diff --git a/daliuge-engine/run_engine.sh b/daliuge-engine/run_engine.sh
index 9e7e0528e..2fb73048c 100755
--- a/daliuge-engine/run_engine.sh
+++ b/daliuge-engine/run_engine.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 DOCKER_OPTS="\
 --shm-size=2g --ipc=shareable \
 --rm \
-$([[ $(nvidia-docker version) ]] && echo '--gpus=all' || echo '') \
+$([[ $(command -v nvidia-docker version) ]] && echo '--gpus=all' || echo '') \
 --name daliuge-engine \
 -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
 -p 5555:5555 -p 6666:6666 \
@@ -71,6 +71,13 @@ case "$1" in
         exit 0;;
     "local")
         common_prep
+        res="$(dlg nm -h| grep -c 'Unknown command')"
+        if [[ $res == 1 ]]
+        then
+            echo "dlg command could not be found!"
+            echo "Please install daliuge-engine."
+            exit
+        fi
         echo "Starting managers locally in background.."
         dlg nm -vvd -H 0.0.0.0 --dlg-path=$DLG_ROOT --dlm-cleanup-period=10
         dlg dim -vvd -H 0.0.0.0 -N localhost
diff --git a/daliuge-engine/stop_engine.sh b/daliuge-engine/stop_engine.sh
index 6a9cdd00d..cde4d99b1 100755
--- a/daliuge-engine/stop_engine.sh
+++ b/daliuge-engine/stop_engine.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/env bash
 # This utlity script stops a locally running docker-engine container
 case "$1" in
     "docker")
diff --git a/daliuge-translator/run_translator.sh b/daliuge-translator/run_translator.sh
index c79557e9b..9cbf7dc93 100755
--- a/daliuge-translator/run_translator.sh
+++ b/daliuge-translator/run_translator.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/env bash
 case "$1" in
     "dep")
         VCS_TAG=`git describe --tags --abbrev=0|sed s/v//`
@@ -14,7 +15,25 @@ case "$1" in
         echo "Running Translator development version in foreground..."
         docker run --volume $PWD/dlg/dropmake:/dlg/lib/python3.8/site-packages/dlg/dropmake --name daliuge-translator --rm -t -p 8084:8084 icrar/daliuge-translator:${VCS_TAG}
         exit 0;;
+    "local")
+        DLG_ROOT="${DLG_ROOT:-$HOME/dlg}"
+        res="$(dlg lgweb -h| grep -c 'Unknown command')"
+        if [[ $res == 1 ]]
+        then
+            echo "dlg lgweb command could not be found!"
+            echo "Please install daliuge-translator."
+            exit
+        fi
+        echo "Starting translator locally in foreground.."
+        dlg lgweb -vv -d /tmp -t /tmp > $DLG_ROOT/logs/dlgLGWEB.log 2>&1 &
+        mkdir -p $DLG_ROOT/pid
+        echo $! > $DLG_ROOT/pid/dlgLGWEB.pid
+        echo
+        echo "Use any of the following URLs to access the DIM:"
+        python -c "from dlg.utils import get_local_ip_addr; print([f'http://{addr}:8084' for addr,name in get_local_ip_addr() if not name.startswith('docker')])"
+        echo "Log file can be found in ${DLG_ROOT}/log/dlgLGWEB.log"
+        ;;
     *)
-        echo "Usage run_translator.sh <dep|dev|casa>"
+        echo "Usage run_translator.sh <dep|dev|casa|local>"
         exit 0;;
 esac
diff --git a/daliuge-translator/stop_translator.sh b/daliuge-translator/stop_translator.sh
index c5953023f..aa1875417 100755
--- a/daliuge-translator/stop_translator.sh
+++ b/daliuge-translator/stop_translator.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,20 @@
-# This utlity script stops a locally running docker-engine container
-docker stop daliuge-translator 
\ No newline at end of file
+#!/bin/env bash
+# This utlity script stops a locally running translator
+MYPID=$$
+echo $MYPID
+case "$1" in
+    "docker")
+        docker stop daliuge-translator;;
+    "local")
+        DLG_ROOT="${DLG_ROOT:-$HOME/dlg}"
+        echo "Stopping translator.."
+        if [[ $DLG_ROOT/pid/dlgLGWEB.pid ]]
+        then
+            cat $DLG_ROOT/pid/dlgLGWEB.pid | xargs kill -HUP
+        fi
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo "Usage: stop_translator.sh <docker|local>"
+        echo "       default: docker"
+        docker stop daliuge-translator;;
+esac
\ No newline at end of file