POLICE Scotland has put 5000 officers on standby in case Donald Trump visits next month.

The national force has warned that it may face a crippling bill of £5m if the controversial US president crosses the border during a potential UK tour.

Interim Chief Constable Iain Livingstone on Thursday said he had even cancelled rest days and changed shifts as his team braces for what many believe could be the biggest Scottish public order challenge since the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005.

However, Mr Livingstone warned his ruling watchdog that it was not clear whether Police Scotland would get any financial support for policing Mr Trump's visit - and anticipated mass protests - from the UK Government which invited the president.

He told the Scottish Police Authority that the costs of "around the £5m mark" would present a "clearly a significant impact on an already very disciplined and focused budget".

Mr Livingstone added: "We don't have clarity about where - if at all - such additional funding could be sought."

No 10 later signalled that its ministers would "consider" requests for funding.

Mr Livingstone suggested that funding may depend on whether Mr Trump's Scottish visit is official or private. There has been speculation he  might come to one of his golf courses over a weekend in two weeks time, between as yet unconfirmed meetings with Theresa May and a summit with Vladimir Putin.

Mr Livingstone said talks were under way between Scottish and UK authorities already. He stressed his main focus on was operational matters and that he was working closely with London's Metropolitan Police.

The Herald: donald-trump.jpg-pwrt3.jpg-pwrt3.jpg

Donald Trump

He said: "In practical terms even without a confirmed itinerary we need to consider a wide variety of policing factors, ranging from security measures for the president as a protected person to the policing of potential demonstrations and protests and our duty to ensure and enable such demonstrations and protests.

"All of this would be dependent - and is dependent - on resources.

"This has meant we have had to cancel rest days and change shifts for many officers and significant disruption to the people involved and their families.

"We estimate at this time that we will have to utilise over 5000 conventional officers along with public order officers and specialised search and firearms resources.

"All of this is on top of day to day policing as well as additional summer pressures."

The Herald: US presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks at his revamped Trump Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire

Trump at his Turnberry course

Mr Livingstone said Police Scotland could face protests even if Mr Trmp does not come. It is thought his potential visit, the first since he was elected 18 months ago, could take place in mid July.

Police Scotland, which has a budget of around £1 billion, ended last year in the red. It has managed to improve its financial position but an extra £5m bill would undo much of that work.

The force has limited flexibility in its finances - most of which go on salaries - so even an unexpected bill that would account for just a small proportion of its budget could be relatively serious. Its overspend is current £35m.

At Westminster, No 10 made clear that the UK Government worked closely with police forces on major events and that requests for additional financial support would be considered by ministers.

Asked about how Mr Trump's visit was already raising serious contingency issues, Theresa May's deputy spokeswoman said: "We haven't confirmed the details of his programme and until we do I can't get into possibilities of what that looks like at this stage."

But on the issue of cost, she explained: "More generally, for major events we obviously work very closely with the police and we will consider requests for support, including financial support on a case by case basis."

Asked, with two weeks to go, about when the Government might release details of the trip so authorities could plan effectively, given the possibility of mass protests, the spokeswoman said: "It is not uncommon ahead of a major visit not to have the programme puublicly confirmed for security reasons."

Asked if the Government would seek to give authorities enough notice ahead of Mr Trump's visit, she replied: "Yes, we obviously would work closely with all other parties involved in a major visit. Again, I can't get into the ins and outs of the programme but we will, of course, we would, of course, for any major event work closely with the police."

The Herald: Home Secretary Theresa May

Theresa May

The body representing rank and file officers, the Scottish Policed Federation, stressed it would be unfair if the UK Government did not pay the bill. It said:  "The uncertainty over the question of President Trump visiting Scotland during his
official visit to the UK is already causing considerable disruption to police officers. "That disruption will have long lasting effects and is likely to be compounded if the already overstretched budget of the Police Service of Scotland is expected to pick up the bill for this potential presidential visit." 

Justice Secretary Designate Humza Yousaf said: "Although a visit from the US President has not been confirmed, we are planning for every eventuality with key partners including Police Scotland. 

"That planning involves on-going engagement with the UK Government on all aspects of any potential visit, including the significant cost implications it would carry for policing in Scotland.

“Given the President’s visit to the UK comes at the invitation of the UK Government, we are disappointed that they are not automatically paying these costs. I will be writing to them to seek further clarity over how these costs will be met, should a visit to Scotland take place.”

The Herald: Humza Yousaf called for refugees to be treated as human beings

Humza Yousaf

Scottish Labour also said it expected the UK Government to pay while Liam Macarthur of the Scottish Liberal Democrats said: "This is the most expensive round of golf in history. The people of Scotland don’t want him here and they don’t want to pick up the tab.

"The Conservative Government shouldn’t be rolling out the red carpet for someone with such appalling views on human rights."