Two Aberdeen fire engines stood down

Two of Aberdeen's six full-time fire appliances have been stood down due to "unforeseen circumstances".

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the vehicles based at Altens and Central community fire stations were not operational on Sunday.

It said one fire engine from Arbroath had been mobilised to Aberdeen to provide "additional resilience".

The move follows four appliances being declared "off the run" for a period at the end of March.

Bruce Farquharson, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's local senior officer for Aberdeen City, said: "Capacity in our system allows us to maintain safe levels of operation and the public can be confident that we never drop below this safe level.

"In March, appliance availability in Aberdeen City was over 90 per cent. It was 100 per cent in Aberdeenshire and Moray - and 98 per cent across the North Service Delivery Area.

"The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service continues to attend at every emergency."

Fears were raised last month when BBC Scotland revealed four of Aberdeen's fire appliances were "off the run" for a period of time.

It is understood there were not enough officers to crew the fire engines at the start of the day shift on 29 March.

The Fire Brigades Union said it was concerned over what happened.