Ex-Scottish leader Sturgeon cleared over party finances

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared in a police investigation into the Scottish National Party's finances.

Sturgeon was Scotland's longest-serving first minister, leading its devolved government in Edinburgh from 2014 until her shock resignation in early 2023.

Police have been investigating what happened to more than 600,000 pounds ($A1.2 million) in funding raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017 which was supposed to have been ring-fenced, but may have been used for other purposes.

Sturgeon, 54, was questioned as part of a police probe into the fate of those funds.

Police Scotland confirmed in a statement without naming Sturgeon that a 54-year-old woman first arrested in June 2023 as part of the probe had not been charged and was no longer under investigation.