Public counters in Carluke, Lesmahagow and Biggar police stations WILL close

As reported in the Gazette, the announcement by the new Police Scotland service that it was planning to economise by closing public access at three of our four police stations – Lanark’s being the sole exception – sparked off a hail of protest from opposition politicians.

Clydesdale’s Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat representatives all slammed the proposal, still out to consultation until the end of this month, claiming it was a back door cutback by the SNP Scottish Government.

Supporters have countered by saying that a review earlier this year showed the public counters at these and scores of other police stations around Scotland were so seldom used that they simply weren’t worth the cost of keeping them open; the millions saved could go into other policing functions.