Denny, Bonnybridge and the west of the area got more snow than the east. Most of the priority 1 routes in the West were treated again this morning with a light spread, however there were no priority 1 routes requiring to be treated in the east other than a few isolated spots.

Footway crews have been out since 02:00 hrs this morning treating their priority 1 routes and continuing. Most of these routes are reported has having very little snow or ice.

Carriageway operations continued this morning with gritters ploughing and treating all priority 2 routes though to lunchtime. Some priority 3 routes were also treated during this time but as the conditions improved this operation was concluded around lunchtime.

The footpath treatments continued to spread out from the priority 1 routes onto priority 2 and in some cases priority 3. These operations were concluded at lunchtime.

Some grit bins were checked and replenished as required in the following areas: Falkirk (part), Hallglen, Denny and Bonnybridge.

The overnight forecast is for milder weather with some light showers. The milder weather is to continue into the first part of the weekend before the colder weather returns early next week. Conditions during this time should be dry with frosty nights.

In order to repair this section it is proposed to close the road from Sunday 7th February for 4 days. This is weather dependant and will not start if the forecast is for very cold weather or snow. While the road is closed, it is intended to complete other maintenance work that was scheduled for the spring to avoid closing the road again at that time.

The signed diversion route is the A803 to Laurieston and the B805.

Snow fell in the Falkirk area this morning, although the overnight forecast had been for the weather front to clear the area by around 05:00 this morning leaving damp and cold conditions. Denny, Bonnybridge and the Braes caught the worst of the snow and all areas were treated this morning, the Braes area twice. Footpath tractors were out in these areas as well, although the weather turned more to sleet and rain passed by around 10am this morning.

Accumulations in the west (Bonnybridge, Denny, Banknock) and south (Slamannan, Limerigg, Avonbridge) amounted to 50mm and gritters were deployed until 11.30. The snow quickly disappeared on trafficked routes and by 12.30 even the side roads were slushy, at worst. Footway teams were deployed in these areas at 7.30 and have been ploughing the soft snow from the footways on priority F1 routes. After completion of routes this afternoon they will extend ploughing footways onto F2 routes for the remainder of the day.

Throughout February, consumers are being asked to drop off any suspected scam mail in special bins installed in libraries (Bo'ness, Bonnybridge, Denny, Falkirk, Grangemouth, Larbert and Meadowbank) where it will be collated and used in the fight against scammers.

In the UK alone, it is estimated that scams cost their victims a staggering £3.5bn and affects one in 15 individuals and fewer than 5 percent ever report their experiences to the authorities.

Common examples of scams include: bogus health cures for weight loss, heart conditions or impotence using often untried non-medicinal products; fake psychics or clairvoyants implying something ‘bad' could happen if no money is sent back or; fake foreign lottery wins where for an administrative fee, consumers could claim millions in prizes.

Cllr Charles MacDonald, Convener of Environment and Community Safety said: ‘Scammers make billions of pounds every year by carefully constructing often very convincing methods of deceiving the public.  This campaign is designed to make consumers aware of this practice and to empower them to fight back and help the authorities identify the key criminals involved in this.'

‘By gathering this valuable intelligence, our trading standards officers working with agencies such as the Office of Fair Trading and the Police can help combat this crime and prevent innocent members of the public being scammed.'

‘Our advice is to think about why they would send money off to someone they didn't know often to an address overseas in the hope that they could receive something bearing in mind that many thousands of individuals may have received the same offer. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.'

Heather Clayton, OFT Senior Director said: ‘Scammers are expert at exploiting people's hopes and fears. Anyone can be conned but by learning to recognise the scammer's tricks we can all avoid becoming their next victim.'

The campaign runs until the end of February and all the information and mailings will be examined carefully to ensure any valuable data can be used to combat the scammers.

If you think you have been a victim of a scam you can contact Consumer Direct for advice on 08454 04 05 06.

In a quest to find the perfect film for Valentines Day, the team at the Hippodrome asked people to reveal the title of their first or most significant date movie, and to recommend a film that would be the perfect matchmaker for love-birds on a Valentine's date. 

A few clues will give away the title selected by the Hippodrome team from all the suggestions... This 1939 film won 8 Academy Awards and was the first colour film to be awarded the Best Picture Oscar.  It is the top grossing movie of all time and features one of the most famous and enduring lines of any film, uttered by Clark Gable to his co-star Vivien Leigh: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn".

The film is of course the greatest romantic epic of them all: ‘Gone With the Wind', which follows the tempestuous relationship between roguish Rhett Butler and his southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, played out against the stirring backdrop of the American Civil War.

Suggestions for the special screening streamed in from all over, and were put forward by all ages, with many people sharing the story behind their choice.

Most of the films were nominated just once but some titles appeared again and again.  The most often cited first-date movie was ‘Love Story' (1970), with ‘Gone with the Wind', ‘Ghost', ‘Titanic', ‘Love Actually', ‘Top Gun', ‘Grease' and ‘Pretty Woman' in runner-up positions.  The most popular advice to other lovers looking for a romantic film was ‘Love Story' again, closely followed by ‘Gone With the Wind', as well as the likes of ‘The Notebook', ‘Breakfast at Tiffany's', ‘Notting Hill' and ‘When Harry Met Sally'. 

Amongst all these titles were some terrific stories about first kisses, first dates, blind dates, dates arranged without the parents knowing, breaks-ups, love at first sight, dates gone wrong, dates ending in tears and dates ending with proposals.

Alison Strauss, Arts Development Officer (Film and Media) said: "We had a fantastic response to our survey... there are clearly a lot of romantics and film lovers out there.  The film suggestions were incredibly varied with some real classics as well as many titles that you just wouldn't expect... like ‘Dark Knight' for example!  It just goes to show that everybody's different and, like a partner in love, there's a film for everybody... you just need to find the right one."

Lots of people found lasting love with people who shared their taste in films.   The couples who respectively enjoyed ‘Norbit' on a blind date, and who met over a mutual love of ‘It's A Wonderful Life' are now engaged, whilst the woman whose beau sent texts all the way through ‘The Horse Whisperer' gave him the elbow.

Alison told us: "It's hard to pick out just one story for mention from all the touching and humorous tales, but I particularly liked hearing about the man for whom ‘The Rocky Horror Show' is of particular significance because his wife told him she was pregnant at a screening; and the woman taken to see ‘Fatal Attraction' on her first date whose would-be boyfriend spilled popcorn everywhere during the bunny boiling scene... she subsequently dumped him on the grounds that he was "a big fearty and extremely untidy"! 

The Hippodrome Valentine's Day film survey was supported by The Macdonald Inchyra Grange Hotel who donated, in a prize draw, a romantic meal for two in their acclaimed restaurant ‘The Priory'.  The draw was won by S. Waddell, whose first date movie was ‘The Exorcist'!

Alison Strauss told us a bit about the process of sourcing the films for screening.  "Sourcing films that are more than a few months old takes quite a lot of research.  I did look in to getting hold of ‘Love Story' but the distributor Paramount no longer has a print, probably because their copy was too worn out to run through a projector.  I'm thrilled about tracking down ‘Gone With the Wind' though.  It isn't screened very often and I was able to get a lovely copy, digitised by the British Film Institute and cleared for our unique screening thanks to Warner Bros. 

"I think love will definitely be in the air at the Hippodrome" said Alison "... and if anyone decides to tie the knot after their date, we'd love to hear from you!"

Tickets for ‘Gone With the Wind' (PG) (running time: approx 3h 45m), Sunday 14^th February 2:30pm are £5.10 (£3.85 conc.) available from the Hippodrome Box Office, 10 Hope Street, Bo'ness EH51 0AA or the Steeple Box Office, High Street, Falkirk tel: 01324 506850.  The 8pm Valentine's screening will be ‘It's Complicated' (15) starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

• The Hippodrome is Scotland's oldest surviving purpose built cinema, run by Falkirk Council, Community Services, The Falkirk Stadium, Westfield, Falkirk FK2 9DX
• The Steeple Box Office, High Street, Falkirk FK1 1NW acts as the central information and box office service for all Cultural Services venues and events. Their number is 01324 506850, and they are open Monday - Saturday 9.30am - 4.45pm. A box office service is also available at each venue, from 45 minutes before each performance or screening.
• Further information is available at www.falkirk.gov.uk/cultural

The pool will remain open however customers should note that water temperatures and depth of water could vary throughout the day as the work progresses.

We may also have to close the pool at short notice.

We are urging customers to consider making alternative arrangements as we would not want to see the quality of your experience suffer in any way.

The pool will be fully operational by Saturday morning.

We appreciate that this is an inconvenience and apologise in advance for the disruption.

WoW (What's On Where) is the new online guide is now live across all eight of Falkirk Council's High Schools and will be available on every pupil's home page allowing them access to hundreds of exciting and varied events and activities.

A specially commissioned video featuring St Mungo's High pupil Emma Cook and ex-Falkirk High pupil Jamie Lemetti demonstrates how young people can take part in anything ranging from dance and drama to gorge walking and mountain biking.

The site is updated regularly with all the latest information and is easy to use by simply typing in your location.

Cllr Adrian Mahoney, Convener of Leisure, Tourism and Community said: ‘The website pulls together the hundreds of activities on offer across the Falkirk Council area for young people and by providing a direct link to each pupil's homepage, we can highlight the varied programmes on offer.

‘As well as young people, we'd also encourage parents to have a look at http://www.youngscotwow.org for themselves and get an appreciation of what's on where locally!'

Categories on the website include Get Active, Entertain ME, Creative and Cultured, Get Involved and the Volunteering and Learning zone.

Organisers are also organising a survey of young people on what future activities they can attempt to bring to the local area ass how they prefer to get the latest information.

 No gritting action was required on Saturday to the priority 1 roads as the thaw continued. The general thaw allowed further work to be carried out in by mechanical excavators supplemented by some gritting crews. The areas that were tackled on Saturday are as follows:

2 x JCB tractors working in Slamannan

2 x JCB tractors working in California then moving to Sheildhill

2 x JCB tractors working in Denny and Bonnybridge

1 x JCB tractor working in Sheildhill (Mavisbank Area)

1 x JCB tractor working in Boness (Crosshill Drive and Jessfield Place)

1 x mini excavator and 2 man squad in Avonbridge

Large Tractor with plough clearing and treating some of the rural roads as prioritised.

In the early hours of Sunday morning all priority 1 carriageways were treated for ice.

Work then continued with mechanical excavators supplemented by some gritting crews in the following areas:

1 x JCB tractor working in Slamannan

2 x JCB tractors working in California then moving to Shieldhill (Easton Drive area)

1 x JCB tractor working in Denny and Bonnybridge then moving Letham Terrace and Moss Road.

1 x JCB tractor working in Shieldhill (Mavisbank area)

1 x JCB tractor working in Boness(Braefoot area)

2x JCB tractors working in Maddiston

1 x mini excavator and 2 man squad in Avonbridge

Large Tractor with plough clearing and treating some of the rural roads as prioritised by the Area Engineer's.

Grit bin locations will again be checked this week and replenished as required. 

The weather outlook for the week ahead is for mainly dry weather with cold and frosty nights. However, heavy rain, which may be proceeded by wet snow, will cross the area on Thursday before returning to the dry and frosty weather. Some indications suggest that there maybe a return to the colder Arctic weather early next week.

Given the forecast, this is the final update for the current period of severe weather. Daily updates will resume, however, should there be a return to an extended period of severe weather.

The forecast for the next 24 hours, and over the weekend, is for a milder air flow with heavy rain and possible localised flooding. There maybe a slight frost on Saturday night, however daytime temperatures will be higher than recently allowing the thaw to continue.

The priority 1 routes were treated for snow / ice yesterday evening. No further treatment was required.

Over the weekend it is our intention to continue with the mechanical removal of snow / ice from rural roads that have been harder to access and some residential roads in the following areas: Denny Hills, High Bonnybridge, Boness, Avonbridge, Slamannan, California and Shieldhill (West).

If time and resources allow we will move on to Shieldhill (East), Maddiston and the rural areas between Airth and Larbert.

We will have 8 JCB tractors working across the area supplemented by a large tractor plough and some of our gritters, these units will be supported by roads squads to grit cleared areas.

There is a forecast risk of flooding from heavy rain and snow melt, roads squads will be on standby to react to any threat.

Resources will be deployed from Monday to check and replenish all grit piles across the Council area.

As the thaw continues potholes may start to appear across the Council area.  We will have emergency squads to treat dangerous potholes and roads staff will carry out an inspection of all priority routes from Monday to prioritise areas for patching by tar squads.

SCiTEQ will be launched on Monday 18^th January at St Mungo's High School where 240 S2 pupils will use forensic science to solve a crime based in a supermarket using finger printing, blood analysis, trace evidence, toxicology and chromatography.

The SCiTEQ programme pulls together a number of science and technology based events and activities in Falkirk Council schools - Science Squads, the INEOS Science, Engineering and Technology Fair and a number of small school festivals throughout the year as well as other activities - aimed at young people from P6 to S2.  SCiTEQ will take pupils on a journey which could ultimately help them forge a career using the science and technology skills and experience picked up in school!

Overall the forensics based experience will be delivered to 1,700 S2 pupils in secondary schools across the Falkirk Council area over the coming months.

Councillor Craig Martin, Convener of Economic Strategy and Development said: "We work hard to support the development of Science and Technology based industries as part of My Future's in Falkirk. A large part of this support focuses on young people having the enthusiasm, aspiration and opportunity to follow a career in this sector.

"SCiTEQ is a co-ordinated approach, involving a number of partners, to bring science and technology to life for young people. Pupils from primary six to secondary two will have access to a wide range of activities - all part of the SCiTEQ journey to ensure that pupils can make fully informed decisions when it is time to choose subjects which will influence their future careers.

"My Future's in Falkirk continues to be effective in making the Falkirk Council area a better place to live, learn, work and play."

The SCiTEQ programme includes:

• The INEOS Science, Engineering and Technology Fair, held annually at the Grangemouth Stadium for all 1400 pupils in primary seven
• The Science Squad experience for pupils in S2. This has run for the last five years at Forth Valley College for small groups of pupils. This year, for the first time, the College is delivering a forensics-based experience in schools for all 1700 pupils in S2 and is supported by Science Ambassadors from Global Science
• A series of science and technology festivals to be held in every high school involving local science and technology based businesses and aimed at every S1 pupil.

Dr Wendy Livingstone, Associate Principal for Business and Innovation at Forth Valley College said: "We are delighted to be involved in the SCiTEQ programme and we feel really positive that the initiative is going to encourage more and more young people to consider science as a career option.

"The forensics science experience will be a great way to engage with school pupils and show how science can be relevant in society today.  We've ran similar activities in the college previously and they've always been a fantastic success with pupils leaving with a fresh perspective on studying science. 

"Our students are really excited about getting out to schools as part of the Science Squads.  We're hoping their enthusiasm rubs off on the pupils and they show how science can be interesting and fun."

Uptake of science subjects in Falkirk Council schools continues to rise with numbers taking Biology, Human Biology, Chemistry and Physics at Higher all  showing improvement. Results in all four subjects at Higher are also improving:

• Presentations in Biology at Higher have risen by around 40% since 2005, with almost half of pupils who were presented in 2009 gaining passes at A or B
• Higher Human Biology numbers are high in comparison to the rest of the country and have risen since 2007
• Chemistry numbers have also increased since 2006 as has the pass rate, with three quarters of those presented achieving success.

David East, Communications Manager, INEOS, Grangemouth said: "As an industry that uses science and technology everyday, INEOS recognises the importance of enthusing young people to study these subjects at school and in demonstrating their 'real world' applications.

"The annual INEOS Science Fair ensures that P7 pupils in Falkirk have an opportunity to work alongside scientists and engineers on a range of innovative and exciting hands-on activities and is just one of the many ways in which we provide support to local schools."

Notes to the Editor:

The Scottish Government will begin an advertising campaign at the end of February 2010 to change perceptions of science and encourage young people to study it, with a view to addressing the predicted employment gap in science careers in Scotland.

Speakers on the day include:

Susan Allen - Curriculum Quality Leader in the Department of Applied Science and Computing, Forth Valley College

Alex Black, Quality Improvement Manager, Falkirk Council

My Future's in Falkirk is an innovative economic development

initiative which is transforming the Falkirk area into a diverse and modern economy and a desirable place to work, live and visit.  Launched in 2002, My Future's in Falkirk is a public and private sector partnership between Falkirk Council, BP and INEOS.

The area already makes a major contribution to the Scottish economy through its position as the hub of the chemicals industry, its extensive transportation links and its growing reputation as a tourism and leisure destination.

We have treated all priority 1 carriageways and are going round them for a second time. Once these are at an acceptable level we will move on to priority 2 routes.

With regard to the operational plan for footway clearance, priority 1 footways are being treated. A more detailed report will follow this afternoon.

Priority road gritting routes (PDF, 159KB)

The forecast for the next 24 hours is for the general thaw to continue through the day. Overnight the winds will pick up and there maybe some snow at higher levels. The snow should fall as sleet or rain at lower levels, however there is still a chance that light snow may also fall in these areas. The outlook is for more of the same with the possibility of slightly higher temperatures and rain at the weekend.

The priority 1, 2 and 3 routes were checked this morning with no treatment required.

Priority road gritting routes (PDF, 159KB)

Once more we had 8 JCB tractors clearing housing areas in:

• Bonnybridge
• Brightons
• California
• Dennyloanhead
• Falkirk (Slamannan Road area)
• Head of Muir 
• High Bonnybridge
• Larbert
• Laurieston 
• Polmont
• Shieldhill
• Slamannan

We also used a smaller gritter to treat some of the more rural areas in the Braes today.

The work that is being carried out with the JCB tractors is having a marked effect in the areas that they are working. Due to the nature of the work, however, breaking up ice and removing with lorries, progress is slow. The milder weather is also having a marked effect in some areas, especially during daylight hours and this may overtake the work being carried out by the JCB tractors.

Please again note that due to the duration of the low temperatures frost heave is evident throughout the Council area, both in carriageways and footways. Footways in particular appear to be suffering from up to 50mm of frost heave which results in a higher risk to pedestrians tripping and extra care should be taken.

Building Maintenance colleagues have been mainly working on residential homes and care facilities throughout the Council area.

Squads have been working on footways chipping hard ice in the following areas:

• Antonine to Bonnybridge link footway 
• Bo'ness
• Denny
• Grangemouth
• Maddiston
• Sheildhill
• Slammanan
• Whitecross

Grit bins are being checked on a regular basis and will be supplied with grit as required.

As well as ongoing transformation works to key derelict buildings in the town centre, work to renew pavement areas, surfaces and kerbing up to conservation standards in the main shopping areas of North Street and South Street are set to get underway.

The contract works costing £240,000 will be carried out by the contractor, L&C of Edinburgh who has been working closely with all the town centre businesses to ensure the minimum disruption to access, deliveries and trading. The works are due to be completed by 12 March 2010 and afterwards will be complimented by additional visitor signage, ‘shop local' signage initiatives and new heritage lighting units to Waggon Row.

This important phase of work - lasting about four weeks - gets underway on 18^th January and will result in temporary traffic closures.

From 18 January the route at the east end of South Street from its junction with Main Street & North Street to the junction with Market Street will be closed.  Access to School Brae, Hope Street and central & western shops in South Street is via Market Street off North Street.  An alternative route can be found at Main Street junction with South Street, via North Street to Seaview Place and vice versa.

From 1^st February, the west end of North Street from its junction with Seaview Place and North Street will be closed.  West bound traffic will be able to access via the Main Street junction with North Street, via South Street to Seaview Place and east bound traffic will be able to use the alternative route from Seaview Place roundabout via Union Street to East Pier Street to North Street. 

The work to renew pavement areas is funded jointly as part of Falkirk Council's capital programme and the Scottish Government's Town Centres Regeneration Fund.

The streetscape plans are still available to view on line at http://www.falkirkonline.net

Over the past three years nearly £700,000 of environmental regeneration improvements through the Townscape Heritage Initiative have been successfully delivered in the historic core of the town centre including new benches and other street furniture, street lighting and heritage standard paving. These additional works will complement the earlier work and use the same materials.

My Future's in Falkirk is an innovative economic development initiative which is transforming the Falkirk area into a diverse and modern economy and a desirable place to work, live and visit.  Launched in 2002, My Future's in Falkirk is a public and private sector partnership between Falkirk Council, BP and INEOS.

The area already makes a major contribution to the Scottish economy through its position as the hub of the chemicals industry, its extensive transportation links and its growing reputation as a tourism and leisure destnation.

The forecast for the next 24 hours is similar to yesterday with the thaw continuing tomorrow. Overnight temperatures will dip slightly below zero in the lower areas of Falkirk and are forecast to drop to around -1 in the higher and outlying areas.

The priority 1 routes were checked this morning with no treatment required. The priority 2 routes were treated again this morning along with priority 3 routes.

Once again we had 8 JCB tractors clearing housing areas on a priority basis assisted and backed up by Roads squads in: Larbert, Dennyloanhead, High Bonnybridge, Bonnybridge, Head of Muir, Falkirk (Slamannan Road area), Polmont, Boness, Laurieston and Brightons.

Due to the duration of the low temperatures it should be noted that frost heave is evident throughout the Council area, both in carriageways and footways. Footways in particular appear to be suffering from up to 50mm of frost heave.  This has caused differential movement between footways, utility apparatus and existing repairs and will result in a higher risk to pedestrians tripping and extra care should be taken. 

Falkirk Council cannot address all of these simultaneously throughout the network however these defects will be inspected and repaired on a priority basis following the thaw.

Building Maintenance have been working on footway routes to schools and also footways in the Larbert, High Station and Denny areas. Roads, Grounds Maintenance and Street Cleaning squads have also been assisting in these operations.

Roads squads have also been working on footways chipping hard ice in the following areas: Denny, Antonine to Bonnybridge link footway, Sheildhill, Slammanan, Grangemouth, Boness, Maddiston and Whitecross.

Teams continue to work on accesses to residential and care facilities throughout the Council area. Grit Bins are being checked on a regular basis and will supplied with grit as required.

Following on from record numbers taking part in litter picks across the Falkirk Council area and Scotland in 2009, Falkirk Council is urging local people to take part in the campaign during April this year.

Last year nearly 3,500 volunteers took part in 37 clean ups locally during the Spring Clean campaign which promotes community, schools and business clean ups throughout the month of April.

Councillor Charles MacDonald, Convener of Environment and Community Safety said: "Last year record numbers of volunteers turned up to a series of litter picks held throughout the area!

"The Antonine Wall - a World Heritage Site - was the focus of the National Spring Clean in 2009 with two thirds of the wall in the Falkirk Council area.

"This year we hope that even more litter picks will take place throughout the Falkirk Council area resulting in rubbish free towns and villages.

"Out Litter Strategy Team, responsible for assisting in over fifty litter picks last year, is available all year round to support clean ups throughout the area come rain or shine."

At a local level this year's Spring Clean will support litter picks throughout the area. And in addition the Litter Strategy Team will work with the River Carron Regeneration Group and the Communities along the Carron project which was launched last year to restore the River Carron to its former glory. One if the first projects on the River Carron will be to carry out a series of litter picks in communities from Skinflats to Camelon and Denny to Fankerton during April's Spring Clean. Anyone interested in taking part should contact the Litter Strategy Team on 01324 504628.

In 2007, 352 local volunteers took part in National Spring Clean. In only two years this increased dramatically to over 3,500 adults and children taking part in clean ups across the Falkirk Council area.

National Spring Clean is coordinated by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

Last year 60,000 volunteers helped clean up across Scotland.