Investors shocked by latest Avocet revelation

by EWAN LAMB

Shareholders who have invested millions of pounds in the Avocet group of 'disruptive technology' businesses have been told the company has never owned three Berwickshire farms, valued at between £8-£10 million in documents circulated by the firm's directors in 2018.

The shock disclosure is contained in the latest letter to shareholders from Avocet chairman Martin Frost; he describes it as a 'rant', and pledges to resign as soon as possible. The farms in question were earmarked for ambitious agricultural projects by Avocet.

Earlier this year Avocet subsidiary Orrdone Farms PLC (previously called Avocet Farms) was declared insolvent with joint administrators appointed to take control of the company's affairs.

In a report to creditors the Orrdone Farms insolvency team of Emma Porter and Jeanette Brown stated: "The company is recorded at the Scottish Land Register as owning Sunwick Farms, part of Greenwood Farm [Houndwood] and Harcarse Hill Farm. There are a number of allegations and assertions regarding the ownership of these properties and the existence of leases, which are currently being investigated."

UK Agricultural Lending Ltd. claim they are owed £3.2 million - a loan said to have been made to Avocet Farms in 2016 to purchase the farms from another company called Hamilton Orr Ltd.

But Mr Frost has now told Avocet's 650 shareholders that the 'planned loan' from UK Agricultural Lending Limited "never happened to Orrdone Farms Limited".

He states that Orrdone Farms Limited did not purchase the three farms from Hamilton Orr Limited in 2016, adding "regrettably, I, my fellow directors, and company accountants and auditors were misled into thinking that Orrdone had purchased the three farms." He had only discovered this in 2018.

Avocet’s Edinburgh lawyers had advised it was no longer possible to proceed with an Orrdone purchase because Hamilton Orr Limited had been struck off the Company Register. And Mr Frost writes: "Wrongly, I was advised to restore Hamilton Orr Limited to the Company House register and thus the purchase transaction could continue...I confused the position and Hamilton Orr Limited was incorrectly restored with the current situation that all three farms remain Crown Property." 

"Late in 2018, two further faults occurred – namely incorrect property transfer consideration values were shown, and the Edinburgh lawyers wrongly backdated the property transfer to 2016. In 2019, when Avocet was unable to sell the farms due to title problems, I was advised that a court judication (sic) was required to sort out the resultant title and tax mess."

Companies House records show that an application to restore Hamilton Orr Ltd to the Register of Companies was lodged by Mr Frost on October 5th 2018. The company had been dissolved on July 10th 2018.

However, a source who contacted Not Just Sheep & Rugby this week pointed out that in an  Information Memorandum to the Asset Match shares platform dated November 2018, a month after Mr Frost says he became aware that Avocet did not own the farms, Avocet Farms Ltd. is shown to  have assets of £8,321,044 in the last quarter of 2018 rising to £9,121,044 in the first quarter of 2019.

Our attention was also drawn to an Avocet shareholders’ letter of March 2018 which included the text of a lengthy email to Stuart Lucas, a director of Asset Match, dated 5-3-2018 in relation to a forthcoming visit by Mr Lucas to Harcarse Hill for meetings on 7th and 8th March 2018.

Mr Frost wrote: "Note: The Harcarse Hill, Houndwood and Sunwick farms that you will see are being developed to be show pieces of Avocet technology."

And later in the message: "Asset value: as an astute entrepreneur you asked what Avocet’s assets are. Taking tangible assets first – Avocet’s directors as at 5 March 2018 estimate:

Land and farm buildings would fetch £8-£10 million on the open market. Eight cottages and two farmhouses would fetch over £2 million on the open market; plant, machinery and saleable fixtures £1.5 million."

There are a number of other items listed including development land and recreation area. It is then stated: "Against the above Avocet has some £4 million of secured borrowing and trade creditors.".

In his June 28th report to shareholders, Mr Frost tells them: "I fear I have not served you well, but in turn I have been ill-served by some of Avocet’s advisers. Admittedly extreme ill health coupled with both mental and physical attack...curtailed my ability to protect Avocet.

"ANC [Avocet Natural Capital] Plc remains a solid and potentially very highly profitable company despite Avocet generally suffering over £20 million of losses and interest from its agricultural activities. Broadly, some £5 million of this loss may be put down to experimentation and learning, the balance down to the perceived wrongdoing of the Orr family and their acolytes."

And in conclusion, Mr Frost writes: "Going forward, ANC Plc does not need this legacy, as soon as is possible I shall resign – that said, I shall devote the remainder of my life to ensure that justice is done."

Allegations of Avocet 'Ponzi' schemes dismissed by directors

by DOUG COLLIE

The management of the Avocet Group of businesses took the opportunity to strongly refute allegations they were running so-called Ponzi schemes and indulging in theft and VAT fraud following a petition seeking to liquidate their flagship company.

A 'private and confidential' letter sent to hundreds of shareholders in early February also revealed the likely extent of the indebtedness of Omega Infinite PLC, (previously called Avocet Infinite) including some £1 million owed to two law firms with more than £2.5 million said to be due in total to trade creditors.

The eleven-page letter running to some 5,000 words sought to explain the reasons why Avocet's directors had decided it was "publicly best" to allow Omega Infinite to go to the wall. It had been at the forefront of the Group's activities which include 'green' fuel and revolutionary crop and livestock production.

Despite its parlous financial state in the early months of 2020 the Infinite brand was still being regularly featured in Parliamentary Review, a Westminster-based publication which charges businesses up to £4,000 for inclusion in its 'Best Practice' pages. The outlet is chaired by former government ministers Lord (David) Blunkett and Lord (Eric) Pickles.

In the February letter Martin Frost, Avocet's chairman, told shareholders: "Omega Infinite Plc is to go into some form of insolvency. A winding up petition initiated by lawyers Fieldfisher for some £400,000 is to be heard on February 12th in London; likely now to support this petition are lawyers Womble Bond Dickinson for another some £600,000 along with various other creditors for £300,000. 

"The total trade creditor indebtedness of Omega Infinite Plc is likely to reach some £2.5 million, and on top of which there are private Avocet controlled loans in excess of £10 million. Despite this debt Omega Infinite Plc is an absolute (sic) solvent company which should eventually provide each recognised shareholder with over a tax effective £2 return per ordinary share.

Investors were also informed that from both personal and company resources the Omega insolvency could have been prevented. But the directors decided it was "publicly best that the world should see the nastiness of the Scottish Borders rumour mill".

The letter continued: "In recent weeks the directors of Omega Infinite Plc are accused of theft and fraud. It is alleged that the directors have stolen all the money out of Omega, that we engage in VAT fraud, that we are running Ponzi type schemes with our master franchise companies."

Mr Frost, who recently gave notice of his intention to raise legal actions against 'naysayers' and some shareholders, added: "I can confirm that Omega has indulged in an extensive ‘fact find’ so that the miscreants can be identified, reviewed and then appropriately dealt with – and to this end Avocet is allocating substantial resources."

In April joint liquidators were appointed to Omega Infinite which was also the subject of a Winding Up order by the courts. The investigation into that company's affairs is ongoing.

An assurance was given that the value of shares would not be diminished by Omega Infinite's insolvency. The company had issued 22 million one pound shares prior to court action being instituted against it.

According to the February document: "Both your demerged shareholding in Avocet Bio Solutions Plc (an Irish-based subsidiary) and Avocet Natural Capital Plc (Avocet’s new flagship company) are worth at least the face value of your share. In real terms for each pound invested in Omega Infinite Plc there will be a collective return of over £4 – which on balance is excellent."

Avocet's recent decision to switch shares in Omega Infinite to Avocet Natural Capital [ANC] resulted in a 50% uplift in each individual shareholding.

Investors were told in February: "On ANC Plc there are realistic plans to increase the issued share capital to 350 million one pound fully paid shares. The bulk of this new investment coming from the Middle East with China a useful second. Currently, there are 50 million ANC Plc shares – holders of these shares are likely to receive a bonus share for each share legitimately held – this will then bring the issued capital to 100 million on top of which Middle East, Chinese and institutional investors will take a further 250 million shares for cash."

"Because of the magnitude of the perceived net worth of Avocet, a full Dublin Stock market listing is expected in 2020. That said interim arrangements are being put into place for ANC Plc to shortly trade on Asset Match [London based investment specialists] from April 2020." 

'Law of Jante' costs the Scottish Borders dear

by EWAN LAMB

A mere fifteen months after its 'disruptive technology' was hailed by a senior Scottish Borders councillor as the harbinger of major investment and jobs, the chairman of the Avocet group of companies told hundreds of shareholders the entire operation would be leaving the region which he described as "an entrepreneurial blackspot".

Martin Frost, who leads the Avocet businesses which are said to be developing 'green' fuel and revolutionary forms of agricultural production admitted in a letter to investors: " It was my mistake that I attempted to progress and develop the Avocet concepts in a society which neither understood nor could rise to the required work practices."

And yet Mr Frost had been at the helm of several companies which were located in the Scottish Borders 35 years ago, so presumably had experience of the perceived shortcomings of the local population. 

In October 2018 Avocet's chairman told The Berwickshire News : "This is about investment, employment and skilful innovation and it’s all happening here in the Scottish Borders.”

At that time a number of major schemes were outlined for the farms of Sunwick, Harcarse Hill, and Greenwood - all situated in Berwickshire - involving Mr Frost's Avocet Farms firm.

According to the Berwickshire News article 'After visiting Harcarse Hill farm, Councillor Mark Rowley (Conservative), Scottish Borders Council’s executive member for business & economic development said: “The model is fascinating, I hope it will bring significant investment and employment to the Borders.

"Berwickshire has an exceptional reputation for agricultural innovation; from James Small’s revolutionary plough to the innovations of liming and marling that were pioneered here.It is exciting that such new and innovative techniques are now being pioneered by Avocet and local farms here in the Scottish Borders almost 300 years later.”

Not Just Sheep & Rugby has been sent a copy of Mr Frost's letter to his 650 shareholders dated March 30th this year in which he predicts: 'By the close of 2020, Avocet will have vacated the Scottish Borders.'

The news of the intention to withdraw was circulated just two weeks after Avocet Farms Ltd (by now called Orrdone Farms) was the subject of a damning report by joint administrators Emma Porter and Joanne Brown. They had been appointed by a firm of financial lenders with a claim for £3.2 million against Orrdone Farms.

The insolvency team's initial report stated: "The Company is recorded at the Scottish Land Register as owning Sunwick Farm, part of Greenwood Farm and Harcarse Hill Farm. There are a number of allegations and assertions regarding the ownership of these properties and the existence of leases, which are currently being investigated. Once investigations have been concluded, the property will be dealt with appropriately and where possible marketed and sold."

Mr Frost's lengthy letter alleges: "In my opinion the ‘Law of Jante’ extends into the Scottish Borders rendering the locality an entrepreneurial blackspot."

A dictionary definition of the Law of Jante says: "(Danish: Janteloven) is a code of conduct known in Nordic countries that characterizes not conforming, doing things out of the ordinary, or being overtly personally ambitious as unworthy and inappropriate."

In Mr Frost's view Janteloven’s social code dictates emphasis on collective accomplishments and well-being, and disdains focus on individual achievements. 

"It is an underlying Scandinavian philosophy principle that applies across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. Understanding Janteloven is paramount to understanding both the history and modern-day cultures of these countries", Mr Frost wrote.

And he added: "Succinctly, because of Janteloven’s social code, it is my belief that it was a mistake for Avocet to setup or attempt to establish itself in the Scottish Borders. 

"Happily, for Avocet, the world is a much bigger place than the Scottish Borders – today witnesses the third in a series of articles published in the British Parliamentary Review about Avocet, avocet’s methanol cetane additive, and its remarkable innovative work on renewable methanol.

"Once more, Avocet is invited to locate in the US - and when again it is safe to travel, the Washington invite shall be taken up and a US master franchise shall be established there.

"Contradictorily, in the Scottish Borders farming community one should take account of the soil before you sow it. It is a very true maxim. Avocet was predicted to become one of Scotland’s largest companies. Now Avocet will flourish but in a climate of enterprise devoid of the Law of Jante."

Chinese 'partners' told of Avocet's multi-million pound losses

by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

A catalogue of loss making events which apparently cost the Avocet Group of 'disruptive technology' companies and their shareholders many millions of pounds was included in a company document aimed at attracting potential Chinese investment into the business.

The 26-page presentation from Avocet Natural Capital's board and directed at a Professor Ji (Karena) Yang was also circulated to the Group's 650 investors two days before Christmas 2019. It is headed "Avocet’s natural capital technology and concepts shall transform the world”.

This pitch for Chinese partners to help develop Avocet's 'revolutionary' products in the fields of agriculture and green fuel was made shortly after the Group's annual meeting when chairman Martin Frost announced they would be 'parking' flagship company Omega Infinite, previously known as Avocet Infinite.

In an accompanying letter to existing shareholders Mr Frost wrote: "When I and colleagues were putting this Chinese note together, we were amazed by just how much we have all achieved upon this Avocet journey and just how little money this success is built upon.

"Again, there is a touch of sadness that Avocet needs to go to the Chinese because we are unable to further finance Avocet. However, if you can support Avocet a little further with investment it will give Avocet greater countervailing power in our present Chinese negotiations."

Avocet's presentation to Professor Yang explains that the planned 2018 acquisition of a state-of-the-art chemical plant at Seal Sands [Tees-side] to manufacture the ‘avocet cetane additive’ had been aborted due to ‘health & safety reasons with a direct £700,000 expenditure loss plus much executive time.'

And according to Mr Frost and his fellow directors:"The 2018 failed IM fund raise alongside the 2019 Johne's disease debacle lost potential new investment of some £15 million plus into Avocet."

The all-embracing document also says identifiable direct losses in 2019 occasioned by a family dispute exceeded £1.7 million, adding "though overall in share price terms the dispute has probably lost the corporate body of shareholders over £250 million.

Professor Yang is then told that financial support for the creation of Avocet Bio Solutions Plc, an Irish-based subsidiary and described in the presentation as an independent master franchise proved burdensome with a failed Italian farm purchase occasioned by the death of the vendors coupled with the collapse of the Irish cattle market "alongside general EU / Brexit buggeration – an Omega cash drain exceeding £2 million of which over £1 million will be a loss in Avocet Bio Solutions Plc books."

And the company's management claim: "The central fact is that in 2018 Avocet determined that it needed to raise some £8 million to proceed in 2019. For whatever reason the fund raise with [London-based investment specialists] Asset Match not only failed but cost Avocet some £850,000 in legal and other costs for the failed fund raise."

The document suggests that "Legal advice recommends that Omega Infinite Plc first enters into a year long Company Voluntary Arrangement to settle out all problems and creditors, to be followed by a tax efficient Members Voluntary Liquidation which on current predictions will provide a shareholder with a tax efficient sum of some £2 per share in 2021."

In fact a petition to wind up Omega Infinite had already been submitted to the High Court on November 20^th 2019, a month before the “Chinese” document was circulated. The petition was lodged by law firm FieldFisher, claiming to be a creditor of Omega Infinite. Liquidators were subsequently appointed on April 28^th 2020.

And Mr Frost told the annual meeting in October 2019 the company's name had been changed from Avocet Infinite to protect the business from a threatened injunction which would have frozen £800,000 of Frost family money that had been earmarked for creditors of the firm.

He explained to shareholders Omega had once been the "master" company in the Group but it had been damaged by internal splits, and due to mishaps it had lost its credit rating. Avocet Natural Capital would become the dominant Avocet company and Omega Infinite would be 'parked', he said.

£30 million of reserves in 'cash-strapped' council's coffers

EXCLUSIVE by DOUG COLLIE

"Cash-strapped" Scottish Borders Council ended the last financial year with an under-spend of more than £1.5 million, its reserves broke through the £30 million barrier and the cost of remunerating the authority's team of top officials increased by over 20% in the space of twelve months.

These and many more pieces of financial information are contained in SBC's unaudited accounts for 2019/20 which appeared on the council's website earlier today among the agenda papers for tomorrow's Audit & Scrutiny Committee meeting.

According to the Conservative controlled council's leader Shona Haslam, in a foreward to the accounts, highlights during the last financial year included: "Against a very difficult financial background, the Council has achieved £13.3 million of Financial Plan savings, £9.3 million of which were on a permanent basis; delivered a net under-spend of £1.538 million from a revenue budget of £263.3 million".

Councillor Haslam also points out that SBC delivered Capital Investment of £44.3 million in schools, flood protection, roads, lighting and other assets; undertook a five yearly review of all Common Good & Trust Fund assets; delivered savings in processes and new digital developments in order to protect front line services in the Borders wherever possible.

From 2013/14 to 2019/20 the Council had delivered permanent savings of £55 million alongside significant improvements in performance, she said

The 127-page document displaying the accounts also reveals SBC had as of 31 March 2020 a total Reserves Balance of £30.1 million (£28 million at 31 March 2019) a net increase of £2.1 million during the year.

A section of the report covering senior employees' earnings reflects the council's Corporate Management restructure, readers are told.

In 2018/19 total remuneration paid to top officials stood at £736,373. The amount paid in 2019/20 is recorded as £890,616, a 20.9% difference.

Chief executive Tracey Logan's total remuneration last year was £143,432, according to the accounts, including a fee of £5,422 in her role as returning officer at elections. Her remuneration in 2018/19 was £129,246.

The overall cost of salaries and expenses for the 34 Borders council fell slightly in 2019/20 from £758,000 to £743,000. But those elected members in so-called senior positions, including Cabinet members accounted for £360,419 compared to £337,909 in 2018/19, equivalent to a 6.6% increase in their combined salaries, fees and allowances.

Leader Councillor Haslam's remuneration of £34,944 was an increase from £33,992 while convener David Parker's £26,208 was up from £25,494.

There was a dramatic drop in the sums paid to finance golden goodbyes or exit packages, as the council calls them. In 2019/20 six individuals receive a total of £111,107, well down on the previous year's £613,042 required to fund 12 packages, three of them above £100,000.

The paragraphs outlining the council's loan debts and outstanding payments for three PFI schools always makes for interesting reading. In 2020/21 a PFI payment of £11.457 million will be needed as next year's contribution towards the development of new high schools in Eyemouth, Earlston and Duns, completed some ten years ago.

Total payments for the schools will amount to £260.373 million, including interest of £42.271 million.

Meanwhile actual borrowing from the Public Works Loans Board (PWLB) stood at £167.131 million at March 31st 2020, up from £159.632 million at the close of the previous financial year. When other outstanding loans are taken into account total borrowing stands at £206.628 million (£199.121 million in 2018/19).

A management commentary sets out SBC's debt position. On debt management it says: "The Council continued to maintain an under-borrowed position, this means that the capital financing need was not fully funded by external loan debt and instead internal cash supporting the Council’s reserves, balances and cash flow has continued to be used as a temporary tactical measure.

"This strategy remains both prudent and cost effective in an environment where investment returns are low and counterparty risk is high."

In a section headed  External Debt taxpayers are told: "The Council’s outstanding external debt as at 31 March 2020 was £207 million. Additional long term borrowing was undertaken during the year amounting to £7.5 million, with no requirement for short term borrowing during the 2019/20 year. The average rate of interest paid on outstanding external debt was 4.67%."

SBC remains by far the region's largest employer. The latest statistics show it has a total of 4,992 employees - 1,295 male and 3,697 female. The workforce breaks down as 2,586 full time and 2,406 part-time staff.

FOOTNOTE: Readers of the accounts book may be able to spot a howler on page four where, included in a profile of the Scottish Borders a population total for the region of 155,510 ("mid-2019 estimate National Records of Scotland") is included. The quoted figure is 40,000 higher than the actual estimate of 115,510 which can be found on the NRS website..

Avocet shareholders threatened with legal action

by EWAN LAMB

The chairman of a group of companies who has vowed to initiate legal proceedings against some of his own shareholders, and has promised to sue the administrators of one of his insolvent businesses has been banned from raising actions in any Scottish court since 2006 when he was branded a vexatious litigant.

Martin Frost, head of Avocet Natural Capital and its many subsidiaries, informed the Group's 650 shareholders on Friday of his intention to go to law in pursuit of criminal and civil complaints.

He wrote: "On Thursday, 18th June 2020, Police Scotland advised me that their report  to the Procurator Fiscal was pending and it was now OK for Avocet to proceed with further criminal complaints (involving some £1.5 million of theft & fraud against Avocet) and bring civil actions (amounting to over £5 million in loss and damages).

"Most regrettably such actions will again fall upon my wife’s family and some other Avocet shareholders. A resume of these complaints including the current conspiracy and badmouthing charges against their acolytes and publicists will be forwarded to you, Avocet’s owners, for this Monday 22nd June 2020.

"For the avoidance of doubt: on Monday 22nd June, 2020, prior to service of further criminal complaints and civil actions, Avocet owners shall be advised against whom and for what such actions shall be taken – regrettably the naming of names does include some Avocet shareholders who have sought to rob and defraud their fellow shareholders along with Orr publicists and their purported Administrators of Orrdone Farms Limited."

Earlier this year joint administrators Jeanette Brown, of Dodd & Company, and Emma Porter, of accountants Aver were appointed to take control of Orrdone Farms which has debts in excess of £3.5 million. Their initial report to creditors indicated it had been extremely difficult to obtain adequate and up to date financial information about the company's affairs.

In a previous shareholders' letter dated March 15th Mr Frost declared: "I regret a mischievous and erroneous report by the Administrators of Orrdone Farms Limited was published on 13th March 2020 in which Avocet’s £10 million plus development support of Scottish farming was ignored & negated. Legal action against the Administrators shall flow."

And as recently as May 30th the Avocet chairman warned "I and Avocet will sue (named individual) and all her acolytes. In May alone, my family spent over £95,000 on private enquiry agents, lawyers, and counsel to bring these people to book – from collected evidence, we shall obtain justice from this irresponsible bad mouthing."

Mr Frost is one of eleven individuals on Scotland's list of vexatious litigants. His inclusion followed a petition to the Court of Session by Lord Advocate James Wolffe which was granted by a panel of three judges in November 2006.

Mr Wolffe, the petitioner, sought an order which meant "no legal proceedings shall be instituted by the respondent [Mr Frost] in the Court of Session, Sheriff Court or any other inferior court unless the respondent first obtains leave of a judge sitting in the Outer House of the Court of Session, having satisfied such a judge that such legal proceedings are not vexatious and that there is a prima facie ground for such proceedings".

The Lord Advocate claimed:“The respondent has habitually and persistently instituted vexatious legal proceedings without any reasonable ground for doing so. He has sought to use legal process for reasons unconnected with the issues in the case. His conduct of proceedings has involved the court and other parties in unnecessary procedure, time and expense.

"Judges have repeatedly commented adversely on his written pleadings and oral submissions. The respondent has been sequestrated and parties who succeed in obtaining an award of expenses against him have little prospect of recovering those expenses. ...".

In his response Mr Frost claimed that, in his opinion, "the petition paints an unrepresentative, contradictory and often factually incorrect or distorted picture". 

In his written judgement, Lord Osborne explained: "The respondent addressed us at length. At times his submissions were coherent, at others they were rambling and incomprehensible to anyone not possessing an encyclopaedic knowledge of his own affairs. He persistently addressed us at length upon matters which were plainly irrelevant to the issues arising in this petition.

"The respondent went on to describe in minute detail the background to the raising of those proceedings. In doing so he observed that, in the last twenty five years, he had been involved in more than 500 litigations, ten per cent of which had been in Scotland. The remainder had been raised in England, in the European Union, in the United States of America and in Canada."

The judge said Mr Frost had also criticised a number of individuals; "a number of members of the legal profession whom he had encountered could not be described as honest. 

"In connection with a number of problems related to such persons the respondent had been advised to go to the police. He stated that in fact he had been in contact with the Metropolitan Police and had been interviewed in connection with the "cash for peerages" inquiry, which he appeared to consider relevant to the task that we had to perform."

Lord Osborne said in all the circumstances, having regard to the conduct of the respondent, amply demonstrated in the litigations which formed the basis of the application, the judges were wholly satisfied that the appropriate course was for them to exercise their discretion by making the order sought.

"In reaching this conclusion we have been particularly influenced by the fact that the respondent has made a practice of taking assignations from other persons of their interests in claims or litigations, upon that basis then proceeding to have himself sisted as a party to those litigations, and then practising his own particular brand of advocacy.

"That has involved the making of reckless and unfounded allegations, the wholly unnecessary prolongation of legal proceedings by the exploration of the legally irrelevant, the subjection of his opponents to the trouble and expense of countering his allegations, with little hope of any remedy becoming available to them, in practice, through an award of expenses, on account of the fact that the respondent has been sequestrated, and the diversion of scarce public resources in the court system to the investigation of groundless claims. Accordingly we shall grant the prayer of the petition."

Avocet projects yet to materialise

by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

A number of the ambitious development projects being touted by the Avocet Group of companies as far back as 2017, and which shareholders were told would produce tens of millions of pounds of income for the business have yet to reach the construction stage.

As Not Just Sheep & Rugby reported recently a number of truly eye-watering predictions of profit were being dangled before investors by Group chairman Martin Frost. They were contained in a number of circulars to 650 shareholders with stakes in a business involved in the 'disruptive technology' fields of fuel additives and hydroponic agriculture.

Three of the significant proposals for generating income were to be located in Tipperary, on Tees-side and in North Northumberland. But none of them appear to have got underway so far.

In July 2017 a delegation from Avocet visited Lisheen, near the village of Moyne in the Republic of Ireland, the site earmarked for one of the company's flagship schemes. Personnel from Avocet met with representatives of Tipperary County Council, presumably to discuss the details of a major initiative, and posed for a photograph to mark the occasion.

Lisheen mine was a lead and zinc mine where extraction had ceased in November 2015 after 17 years in operation.

According to the Avocet literature: "While surface and underground rehabilitation has been in progress, the mining company has actively collaborated with the local authorities in finding possible users for a site that is well served by power, water, and waste disposal infrastructure. The EU, Irish and Tipperary vision is of a bio-economy campus powered by the wind turbines that dot the neighbouring landscape and situated in an area of natural beauty. Avocet ticks all the bio-economy boxes and so is a perfect match."

Avocet was said to be conducting a feasibility study to assess the economics from Avocet’s perspective. Shareholders were told: "Simply put, Avocet has the resources and partners to prompt a 100-million-euro investment into Lisheen, What Avocet needs to understand is will the EU; the Irish Government, Tipperary Council and others match in whole or in part Lisheen’s proposed bio – economy?"

When asked to comment on the Avocet project this week, a Tipperary County Council spokesperson said:"The council can confirm that no public funds were committed by Tipperary County Council to Avocet projects".

Meanwhile there has also been a lack of apparent progress at Seal Sands on Tees-side, the venue for a 'small scale' production plant capable of "avocet additive sales of some £8 million for 2019 rising to £80 million by 2021 - such can facilitate some £400 million  pounds worth of blended avocet / methanol fuel by 2021."

Here's what Mr Frost and his fellow directors said about the scale of the North-east England venture in March 2018: "Projected estimated capital and setting up cost of proposed Seal Sands plant is between £16 to £20 million of which Avocet Fuel Systems Plc via Avocet Infinite Plc will need to put up between £2 and £4 million with an anticipated £10 million in grant funding supported by £6 to £8 million in unsecured low-cost government loans."

A third project in the Avocet portfolio was centred on Newburn, a 60-acre farm a few miles from Berwick-on-Tweed, and a property with "recently lapsed planning permission for an abattoir and anaerobic digestion unit. 

"Avocet has agreed (subject to planning) to acquire Newburn farm with the prime purpose  of exclusively slaughtering  all its  own Piemontese  cattle  and thereafter storing  and  marketing  all its  beef. Piemontese cattle are easily stressed and so as with deer/venison, special  handling and de-stressing  practices  need to be used."

The plan was to put through 1,000 cattle  in 2019, 2,000 in 2020, 3,000 in 2021 and settling down from  2022 to 4,000 per annum or some 80 carcases  per week.

"The  source  of the  Piemontese cattle  will  broadly be 50% British  and 50% Irish.The  planned 2022 sales turnover of Avocet  Farms will  be some  £20 million  per annum giving a  gross sales  margin in excess of 40% to which an additional  retail sales margin of £10 million  needs to be factored  to cover the butchery, storage, and direct marketing of the  meat."

Northumberland County Council planning department files show permission was granted for an abattoir to be developed at Newburn Holdings in 2005 with a condition that work should start within three years. But there is no record of any subsequent applications to revive the abattoir proposal.

Revealed - Avocet's five year profit forecasts

by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

Shareholders in the Avocet group of 'disruptive technology' companies were provided with eye-watering profitability predictions in early 2018 alongside the prospect of tens of millions of pounds in government and EU grants to finance rapid development.

But two years on parent company Avocet Infinite PLC, now known as Omega Infinite, is being liquidated and wound up while 650 investors in the group see no sign of manufacturing of revolutionary green fuel or hydroponic crop growing on a commercial scale.

Farms in the Scottish Borders where many of Avocet's activities were to be located are currently in the hands of insolvency experts with debts in excess of £3 million already identified. A considerable number of suppliers claim not to have been paid.

The picture seemed much more rosy in January 2018 when group chairman Martin Frost, described in company literature as a serial entrepreneur, circulated a set of sales and profit forecasts for four Avocet Infinite subsidiaries.

The respective figures read as follows: "Broadly speaking, within the next five years, Avocet annually expects:, Avocet Agriculture - sales £50 million, profit £10 million; Avocet Infinite Renewables - sales £1,000 million, profit £200 million; Avocet Fuel Systems - sales £3,000 million, profit £150 million; and Avocet Bio Solutions (based in Republic of Ireland) - sales £2,000 million, profit £250 million."

Mr Frost commented in the circular: " I trust some of the above figures along with enclosures will demonstrate the magnitude of the Avocet businesses."

And shareholders were also told: "So far, the Avocet Infinite group has received little government support. Such appears to be changing - thus apart from the 25% HMRC research and development repayment grant, Avocet companies are now looking at a £10 million  grant for an avocet additive plant in the  North  East of England  along with  EU  Flagship Funding of 50 million  euros for Avocet Bio Solutions based in Cork, Ireland."

Mr Frost asserted that considered as a  package, the full Avocet model produced  healthier food, truly  renewable fuels, cleaner air quality and improved  natural capital  return  on equity for farmers,  local  authorities, businesses and governments. 

The document added: "In  2018-2019, Avocet plans to build three sites  in the Scottish  Borders to demonstrate  this full complement of technology and new farming methods. These sites will  benefit from  heavy investment and creation  of jobs. Avocet already has a  substantial tentative order from the Moroccan government; who wish to visit later in the year."

So far there is no sign of the proposed Borders centres or the promised jobs although in October 2018 Councillor Mark Rowley, Cabinet member for economic development at Scottish Borders Council told local newspapers he was impressed by the Avocet plans following a site visit to one of the farms.

The many investors were also provided with copies of Avocet executive director  Dr Bob Jennings'  'Parliamentary Avocet  Presentation' "which the UK Parliament is shortly to issue to every member of both chambers.

"It is an unfortunate fact that the Avocet philosophy has not been received with  open arms  either by the  UK or Scottish governments even though  Avocet by 2022 is likely to generate  a greater sales  income than  the total of the  Scotch  Whisky industry. 

"However, Avocet has been very well  received in the  Irish  Republic and has secured  significant  EU, Italian, Middle  Eastern, and US interest. Avocet already has the impetus along with margins to produce a billion in sales for the year 2021 producing some £300 million net profit."

 

Avocet chairman's 'Trouble with the Police'

by DOUG COLLIE

A 'former' website of Martin Frost, currently chairman of the troubled Avocet group of companies, tells how he was charged with fraud 40 years ago and was subjected to numerous Department of Trade & Industry [DTI] inquiries into his business activities.

The extensive site, assembled by Mr Frost more than ten years ago, includes copies of correspondence linked to litigation, and a detailed account of what allegedly happened to him after encountering the Lothian & Borders Police fraud squad.

In a recent circular to the 650 shareholders of Avocet Natural Capital, which purports to be in business to develop 'green' fuel and transform agricultural production Mr Frost took the trouble to robustly deny allegations he had embezzled £14 million of investors' cash.

Two members of the Avocet 'stable - Omega Infinite PLC and Orrdone Farms Ltd. - have been declared insolvent in recent months. But Mr Frost maintains the assets of the business are safe after being switched from Omega (formerly called Avocet Infinite) to Avocet Natural Capital (ANC). As a result of the transfer stakeholders saw their number of shares increase by 50%.

As well as charting his long list of achievements, and his involvement in countless legal actions in the courts of England and Scotland, the 'forgotten' website has entire sections devoted to Mr Frost's apparent business successes and his relationship with the authorities.

The section headed 'Trouble with the Police' describes his first run in with fraud squad officers. He writes: "My fall out with the Lothian and Borders Scottish police started in 1980.The manager of the Bank of Scotland Lauder branch reported me to his local police office for the theft of some £9,000 which I had allegedly obtained from his branch via deception. A zealot of a police woman from the Lothian & Borders fraud squad commenced a crusade against this ‘perfidious denizen from Albion’".

Mr Frost claims that despite his protestations he was charged with fraud and the Bank of Scotland instituted debt court action against him in the Court of Session. The Procurator Fiscal decided he did not have a case to answer.

"The Bank of Scotland upon reviewing their paper work found that after due allowances were made I was in credit, the bank thus abandoned their case and I secured a court decree of Absolvitor (dismissal)."

According to Mr Frost's account of events: "Was I left in peace? No, I had been judged guilty by the police and I had to be stopped. My zealot police friend then went out of her way, as she saw it, to bring me to justice. The more I appeared to prosper the more she determined that I was succeeding in my wrong doing. She informed more and more folk of my purported criminality."

He goes on to allege that after he bought Langlands Mill in Newtown St Boswells in 1982 he refinanced the business and had "a grand re-opening ceremony overseen by Mr David Steel MP."

Mr Frost wrote: "It was a televised function. Members and officers of Borders [Regional] Council were invited because their headquarters were across the road. All declined upon the advice of the chief executive who in turn had been informed by my police zealot that I was about to be jailed on account of theft from the Bank of Scotland.

"Furthermore, the chief executive was advised that the very mill purchase was under investigation as it appeared I had stolen the mill’s purchase consideration and had duped the Nat West Bank who was now funding me."

"Similar tales were related both to the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise. So much so, that the Customs & Excise at first refused to give the business a VAT number. VAT had been informed by the police that the business was likely soon to shut down and the VAT application was probably but part of a long scam for me to get my hands on VAT refundables which I didn’t deserve. A. Hall suppliers and my bankers, the Nat West were given similar stories."

In 1986, adds Mr Frost, he was planning a £10 million investment into County Durham. But the chief executive of the development authority summoned him because he had received a phone call from Lothian & Borders Fraud squad.

"I bought one new factory there but thereafter curtailed my interest as the Lothian & Borders police call had soured the relationship. No less than seven, to my knowledge, local authorities were contacted by Lothian & Borders police force in this manner between 1982 and 1991."

The lengthy web post also claims the fraud squad 'struck lucky' with the DTI.

" I then had seven full investigations which froze my assets and effectively terminated my business career. The amazing thing is that the DTI not only has immunity from prosecution but the most draconian summary powers.

"I believe in all honesty I can say that I have had more DTI investigations against me than any other person since such legislation begun. It must have cost millions. I was never charged or cautioned, just financially ruined."

Towards the end of the post Mr Frost states: "I have reached the reluctant conclusion that the Lothian & Borders police are a corrupt body. It appears that the cronyism of Edinburgh’s legal and judicial system is contagious."

Avocet restructuring revealed to shareholders

by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

The chairman of the Borders based Avocet Group of companies has announced plans to gift the bulk of his millions of shares to a newly formed Foundation which will become a registered charity with "many distinguished people" agreeing to act as Trustees.

Martin Frost, who heads the collection of Avocet entities, two of which are currently insolvent, outlined the new set up in a circular to investors in Avocet Natural Capital PLC, some of whom have called for an investigation into the 'green fuel' business's affairs. The document is headed: 'A Good News Day'.

The shareholders are told by Mr Frost: "My day is run: I seek neither wealth nor income from Avocet. Hopefully in weeks I can retire. Personally, I do believe I have kept Avocet’s opportunities intact despite physical and mental attack. This time last year Avocet was in a horrendous loss-making position. Today, Avocet has a positive cash flow and opportunities from past hard effort are now flowing in."

In a recent letter to 650 investors Mr Frost denied allegations he had embezzled £14 million from the businesses which purport to specialise in 'green' fuel technology and hydroponic crop production. As reported, at least one investor has told Not Just Sheep & Rugby "there does not appear to be any business activity at all; it's just shares being moved around".

But in this latest circular stakeholders are made aware that "On the 10th June 2020, the company Avocet Natural Capital Humanities Limited was formed: this company is now in the process of becoming a registered charity – the Avocet Natural Capital Foundation.

"Into this charity the bulk of my personal ANC PLC (Avocet Natural Capital), Omega Infinite Plc, and Avocet Bio Solutions Plc shares are to be gifted along with some further cash plus various existing loans made to Avocet. In late 2018, many distinguished people agreed to be Trustees to the Avocet Natural Capital Foundation which broadly with my and other gifts will own some quarter of ANC Plc."

The fledgling Avocet company's paperwork shows Mr Frost is the sole director, and all 1,000 shares are held by one of his other companies, Loch Lomond Heritage Ltd of which he is also the only director. Avocet Natural Capital Humanities Ltd.'s nature of business is registered as 'activities of other holding companies'.

A shareholders list published last weekend showed Avocet Natural Capital Foundation already holds 3,458,198 shares in ANC. Mr Frost's personal stake exceeds 13 million shares while Loch Lomond Heritage is also a major shareholder.

A number of other recent moves in the life of Avocet are also outlined to shareholders by Mr Frost.

He writes: "On Tuesday 9th June 2020, Amar Sharif, Dr. Bob Jennings [another of Avocet's executive directors], and I, had within the orbit of Avocet N C Limited a powerful conference call with prospective fodder unit and anaerobic digestor buyers and financiers from the Pakistani province of Punjab.

"On Wednesday 10th June, Dr. Bob Jennings within the orbit of Avocet N C Limited furthered Avocet’s relationship with JCB along with the sourcing of avocet additive.

"On Monday 8th June, Martin Frost communicated with the Methanol Institute based in Washington D.C. on behalf of Avocet IP Limited (within the orbit of ANC Plc) to sound out the financing and possible renewable methanol intellectual property and thereto joint ventures as to more efficient green methanol production."

The letter also explains that ANC Plc via its subsidiary Avocet IP Limited owns an ever-growing amount of intellectual property.

It continues: "Admittedly, there are some legacy cash issues as with AFS Ventures Plc [a business which has been in voluntary liquidation since 2015 with Eric Walls, of KSA Group as joint liquidator], but ANC Plc has largely reached a steady state and within itself (if need be) can generate cash to pay its way and provide shareholder return.

"Avocet N C Limited needs money to further its objectives: such cash can either be commercially raised or possibly borrowed from ANC Plc or the prospective Avocet Natural Capital Foundation".

Mr Frost signs off with these words: "Proven concepts, solid finance, and strong governance: regenerated Avocet is prospering".

 

Avocet chairman denies "embezzling £14 million"

EXCLUSIVE by DOUG COLLIE

The head of the troubled Avocet Group  - 'specialists' in green fuel and hydroponic farming - has lashed out angrily at critics for 'badmouthing' the business while taking the opportunity to deny rumours suggesting he may have embezzled millions of pounds from investors.

Martin Frost, a director of a multitude of firms, many bearing the name Avocet, has also dismissed claims that he stands to gain from insurance settlements following the theft of £1.8 million worth of machinery and equipment from the Berwickshire farms where the Avocet operations were based.

In an extraordinary and hard-hitting circular to the 650 shareholders who have stakes in Avocet Natural Capital, Mr Frost warns that legal action will be taken against 'naysayers' after he claimed his family had spent over £95,000 in May alone "on private enquiry agents, lawyers, and counsel to bring these people to book". 

Avocet Infinite PLC (now known as Omega Infinite) is in the hands of liquidators with a court order to wind up that entity. And subsidiary company Orrdone Farms (previously called Avocet Farms) is in administration with estimated debts of more than £3 million.

However, as Mr Frost told The Sunday Times last month a switch of company assets and intellectual property to Avocet Natural Capital Ltd. [ANC] means investors now have 50% more shares than they had with Avocet Infinite.

At the same time Mr Frost, who told the newspaper he suffers from terminal cancer and dementia, has amassed more than 13 million shares, giving him control of the business.

Meanwhile another investor with a significant stake in the Avocet companies has contacted Not Just Sheep & Rugby to outline serious concerns over the large sums of money now thought to be in the possession of the Group's directors. Various inter-linked firms are registered at an address at 25 Palace Street, Berwick-on-Tweed with the secretary in each case listed as Eirlys Lloyd Company Services.

The shareholder told us: "There has never been any evidence of the much talked about Avocet fuel being produced commercially and no sign the hydroponic crops are being grown for sale. There appears to be no business, just a shifting around of shares.

"A number of people who 'over-invested' in Avocet have been in touch with me as they are facing serious financial issues."

Our source believed the green fuel concept which is named Avocet had considerable merit having been tried and tested over a considerable period of time by previous owners of the patent. A properly constituted board and a well run commercial operation could have succeeded given the technology available, in their view. Hydroponics also worked well with a potentially huge order book waiting for producers.

But the disgruntled shareholder added: "There is no proper paper trail, and it has been suggested investors should bring in independent auditors to investigate Avocet group affairs but management  will not allow that to happen. 

"It has become clear that everything presented to investors was over-estimated. Assurances were given by director Bob Jennings that the fuel could now be produced in a continuous process rather than in batches, and it would provide an economic replacement for diesel. There was even mention of a production deal with a company down south but nothing has materialised".

Mr Frost begins his circular to shareholders: "This is a side issue to our trading, but nevertheless is a matter that needs addressing. No doubt because ANC Plc. has such good financial prospects our naysayers again choose to attack our company for their perceived personal gain."

He also writes: "No £14 million of money has been embezzled by me – indeed as Ryecroft’s (the company's auditors Ryecroft Glenton, now resigned) have already shown in the 2017 audited accounts some £7.8 million was lost by Omega Infinite on Orrdone Farms Limited.

"Furthermore, when the 2018 and 2019 accounts fall in, one will see that this figure rose to some £14 million in straight cash or nearly £20 million with interest – money due to Omega from Orrdone."

He then gives shareholders this assurance: "Omega Infinite Plc is NOT balance sheet insolvent: eventually as an Infinite shareholder you will receive back funds in addition to your ANC Plc shareholding."

As we reported previously, Ryecroft Glenton confirmed to Companies House last month that they had resigned as Avocet's auditors after failing to receive professional fees for work done.

According to Mr Frost's circular: "Although Ryecroft’s are still due some £70,000 they have remained supportive of Avocet and have assisted with the supply of documents & figures." The resignation, says Mr Frost, was a necessity allowing ANC Plc to promptly publish independent accounts with Companies House and so seek a listing on an exchange platform.

 And in another passage of the eight-page document Mr Frost declares: "The suggestion that I arranged for the Harcarse & Sunwick items valued at £1.8 million to be stolen so I could claim on the insurance is denied.  Factually, neither Avocet, nor I, have benefitted from one pound of insurance money.

"The current Avocet thefts of some £1.8 million of plant & machinery are being dealt with by Mr. Ashleigh Fletcher, the liquidator of Omega Infinite Plc. To date, there has been no theft pay-out by Avocet insurers."

Borders newspaper group about to 'disappear'

by EWAN LAMB

Journalists and photographers of a certain age will have noted with some sadness that the only remaining 'Tweeddale Press' offices in Selkirk and Berwick-on-Tweed are due for closure in the latest restructuring exercise by the local publishers' current owners JPI Media.

And according to the Companies House file for Tweeddale Press (TP) the company, which was formed in 1939, is set to be dissolved in the not too distant future.

Just another of the names set to disappear completely from the newspaper scene only some 20 years after the so-called Borders 'minnow' was engulfed by the tentacles of the burgeoning Johnston Press.

News of the impending office closures where the Southern Reporter and Berwick Advertiser staff are based was broken this week by media website Hold The Front Page.

According to their story JPI Media plans to shutter 11 newspaper offices – citing the increased amount of remote working during the coronavirus lockdown in its decision. Apparently a recent survey revealed “many” of its staff expressed a preference for an increased element of home working.

The bases listed for closure are Alnwick, Aylesbury, Banbury, Berwick, Coleraine, Louth, Mansfield, Melton Mowbray, Selkirk, Stornoway and Sleaford.

Hold The Front Page reports that in a message to staff company chief executive David King said: “As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, one of the changes faced by many of us has been the sudden switch to working from home. We have all had to adjust to this new way of working, some of us whilst juggling work, childcare and home-schooling, as well as a host of other changes to our normal lives.

“As I have said before, it is a testament to everyone’s hard work and resilience that we have been able to remain so productive during this time. As you know, we keep our property portfolio under review as a matter of course and over the last few years have reduced our footprint significantly, offering flexibility to our employees while still providing quality local news and information to our readers and audiences online.

“Like many businesses, the changes enforced by the current crisis have caused us to carefully consider both our approach to how we work and our future property requirements."

The march of time has seen the printing of the Borders papers switched to locations far away as the clunking presses here fell silent.

And editorial premises have already been radically downsized in line with the parent company's spiralling level of debt. Now, with editorial staff operating from their spare bedrooms the former Tweeddale Press papers will be without a visible presence in any of the local towns.

Little more than 20 years ago almost every Borders burgh had its own Tweeddale Press office. But the likes of Duns, Dunbar, Hawick, Jedburgh and Kelso soon witnessed the withdrawal of  office facilities.

It was in those premises that many a budding reporter or photographer cut his or her teeth before going on to 'greater things' in the world of journalism.

Johnston Press's takeover of the Borders group resulted in a catastrophic fall in its fortunes in the space of two decades.

When Johnston's bought the TP from the Smail family in 1999 for £7.799 million the prospects for the Borders papers seemed bright with promises of additional investment in the newly acquired titles. But before too long cost cutting rather than extra cash became the norm.

The family-owned TP was employing 122 people in 1997 with an annual wage bill of £1.79 million, an obvious benefit to local economies.

And in the acquisition year Johnston Press announced a profit of £65.9 million, an increase of 29% on 1998. The takeover of the TP was described in Johnston's annual accounts as "a strategically important purchase".

The weekly circulation figures for the Borders papers were recorded as Southern Reporter 16,851, Berwickshire News 5,359, and Hawick News (acquired separately from local proprietor Robert McNairn) 7,134.. The Hawick News has already disappeared from the Scottish newspaper scene.

The facts and figures set out above makes the Johnston Press-led decline of the Tweeddale Press and other UK newspaper groups all the more spectacular in such a short time span. It surely cannot all be down to technological advances.

Wind turbines in a Prehistoric landscape?

by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

The construction of a massive wind farm with up to 45 turbines in a Prehistoric Borders landscape littered with Iron Age and Bronze Age scheduled monuments would compromise a significant number of historic sites, it has been claimed.

Faw Side wind farm, covering 23 square kilometres of unspoiled countryside in Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway council areas would be one of the largest projects of its kind in the United Kingdom.

Applicants CWL Energy were granted a time extension last year. But now their application is being advertised again with representations to be submitted to the respective planning authorities or to Scottish government ministers by July 6th.

Turbines ranging in height from 179 metres to 200 metres will pepper the skyline in river valleys close to the town of Langholm and in parts of rural Roxburghshire.

But an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) commissioned by CWL makes light of the intrusion their scheme would have on the rich cultural heritage of the area. The EIA claims time and time again that individual scheduled monuments of high importance will not be affected detrimentally.

It is not a view shared by council archaeology officers Dr Chris Bowles (Scottish Borders Council) and Andrew Nicholson (Dumfries & Galloway Council) who have both conducted detailed assessments of their own.

In his newly published report, Mr Nicholson says: "The walkover survey (by CWL's consultants) was conducted by a single qualified archaeologist over the course of two days. Even allowing for the area already surveyed and the low likelihood of archaeological remains on the steeper hill slopes I do not feel that a single individual could adequately cover the 23 square kilometres of the development site over the course of two days."

And similar sentiments are expressed by Dr Bowles in his assessment: "I do not believe a thorough assessment has been compiled for the range of potential direct impacts. The EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) contains several statements that are either not correct or underestimate significance and impact. In part this is due to information that has emerged since the EIA was completed.

"The walkover of the site described in the EIA, by a single archaeologist over two days, is insufficient for a site this size even if covering just infrastructure and known sites." 

In particular, Dr Bowles claims there are potentially major setting impacts to a newly identified   hilltop cairn on Pikethaw Hill which lies within the proposed development area.

He states: "As it currently appears, the sizeable mound (approximately 5 metres high and 40-50 metres in circumference) is consistent with a hilltop cairn of Neolithic or early Bronze Age date.

"The cairn is partly within both the Scottish Borders and the wind farm boundary. It should have been easily identified within the Inner Study Area by the applicant’s archaeological advisors. The potential significance of the cairn cannot be understated. If confirmed as a burial cairn, it is a very well-preserved example of a monument that is not particularly common in the area. Hilltop cairns, are common, but not at this size."

Dr Bowles, who recommends an objection to the proposals pending further investigations, adds: "The EIA states that there will be no monuments within one kilometre of a turbine in the Scottish Borders. This is clearly incorrect. A number of assets such as the drove roads are within metres of turbines, and will certainly be crossed by infrastructure as the EIA states." 

He recommends that the area should be surveyed using,LIDAR, a technology which uses laser light to create a three dimensional representation of the earth's surface. It can be used to find archaeological features which are not immediately visible from the ground or through traditional satellite images.

Meanwhile Mr Nicholson outlines his concerns for a series of ancient Esk Valley forts which would be impacted by the wind farm. In particular the group of forts – Camp Hill, Castle O’er and Bessie’s Knowe - all have wide-ranging, extensive views across the surrounding landscape. 

His report says: "The sites are all of national importance and have high aesthetic and experiential properties deriving from their prominent strategic topographic location and wide-ranging landscape views as well as the contribution the forts make to the surviving wider prehistoric landscape.

"They are all promoted on the Eskdale Prehistoric Trail, and each has dedicated parking and an information board. The first impressions of a visitor, the ‘Sense of Place’ noted in Historic Environment Scotland’s guidance on setting, will be informed by the presence of the turbines on the skyline in a broad arc to the east.

"The proposed turbines of Faw Side would continue this sweep around through a significant extent of the eastern horizon, resulting in a near 180 degree arc of turbines for Castle O’er and Camp Hill. This would result in an obvious, visible change to the outlook from the sites, which would be significant in terms of their sense of place".

Mr Nicholson recommends refusal of the submitted proposal.

Borders crime slashed by the virus

EXCLUSIVE by DOUG COLLIE

Criminals and law-breaking motorists in the Scottish Borders appear to have had their activities radically restricted thanks to a rare if welcome side-effect of Covid 19, according to statistics  published today by the Scottish Government.

Under some categories the level of offending recorded by police in April 2020 fell dramatically by up to 58 per cent when compared to the corresponding figures for April 2019.

But, perhaps significantly and definitely depressingly, the number of offences involving drugs actually increased by 17% from 41 to 48 suggesting the unscrupulous dealers who prey on addicts have not been obeying instructions to 'stay at home' to protect the NHS!

The tables of figures produced for the Scottish Borders Council area shows total crimes recorded fell between the two Aprils in question from 328 to 258 (21%) while so-called other offences including common assault, breach of the peace and motoring offences plummeted by 40% from 360 in April 2019 to 217 this April.

A breakdown of the data in each crime category includes non-sexual cases of violence down from nine instances to seven, attempted murder/serious assault incidents reduced from five to two, and sexual assault from eight incidents to six.

Beneath the heading 'Crimes of dishonesty' the total showed a dramatic fall of 45% (161 to 88) with house-breaking incidents down 58% (26 to 11), theft from motor vehicles reduced from nine incidents to one and theft of motor vehicles cut by 42% from 12 to seven.

The closure of the vast majority of retail outlets obviously limited the opportunities for stealing from shops. The 14 shoplifting incidents recorded this April was 69% fewer than the 39 cases reported a year ago. "Other thefts" at 34 were 37% down on April 2019 when 54 such crimes were logged. On the other hand there was a slight hike from 11 to 13 in reported frauds.

The Borders crime file for April also shows 73 separate reports of fire raising and vandalism last April, down by 15% to 62 in 2020.

As reported above, a separate chart covering other offences displays a total of 360 recorded 'crimes' during last April and 217 in April 2020, a difference of 40%.

Common assaults were down from 60 to 54, breach of the peace from 71 to 59, and urinating from 20 to nil. It would seem Borderers with weak bladders have adhered strictly to the lock down regulations!

The enforced reduction of car usage took its toll on motoring offences, slashed by an impressive 58% from 183 to 76 over the course of the two Aprils.

Alleged offences of dangerous driving were down from 21 to 11, driving under the influence down from 14 to four, speeding instances cut by 86% from 37 reports to just five and unlawful use of vehicles down by 53% from 75 to 35 recorded incidents.