A plastic rocking horse, a scooter, a dining chair and a football have been pulled from a blocked drain in the Highlands.

Workers dug a two-metre hole and spent 12 hours shifting the debris found down the sewer on Milnafua in Alness.

A yellow cricket bat, a sandcastle mould and a rubble carrier were also retrieved.

Garry Kirkwood, Scottish Water's customer manager for sewer response, said: "Some may see comedy about this incident but there is an underlying serious matter - sewers are not a dumping ground for household refuse or unwanted items.

"Blocked sewers cause serious problems to the network such as floods that affects homes, businesses and roads as well as the cost of having to get crews out to clear the blockages.

"To have a crew of five to be tied up for 12 hours on this urgent clear-up job also means that other repair incidents had to be delayed."

Scottish Water teams are called out about 80 times every day as the result of people putting the wrong things down sinks, including baby wipes, cotton buds and cooking fats.