FIRST minister Alex Salmond said yesterday it was possible another housing expo could be held in Scotland after he returned to the Highland Capital to congratulate organisers on their Inverness event.

AN Inverness golf club is considering taking legal action in a bid to remove a travelling family from a yard and car park beside its course.

TALKS are already under way to find an artist to follow Westlife, two days after the Irish boy band played Cawdor Castle's first open air concert.

A GULF War veteran who was forced to sleep in his lorry cab because of intolerable council accommodation has been given a new home.

POLITICIANS are being asked to intervene after residents living next to a former dump began suffering from skin and eye irritations and sore throats.

People in Resaurie near Smithton have written to Inverness MSP Fergus Ewing with their concerns about the site, which is currently being cleared by contractors on behalf of housebuilder Barratt prior to work starting on 64 homes.

TWO city centre streets have been cordoned off by Inverness police while officers try to track down a 36-year-old man linked to a disturbance in a flat.

TALKS are already taking place about the possibility of another housing expo.

HORSE owners in the Inverness area are being warned to take extra security measures following reports of the practice of "plaiting", which appears to have moved north from the central belt.

MILLIONAIRE businessman David Sutherland is being urged to take urgent action to prevent an accident outside his luxury holiday lodge venture.

A GRIEVING Inverness mother has thanked the Foreign Office for allowing her to finalise funeral arrangements for her 22-year-old daughter despite not yet knowing the cause of her death.

PLANS for a Gaelic business and cultural centre in Inverness are advancing, with a formal planning application due to be submitted by the end of the year.

DIRECTORS of one of the region's biggest construction firms are under investigation after it emerged company vehicles and equipment were sold immediately before it collapsed owing £16 million.

Receiver KPMG is trying to establish whether HQC received a fair price for the goods. If not the directors - Gary Macdonald, Steven McClenaghan and Colin Thomson - could face legal action.

PLANS for a major wind farm development near Inverness have hit a stumbling block after councillors refused to back the project.

THE victim of a city attack by a feral mob moved to Inverness for a stress-free life, it has emerged.

THE world famous Loch Ness monster has been nominated for a top tourism accolade.

A PRIVATE members club which reopened on a shoestring budget earlier this year is ready to extend its opening hours following a growth in membership.

FORMER Courier editor Jim Love's support of Eden Court Theatre was recognised following the theatre's 2007 re-opening with the largest of its studios named in his honour.

NO more bookings are being taken for Saturday civil wedding ceremonies in Inverness because of a registrars' dispute over pay.

A SHERIFF yesterday condemned the mob mentality of a group who bullied and assaulted an innocent man as he walked his dog near his home.

ANY new solutions for extending Inverness's trunk link road to the west of the city will have to cost significantly less than £80 million, a senior councillor has admitted.

A ROYAL British Legion Club has closed its doors amid financial difficulties and dwindling support.

A LEADING city centre restaurant blames a delay in carrying out essential repairs for one of its worst ever trading months.

A ROMANIAN man who installed card reading deviced in two city centre cash machines has been jailed.

THREE care posts are to be axed from a council-run day centre in Inverness to save £7000.

A KNIFEMAN with an "appalling" criminal record was employed by an Inverness school's horticultural enterprise without being subjected to background checks, it has emerged.

POLICE confirmed yesterday they are still investigating allegations which led to the arrest of a 48-year-old Fort Augustus man who later died in their custody.

THE importance of an Inverness bypass will be reiterated to Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson today.

ADVERTS have been placed for a temporary surgeon at Raigmore Hospital to meet its growing patient waiting list for orthopaedic procedures.

FORT George's most successful weekend could lead to even more spectacular events taking place at the Georgian fortress.

RAIL passengers had to use a replacement bus service at the weekend after work started on a £3 million line upgrade between Inverness and Aberdeen.

SURGEONS in one of Raigmore Hospital's busiest departments have stopped working overtime, causing waiting lists to grow and national targets to be missed.

EAST Inverness could be transformed into a vast "concrete jungle" if major developments on the outskirts of the city are allowed to go-ahead.

AN investigation is ongoing into a suspected chemical incident at Raigmore Hospital, health officials confirmed yesterday.

THE public could be consulted later this year on proposals for completing the Inverness bypass.

CALEY Thistle supporters will be able to buy alcohol at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium before watching football matches at the ground from tomorrow.

A HEBRIDEAN island could see its population double this weekend when Inverness band Schiehallion leads a friendly invasion.

SOME of the ideas showcased at Scotland's Housing Expo in Inverness could feature in future housing exhibitions in Australia.

INVERNESS millionaire David Sutherland is donating £1,000 to help bring home the body of a young woman who died in Australia last month.

CHARGES are to be brought against a well-known councillor following an investigation into allegations of benefit fraud, The Inverness Courier has learned.

A HOMELESS Gulf War veteran has been forced to sleep in his lorry cab because accommodation arranged by the council has been intolerable.

IT'S an age old problem - English companies refusing to take Scottish banknotes - but embarrassingly an Inverness council car park is the latest to reject the country's currency.

THE farmer involved in the cloned cow controversy says he is now pinning his hopes on a change in the law to keep the 96 descendant calves.

THE curtain was said to have come down on a "long and sorry" saga yesterday when councillors agreed a deal which will help secure the future of an Inverness football club.

MORE than 100 jobs at Norbord's Morayhill plant are being jeopardised by a government drive to encourage the generation of renewable energy.

A SERIAL knife offender who is employed at an Inverness secondary school's farm has been told his job is safe despite being jailed after being caught with a weapon for the fifth time.

Jonathan Russell, who has worked as a farmhand at Inverness High School's acclaimed horticultural enterprise for several years, was sent to prison for 200 days after he appeared at the city's sheriff court.

A FAMILY farm at the centre of controversy about cloned cattle faces the prospect of having to destroy 96 young cows, costing it up to £384,000.

SCOTTISH transport minister Stewart Stevenson will come under renewed pressure to back completion of the Inverness by-pass at a meeting later this month.

THE dangers of giant hogweed are being highlighted after an Inverness-shire man suffered tennis ball sized blisters on his hands, arms and legs.

AROUND £450,000 is to be poured into the restoration of a 200-year-old lighthouse on the north shore of Loch Ness.

A DECISION could be made next month on whether legal action should be taken against experts blamed for landing council tax payers with an unexpected £10 million bill.

THREE Inverness schools were celebrating having the most pupils who attained five or more As at Higher level when the exam results were released yesterday.

FESTIVAL-goers were in the party spirit as they arrived for the Belladrum Festival tonight.

No more tickets will be released for this year's festival, but for those still hoping to attend, the festival organisers have appointed Viagogo as their preferred forum for ticket exchange.

A GRIEVING mother is desperately trying to raise the £2000 she still requires to fly her daughter's body home from Australia and fulfil the 22-year-old's last wish.

Speaking for the first time since details emerged of Charlene Ganson's death in a hotel bedroom in Sydney, Lynne Andrews said her daughter told her Australian boyfriend that she wanted her body brought back to Scotland if anything happened to her.

TRAVELLERS have set up an illegal camp outside one of Inverness's busiest children's play parks upsetting some of its users.

A FORUM of "movers and shakers" from the business community is being formed to press for improvements to the region's transport infrastructure.

A WARNING has been issued by police about a guest who has been fleecing bed and breakfast businesses in Inverness and the Highlands by leaving without paying.

POLICE and health and safety officers are investigating the Inverness explosion which left two people with minor injuries last week.

VANDALS damaged cars in three different streets in Culloden during a "disgraceful" attack at the weekend.