HM the Queen and Council officer Victoria Rodgers, who announced the holiday.
By Lucy Ashton
Schools in West Dunbartonshire and Council staff will be given an extra day’s holiday in June to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The local authority has agreed to give employees Friday, June 3 off – apart from those who will be required to work, such as carers.
Schools will also close for the day when the four nations of the UK join together over a four-day holiday weekend from Thursday, June 2 until Sunday, June 5 inclusive to celebrate the Queen’s 70-year reign.
However, those council staff who want to join in a national four-day celebration will have to take a day off from their annual leave.
Members of West Dunbartonshire Council’s corporate services committee discussed the options at a recent meeting.
Victoria Rodgers, chief officer of people and technology, said: “As this committee will know, there is an extended holiday weekend to mark the Queen’s Jubilee.
“Additional leave is a matter devolved to each local authority and consequently there is some variation across the country.
“The trade unions have universally agreed with us that Friday, June 3 would be a day of closure for all except for those services, which are still required.”
She said leave would be granted to those contracted to work on June 3, adding that those who do not require to work then cannot take the day off at another time.
She said: “The council are giving leave to everyone who is contracted to work on that day.”
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Texas lead singer Sharleen Spiteri has agreed “substantial damages” to settle phone hacking claims against the publisher of the News Of The World.
The High Court in London heard that themusician was an “obvious person for the press to target”, both as a result of her success with Texas and her friendship with a number of people in the public eye, including members of Paul McCartney’s family.
Her solicitor Callum Galbraith said the singer, who lived for a time in Balloch and is a former pupil of Vale of Leven Academy, had identified a number of articles published between 1998 and 2009 which she claimed contained her private information.
Stories published by the paper included her separation from her then long-term partner – a private matter which she claimed was not then known to her close family – her home address, her whereabouts and the birth of her daughter.
Mr Galbraith said: “Ms Spiteri believes that the publication of the articles had a harmful effect on her private and family life and is appalled she will never regain control of her private information.”
Recently Sharleen, who is settled with her chef husband in Wales, appeared with Monty Don in Gardeners World. She is very keen on gardening in his down time when she’s not entertaining.
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Engineering technician Stephen Cashman’s death is under investigation.
A Navyman who was found dead at the Clyde Naval Base at Faslane on the Gareloch has been identified as Engineering Technician Stephen Cashman.
The 25-year-old’s body was found at around 12.30pm on Thursday, December 9, with police called to the Base. An investigation into the circumstances remains ongoing and police say it is currently being treated as “unexplained” pending the results of a post mortem.
A spokesperson for the Royal Navy confirmed the tragic death and said their thoughts were with all those who knew and loved Stephen.
They said: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm Engineering Technician Stephen Cashman died on Thursday 9 December.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with Stephen’s family and friends at this difficult time and we request that their privacy is respected.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson added: “A post mortem examination will be carried out to establish the exact cause of death, which is currently being treated as unexplained.”
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The incident took place on Hawthorn Street, shortly after midnight on Sunday, 12 December, 2021.
The victim – a 26-year-old woman – was on the street with a friend, when she was approached and seriously assaulted by a group of young men. She was taken to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries.
The suspects are described as being five men, all around 17-years-old. One was approximately 5ft tall, with brown hair, wearing a dark jacket and a black beanie hat. A second was wearing a luminous pink top and dark bottoms. Whilst the other three were all wearing dark clothing.
Detective Constable Imran Abuzar, from Clydebank CID, said: “This was a vicious and unprovoked attack and we can only be thankful that the injuries were not even more severe.
“We are aware that there were a number of people and motorists in the area around the time of the incident, so are appealing to anyone who witnessed the attack, or believes they saw a group of men matching the descriptions, to please come forward.”
Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting incident 0024 of 12 December. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, if you wish to remain anonymous.
STOP PRESS: 17-year-old male has been arrested and charged in connection with an assault and is due to appear at Dumbarton Sheriff Court at a later date.
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A preliminary hearing will be held at Paisley Sheriff Court on January 11, which will mark the start of the probe.
It’s almost four years since Richard Dyson, 38, and Simon Midgley, 32, died in the fire at the Loch Lomond hotel. They were unable to escape the hotel as flames tore through the building on the morning of December 18, 2017.
A total of 214 guests fled the inferno – 189 adults and 25 children – which started after porter Christopher O’Malley, 36, placed a bag of ash from a fire into a cupboard.
The Crown Office announced in April that an FAI would not go ahead, stating it was “satisfied the reasons for this tragedy have been established”.