Three Scottish council areas have been named among the worst in the UK for food hygiene standards.

Falkirk, Glasgow and Edinburgh were in the bottom ten of the Which? study, with the very worst in the UK being Birmingham.

The study looked at areas including the number of high and medium-risk food businesses which keep to hygiene standards, the amount of premises which opened but were not visited or given a risk rating, as well as the number of interventions that had to be carried out.

Only one Scottish local authority made the top tier of best-performing areas for food hygiene, with the Orkney Islands placing tenth in the list, which was topped by Erewash in Derbyshire.

Falkirk, Glasgow and Edinburgh were ranked sixth-worst, seventh-worst and eighth-worst in the UK respectively.

Consumer group Which? looked at data for 390 local authorities including information from the Local Authority Monitoring System (LAEMS), collected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The organisation fears Brexit could deliver a blow to food standards, and says the UK Government will need to step up checks on imports and potentially look to negotiate trade deals with countries with lower food standards.

Which? said there was one food hygiene enforcement officer per 403 food businesses amid a rising amount of complaints about hygiene and quality in 2016-17.

There has also been a 5.5% rise in the number of food premises yet to be rated compared with two years previously.

This means that in 2016-17, 1697 more businesses were running without a food hygiene rating compared to 2014-15, according to the study

Alex Neill, of Which?, said: "When it comes to food, British consumers expect the very best standards for themselves and their families.

"But our enforcement regime is under huge strain, just as Brexit threatens to add to the responsibilities of struggling local authorities.

"Effective food enforcement must be a government priority, including robust checks on imports as well as co-operation with the EU and other countries on food risks".