The number of serious shootings related to drug crime in Scotland will reach record levels this year, police have warned.

The latest trends for shootings which caused death or injury are set to see this year's figures eclipse those for last year.

Most of the shootings are taking place in the Strathclyde Police area.

The latest happened at the weekend at Shettleston Juniors social club in Glasgow's east end, when a man was shot with a gas powered air gun which shattered his jaw.

Police are concerned by the level of gun crime

Police said the incident was part of an on-going gangland feud over drug dealing.

There have been 18 major shootings in the last year in the west of Scotland alone, eight of them murders.

This means that this year serious shootings will eclipse the 2001 figures which, in turn, were the highest ever recorded.

In Scotland in 2001 serious shootings went up from 50 to 149 and almost all were a result of battles for control over drug supplies.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Halpin, the head of Strathclyde CID, said: "Organised criminals who are involved the drugs trade do so because of the enormous profits that are there to be gained, so we shouldn't be surprised that they are absolutely determined to protect their own patch.

"Now, if you think of Europe in the last few years, recent wars, migration of people and barriers coming down it's no surprise there is an increase in the availability of firearms across Europe and the United Kingdom."

Scottish Executive ministers say the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency and new laws to confiscate drug dealers assets will combat growing drug crime.