Police win 'gay-friendly' honour

Lothian and Borders Police are "delighted" to receive the honour

A police force has been named Scotland's most gay-friendly employer.

Lothian and Borders Police is also the first Scottish employer to feature in the top 20 of Britain's best employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

The results were unveiled by gay rights charity Stonewall in its 2008 Workplace Equality Index.

Stonewall Scotland director Calum Irving praised the force's "fantastic" achievement and said he hoped other employers would follow its example.

He said: "They have made tackling homophobia in the workplace a priority and showed that, with will and leadership, any workplace can be made a positive environment where lesbian, gay and bisexual staff can thrive alongside their straight colleagues.

"There is simply no excuse for homophobia in the workplace. I hope that where Lothian and Borders Police have led, others will follow and all gay people will be afforded dignity and respect at work."

To come out of this as the top employer in Scotland demonstrates the effort put into this by all staff members across the force and rightly recognises their great contribution to achieving this success Tom Halpin Lothian and Borders Police

The charity's index of Britain's top 100 employers is based on how well organisations engage with gay staff, customers and service users.

Lothian and Borders Police - Scotland's second largest force - came 11th in the UK survey, up from 80th place last year.

Stonewall found the Scottish Government was the second best employer in Scotland, coming 51st in the top 100.

National crime reduction charity Nacro topped the UK poll.

Tom Halpin, deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders, said the force was "delighted" to receive the honour.

He said: "To come out of this as the top employer in Scotland demonstrates the effort put into this by all staff members across the force and rightly recognises their great contribution to achieving this success."