Scotland should be at the forefront of efforts to get more women into engineering, according to a UK Government minister.

It is "lamentable" that only 9% of the UK's professional engineers are women, Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs Minister Jo Swinson said.

She called for action to boost both the number of women in the industry and their profile in the sector.

Ms Swinson said she has spoken out on the issue as a "minister with responsibility for both business and equality, as a woman and also a Scot".

The Liberal Democrat MP highlighted the lack of women engineers in the Scottish Engineering Quarterly Review, describing Scotland as the "home of engineering excellence".

The MP for East Dunbartonshire said: "The Scottish engineer, from James Watt to Star Trek's Scotty, is an internationally recognised figure. With such engineering heritage, Scotland should be in the forefront of promoting the participation of women in engineering."

The Government needs to tackle the "high attrition rate of highly trained women" in the sector.

"In Scotland a shocking 73% of women graduates are lost from science and engineering occupations compared with just 48% of men," she said.

The industry itself has the "most important role" in tackling the issue by changing "negative perceptions" of engineering as a career.

"We should tackle early the 'not for me' perception of engineering as a markedly male career option," she said. "The stereotype of men wearing hard hats on building sites needs to be challenged."