The number of laser attacks on planes at Glasgow Airport almost doubled last year.

The British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa) described the trend as "extremely worrying" and has called for tougher punishments for offenders.

Glasgow ranked second worst in the UK for attacks last year, behind Heathrow but ahead of Birmingham and Manchester.

A total of 83 incidents were recorded at Glasgow Airport in 2016, compared to 44 in 2015.

Balpa safety expert Steve Landells said: "Shining a laser at aircraft is incredibly dangerous and a real threat to flight safety.

"The power of these devices is increasing and we're concerned that, if left to escalate without significant intervention, we could see a serious incident happen in the near future.

"We've been campaigning for tougher punishments for offenders for many years and so are encouraged by the recognition of this problem in the new Vehicle Technology and Aviation bill, which proposes to increase the powers of the courts to allow them to impose prison sentences on those putting lives at risk by shining a laser at an aircraft.

"Balpa wants to see these people stopped before they commit this reckless act and we hope that the bill will give police and authorities the powers to ensure they don't happen in the first place."

There were 1258 laser attacks on planes across the UK in 2016, down from 1440 in 2015.

"While on the face of it the fall in laser incidents is positive, and may be as a result of our ongoing campaign, we are concerned that at more than three reports a day this figure is still dangerously high," Mr Landell added.

"We're also concerned that under-reporting of incidents could mean that we don't have a true idea of the scale of the problem."