Police Scotland has changed the way it carries out stop and search following recommendations from researchers at the University of Dundee and Edinburgh Napier.

Dr Megan O'Neill, from Dundee, and Edinburgh Napier's Dr Liz Aston had previously evaluated a new approach to stop and search piloted by the Fife Division.

Their report, published by the Dundee-based Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), highlighted elements of the pilot that worked while also making 19 recommendations for improvement.

Police Scotland has now published a response indicating the ways in which policy has been changed.

Elements introduced as part of the pilot included sending letters to the parents of children who have been stopped to make them aware of the event, providing enhanced information leaflets to every person stopped, and increasing opportunities for the public to provide feedback after a search.

Dr O'Neill said: "When we looked at the pilot it was clear there was a real desire amongst individual officers, Fife Division and Police Scotland in general to make stop and search more effective in serving public safety.

"Many of the elements of the pilot can be regarded as good practice, but we also noted several areas for improvement, particularly around consensual search.

"Those searched continued to complain about 'random' searches during the trial, suggesting that even with the pilot's methods of making the option to refuse a consensual search explicit and the advice slips provided by officers, confusion remained.

"We therefore recommended that Police Scotland used legislative searches only. Only these can truly be targeted at 'the right people, right place and right time' thereby enhancing accountability and public confidence, two key aims of the pilot."

Assistant chief constable Bernard Higgins added: "Police Scotland understand the value of external scrutiny and review.

"Our work with academia and addressing all the SIPR recommendations is evidence of the willingness of our organisation to learn and implement significant changes to both policy and practice based on that learning."