A daily newspaper has apologised after using a 10-year-old picture of street violence in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to illustrate a ‘riot’ on its patch.

The Edinburgh Evening News splashed last Wednesday on disturbances in the deprived Niddrie area of the Scottish capital, with a picture showing a person hurling a petrol bomb.

However it later emerged that the image in question was taken during street protests against the then Russian-backed government in Kyiv nearly a decade ago.

The Evening News subsequently issued a statement on its Facebook page apologising for the error, followed by a front page apology in the following edition.

It stated: “The image used on the front page of today’s Edinburgh Evening News to illustrate disturbances in Niddrie was not taken locally.

“A picture from our files was mistakenly used. We apologise for our error.”

The Evening News has so far not responded to requests for further comment when approached by HTFP.

However the National World-owned title was taken to task on X, formerly Twitter, for the error.

The apology that appeared on the front page of Thursdays edition

One poster wrote: “People rightly wondering how this is possible. Truth is it’s the same story with local papers across the UK – they have been hollowed out and are being put together by a fraction of the staff they were even a decade ago.

“In the case of the EEN, it’s not even designed in Scotland – let alone Edinburgh – anymore, but rather by a centralised team in Yorkshire, the @NWDesignHub. So there we go.”

A National World insider told HTFP: “This is a damning indictment of the way the paper has declined under the current ownership, driven by unrelenting cuts to budgets and a preference for clicks over quality.

“They have taken a wonderful local paper and destroyed it within two years.”