PRESSURE continues to mount on police boss Sir Stephen House and the SNP following the M9 tragedy.

The Labour party have renewed calls for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland to resign with around 700 people signing a petition backing the claims.

The petition, started online, also demands Justice Secretary Michael Matheson to step down.

Writing on a personal blog yesterday, Scottish Labour's acting leader Iain Gray attacked the problems at Scotland's national force and urged the SNP to "sort out the mess."

Mr Gray wrote about his time as Deputy Justice Minister on the website and said: "...One of the reasons I liked working with the police was that senior officers took responsibility for delivering.

"They must take responsibility when things go wrong too.

"When trust and confidence in the police is endangered, someone has to be accountable, something has to change.

"That is why I have said that the Chief Constable should reflect on his position, and resign."

He also blamed the SNP's Michael Matheson, claiming the Justice Secretary had "developed a reputation for correcting the mistakes of his predecessor."

Mr Gray added: "He did that by cancelling the female “super prison” and backtracking on the abolition of corroboration.

"However he has failed to tackle the systemic problems of Police Scotland though.

"MSPs have repeatedly raised concerns in Parliament about call centre closures, staff cuts, armed officers and stop and search.

"We are simply told that everything is fine.

"The Justice Secretary may have announced an inquiry following the A9 deaths, but he has prejudged it by simultaneously claiming that there are no systemic problems with call handling.

"This looks more like a search for the long grass than for answers."

Both Mr Matheson and Nicola Sturgeon have backed Stephen House, who says he will not resign following the tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill.

Ms Bell, 25, lay in a car for three days beside her dead partner Mr Yuill after it crashed on the M9 near Stirling.

Despite being reported to the police, the call went unanswered for three days.

As reported in later editions of yesterday's Evening Times, the brother of Ms Bell blames police Scotland for the death of his sister and signed a petition calling for Sir Stephen's resignation.

Many others who signed the petition cited said the centralised force was the wrong decision and said questions have to be answered on the M9 tragedy as soon as possible.