Review

January

The year started on a sad note with news that cancer fighter Ruby Stewart had passed away at the age of six.

Perth was braced for another economic blow after it was confirmed Beales was going into administration.

Salmon season started on the Tay, with singer Dougie Maclean OBE making the first cast at Meilkelour.

Scone resident Cat Burton urged other women to go for a smear test after revealing nurses discovered a cancerous growth on her cervix during a routine check.

Residents turned out in droves for the Riverside Light Nights, with the Jurassic Parkthemed event proving particularly popular. February

A review was announced at Murray Royal Hospital after a patient did not return to the unit and was later found dead.

Three people were injured when a neighbouring chimney breast fell and collapsed onto the roof of The Venue.

Storm Dennis wreaked havoc in Perthshire as it rampaged its way across the country, but it proved to be only a taste of what was to come later in the year.

A fitness group for people living with learning, sensory and physical disabilities appealed to council bosses not to pass plans to bulldoze the Fit4less gym on Perth’s Canal Street.

Over 100 suspected cases of COVID-19 had presented across Tayside, as fears about the coronavirus started to increase.

March

Tributes were paid to Adam Pattinson, a much-loved Perthshire sportsman and teacher who died while cycling on the A912.

Parents were told to check their children’s mobile devices after pupils at a Perthshire school accessed a graphic website that included pornography.

Perth and Kinross Council set its 2020/21 budget, with parents vowing to retain crossing patrollers facing the axe.

Stanley resident Cindy Courtney, who needs to wear a face mask at all times for a medical condition, revealed she had been abused in the street because of the coronavirus.

Schools were closed, exams cancelled and shops left with empty shelves as the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit home in the region.

A coronavirus assessment hub opened in Perth in the same week Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the nation into lockdown.

The community response to COVID-19 started with initiatives like Give and Take boxes in Muirton.