Police van set on fire in North Lanarkshire
Fire crews were rushed to Shotts Police Station around 1.55am
Last updated 1st Mar 2018
A police van has been set on fire outside Shotts Police Station in the early hours of this morning.
Around 1.55am this morning, emergency services were called to a report of a police van on fire whilst parked outside Shotts Police Station. The fire was extinguished and no one was hurt.
Detective Sergeant Erin Renwick is dealing with this inquiry. She said:
"With the current challenging weather conditions in the area, there haven’t been a lot of people out and about on foot therefore this makes this incident all the more shocking.
"Thankfully no one was injured in the incident but this was a very reckless act which could have posed real danger, not least for people living nearby or the officers in the police station but also for the emergency services who are already working around the clock to deal with the weather conditions we are experiencing.
"I would ask anyone in the local area who may have seen anyone around the time of the incident to get in touch with police. We're checking CCTV and speaking to local residents but I am sure that because it would have been unusual to see anyone out in these conditions so early in the morning, so I am appealing to anyone who may have information to contact us immediately."
Chief Inspector Mark Leonard, Area Commander for Motherwell, Bellshill, Wishaw and Shotts, added:
"From a personal point of view it is disappointing that someone has deliberately set fire to one of the local teams vehicles and abstracted resources that were needed elsewhere.
"I find it particularly galling when police and partner resources are dealing with challenging severe weather incidents someone has done this. Whoever is responsible, may not realise it, but they have targeted the community, not just the local policing team by doing this, that van was needed to help others in your community.
"If you have information I would ask that you contact DS Renwick's team at Wishaw CID."
Anyone with information is asked to contact police via 101 quoting reference number 0201 of 1st March.