Nicola Sturgeon has accused Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson of abusing her during First Minister's Questions.

The accusation was made during a heated exchange about the success of a rise in Land and Buildings Transaction Tax for the most expensive properties in the country.

Presiding officer Ken MacIntosh halted proceedings after Davidson started talking directly to the parliamentary press gallery instead of the chair.

"I do not even know how you lot are going to pick through all the things that were not said and have been claimed there but let us go back to the numbers," she said before being brought to order.

When the session restarted Davidson accused the SNP leader of being "completely wrong" and her government's actions having "gummed up the housing market".

In reply to Davidson, the First Minister said: "We can always tell that Ruth Davidson is floundering at First Minister's Question Time when she starts hurling abuse across the chamber - although it has nothing on the abuse that was hurled at me and others by the Tory councillor who was taken off the teaching register because of her behaviour.

"Ruth Davidson will probably not want to comment on that."

Kathleen Leslie, a Conservative councillor in Fife, was struck off the teaching register for a string of tweets including branding the SNP leader a "drooling hag".

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: "Ruth was raising important points about taxation.

"When Nicola Sturgeon watches FMQs back, she'll feel pretty foolish about that remark."