Students studying at Scottish universities paid £3.8 million in library fines over the past five years, new figures show.

The figures, provided via a Freedom of Information request, have the University of Edinburgh at the top of the list with students paying almost £600,000 in fines over the same period.

One student was shown to have paid a total of £1,050 during their time studying at the university.

Other institutions whose student body was revealed to have paid fines in the hundreds of thousands were the University of Glasgow, the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Aberdeen. The top five universities in the list accounted for 70 per cent of the total.

In addition, the figures revealed that 1,800 students had unpaid fines which left them either not graduating or having their graduation delayed.

Furthermore, half a million books have been lost or stolen across Scottish university libraries in the last five years.

Eben Wilson, the Director of Taxpayer Scotland - an organisation that campaigns for lower tax rates - told The Scotsman, “Students need to take a bit more care of the money being provided to them by Scottish taxpayers before they ask for more.

“Racking up thousands of pounds on fines due to their own tardiness isn’t helping themselves or their universities in times of austerity.

“In fact, it’s likely that the money wasted in fines will not be recoverable, and in the end it will be paid by other more disciplined students in lower bursaries and higher costs for their universities.”

The Scottish Conservatives’ education spokeswoman, Liz Smith, MSP, also told The Scotsman, “The loss of revenue from so many unpaid fines puts into sharp focus how much extra money could be in the system if people acted responsibly.”

“Although library fines are not large they are intended to provide an incentive to return books and borrowers should always be public-spirited and adhere to them.

Regarding its policy on library fines, a University of Edinburgh spokesman said, “We feel that our fines are fair and set at a level that encourages students to return books on time for the benefit of all library users. We always send notices to warn students books are overdue prior to charges being incurred.”

A quick survey of The Student office revealed that the average amount of fines paid to the university library was just over £12, with the highest being £40.