Police facing pay-off crisis

SCOTLAND'S police forces are facing further financial crisis after it emerged they need £37 million for redundancy payments, but have just £12m.

Police use their reserves to deal with unforeseen events such as the Climate Camp protests, but will have to use some to pay off civilian staff.

Lothian and Borders Police has 4.7m in reserves, while Strathclyde Police, which faces redundancy payments of more than 20m, has just 6m.

David O'Connor, of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said: "If forces are facing a 25 per cent cut, then any idea of delivering more with less has to be discounted."