The Society of Messengers at Arms and Sheriff officers has announced a new scale of fees for serviceto counter what it describes as "reductions to core activities and increased operating and fuel costs."

The new system replaces the old 3 tiered system with a single fee, to whihc a 30% uplift is added to work carried out in areas defined by a Scottish Government publication as remote rural.

An additional fee will be chargeable for actions exceeding £100,000 in value.

The changes will apply from 23rd January.

The Society added that other fees such as interdicts, repossessions and ejections "remain unaltered", subject to an inflationary increase of 3.8%.