o far, only the first of up to three phases has been completed with all the council’s gritters fitted with a telematic system; other vehicles will follow.

The second phase begins this month when all bin lorries and road sweepers will be fitted with the devices which are a way of monitoring the location, movements, status and behaviour of a vehicle or fleet of vehicles.

‘Then we hope to fit the system to all vans and vehicles under 3.5 tonnes,’ said a council spokeswoman.

The move has not gone down well with workers.

A Kintyre employee from one of the vehicles told The Courier: ‘The Council could be spending money in better ways than to track their vehicles. It’s a way for them check up on their employees.

‘There are a lot of us not happy about it although most of us have different views.’

But Councillor John Semple said they’d better get used to it, just as their colleagues in an office have managers on the spot.

He said: ‘I know some people will be possibly concerned about being watched but any council worker who works in an office has a manager there, it’s part of a normal working environment.’

Mr Semple said that it is a programme really about improving the management’s knowledge of how vehicle fleets are being used while ensuring vehicles are being put to their best use. He said: ‘The more information managers have about how fleet vehicles are being run means they know resources are in the right place at the right time.’

And the council spokeswoman added: ‘Whilst the system is commonly referred to as a tracking system it provides much more data than just the vehicle location and we hope to significantly improve the management of the fleet resources through the use of this telematic system.'

http://www.campbeltowncourier.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/4177/Council%92s_spy_in_the_cab_move.html