An apparent car bomb attack has been attempted at Glasgow Airport’s main terminal.

Witnesses have reported that a blazing Cherokee jeep containing two Asian-looking men appeared to ram the terminal building at high speed.

The car reportedly crashed into the main doors of the terminal.

One of the two men in the vehicle was said to have ran from the blaze with his clothes on fire.

He was restrained by passengers until police arrived.

Witnesses have told how the other occupant of the vehicle struggled with police at the scene immediately after the incident and was wrestled to the ground by officers.

The airport was immediately evacuated and all flights to and from the airport have been cancelled as a result of the incident.

There have been no reported injuries.

Strathclyde police say told two vehicles had been involved in a collision just outside the airport at approximately 3.15pm today, and that one of the vehicles had burst into flames as a result of the accident.

Police have confirmed that the vehicle did not enter the building, and the blaze is now under control.

Strathclyde Police spokeswoman Lisa O’Neil could not confirm reports that the vehicle may have been driven at the terminal building deliberately.

Eyewitness James Edgar said: “There was chaos at the airport.

“I was in the airport building trying to book a holiday. Suddenly people were running past us. Suddenly everyone said to get out of the airport.

Anther witness told how the vehicle had been driven at high speed towards the terminal building and appeared to explode into flames when it hit the outer wall.

BAA, who manage the airport were not immediately available for comment.

DRUNK and rowdy teenagers who are plaguing residents will have nowhere to hide over the summer holidays as police launch a crackdown on youth crime.

The pre-emptive strike is designed to prevent a spate of crime and antisocial behaviour in the Morningside area after a 100 per cent increase in calls to police during the Easter break.

Temporary and mobile CCTV cameras will monitor the area, which currently has no surveillance coverage, to track down troublemakers and under-age drinkers.

Police have identified four main trouble “hotspots” to target: Morningside Road, Morningside Drive, Comiston Road and Bruntsfield Links.

Youngsters who are repeatedly caught drinking or causing trouble will face the prospect of having letters sent to their parents, being forced to accept an antisocial behaviour contract or even being arrested.

At Easter, the majority of incidents involved young drunks and antisocial behaviour, although police say there was an “alarming increase” in vandalism and crime.

The worst was an attack by a gang of youths on a 48-year-old man who was walking through Morningside Park.

More than a dozen teenagers blocked his path with a mattress then assaulted him, leaving him with cuts and bruises.

Inspector Tom Galbraith, who is leading the crackdown, said: “We do have a problem in the area with youth-related calls, which range from the usual congregation problems, alcohol issues and intimidation, but there has also been a rise in crime and assault, so we clearly have to do something about it.

“Now that we are coming up to the summer, we would anticipate these problems would rise again.”

Officers hope they will be able to curb problems before they take hold by giving young people “diversionary activities”.

Events, including football games and day trips to adventure parks, have been put in place during the summer in a bid to tempt youngsters away from alcohol and crime.

The events have been organised by the 3Ms - Merchiston, Morningside, Marchmont - youth project, which is working with police and the council.

But some feel more activities are needed for youngsters to keep them off the streets.

Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, the city’s education leader and chairwoman of the 3Ms project, said more action is needed.

She said: “Youth facilities are desperately needed.

“It has in the past been regarded as an area that is middle class and doesn’t need any help, but the young people are as bored as any others and need something to do.

“There is a lot of effort going into providing activities, but it’s just scratching the surface when I think about what it required.”

Insp Galbraith said he hopes preventative techniques mean police having to make fewer arrests and charge youngsters.

He said: “All children are dealt with differently. We have to look at backgrounds as well. That’s why it’s not just about going down the enforcement route.

“The last thing anyone wants is to put youths into the criminal process if we don’t need to.”

The crackdown will initially last three months, but there is a possibility it will be extended.

Suzi Wong, chairwoman of Morningside Community Council, said: “I don’t know what happened during Easter, the kids all seemed to go mad at the same time, so I’m hoping this means it won’t be the same during the summer holidays.

“I’m sure it will have an effect on them hanging about here.”

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THE Lothians has gone from having the highest number of nursing vacancies in Scotland to one of the lowest in just two years.

Figures released today show hospital wards across the Lothians are now far less likely to be under-staffed following a major recruitment drive.

Two years ago, NHS Lothian was the worst performing health board in the country, with more than 450 nursing vacancies. It now has one of the best rates, with just 137 workers still required to fill gaps.

The turnaround comes despite the cost of living in Edinburgh, a factor previously blamed for NHS Lothian’s poor staffing levels.

Union leaders today praised health leaders for improving the nurse recruitment programme.

Lynn Masson, of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Someone was appointed with the sole task of recruiting more staff, and that person managed to get more nurses into employment in the Lothians.

“For patients that creates better staffing on the wards. For staff, by cutting down on agency nurses and offering permanent employment, it means better working terms and conditions.

“NHS Lothian went around the country to recruit staff and it also looked at more flexible working patterns to attract people. In addition, it encouraged people who had been out of nursing for many years to return.”

Ms Masson said the cost of living in the Capital was still prohibitive, and many nurses choose to live in the Borders or Fife.

“But they are attracted to the city because there is a brand new hospital at Little France, which offers them a great package and scope for development,” she said.

Ms Masson warned NHS Lothian to “not rest on its laurels” and said it should continue to keep a low level of vacancies or patient care would suffer.

The new figures show there were the whole-time equivalent of 6416 nurses and midwives at the end of March this year, compared with 6274 at the same point last year. In percentage terms, vacancies have fallen from 7.1 per cent to 2.1 per cent since 2005.

The number of vacancies for non-registered nurses, such as clinical support workers, has also dropped by half since last year.

NHS Lothian’s director of nursing, Heather Tierney-Moore, said: “NHS Lothian is a recognised centre of clinical excellence and provides a great range of professional development opportunities to all our staff, helping to support them throughout their career.

“It is our particular strength in offering this scope for development and skills expansion that makes us such an attractive employer, which, along with our work to improve our recruitment processes, has led to us employing and retaining increased numbers of nursing staff.

“It also demonstrates to staff that we have a great deal of confidence in their abilities. We are not complacent, however, and in areas where there are national staff shortages, we will continue to work in partnership with the service and higher education to develop new roles and offer training to fill those gaps.”

Recent figures show NHS Lothian has cut its expenditure on agency nurses to a record low, while new statistics also show that staff have a lower rate of absence due to illness than the Scottish average.

The sickness rate in NHS Lothian is 5.04 per cent, compared with the Scottish average of 5.55 per cent.

NHS Lothian’s human resources director, Jim McCaffery, added: “By working with staff as a good employer, we have been able to reduce the use of agency staff and have introduced a range of family-friendly policies and flexible working options, in partnership with our staff-side organisations, which have had positive benefits in reducing staff absence through illness.”

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