THE number of official complaints made against the police has jumped as the new national force imposes Scotland-wide recording standards.

There were almost 4,000 cases recorded against officers with Police Scotland over the final nine months of last year.

It is a 12 per cent rise on the same eight month period in 2013.

But the figures lodged with the civilian police watchdog, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) reveal substantial regional variations.

Cases were up by nearly a third in the west of Scotland, which includes the former Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway force areas, but were down 15 per cent in the north, namely the Northern, Grampian and Tayside former areas.

In total, there were 3,917 complaints about police conduct between April and December 2014, which averages out at 1.44 specific allegations - a total of 5,653.

This figure was down about 10 per cent as new standards kicked in to place.

Of all allegations, just 256 were of assaults, averaging almost one a day.

A single division, the biggest and busiest, Greater Glasgow, accounted for more than a quarter of assault allegations made against officers.

Superintendent John McKenzie of Police Scotland's Professional Standards team, stressed that the a new system had levelled out how complaints were recorded.

He said: "Police Scotland is continually seeking to improve how we manage complaints.

"On 1st September we introduced a new system resulting in all complaints made by members of the public being assessed consistently within three specialist hubs in the North, East and West.

"This allows us to assess and record complaints more accurately.

"Police Scotland takes all complaints very seriously and each one is thoroughly investigated. The current figures are an accurate reflection of complaints across the country."

Figures are not comparable with those before the single force was introduced. However, there remained significant discrepancies in the way complaints were handled - as well as recorded - across the country.

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) late last year carried out an audit of how police agreed the precise nature of complaints with the public.

The watchdog found that in some parts of the country officers were failing to let complainants see their "heads of complaint", an exact note of what their gripe was.

It found that "dissatisfaction" arose because "Police Scotland and the complainers had different perceptions about the specific nature of the complaint".

In the West fully 51 per cent of heads of complaint had "clear summaries noted at the end of statements", according to a study of a sample of complaints files. In the East, the former Lothian and Borders, Central and Fife forces areas, the figure was 43 per cent.

But in the north the figure was just 23 per cent. The PIRC audit said: "It was apparent that conversations were taking place with the complainers but it did not appear to be standard practice to note these."

Last month, Police Scotland introduced force-wide rules under which all complaints are given a copy of their "heads of complaint".

It has emerged the number of officers on restricted duties had risen by nearly a half in the last year, many under investigations sparked by public complaints.