Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson says Police Scotland could lose its access to instant checks on European crime databases

Police Scotland will be sent back to the analogue age by Brexit, a senior officer has warned.

Officers face being deprived of some of their most effective digital tools as a result of Britain’s exit from the EU, according to the officer in charge of trying to prepare the Scottish force.

The loss of the Europe-wide checking systems could put the public at risk because delays will allow criminals to escape justice, he suggested.

At present officers have access to two large EU databases: the SIS II system which contains details of all European criminal records and the Prüm system which has all fingerprint, DNA and vehicle registration data.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson, who has responsibility for specialist crime and intelligence at Police Scotland,