Speeding tickets for SNP’S chauffeurs

SCOTTISH Government chauffeurs have been caught speeding at least six times in two years, including on the notorious A .

Drivers for SNP ministers were given on-the-spot fines on two occasions, as well as being stopped on the A82, A0, A and in Edinburgh.

The incident on June 5 on the A between Inverness and Perth, described as the most dangerous road in Scotland, came just weeks before plans to install speed cameras along t he r oute were announced.

Opposition MSPs and safety campaigners said last night it was ‘very embarrassing’ for Alex Salmond’s Government that official drivers had flouted the law.

The number of speeding convictions against government drivers could be higher because no records exist before 2011.

The Scottish Government refused to reveal which members of Mr Salmond’s Cabinet were in the cars when the chauffeurs were caught speeding.

Road safety campaigner Dave Stewart, a Highland Labour MSP, said ministers had courted controversy by pressing ahead with plans to instal 100 average-speed cameras at 40 locations along a 136-mile stretch of the A .

‘This is very embarrassing for the Government,’ he said. ‘The Government is lecturing to everyone else but they are not looking to their own behaviour as far as speed limits are concerned.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said such incidents were ‘very rare’.

He added: ‘These speeding fines were dealt with on an individual basis, depending on the circumstances, including discussion between the driver and their line manager. No driver has been banned.’