Former first minister Alex Salmond arrested and charged

Former First Minister Alex Salmond has been arrested and charged and is expected to appear in court on Thursday afternoon.

The arrest comes after Salmond took the Scottish Government to court over the way it handled allegations of sexual misconduct made against him by two civil servants.

The Scottish Government was forced to concede it had made procedural errors when investigating the complaints and Salmond was awarded costs running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A separate police investigation was also launched.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a 64 year old man has been arrested and charged and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.”

It is understood the former first minister is to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday afternoon.