SCOTLAND's armed policing capability has risen as England's has fallen, new figures reveal.

The national force revealed new statistics on the number of officers who carry guns or are trained to do so as Nicola Sturgeon declared Scotland to be in a "much stronger position than other parts of the UK" to deal with any heightened security threat.

As left and right clashed on security south of the border, the First Minister said ruling Conservatives in Westminster had "tough questions" to answer over her part in cutting police numbers in England.

However, the body representing Scotland's rank-and-file police officers repeated its long-standing concern that the national force was not as ready as it should be for the kind of fast-moving terror attack to strike English and other European cities in recent years.

It has real worries that a small number of officers will be put under huge strain after Police Scotland responded to the London attacks by doubling patrols by its armed response vehicles or ARVs, as it did after last month's Manchester bombing,

Police Scotland last summer announced it would increase the number of officers serving in ARVs, from the 275 it inherited from the old legacy forces in 2013 to 365. Today it has 339 ARV officers and says it will get to the 365 figure by July.

However, these numbers only tell part of the story. Scotland has a total of 474 full-time armed policing posts, including trainers and an unspecified number of specialist firearms officers or SFOs, including elite paramilitary counter-terror SFOs. It also has a reserve of 170 ARV trained officers who are on other duties.

That is a total of 544 officers trained to new standards on firearms, compared with a figure of 531 authorised firearms officers, a category now abolished in Scotland, in 2013.

Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins said: "Police Scotland is an unarmed service with an armed capability, which is proportionate in UK terms and ensures we offer the right level of protection to our communities. As we have advised last year , we are currently in the process of increasing our ARV capability by some 90 officers and this will be complete in the very near future and there are no plans to increase that number further."

England and Wales currently has 700 fewer authorised firearms officers than in 2010 - a figure which reflects declining overall police numbers. However, like Police Scotland, English forces have been ramping up numbers of armed officers since 2016 and the total is expected to reach the 2010 figure of around 7000 over the next few years.

As in Scotland, figures are secret for the exact number of the highly trained counter terror officers seen deployed in London and Manchester in recent weeks. However, the proportion of officers who are routinely armed of train to be armed in Scotland remains lower than in England.

Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, has previously said officers simply do not have the equipment to keep themselves safe, never mind the public. He said: "We know that unarmed police officers are not only sent to incidents of knives but also to reports of firearms. That’s a disgraceful position to find ourselves in and it’s unforgivable."

Speaking on Monday, he stressed the constant strain a small pool of specialists could be put under: "These 'more armed officers'? More than when? Do you want anybody working with a gun when they are exhausted. Do you want them taking life-and-death tactical decisions when they are tired?"

Police Scotland in 2014 came under fire after officers with guns became more visible in some parts of the country because of changes in the way they carried their weapons and the duties they carried out when armed.

The force faced less controversy when announced it would increase the number of officers who routinely carry weapons last summer.

The Scottish Government increased police numbers by 1000 after 2007 and has maintained that number ever since despite widespread concerns that this meant cuts were falling disproportionately on civilian staff. The SNP has signalled that it will rethink its commitment to the decade-old so-called "extra 1000".

Ms Sturgeon on Monday said: "The contrast between Scotland and the UK couldn't be starker, there's been 20,000 police officers lost in England, but in Scotland we've maintained 1,000 more than the number we inherited in 2007, we've taken steps to increase the number who are trained to carry firearms.

"Of course we've got to make sure that continues to be the case but if you look at the days following the Manchester attack, Police Scotland were able to provide the heightened level of police cover, including armed policing, without calling on the resources of the military.

However, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie countered: "Especially with terrorist attacks and threats from modern crime, we need to ensure our police service is fit for the future.

"That is why we have argued for some time that Police Scotland needs a multi-million boost to ensure it can meet the challenge."