Only one in every five incidents attended by Police Scotland officers last year was classed as a crime, MSPs have been told.

Assistant police constable Malcom Graham made the comments in a written submission to the Scottish Parliament's justice committee.

Mr Graham is due to appear before the group of MSPs on Tuesday to give evidence on the demands placed on the police by the public.

The police officer said: "Whilst I recognise the often devastating impact that crime has on individuals and communities, the impact of non-criminal incidents is just as evident.

"Last year, Police Scotland received over 3.4 million calls and attended over 900,000 incidents. Analysis of available data indicates that only around one in five incidents resulted in a crime being recorded.

"Many of the most time-consuming incidents relate to concerns for persons, missing/absconded persons and dealing with sudden deaths."

Mr Graham says during 2014/15 Police Scotland attended more than 42,000 incidents "where mental health or distress was a factor".

The incidents led to the force dealing with some 26,000 people suffering with mental health or distress issues.

The force also dealt with just under 40,000 incidents where a person was reported missing.

Around 5000 of the incidents did not go on to be confirmed as "missing episodes".

Committee convener Margaret Mitchell said: "Police time is a precious resource and their role in keeping people safe is vitally important. However, it has to be recognised that there are limits to what they can be expected to do.

"Justice stakeholders generally agree that improvements can be made to how public bodies and voluntary organisations work together with the police.

"Today, the committee wants to take stock of the current situation. In doing so, the question of whether this is a growing aspect of police work will be explored.

"The consequences of non-crime driven work will be discussed and consideration given to how the system could improve in the future."