A culture of fear, bullying and intimidation existed at a students' organisation at the centre of a fraud investigation, it is claimed.

Sean Press worked at Aberdeen University Students' Association (Ausa) for five months before resigning over his concerns about the charity in November.

In his resignation letter, Mr Press said some staff at Ausa "actively fight student-led initiatives" and claimed the workforce was "dispirited".

He told STV News: "It was a very tense atmosphere, staff were worried for their jobs. There was a real culture of a kind of fear, bullying and intimidation.

"People were loathe to put themselves in the firing line because they knew that if they went to management with issues, serious issues about the institutional framework, about staff grievances, they felt it would be covered up, swept under the carpet and not dealt with."

On Wednesday, STV revealed Police Scotland is investigating reports of fraud at Ausa.

The scale of the investigation is unclear but it is understood the amount of money involved could be up to £40,000.

A spokeswoman for Ausa said: "The board, staff and volunteers of Ausa work very hard together to ensure that the association provides the best possible core services for our members and that the structures of the organisation are effective and appropriate.

"The board recognised that Ausa was not working as effectively as it should have been last year and swiftly took steps to rectify this.

" Following a wide-ranging governance review we have now laid strong foundations for the future of Ausa."