Thousands of pensioners are to have their right to free food-preparation enshrined in law to force reluctant councils to pay for the service, under plans being proposed by ministers. Pensioners have been denied free help by many local authorities who claim that existing guidance from the Scottish Executive is ambiguous.

Campaigners took their fight for a hepatitis C public inquiry to the courts yesterday, hoping that the Scottish Executive would be forced into a U-turn. Relatives of two people who died after contracting hepatitis C through contaminated blood transfusions in the 1980s asked a judge to overturn a decision by ministers to refuse an inquiry.

People who use Perth and Kinross social work services have had a “generally positive” experience, inspectors said. The Social Work Inspection Agency also stated that the service had given a firm commitment to make improvements.

Health chiefs are still struggling to tackle the high rate of bed blocking in the Lothians, according to new figures. While the number of people across Scotland left languishing in hospital for more than six weeks has been slashed, the NHS Lothian statistics have remained static.

A team of health workers has won a top award for helping to get drug addict offenders clean and back into work, education or training. Made up of nurses, social workers and a doctor, the 30-strong team provides an alternative to prison for criminals who have committed offences to fund their drug habits.

Up to 150 lives could be saved each year thanks to the rollout of a national bowel cancer screening programme, it was announced today. The move will see the introduction of a nationwide scheme targeting all men and women in Scotland aged between 50 and 74.

New powers allowing police to issue on-the-spot fines for anti-social behaviour have come into force. Dumfries and Galloway Police has promised to use the legislation to help tackle disorder issues across the region more promptly.

The level of ambulance cover on an island is “unacceptable” at present, according to a Highland councillor. Drew Millar claimed that for the whole of the Isle of Skye there was one ambulance with no paramedic in its crew during an eight-hour period last week.

Ten teenagers have been responsible for a massive crime wave in Edinburgh involving mor than 1600 offences, it has been revealed. Children as young as 14 have carried out hundreds of crimes such as robbery, serious assault, housebreaking, fire-raising and extortion.

A new DVD has been launched to provide information on the Criminal Justice System for victims and witnesses of racist crime. The 15-minute programme aims to increase the confidence of ethnic minority communities in the criminal justice system and to encourage victims of racist crime to report incidents to the police.