Police Scotland is appealing for information on the whereabouts of 34-year-old Ryan Gandy who went missing from the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh yesterday at around 5pm (Wednesday, 22 November, 2023).
He was last seen at Crewe Road South.
Ryan is described as being around 6ft tall, of slim build with dark receding hair.
He was wearing a blue Nike dry-fit top, black jogging bottoms, dark-coloured trainers, and a black Hoodrich gilet.
He has a tattoo with the word “Katy” on his right arm and scars on both sides of his face.
Officers are carrying out extensive searches and reviewing CCTV in an effort to trace him.
Members of the public are advised not to approach Mr Gandy if they see him but to contact police immediately.
Anyone who knows of his present whereabouts should contact Police Scotland on 101, or in an emergency on 999. Please quote incident number 2515 of Wednesday, 22 November, 2023.
Information can also be passed via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where anonymity can be maintained.
Temporary traffic lights on Crewe Road South for thirteen weeks
Just when you thought local traffic disruption couldn’t get any worse … here’s a message from SGN:
SGN Alert – Crewe Road South
We’re investing £75,000 to upgrade our gas network in Crewe Road South, Edinburgh.
This essential work involves replacing old, metal gas mains with new plastic pipe, which has a minimum lifespan of 80 years, to ensure a continued safe and reliable gas supply for the local area.
Following discussions with Edinburgh City Council, the work will begin on Monday 21 May.
We’ll be working in Crewe Road South between its junctions with Grigor Avenue and the entrance to the Western General Hospital. Temporary traffic lights will be in place in the road, including at the entrance to the hospital, for the duration of our work. We’ll be manually controlling the lights at peak times to reduce disruption.
We understand this is a busy route and advise motorists and those visiting the hospital to allow more time for journeys.
If you have any other specific enquiries about this project, please call us on 0131 469 1728 during office hours 8am – 4pm or 0800 912 1700 and our customer service team will be happy to help.
Please share this information with anyone who may be impacted by our work.
Thank you for your support while we carry out this work.
Meanwhile, the work on Pennywell Road and Groathill Road North continues. The project started on 8th January and is scheduled to take 15 weeks. In the meantime Groathill Road North remains closed to southbound traffic.
Solved: the mystery of the disappearing bus shelters!
A bus shelter (just in case you don’t know what a bus shelter looks like!) This one’s in Crewe Road North
The bus shelters were definitely there on Wednesday. I saw them. There were people standing there, waiting for a bus. As you do at bus stops. But on Thursday – the two bus shelters by the Western General Hospital had gone – vanished into thin air!
Cut backs? Theft for scrap? No, the truth is out – the city council has discovered that the bus shelters removed overnight on Wednesday were dismantled by the company previously responsible for maintaining them.
Clear Channel’s contract to manage some of the city’s bus stops ended on 3 August and the company says it is obliged to remove it’s bus stops within six months. The start of the removal programme saw two stops dismantled from outside the Western General and another partially removed from Princes Street overnight on Wednesday.
The council was initially unaware of the reasons behind the removal but is now in positive discussions with Clear Channel, who have put their removal programme on hold.
Clear Channel owns more than a third of the city’s bus stops. and until 3 August it was contracted to wash, maintain and light the shelters as well as sell advertising. A spokesperson told the BBC: “Clear Channel’s contract to provide advertising sales, and cleaning and maintenance for Edinburgh bus shelters came to an end on August the 3rd this year after four decades proudly serving the people of Edinburgh.
“Since then, as a gesture of goodwill, we have continued to clean and maintain non-advertising shelters at our cost even though we have no contractual obligation to do so. As a further gesture of goodwill, we kept five public toilets open during festival season, again at our cost.”
They said that they had made an offer to the council to sell the non-advertising shelters in August, but heard nothing in return.
They continued: “We are pleased that the council has made contact with us and we remain committed to ensuring an orderly removal of the bus shelters. Their replacement is, of course, a matter for the council and/or any new contractor.”
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “We are pleased that Clear Channel have now entered into a productive dialogue with us with a view to finding a resolution to this issue.”
The council will erect one replacement shelter on Crewe Road South next week, with the other to follow a few days later. The old story, you wait ages for a bus shelter to come along then two come along at once …
