A rare flame shell clam reef devastated by scallop dredging has been given legal protection.

The seabed at the Loch Carron, near Plockton in the Highlands, could take decades to recover.

In response, the Scottish Government has banned dredging in the region and declared it a protected area.

Environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: "While we recognise there are concerns around scallop dredging in coastal waters, we must balance environmental concerns with the need for legitimate and sustainable fishing.

"The Scottish Government will now begin work immediately to identify if there are other areas which should be protected."

Flame shell molluscs build nests from shells, stones and other materials and live hidden inside them on the seabed.

Hundreds of nests can combine to make a dense bed which supports a variety of other species including young fish and scallops.

National Trust for Scotland senior conservation adviser Dr Richard Luxmoore described the damage to the reef as "like dropping a bunker-busting bomb on a nursery".

He called the environmental harm of dredging "totally disproportionate" to the profits it brings to "a relatively small number of fishermen".

Meanwhile, Scottish Fishermen's Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong has raised concerns over a perceived lack of government consultation.

"To find out that measures are being taken from a press release without any dialogue is a great disappointment," he said.

"There is a process - an evidenced sensible, sober process - for selecting features to be protected.

"Bypassing all of that and reacting in this way appears to be much more to do with appearing green than genuinely protecting the environment."

He added: "At the Scottish Inshore Fisheries conference in Inverness last month the fisheries minister, Fergus Ewing, said decision-making about this would be evidence-based.

"We've heard nothing about what was or what was not found barring what was in a press release."