A retired police officer saved the life of a man whose car plunged into the sea after careering off a pier in Orkney.

Alexander Glasgow, 24, was trying to get his new car on to a ferry when it rolled down the pier with him inside.

Stuart McIvor, 71, was aboard the ferry in Shapinsay and jumped into the water to rescue him.

He pulled him from the car with the help of a lifebuoy and both men were helped ashore by ferry crew.

Mr McIvor, who was a police officer in London for three decades but now lives in Shapinsay, said: "I was watching as he tried to get the car on to the ferry - you have to reverse on to it.

"Suddenly it gained speed and he couldn't control it. The car rolled down and was in the water. Then I heard him shouting 'I'm trapped'. We think he caught his foot in the steering wheel.

"I just thought, 'I've got to do something'. I'm 71 but I worked as a policeman for the Met for 32 years and I've worked as a lifeguard before.

"I don't even remember going down the steep ferry steps, I just remember being in the water and the crew had thrown a lifebuoy so I brought that to him. He was shivering and in shock.

"He had managed to get halfway out the window and I just stayed with him and we got ashore."

It was not the first water rescue for Mr McIvor, who saved a woman from the Thames in 1965.

Mr Glasgow's mother Helen Richards, 52, who runs Harbour Taxis in Kirkwall, said her son was still in shock.

She added: "Alexander had just bought the car on Shapinsay and was bringing it back to Kirkwall. We are not sure what happened - the brakes failed or the steering locked.

"I don't think he realises what a close call he had. Someone was looking down on my son and I would like to thank the gentleman for what he did."