Police have identified 41 people from Scotland as potential witnesses who were present at the Manchester Arena terrorist attack.

Chief Constable Phil Gormley said officers had been deployed to airports and train stations earlier this week to identify potential witnesses.

He said: “In broad terms, we had 41, so far, people from Scotland who have identified themselves or been identified to us as witnesses that were present at the event.”

He also said there had been no noticeable increase in hate crime and while it is not being ruled out completely, he said that there is no current need to ask for troops to patrol the streets.

Mr Gormely said: “Based on what I know at the moment, there is no foreseeable prospect of us needing to ask for military colleagues to patrol in the public space.

“That is a contingency that exists in extremis and you rule nothing in and nothing out, you’re a fool if you do at this stage.”

He said Police Scotland has sufficient firearms capability to meet all foreseeable demands.

The chief constable said he was confident reviewed security arrangements for the Scottish Cup Final, the visit to Scotland of former US president Obama, the Edinburgh Marathon and the Lisbon Lions memorial events in Glasgow were “fit for purpose”.

Mr Gormley reassured the board that police business was continuing as usual and there had been no noticeable increase in community tensions or hate crime.

He added that while demand levels into control rooms had remained broadly static, “there has been a predictable increase in suspicious reports to us and I would encourage that because if people see things that are causing them concern, please tell us.”

Meanwhile it has emerged Manchester bomber, Salman Abedi, was known to the security services and his risk to the public remained “subject to review”.

Abedi, whose sister said he “wanted revenge” for Western military strikes in the Middle East, was a “former subject of interest” to MI5, a Whitehall source confirmed.

Details of the intelligence agencies’ knowledge of Abedi came as police hunting the network behind his attack said they had made “significant” arrests and seized “very important” items in raids linked to the investigation.