3700 hopefuls had a record

ALMOST 3700 people who applied to work with children or vulnerable adults in the Lothians were found to have criminal convictions, new figures have shown.

Background checks were carried out on 54,602 individuals by Disclosure Scotland during last year, with 3697 showing up as having a criminal record.

Breach of the peace was the most common offence on the records of those checked, with 732 convictions. A total of 383 had assault convictions, 270 had a theft conviction, and 152 had a conviction under the Misuse of Drugs Act.