9am Briefing: BAA could be forced to sell Edinburgh airport

THE owner of Scotland's three major airports has been ordered to put one up for sale after a court denied it the right to appeal against a sell-off edict.

BAA, which operates Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, was told in 2008 it must get rid of one airport in order to avoid a monopoly.

Since then the operators have battled through the courts to overturn the decision, but last night the Supreme Court in London denied the company the right to appeal.

• POLITICIANS are demanding to know who was to blame for the closure of the M8 in heavy snow after the road maintenance company was cleared by an official report.

An investigation by Transport Scotland found Bear Scotland had acted in an "acceptable" way ahead of the heavy snowfall on December 6 last year, which left thousands of motorists trapped on the motorway - some of them overnight.

• PROPERTIES in Edinburgh have topped the country's price league with the average cost of a home in the city standing at more than 250,000, according to the latest figures.

The figures from the house price monitor from Lloyds TSB Scotland show house prices fell across the country last quarter but increased by almost 5 per cent on the beginning of last year.

The average cost of a home in Scotland is now 162,119, with properties in Edinburgh topping the price league at 257,354.