More than 3,700 people in Tayside were handed fixed penalty fines for low-level anti-social behaviour offences in the last year, according to figures released on Thursday.
New figures show that last year 3,712 people in Tayside were issued with a fixed penalty notice - the second highest figure of Scotland’s police forces, second only to Strathclyde.
The statistics revealed that 885 cases of urinating in a public place, 2,149 cases of breach of the peace, 315 cases of consumption of alcoholic liquor in a public place in contravention of local bye-law and 258 cases of vandalism were punished by on-the-spot fines in the last year, according to statistics from the Scottish Conservative party.
Mid-Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said he was "shocked and alarmed" at the number of people in Tayside who have received fixed penalty notices for the offences.
Mr Fraser said: "It is shocking to learn that almost nine hundred fixed penalty notices were handed down last year to people in Tayside for urinating in a public place.
"The people of Perthshire will be astonished and alarmed by these figures. To make matters worse, these statistics are almost certainly an underestimate of the problem, as they record only those actually caught.
"I believe that if these perpetrators in Tayside are not worried about the consequences, then they will not be worried about their actions. We need to send out a much stronger message to discourage this type of behaviour as the majority of law-abiding people in Perthshire should not have to put up with this.
"It is very worrying to learn that there have also been 2,149 cases of Breach of the Peace in Tayside and 315 cases of consuming alcohol in a public place where it is banned by a local bye-law in Tayside.
"Tayside Police officers carry out a magnificent job and are committed to stamping out this type of disgusting behaviour and crime. It is due to their hard-work and dedication that there has been a high number of people caught and issued with Fixed Penalty Notices."
