The big boys from the national press pack visited a Scottish island for a wedding of the year to find themselves working alongside half the team from the local weekly – which has an editorial staff of two.

The Buteman editor, Craig Borland, spent Saturday afternoon sitting outside the gates of Mount Stuart, a stately home on Bute, for the wedding of Sir Paul McCartney’s daughter, Stella.

The paper had carried an exclusive front page splash at the start of August quoting Mount Stewart staff denying the ceremony would be held there – but Craig took his place alongside the world’s media this weekend and is now considering the front page options for this Thursday.

He has also covered a local fuchsia show, a gymkhana and Sheriff’s Court proceedings this week – but it has been a while since a national story has dominated the week’s news list.

He said: “We have an editorial staff of two here and we both take pictures as well.

“My colleague David McEwing was busy this week so it fell to me to cover the McCartney wedding.

“It’s meant our previous front page exclusive looks misplaced now but we took a statement from the Mount Stuart spokesman – who categorically stated that Stella McCartney was not getting married there, and accepted that. The week before that we reported on the rumours.

“Then in the past week or so people here started to notice a team of security guards arriving and a ridiculous security cordon being erected.

“It wasn’t until Thursday or Friday afternoon when the groom was spotted that I, personally, believed it was actually going to happen here.”

Officials at the house had said there would be nothing more than an industrial gas conference there this weekend, but from his home Craig could see the Land Rovers and limos with blacked-out windows speeding off the ferry.

He said: “Everyone here knows as much as everyone else so because we can’t scoop the others time-wise, we’ll be looking for a good local story.”

It has been a time of celebrity-spotting on the island, which has a population of 7,000 – with Heather Mills-McCartney being spotted buying shampoo, and Sir Paul himself enjoying a pint at a local pub.

Now Craig is deciding which local angle to pursue before publishing on Thursday. The paper, part of Forfar-based Angus County Press sells 3,400 copies a week and enjoys virtual saturation coverage on Bute.

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