Crown Office plans to shed 200 roles in the next five years have been branded "extremely concerning".

Scotland's prosecution service has indicated in an official document published on Monday that its "current staffing levels are not affordable" and new ways of working "will impact on various roles".

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) indicates in the Workforce Planning Strategy that to be able to hit the savings "around 200 posts will need to be shed from the current complement."

A spokesman for COPFS told STV News the plan for 200 job losses is only "a possible model" for the future, however, adding: "There is no such plan to reduce our workforce by 200."

The strategy states the staffing structure at the Crown Office "has evolved over time and proportions of grades may have become outdated" and that the reductions to the workforce are hoped to happen through "natural turnover".

Opposition political parties have pointed to the "significant pressures" already faced by COPFS, with the Scottish Tories branding the potential job losses "extremely concerning" and the Scottish Liberal Democrats also voicing fears.

The Crown Office strategy document states: "Based on assumptions in our financial strategy our current staffing levels are not affordable in the future.

"In order to deliver the real terms savings that we assume will be required over the next five years it is expected that around 200 posts will need to be shed from the current complement.

"The precise number in any year will depend on a variety of circumstances but predominantly the nature and timing of natural turnover.

"In line with the current policy of no compulsory redundancies we are assuming that reductions will be achieved through natural turnover."

Labour MSP Claire Baker said: "Only weeks ago the Justice Secretary told Parliament that he was not expecting any job losses at the Crown Office despite it being hit by a £4m cut in the SNP's budget.

"Now we know the truth, that hundreds of jobs will be cut at the Crown Office and it will be our justice system, already suffering from delays, that will suffer.

"The SNP cannot expect to be providing fair access to justice whilst continually cutting budgets."

Scottish Conservative community safety spokesman Oliver Mundell told STV News: "This will be of extreme concern to those employed by the Crown Office.

"Michael Matheson has to explain why this is the case, when only a month ago he suggested this number of jobs wouldn't go.

"The Crown Office is already under significant pressure with an increased level of work, and that won't get any better if so many employees leave."

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur said: "Over recent months, parliament's justice committee has heard considerable evidence about the pressure already on COPFS staff.

"While the quality of the work they do has not been questioned, witness after witness has pointed to the difficulties caused by a lack of resources.

"In that context, the prospect of 200 staff being lost from the service must give rise to concerns about COPFS ability to meet the challenges ahead in providing a high quality service to the public".

A spokesman for COPFS said: "We recently confirmed to the justice committee of the Scottish Parliament that our budget has been fixed for only one year (2016/17) and we estimate our workforce will reduce by 30 during that time.

"Our new Workforce Planning Strategy sets out a possible model for beyond next year but future decisions about staffing depend on future budgets being set.

"Our staff are our greatest resource and our commitment to no compulsory redundancies means any reduction in our workforce will be achieved through natural turnover as staff leave.

"Our priority is to continue to improve the level of service we deliver, driving efficiencies and delivering savings through non-staff running costs."