Police Scotland has apologised after a vehicle checkpoint set up on the A90 between Perth and Dundee saw drivers stuck in tailbacks as long as 3km.
Carse of Gowrie councillor Alasdair Bailey penned a letter asking chief constable of Police Scotland Sir Iain Livingstone to fully explain the purpose of the operation at Bullionfield, by Invergowrie, on June 24.
The operation saw a lane closure on the northbound side all the way back to Longforgan with 58 vehicles stopped and searched.
He was “very concerned” that the vehicle check measures caused 20-minute delays “for what appeared to be a non-emergency operation”.
A Road Policing Scotland spokesperson said the operation targeted “unsafe vehicles and criminals using the road networks” and was “in response to recent thefts”.
A letter in response to Cllr Bailey’s enquiry came from the assistant chief constable for operational support Mark Williams and said the operation was scheduled to run between 9.30am and 4pm to “ensure peak time traffic disruption was kept to a minimum”.
But it adds that the operation was cut short to allow the normal flow of traffic to return and that the volume of traffic “should not have been allowed to build up to the levels seen”.
It reads: “For health and safety reasons, Bear Scotland facilitated traffic calming measures at 9.30am which provided a gradual reduction in speed limit to 30mph along with the dual carriageway being reduced to one lane minimising the risk to all parties involved in the checkpoint.
“During the operation 58 commercial vehicles were stopped and a number of offences were detected many of which could have contributed to a serious incident on the roads.
“Throughout the operation the traffic was continually monitored and at 1pm, given the unprecedented volume of traffic, the decision was made to remove the checkpoint to allow traffic flow to return to normality.
“I fully recognise your concerns regarding the queuing traffic volume and the impact this had on commuters and other road users.
“Having reviewed the circumstances of this deployment, the volume of traffic should not have been allowed to build up to the levels seen.
“It was never the intention of those involved in the operation to cause any disruption and I would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.
“I can advise that at this time no plans will be made to run a similar operation at this location.
“A debrief will be held with partners in the near future to discuss the joint operation and to capture any learning.
“I will ensure your concerns are raised in full at this debrief.
“In conclusion, may I take this opportunity to thank you for bringing these concerns to my attention and affording me the opportunity to provide some reassurance to you and your constituents.”
Police Scotland said that of the cars stopped “20 motorists received warnings or were reported in connection with a various road traffic offences”.
In response, Cllr Bailey said: “I was grateful to receive a very positive response from Police Scotland about the disruption caused by the checkpoint on June 24.
“It’s great to have this acknowledgement that the checkpoint should never have caused the traffic disruption that we saw on the day.
“Thank you to the assistant chief constable for taking our concerns on board given how tough a job Police Scotland have.”
