The Scottish Government has faced fresh calls to delay the start of their "fiasco" home fire alarm policy.
New laws passed by the Holyrood administration in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster will force homeowners to install inter-linked smoke detectors in their properties.
Anybody failing to comply with the measures - which also call for heat alarms to be mounted in kitchens and carbon monoxide detectors where properties have carbon-producing appliances such as gas boilers - by the February 1 deadline, risks voiding home insurance policies.
But the plans have met with rising disquiet over the costs involved in installing the equipment for hard-pressed home owners, availability of the equipment and lack of clarity which has left some groups, such as pensioners, worried and bamboozled over the requirements.
Now Labour's Neil Bibby has written to Minister calling for a further delay in the rollout.
The safety measures, which have left home owners raging, were already knocked back from a planned implementation last year by the Holyrood administration due to the covid pandemic.
But there plan to press ahead this year has drawn cross-party criticism.
Now Paisley-based MSP Neil Bibby has blasted the government, whom he says have done little to help raise public awareness or assist homeowners in understanding the requirements.
He called on ministers to come before Parliament and address the issue, saying: "The Scottish Government need to deal with this fiasco.
"We are now just two weeks away from these rules hitting homeowners, potentially making their home insurance worthless.
"It beggars belief that ministers are still refusing to consider a delay, despite mounting chaos around the new rules."
The West of Scotland list MSP added: "Most homeowners don’t even know these laws exist, and those who do are being hit by supply shortages and hefty bills. No adjustment to the deadline has been made in the face of the Omicron wave.
"The Scottish Government cannot keep ignoring the mess they have made of this policy. They should delay implementation. I have written to the minister calling for an urgent statement to Parliament this week so we can get the answers homeowners need."
Homeowners face failing to comply with legislation if they don't fit the systems, which could be used by insurers to void home policies.
Fears are also rife that elderly homeowners panicked into complying could face exploitation from rogue traders.
The Scottish Government has said that nobody will be criminalised if they need more time to fit the systems and there are no penalties for non-compliance.
But they have still come under fire over the perhaps unintentional consequences on the home insurance policies of non-compliant properties, as well as over claims the £220 installation cost prediction for the average property on the Scottish Government's own website is likely to be unrealistic. sport: smarturl.it/RenfrewLiveSocial
