The First Minister has "lost the plot" in her pursuit of a second independence referendum, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader has claimed.

Willie Rennie says the Nicola Sturgeon's call for a fresh referendum on the issue before the UK withdraws from the European Union has made people in Scotland "spitting mad".

The SNP say if they win a majority of seats in Scotland at the general election on June 8 then they will have earned a triple democratic lock after winning the Holyrood election last year and MSPs backing their referendum plans in March.

When asked by STV News if the First Minister should be part of the formal Brexit talks, Rennie replied: "If she is inside then she can cause as much trouble as she does on the outside - that is what Nicola Sturgeon is about.

"We have seen it in the last year. She has pursued it.

"Within hours of the result, in fact probably before the official result came out, on Brexit she was up there saying it was all about Brexit now.

"I think we have got a First Minister who has lost the plot. People out there are spitting mad that she had pursued independence."

The First Minister has said Scotland's vote to remain in the EU but the UK as a whole opting to leave the organisation represents a "material change in circumstances" than when Scots went to the polls to answer the independence question in 2014.

Rennie, however, accused the SNP leader pretending "she is interested in Europe" when in fact she only cares about independence.

STV News has contacted the SNP for comment.