The Scottish Government's baby box scheme will cost £6.3m more than first promised.

The scheme, which sees a box of essential items given free to new mothers, formed part of the SNP's manifesto in last year's Holyrood election.

Mothers in Clackmannanshire and Orkney trialled the boxes earlier this year.

The Scottish Government forecast the scheme to cost at most £29m in its first four years, with the initiative costing £8m in its first full year with costs reducing to no more than £7m in subsequent years.

However, the scheme is now set to cost £35.3m over its first four years of operations.

The average cost of an individual baby box to taxpayers will now be £160, £60 more than first estimated.

Private company APS Group, who delivered the pilot project, have been handed the contract.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We are committed to doing everything we can to give our children the best possible start in life.

"Scotland's baby box has a key role to play in that, sending a strong signal of support to families right from the start of a child's life.

"Under this contract, the average cost of each baby box is approximately £160 covering all contents and logistics such as storage and delivery.

"We will keep the contents and costs of the box under constant review to ensure we continue to achieve effective value for money."

The Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens have been approached for comment.