Drivers who ignored closure signs and motored through heavily flooded Perthshire roads will not be prosecuted, police chiefs have confirmed.
Several motorists took a gamble on waterlogged rural routes during weeks of extreme rainfall at the start of the year.
On at least two occasions, drivers came to grief in several feet of water and had to be rescued by firefighters.
Police Scotland told The Courier they would not be taking action against motorists who ventured along roads closed by flooding even those who were caught on camera.
However, the decision was questioned after it emerged drivers in other parts of the country were facing prosecution for similar offences.
Police in Aberdeenshire last week charged 10 people for driving through the flooded B999, while a 47-year-old woman in Peebles faces a count of careless driving after she had to be rescued from her half-submerged Volkswagen Polo.
Blairgowrie councillor Caroline Shiers said: “I am surprised that Police Scotland are not taking a countrywide approach to this issue as I would have thought that a consistent message would have the most effect.
“There were clearly a huge amount of resources from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service involved in rescues from the flood waters between Blairgowrie and Coupar Angus.”
She said: “There will be confusion as to why drivers are fined in some parts of the country and not others. I shall be asking local officers why they are not taking a national line on this.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service added: “Road closed signs on flooded roads are there to protect members of the public and anyone who ignores them are putting not only themselves in serious danger but also emergency service crews who are called to respond.
“If people obeyed the signage they wouldn’t find themselves in danger or difficulty and SFRS resources wouldn’t be unnecessarily diverted from other potentially life threatening situations, such as fire.”
A police spokeswoman confirmed that no drivers were being pursued.
After new year, an elderly driver had to be rescued by firefighters when he got stranded during an attempt to cross the A923 Blairgowrie-Coupar Angus route, near Butterybank.
A video of the incident, captured by a passer-by, went viral on social media.
The following day, an oil worker had to be rescued from his BMW when it became stuck on a waterlogged road near Kinclaven Bridge.
He insisted that there were no road closure signs in place at the time, despite what the fire service claimed.