Lawyers yesterday demanded reform of civil legal aid rules which they say have turned swathes of Scotland into "advice deserts".

Many Scots are finding it all but impossible to find a solicitor willing to take on a civil case, especially a family law matter, on legal aid.

The reason, claim lawyers, is that payment is made in a lump sum that has no bearing on the amount of work involved.

A motion calling for change in the way the aid is paid was passed unanimously at the Law Society of Scotland's annual general meeting.

Caroline Flanagan, a family law specialist who sits on the society's ruling council, told the AGM: "There is already anecdotal evidence of advice deserts appearing in parts of Scotland with solicitors stopping civil legal aid work.

"We need the profession to provide hard evidence so that we can present a strong case to the Scottish Executive. We need to be able to show where and why solicitors are not being paid sufficiently and the effect that this is having on the public's access to legal advice."

The executive introduced block payment fees for civil legal aid work in 2003. Yesterday, an executive spokesman said officials were well aware of emerging concerns. He said: "A number of steps are being taken to ensure there is a nationwide supply of legal aid services to provide access to justice for individuals.

"Last year we announced that the Scottish Legal Aid Board is to develop a network of publicly employed solicitors to provide extra help to the public in matters of civil law in areas where there may be unmet demand, so that people get the advice they need from whoever is best placed to provide it.

"In addition, the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act enables grant funding to be given to non-lawyers to provide expertise in specialist areas."