Liberal Democrat MSP for North East Scotland Alison McInnes has demanded that the Scottish Government treats Grampian Police Force fairly.

The Scottish Government has refused to allocate Grampian Police Force any extra funding to police royal visits, despite allocating Lothian and Borders Police Force an extra £217,000 this year due to its status as Scotland’s capital city.

Mrs McInnes has written to the Justice Secretary calling on him to reconsider this decision.

Commenting, Mrs McInnes said:

“This is outrageous. The SNP recognised that Edinburgh’s police had special responsibilities and allocated Lothian and Borders Police Force an extra £217,000 a year.

“Grampian Police Force has to police regular royal visits to Balmoral, in addition to policing the gas terminal at St Fergus and the offshore industry. Yet, no extra funding is available to the North East of Scotland.

“It is simply unfair to compensate one police force for extra responsibilities and then flatly refuse to compensate another. The Scottish Government must rethink its decision and ensure that Grampian Police Force receives extra funding to pay for its extra responsibilities.”