Nearly four in 10 prisoners freed under an emergency early release scheme over the summer were serving sentences for violent crimes, figures show.

Of the 477 people released to free up space in overcrowded jails, 188 had been convicted of non-sexual crimes of violence, according to data from the Scottish Prisons Service (SPS).

The data also shows 52 releases were vetoed by prison governors because they were believed to pose an “immediate risk of harm”.

The prisoners were freed in four tranches in June and July under emergency powers granted to ministers by parliament, to protect the welfare of inmates and staff.

Only prisoners with 180 days or less to serve from a sentence of under four years were considered for early release.

No-one convicted of sexual or domestic abuse offences has been released early.

The Scottish government has said the move was in response to rising prison populations – up 13% since last year.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance previously said that Scotland was no different from the rest of the UK in having to deal with overcrowded jails.

The SPS figures show 101 of those released had been convicted of “crimes of dishonesty”, while 99 had been convicted of “crimes against society”.

Others released under the scheme were serving sentences for anti-social offences, road traffic offences, damage and reckless behaviour and miscellaneous offences.

The largest number of releases by local authority was 72 in Glasgow City, followed by 40 in North Lanarkshire, 39 in Fife and 28 in East Ayrshire.

In May, there were 8,365 prisoners in Scotland, the highest number since 2012.

The Scottish Prison Service has a target operating capacity of 8,007.