Thousands being spent on former sheriff court

Cost of maintaining building revealed

Thousands of pounds a year are being spent on the security and maintenance of Arbroath’s former sheriff court since its closure more than four years ago.

As the clock ticks down to the deadline for a planned community takeover of the prominent High Street building, Scottish court chiefs have confirmed £6,000 is set aside annually for work to keep it wind and watertight and free from vandalism.

The property was hit by vandals within months of closing in May 2014.

Forfar was left as the district’s only sheriff court in the shake-up, which also led to the closure of the Stonehaven and Cupar courts.

The Mearns and Fife buildings have now been transferred to new owners and a deadline of December 18 has been set for consideration of an Arbroath community bid.

Freedom of information statistics obtained by the Scottish Conservatives have now revealed that since the closure of the three buildings more than £25,000 has been spent on maintenance, cleaning and security.

In 2013-14, Arbroath was the most costly of the three, with maintenance of £16,324, an £11,335 cleaning bill and £3,410 spent on security.

Figures for 2017-18 have revealed an outlay of £2,749 on maintenance at Arbroath and £610 for security.

The maintenance figure was similar for Stonehaven, prior to its transfer in April this year for the nominal sum of £1 to Stonehaven Town Partnership.

The group hopes to retain the court room in its original form as a heritage room and use other parts of the building for meetings, events and other possibilities.

Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said he hoped the Arbroath transfer would get the green light.

There are now no ongoing costs for Stonehaven since April of this year and Cupar since the financial year 2014-15. SCOTTISH COURTS AND TRIBUNALS SERVICE

Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr.