Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company

Today (Tuesday) into tonight would have been the Lerwick Up Helly Aa day and night if it hadn’t been cancelled due to covid for the second year running. Surprisingly there was a couple of events to remind people of the event, one at the Market Cross and one at the town hall.

There has been the first subsea earthquake of the year fairly near Shetland.

Alistair Carmichael has raised concerns in the UK parliament following comments by officials of HM Revenue and Customs to discourage crofters and farmers from participating in certain tractor runs, and other farming community events, due to rules on red diesel.

HM Revenue and Customs is reminding the remainder of the three and a half thousand taxpayers in Shetland, who complete self-assessment tax returns and who have yet to do so, that they have only another week to file their return. It is thought that around fourteen hundred eligible tax-payers in Shetland have yet to file their return.

Shetland’s regional transport partnership, ZetTrans, is canvasing feedback over the next three weeks on the Whalsay inter-island transport link.

Under the previous reporting system 227 cases of covid were reported for Shetland for the first three weeks of January, up t0 last Friday, but it was known that that was an under-reporting of actual cases.