NICOLA Sturgeon has described as “ridiculous” the claims of a Scottish Tory councillor who said Glasgow escaped an Aberdeen-style lockdown because it voted Yes in 2014.

Earlier this week, Aberdeen City Council co-leader Douglas Lumsden said it was unfair that the government had only imposed restrictions on households in Glasgow City, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire.

When the north east was forced into local lockdown last month, pubs, restaurants and cafes were all ordered to close immediately, and a five-mile travel limit was brought in.

The Government says the difference in lockdown is due to the difference in the outbreak.

Their analysis is that in the central belt, it’s the spread between households which is driving much of the transmission, while in Aberdeen, it was pub clusters which were the main driver.

On Tuesday, Lumsden took to Twitter to criticise the move.

He said: “Glasgow is a ‘Yes’ city so escapes the lockdown Aberdeen had.”

The councillor added: “I hope that @NicolaSturgeon will explain to businesses in Aberdeen that were forced to close, why Glasgow businesses are not being forced to close.

“Aberdeen was locked down for three weeks, no hospitality, no travel, no visiting. Glasgow lockdown = no visiting.”

He added: “Glasgow lockdown. No household gatherings so meet your pals in the pub instead.”

Asked about the remarks at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing, Sturgeon said the comments depressed her.

She said: "I hope I’m giving people a sense of what drives these decisions. When we looked at what’s driving the outbreak in Aberdeen, it was very much pubs, in Glasgow it’s household and that basically leads to the restrictions that, unfortunately, we have to put on.

The First Minister added: “I don’t know I’ve got to the point where I think if there’s still people out there who are prepared to think I’m taking these decisions from some kinda crazy party political point of view, then they’re always going to believe the worst of me, and there’s probably nothing I can do to convince them.

“I hope that kind of view is the minority and I hope that the majority of reasonable people, whether you agree with my politics are not, and whether you agree with the decisions I’m arriving at or not, do get a sense that we’re trying to take them for the right reasons.”

Meanwhile, the First Minister warned that coronavirus is spreading again in Scotland.

A further 101 cases have been confirmed, with 53 of them in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area.

Sturgeon said the transmission rate of the virus had increased slightly over the past week.

She said the “R number” was now potentially as high as 1.4.

Sturgeon said this “is of slightly less concern when the overall prevalence of the virus is low”.

But she added: “Nevertheless, this is a reminder that the virus is spreading again just as it is elsewhere in the UK and Europe and across the world.”

The First Minister said: “The situation in these parts of Greater Glasgow and Clyde I really think should be a wake up call for all of us.

“Numbers of new cases are high in those areas and that’s why we’ve had to impose some restrictions, but new cases have been increasing in many parts of Scotland in the past fortnight.

“All of us, wherever we live, have to be more careful than ever about sticking to all of the rules and guidance and trying to minimise the chances we’re giving the virus to spread.”

The First Minister, who lives in the southside of Glasgow, said she understands people’s frustrations at the restrictions and told how she has been forced to cancel a get together with her parents.

The comments just hours before Police Scotland revealed they had launched an investigation after more than 300 people were discovered at a house party in Midlothian.

Officers were called to The Mansion House of Kirkhill in Gorebridge at 00:20 on Sunday. The party was being run as a commercial event.