Nearly 150 asylum seekers facing eviction will be given urgent, intensive advocacy support through a £252,000 Scottish Government funding package.

The money will be shared between local organisations in Glasgow to help ensure asylum seekers have access to legal professionals and other services.

It comes after a court ruling last month, which deemed lock-change evictions against asylum seekers lawful, left around 150 people facing eviction.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled the practice used by Home Office contractor Serco against asylum seekers who have been denied refuge in the UK is not unlawful.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: "We all have a moral duty to help those most in need, and we want to provide a humanitarian response to the plight of people facing eviction and homelessness.

"This funding will ensure advocacy and legal support are available for those who desperately need it and ensure people's dignity and rights are respected.

"Previous UK governments have failed to fix their failed asylum process. This cannot continue. It is now the time for them to finally find a long-term, sustainable and humane alternative to the asylum process.

"I will be writing to UK ministers to remind them of their role to not make anyone who has sought safety in this country homeless and destitute."

The organisations sharing the funding include Glasgow City Mission, Glasgow Night Shelter for Destitute Asylum Seekers, Scottish Refugee Council, Govan Law Centre and Shelter Scotland.

The Scottish Government said that last year, it provided £150,000 of emergency funding to strengthen local advocacy support for destitute asylum seekers at risk of eviction.

New contract provider Mears, which took over from Serco, has agreed to improve the support for asylum seekers, help prevent destitution and replace lock-change evictions with a proper court process.