Renfrewshire Council has come under fire over its recruitment of special constables
The recruits will work alongside regular officers patrolling the streets, but will be paid the minimum wage of ?7.20 an hour
The unemployed are being drafted in as full-time special constables in a move blasted as ?policing on the cheap? by unions.
Renfrewshire Council is offering 11-month, full-time ?traineeships? which will see new recruits work alongside regular officers patrolling the streets but paid the National Living Wage of ?7.20 an hour.
The successful applicants will be trained at the national police college where they will undergo a ?revised? version of the training programme undertaken by probationer officers.
If successful it?s possible other councils will follow suit.
Officials in Renfrewshire insisted the special constable recruitment drive was part of an anti-poverty scheme to provide unemployed people with work experience.
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