By Daniel Bach

A GLASGOW museum which was within days of closing after being evicted from its former location has reopened - just in time for the summer holidays.

The Glasgow Police Museum, which documents the history of the UK's oldest police force, was given just three weeks to put its collection into storage last November.

A shake-up of landlords at the B-listed District Court buildings in St Andrew's Square - where the museum had been housed since 2002 - left the museum without a home.

But curator and retired police inspector Alastair Dinsmor found a new home for his collection in the Merchant City and has spent the past six months refitting the new Bell Street location to showcase his world-class memorabilia.

Alastair, a 30-year veteran of the Glasgow force and chairman of the Glasgow Police Heritage Society, said: "I felt the story of Britain's first police force had yet to be told properly when I first opened the museum. If we had put our collection into storage, we would have been completely forgotten. It's great that these stories can be told again."

The new location at 30 Bell Street is of historic significance as well, according to Alastair, as it sits just steps away from the original Glasgow police HQ which opened in 1825 on Albion Street, where the Fruitmarket stands today.

More than 100 visitors have enjoyed the collection in the first week since the free museum re-opened.

During the past seven years, the museum has attracted more than 55,000 visitors, also being recognized with a three-star award from tourism group VisitScotland.

And 12 retired officers volunteer their time on a rotating basis to share their knowledge on Glasgow's police history.

Alastair said part of his interest in setting up the museum came when he realised the traditions of the Glasgow Police have been rubbing off on forces around the world over the past two centuries.

Alastair said: "I was collecting memorabilia when I was a cadet before joining the Glasgow Police as a constable in 1968.

"With all the stories that can be told about Britain's oldest police force, it gets more interesting every day."

Standout items on display include the engraved plate presented to Charles Rennie MacIntosh's father upon his retirement from the force, the original fingerprint records of serial killer Peter Manuel, the last men to be hanged in Scotland in 1958, and a business card from the 1890s handed out by "Glasgow's Sherlock Holmes", Detective Archie Carmichael.

The Glasgow force dates back to 1800, decades before London's Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police forces were established.