Police Scotland have axed their use of airborne volunteers to assist in high-profile operations, The Courier can reveal.
Before the single service was introduced, volunteer pilots from the charity patrol service regularly helped out in searches for missing people.
In recent months they have not been called out, however. After inquiries by The Courier, senior police officials have now confirmed they do not intend to use the service.
That decision has angered members of the civil air patrol, who warn the consequences could be catastrophic.
Archie Liggat, chief pilot of the group’s lowland unit, said the service also known as Skywatch provided a valuable additional resource.
Mr Liggat was particularly disappointed not to have been called out during last week’s fruitless search for a man who plummeted from the Tay Bridge, insisting pilots could have checked local beaches and riverbanks from an aerial vantage point.
“We could have been out searching and could possibly have found him,” he said.
Mr Liggat described the decision not to call on members of the patrol service “very disappointing”, adding volunteers only found out about the search when they read the story in the Courier.
He said: “The resources are just sitting here but if the police don’t contact us we don’t know.
“We are still being used by the fire service but the police don’t seem interested in talking to us anymore. We are not here just to help the police but to help the community.
“We only do humanitarian work and we don’t do any crime fighting. Obviously, the police don’t have to use us but we feel we are of value to the community.”
The civil patrol service was previously involved in countless searches and has specialised in searching for bodies.
“We have had a number of successes in the past,” Mr Liggat added.
“What happens in water searches is that bodies can reappear several days later. From 800ft we can easily spot things on the ground.
“All our pilots are highly experienced guys…but since Police Scotland came together they won’t operate with us anymore and it is the community that is suffering.”
With bases across Scotland, including Perth and Fife, the airborne volunteers can reach most places within an hour.
They are funded by donations and run the service around their normal flying jobs. When contacted by The Courier, Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins of Police Scotland admitted the patrol service would no longer be utilised.
“The UK Civil Air Patrol Skywatch is a volunteer programme and not a 24 hours a day, seven days a week national resource,” he said.
“Since the start of Police Scotland, the air support unit has become a Scotland-wide resource with specially trained officers using state of the art equipment which is available to assist in a variety of operations, including searching for missing people in remote areas across Scotland in a coordinated and operationally managed way.
“Police Scotland has considered all options available to them, and has come to the unavoidable conclusion that it should cease using the volunteer UK Civil Air Patrol.”