A pro-independence book publisher which released a collection of Nicola Sturgeon’s speeches is being assessed by police over the award of £295,000 of taxpayers’ cash.

Sandstone Press, which is run by an SNP supporter and hailed the First Minister as a “significant world leader” when it released a collection of her speeches earlier this year, has been accused by a rival firm of falsifying documents.

Keith Charters, managing director of Strident Publishing, complained to police and said he had since been interviewed by detectives about his allegations.

“We are content that the police are pursuing this matter vigorously,” he said. “I have given a couple of statements on their request and provided other items of evidence.”

Sandstone, which released the book of Ms Sturgeon’s speeches days after the Holyrood election in May and promoted it in the run-up to the vote, denies any wrongdoing.

‘Thoughtful, progressive, compassionate’

It has received more than £400,000 in grants from Creative Scotland, the SNP Government’s arts quango, over the past 15 years.

Mr Charters’ complaints relate to £120,000 of grants given last year and £175,000 of loans both provided by another public agency, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

He claims that the publisher made false statements about the number of people it employs in an effort to increase the likelihood that it would be approved for funding.

HIE is also alleged to have wrongly recorded the location of the firm, in a deliberate effort to boost its eligibility for financial support.

The publisher has insisted there is no link between the public funding it has received and its decision to release a tribute book to Ms Sturgeon, called Women Hold Up Half the Sky.

In promotional materials, it described Ms Sturgeon as “thoughtful, progressive, [and] compassionate” and “as pragmatic on matters of economic strategy as she is progressive on social issues”.

The book was edited by Robert Davidson, the managing director of Sandstone Press, an independence supporter who has been to Ms Sturgeon’s official Bute House residence and posted gushing eulogies to her on social media.

The publisher has said that no public money was used to finance the project.