Trespass law for Scotland's royal palaces

SCOTLAND could get its first trespass law under emergency rules being considered to protect royal palaces.

Baroness Scotland, a Home Office minister, yesterday told the House of Lords that the government is giving "anxious attention" to a new law that would curb access to the official residences of the Queen and her family.

The plan comes in the wake of summer security breaches at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Under the devolution settlement, the Home Office has no responsibility for either Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh or Balmoral in Deeside.

But a department official revealed that the Home Office is "in negotiations" with the Scottish Executive about the possibility of the proposed law applying in and around the Scottish palaces.