Scottish Labour under former leader Kezia Dugdale was not strongly enough in favour of the union, the two candidates vying to replace her have said.

Both Richard Leonard and Anas Sarwar said the party under Dugdale's leadership had been "ambiguous" and "not firm enough" in its support of the UK and opposition to Scottish independence.

Sarwar also sought to distance himself from his involvement in the cross-party Better Together campaign during the 2014 referendum, instead saying he led the "distinct Labour campaign".

Numerous images show he did campaign for the official Better Together organisation.

The two men were speaking at a special televised hustings broadcast on STV's Scotland Tonight programme on Wednesday.

Before the 2016 European Union referendum, Dugdale said it would not be "inconceivable" for her to support Scottish independence if the UK voted to leave.

She later sought to clarify her stance, vowing to "never support" independence earlier this year.

UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also had his position on the constitution questioned when he said in May he would not block a second independence referendum if "the Scottish people want it".

He had previously said he would be "fine" with a fresh poll on the question of independence.

Despite winning seven seats in Scotland in June's general election, the party came third behind the Conservatives for a second time after being beaten by Ruth Davidson's party in the Holyrood elections the previous year.

The Scottish Conservatives ran in both elections with a prominent message of opposing a second independence referendum.