THE Scottish Government has updated the cover of its first paper in a series making the case for independence after a mistake was brought to light.

The paper, launched by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in mid-June, looked at a raft of comparator countries around Europe and asked why Scotland was unable to follow their lead through independence.

It was the first in a series of publications arguing for Scotland to leave the UK, with a second following in July.

Titled Independence in the Modern World: Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland?, the first document sought to "define the UK model and explain its enduring structural problems".

The cover featured an image of a wind farm with a geometric design laid on top.

However, it came to light that the wind farm in question was not in Scotland, but near Bridlington in East Yorkshire.

The Scottish Government said that the error had been with a stock image website which had mislabelled the photo of Fraisthorpe wind farm as being in Scotland.

The National: The original and updated covers of the 'Why not Scotland' publicationThe original and updated covers of the 'Why not Scotland' publication

A spokesperson said: “On initial publication, our contracted publishing print and design agency used a reputable stock image website to source a picture of a Scottish wind farm for the paper.

“While the image used was tagged on the stock image website as being in Scotland, we now understand that image may have been mislabelled and, as a result, we updated our publication online."

The new image, which is very similar in style and content, shows wind turbines at Pease Bay in Berwickshire.

Tory MSP Sharon Dowey claimed there would be "red faces all around in the corridors of the SNP-Green Government at this embarrassing mistake".