POLICE Scotland has unveiled plans for a hi-tech hub to tackle cybercrime as it faces surging demand to examine 12,000 phones a year.

In a clear signal of how seriously the national force takes internet threats, it has secured funding for the £1.5m secret facility despite ongoing cuts.

The hub - the first of a planned three - will be based at an undisclosed location in the Edinburgh area.

It comes as Police Scotland revealed that demand for examinations of electronic devices had jumped 47 per cent since the force came in to being two years ago.

Senior detectives say they are now processing 12,000 phones a year and handled some 1500 computer "cases", some involving multiple PCs or laptops. Officers admit "backlogs" can occur.

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said: "Increasingly people are living their lives online and therefore policing needs to be there as well. We need to have the capability to analyse things and bring people to justice.

"We are building capacity that will protect the communities of Scotland. This will mean local officers across Scotland will have access to specialist advice from our national unit.

Nearly every crime now has some element of cyber attached to it. Everybody has mobile devices, computers, laptops.

"So if we are investigating online child exploitation or organised crime, or assaults or homicides, there is often a cyber element."

Police Scotland inherited a variety of small cybercrime units from its eight legacy forces and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

It hopes national cybercrime unit - with its assets spread across three hubs for added resilience - means Scotland will be able to handle even major cyber incidents, such as a terror case.

The new new hub should increase the capacity of Scottish police to examine electronic devices by 15-20 per cent. It should go online in October with a further two secret facilities to follow in the north and west of Scotland.

The Scottish Police Authority - the force's watchdog - approved the funding for the scheme last week despite the toughest financial forecasts in years. Sir Stephen House has still to find £11m in savings to be made in 2015-2016.

SPA chairman Vic Emery said: "We all know the cyber threat is there so we need to invest in this as a strategic priority. It is never easy to find the money in an area where we are financially challenged consistently.

"It is about making a balance, so we can be more efficient.

"We are already investigating a lot of cyber activity but this is our first dedicated unit."

Mr Emery confirmed the force will be recruiting new specialists, including civilians, to staff the unit.

Police Scotland, the Herald can reveal, will be seeking digital special constables, volunteer officers with expertise in cyber security who can help with forensic cyber investigations.

The unit will also help examine the vast quantity of hardware seized under investigations in to child pornography.

Detective Superintendent Stevie Wilson, who leads the unit, said some 65 per cent of current work is in to indecent images of children.

This extra work is a symptom of success. He said: "In Scotland we have led the field in the UK in using new pro-active technology to identify those involved in the distribution of this type of material. This means we are bringing in a lot of material for examination.

"If you get it right, you are identifying people who are in contact with kids and safeguarding children."