Ayrshire MSP Sharon Dowey has warmly welcomed the Conservative party’s pledge to recruit 1,000 extra police officers in Scotland.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross made the commitment during his keynote speech to UK Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.

Police officer numbers in Scotland have fallen to their lowest level since 2008, with the number employed by Police Scotland standing at 16,600.

Police Scotland have warned that a further 600 officers could be lost from the force in 2024, bringing numbers to the lowest level since the SNP Government came to power.

Ms Dowey says this would only put those living in Ayrshire at greater risk of being victims of crime and shows that fully funding the police is “simply not a priority” for the SNP-Green government.

Based on current officer allocation, she said the proposals from the Scottish Conservatives would deliver an extra 66 officers for Ayrshire, assuming they would be based locally.

Ms Dowey, the party's deputy justice spokesperson, said having police “on the beat” in Ayrshire was essential to helping people feel safe, and that this commitment more than offsets the fall in officer numbers under the SNP.

She added: "Hard-working police officers in Ayrshire do terrific work every single day to keep our communities safe.

“However, thanks to SNP cuts, they are being pushed to breaking point and asked to tackle crime in Ayrshire with one hand tied behind their back.

“Across Scotland, the SNP have presided over a reduction of 700 officers in recent years. That is why I am delighted to support my party’s plans to recruit 1,000 more officers, which would result in 66 extra police officers in Ayrshire.

“Having police on the beat is essential to making people feel safe, and this commitment will be vital in addressing the plummeting number of officers under the SNP and Humza Yousaf.”

“Growing the size of our police force in Ayrshire will mean officers can tackle the crimes that blight our communities on a daily basis and ensure offenders are properly punished.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Policing is a priority for this Government, which is why despite UK Government austerity, we have increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17 and have invested more than £11.6 billion in policing since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013 with £1.45 billion being invested this year. 

“There are over 350 more police officers than in 2007 and around 1,480 new recruits have joined Police Scotland since the beginning of 2022.

"Scotland has more police officers per capita than England and Wales and higher pay ranges for officers at all ranks and high levels of investment over the last decade.

"Thanks to the recently agreed pay deal of a 12 per cent increase over two years backdated to 1 April, officers in Scotland also continue to be the highest paid in the UK.”

It is believed that to recruit an extra 1,000 police officers, would cost at least an additional £73 million for the first two years of their careers.