SCOTLAND could face a severe shortage of qualified door stewards and security staff ahead of new legislation regulating the sector, industry leaders predict.

Just seven months before the introduction of the Private Security Industry Act north of the border, and three years after coming into force in England and Wales, the body regulating it has increased the cost for an approved badge for stewards from £190 to £245.

Combined with the cost of training, which can be as much as £300 and take more than a week to complete, prospective security guards and door stewards would be shelling out more than £500 before earning anything.

With many frontline security staff being part-time, some of Scotland's largest firms fear the cost will be a huge disincentive for those normally attracted by the industry. The Security Industry Authority has defended the cost, saying it needs to be self-financing and that it had previously miscalculated its running costs. The rise comes into force in April, with the law changing in November.

The scheme will apply to an estimated 8000 staff working in the security industry in Scotland and after November it will be a criminal offence to be work as a door steward without a licensed badge.

Yesterday, representatives of Scotland's largest providers of licensed trade door staff met in Glasgow to discuss the rise and the potential of delaying it. While accepting the need for the industry to be regulated and the self-financing requirements of the SIA they want the rise delayed until Scotland comes in line with the rest of the UK.

Mark Hamilton, managing director of security firm Rock Steady, said that as well as being "an unfair imposition on the Scottish industry" the price increase would be a deterrent to potential staff.