Police 'left cannabis in hire van' Published duration 14 October 2013

Police are investigating claims that officers hired a van - then returned it with bags of cannabis in the back.

The drugs were only discovered after a van hire company worker picked up the vehicle from Coatbridge police station in North Lanarkshire and drove it back to his base.

It is thought officers forgot to remove the bags before the van was collected.

Police said an investigation was being carried out into reports that productions had been left in the van.

The officers had hired the vehicle from Mitchell's Hire Drive in Rutherglen, near Glasgow.

No-one from the company was available to speak to BBC Scotland on Monday morning.

But worker John McKinnon, 33, told the Daily Record newspaper how he had unwittingly driven the cannabis - which had been packed inside black bin bags - some 12 miles back to the firm's office on Sunday morning.

He was quoted as saying: "They gave me the keys in a sealed blue bag, walked me out to the van, opened the gates and away I went.

"There was a strong smell of cannabis in the cabin but it was only when I got back to the office and opened up the back that I realised what was in it."

Staff immediately contacted the police, who were said to have re-hired the van in order to remove the vehicle and the drugs.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: "We can confirm we are investigating a report that a vehicle, hired by Police Scotland, has been returned to the hire company, allegedly with what is believed to be police productions inside.