The First Minister has been accused of lying after her health secretary closed a children's ward which she previously said was not at risk.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie made the accusation at First Minister's Questions on Thursday.

Nicola Sturgeon said her opponent was a "pathetic attention seeker" following his comments.

Both politicians were told off over the language by Holyrood's presiding officer, Ken Macintosh, following their exchanges.

After a long running campaign to save the Royal Alexandra Hospital's (RAH) children's ward, the health secretary backed proposals lodged from the local NHS board to shut the facility.

Nicola Sturgeon previously faced questions over the ward's future by a member of the public, Gordon Clark, during a BBC Holyrood election debate in 2016.

At the time, she said: "I can absolutely give a commitment that we will keep services as local as they need to be."

After she was heckled by Mr Clark, who was in Holyrood's public gallery on Thursday, the First Minister added: "There is [sic] no proposals to close that particular ward. I believe in local services for local people."

Rennie said the First Minister was hiding behind doctors to take the decision to shut the ward.

"Doctors may have advised her to close the ward at Paisley but they did not force her to lie in that election TV debate.

"Is she not ashamed of blaming the doctors for her broken promise?"

In response, Sturgeon said: "I think all we have learned from that question is that Willie Rennie is a pathetic attention seeker.

"And given the state of his party it is, perhaps, not surprising."

She added: "The proposal on the children's ward at the RAH came to the Scottish Government almost a full year after the debate that Willie Rennie is talking about."

Macintosh told both MSPs: "Can I just say to both participants and to the chamber, the use of language like this does not do anybody any favours whatsoever.

"Personal accusations, the use of word 'lying' in particular Mr Rennie, is a word you have to be extremely careful about.

"But it does not help for the First Minister to rebut by using personal accusations back."

As SNP MSPs heckled Macintosh, Sturgeon appeared to mutter "unbelievable" in response to him.