The Scotsman

WANTED: one security barrier capable of preventing terrorists driving a van of explosives into the US Consulate General in Edinburgh ... but it must also be in keeping with elegant Georgian surroundings. The unusual architectural brief follows a public inquiry which gave the go-ahead for a permanent structure to block traffic at one end of Regent Terrace, although some conservation groups and local residents remain incandescent with rage by the move in a World Heritage Site. The American consulate has now commissioned a local architect to design a £6,000 structure to replace the temporary railings currently in place with something more in keeping with the street designed in 1825 by William Playfair.