Fine defaulters north of the border will not face custodial sentences under plans published by the Scottish Executive.

Instead, those offenders that fail to pay their fines will face Supervised Attendance Orders (SAOs), in a move aimed at cutting prison overcrowding.

Deputy justice minister Hugh Henry has argued that the increased use of SAOs will prove more effective in reducing reoffending than short jail terms.

"There remains a large volume of low level and petty offenders being sent to custody every week," he said.

"For example, there are around 4,000 people sent to jail each year for fine default, half of them sentenced for a week or less.

"Not only do these sentences have no real punitive value but processing offenders on short term sentences through the system often costs the taxpayer far more than the original fine. I have difficulty justifying that system."

The use of orders would be "a fine on people's time rather than their pocket", he argued.

"We intend to make use of existing legislation to pilot in certain courts mandatory use of SAOs for fine defaulters. This will in effect withdraw the sanction of custody for this group of minor offenders," Henry added.

Critics have argued that the move will let convicted criminals off the hook.

Although the move has the support of the Scottish Nationalists and Liberal Democrats, Conservatives have expressed their reservations.

"We need more police in our communities to act as a deterrent and help to make Scotland a safer place," said justice spokeswoman Annabel Goldie.

But Henry insisted that it was "not a soft option but a smart option".

"We are talking about people whose original offence did not justify a custodial penalty but who may now end up in jail because they do not have the means to pay the fine," he added.

"And spending up to 100 hours undertaking constructive activity on a Supervised Attendance Order is much more valuable to the offender and to society than a couple of nights in prison."