Parliament leaks costly to plug

Parts of the roof at Holyrood continue to spring leaks

Almost �100,000 has been spent in the last year trying to plug leaks in the Scottish Parliament, it has emerged.

The main problem has been water getting into the basement car park and there are continuing problems with parts of the roof.

Contractors have been brought in to excavate parts of the garden and fit a new drainage system.

Last year the bill for repairing the leaks reached �94,000 - on top of the annual maintenance budget of �1.4m.

Some MSPs claimed the situation was so bad they were forced to use buckets to collect water dripping into their offices.

A total of �39,000 was originally set aside solve the problem of the leaky roof in the main building.

Drainage system

A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: "It has been clear for some time that we have a problem with leaks in the upper basement and car park area.

"Over the course of this financial year contractors have carried out the work to address the problem. This has included excavation work, work in the drainage system and work on the membrane material above the car park ceiling.

"The budget reflects that this is on-going work."

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