A mortgage fraudster has had two houses seized and sold by prosecutors.

The Crown Office's civil recovery unit (CRU) successfully recovered the two properties from 63-year-old Alan Patrick McIntyre, from Saltcoats in North Ayrshire.

A court order was granted to freeze the the houses on the basis that they were obtained through unlawful conduct, including mortgage fraud.

Prosecutors seized the former homes in August 2015 and they have now been sold. The first, a property in the Balornock area of Glasgow, was sold on Thursday to Glasgow Housing Association for use as social housing.

The second, in Saltcoats, was sold to a local couple in February. The total profit raised from the sales of around £178,000 will now be used for community projects across Scotland.

McIntyre has also been the subject of previous proceedings. In November 2007, he failed to defend a court action seeking to forfeit £1756.

The cash had been found in his house during a police drugs raid. The case was brought on the basis that the cash was the proceeds of drug dealing.

Linda Hamilton, head of the CRU, said: "Those who commit mortgage fraud undermine the legitimate housing market and deny honest people the opportunity of buying a home.

"I am delighted that McIntyre has not only been stripped of the properties he purchased in this way, but that they have now been sold and that one has gone to a local couple and the other will be used for the good of the community.

"We will continue to work to find innovative ways of using the Proceeds of Crime for the good of the people of Scotland."