Holyrood tour price goes up for third time in four years

THE cost of taking a guided tour of the Scottish Parliament went up today.

Adult visitors to the £414 million Holyrood building must now pay £6 a time for the tour, compared to a previous charge of £5.

The concessionary price for under-16s, over-60s, students, unemployed and disabled people, went up from £3 to £3.60, and a family ticket from £15.20 to £18.

It is the second price rise in just 18 months. There was an outcry when it was first announced people would have to pay for tours of the building. MSPs complained the public had already paid for the soaring cost of construction and were being "double charged" to see where their money had gone.

The initial £3.50 charge levied when the building opened in 2004 went up by 40 per cent to £5 in October 2006, and last November there was a further 20 per cent rise announced to take effect from today. The tours are available on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays when parliament is sitting.