Scotland’s new chief constable has apologised and accepted she made an “error of judgment” when she used a police car and on-duty officer to make a 120-mile trip.

Jo Farrell became Scotland’s top police officer in October, and prior to taking on the job she was chief constable of Durham Constabulary in the North East.

But after only 11 days on the job, she has already had to apologise after she used a police vehicle to take her home when the train she had planned to travel on was cancelled.

She was driven from Edinburgh to Northumberland in a 120-mile "error in judgement" to take her home to England as Storm Babet lashed the UK last month.

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The incident happened on the evening of October 20, with the Sun newspaper reporting a Police Scotland car made the trip with an off-duty police officer behind the wheel.

Ms Farrell confirmed she had requested her office “arrange for a car to drive me home to the Northumberland area after work”.

In a statement issued by Police Scotland, she said: "I requested my office to arrange for a car to drive me home to the Northumberland area after work.

“I was unable to complete the journey by train as services had been cancelled and my own police vehicle was unavailable.

“I have apologised for this error of judgment.”

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Watchdogs at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) confirmed chairman Martyn Evans has raised the matter with Ms Farrell.

An SPA spokesperson said: “The authority is aware the chief constable used a police vehicle following the cancellation of a scheduled train journey.

“The chair has discussed this with the chief constable who has apologised. The authority considers the matter closed.”