Police divers will search "five areas of interest" in a canal as part of the investigation into the murder of schoolgirl Moira Anderson, who disappeared in 1957.

Using ground-penetrating radar, sonar and magnetometry technology, Police Scotland have identified five "distinct areas of anomalies" in the water and silt layer of Monkland Canal in Carnbroe, North Lanarkshire.

On Monday, divers from the force's marine unit will conduct a search of these areas in the 3.5-metre deep water, seeking to identify and remove any relevant items located in the areas.

A number of skilled specialists and scientists have been involved in the operation to identify these areas over the last four days, including experts in soil forensics, anatomy and human identification, and applied sciences and technology.

The 11-year-old from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, was last seen on February 23, 1957, after leaving her grandmother's house to buy margarine from the nearby Coop.

She was seen on board a bus driven by convicted paedophile Alexander Gartshore.

In 2015, police said Gartshore would have been indicted for Ms Anderson's murder if he was still alive.

Gartshore's daughter, Sandra Brown, has believed her father was responsible for the killing for years.

He was questioned by officers in 1992 but denied any involvement and charges were never brought.

Moira's sister Janet Hart has welcomed the fresh search, saying on Tuesday it was the "most hopeful I've ever been in 60 years" of recovering her body.

The new search of Monkland Canal comes four years after the unsuccessful exhumation of Old Monkland Cemetery in Coatbridge in 2013.

A spokesperson for the force said: "Police Scotland (and the former Strathclyde Police) worked closely with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service over the years to investigate her disappearance and examine any new evidence.

"This led to the site at Monkland Canal being identified with the aim of finding any trace of Moira."