POLICE have been told there is room to improve how it records crimes and incidents by inspectors.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate Of Constabulary Scotland issued a report that said high standards had been maintained since the move to a single Scottish force earlier this year.

However, it issued several recommendations calling for consistency and improvements in certain areas.

It stated recording and investigation of domestic abuse incidents was of a high standard, which should be emulated in other types of crime.

Recording of assaults and sexual offences showed room for improvement, the inspectors said, and called for a more consistent approach.

George Graham, HM Inspector Of Constabulary, said he was confident steps would be taken to ensure compliance.

He said: "We saw records that were thoroughly and frequently updated through the life cycle of an incident, and which were closed with a good summary of the incident and rationale for the disposal.

"There are opportunities for further improvements, for example, in areas such as training to ensure a consistent approach.

"However, I take confidence from the fact that not only did we see high standards being applied, Police Scotland also expressed a clear focus and a commitment to ensure standards were met in the future."

The inspections took place between June and August across the 14 policing areas in the country.

It looked into 1500 different incidents and how they were recorded, how police attended to the complaint and how they were investigated.