Wall' to protect red squirrels

 

Control officers are to be appointed to protect red squirrels

An imaginary "Hadrian's Wall" is to be set up to stop infected grey squirrels crossing the border into Scotland and wiping out their red cousins.

Two officers are to be appointed with orders to control the greys by shooting them if they invade reds' territory.

The Southern Uplands Partnership has advertised for the officers in the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.

Recent research said the reds risked being killed off within 10 years by the virus-carrying greys.

Scotland is the home to more than 75% of the UK's 160,000 red squirrel population and the border crossing is seen as a strategic defensive point.

Elly Hamilton, the Borders-based red squirrel conservation officer, said that the threat to the Scottish populations was "very serious".

"It is only a matter of time before the greys pass this virus over to the Scottish reds and this may eventually prove fatal to red squirrel populations," she said.

"This is a very serious threat.

"The plan is to create an imaginary Hadrian's Wall to stop the greys getting into the reds' area because we have not had a case yet.

"It is vital we control the grey population to stop them coming over from Cumbria."

The officers will also be involved in research into the pox virus which appears not to harm greys but is fatal to reds.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/5364646.stm

Mugged MP upset by crime comments

Press Association
Wednesday September 13, 2006 6:18 AM

A Tory MP mugged for more than £5,000 worth of watches has slammed Italian authorities for their handling of street crime, saying comments by the mayor of Naples were "pathetic".

Lawyer David Jones, 54, and his nurse wife Sara, 49, had two Rolex timepieces ripped from their wrists as they walked along a busy street while on holiday.

Neither Mr Jones, Conservative MP for Clwyd West in Wales, or his wife were injured, although both were left shocked.

The couple were targeted as they walked along Via Toledo - the equivalent of London's Oxford Street - in the centre of the southern port of Naples. They were visiting the port during a week-long break on the Amalfi Coast.

As he recovered at his hotel on the island of Capri, Mr Jones heard Naples mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino say: "I've been mugged abroad twice in Brussels and Strasbourg. It can happen anywhere."

Mr Jones stormed: "That's a pathetic thing to say. I can't believe the mayor of Naples would say such a thing. We were victims of a third world crime in a first world city.

"I know Naples and I know its reputation. You just don't expect this sort of thing to happen in a European city in the 21st Century and I wholeheartedly disagree with her attitude.

"What she said and what happened to us are a sad commentary of the state of safety in Naples - it's such a shame that the mayor of Naples has no control over her city.

"It's a shame that a city such as Naples is spoilt by uncontrollable crime - the mayor wants to take a look at the fact that a visitor cannot walk safely down a street wearing a decent watch."

Socialist mayor Iervolino was in Rome on official business and a spokeswoman said: "The mayor stands by what she said - she was mugged abroad twice with her daughter."

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6076538,00.html