SNP finances: Luxury campervan seized during police raid in Fife as Nicola Sturgeon's home searched

Luxury campervan reportedly seized while police search Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell’s home

A luxury campervan has reportedly been seized by police investigating the SNP's finances. A Niesmann and Bischoff motorhome was taken from a house in Fife at the same time police searched the home of Nicola Sturgeon and her husband, Peter Murrell, according to the Mail on Sunday. The same model of campervan can sell for around £110,000.

Mr Murrell, the party's former chief executive, was arrested on Wednesday, April 5, by police probing the spending of around £600,000 earmarked for an independence campaign. He was released later that day pending further investigation. As well as Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon's home near Glasgow, Police Scotland officers also searched the SNP's headquarters in Edinburgh and removed boxes of items.

The ongoing investigation has been described by SNP president Mike Russell as the party's biggest crisis in 50 years. On Saturday, April 8, Ms Sturgeon spoke publicly for the first time since her husband's arrest, addressing reporters outside her home. She said the last few days had been "obviously difficult" and she would "fully co-operate" with the police investigation. The Glasgow Southside MSP said she intends to "get on with life and my job, as you would expect me to".

Police officers outside the home of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, and his wife Nicola Sturgeon, in Uddingston, after he was 'released without charge pending further investigation'. Picture: Robert Perry/PA

Earlier, it emerged the accountancy firm which had audited the SNP's books for more than a decade had resigned. Johnston Carmichael informed the party of the decision before Mr Murrell's arrest. The party's treasurer is now seeking another auditor to comply with Electoral Commission rules. Police Scotland said its investigation is ongoing.