A TOTAL of 37 people in the public eye are among 110 suspects identified by Scottish police investigating alleged historic child sex abuse.

Police Scotland has revealed it currently has 58 separate inquiries into the alleged crimes, which are being investigated under the umbrella of Operation Hydrant.

They include Edinburgh-born former TV weatherman Fred Talbot, who was jailed in England in March for sexually abusing two schoolboys while he was a school teacher.

Another is thought to be the late former Perth and Kinross Tory MP Sir Nicholas Fairburn, a former solicitor general, whose name has been linked to sex abuse allegations at a notorious London guest house and a rape claim.

The cases stretch back seven decades, as far as 1947, while the most recent dates from 2013.

Operation Hydrant is co-ordinating multiple historical child sexual abuse investigations around the UK. It was set up by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) to explore links between child sex abuse committed by "prominent public persons".

The Scottish figures were revealed as it emerged that more than 1,400 people around the UK, including politicians, TV and music stars or people within institutions, have been investigated by detectives for alleged historic child sex abuse.

North of the border, police working on Operation Hydrant cases said they have identified 110 suspects, of which 80 are named. Twenty-six of the named suspects are now dead.

Some 37 suspects are classified as "persons of public prominence", Police Scotland said.

Of these, four come from the world of TV, film or radio and 33 are listed as having a "significant public profile" nationally or locally.

A number of these individuals have also been named as being responsible for abuse within institutions.

Overall, 99 people are suspected of abuse within 45 institutions identified in Scotland, officers said.

The majority are educational institutions or social care establishments, but seven faith-based institutions, four leisure-based clubs and one health premises have also been identified.

Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, the spokesman on major crime and public protection for Police Scotland, said: "We are fully supportive and a key part of Operation Hydrant. Already co-operation between police forces across the UK has had real benefits for investigations here in Scotland.

"We have a number of live investigations which are ongoing and which it would be wrong to comment on at this stage. But we are liaising with police forces elsewhere in the UK on a number of inquiries at present."

The Procurator Fiscal in Dumfries has received a report concerning allegations that Talbot, 65, carried out abuse between January 1968 and January 1981.