POLICE have written off £236,000 in unpaid debts - including invoices for petty damage done to its own stations.

 

The new national force has been increasingly eager to collect any money it is owed as it makes historic savings.

Much of its efforts have centred on football clubs.

The £236,000 write-off includes a single unpaid invoice of £51,882 to the former Rangers Football Club before it was liquidated in 2012.

That single write-off was so big it was sent to the Scottish Government for approval.

But it also includes five other bills adding up to £17,715 for "football services" that have never been paid.

Figures obtained under Freedom of Information Act show that Police Scotland failed to collect hundreds of invoices for "re-securing property" and "securing premises". The total value of such debts is £33,423 with unpaid bills running from just £7.69 to £1,062.

The oldest debts date from the 2011-12 financial year and the newest from 2013-14, the first full year of Police Scotland.

Chief Superintendent Niven Rennie, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said the force would have been reluctant to give up on the invoices.

He said: "No write-off would be taken lightly.

"Especially under Police Scotland, cost recovery has been a priority.

"But some of the bills were always going to be hard to collect.

"Some of the people being billed just don't have the money to pay. Take the guy who breaks the window in the police station.

"There are people like this who never pay fines never mind invoices."

The police often ends up as the payer of last resort. Officers, for example, may have to call out a duty locksmith to effect repairs after a break-in.

If the householder does not pay, then the tradesman will bill the police. Likewise, officers frequently have to break in to property - if it has a broken pipe - and this can cost money too. Not all householders - who were out or on holiday when the action was taken - are happy to pay.

The police, like any other public body, also do business with companies that go under. Bills unpaid and written off now include those for electricity, training courses and forensic evidence to defence agents.

They also deal with stray dogs - and try to bill owners. Some 30 refused to pay over three years, resulting in a loss of more than £5,000.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "There are instances where it is not practical for the recovery process to continue, for example, the debtor is not traceable, has absconded, the company is in liquidation or administration or the costs of recovery are greater than the value of the debt."