A task force has been set up to save lives in Perthshire after a spate of tragedies at motor sports events.
Emergency services will join forces with council chiefs to tighten safety measures at future events, after spectators were killed at two hugely popular car rallies.
In 2013, a woman was killed and a child injured at the Highland Snowman event. Just a year later, two separate accidents at the Jim Clark Rally left three people dead and another six injured.
The tragedies prompted a review of safety at Scottish spectator events.
Now councillors in Perthshire are being asked to approve plans for a local Strategic Safety Advisory Group (SSAG).
The team would oversee safety and offer guidance at all high profile events across the region, including the Rewind Festival and Perth’s Christmas Lights switch-on which brings tens of thousands of people into the city centre.
The group will also safety check future visits from the Queen or other members of the royal family.
In a report to community safety committee members, the council’s health, safety and wellbeing manager John Handling said: “The primary focus of the Perth and Kinross SSAG is the safety of all people participating in an event and the safety of members of the general public who could be affected.”
He said events which would be scrutinised were ones where there was thought to be “a significant public safety risk”.
Major events where alcohol is available – and where noise and antisocial behaviour is expected – will also be checked by the group, meaning members could be asked to scrutinise next year’s T in the Park.
However, ultimate responsibility will still lie with event organisers.
Mr Handling said the group was a “multi-agency approach aimed at ensuring the organisers of significant events plan for and then execute their events in a manner which is safe for both participants and for members of the public.”
As well as key council officers, the group will include representatives from Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the ambulance service and NHS Tayside.
“It is the responsibility of the council and all members of the Strategy Safety Advisory Group to ensure that event organisers uphold a suitable and sufficient standard of public safety that ensures compliance with legislative obligations and encourages the wellbeing of the public, event staff and event participants.”
Members of the community safety committee will be asked to approve the new group at their meeting next week.
