Margo MacDonald has been effectively kicked out of the Scottish National Party after announcing her intention to stand as an independent in May's elections.

The MSP said she was aiming to go it alone on the Lothian region "top-up" list.

Her move came after she was placed fifth in the SNP's list of candidates for the region, effectively ending her hopes of re-election to the Holyrood parliament as an SNP member.

Announcing her decision on Tuesday, MacDonald said she was not immediately resigning from the SNP.

But the party's national secretary, Stewart Hosie, said he took her comments to be a "public resignation".

"I would deem your action to be a public resignation from membership of the Scottish National Party," he told her in a letter.

If MacDonald wishes to rejoin the party in the future, she will face at least a two-year wait.

The Edinburgh-based MSP indicated that she would be expecting a refund of her membership dues.

"I paid my membership last month, so I'll be looking for a rebate if they throw me out," she said.

"I used to be deputy leader of the SNP and in those days we used to try people before they were expelled from the party."