The Highlands has its religious fundamentalists, and the anti-Catholic hatred that has poisoned many presbyterian churches - smaller and far more hardline than the mainstream Church of Scotland - has led to endless religious schisms.Yesterday the police said that the letters had contained no death threats and that Ms Brown had opted to deal with them herself Ms Brown also played down the criticism. And on the streets of the picturesque town nobody seemed to have a bad word to say about the "Material Girl" or her family, holed up in the nearby but tightly guarded, exclusive Skibo Castle with her super-celeb friends, away from the cameras and prying eyes.Madonnamania and the onslaught of the world's press has thrilled most of the locals Hotels are full and restaurants are doing roaring business. As the local tourist chief put it, you could not pay for this kind of international publicity.And those not counting the unexpected extra cash are simply too starstruck to be troubling themselves with ethics All day, the locals kept the rumour mill going. Donatella Versace was on her way to Skibo Castle from Inverness. Brad Pitt, gasp, was stuck at Glasgow airport, "with the wedding cake" because of the fog. And then, swoon of swoons, it was rumoured that George Clooney was on his way. Dornoch locals even surpassed the journalists as rumour mongers."We are just delighted she chose Dornoch," said Avril Bain, 44.

"It's a bit of fun and a bit of glamour, especially when nothing ever really happens up here." So hungry was Mrs Bain for glamour that she brought her daughters, Aly, 12, and Karoline, 9, across heavy, stormy seas from Orkney to the mainland, and then drove for two hours to Dornoch. She booked the best hotel in town two weeks ago, when it was confirmed Madonna would be a Highland bride.Mrs Bain didn't even care whether she did actually manage to see Madonna. "When my son went to see Scotland play in France, he never actually saw the game but he still enjoyed the atmosphere." For the mother and her star-struck daughters the Madonna and child whose christening eventully passed without incident provided a similar experience.. A man believed to have been in a car that killed a traffic officer making speed checks walked into a police station yesterday and gave himself up.

The man, aged 24 and from Margate, Kent, was being held in Dover, a force spokeswoman said. A man believed to have been in a car that killed a traffic officer making speed checks walked into a police station yesterday and gave himself up. The man, aged 24 and from Margate, Kent, was being held in Dover, a force spokeswoman said. PC Jon Odell, 30, of Margate, was hit and dragged for 50 yards by a Vauxhall Astra car as he pointed a radar gun at it in Shottendane Road, Margate, after midnight on Tuesday.The officer suffered massive injuries and died in hospital four hours later. The car was abandoned less than a mile away with its headlights still on It had not been reported stolen. The same morning, a 34-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man from Margate, and a man aged 48, from Herne Bay, were arrested on suspicion of murder.They have been releasedon police bail until the end of January.PC Odell had been living with his 40-year-old girlfriend, Cathy, and her 13-year-old son. A traffic colleague, PC Ian Biggs, 42, said: "We are all frustrated that Jon should lose his life in such a senseless way. We accept there is a risk in our job but this seems such a waste.".