A by-election to find a successor to disgraced Dunfermline MSP Bill Walker will be held on October 24.

The date was announced by the Scottish Parliament's Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick following consultation with the party leaders.

Walker resigned his seat at the weekend after being found guilty of 23 counts of domestic abuse against three ex-wives and a stepdaughter between 1967 and 1995.

The maximum sentence Walker could get when he is sentenced on September 20 is one year, which would have allowed him to stay at Holyrood.