Police Scotland’s chief constable is to stand down this summer.

Sir Iain Livingstone, 56, announced his retirement during a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority Board in Glasgow on Thursday.

The chief constable said: “By my last day in service, I will have been a police officer for 31 years and had the privilege of serving as chief constable for nearly six of those years.

“Police Scotland is an organisation with shared values and high levels of operational competence. The service improvements achieved in our 10 years are unprecedented across the United Kingdom public sector, delivering effective policing for the public.”

Sir Iain has led the single national service for six years, as interim chief from 2017 before being formally appointed as chief constable in 2018.

He added: “We now have a full leadership team with the experience and capability to continue the progress made and can take confidence from the exceptional role Police Scotland played through COVID, COP26 and the events following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

“The police officers and police staff of Police Scotland are outstanding. Leading them as chief constable to serve the people of Scotland has been the honour of my working life.”