A former governor of the Bank of England has suggested that an independent Scotland could continue to use the pound.

Lord King also said he was disappointed at the claims made about sterling during the independence referendum.

David Cameron and George Osborne repeatedly insisted that Scotland would not be able to use the currency in the event of a Yes vote.

The Prime Minister summed up his stance saying: "If Scotland leaves the UK, then Scotland is leaving the pound".

Lord King said: “I was disappointed in both sides in the referendum. I thought that there was an answer that would solve the independence question - the currency issue. And that is that nothing happens. Scotland just carries on using sterling."

He added: “I think that would have been totally feasible there was no need for an independent currency, that wouldn’t have posed any threat or difficulty for an independent Scotland.

"And I see absolutely no reason why it would have caused a problem for the Bank of England to allow banks to keep on functioning in Scotland.”

Former First Minister Alex Salmond welcomed the comments, made in an interview with STV's Scotland Tonight.

Mr Salmond added that Scots should “see what emerges" during any future independence referendum, “it’s a very reasonable option to have”.

Before the referendum Mr Salmond claimed that Lord King had told him the UK Government would take an an "entirely different" approach to Scotland after a Yes vote.

He said that when the two men had met the previous summer "he said to me 'your problem is what they say now', meaning the Treasury, 'and what they say the day after a Yes vote in the referendum are two entirely different things'."