Opponents said police officers had better things to do

Figures from the Crown Office showed that 211,494 documents calling witnesses to court were delivered by police officers last year.

The federation said the system was an "absurd" waste of officers' time.

However, the Crown Office said police officers were more efficient than the postal system.

It also said the number of citations delivered by the police had been reduced last year.

I think the public will be quite surprised at this and quite disappointed that this historical piece of police work is still being done by police officers Joe Grant Scottish Police Federation

The citations are served on witnesses calling them to appear in court, with the majority being posted through the front door.

But it has been estimated that the deliveries could have taken up a total of 100,000 police hours - equivalent to 50 constables spending an entire year doing the job.

The revelation was condemned by politicians and police representatives, who argued that under-pressure forces had better things to do.

They said court officials should do more of the work.

'Utter nonsense'

Joe Grant, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said a "wholesale review" was needed.

"I think the public will be quite surprised at this and quite disappointed that this historical piece of police work is still being done by police officers, " he said.

"I think they will see the common sense in having force support staff or others look at this.

"I think they'll also be thinking that we need to look at the whole range of duties that police officers currently do."

The retention of police delivery for vulnerable witnesses and children avoids them receiving letters they may not fully understand Crown Office spokesman

Ch Supt Clive Murray, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said police resources needed to be prioritised and focused on issues which gave maximum benefit to the public.

Scottish National Party MSP Stewart Maxwell said: "I think it's a disgrace, utter nonsense, that police officers are using hundreds of thousands of hours of their time delivering letters effectively, instead of being out making sure the public are safe in their homes and in their communities."

A Crown Office spokesman said the number of citations carried out by the police had been reduced through a pilot scheme to post the documents to witnesses in summary cases.

He said that in 2005/06 about 70,000 witness citations were successfully served by post.

But he said the use of police officers was more efficient as forces had existing systems allowing to keep track of the procedure, adding that officers could offer reassurance.

"The retention of police delivery for vulnerable witnesses and children, however, avoids them receiving letters they may not fully understand and provides an opportunity for them to ask questions of the person who delivers the citation," he said.