SUTHERLAND will be one of the first areas to benefit from a police recruitment drive by Northern Constabulary.

DURNESS Community Cou-ncil is to protest to defence secretary Des Browne about a recent military exercise in the area.

FAMILIES likely to be affected by controversial plans to change the role of Beachview respite care centre in Brora are demanding to discuss the issue with social work managers.

AN action group campaigning to retain a residential care facility in north Sutherland has been given overwhelming backing by the local community.

UNUSUAL feathered visitors were spotted in the Lairg area last weekend.

Several people saw three white storks feeding in the marsh at the mouth of the River Tirry where it enters Loch Shin, or resting in nearby fields.

SUTHERLAND police have come under heavy fire over a spate of petty crime in the Bonar Bridge area.

PETROL retailers in Sutherland have robustly denied claims that they are profiteering from the fuel crisis.

A MOTHER whose adult son had to be rescued after he lost his way and then collapsed on a Sutherland hill, has paid a special tribute to the emergency services.

A SUTHERLAND man was banned from the road for a year after being convicted this week of driving dangerously at 122mph on the A96 Inverness-Aberdeen road.

A NEW riding venture in Sutherland which plans to provide coast-to-coast trekking has been granted a licence on a temporary basis following concerns expressed by Northern Constabulary and the SSPCA.

PRINCE Edward, Earl of Wessex, visited Tain and Easter Ross on Tuesday. At Tain Golf Club he was given a rousing welcome by young piper Calum Ross from Tain Royal Academy.

THE threat of a fuel crisis has sparked panic buying amongst motorist in Sutherland, according to filling station managers.

GOLSPIE'S mountain bike trail, Highland Wildcat, has been voted the best destination in Britain by the sport's leading magazine, Mountain Bike Rider.

A STRANDED orca, or killer whale, has been found at Sandwood Bay on the John Muir Trust's Sandwood Estate in North-West Sutherland.

A NEW play area is being planned in Bettyhill to replace the existing facility which is falling into disrepair.

A DRIVER emerged unscathed from the wreckage of his vehicle after it collided with a train at a level crossing in Sutherland this week.

TOP social work officials were this week given a ticking off for not informing service users and their families beforehand about their controversial plans for Beachview Lodge in Brora.

OVER 300 delegates attended a conference for junior road safety officers, the first of its kind held in Scotland, at Inverness Sports Centre on Wednesday.

AN award-winning independent Scottish salmon farming company is branching out from its base in north-west Sutherland and taking over two redundant salmon farming sites at Loch Carnan in South Uist.

ANGRY East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillors this week hit out at the Highland Council for continuing to keep them in the dark over proposals for their area.

KINLOCHBERVIE Community Council has been given the green light to move forward with a plan to buy the Fishermen's Mission building in the village.

THE man who died in a fire which destroyed a caravan at Embo Street, between Dornoch and Embo, was yesterday (Thursday) named by police.

PROTESTERS have labelled the decision to give the go-ahead for a £90 million wind farm in east Sutherland as a disaster.

INITIAL joy over the imminent sale to a developer of a prime site in the centre of Lairg, which has lain vacant for years, has now turned to disappointment.

AN east Sutherland golf club sold alcoholic drinks for around 18 months despite the fact it had no liquor licence.

MORE than £5 million is needed to bring all NHS-owned property in Caithness and Sutherland up to a "safe and sound" condition.

ONE of the oldest businesses in the Highlands, which has served the country sports community for 151 years, has changed hands and there is now a strong Sutherland connection.