Eight arrested in crackdown on rouge site security firms

Eight people connected with a security firm that manned construction sites in Glasgow have been arrested on suspicion of working illegally.

Police detained the workers during a multi-agency raid on 21 building sites in the north of the city on Thursday night.

Six of the premises manned by the large security firm were vacant.

The workers were arrested on immigration and unlicensed employment offences and will now be subject to further immigration checks and could be deported.

The massive operation involved eight teams including representatives from Strathclyde Police, the UK Border Agency, HM Revenue & Customs and the Security Industry Authority.

The arrests come amid wider government and industry moves to clean up security firms operating on construction sites in Glasgow.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) last month charged one security guard and found another six were working without licences during an inspection of six construction sites in West Dunbartonshire.

Also in June, a Hamilton security employee was jailed for 15 months, after attempting to extort contracts from building sites in the greater Glasgow region.

Lochwood Security worker Marion Lang, 51 of Castlemilk in Glasgow, was found guilty of extortion in the Hamilton Sherrif Court related to threats to kill and threats of damage to property.

Concerns about rogue security firms have triggered government involvement, with justice secretary Kenny MacAskill vowing to clean up the security scene before the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

He said the government was working with the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and Home Office to stop the “gangsters” undermining local businesses.