A £40m Police Scotland computer programme has been abandoned.

The i6 project by international company Accenture was dropped after it emerged it could not be delivered within the expected budget and timeframe.

Doubts arose earlier this year after Police Scotland said they found multiple faults.

Accenture said i6 passed tests but flaws emerged when Police Scotland tested it, a committee heard in February.

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA), Police Scotland and multinational technology firm Accenture have now "mutually agreed" to end their contract relating to the i6 project.

Martin Leven, director of ICT at Police Scotland, told MSPs in February he had "doubts as to the capability of the contractor to deliver this going forward" as they had "very clearly let us down".

SPA chief executive John Foley said on Friday that a commercially confidential and "mutually agreed settlement" had now been signed by "all parties" and claimed the settlement resulted in no financial detriment to the police budget.

He added: "While we are disappointed that i6 will not be delivered as expected, the SPA believes the decision to end the contract at this time is the right one.

"We would seek to reassure the public and our workforce that the output of i6 was only one element of our overall ICT plans."