Security firm G4S were involved in an embarrassing incident at Dundee Sheriff Court when one of their prisoner transfer vans became stuck under a roller door.
G4S insisted the door started to descend as the vehicle passed below rather than their driver tried to squeeze his van through the doorway after the roller door had lowered.
Tayside Police are investigating the circumstances and stressed that prisoner transfer arrangements were not affected by the collision.
The G4S driver was leaving the secure yard behind Dundee Sheriff Court and Tayside Police HQ when the top of his vehicle was in collision with the roller door.
The lorry which had moments earlier dropped off prisoners awaiting court appearances was wedged stuck for several minutes until it was released.
The door was left buckled by the impact leaving wide open the yard, where inmates who are transported from jail and those arrested by police are unloaded before going into court.
The square compound has a ramp that accesses the cells area of Tayside Police headquarters and Dundee Sheriff Court.
It was the place where Peter Tobin was famously pictured being led off to jail after being convicted of the murder of Vicky Hamilton at the High Court in Dundee in December 2008.
A court source said: ”It’s pretty embarrassing it seems like he’s driven off not realising the door wasn’t all the way up. It’s totally burst open now there’s no way it will roll back down. As a result that yard is wide open.
”It is meant to be a totally secure area it is where inmates are unloaded in handcuffs for court appearances, and where the cops bring arrested people in.”
A G4S spokesman insisted: ”The vehicle was making its way through the doorway when the roller door came down on top of it. There was no security breach and no one was injured.”
A police spokeswoman said: ”We can confirm that the roller shutter door at Tayside Police headquarters was damaged following a collision with a vehicle.
”No one was injured and suitable arrangements are in place to ensure security is not compromised. The door will be repaired in due course.”
G4S was mired in controversy when it failed to recruit enough security guards for the Olympics after being awarded a £284 million contract for the assignment.
Company chief Nick Buckles told MPs he regretted taking on the security contract as it had become a ”humiliating shambles”.
The company may lose £50 million because it could not supply enough security guards but it intended to keep its £57 million management fee. Mr Buckles told MPs the military and police would be reimbursed for providing personnel to plug the shortfall.