Search and rescue helicopter crews in the Highlands were the busiest in the UK last year.

Helicopters were scrambled from Inverness 303 times between April 2015 and March 2016.

The vast majority of the 800 rescues across the UK during that time were in the Highlands and Islands.

The Inverness crew also spent longer in the air than any other team, clocking up around 800 hours.

The next busiest team was based in Caernarfon in Wales (253 incidents), followed by Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire (234), Humberside (175), Sumburgh in Shetland (141) and Stornoway in Lewis (127).

A new civilian search and rescue service managed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency was launched in Inverness last year.

Bristow Helicopters took over from the RAF and Royal Navy in April 2015 in a £1.6bn deal which brought 70 years of military search and rescue to an end.