SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has played down the threat from the Conservatives in Scotland after the Tories achieved their best local election result in generations and pushed push Labour into third place.

The First Minister said the Conservatives had done well "by their standards".

However, she said they had done so "at the expense of the Labour party" and not by eating into SNP support.

Meeting new SNP councillors in Glasgow - where Labour lost overall control for the first time since 1980 - Sturgeon presented June's general election as a straight choice between the Conservatives and the SNP for Scottish voters.

She said: "Yes, by their standards, the Tories did well - and I take nothing away from them - but they did well entirely at the expense of the Labour Party.

"As we go into the general election, the people of Scotland have a clear choice.

"It is pretty clear that Theresa May, on the strength of support in England, is going to win the General Election, so for people in Scotland, if they want strong voices standing up for Scotland's interests and holding the Tories to account in Westminster, that can only come from the SNP."

Thursday's council elections delivered the Conservatives' best results in Scotland for generations.

The Tories gained 164 seats for a total of 276, while Labour shed 112 councillors and fell into third place with 262, losing control of three councils.

But both were outstripped by the SNP, which added 31 councillors, winning a total of 431.

Ms Sturgeon said: "If you compare north and south of the border, the Tories polled less in Scotland than Jeremy Corbyn did in England, and yet Jeremy Corbyn has been written off as a disaster."

Following the final results on Friday, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: "There were a lot of people who voted for us for the very first time and what I would say is that every single Conservative councillor who has been elected across Scotland will absolutely work so hard to put local services first and not drag us back to any more constitutional division."

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said the results were "obviously a disappointing election" for her party.

She added: "We have won against the odds in East Lothian and Inverclyde, gained Midlothian from the SNP, and tied with the SNP in North Ayrshire.

"Across Scotland, there has been a clear backlash against the SNP's plans for a divisive second independence referendum and anger over the SNP's woeful record running our schools, hospitals and public services."