Parliament on the spot again as lighting falls from ceiling

Published on Wednesday 23 July 2008 11:18

SCOTTISH Parliament bosses faced fresh embarrassment over the £414 million Holyrood building today after two spotlights fell from the ceiling of a conference room.

The room, which is used for Labour group meetings, media briefings and as a coffee lounge for MSPs when parliament is in session, was empty at the time.

But today independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald said the parliament was lucky to have avoided a serious accident.

And she called for thorough checks to make sure there was no repeat of the incident.

The twin aluminium spotlights – each measuring 18cm x 21cm x 20cm – were part of a single light fitting which came loose on Saturday evening. A parliament source said: "Our guess is it had not been put in properly."

The chamber conference room, next to the parliament's debating chamber, has been out of bounds since the incident. Black and yellow hazard tape has been placed across the entrances and "no entry" notices have been posted on the doors.

Officials ordered immediate checks on all the other light fittings in the room.

But they said it was judged no checks were necessary on light fittings in other parts of the building because the type of spotlights which fell were only used in that room.

Ms MacDonald said if anyone had been in the room when the lights fell, there could have been a serious accident, and she called for more extensive checks.

She said: "Fortunately no-one was hurt in this incident, but someone could well have been seriously injured.

"It would be reassuring to know the parliament's security supervisors check this out to make sure there are no similar problems with other light fittings.

"This has been a comparatively minor, lucky incident, but the situation has to be checked thoroughly.

"They should look to see who fitted these lights and then look at what other lights were fitted by the same team."

A parliament spokesman said it was expected the lights which fell would still be working because the fitting was prevented from hitting the floor by its own cable.

The fitting was now being re-fixed to the ceiling. Only one other double spotlight was fitted in the room, the rest being either single lamp versions or smaller, domestic-type spotlights.

The spokesman said the room was expected to be ready for use as normal by the time of its next booking, scheduled for Thursday.

He said: "The safety of building users and visitors always comes first.

"The light is being fixed by our in-house maintenance contractors. Any cost associated from this will be met from our maintenance contract which covers such work."