An osprey had to be put down after getting entangled in a fishing line with a hook lodged in his throat.

The 17-year-old bird, Ollie, crash landed just outside New Arc, a wildlife rescue centre in Aberdeenshire, two weeks ago.

When the team took him to the vets, they discovered that the line was attached to a hook which was embedded in his throat.

Against the odds, the vets managed to remove the fishing line without causing further damage.

A spokesman for the rescue centre said when back in their care he showed signs of trauma and was unable to balance and coordinate his movements.

The team then reported that he was showing improvements every day, and he moved from being hand fed to tube fed.

However, on Tuesday the rescue centre announced that the vet took the decision to have Ollie put to sleep.

A spokesman said: "It was always our concern that despite the daily improvements Ollie was making, he might reach a point where his progress stopped.

"This weekend our worst fears were confirmed and today we called the vet back in to assess his condition, although we knew that he had basically given up the fight.

"We were very aware that even in perfect health, Ollie might not have survived his annual migration to Africa to return next year to raise another family, but we wanted to give him every chance to do so."

At age 17, Ollie was an elderly osprey, which the team was concerned about from the beginning.

As he was ringed, they managed to trace his full background, and discovered that he was ringed in Aberdeenshire when still in the nest.

He migrated and spent his first few years in Africa, and since returned annually to the north east to successfully raise chicks for the past nine years.

The spokesman for the rescue centre added that birds getting tangled in fishing lines is sadly not uncommon - particularly among ospreys, buzzards and swans.