The owner of the Clutha Bar has criticised Police Scotland for renewing its contract with the firm that operated the helicopter involved in the disaster.

Alan Crossan said the force should have waited until all compensation claims from victims had been settled before renewing its deal.

He also said police should have waited till a fatal accident inquiry into the disaster had been held.

Police Scotland has renewed its contract with Bond Air Services, the firm that operated the helicopter that crashed into the Clutha bar, killing 10 people.

The seven-year £17.9m air support contract includes a new aircraft model fitted with a cockpit voice and flight data recorder, in line with recommendations following the tragedy.

Speaking following the announcement, Mr Crossan said: “You would have thought that rather than renewing the contract they should finalise everything and then move on.

“To renew the contract when there are still people waiting to be compensated seems a bit wrong.

“The police should have waited until everyone has been compensated and the FAI has been held.”

In addition to the standard equipment, the new aircraft will have a cockpit voice and flight data recorder, known as a black box recorder, unlike the force helicopter which crashed through the roof of the Clutha bar in Glasgow on November 29 2013, claiming 10 lives.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report into the tragedy recommended equipment to record data, audio and images be made compulsory for police aircraft.

Further additional safety features in the new aircraft include a recording system to video helicopter flight systems and instruments within the cockpit, a helicopter terrain awareness and warning system, and an emergency locator transmitter.

Bond Air Services will provide the Airbus EC 135 T3 helicopter to replace the current EC 135 T2 model after winning a seven-year £17.9 million air support contract.

The firm, which provided the EC 135 T2 Clutha crash helicopter, had the Police Scotland and Scottish Police Association (SPA) contract renewed following a competitive tendering and procurement process.

Responding to the criticism, assistant chief constable Bernard Higgins, operational support at Police Scotland, said: "As the current helicopter contract comes to an end in September 2016, Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority needed to go through a procurement process.

"The helicopter will be operated by Bond Air Services, who secured the contract with the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland after they were selected as the preferred bidder following a competitive tendering and procurement process.

"Whilst there was interest from other companies, Bond Air Services was the sole tender."

The AAIB report found two fuel supply switches were off in the Clutha crash helicopter and the pilot did not follow emergency procedures after a fuel warning in the cockpit.

Pilot David Traill and constables Tony Collins and Kirsty Nellis died on board the aircraft, while John McGarrigle, Mark O'Prey, Gary Arthur, Colin Gibson, Robert Jenkins and Samuel McGhee were killed in the pub. Joe Cusker was pulled from the wreckage alive but later died in hospital.

The bar reopened in July last year, 20 months after the disaster.