THE law on imitation and replica firearms is to be reviewed by the Scottish Office.

Scottish Home Affairs Minister Henry McLeish, who has indicated a fresh look is to be taken at the issue, has admitted, however, that control of such guns had proved a problem, especially on defining ''imitation firearm''.

''Water pistols and other traditional children's toy guns are perfectly acceptable to most people. It has proved very difficult to draw a workable distinction in law between these and more realistic replica and imitation guns.''

Despite this, Mr McLeish said the Government was determined to find ''a workable solution''.

Assistant Chief Constable Tom Wood, of Lothian and Borders Police, has said pranksters with imitation firearms put themselves in danger as such incidents had to be dealt with by an armed response unit. This year Lothian and Borders Police Board wrote to Mr McLeish expressing its concerns on the issue.

In reply, the Minister said courts already had available heavy penalties to deal with criminal misuse of an imitation firearm and the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1994 had extended the range of offences covering this misuse.

Nevertheless, he said, the Scottish Office fully recognised that imitation and replica guns continued to cause problems. He said with the total ban on handguns in place, there would be a fresh look to see what further measures might be necessary. ''The law on imitation and replica firearms will be included as part of that exercise.''