THE number of stop-and-searches carried out by police in Fife rocketed by 471 per cent in a year.

And one in every seven of those pulled aside by officers were kids between 10 and 15 years of age.

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser highlighted the huge rise and said the figures must be “justified” by Police Scotland.

From April 2013 to March 2014 there were 9967 people in Fife subject to stop and search, up from just 1740 in 2012-13.

The figures included 946 boys and 388 girls who were 15 or under, while 487 people aged 50 and over were stopped.

Mr Fraser said, “Stop-and-search is a valuable tool to detect and deter crime but only if used proportionately and not abused.

“There are questions around the consistency of stop-and-searches and I am particularly concerned that hundreds of children are being stopped.” There were 8120 males and 1847 females who were stopped and searched in Fife last year, the vast majority were listed as ‘white - Scottish’.

Most of the men were aged between 16 and 39.

The Tory MSP continued, “Huge surges in those searched in Perth and Kinross, Fife and Stirling must be justified by the police force.

“A one-size-fits-all approach can’t and won’t work and Police Scotland should be alert to this.

“We want stop and search to remain a valuable tool to detect and deter crime, but to achieve this objective the process has to be transparent and accountable.” In Dunfermline and West Fife alone, there were 3075 searches carried out, compared to 215 for the previous 12 months.

In May when the local figures came out the west area commander, Chief Inspector Gordon Mitchell, defended the practice and said it was keeping communities safer. He said one in four stops achieved a positive result with alcohol, stolen property, drugs and weapons taken off the streets. CI Mitchell added, “If we recover a victim’s stolen property or if we prevent serious injury by taking a knife off the streets or prevent harm through the vulnerability of alcohol or drugs then we have done a good job.” As for the reported rise, he explained, “I do understand that the figures show a substantial increase on the previous year. “Due to the recording issues in place in at that time, the majority of stop-searches were not captured. “The reality is that it is very much business as usual and I am pleased that the new recording methods give transparency around how we carry out stop-and-search.” He had added that any use of stop-and-search would “always be proportionate and in areas subjected to crime, drug dealing, violence, disorder or anti-social behaviour”.