Two Police Scotland officers are recovering after being overcome by fumes emitted from their BMW X5 patrol vehicle.
The force has launched an investigation after the two officers became seriously ill last week.
The duo were coming to the end of their nightshift when they fell ill.
After managing to alert their control room, colleagues sent an emergency ambulance to their location.
The officers, based at Glasgow’s Govan station, were rushed to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital were they were admitted to a ward.
The X5 was taken off of the road for testing.
The incident comes amid ongoing concern from officers about the safety of Police Scotland’s ageing fleet of response vehicles.
Officers have previously complained to the Scottish Government that some of their vehicles are so dilapidated that they are ‘held together with cable ties’ and are ‘patched up with duct tape’.
A source told the Daily Record:
“Carbon monoxide poisoning shows the problems officers are facing in some of the cars they have to drive.
“You used to have to check for carbon monoxide when stopping a suspected drunk driver as it could have been the reason for them driving erratically.
“But that is going back 20 years”.
“Some patrol cars have more than hundreds of thousands of miles on the clock and officers are concerned about the state of the fleet.”
The Scottish Police Federation said similar problems have occurred “three or four times in the last seven years”.
General secretary Calum Steele added:
“This is very concerning and could have had tragic circumstances.
“We need an immediate investigation into the circumstances to establish the facts for the benefit of all officers who use these vehicles.”
Chief Superintendent Louise Blakelock, head of road policing, said:
“At about 5 am on Sunday, January 17, 2021, two road policing officers were taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, after becoming unwell during their shift.
“It was established the officers had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning while within their police vehicle, a BMW X5.
“The vehicle was examined and an investigation into the cause is ongoing”.
