Country walks can help reduce depression and raise self-esteem according to new research, which has led to calls for “ecotherapy” to become a recognised treatment for people with mental health problems.

Scottish police forces have launched a new strategy to deal with growing cocaine use, urging middle-class recreational users to “boycott” the drug. Gill Wood, the national drugs co-ordinator for the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), says that young professionals who take cocaine should consider the “horrendous violence” involved in the supply of the drug.

A 70-year-old former senior social worker will become the new Lord Provost of Glasgow. Bob Winter beat former city treasurer Ruth Simpson by 30 votes to 13. Hanzala Malik, who had hoped to become the first Asian to hold the position in Scotland, had previously dropped out of the race.

Bloodsucking ticks carrying a potentially fatal disease are increasingly moving into Scotland’s cities as a result of global warming, campaigners warned yesterday.

The first act of an SNP government could be a reprieve for a local hospital facing closure, it emerged yesterday. The party has promised to save the accident and emergency department at Monklands Hospital if it gets into power. And the move could even earn leader Alex Salmond a vote for First Minister from the Labour benches if the local MSP decides to put her local hospital before party loyalty.

Elderly and vulnerable adults who attend two day-care centres in Inverness could be affected by strike action after staff unanimously voted to take industrial action yesterday.

A Deeside man who had sex with a 15-year-old girl was yesterday spared a prison sentence despite warnings that he poses a “very high risk” of reoffending.

The future of a new £100 million prison, set to house one tenth of Scotland’s inmates, has been thrown into uncertainty after a public sector bid to run the jail was rejected.

The high number of suicides in rural communities is to be addressed in a series of roadshow training sessions and talks in the Highlands. The roadshow includes a group of organisations which work to raise awareness of mental health issues.

A charity that provides counselling for primary school children as young as four is calling for greater funding to help troubled youngsters. The Place2Be says it is enjoying success helping pupils in Edinburgh, its only Scottish base, where it works in ten primary schools.