IAN RANKIN has prompted a backlash against the planned closure of Scottish police stations after revealing one building under threat is a setting in his novels.
Police Scotland has drawn up a list of buildings in 58 locations which could be closed as part of a review, including stations at Edinburgh High Street and Port Glasgow.
Rankin has revealed that one of the buildings set to be shut, in Leith, is the setting for Rather Be The Devil, the latest of his Rebus novels, which was released last week.
Social media users were then quick to respond, criticising the decision to shut the stations.
This morning (Mon) Rankin tweeted a link to an online newspaper article which reported on the planned closure of the Police Scotland facilities.
He added the caption: “Including the one in Leith, setting for Rather Be The Devil…”
Barbara Munt replied, suggesting the decision may force Rankin to change the content of his future novels.
She tweeted: “Your next book will have to be- someone was murdered in Edinburgh today; cops from Bognor Regis are expected to arrive on Friday!”
Kate Potts referenced a classic Scottish tongue twister, writing: “Hope “the Leith Police dismiseth that”. Where does an elderly person who needs help go when they close all these stations?”
@LessGrumpy continued the joke, adding: “how will the leith police dismisseth us now?”
@the_IT_wife bemoaned the lack of consulation with the public, writing: “First we’ve heard about it! #leithpolis”
However, some users suggested that they were not too upset by the announcement.
George Wallis wrote: “Time moves on. Given the choice i’d have rather kept the post offices, but we didn’t get that option.”
The information about the closure of the stations was only revealed in response to a Freedom of Information Request.
There have been accusations that local residents have been kept in the dark about the potential closure of the stations.
Last month, Conservative MSP Oliver Mundell said he only learned about the threat to eight police stations in his Dumfries and Galloway constituency when he was told by a constituent.
He said: “A local resident in my constituency found out by asking a surveyor at a local police station what they were doing.
“They were there surveying to find out how much it was worth.”
In Rather Be The Devil, Rebus investigates a cold case from the 1970s involving a gorgeous and wealthy female socialite who was found dead in a bedroom at one of Edinburgh’s most luxurious hotels.
