THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

It has come to the notice of the Coal Controller that many people have failed to make application for coal rationing forms because they were in possession of stocks of coal in their cellars before the Fuel and Lighting Order came into existence in excess of the quantities their rations would entitle them to. A consumer should not have in his possession coal more than sufficient to satisfy his rationed allowance for a period of 12 months. Otherwise the coal might be seized.

50 years ago

Two Dunfermline women were seriously hurt in a road accident caused by a wasp flying in through a window of their car. Mrs Florence McKee was only a short distance from Pitcorthie housing estate when the accident happened. She had been going to visit a married daughter living in the estate. Her Hillman Imp went off the road and crashed head-on into one of the trees lining the dual carriageway. The front of the car was pushed in and Mrs Lilian Atherton was trapped. Firemen were called.

25 years ago

A coachload of passengers was arrested by police after a driver complained his bus had been hijacked. And 22 men are expected to appear in court today after what apparently began as a stag night outing. The night to remember ended at a police roadblock, where officers stopped the hired coach and made the arrests. The incident ended at Middleton Moor, on the main A7 route through the Scottish borders. Police said the operation concerned “the alleged theft of a bus.”

One year ago

Lives are being put at risk by Fife thieves stealing community defibrillators. East Neuk First Responders say they have been left frustrated following a spate of thefts of the life-saving devices. It comes after police in Leven launched an appeal for witnesses after a community defibrillator was stolen from outside the local library, the third such theft in the region in recent months. Gillian Duncan, coordinator of the local charity, said there was no financial incentive in taking the machines.