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Police call centre blackout raises further questions over Aberdeen and Inverness control rooms

More than a thousand concerned north and north-east residents have already signed the Press and Journal petition calling for a halt to the closures
More than a thousand concerned north and north-east residents have already signed the Press and Journal petition calling for a halt to the closures

A police call centre blackout has piled further pressure on the force to reconsider control room closures in Aberdeen and Inverness.

Bliston Glen – one of three centres slated to replace the north and north-east control rooms – could not receive inquiries from 3.30am until just after 11am yesterday.

The revelation has renewed calls for Police Scotland to reconsider call centre closures in Aberdeen and Inverness.

Sign the Press and Journal petition to keep the Aberdeen and Inverness control rooms open

The force is currently planning to shut the services in the Granite City and the Highland capital, insisting that bases in Bliston Glen, Motherwell and Govan are up to the challenge of handling calls for the entire country.

Police call handling has been under increasing scrutiny following a damning expert report in the wake of the M9 crash scandal, where Lamara Bell and John Yuill were left in their wrecked vehicle for three days – despite the accident being called in to Bliston Glen.

The Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland investigation said the closures in Aberdeen and Inverness should be postponed until “independent assurances” are given that other call centres are operating effectively.

Last night, Lewis Macdonald MSP said the incident at Bliston Glen yesterday made the case for the call centres being kept open.

He said: “They simply cannot go ahead with these closures when the central belt is so clearly not fit for purpose.

“It is clear that Bliston Glen can’t cope even before Aberdeen closes.”

Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant added: “This latest incident clearly demonstrates the advantages of keeping the control rooms at Inverness and Aberdeen for dealing with all calls open.”

Chief Superintendent Alan Speirs, C3 Division, played down the incident at the centre.

He said: “I can confirm that in the early hours of Tuesday December 15, 2015 the service centre at Bilston Glen experienced a technical difficulty which resulted in 999 and 101 calls being diverted to other regional service centres.

“The issue has now been resolved and the system is working normally.

“Police Scotland has robust and tested plans in place for eventualities such as this and I am pleased that they worked extremely well.

“There was no interruption to the emergency and non-emergency services and no delays in calls being answered or officers being dispatched.

“The public will not have noticed any difference in the level of service they received and I would like to once again thank all our call handlers for dealing with this issue so quickly and professionally.”