which is fine unless you've booked a Fiat Punto for ease of navigating the narrow streets of Rome and instead end up driving a two-tonne Dodge Durango down the Spanish Steps. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Do they even own the cars they advertise? I'm not sure because I really can't remember the last time I got the one I actually booked. This summer the Fiat 500 I'd reserved turned into some weird Kia with an enormous scratch down the side. And one on the bonnet... and the rear bumper. I pointed all that out to the man who gave me the key, shrugged and scribbled something on a piece of paper. Returning a week later, all seemed to be fine. I hadn't added to the scratches, I'd filled up with fuel and even got back a few hours early. The man grunted and scribbled on some more paper and that was that until a week later when an email arrived charging an extra 200 euros for Protection Plus (whatever that is) and the cost of filling up the tank... which I'd already done. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad After some badgering, they backed down and refunded the money but what an amazing business model. You promise a product for a price, then make people queue, then give them a different product they didn't want, then charge them much more for it. And the worst thing is, they have different logos, brands and promises but they are all basically the same. The car rental market is ripe for an ambitious disruptor to move in, rip up the spurious charges and calculations and offer a transparent price and good customer service. Could the obstacle to that possibly be a cosy cartel involving car manufacturers who rely on fleet sales and the big rental operators who shield together to hold onto the biggest consumer-scamming operation in the holiday market?


STV News
3 days ago
- STV News
Fifth of motorists have drunk alcohol after 10pm ahead of morning drive
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