A full emergency was called at Kirkwall Airport on Saturday afternoon, when a four-seater light aircraft belonging to the Orkney Flying Club got into difficulty.

Around 2pm the airport fire service and units from Kirkwall Fire Brigade were put on stand-by and police and the ambulance service rushed to the airport. Kirkwall Lifeboat was also launched to assist in the event of the aircraft having to ditch into the sea.

The Northern Lighthouse Board’s helicopter was airborne at the time, and diverted to guide the pilot - who was the only person on board the Flying Club’s Cessna 172 - safely back to Kirkwall Airport.

All emergency services were stood down quarter of an hour later when the aircraft landed successfully.

The curtain went up on Saturday on a unique exhibition celebrating 75 years of the Kirkwall Amateur Operatic Society (KAOS).

Props, costumes, programmes and photographs covering the society’s many light operas and musicals will be under the spotlight at the exhibition, being staged in the Orkney Museum from today.

From The Mikado of 1925, to next year’s production of South Pacific, the exhibition promises to be a real trip down memory lane for all those who have enjoyed the society’s annual productions.

Graphic displays, photograph albums and videos of some of the shows, are also included in the exhibition which runs until, January 13.

A man was flown to hospital in Aberdeen on Friday following a one vehicle road accident on Stronsay.

The accident took place in the early hours of the morning near Whitehall village. The man, who has not been named, was the sole occupant of the vehicle and as initially brought to the Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall before being transferred to Aberdeen.

Local MSP Jim Wallace held a Children’s Constituency Surgery in Kirkwall on Friday to celebrate Universal Child Rights Day.

The right to be heard is part of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child and at the event secondary age children will have the opportunity to discuss subjects that matter to them and put their MSP, Mr Wallace, on the spot.

Looking forward to the surgery in Kirkwall Grammar School, Mr Wallace said: “I hope pupils who participate find the event useful. I know I myself will find it very valuable as it will provide me with a snapshot of the views and concerns of an important group of Orcadians.”

Orkney’s MSP, Mr Jim Wallace, is marked the start of preparation work on the new £5.2 million creamery project at Hatston on Friday by cutting the first sod on site.

The new industrial style building is being built by Orkney Islands Council and will be leased back to the Orkney Cheese Company Ltd, who will then vacate their current premises on Deerness Road in Kirkwall.

The contract to build the new creamery has been awarded to Casey Construction.

Over a dozen jobs at Flotta's closure-threatened water test centre and marine laboratory now look secure following an announcement on Thursday that the facility has a new owner.

The centre, currently operated by Environment and Resource Technology Ltd, has been acquired by Naremco Technology Ltd following weeks of negotiations.

A package put together by Orkney Islands Council, with the support of Talisman Energy, is being hailed as a key element in helping bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion.

Part of that package will see OIC take ownership of the test centre building, leasing it back to Naremco.

Kirkwall police are following positive lines of enquiry after the theft of two vehicles on Thursday morning.

In the early hours of Thursday a vehicle was taken from Kirkwall, damaged and abandoned on Wideford Hill. A second incident saw a vehicle stolen from St Ola and later abandoned at Carness.

A group of seal pups were flown from Kirkwall to an RSPCA wildlife hospital in England on Wednesday after the local sanctuary reached full capacity.

A plea by Scottish wildlife lovers to aid seal pups separated from their mothers by the autumn storms has been met by one of the world’s biggest animal welfare organisations.

The move to aid the pups has come in the same week that a North-East of England fishermen’s leader called for a cull of grey seals. Anglo-Scottish Fishermen’s Association chairman Mr David Shiel claims they are decimating fish stocks and are too numerous for their own good.

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Councillors have agreed to plan for a brand new £9.5 million ro-ro freight terminal near Crowness on the edge of the Hatston Industrial Estate in Kirkwall.

It is hoped that the new terminal will be ready in time for the arrival of the new vessels to be used on the Orkney and Shetland routes by Northlink from 2002.

The decision was taken at a special meeting of the OIC’s transportation committee on Monday, when members were discussing the implications of the Northern Isles Ferry Contract switching from the current operator, P&O Scottish Ferries, to the preferred bidder, the Caledonian MacBrayne/Royal Bank of Scotland joint venture company, Northlink.

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The managing director of the Orkney Salmon Company Ms Kirsty McCallum, is to leave her job.

She will vacate her position after a three-month handover period working with the new management team from Norwegian fish feed company EWOS, who have bought over Mainland Salmon and their 70 per cent shareholding in Orkney Salmon, along with the Aquascot Group.

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A man gave himself up to police on Tuesday night following the serious disturbance in the Torvhaug Inn, Bridge Street, Kirkwall on Sunday evening.

Four men were arrested at the time of the incident and a warrant to arrest Tony Steeple (19), Crowsnest, St Margaret’s Hope was issued earlier this week.

He appeared in private in Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Wednesday afternoon and was released on bail.

A major new book destined to become a definitive reference on Stone Age Orkney was launched in Kirkwall on Tuesday night.

Neolithic Orkney in its European Context is a collection of papers from Orkney Heritage Society’s Neolithic conference in 1998. Edited by archaeologist Dr Anna Ritchie the book has already been hailed as a “must have” volume for anyone interested in Orcadian history.

Christmas has come early for two Orkney groups who have received nearly £6,000 in funding from Awards for All, the lottery small grants scheme.

Stenness Community Association has secured a £3,513 grant in this weeks announcement. The group say they will use the grant to offer workshops to older residents and children in designing a stained glass window celebrating local life as well as fitting the finished window.

Meanwhile, the refurbishment of the village hall at Birsay will go ahead thanks to a £2,363 grant to the Birsay Community Association. The grant will mean essential roof and window repairs can take place, ensuring local community groups have a venue to hold their activities.

The largest wind turbine on Burgar Hill is back on line and producing electricity this week.

The minor repair to the two megawatt machine had to be delayed until a specialist hydraulic pump was shipped from the manufacturers in Denmark.

Meanwhile, the third new aerogenerator on Burgar Hill, owned by the East-Anglian based utilities company TXU, came online for the first time at the weekend.

Four men appeared from custody at Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Monday charged with crimes of disorder relating to an incident in the Torvhaug Inn, Bridge Street, Kirkwall on Sunday evening.

The owner of the Kirkwall Hotel, Colin James Low (36), was admitted to bail on Monday afternoon along with co-accused Jonathan Iain Gatt (20) c/o 2 Sweyn Court, St Margaretıs Hope, Ian Spence (36), Greentoft, Birsay and David Sutherland (21), Old Bakehouse, St Margaretıs Hope.

There was no plea or declaration made by any of the four men pending a future appearance in Kirkwall Sheriff Court.

Police are calling on any witnesses who were in the Torvhaug on Sunday evening to call them on 872241. Alternatively witnesses can use the confidential line on 870999.

2,500 salmon destined for a customer in the south, strewn over a field in Orphir (Picture: Craig Taylor)

A lorry with a cargo of salmon on board went off the road in Orphir early on Monday morning, causing six tonnes of fish to be lost.

The vehicle owned by J M F Groat & Sons from Longhope tipped over and twelve bins of salmon which were going to be shipped south were spilled into a field.

The 2,500 fish came from Aquascot’s site at Kirkhope and the operators say that the entire cargo is a total loss for them, because no customer would want to accept fish which were contaminated in such an incident.

Sport diving in Orkney is becoming more popular but at the same time the number of accidents involving divers is increasing - particularly among those who have come here to explore the wrecks in Scapa Flow.

That is the conclusion of a report to Orkney Health Board by the Stromness-based hyperbaric medicine unit.

Thirty-one diving-related incidents have been recorded so far this year, 28 of which were classed as serious, compared with a total of 17 incidents in 1999. Although the vast majority of divers were discharged safe and well after treatment, two people have died this year while diving in Orkney waters.

The authors of the report estimate that although sport diving will have been worth around £3 million to the Orkney economy during the year 2000, they warn that a fully operational hyperbaric medical back-up team in Orkney is vital to support the increased interest.

Kirkwall lifeboat was launched on Sunday night to assist a local vessel that had run aground on Thieves Holm in Kirkwall Bay.

Around 7.30pm the Kirkwall pleasure boat Daina G was reported aground on Thieves Holm with two people on board. The vessel was badly damaged and the people on board, one of whom suffered minor lacerations, were transferred to the lifeboat and taken back to Kirkwall. Attempts to refloat the vessel failed and it was left on the holm overnight.

The boat was refloated at high tide on Tuesday.

A police spokesman said that their enquiries were continuing and that a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.