Two fishermen have been rescued after their trawler struck a rock and sank in the Western Isles.

The pair made it ashore in a life raft and were picked up by a coastguard helicopter following the incident off Lewis on Wednesday afternoon.

The men were then flown to Stornoway Airport, where they were met by an ambulance and taken to hospital.

UK coastguard duty controller Angus MacIver said: "It would appear that the fishermen's vessel sank very quickly, and we were very lucky that they managed to give us their exact position before they abandoned their vessel.

"The helicopter arrived on scene within minutes and was able to locate and rescue the two men from a remote area on the west.

"Despite their ordeal, it would appear that they are in relatively good health but they have been taken to hospital by ambulance as a precautionary measure."

He added: "We are in the process of establishing what occurred to the vessel and will monitor the debris of the boat in case it washes ashore.

"We have also notified our counter-pollution team of possible fuel being lost from the vessel and Police Scotland are also aware of the incident."