At one point Tayside Fire and Rescue had 10 fire appliances and specialist flood appliances involved in flooding incidents.
Mr Edgar said the flooding, caused by heavy rain, replica watches was the worst to hit the town since 1993, when the River Tay burst its banks.
He added: “The weather is expected to improve replica Gucci handbags with the rain becoming much lighter overnight and it is hoped that the flood water will recede to assist with pumping operations.”
Acting Sgt Lockett, of 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters), had been leading the patrol back to their base, which was only 450m away.
He had already served in Bosnia and Northern Ireland and was on his third tour of Afghanistan, which had started that March.
He was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery after fighting insurgents and leading his platoon to rescue injured colleagues trapped in a Taliban ambush in Garmsir in 2007.
L/Cpl Matthew Cornell, who had known Acting Sgt Lockett for seven years, told the inquiry: “He was a great commander, a great bloke. What he didn’t know wasn’t worth knowing.”
Cpl Carl Peterson praised the dead soldier’s professionalism, replica Gucci handbags saying he had been told by Acting Sgt Lockett: “I’m not happy leaving here until I’ve shown you everything and until you’re happy with everything.”
He added: “When I met him, I thought: ‘This is the big boss, a Military Cross winner.’
“All I’ve got is pure admiration for him, and anyone who met him would have said the same thing. He was an outstanding soldier and he knew his stuff.”
‘Larger than life’
Coroner David Ridley said he could not be sure if it was Acting Sgt Lockett, or one of the other soldiers, who accidentally set off the pressure pad explosive device
Acting Sgt Lockett’s girlfriend Belinda English, whom he had been due to fly home to visit, parents April and Malcolm and ex-wife Natalie Lockett were too upset to comment after the inquest concluded.
Paying tribute at the time of his death, his parents said: “We are immensely proud of Mike – he was everything that we could ever have wanted in replica watches a son and was a devoted father to Connor, Chloe and Courtney. He was always positive, and always seemed larger than life.
“We can only take solace in the fact that he died doing a job that he was born to do with his ‘boys’ in 2 Mercian Regiment.”
A woman has appeared in court replica watches charged with murdering 63-year-old Helen Hewer in Aberdeenshire.
Michelle Wallace, 30, appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
She made no plea or declaration, was replica Gucci handbags committed for further examination and remanded in custody.
Ms Hewer was found in a property in Greens Road, Newmachar, on Monday evening
A clean up is under way in parts of Neath and Swansea after heavy rain caused flash flooding.
The Skewen, Birchgrove and Glais areas were worst affected, with roads closed as firefighters had to pump water out of several homes.
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said a blocked culvert was thought to have been the cause.
The flash flooding in the Birchgrove area of Swansea has hit properties that were flooded in November last year.
Householder Tina Nicholls was still at work at a local nursing home when she was told her house had been flooded.
She said said she had been due to start redecorating next week.
She said: “I just could not believe it. It was only replica Louis Vuitton handbags yesterday that we bought wooden floors, and other stuff.
“We were promised that it wouldn’t happen again [that] it was “an act of god” and, by god, it’s happened again.
“All through a culvert that’s not well maintained at all.”
Fire crews had requested a boat to assess the situation in the area but it was not needed.
The incident is over, and council staff are clearing the road of debris left over when the floodwater subsided.
Elsewhere, the fire service said an elderly woman replica Chanel handbags who was reported to be trapped in her house by several feet of water at Glais was safely rescued from her home unharmed but “a little shaken”. No more details were available.
The fire service said it had been inundated with calls about flooding in the Swansea area.
Flood water has also been reported in Powys on the A470 between the B4358 (Newbridge-on-Wye) and A44 (Llangurig).
There has also been flooding on the A5152 Grosvenor Road in Wrexham.
Some 26% of teachers do not think their school buildings are an effective learning environment, a poll suggests.
The survey found teachers thought good ventilation, lighting, classroom layout and acoustics were all vital in helping with teaching and learning.
The Teachers Support Network, the British Council for School Environments and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers questioned 503 UK teachers.
It comes after ministers axed a £55bn school rebuilding scheme in England.
On Monday a Save our Schools rally, organised by teachers’ unions, saw hundreds of teachers, parents and pupils descend on replica Chanel handbags Westminster to express their anger at the move.
More than 700 schools in England have had their projects cancelled after Education Secretary Michael Gove announced the Building Schools for the Future programme would be scrapped.
The Department for Education said the rebuilding project had been hampered by “needless bureaucracy”.
Toilets
Responses to the 2010 school environment survey replica Louis Vuitton handbags showed 51% of teachers did not think their school offered a physical environment that could “be adjusted to support delivery of the curriculum”.
Among teachers’ criticisms of their school buildings was a lack of space for students to relax, and a lack of “exciting, flexible and appropriately sized classrooms for students”.
One teacher told researchers: “We currently have 250 more students in our school than we were designed to accommodate.”
There were also concerns about toilet facilities – one teacher said: “Students are very vocal about inadequate toilet facilities, which makes them feel unrespected.”
Almost all (96%) said a school’s environment had an influence over pupil behaviour.
The poll questioned 503 teachers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland between February and this month.
‘Dilapidated premises’
British Council for School Environments chief executive Ty Goddard said: “The survey shows school environments matter.
“Money invested in school buildings is an investment in teachers and children, not a wasted luxury. We need professional environments which support our teachers to do their jobs.”
Teacher Support Network chief executive Julian Stanley said: “Continued long-term investment to improve many of the dilapidated school premises that still exist across the UK must surely be a wise use of taxpayers’ money, benefiting communities for generations to come.”
ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said: “Teachers work incredibly hard to give their pupils a good education regardless of the physical environment, but it is much harder for children to concentrate if the classroom is too hot or cold or they can’t hear properly.
“We can’t stress enough that for teachers and children to teach and learn in an effective manner, school buildings need to be safe, clean, and inspiring.”
Rail firms are being asked to simplify ticket machines after a study said passengers were being “defeated” by the “bewildering jargon” they faced.
Customer watchdog Passenger Focus said some travellers preferred to queue to speak to ticket office staff, despite ticket machines standing empty.
It said this meant waiting times at ticket replica Louis Vuitton handbags offices often exceeded the five-minute guideline in peak hours.
The train firms said most people were happy to use ticket machines.
‘Incomplete information’
Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said ticket machines were particularly daunting for passengers catching a train for the first time, replica Chanel handbags or those “buying a different type of ticket from their normal ones”.
“This stress adds unnecessary pressure to buying a ticket,” he added.
“However, many passengers who buy a particular ticket often, or use a familiar ticket machine, may have less trouble.”
Of the railway stations involved in the study it found that queues at ticket offices were worst in Guildford in Surrey, and Winchester and Basingstoke in Hampshire.
At these stations, a third of queues were longer than the industry standard.
“Ticket machines can present bewildering jargon, a barrage of information and choices, as well as incomplete information about ticket restrictions,” added Mr Smith.
‘Unrepresentative picture’
A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies pointed out that Passenger Focus’s own figures showed last month that – from a survey of more than 30,000 rail users – seven out of 10 were satisfied with ticket-buying facilities at stations.
“This suggests that most people use ticket machines with no problem whatsoever,” he added.
“They are there to cut queue times and make the process easier and faster for passengers.”
He added that Passenger Focus’s latest research looked at queuing times at fewer than 1% of railway stations across Britain.
“This gives a selective and unrepresentative picture of how long people have to queue at stations,” said the spokesman.
“Train companies are in the business of keeping their customers happy. They invest a huge amount of time and effort in improving the choice that people have at stations when it comes to buying tickets.”
Passenger Focus said it was now working with the train companies “to radically simplify what should be the straightforward process of getting a ticket [from a machine]“.
“Most important is clear information about when off-peak and super off-peak tickets are valid,” added Mr Smith.
The estimated £1.4m bill for security costs over Prince William’s living arrangements will be met centrally and not locally, it has emerged.
The prince has faced pressure from a taxpayers’ lobby group to live on an RAF base on Anglesey, where he is training, rather than a local cottage.
The Sunday Times said North Wales Police was providing security.
Official sources told the BBC the extra cost would be picked up centrally and not by North Wales Police.
Prince William, or Flight Lieutenant Wales as he is known in the RAF, began his search-and-rescue training at RAF Valley in January after completing 12 months at RAF Shawcross.
Clarence house has confirmed that when he returns later this year, while he undertakes a three-year helicopter training course, he will not be living in barracks but in the cottage he has lived in since March.
It was claimed the cost of the extra protection involved could have been passed on to local council taxpayers.
Former royal protection officers said it was the wrong decision in the current financial climate, while the TaxPayers’ Alliance has said William should remain in military barracks..
Speaking before it was known costs would be met centrally, Ken Wharf, who used to protect the Princess of Wales, said he believed that William had been badly advised.
“In a time of recession when all public sector designer replica handbags areas of the country are looking to ease their budgets, I think a lot of people are going to find this a very difficult one to swallow since there are a lot of alternatives,” he told BBC Radio Wales .
“North Wales Police has not been singled out but they will have to look at trimming their budgets and when we look at the amount of money here – if it is £1.4m – that sort of money can be of tremendous use to local policing issues in north Wales.”
Dai Davies, a former head of Scotland Yard’s royal protection squad, said on Sunday the prince would be “much safer” on the RAF base where he can be protected by RAF police.
He said: “I don’t think the ratepayers of north replica handbags Wales should be paying it [the police bill], I think it should come out of central funds allocated to protecting the royals which are currently in excess of £50m.”
The TaxPayers’ Alliance said William – who as second in line to the throne needs 24-hour protection – should help save “cash-strapped” taxpayers money by moving into barracks.
“Though he may wish to be close to his girlfriend it’s unfair that the rest of us should have to pick up this considerable tab,” a spokeswoman said.
“With pressure on public finances, everyone is having to make sacrifices and the royal family shouldn’t be exempt.”
Clarence House said they would not comment on matters of security but said that William had been living at the cottage since March.
“It is not unusual for an officer of Williams age and rank to live off base for reasons of privacy,” it said.
North Wales Police said it does not comment on any security issues concerning the royal family.
A British national has been killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq, the Foreign Office has confirmed.
The attack happened as a convoy of cars replica handbags used by a British private security company drove through the northern city of Mosul on Monday morning.
The Foreign Office has yet to release the name of the individual, but said next of kin had been informed.
Local police said five Iraqi civilians were injured. Some designer replica handbags reports say three other foreigners were also killed.
A Foreign Office spokesman said she could not confirm the name of the security company involved.
Mosul is regarded as a hub for Sunni Muslim insurgents.
The education secretary has rejected claims by Labour that the government is rushing legislation on major reforms to England’s school system.
Michael Gove said there was “ample time” for scrutiny of the Academies Bill, which will allow many schools to opt out of local council control.
Ministers want it passed by next week so some schools can become academies by September.
The Tory chair of the education select committee has also said it is rushed.
MPs are debating the plans which could become law in just over a week.
The government has taken the unusual step of compressing the parliamentary process by taking what is known as the “committee stage” – where a panel of MPs scrutinises a bill – in the Commons.
Labour says such a compressed process is usually reserved for anti-terror laws and constitutional matters.
It means MPs will get just five hours to debate the proposed laws.
The government comfortably survived a Labour challenge to the plans in the Commons on Monday evening.
A Labour amendment saying the bill should not be given a second reading was defeated by 333 votes to 234, a government majority of 99.
‘Extensive debate’
Under the proposed legislation, all schools will be allowed to apply to opt out of local authority control and become independent academies, directly funded by central government. But priority will be given to schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.
This would give them greater freedom over the curriculum and teachers’ pay, as well as access to extra funds normally used by local authorities on the services they provide.
Mr Gove told the BBC’s Today programme that there had been “extensive debate” on the issue over the past five years and during the general election campaign, in which the academies programme was a central manifesto pledge.
“Rushed laws can be bad laws,” he said, “but if you’ve had people who’ve been waiting for five years, if you have, as we have, hundreds of schools who are anxious to take advantage of these proposals, then it is understandable that you want to honour a manifesto commitment.”
Setting out his plans, Mr Gove told MPs his legislation would “inject a new level of dynamism into the programme that’s been known to raise standards for all children, the disadvantaged most of all.”
He added that all the evidence suggested the greater degree of autonomy and freedom that the bill would introduced yields results for all pupils.
Graham Stuart, the Conservative chairman of the education select committee, questioned the plan to fast-track the bill.
“If few [schools] actually do convert, the rushed legislative process will be hard to justify,” he said.
“But if, on the other hand, large numbers move replica handbags then inevitably people will ask whether sufficient consideration has been given to the system-wide impact of this on things like support for children with special needs.
“The secretary of state needs to explain why he felt that normal processes of scrutiny were being short-cut and I will be interested to hear his explanation. Members would expect a pretty overwhelming argument before that sort of thing occurred.”
The former education secretary and Labour leadership contender Ed Balls said a “deeply flawed” piece of legislation was being rushed through in an undemocratic fashion.
“I cannot remember a time when a major designer replica handbags reform of public services was rushed through Parliament in a way that’s only normally done for emergencies like anti-terrorism legislation,” he said.
And during the debate he said the bill would “rip apart the community-based comprehensive education system” that had been built over the last 60 years.
But the Department for Education said Labour had used the same method to push through legislation to scrap subsidised places at independent schools in 1997.
‘Damage to education system’
It said the Academies Bill had already had 22 hours of committee debate in the House of Lords, and another nine hours of report debate.
Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said it was “extremely difficult” to see the justification for fast-tracking the bill.
Unless it was “significantly amended,” she said, it would “damage the whole education service”.
Fifteen hundred schools have expressed an interest in becoming academies.
Those wishing to convert this September had to apply formally by 30 June and officials have been deciding which have the green light to go ahead, legislation permitting.
Some schools have already been told whether they will be in the first tranche to convert and others should find out shortly.
Lorraine Heath, head teacher of a school in Taunton, said it was really important for schools to know where they were going to be in September.
She said the extra resources that come with academy status would help schools make their own plans to deal with budget cuts.
A 27-year-old man from Northern Ireland has drowned while swimming in a remote area of northern Australia.
The man’s body was found on Saturday at the Malabanjbanjdju billabong, or pool, in Kakadu National Park.
Police said the man was with a group of about 20 tourists who raised the alarm when he failed to come to the surface.
Swimming in the area is notoriously dangerous because of crocodiles. However police said there was no evidence a crocodile was involved.
Superintendent Louise Jorgensen from the Australian replica Gucci handbags Northern Territory Police said the man was in a group of about 20 backpackers, mostly from the UK and many of whom were working in Darwin.
They had travelled to the park to enjoy a weekend there.
“Police were contacted at about 7.15pm. The man had gone for a swim in a billabong,” she said.
“He went for a swim in an area which is known to have crocodiles, despite the fact that there were signs and he was not a strong swimmer.
“There were numerous people watching but they did not enter the water for fear of crocodiles.”
Police and park rangers searched for the man for three hours and eventually found him.
She said investigations into his death were continuing.
“This is a very tragic death and we would warn replica watches
people that these sort of accidents can happen,” she said.
“We would ask people to take care if they are not strong swimmers, especially in water holes such as these which are renowned for having crocodiles.
“It doesn’t appear that he was taken by a crocodile, just that he wasn’t a strong swimmer and appears to have got into some difficulty.”
Police in the area are informing his family and will not be releasing any further details until they have been contacted.
