The Irvine Rivergate shopping centre will remain closed to the public this morning following a major fire overnight in the former forum building which is located next door to the Rivergate. The centre said via Facebook: 🚨 Urgent Update: Due to a fire at the Forum last night, the centre is currently closed. Please be aware of the following: No Access: There is currently no access through the Rivergate & all stores will remain closed at the moment. If you usually walk through

Ayr SNP MSP Siobhian Brown has welcomed the introduction of body worn video cameras for Police Scotland officers across Ayrshire.   The initiative, which started on 20 January 2026, will see frontline officers and police staff using the body worn devices as part of a national roll-out aimed at improving transparency, public confidence and safety.   More than 10,500 cameras are being introduced across Scotland, meaning once the roll-out is complete every frontline uniformed of

Ayr SNP MSP Siobhian Brown has welcomed the £88.2m increase in health spending in NHS Ayrshire and Arran in the SNP Scottish Government’s recent Budget. Image - UniMed   The funding - part of a record investment of almost £22.5 billion in the NHS in the Budget - will see funding for NHS Ayrshire and Arran increase from £1,006.6m in 2025-26, to £1,094.8m in 2026-2027 - an 8.8% increase.    The funding will help enable the expansion of the number of Hospital at Home beds to at

The 2026-27 Budget will support a stronger NHS, with a record £22.5 billion for health and social care, expand cost of living support and invest in Scotland’s infrastructure. Image - ScotGov Published alongside the latest multi-year Scottish Spending Review, Infrastructure Strategy and Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline, the draft Budget invests almost £68 billion including direct support for families and household budgets. The 2026-27 Budget includes:  a cost of living package

Five Scottish regions to benefit from a share of a new £140 million UK Government Local Growth Fund. Image - UK Gov Launched today [Thursday 8 January] by Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander, the Local Growth Fund will help drive economic prosperity across Scotland. The five regions’ allocations from the programme over the next three years (26/27 - 28/29) are: Glasgow City: £60.9 million  Edinburgh & South East: £37.8 million Tay Cities: £19.5 million Ayrshire: £11.8 million

Landowners, community groups and local businesses managing green space are reminded that the Ayrshire Small Scale Tree Planting Programme is still open for applications, with grants of up to £1,000 available for planting trees in South and East Ayrshire within the UNESCO Biosphere region.   The programme is led by the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Partnership and supported by funding from South Ayrshire Council, Scottish Forestry, the Woodland Trust and Land Energy

NHS 24 staff worked tirelessly to ensure services ran smoothly during one of the busiest New Year periods on record. Despite high demand, teams across Scotland delivered safe, effective care and demonstrated extraordinary commitment to patients. On 2 January alone, NHS 24 answered over 10,000 calls, a figure among the highest daily totals ever recorded.   In the North East, heavy snowfall created significant travel challenges, but colleagues in Aberdeen and Dundee refused to

Celebrating Scotland’s first game since 1998. Image - iStock First Minister John Swinney will propose Monday 15 June 2026 is designated a national bank holiday to mark Scotland’s participation in the World Cup for the first time since 1998. This will allow individuals, businesses and other organisations in Scotland to celebrate after the men’s team play their opening game against Haiti in Boston. The First Minister said: “Scotland qualifying for the men’s World Cup was a rema

Murray Gee Mac is preparing to release a new single tomorrow marking another chapter in a long and varied musical career that began in his teens. Murray Gee Mac, who is from Ardrossan, will release Goodbye on tomorrow Monday 5 January. Lionel Richie wrote the song and country music legend Kenny Rogers originally recorded it. Known for its reflective lyrics and emotional depth, the ballad explores themes of love, loss and remembrance. Murray has recorded the song as a personal

The Kilmarnock FC first-team squad made a heartwarming visit to the children’s wards at University Hospital Crosshouse on Monday to help spread the Christmas spirit. Club captain Brad Lyons led a squad of teammates, spending time with many local babies, children and teenagers who will have to spend the Christmas period in hospital. The visit was not only an opportunity for the young patients to meet their football heroes, but also a chance for the players to connect with staf

Local man, Michael Kirkum, from Kilwinning has made another generous donation to the children’s ward at University Hospital Crosshouse. Michael approached local businesses asking them to make a contribution, and he received a staggering response. Michael delivered the festive gifts, including toys and over 1000 selection boxes, to delighted staff at the ward. The gifts will be distributed to those children who unfortunately have to be in hospital over the festive season. NHS

Stagecoach South Scotland is celebrating the countdown to Christmas with the launch of its first-ever Golden Ticket Giveaway, offering customers the chance to discover a £10 Love2Shop voucher on selected bus services across Angus, Perth & Kinross, Dundee, Fife, Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. Beginning Monday 22 December, 150 Golden Tickets will be distributed across Stagecoach’s South Scotland, with customers encouraged to “keep their eyes peeled” for festive surprises on board. T

Ayr SNP MSP Siobhian Brown has blasted the UK Labour Government for failing to get a grip of a crisis at the DVSA after it was revealed waiting times of up to six months are likely to last for another year. Image - AA   The UK Labour Government, which has full responsibility for driving tests, previously pledged to cut waiting times down to seven weeks by the end of 2025 with Transport Minister Heidi Alexander declaring, “we’re acting fast to get Britain’s drivers moving” – b

Heavy and persistent rain may lead to flooding and travel disruption Valid 18:00 Saturday until 09:00 Monday - Covers all areas of Ayrshire. Outbreaks of rain will spread in from the northwest during Saturday afternoon and last through Sunday before finally clearing away on Monday morning. The rain will be persistent and heavy at times with accumulations 40-60 mm developing quite widely. Across high ground totals during this event could exceed 100 mm. Strong southwesterly win

More than 2,000 people in Ayrshire and Arran are waiting for a cardiac appointment.  The findings are detailed in Public Health Scotland’s Scottish Cardiac Audit Programme 2025, published last month.   The most recent data, for June this year, shows 2,403 people on the outpatient waiting list for cardiology, down from 2,574 in June 2024. That list is typically for people waiting for a consultation regarding an appointment with a cardiologist. The Scottish Government’s wait ti

A new report published this week by the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner has revealed that fraud and error across the UK Conservative Government’s Covid support schemes between 2019 and 2024 cost taxpayers £10.9 billion. Image - UK Gov The Commissioner found major economic support programmes, including furlough, bounce-back loans, and Eat Out to Help Out, were introduced with a ‘high level of fraud risk’ and minimal safeguards, leaving public funds vulnerable and creating opp

The first viewings of Wicked for Good which hits cinemas this Friday is set to sellout at the Ayr Astoria Merlin cinema. The movie which will predominantly be shown on screen 4, the biggest screen currently in use is expected to attract large crowds, during the 1st instalment of wicked last year lines of people where seen outside the cinema with almost every sitting sold out. Anyone looking to attend the first viewings are advised to book online to avoid disappointment at the

A range of service changes will take place across the network including here in Ayrshire which includes the Ayr service 7 being replaced with a new 3B service. Ayrshire Service 97 Ayr – Craig Tara Holiday Park Our seasonal service 97 will no longer operate from Tuesday 2nd December, the last day of service will be Monday 1st December and will return in March 2026.   Service 12 Ardrossan – Stevenston Services on a Sunday will now depart every 70 minutes. See timetable here .

ScotRail has recorded its busiest day of 2025 to date, with around 340,000 journeys being made across Scotland’s Railway on Saturday, 8 November. The record number of journeys (337,441) exceeded previous peaks achieved in August during the Oasis concerts and the Edinburgh Festivals, which saw around 326,000 journeys made. It also marks the train operator’s second-busiest day under public ownership, which began in April 2022. A sell-out match at Scottish Gas Murrayfield betwee

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has boosted its staffing by bringing in almost 100 new recruits ahead of winter. The extra staff were announced today (Tuesday, 11 November) by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray while visiting the Service’s East Ambulance Control Centre (ACC) in South Queensferry. The new staff include 25 call handlers who are based in the Service’s ambulance control centres and 22 staff, including GPs, clinical advisors and advan