A Dundee court was severely disrupted on Tuesday by an infestation of flies.
Courtroom number one at Dundee Sheriff Court had to be closed to the public because of the large number of bugs swarming round the room.
All of the scheduled business – including deferred sentences and undertakings to appear – had to be moved to court three, along with Sheriff Alistair Brown.
The outbreak of insects had first been noted on Monday, when Sheriff George Way interrupted proceedings to smash one fly which landed beside him on the bench.
Several court staff had also killed a number of flies during the day but when court re-commenced on Tuesday the infestation had worsened.
After a period of trying to conduct the court business despite the distraction, the decision was taken to close the room until further notice and call in exterminators.
A court source said: “The problem was just getting worse and worse and there was no way to carry on with people waving flies away and trying to squash them the whole time.
“It was completely distracting and the only sensible thing to do was to move everybody, lock, stock and barrel, to a different courtroom.
“Fortunately, court three was available and after a break to sort things out the court was able to resume.
“Court one will be out of commission until the flies have been dealt with.”
For the latest court cases across Tayside and Fife, join our Courts Facebook page.
