The Lord Advocate has said Scotland could become a safe haven for criminals unless the current level of cooperation with European police forces is preserved after Brexit.

James Wolffe QC said a system similar to that of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) should be in place by the time Article 50 is triggered.

Since the EAW came into force 13 years ago there has been a significant drop in the time taken for alleged criminals to be handed over.

It takes on average 42 days for a wanted person to be handed over after Police Scotland has received an EAW, compared to nine months before 2004.

At the Gartcosh Crime Campus in North Lanarkshire, Mr Wolffe told the BBC: “It’s absolutely essential that as we go through this process we make the right choices in order to preserve the benefits of international co-operation that we currently enjoy.

“One of the risks if we had, for example, no robust legal arrangements for the extradition of individuals wanted for trial in other countries, is that we would become a safe haven for criminals.

“Equally, if we were unable to extradite to Scotland people who we wish to prosecute then plainly our criminal justice system would be prejudiced. If we were not members of the EU, the extradition process would be significantly more cumbersome, both slower and more difficult to operate.”

He added: “It’s hugely important that the right choices are made and the right priority is given to those particular arrangements.”

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson, who was also at the crime campus, added: “Organised crime and terrorism do not respect borders and it is vital that our police service can work with counterparts in Europe and across the world to help keep Scotland safe.

“The excellent results achieved by our international assistance unit shows that this collaboration is currently working well.

“Yet dragging Scotland out of the EU places huge doubts over our Europol membership and participation in the European Arrest Warrant.

“This would have serious implications for the safety of Scottish communities, meaning it is much harder to identify, arrest and extradite criminals who travel here – as well as making it more difficult and time consuming to apprehend Scottish criminals who flee overseas.”