Areas of West Lothian continue to have some of the highest numbers of sex offenders in the country.
The EH54 postcode area – which includes Livingston, Uphall and Broxburn – houses the fifth highest number of registered sex offenders in Scotland, tied with the KA1 Kilmarnock area.
The postcode also comes top in the Lothians league table with 48 – one more than the last time figures were reported.
Also in the league table are West Lothian’s EH48 and EH49 postcodes which were reported as having 22 and 29 registered sex offenders respectively.
These include the Armadale, Blackburn, Bathgate, Fauldhouse areas.
The figures, released by Police Scotland, show the county had 99 sex offenders in total up to August 31.
The ML1 Motherwell postcode recorded the highest number with 69; Aberdeen’s AB24 had 54; Perth’s PH1 reported 52 and ML2 – which covers areas including Wishaw and Newmains – recorded 49.
In the entire Lothian and Borders J Division, there are 371 offenders – up 11 from last time, with 133 in custody or hospital.
In Scotland as a whole there are 4591 perverts living in communities.
A police spokesperson sought to reassure the public that re-offending rates are low and specialist teams monitor offenders.
The spokesperson continued: “Police Scotland, working with our MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) partners, manage registered sex offenders (RSOs) across all of Scotland’s communities.
“Every single offender is assessed and managed in line with the risk they present. Sexual re-offending rates of RSOs remain very low.
“While we can never completely eliminate risk, Police Scotland and MAPPA partners use robust risk assessment processes, and a range of investigative tools including the latest technologies, to manage RSOs, mitigate risk and to protect the public.”
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