A fisherman has died after falling from a creel boat in the North Sea.

The 67-year-old was airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after he was recovered from the water, but later died.

A large-scale search and rescue operation was launched just outside Macduff Harbour in Aberdeenshire after the vessel was found unoccupied at sea at around 12.40pm on Wednesday.

The HM Coastguard Inverness helicopter, lifeboats from Macduff and Buckie RNLI and the Banff Coastguard Rescue Team worked together to find the man.

A number of vessels in the area also joined in the search after responding to a mayday call.

The missing fisherman was eventually located in the water just before 1.30pm.

A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed the man had since died.

They said: "Police were made aware of a ongoing search for a 67-year-old man who had been fishing off Macduff at around 1.30pm on Wednesday.

"The male was found during the search and airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he sadly died."

The man's next of kin have been notified.

Detective inspector Sam Buchan added: "My thoughts are with them at this very sad time.

"Enquiries are being carried out along with our partners from the Marine Coastguard Agency and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

"A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal in due course."