An eight-person salvage team have been able to board the oil rig which ran aground on Lewis.

The 17,000 tonne Transocean Winner was being towed from Norway to Malta and came loose from the tugboat Alp Forward in the early hours of Monday and crashed into the shore.

Weather conditions meant the team were unable to be winched onto the stricken platform on Saturday.

On Sunday, the team were able to gain access and they now intent to carry out a full assessment of the rig and stay on board overnight.

The salvors hope to set up a rope line to allow supplies and equipment to be brought on board.

The rig was carrying more than 300,000 litres of diesel when it ran aground, with more than 50,000 thought to have leaked.

It is hoped the fuel can now be transferred to undamaged tanks on the rig before it is refloated and moved.

The coastguard have set up a 300m exclusion zone around the platform.

Earlier, a smaller team had made it on board the rig to carry out an initial survey.

Hugh Shaw, who is the Secretary of State's representative for maritime salvage and intervention, said: "Once the assessment is under way, we'll have a much better idea of what we are dealing with, which will mean a more detailed salvage plan can be drawn up and put into place.

"We've made a commitment to keeping people informed locally and we intend to keep to that - once I'm happy that the plan is ready, we will be sharing it with community leaders and the community as a whole."