EU officials will look in to a report that the tentacles of Italian organised crime reach as far as north-eastern Scotland.

The Camorra - a Naples-based group similar to the Sicilian Mafia - has a stronghold in Aberdeen, according to research from Milan's Transcrime think tank.

Now European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom has said the research, funded by the EU, would be studied to see how continent-wide legislation could tackle international mobsters.

Transcrime last year found the Camorra in Aberdeen, the Mafia in London's gambling scene and the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta in the UK property market.

It reported: "The Camorra stronghold is Aberdeen, the third most populous city in Scotland, where it controls the catering, public works, food retail and wholesale and property sectors."

The body also found Italian organised crime operations in Romania, Spain, Portugal and France. Several other international crime groups have tried to muscle in to Scotland in recent years, including Albanians and English groups with links to the Caribbean. The latter has traditionally also been strong in Aberdeen.

An alleged Camorra Don, Aberdeen restaurant owner Antonio La Torre, was extradited to Italy and jailed for extortion and racketeering in 2005.