Following a series of thefts from cars, Kirkwall police are warning people to be on their guard if offered a car stereo for sale.

A number of stereos were stolen from cars at Milne's Garage, Ayre House in Kirkwall sometime between February 18 and 28. A number of badges, particularly BMW, were also taken.

Police are asking for anyone with information to contact them on 872241.

Scotland's First Minister Mr Henry McLeish at the official opening of the Balfour Hospital extension on Friday morning

On his first visit to Orkney on Friday, Scotland's First Minister Mr Henry McLeish officially opened the Balfour Hospital's multi-million pound extension.

Speaking at the opening ceremony for the new operating theatre, x-ray suite and laboratories, Mr McLeish congratulated Orkney Health Board and staff on their work progressing the £5 million extension.

He said: "I know the kind of planning - and all the sheer hard work - that a development like this depends on, so I'd like to congratulate the board, the hospital staff and everyone who has worked towards what we are celebrating in today's opening. Which is progress, real progress in the health service for the people of Orkney."

Mr McLeish said that the Balfour Hospital staff can now know that their skills are backed up by some of the best things that modern technology has to offer - quick and accurate lab tests, better radiology, from a quarter of a million pounds worth of state of the art equipment, and new operating facilities to support all the surgery - general and specialist, emergency and elective - carried out in Orkney.

"So the people of Orkney will have access, here in their own hospital and from the staff they know, to the best of modern care," he added.

It was unanimously agreed, despite precautionary measures being taken at Kirkwall pier for incoming traffic to Orkney, that Eday should take all reasonable steps to prevent the infection reaching the island.

As from Friday afternoon, all vehicles, drivers, passengers and pedestrians entering the island will pass over a disinfecting area on leaving the pier. At present, the community is donating all materials and all disinfecting will be done by volunteers.

A spokesman said: "This may be seen by some as an over-reaction, but should the disease reach this island, it would undoubtedly necessitate a whole island cull. In a tiny community largely dependent on farming the results are potentially catastrophic."

The Balfour Hospital has been hit by an outbreak of scabies.

The unpleasant and itchy condition is caused by a tiny mite which burrows into the skin. It is passed on by prolonged close contact - particularly after holding hands with an infected person.

A spokesman from the Balfour Hospital said this week that one patient in the St Ninian ward was initially affected but it was suspected that it had spread to several other patients and staff.

She added that the entire ward was being treated to ensure eradication.

In response to the continuing foot-and-mouth crisis, the RSPB have announced the closure of its nature reserves to visitors for a further two weeks.

The closures aim to prevent the accidental spread of the highly contagious disease and operates until 8am on Saturday, March 17.

The police are also taking precautions, with anyone due to renew their firearms certificates being advised to post their applications instead of visiting a police station in person.

Superintendent John McFadzean of the Northern Constabulary said: "This does not mean serurity checks will not be carried out. They will be slightly delayed until the current outbreak has been resolved."

Five Orkney groups in Orkney have received cash totalling £19,909 in the latest round of Awards for All lottery grants.

Westray Community Association, Sanday Community Association, Orkney Carriage Driving Group, The Mayfield Singers and St Andrews and Deerness Community Council are among the 224 groups receiving funding this spring.

Groups from all over Orkney, not just school groups, are welcome to enter the musical event which is taking place at Kirkwall's Lynnfield Hotel on Saturday, March 24 at 8pm.

Tickets, priced at £5 each, and application forms for bands are available from both Grooves and Hillanders.

The only Orkney farm to be investigated for foot-and-mouth so far, has been given the "all clear", according to a Scottish Executive spokesman.

Ministry vets found no evidence of disease at Wednesday's inspection of pigs at Glenrae in Orphir, and are not planning more investigations meantime.

The precautionary notice restricting access to the farm by non-essential users will continue to apply 21 days from the date the premises Glenrae was traced through (Cheale Meats, in Essex) were given notice.

Acting on powers given to all local authorities by the Scottish Executive on Tuesday afternoon, the council issued the advisory notice restricting access to farmland by walkers, ramblers, horse riders, and other non-essential users.

Val Cameron, principal environmental health officer at OIC, emphasised that there was no infection in Orkney, and that this was merely a precautionary move.

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The £1.9 million contract for the construction of the new Kirkwall Airport terminal building and car park has been awarded to Shetland firm The Construction Centre Group.

Work is due to begin on site in early spring and is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

The new terminal, which will be developed as a gateway to Orkney, will have a total floor area of 1,350 square metres. It will be fitted with a modern flight information system, baggage carousel, check-in desk and security system for passenger search and the checking of hold and hand baggage.

A special sailing from Rousay directly to Kirkwall was laid on Wednesday to allow islanders to collect supplies.

The decision to take the direct route to the town was taken to avoid some of the county's roads - many of which were still badly affected by drifting snow.

The ban on scallop fishing in Orkney has at last been fully lifted by the Food Standards Agency.

They announced on Tuesday that a ban on fishing for king scallops and mussels in waters off Orkney - Scapa Flow and the waters between South Walls and South Ronaldsay - is to be lifted, leaving all areas around the county open for scallop fishing.

They said the action was based on test results from the sampling programme which showed Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) toxin levels have dropped to a level at which they are no longer a risk to consumers.

A scallop fishing ban was imposed on waters in Scapa Flow on June 14 last year. Part of this ban was lifted in November 20.

Three large whales - one of which is estimated to be about 50 feet long - were spotted off Burray on Tuesday afternoon and reported to the coastguard.

The whales were seen in Echnaloch Bay, to the west of Burray around 3.30pm. A coastguard spokesman said that they had informed relevant parties but that the whales appear to be fine and in deep water.

A defence of Orkney Coaches was launched this week by their owner, following criticisms that they had done little to upgrade local bus services.

Freda Rapson, managing director of the Rapson Group - which owns Orkney Coaches - said she was disappointed with the claims, made in a letter to The Orcadian last month.

"We have without subsidy, increased the Kirkwall town service frequency and operated a strategic tourist link to Skara Brae during the summer season," she said. "We also, with support from Orkney Islands Council, operated a service from Stromness to Houton for the summer season."

Mrs Rapson added that the company were also working with Orkney Islands Council to build on the findings of an in-depth study on ways to improve transport links around Orkney.

After a night of more snow and strong winds, transport in Orkney on Tuesday morning practically ground to a halt with further disruptions on ferry routes and most of the county's roads blocked.

Police warned drivers that conditions on the roads were very poor and repeated their recommendation that motorists should not travel unless absolutely necessary.

Staff at the Balfour Hospital were forced to cancel operations this week because of the snow.

Nursing staff who live in the country were having difficulty in getting in to the hospital, but nursing manager Heather Tait said staff who live locally had covered for them. She praised the staff and added that some nurses had planned to stay in town so they could be on duty as normal.

A similar scene greeted many Orcadian households on Mondaymorning after a night of heavy snowfall and extensive drifting.

At Kirkwall Airport snow-clearing operations could only begin when staff reached the airport, but it was stressed that even if the airport could be opened there was no guarantee of getting flights in.

The St Ola did sail at 9am, but on the internal sailings Orkney Ferries were experiencing several disruptions. The Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre sailing of the Eynhallow as was the MV Hoy Head. Orkney Ferries said both services would be reviewed later in the day but added that even if the Hoy Head could sail, there would be little point in landing passengers at Houton unless the road from the terminal, which was blocked, could be cleared.

The crew of the Shapinsay, who had been snowed in earlier, eventually reached the vessel in time to start sailing at 9am.

The Sunday fixture was put off by the weather, which had the day before also knocked out Aberdeen's home fixture against Dundee United.

Orkney's trip was further disrupted when their coach left the road in the wintry conditions as they travelled down on Saturday.

Orkney's First XV rugby team home game against RAF Kinloss was postponed on Saturday, a victim of the wintry weather.

Stromness Drama Club took the honours at the close of the drama festival in Kirkwall on Friday night.

The Stromness group's production of Albertine in Five Times earned them the Challenge Cup and first place. Second went to Birsay Drama Group for Inspector Drake's Last Case, with the Palace Players production of George Mackay Brown's The Well taking third.

The Stromness and Birsay teams now travel to Arbroath for the next leg of the competition.

Youth winners were Kirkwall Grammar School for Death (A Comedy in One Act). They will now take the play to the next leg in Dundee.

Snow and ice on the roads were responsible for two separate road accidents on Friday.

A Vauxhall Cavalier was discovered in a ditch at the junction of Grainshore Road in Hatston Industrial Estate by a Kirkwall Police patrol car early in the morning.

At 6.30am a Ford Fiesta Van skidded on ice and collided with a fence at the junction of Grainshore Road. No injuries were reported for either incident.

With the weather looking to deteriorate over the next few days, Acting Inspector David Miller warned drivers to take extra care when driving if there is frost or ice on the roads, especially in the morning.

In response to the current outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in England, Orkney Auction Mart have postponed their sales of livestock this week.

Today's sale of prime and store cattle, Tuesday's stock-judging and Wednesday's sheep sale have all been cancelled.

Disinfectant dips have been introduced at both entrances to the mart as a precautionary measure following national instructions issued by the Scottish Executive.

The emergency tug Anglian Monarch was called out in the early hours of Friday morning after a Norwegian cargo vessel lost power off the coast of the Fair Isle.

Travelling from the USA en route to Norway with a cargo of coal, the the vessel, Langesund, reported at 2am that it had suffered engine failure 13 miles north west of the Fair Isle. Within 25 minutes the vessel's Chief Engineer had managed to restart the main engine but this failed again at 3.10am.

The Anglian Monarch was sent to the scene but the Langesund managed to regain power and continued on her way.

The half million pound contract was awarded by Orkney Islands Council to the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC).

The screening programme was promoted locally by the Orkney Livestock Association (OLA) who persuaded the OIC to part-fund the scheme. In order to secure council assistance, OLA had to obtain written support from the owners of at least 80 per cent of the entire cattle herd in Orkney that they were committed to taking part in the scheme.