By Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Editor

ONE of Scotland's most senior sheriffs has been forced to quit after accusations that he visited an Edinburgh sauna.

Andrew Lothian, who was on the bench almost 30 years, stepped down from his £126,400-a-year post with immediate effect on Friday.

Lothian, 65, was a sheriff in Glasgow from 1979 to 1992, and for the past 16 years had been a sheriff in Edinburgh.

According to legal sources, his alleged visit to the Scorpio sauna emerged during a police inquiry into an alleged extortion attempt on another man.

Two men and a woman appeared on petition last month at Haddington Sheriff Court in relation to an attempt to extort money from an HBOS manager.

A source close to the case suggested Lothian had been filmed being caned or spanked.

However, he was not the subject of an extortion attempt, and nor has he been charged with any offence.

He retired with the knowledge of Sheriff Principal Edward Bowen, who is in charge of the court service in Lothian and Borders. He is expected to keep his pension of about £7000 a month.

Lothian was not universally popular with the solicitors who appeared before him.

"He's one of the most unpleasant people that you can find on a bench in Scotland," said one lawyer.

"Other agents from outside Edinburgh are astonished at how unpleasant he is. He's an absolute bloody nightmare."

Another added: "In one sense it's sad. He's been a sheriff for a long time and to go out like that is humiliating. But he's horribly bad tempered and picks on people in court, so a lot of people are delighted to see this."

Lothian had a stormy private life, with three failed marriages.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Court Service said: "I can confirm that Sheriff Andrew Lothian has retired with immediate effect."