Friday September 10 2010� N O B O D Y K N O W S G L A S G O W B E T T E R EVENING TIMES

WeatherTE

MPE

RATU

RES

C F

GLASGOW17C

GOT A STORY?

SALES

ADVERTISINGl Call the newsdesk on 0141 302 6520

l Tel 0141 302 6000 l Fax 0141 302 6363

l Home delivery/Back issues: 0141 302 7300 l Photo sales: 0141 302 7360l General inquiries: 0141 302 7000

TODAYUNI FACING £35m A YEAR CASH CRISIS PAGE

7

ONLINESPACEMAN IN TALK TO PUPILS

PAGE 18

BOTANICS BLOSSOM WITH BONSAI

l EXCLUSIVELog on for the latest from your community

l EXCLUSIVEAll the latest news and comment onlinewww.eveningtimes.co.uk

PAGE 18

n Armed police and negotiators try to contain the area around the siege site on Dumbarton Road, Partick Picture: Lenny Warren

GLASGOW: Tonight - Dry for much of the night with clear spells. The risk of heavy rain arriving towards morning. Light and variable winds. Min temp 9C (48F).Tomorrow - A cloudy morning with heavy rain. Turning drier during the afternoon with sunny spells. A gentle north-westerly breeze. Max temp 17C (63F).SCOTLAND: Tonight - Largely dry for most of the night with clear spells and only the odd shower in the west. Heavy rain in the south later. Min temp 7C (45F).Tomorrow - Heavy rain moving north-east across most parts. Turning brighter behind, but with a few showers in the north-west. Max temp 17C (63F).

Aberdeen 19 66 SunnyB’ham 19 66 ShowersBelfast 18 64 FairBlackpool 17 63 CloudyCardiff 17 63 FairDublin 19 66 FairEdinburgh 18 64 SunnyGlasgow 16 61 CloudyLondon 20 68 SunnyM’chester 19 66 Showers

By STEF LACH

Council asks public: Help us save £55mNORTH Lanarkshire Coun-cil will enter into its biggest public consultation over plans to cut more than 1000 jobs and save £55million.

The council’s Policy and Resources Committee voted in favour of releasing a leaf-let explaining where cuts could be made and asking residents for their thoughts and ideas.

The leaflet will be deliv-ered to every home in North Lanarkshire ahead of an

eight-week consultation period.

C o u n c i l l e a d e r J i m McCabe said: “It’s of prime importance that residents get involved.

“No council should take decisions like this without giving people the chance to have their say.”

As revealed in Saturday’s Evening Times, the council identified a potential £72m worth of cuts, with a deci-sion on where the required saving of £55m will come

from due to be taken in November.

And after yesterday’s committee meeting, Mr McCabe warned that more job losses will follow as Scotland faces up to a “dire” period of cost cutting.

He said: “We need to save £55m at least and after a review in October, we may n e e d t o m a k e m o r e savings.

“The last thing I want to do is take anybody’s job from them, whether it’s a

guy who sweeps the streets or a chief executive. But the situation we are forced into is not of our making.”

Mr McCabe warned that councils across Scotland will be hard hit and blamed t h e S c o t t i s h a n d Westminster governments for slashing local authority budgets.

He said: “We are an easy target because they can make the sound bites and make the cuts but it’s us that has to deliver the cuts

while delivering services at the same time.”

The proposals outline the need to cut 1153 full-time posts and recommend leav-ing 500 current vacancies unfilled. The council also hopes to save about £16m through pooling resources with other authorities.

A website and telephone hotline will also be set up for the consultation which starts on Thursday.

stef.lach@ heraldandtimes.co.uk

Live grenades thrown during Glasgow siege

Armed police in stand-off at tenement flat

THREE live grenades were thrown out of a tenement window during a siege in Glas-gow’s West End today.

Armed police swooped on Dumbarton Road af ter reports a man had a gun and was threatening to harm himself.

The tense stand-off saw busy streets in the Partick

area cordoned off as police tried to negotiate with the man.

Three grenades – thought to be flash-bang grenades, which blind and deafen a target – were seen being thrown from the building.

Wo m e n w e r e h e a r d screaming and there were reports that the man had shot a dog.

Locals also claimed shots had been fired at police officers, but this remained unconfirmed.

Emergency services were called to the scene at 7.45am when the armed man was understood to have barri-caded himself into a flat.

Dumbarton Road was cordoned off between Crow Road and Apsley Street.

Residents said they saw a woman and child, shelter-ing under a police officer’s jacket, coming out of the building, but it is not known if they were from the siege flat or a neighbouring home.

was told he could not get into his flat this morning and was concerned for his parents, Shirley and Les.

He said: “I stayed at my girlfriend’s last night.

“My mum and dad heard a young girl had been held hostage and then taken away by police officers.

“My parents were told to stay indoors and keep the windows closed.”

A shopkeeper, who did not want to be named, said: “We were told there were two women in the house and they were screaming out of a window when a dog was shot.

“He was supposed to have been firing at police.”

Angela Lumsden, 38, who works in a nearby lawyers

office, said: “Police were telling people to stay close to the side of the building.

“It is a really frightening situation.”

A s p o ke swo m a n f o r Strathclyde Police said: “Following a disturbance, a man has locked himself within a flat.

“Pol ice , publ ic order trained officers and negoti-ators are in attendance dealing with incident.”

Rush hour commuters faced diversions and buses were also re-routed. Several shops in the cordon were unable to open their doors while police tried to contain the situation.

An ambulance crew were standing by.

deborah.anderson@ eveningtimes.co.uk

By DEBORAH ANDERSON and CHRIS CONWAY

My parents heard a girl had been held hostage and taken away by police

More than three hours later police were still maintain-ing a presence outside the building, with guns pointed at the flat.

Residents saw a team of police officers slowly move towards the back of the building and it is thought they were about to enter the flat. Steven Murphy, 30,

EXCLUSIVE

WATCH OUR EXCLUSIVE

VIDEO ONLINE

www.eveningtimes.co.uk