MONTROSE WAS reeling last night with the shock revelation that the oil production supply company VetcoGray could be set to shed 78 jobs.

HEAVY RAIN overnight took its toll on Fife again yesterday, just days after the region was hit by a similar deluge at the weekend.

AN ENTIRE cul-de-sac in Freuchie has been devastated after heavy rain hit Fife again.

EXCEPTIONAL RAIN on Tuesday night and into yesterday morning brought flooding problems to householders in Carnoustie, as drainage ditches overflowed into driveways and gardens and the Barry Burn became a muddy torrent.

PRIME MINISTER Gordon Brown is facing another bruising by-election this time on his own political doorstep after the death yesterday of Glenrothes MP John MacDougall.

GLENROTHES LABOUR MP John MacDougall has lost his long battle against mesothelioma, an asbestos-related lung cancer, writes Bruce Fegen.

NHS FIFE is to spend almost £400,000 on improving conditions in three hospital wards following stinging criticism from an independent watchdog.

THE MINISTRY of Defence has awarded a four-year Air Cadet Pilot Scholarship (ACPS) contract worth more than £1 million to Tayside Aviation, the Dundee-based flying school and aircraft engineering company, extending the present five-year contract, which expires at the end of March next year.

AN AMBITIOUS bid to raise £40,000 for a national charity continued as a fund- raiser took to the saddle in Perth yesterday morning.

THE DETECTION of over 200 speedsters at the Marykirk/Laurencekirk junction during a recent seven-day period supports the local argument that drivers are blatantly ignoring the 50mph speed limit covering the approaches to the junction.

LAURENCEKIRK residents speaking out yesterday about their own near misses at the danger junction claimed it was only a matter of time before there was another fatal accident.

Direct measures, commonly known as “fiscal fines,” and fixed penalty notices issued by police have been given a broad welcome by Chief Superintendent Matt Hamilton of Tayside Police, speaking on behalf of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents.

ONLY ONE officer was on duty in a Perth Prison hall when an inmate hanged himself, a fatal accident inquiry learned yesterday.

ONE IN FIVE Fife households could soon be facing fuel poverty, according to council estimates.

A DUNDEE heart specialist is playing a leading role in a new programme to track down and treat young sports people with life-threatening cardiac problems, writes Marjory Inglis, health reporter.

COLLEGES IN Perth, Dundee and Fife have teamed up to sign an ambitious international agreement to deliver courses to students in India.

AN ANGUS woman has moved up a gear in her fund-raising effort to tackle a gruelling Indian cycle trek later this year.

THE ONGOING CAMPAIGN to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness is gathering more support, with over 5000 people signing an online petition.

THE FIRST football banning orders for football-related disorder on Scotland’s rail network were imposed on two St Johnstone fans, British Transport Police revealed yesterday.

THE RELEASE of 15 more stunning white tailed sea eagles from a secret site in north-east Fife has set Scotland well on the way to being fully re- populated with its largest bird of prey.

CYCLISTS IN Dundee will be able to hire a bike from one place and ride it to another as part of a £2 million Scottish Government scheme to develop sustainable travel aimed at reducing car use.