'A police car drove up – I knew my fireman son had been killed'

THE grieving mother of a firefighter killed in the line of duty has revealed that a fund will be set up in his memory to help Scottish sport stars of the future.

Linda Williamson's son Ewan, 35, died in a fire at the Balmoral bar in Edinburgh's Dalry Road last July .

Thousands of Edinburgh residents and firefighters from across the UK lined the streets for his funeral service, and a major fundraising effort was launched to mark his death.

Speaking publicly for the first time about Mr Williamson's death, Linda revealed her plans to set up a Ewan Williamson sporting fund yesterday.

She also spoke of the terrible moment when police turned up at her home on 12 July to break the news of her son's death.

Mrs Williamson was due to spend the day with her son and daughters, Rachel and Rebecca. She was getting ready at home in Kinross when she heard on the radio that a firefighter had died in Edinburgh.

She recalled: "At one minute past eight, I remembered I hadn't put the 8am news on. I put it on and the newsreader came straight out with, 'A firefighter has been killed in a fire at the Balmoral bar in Edinburgh'.

"I stood and I was horrified, and then I said to myself, 'No, Ewan isn't working today, he's off today, we're all going out'. As I said that, my mind kind of took over and I said, 'Ewan does sometimes change his shifts'.