Trust in police ‘damaged’ after rural stations closed and sold

Communities in rural parts of Scotland have little confidence in the police after scores of local stations were closed when the force was unified nine years ago, union leaders say.

Some 140 stations and offices have shut since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, research shows. Most of the closures have been in remote parts of the country. Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said people in rural areas were now less likely to phone the police.

“Years of underinvestment in the police estate have left many police stations in a shocking state of repair. Were it not for rats, many would have no inhabitants at all,” he told 1919 Magazine.