Author: davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer

DVLA reveals top ten tax disc excuses

DVLA reveals top ten excuses for not buying a tax disc

A motorist who claimed to have taken so much Viagra he could not leave the house was just one of a number of excuses from people who failed to tax their car last year. 

According to information released by Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) yesterday (28 July), motorists caught for not having a tax disc last year used a variety of incredible excuses – and the organisation has compiled a Top Ten.

Among the reasons cited for failure to tax a vehicle, how about: ‘My mate said that if the cost of the tax is more than what the car’s worth you haven’t got to pay it!’

One motorist claimed to have fallen out of a tree while fruit picking and broke both arms so they could not fill in the necessary forms, while another motorist even blamed their mobile phone.

Carolyn Williams, DVLA’s Head of Digital Services, said: “The vast majority of people tax their car on time but it amazes me to see the excuses people come up with. It’s easier than ever before for people to tax their car and our digital services are designed to be used any time of day or night to fit in with people’s lifestyles – so there really is no need for silly excuses.”

The 10 silliest excuses: 

  1. My accountant told me I’m due a tax rebate so I didn’t think I needed to pay again this year.
  2. I was on my way to the Post Office to tax the car and called into the betting shop – there was a horse running at Doncaster called ‘Don’t Do It’ so I bet on that with my car tax money instead – it lost.
  3. My mate said that if the cost of the tax is more than what the car is worth you haven’t got to pay it – it’s not, so I didn’t.
  4. I fell out of a tree picking plums and broke both my arms.
  5. I took too much Viagra and couldn’t leave the house.
  6. I’d forgotten the motorbike was in my garage – it was hidden behind the BBQ so it’s not my fault.
  7. I had man flu and couldn’t go to the Post Office.
  8. I’ve been out of the country for four months and I forgot where I parked my car.
  9. My dog ate the reminder.
  10. My reminder on my phone didn’t work so it’s not my fault

The quickest and easiest way to tax a vehicle is to go online or ‘phone 0300 123 4321. It’s a fully automated system and should take no more than 4 minutes. Vehicles must either be taxed or declared off-road – this is done by making a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).

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Wednesday is Edinburgh’s Playday

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Edinburgh’s Playday takes place on Wednesday (31 July) from 12.30 – 4pm in the City Chambers Quadrangle. What’s Playday?

Edinburgh’s Playday is a festival of play for parents and children. It gives adults ideas on a big scale of things they can do with their children at home on a smaller scale.

This year, Edinburgh’s Playday takes place right in the heart of the city in the City Chambers Quadrangle and High Street on the Royal Mile. The street will be transformed with a festival of play on offer for children and their families. Come along and try out some old and new ways to play together!

Come along and try:

  • Giant Sand Pit
  • Water Play
  • Mud Kitchen
  • Magic Potions
  • Cardboard City
  • Play in a Box
  • Yarn Bombing
  • Parachute Games
  • Play for Babies
  • Giant Games
  • and much more!

See the flyer (top) for more details

Access is free but children should be accompanied by an adult.

For more information contact cf.play@edinburgh.gov.uk.

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Edinburgh and Lothians flood alert

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued an updated FLOOD ALERT for Edinburgh and Lothians:

There is a continuing risk of surface water flooding due to the band of intense rainfall currently over the area. This could cause flooding from local surface water run off, particularly in urban areas and on roads. It may also cause some flooding from smaller watercourses in the region, particularly to low lying land and in flood prone areas. The risk from flooding will lessen during Sunday afternoon as the rain starts to ease.

Remain vigilant and remember, it is your responsibility to take actions which help protect yourself and your property.  Advice and information is available through Floodline on 0845 9881188.  This FLOOD ALERT UPDATE is now in force until further notice.

If you haven’t already signed up to receive free flood messages, please call Floodline or register online at sepa.org.uk/floodingsignup.Drain

Happy birthday Betty – at last!

Careful with that knife, Betty!
Careful with that knife, Betty!

Betty McVay’s belated eightieth birthday celebration finally took place at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre last Friday, and the party proved to be well worth the wait.

Most readers will know that Betty has not been well, and she was forced to put her original party plans on hold when she was taken into hospital last month. However regular readers will also know that Betty is a wee battler and there was no way that the milestone party was not going to happen as soon as she was well enough again!

it was almost a ‘This Is Your Life’ event as friends and colleagues from across the years joined Betty and her family at West Pilton – as someone remarked, there were hundreds of years of community activism together in the Neighbourhood Centre that night and it was a great opportunity to share stories and memories.

In a year that’s seen old Greater Pilton lose activists and community characters like Billy Anderson, Brian Robertson, Stevey Hay and Gwen Chrystal, Betty’s party gave the community something to smile about – even if the raffle prizes were among the worst in history!

Belated happy birthday then, Betty – and keep battling!

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partygoers

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Ian Moore sings!
Ian Moore sings!

Sunshine on Leith (fingers crossed!) for Summer Fayre

Port of Leith Housing Association’s St Nicholas Court residents are hosting their annual Summer Fayre this Saturday (27 July) from 12pm and 2pm at their sheltered housing complex on Ferry Road.

The fayre is an integral part of the social calendar, which has been celebrated for over 15 years, and the money raised goes towards day trips and activities for the elderly residents toenjoy.

Some of the attractions include face painting for children, live music, barbeque, refreshments, book stall, tombola stall and raffle prizes – entry is just 50p.

Maureen TaitSenior Sheltered Housing Co-ordinator with PoLHA, said: “Our Summer Fayre is one of the main highlights in our social calendar for our residents as it’s such a wonderful, fun-filled day. Lots of planning goes into the event and the residents really get on board. It is a very important event to us as it helps to raise vital money for our social fund.  It means that we can organise day trips, keep-fit classes and other treats for our residents.”

St Nicholas Court

It’s BIG Search day – get the teeshirt!

The BIG search 2013

Wanted to remind you about the free, fun event taking  place this afternoon in Inverleith. ‘The BIG Search’ is a treasure hunt /  quest type event that involves reading clues and finding the answers across the  area from Blackhall to Warriston! 

Open to teams of children, young people, adults and families  of up to 6 people (at least one must be aged 16+), every participant will get  a teeshirt and goody bag and the winning team will get exciting prizes!

Pick up your packs from 1pm at either Stockbridge or  Blackhall Libraries and bring your sheets back at 4pm to Inverleith Park where  there will be fun activities and BBQ (weather permitting).

Please come along and take part and please tell your friends,  families and neighbours about this first in Inverleith! The event is organised  by the Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership’s Children and Families Action  Group.

Thanks to Ocean Terminal and Scottish Gas for their support in this  event.

Elaine  Lennon, Partnership  Development Officer

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Tel: 0131 529  5270

Sun shines on MY’s Youthwork Games

Good luck to all the participants who will be taking part in the Youth Games over the next two days. The story:

Following the enormous success of My Adventure’s  first ‘Youthwork Games’ inspired by the 2012 London Games, we are proud to announce that we will be hosting the games on 24th and 25th July 2013. These games are targeted at youth projects to encourage young people not engaged in mainstream sporting activities to compete in a series of outdoor adventure sports and challenges.Activites will include:

  • Mountain Bike

  • Cross Country Run

  • Long Jump

  • Tree Climb

  • Assault Course

  • Archery

  • Swamp Soccer

  • Tug of War

  • Canoe & Swim

Muddy photo

Foggy crowd

 Contact jonny@myadventure.org.uk for more information

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NEN: Council, it’s over to you

NEN_Logo

Council support crucial if the NEN is to be saved

The city council must act to save North Edinburgh News, NEN chairman Martin Hinds told charity walkers before they set out on Saturday’s NEN Walkathon. He said that the council must decide whether or not it supports community newspapers.

The previous Lib Dem/SNP coalition administration ‘disinvested’ in community newspapers in 2011 but there was hope that community newspapers would be relaunched under the new Labour/SNP administration elected in May last year. The Edinburgh Labour council election manifesto promised: ‘We’ll back the re-introduction of community newspapers to strengthen the community voice.’ 

Since then, however, there has been little obvious progress. The city council’s own Outlook newspaper has gone, but support for NEN has so far been limited to grants from local Neighbourhood Partnership Community Grants Fund.

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Speaking before the walkers set off from Edinburgh College in Granton, NEN Chairman Martin Hinds (pictured above) thanked organisers and fundraisers for their efforts but went on: “As long as I’ve been on the Board funding has been an issue and it’s particularly difficult now. The reason for today’s event is both to raise money and to advertise the fact that NEN is struggling”.

He continued: “To ensure NEN’s survival we can’t go from one event to one event to raise funds to produce another edition – we need to have some stability and ensure that adequate funding is in place to make NEN sustainable. We have tried a lot of different things to raise money – and the response from local organisation was tremendous when we put out an appeal for advertising for our latest issue – but we now find ourselves in a position that we must pass this back to our elected members, three of whom are here this morning.

“It’s really a matter now for the council to decide whether they want to support community newspapers or not. It’s a sombre note to end on, but the fact that we are having to do this demonstrates that we are in some difficulty”.

Labour councillors Cammy Day, Lesley Hinds and Vicky Redpath all took part in the Walkathon.

Forth Neighbourhood Partnership convener Cammy Day (pictured below) responded: “All three councillors here support the NEN and there are other councillors in this part of the city who also support the NEN. I would encourage everyone here today to lobby your councillors. There is an opportunity for us to fund the NEN and community newspapers across the city – there is a £50,000 pot of money which has been potentially earmarked for some work around community newspapers and media work; other councillors will be lobbying for that money to go to other areas in the city, so I am urging local people to lobby their councillors in North Edinburgh and tell us that they want more money for the NEN.”

He concluded: “The NEN’s a fantastic paper, well-respected and the only newspaper that tells good news about North Edinburgh. The Board is struggling to keep things going but I am sure that with the support of the local community and local members we can make it happen, but we won’t be doing that alone. So thanks for coming along today to raise some money for the NEN, but this will be continued – it’s clearly very important that we get a chunk of that finance allocation.”

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The next key date for North Edinburgh News is 13 August, when the Board meets to discuss the newspaper’s future.

NEN board member Ann Confrey was one of the main organisers of the Walkathon. Thanking the organisations who opened their doors to the walkers, she said yesterday:

“Many thanks for all your efforts on Saturday, your support and participation was very much appreciated. The walkers enjoyed the mini tours of your facilities and refreshments were gratefully received.

Unfortunately there was a very low turnout with just 20 people (and 2 dogs) walking. As a result we fell a long way short of our target and at this stage it does not look like we raised enough to produce an August/September issue of the newspaper.
The Board members will meet on 13 August to tally up how much was actually raised/pledged and to discuss what options we have available. Thank you once again for showing your support for the North Edinburgh News.”
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