Aberdeen police control room closure under way

The closure of the Police Scotland control room and call centre in Aberdeen has started.

The controversial decision to shut the centre was approved by the Scottish Police Authority last week.

Emergency calls will now be passed via central service centre responders to the North Area Control Room in Dundee for dispatch.

Non emergency calls will be handed handled at centres in Glasgow, Motherwell and Midlothian.

The Aberdeen transition is due to be completed this week.

The timing of the closure was disclosed to elected members.

Ass Ch Con John Hawkins said in a statement on Tuesday evening: "The public will see no change to the way they contact Police Scotland and should contact us in the same way as before; 999 in an emergency and 101 for non emergency situations.

"At the Scottish Police Authority Board on 22 March, the decision to transition calls from Aberdeen was publicly discussed and it was agreed that Police Scotland could do this when operationally appropriate.

"We can confirm that call transition started today (Tuesday) and will continue over the next few days."

The Scottish Police Authority previously said Aberdeen's emergency control room would only be closed when it was safe to do so.

The move is part of Police Scotland's cost-cutting plan to centralise control rooms.