More than £10.5 million worth of proceeds of crime has been recovered in the past year, the Solicitor General has said.

Lesley Thomson QC said prosecutors secured confiscation orders worth over £7m against convicted drug dealers, money launderers and fraudsters while the Civil Recovery Unit recovered more than £3.5m during the same period.

The figures mean the total secured since the beginning of the Proceeds of Crime Act in 2003 is more than £69m.

The money has been put to the Scottish Consolidated Fund to be reinvested in Scottish communities.

Ms Thomson: "Just as important as the sum recovered is the disruption caused to individual criminals and serious and organised crime groups."