FRONTLINE police officers have given their full backing to Scotland's chief constable in the row over armed officers carrying guns on regular patrols.

The head of the organisation representing rank-and-file officers accused "point-scoring" politicians of interfering in operational matters for political gains and said Sir Stephen House was the "right person" to make decisions about policing in Scotland.

Brian Docherty, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), spoke out amid calls for the chief constable's powers to be limited following controversy over the practice of arming police.

It comes after Police Scotland announced last week an end to the controversial policy that saw officers carrying guns in public on regular patrols. The U-turn came following weeks of debate and political pressure from some of the main opposition parties at Holyrood.

Mr Docherty said: "The chief constable is the right person to make decisions about policing in Scotland and of course his approach should be informed, but not determined by public opinion and certainly not by any point-scoring politician.

"The chief constable has access to the full risk and intelligence picture and is paid a lot of money to make difficult decisions.

"If all his information supports the need for a tiny proportion of officers to retain a standing firearms authority, this should carry greater weight than any nimby, utopian view that gangsters and criminals don't live in my area."

Mr Docherty claimed MSPs had manipulated the issue simply to attack their political opponents. He also said that policing in Scotland "should not be determined by public opinion" and that elected officials should not overrule the experience of the chief constable.

He said: "Criticising policing is easy - doing our job is not. I have little doubt those who decried the carrying out of routine duties, which appears to now mean anything that involves leaving the police car, will be the same ones who criticise if the same officers do not respond to incidents that occur right in front of them. One could mistakenly believe that politicisation of the police is only unacceptable if it is being undertaken by 'the other guy'."

Independent Highlands and Islands MSP John Finnie, who was the first to discover some officers were carrying firearms in side holsters rather than in locked boxes in their armed-response vehicles, said the SPF chairman had misunderstood the role of MSPs in the political process.

Mr Finnie said: "The job of politicians is to articulate public concerns and that is a core principle of any liberal democracy.

"I think most people would be troubled if elected officials were not engaging in matters such as the arming of police, especially when so many members of the public have made their opposition to such a thing so clear."

He added: "I really don't see how elected officials debating the powers of patrolling officers could be seen as the politicisation of policing.

"There has been some very appropriate public engagement of these issues and the very fact that Police Scotland has chosen to withdraw armed officers shows they listen to and value the political process."

Police Scotland's revised policy states armed officers will in future respond to incidents only where there is suspected to be another firearm involved or a direct threat to life.

Bernard Higgins, assistant chief constable with Police Scotland, said: "We have balanced our overriding duty to keep people safe with consideration of the views expressed about the perception of armed officers supporting local policing activities."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Justice Secretary has consistently said that it is for the Chief Constable to make operational decisions about where and when to deploy armed resources."