The Scottish Professional Football League have been accused of "dragging their feet" on tackling unacceptable conduct, despite introducing new rules to combat the issue.

The regulations, which take effect immediately, include further guidance on the steps clubs should take, both in the event of unacceptable conduct and to prevent any instances of misconduct at league games.

The onus is now on clubs to effectively self police, identifying instances of fan misbehaviour and proving to the SPFL that they have taken effective action to punish any perpetrator.

The SPFL say their updated rules show they are taking the matter "very seriously".

Campaigners want a more stringent system known as strict liability, which is in effect at European level and immediately places sanctions on clubs for misconduct, to be used.

James Dornan MSP, who is consulting on a member's bill in the Scottish Parliament to bring in a law on strict liability, believes the new measures do not go far enough.

"It's a tiny step. I really am disappointed in it," Mr Dornan told STV.

"I hoped they would put more forward. The government is taking this issue seriously, I am doing what I can in the member's bill. The SPFL seem to be dragging their feet on this."

He added: "There is absolutely no mention of what sanctions would be given against the club if they can't control the behaviour of fans.

"There's no incentive outside of what there was yesterday for them to attempt to change the behaviour of football fans. For me it's just a waste of a tree."

The changes mean clubs are now expected to take disciplinary measures against any supporter shown to have breached the rules - or the league will take steps to sanction the club.

Member clubs are also now expected to "develop proactive programmes and make progress towards raising awareness of the prevention and, where present, elimination of unacceptable conduct in stadia in which official matches take place."

There is also new guidance on communication, with clubs reminded of steps to be taken to publicise what conduct is considered unacceptable at games.

"The updated guidance on unacceptable conduct published today by the SPFL is another indication that all of our clubs are taking this issue very seriously and should be commended for being proactive in doing so," an SPFL spokesman told STV.

"The process with clubs is very open and consultative, with the Scottish FA and Scottish Government fully involved, too.

"We continue to engage closely with government, with whom discussions are ongoing to continue to ensure that Scottish football venues are as friendly, welcoming and safe a place for supporters as possible."

The SPFL's move to update their rules comes after high-profile incidents at matches brought calls for the Scottish game to introduce strict liability rules, where clubs are automatically held accountable for any disorder.

An SPFL investigation was opened into two cases of alleged bad behaviour in January 2016 relating to matches played in December 2015 between Rangers and Hibernian as well as Hearts and Dundee United.

The SPFL told STV the matters have been concluded but declined to say what action was taken.

"Both investigations by the SPFL board were concluded during 2016 and actions arising from those investigations have been completed," a spokesman said.

The allegation of unacceptable conduct at the Rangers match in 2015 related to offensive singing.

"There's huge issues with the transparency when they investigate these kind of cases," Dave Scott, head of anti-sectarianism group Nil By Mouth said.

"We monitor and track them. Quite often you can't get information from people. It comes out via press releases. You almost have to put it together like a jigsaw puzzle.

"Under strict liability, UEFA publish all the different results of all the cases that are heard on a website, so you can look at it and examine it and see consistency of cases. We don't have that in Scotland."