Berwickshire News August 10th

Front page of this week's News leads with the furore in the tiny fishing village of Cove, on the Berwickshire Coast, population about 13½ about the planning application for some 16 new houses to be built on greenfield sites around the village - viewed by the villagers as the thin end of the wedge in respect of development. A 227 signature petition has been raised and presented to SBC. The photo on the front page is of the Coldstreamer leading the first ride out of the Coldstream Civic Week to Norham. 9 Villages on the Scottish side of the Border but with TD15 (Berwick) postcodes are appealing to Royal Mail to give them a postcode all of their own (suggestion is TD16) because having an 'English' postcode causes them problems including being in the Berwick phone book - not the Borders one, being told by NHS24 (the Scottish equivalent of NHS Direct) that they're in England, and of course that it might be affecting their insurance premiums too. Royal Mail have said it's for delivering post and no other purpose - so they won't change it. The fight goes on. The cost of a gull cull in Eyemouth has ruled it out as a potential resolution to the problem of marauding gulls stealing tourists' chips and then plopping on them (the tourists) - it's been a problem in the past and a cull was arranged, but now the cost is too high.

Residents of a farm near Abbey St. Bathans are up in arms that it took BT too long to fix their phone lines after major lightning strikes cut them off, or rather it cut lots of people off in the area and their phone went off at the same general time - the subscriber was without their line for over 4 weeks whilst BT fobbed them off that they were replacing lines and telegraph poles to the east of Abbey St. Bathans when the farm in question was to the northwest of the village - after 30 days of complaining and involving local MSP BT sent out a repairman to find that they were in fact cut off due to a blown fuse and not the line down, within 2 minutes of his arriving on scene after the 4 week wait. Those on the other line from Abbey St. B are still awaiting reconnection after a temporary repair also failed within a few days of being effected. Compensation offered by BT - £15.33.

TV Screens may go blank when the digital switchover happens - those living on the fringe of coverage from any given transmitter may find themselves sans pictures when the TV signal is switched from analogue to digital - reason being that the signals are at a much lower level and whilst a low level analogue signal produces a fuzzy picture, with digital it's there or it's not. The commitment from the transmitter operators is to have the same percentage population coverage but the 98.5% that get it today might not be the same 98.5% that get it post switchover leaving the remainder the option of blank screens or satellite TV (which can be subscription-free of course).

Over 200 vehicles have been seized by LBP exercising their new found powers. These provide for the police to be able to seize any vehicle that is being driven without valid insurance or driving licence. Anyone caught driving one faces hefty fines to recover the vehicle and if they don't come up with the cash and the insurance documentation then the car is crushed or otherwise disposed of. So far 219 seized and 72 "disposed" of.

At Sir Kevin's court this week an eclectic mix - A Chirnside pub landlady appeared for being drunk in charge of a pub - apparently she'd been having a "lock in" for friends but omitted to lock the door. LBP officers arrived and she was still serving drinks, although looking disshevelled and had her specs on at a jaunty angle. The officers put her to bed and locked the pub. Sheriff K slapped her with £550 in fines and told her "your job carries public responsibilities and it doesn't hold well when the licensee gets themselves in to this position".

A Duns man had a disagreement with his girlfriend after a drinking session which culminated in him "going berserk" and trashing the TV set, causing alarm to his girlfriend and her two daughters and her sister. The happy couple are apparently still an item, but K noted that the accused had been before him before on similar charges and told him "This has got to change. There are clearly concerns about your behaviour". Sentence deferred to August 30th pending social enquiry reports.

A Berwick man appeared on a charge of driving on the A1 at Lamberton at 1.20am with excess alcohol, without a full licence and without insurance. He was relieved of £425 and banned for 18 months, although deemed suitable for attending the Drivers' Rehabilitation Course should he wish to reduce his disqualification period.

A Chirnside man up for smashing a window - his second appearance before Sheriff K on similar charges - upon interview by the police he apparently apologised and offered to pay for the damage, but Sheriff K applied a £100 compensation order and a £250 fine before warning him "If you're back in court for this type of behaviour again, we'll have to look at something different".

Sentence deferred on a Kelso man for driving with excess alcohol, no licence and no insurance. His breath test weighed in at 153μg (Ed: the Berwickshire reports it as 153mg - or 153000μg if you prefer, which would imply that he was breathing almost pure alcohol) per 100ml breath, the legal limit is 35μg. Sheriff K called for restriction of liberty reports and will revisit on August 30th.

Greenlaw Town Hall's appearance on BBC2's Restoration Village programme receives some coverage too - Tilda Swinton, the famous actress (who she is I have no clue) who was raised in Berwickshire, is rallying behind the campaign. The article helpfully continues on to say for what Tilda is famous (apart from rice) - she's been in "the Beach" with Leonardo di Caprio, "Vanilla Sky" with Tom Cruise, "Constantine" with Keanu Reeves and she was also in "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". More on Tilda can be found at IMDB.

Picture of Duns Sheriff Court courtesy of the Scottish Courts website