Thugs who pelted emergency services workers with rocks and fireworks on Bonfire Night should face the 'full force of the law', the Tories have demanded after another night of violence.
Police Scotland condemned the 'intolerable' behaviour that 'terrorised' Scottish communities and saw seven people, including a 16-year-old boy, arrested on Thursday night.
Politicians last night urged the maximum sentence for attacks on emergency workers to be doubled to two years and for a ban on the sale of fireworks to the public to be introduced.
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Stephen Kerr said: 'The SNP's current laws to punish those who attack blue light workers are far too weak.'
In the most shocking incident on Thursday night, a police van was set on fire in the Provanmill area of Glasgow.
Police officers and an ambulance crew, responding to a report of an injured male in Greenside Street, were attacked with fireworks and the police van was set alight.
A police van was set on fire during the shameful scenes
Chief Superintendent David Robertson said it was 'completely unacceptable'
An ambulance staff member received minor burns and a police officer suffered bruising.
Police were also targeted with fireworks in Edinburgh after they were called to Oxgangs Road North where a group had created a blockade in the road and set it alight.
Chief Superintendent David Robertson of Police Scotland said: 'Thankfully it's a small minority of people that conduct themselves in this way, but it's completely unacceptable.
'The behaviour has significant consequences - communities are terrorised, emergency service personnel have been targeted, people have been injured, and it's intolerable.'
Police Scotland received 1,024 fireworks-related calls between Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night, an increase on the 833 calls received over the same period last year.
More than 1,700 police officers were deployed across Scotland on Bonfire Night as it coincided with a European football clash between Celtic and Besiktas in Glasgow and a possible protest also in the city.
Police officers were drafted in from as far afield as Avon and Somerset, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and South Wales for Operation Amberlight, which Police Scotland described as its biggest operation since US President Donald Trump's visit last year.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said it received 1,172 calls from the public about unsafe bonfires and fireworks and attended more than 767 incidents.
There were six attacks on firefighters and fireworks, rocks and glass bottles thrown at crews and appliances.
Deputy Assistant Chief Officer Ian McMeekin, SFRS head of prevention, said: 'Firefighters are there to protect communities and respond to emergencies, and no member of our staff or our partners should face abuse, intimidation or violence for doing their job.
Council workers and contractors clean up after the violent scenes
Police and ambulance crews were attacked with fireworks
'We take a zero-tolerance approach to attacks on emergency workers and will continue to work closely with Police Scotland to identify those responsible.'
The Scottish Conservatives demanded Bonfire Night thugs 'must now feel the full force of the law.
The party's justice spokesman Stephen Kerr urged the SNP government to double the maximum sentence for those who attack emergency workers to two years.
He said: 'Yet again on Bonfire Night we have seen violence erupt and shameful attacks on our emergency workers.
'There must be a zero-tolerance approach to those who assault those just doing their jobs and who are trying to keep communities safe from these dangerous thugs.'
He added: 'John Swinney's soft-touch justice approach, including reckless sentencing guidelines for under-25s, has emboldened many young criminals who know they will escape proper punishment.
'The SNP's justice secretary must address these shameful scenes at the earliest opportunity next week in Holyrood.
'Communities need to know that those responsible will be fully punished and that the police will be given extra powers to ensure we don't see a repeat next year.'
David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said more stop-and-search powers were needed.
He said: 'We need to be able to demask these individuals on the spot and we have to make sure that they get arrested because having them reported is not stopping it, let's be honest.'
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