Police Officers in communities across Scotland do fantastic work and help to keep us safe. But we should not shy away from asking difficult questions when things go wrong.

The tragic events in Stirling last week are a dramatic illustration of what can happen when things do go wrong in our Police service.

Our deepest sympathies must go to the families and friends of John Yuill and Lamara Bell. It is clear that they have been failed. The crash on the M9, and the subsequent failure of the police to respond to the accident for three days, is truly shocking.

There is no question that the delay between the initial emergency service call and the couple being found was totally unacceptable.

I have been contacted by constituents and serving police officers who are horrified by the details of this case. They want a thorough investigation into the serious issues raised by this tragic incident and answers over whether they are connected to wider problems with the operation of Police Scotland.

We do not yet have a clear picture of the sequence of events around the crash in Stirling. But already there have been reports over possible problems in the police control room.

Last year, Police Scotland announced a reduction in the number of control rooms. These are the facilities which handle emergency and 101 calls, and dispatch officers to incidents.

As a result of the closures we have already seen, calls from Clackmannanshire are now dealt with at the Bilston Glen facility in Midlothian.

Serving officers have contacted me in the past warning of the high workload pressures that staff at the Bilston Glen are facing.

I have been told that many experienced staff were lost to the service when doors closed at local control rooms, and that police officers are being asked to perform duties that ordinarily would have been performed by specialist civilian staff due to shortages.

These are serious claims that need to be looked into fully. If the control room closures we have seen are making it more difficult for police officers to help keep us safe, we need to know about it.

We have also had reports of the damaging impact of a targets culture and huge workload pressures on staff morale since the creation of Police Scotland.

There has been controversy over the deployment of armed officers on routine duties in communities around Scotland and the Chief Constable was forced to admit that data published on the use of the discredited stop and search tactic was inaccurate.

If we are to ensure that the tragic events in Stirling are not repeated then issues like these also need to be considered and lessons learned. Until we get the answers we need, there should also be an immediate suspension of the remaining control room closures that are planned for later this year.