POLICE resources in Argyll and West Dunbartonshire remain sufficient despite the rise in cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, the area’s police chief has said.

And Chief Superintendent Lynn Ratcliff has assured councillors that work is ongoing to ensure it remains that way despite absences among officers.

However, she also told a council committee that plans for the force’s operations during the festive season may be revisited.

The chief superintendent, who is Divisional Commander for Argyll and West Dunbartonshire, was speaking at a meeting of the council’s community services committee on Thursday, December 16.

She said: “I know many of you in the meeting will be familiar with how we have dealt with the situation over the previous months.

“Some may be aware that we have a national operation in Police Scotland that informs of local responses to the pandemic in the force.

“It was stood down over the summer, but with things as they are, it has been stood up again and the real focus is to look national at how we support delivery on the ground.

“In terms of where we are in Argyll and Bute and across other areas, we are seeing it hitting quite significantly in terms of isolation.

“But more unusually, the number of infections we are seeing is much higher during periods of absence. That is reflective of the national position.

“So we do have absences on the up, but what I would say is that we are monitoring this on a daily basis and have sufficient numbers to meet all existing demands.

“We are planning ahead and looking to see how we can use the vast resources we do have to support areas where numbers go down.

“We provide daily updates to the police executive and the national operation to ensure numbers are sufficient in Argyll and Bute.”

In a report to go before the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond Area Committee the next day, Inspector Roddy MacNeill gave details of plans for the police over the festive period.

However, Chief Superintendent Ratcliff added: “I will be chairing a senior management team meeting tomorrow to look to ensure we comply with all measures that are in place to protect our workforce while providing a service to communities.

“We will look at resources and review the festive plans which have been implemented in the last couple of weeks. We recognise that these will be affected if absence numbers increase.

“It is very much a moving feast, as it is for all of us, and we will pay very close attention to it in the coming days and, I suspect, weeks.”