They claimed to have identified suitable premises - a former district court building - in Glasgow.

The Tory call came eight months after the Scottish Government scrapped plans to set up a New York-style community court in the city.

The "Glasgow Community Justice Centre" would have given offenders education, drug programmes and reparation orders rather than send them to prison.

But the idea was dumped on cost and staffing grounds.

Reviving the idea, Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken described the Scottish Government decision as "yet another example of the SNP's soft-touch Scotland".

Mr Aitken said: "They talk about sending fewer people to prison but they seem unable, or perhaps unwilling, to put in place suitable alternative disposals to prison."

A council-owned building in Glasgow's Turnbull Street should be turned into a community justice centre at a fraction of the cost of a new building, he said.

"It is now lying in disuse and whilst there would need to be some money spent I am sure that the amounts involved would more than justify proceeding.

"The Community Court could make a very real and positive impact by ensuring speedy and effective justice in visible surroundings. It would make a real difference to justice in Scotland."