New research has revealed up to 2,000 unqualified electricians are working across Scotland.

SELECT, the trade association for the electrical contracting industry in the country, revealed as part of it's campaign to regulate the profession of electrician, the organisation carried out an in-depth research exercise.

After establishing total of 103 electricians were trading in the representative local authority area of East Lothian, the trade association then looked at how many of these were current members of SELECT, were registered with the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) and how many were registered with the Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB).

In a letter to Government Ministers, SELECT said: "From the data, we discovered that of the 103, 30 were SELECT Members, 12 were registered with the NICEIC and 25 were registered with the SJIB. We could not find any record of any qualification for the remaining 36.

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"If this is then extrapolated, there is an average of 0.36 unqualified electricians per 1000 head of population. According to the Scottish Government's own statistics, Scotland has a population of 5.39M which suggests that there are at least 1940 unqualified electricians."

The letter goes on to provide a chart showing the number of likely unqualified electricians trading in each authority area, plus the search criteria SELECT used.

With 1,250 members carrying out more than £1 billion worth of the country's electrical work, SELECT Managing Director Newell McGuinness said the Scottish population "must be protected from rogues who do nothing to help our economy".

"Our research has established that there are significant numbers of individuals trading as electricians without holding qualifications," he said.

"This is an issue which the Scottish Government must address as a matter of urgency. The opinion submitted previously from our constitutional law experts has established that the Government has the power to act.

"The Scottish population, the vulnerable, the young and the old must be protected from rogues who do nothing to help our economy. These people do not train apprentices; they often avoid paying proper taxes and more likely than not, carry out unsafe and potentially dangerous work.

"One of the key points that we have emphasised repeatedly is that many of the faults they leave behind are latent and are unlikely to be recognisable to members of the public.

"We expect Ministers, now they are in possession of the answers to the questions posed, to work with the industry, employers and our trade union colleagues, to introduce a legal framework to regulate the industry, and initially at least to provide Protection of Title for properly qualified Electricians."

(LM)