NICOLA Sturgeon has threatened to close the border with England if the UK Government refuses to fix a loophole on quarantine hotels.

The First Minister said “it may come to that” when asked about shutting down traffic between the two countries at the daily briefing.

It followed SNP Transport Secretary Michael Matheson saying yesterday that UK ministers risked undermining Scotland's public health with their “unacceptable” approach to international quarantine measures aimed at stopping the spread of new Covid variants.

Under rules which came into force at 4am, all non-exempt international travellers to Scotland must spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel costing £1750.

Six hotels with 1,300 rooms have been block-booked in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

However in England, only travellers arriving from one of 33 high-risk “red list” countries go to quarantine hotels.

Visitors from other countries arriving in England still have to self-isolate for 10 days, but not at a designated hotel.

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The loophole means people who fly into an airport south of the border from a non red-list country and then travel on to Scotland by car or public transport can avoid the inconvenience and expense of a quarantine hotel and self-isolate for 10-days in a house instead.

The first international flight into Scotland under the new regime arrived just after 11am.

Around 65 people had been booked on the Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Edinburgh, however many appeared to change their plans when they learned of the rules at the airport.

In the end, only four non-exempt passengers made the trip, prompting fears the rest decided to go via an English airport for a little extra to avoid a quarantine hotel.

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The loophole has been known about since the Scottish Government first announced it wanted to go further than the UK with travel restrictions a week ago.

However appeals to the UK Government to help quarantine people headed to Scotland in hotels when they arrive in England have failed to yield results.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock today said he happy to discuss the issue. 

Asked if she was ready to close the border between England and Scotland if the UK Government didn’t budge, Ms Sturgeon said: “I don’t rule it out. 

“I would like to have the most effective system in place here.

“I’m not sure it [border closure] is the best solution to have. If it’s the only one I can put into place, then it may come to that.

“But why let somebody travel half away across the UK before you do that?”

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She said it would be better to have “at least a three-nations approach, where the border of the island that Scotland, England and Wales share had the same provisions in place.

“I’m trying to be constructive here. I just want us to come to the best solution possible. 

“You listen to any serious public health expert right now, and they say not just for Scotland but for the whole of the UK, this is one of the biggest risks we face. 

“So why leave these loopholes, and why be in a position where we’re trying to put in place second best solutions, if we can continue to talk to each other to come up with the best solution?

“But at the end of the day, my responsibility is to try to protect Scotland as much as possible.

If it just proves impossible to do that, then we have to look at alternatives. But it would be far better to come to a reasonable agreement on at least a three nations basis.”

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Leading human rights lawyer John Scott QC said that both the public and Police Scotland had been put in a "very difficult position", and had not been given time to fully understand the rules.

He said: "If the detail of the regulations had been published earlier, and frankly, if the UK and Scottish governments had got their acts together in discussions there could have been far greater clarity and dissemination of what exactly is involved."

Scottish Government guidance stipulates that those subject to quarantine require a negative Covid-19 test no more than three days before travelling and to have booked at a room at a quarantine hotel in advance.

They will also have to submit a passenger locator form to the Home Office, declaring which countries they have been to in the 10 days before arrival in the UK.

Airlines have been asked to check for these and they will also be checked on arrival by Border Force officers, who can issue fines of £480 for non-compliance.

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Security officers will then escort passengers to baggage reclaim and to pre-arranged transport to their quarantine hotel.

On arrival at the hotel, they will be given two home testing kits to be used on days two and eight of isolation.

These are covered by the cost, as are three meals per day, fruit and soft drinks.

If they test positive at any point they will be required to stay in the hotel for 10 days after the test, at an additional charge starting from £152 daily for the first adult.