FOR years it has been officially classed as part of Greater Glasgow despite also being within the boundaries of East Renfrewshire Council.

But now the powers that be have declared that Barrhead is to be considered a settlement in its own right distinct from the city next door.

Thanks to an increase in population density, the suburb has been upgraded by the Scottish Government's National Statistics office to an 'other urban' settlement.

Also on the rise are the former small towns of Dalgety Bay in Fife, Forres in Moray, Kilsyth in North Lanarkshire and Prestonpans, East Lothian, which have also been reclassified as urban areas in the latest data.

Six settlements - Blackburn, Aberdeenshire, Conon Bridge and Maryburgh in the Highlands, Garelochhead, Argyll and Bute, Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, Leuchars and Guardbridge, Fife and Winchburgh, West Lothian - which previously had population estimates below the 3,000 mark have now been reclassified as ‘small towns’ after the numbers living there increased.

A spokesman for the National Statistics office said: "Due to changes in postcode population densities Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, is now classed as a settlement in its own right in the 2016 Classification.

Barrhead was part of the Greater Glasgow Settlement for the 2013 2014 Classification. As a result Barrhead is now classed as an ‘other urban’ settlement."