A stricken fishing boat drifting off Orkney in gale-force winds has been towed to safety.

The 89ft Russa Taing broke down west of Westray on Thursday night and repeated attempts to secure a tow by another boat failed.

The coastguard's Herakles emergency tug then took over the rescue and managed to fix a line to the boat before towing it to safety with the help of the RNLI.

Severe weather hampered the operation and the vessels only arrived in Kirkwall at 7am on Friday, around 13 hours after the alarm was raised.

None of the Russa Taing's seven crewmen were injured.

A coastguard spokesman said: "The vessel broke down and requested assistance because they were drifting and the weather was bad.

"Another fishing vessel, the Kila, attempted to tow it but they were unsuccessful because the towing cable kept breaking.

"The coastguard emergency towing vessel then took over the tow and they arrived in Kirkwall this morning.

"It was a gale-force wind at times with quite a rough sea. The weather made the journey very slow and uncomfortable."