The governor of a Scottish prison which houses a large number of ageing sex offenders has called for a secure care home to deal with elderly inmates.

Natalie Beal, the governor of HMP Glenochil, said coping with the social care needs of prisoners in their 60s and 70s was becoming a difficult issue.

Ms Beal said more than 50 of the 730 inmates at Glenochil had personalised healthcare plans and the prison was not built to cope with their needs.

The amount the Scottish Prison Service spends on social care has already been increasing for the past five years.

Figures released to BBC Scotland under freedom of information show that £636,000 was spent in 2018 but this more than trebled to £2.1m in 2022.

Ms Beal said £500,000 of the prison social care budget was spent at her prison.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters