HUNDREDS have turned up to an anti-mask protest taking place outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Held by the group "Saving Scotland", the crowd rallied to argue for an end to lockdown restrictions and rules on face coverings.

Coronavirus sceptics, vaccine conspiracy theorists and those opposed to the measures chanted and made speeches.

Speakers lined up to address attendees included Irish professor Dolores Cahill and Dr Malcolm Kendrick.

The organisers had stated on their Facebook page that it was "time to stand up together, and listen to real scientific evidence in regards to the health of the Scottish people".

The National:

They added: "This evidence is being buried by MSM, big pharma and more than a few politicians. Lockdown is causing more harm than the virus. We stand for the freedom to choose."

The group stated that the individuals involved "realise the damage this can do to our children, the economy etc".

Twitter users did not seem too impressed with the gathering, with one user stating: "If my kids’ school gets shut down for this garbage, I’m going to scream."

Another said: "Can't think of the last time I was this ashamed of Edinburgh."

Scotland's national clinical director Jason Leitch condemned the protest.

He told BBC One Scotland's Reporting Scotland programme: "Firstly, it's irresponsible to gather and put yourself, your family and others at risk.

"And the second is, I don't fully understand their point. Do they think we're making it up? That the world is some kind of global pandemic conspiracy?

"Because nobody's involved me in a conspiracy - I see people getting very sick and dying all over the world from this disease."

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "We were aware of a demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh during the afternoon of Saturday, 5 September.

"Officers attended and provided a proportionate response. No arrests were made and the gathering has now dispersed."

The protest was taking place as the Scottish Government released the latest Covid-19 statistics showing 997 people had tested positive for coronavirus in the past week - the largest weekly increase since May.

A total of 2496 people confirmed as having the disease have died in Scotland, while the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 now stands at 21,189.