The rate of alcohol-related hospital stays in the first year of the Covid pandemic was down 10% on the previous 12 months, figures show.

However, Public Health Scotland said the fall in numbers between April 2020 and the end of March 2021 could have been affected by Covid measures.

Admission to hospital was tightly restricted during many months.

Official stats on alcohol deaths, released last year, showed 2020 had the highest number in a decade.

The National Records of Scotland statistics showed there were 1,190 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland in 2020, 170 more than the previous year.

The latest PHS figures on alcohol-related hospital admissions showed a rate of 614 per 100,000 of the population in 2020/21, down 10% on the 681 the previous year.