Plans to rebuild a royal railway station destroyed in a fire have been given a £100,000 boost.

The Old Royal Station in Ballater, Aberdeenshire, was gutted by the blaze in May last year.

About 75% of the building was destroyed and it is expected to cost about £3m to rebuild.

The project has now secured a £107,500 grant from Historic Environment Scotland (HES).

Thomas Knowles, head of grants at HES, said: "We're pleased to support Aberdeenshire Council in their project to repair and restore the royal waiting room in the former Ballater Railway station.

"The money will allow them to repair the interior, which helps bring the building to life for visitors and creates work for local craftspeople.

"Although the application to us is related purely to repairing the damaged fabric of the waiting room, as an organisation HES is keen to support projects that enhance knowledge and understanding of Scotland's historic environment so we were impressed by the council's wider plans to restore and improve the space with a new exhibition telling visitors and local people about what Ballater has to offer.

"We're looking forward to seeing the newly refurbished building when it reopens."

Aberdeenshire Council's plan to rebuild the station was approved by the Cairngorms National Park Authority in September, clearing the way for the work to begin.

The outside of the building will be identical to the original but the inside will be slightly different, with new tourist facilities, a library and cafe.

The station was used by royalty for a century from 1866 until 1966, when it was controversially closed in the Beeching Cuts.

The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay visited the station in 2008 to open a replica of Queen Victoria's personal carriage, which was one of a handful of artefacts saved from the fire.

During the visit, Prince Charles reminisced about childhood trips to Ballater, which is a short distance from Balmoral Castle.