Latest news with #Moray
BBC News
an hour ago
- Business
- BBC News
Elgin Ice Rink to close due to 'spiralling energy costs'
Elgin Ice Rink is to close due to "spiralling" energy costs, it has been board of Moray Leisure Centre said it had concluded its ice rink was "no longer financially viable". The board said action had to be taken as skaters and curlers accounted for less than a tenth of all users.A "small number" of staff roles are said to be at risk of redundancy as a result of the closure, which will take effect from 4 August. A leading industry figure previously warned many of Scotland's ice rinks faced closure due to crippling energy bills. The board said it was a "difficult" decision to close the ice rink.A statement said: "Moray Leisure Centre has seen its energy costs double, and the board have had to review the full operation at Moray Leisure Centre."The board have made a decision to close the area which generates the least amount of income and consumes the most energy, which is the ice rink."The board said the cost of running the ice rink threatened the financial sustainability of the whole leisure centre. 'Very disappointing' A board spokesperson said: "Despite our best efforts to secure a future for the ice rink, Moray Leisure Centre's overall operation has effectively subsidised the ice rink's operation for the past six years."Rising energy bills means this has now reached a level where it is unaffordable."We know that the closure of the ice rink will be very disappointing for those who use the facility and for the coaches and clubs who depend upon it."Moray Council leader Kathleen Robertson said it would be "devastating" for users, but added it was an also an "understandable measure" to protect the rest of the facility.
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Moray Man jailed for trying to murder woman and children in car
A man has been jailed for seven years for attempting to murder three people by grabbing the steering wheel and pulling the handbrake of a moving Phillipson, 34, was a passenger in the car when he caused it to veer off the A941 in Moray in 2023.A female driver and two young children were in the car when it rolled over, close to the village of Fogwatt, near Olga Pasportnikov described Phillipson's offences as "despicable" and said it must have been a terrible experience for the victims. Phillipson was found guilty by a jury at an earlier on Wednesday at the High Court in Inverness, he was given an extended sentence of nine years and one month, of which he will spend seven years and one month in jail. The remainder of the sentence will be under supervised release. Phillipson had denied a series of his evidence at the High Court in Edinburgh, he said: "I never pulled the handbrake."He claimed it would have been the female driver who did a witness at the crash scene said Phillipson appeared unsteady on his feet and heard the driver shout that he had pulled the handbrake and steering court was told that he had "gambled with the lives" of the depute Martin Crawford, prosecuting for the Crown, told the jury that he was inviting them to find that the accused was trying to cause the crash and that it posed "obvious danger". 'Wicked recklessness' He said a picture had emerged in evidence of Phillipson being intoxicated, irrational and violent, and said that he was acting with "wicked recklessness" as to the fate of those in the was found guilty of assaulting and attempting to murder the woman and the children aged under 10 by grabbing and pulling the steering wheel and applying the handbrake, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and roll over, to their injury and to the danger of their lives on 11 June was also convicted of attacking the woman at a flat in Rothes, Moray, on the same date, when he punched her and stamped on her wrist, and assaulting a child who was Pasportnikov said he could have killed everyone involved, including himself, and the impact of what he had done must have been significant on those involved.
The Sun
7 days ago
- The Sun
Man rushed to hospital after campervan EXPLODES in ‘gas blast' at Scots beach
A MAN has been rushed to hospital after a campervan exploded in a "gas blast" at a Scots beach. Emergency crews raced to East Beach Car Park in Lossiemouth, Moray, after the alarm was raised around 7.30am today. 2 Dramatic images from the scene show the door of the vehicle blown off by the explosion. A yellow canister is situated beside the campervan. Cops confirmed a 59-year-old was rushed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Gerry Cross and wife Sylvia were in the motorhome next to the one that exploded. At first they thought someone had rammed right into their vehicle. But when they went out to investigate they discovered their neighbour's camper had blown up. They found him wandering about the car park in only his shorts, and he told them: 'My van is f***ed'. Gerry, 64, said: 'There was a horrendous bang. 'I thought another car had driven into the side of the motorhome because it was such a noise. 'I threw my clothes on and went out for a look but there wasn't a mark on our motorhome. Terrifying moment torched vehicles catch fire in Scots street as residents report 'explosions' 'That's when I found the guy from the other van. He was really shaken up and looking a bit dazed.' Gerry and Sylvia, from Baildon, Bradford, are driving across Scotland to mark her birthday. But the big day didn't go as planned when the explosion happened right next to them in the car parking spot in picturesque Lossiemouth at about 7.15am. A passerby called the emergency services and Gerry tried to help the 59-year-old owner of the other mobile home. He told them he'd been lying in his bed when his gas canister exploded and blasted the door off. It's thought it had been leaking and slowly filled the vehicle with gas until it reached some kind of flame. Gerry said: 'At first I thought he had really bad sunburn. But I think that was burns from the explosion right across his back. 'His eyebrows were burned off and all the stubble on his face had been singed off. 'But he was incredibly lucky to walk away from it. I wonder if it was just because he was in the eye of the storm that he wasn't more seriously hurt.' Sylvia, 56, was playing Worldle on her phone when the blast happened. She said: 'This is a birthday I'll probably never, ever forget. 'It's fortunate no one was walking across the car park at the time. The door came off like a missile.' Chris Cowe, 37, and partner Nicole Alzate, 35, live next to the car park and came running when they heard the blast. Nicole said: 'The whole house shook. I thought a bomb had gone off.' The couple wrapped the injured tourist, thought to be from England, in clingfilm to help his burns. The emergency services got to the scene within ten minutes and the injured campervan driver was taken to nearby Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin. He was later transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Cops cordoned off the camper van and two officers stood guard before fire investigation crews arrived to launch their probe into the incident. After all the drama, Sylvia and Gerry planned to stay another night in Lossiemouth, with dogs Ghost and Etta. They stayed next to the blast site. Gerry said: 'We've been driving across the UK in the van for six years and nothing like this has ever happened before. It's the last thing you expect.'We were called to a report of a possible gas explosion within a motorhome in a car park in the Church Street area of Lossiemouth. 'A 59-year-old man was taken to Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin and later transferred by road to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for treatment.' A Scottish Fire and Rescue spokeswoman added: 'We were alerted to reports of an explosion within a campervan in a car park. 'Operations Control mobilised two fire appliances and firefighters assisted emergency service partners. 'One casualty was handed into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service. Crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe.'
Times
12-07-2025
- Times
Former ‘hippy' hotel is sold to Saudi businessman
For half a century its guests — derided as 'hippies' — came in search of spiritual enlightenment and inner peace. The Cluny Hill hotel, on a slope above the town of Forres in Moray, served as a retreat and learning centre for the Findhorn Foundation (FF), Scotland's biggest and best-known alternative lifestyle charity. With its faded Victorian glamour, the 76-room former spa was once dubbed 'the Vatican of the New Age'. The building, first opened as a 'hydropathic establishment' in 1876, is now to be returned to its original purpose after Abdullah Alshiddi, a 27-year-old Saudi hotelier, bought the property as the FF winds up its educational work. The estate agent Christie & Co confirmed the sale of the building, which comes with its own woodlands.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Estate's images show aftermath of large wildfires near Nairn
A Highland estate has carried out drone surveys of land where large wildfires burned over several days late last month into the start of and forestry managed by Cawdor Estate, near Nairn, were among areas where the fires broke assisted by gamekeepers and other volunteers tackled the incidents, which happened in the Highlands and neighbouring were also used to waterbomb flames, and extinguish "hotspots" in peatlands. Cawdor Estates said: "It is such a relief that nobody was hurt in the effort to contain the fires and a credit to all those who fought in very testing conditions to keep themselves safe whilst doing their best to protect the landscape."The environmental damage is clear to see, but the land should recover in time with the right management."A joint police and fire service investigation has been launched into the causes of the Scotland said incidents near Carrbridge, Grantown-on-Spey and Dava in the Highlands, and Upper Knockando in Moray were being investigated.
