Inverness vet laboratory could close warns Prospect

Animal disease surveillance services in Scotland are being reviewed

A union has warned against closing a veterinary laboratory in Inverness that carries out post mortem examinations on dead livestock.

Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) is consulting on the unit's future as part of a review of animal disease surveillance services across Scotland.

Prospect said shutting the site, which employs 15 people, would mean dead animals being transported further.

SRUC said it was only at the "very beginning" of the consultation.

Part of the SRUC organisation in Inverness is to relocate to the new Inverness Campus at Beechwood on the outskirts of Inverness.

However, Prospect said no provision has been made for relocating the laboratory.

Union spokesman Clive Davey told BBC Radio Scotland that its closure would result in dead animals having to be taken to Perth, Aberdeen or Thurso for examinations.

SRUC's said its consultation involved staff, unions, vets, farmers and crofters.

In a statement, it said: "We are at the very beginning of the consultation period and over the next six weeks will be taking on board a range of views about the future of the veterinary surveillance service.

"We will then work with the Scottish government to consider these views and determine the best way forward before finalising plans."